Widening Opportunities in the Caribbean

COULD YOU IMAGINE, one decade or two ago, an announcement that four Caribbean countries, Barbados, Belize, Dominica and St Vincent and the Grenadines by name, were opening their doors to immigrants from each other, providing the right to live, work, bring families and enjoy equal rights as those born in those states. What would have been the reaction then?

Given the limited understanding of what freedom of movement among willing states implies many of the reactions at the time were likely to be backward, invoking fears comparable to those backward positions being perpetrated in both the U.K. and the USA by those who promote racism and isolationism. The immediate reactions among many then, would have been based on the respondent’s jerk reaction of a perceived threat to livelihoods in the receiving territory from persons coming from economically less developed countries.

Thus, one could have expected many Barbadians to express concern about being flooded by immigrants from the “small islands” and what negative impact it would have particularly on Barbadian working families. It would not have crossed the minds of those perceiving the “small island threat” that “small” Dominica is almost twice the size of Barbados, it is the false image of unemployed “small islanders” which would arouse fear.

But even in the “small islands” there existed such imagined fear. It came out in Dominica which experimented with Haitian farm and domestic workers.

Haiti, which opened the door to the emancipation of slaves in the Caribbean, was looked upon as a pariah state, not just in Dominica but even here when it was raised as a possible source of farm labour which was becoming scarce in the Windward islands.

Behind all of this was ignorance and fear, never considering immigration as an economic opportunity, not just for the immigrants but for the host country, based on the possible economic development it could herald. Until the recent right-wing and racist backlash in the UK and the USA, including fear of the dreaded ICE, and before that, vindictive immigration policies in Trinidad, immigration for us was considered positive if we were allowed to go to those states.

Fortunately, the world is moving forward, people are better educated if not always better informed and for young people in particular, the world is their home, chock full of opportunities for development and self-advancement.

It is into this world that four Caribbean states- Barbados, Belize, Dominica and our own St Vincent and the Grenadines- have jointly stepped, leading the tide for the deepening of Caribbean integration. Though CARICOM is a regional integration movement now over a half century old, the media and the proliferation of backward politicians with whom we are plagued, have managed to keep negative views of the process foremost in the minds of many of our people, ranging from Belize down to Guyana.

It has taken the foresight and courage of some of the more enlightened leaders in CARICOM to try to propel the integration movement even further.

This entails not just looking at trade in goods, but how the free movement of our people, taking advantage of educational and training opportunities, can in fact prove to be a further impetus to the integration of our people and spur further economic development.

Thus, the pact which came into force from October 1, not only provides for freedom of movement but for real integration for immigrants into the host society, providing not only job opportunities as well as encompassing spouses and children of immigrants. It is true that both Dominica and SVG, as full members of the OECS, already have freedom of movement arrangements between them.

In addition, these two states and Belize have significant historical and cultural links as homelands of the Kalinago and Garifuna people, but this new initiative sets new horizons.

It is critical that one of the founding members of the regional integration movement, Barbados, is fully involved and that its enlightened Prime Minister, Mia Mottley, is in the forefront in educating her people as to the value of this historic step. The other Prime Ministers, including our own, are of course just as involved, but Barbados, given its location, level of economic development and long-standing connections with the islands, neighbouring SVG in particular, is a critical part of the new architecture.

No longer will it be just Barbados providing SVG for instance with Headmasters for the Grammar School or Bishops for the Anglican Church, while we in turn supply unskilled labour and cane cutters for their sugar industry.

The new economic partnership goes both ways with demands for skills on both sides. This is a game changer and despite the views of the naysayers we must make it work. It is in our collective interest to do so and as a living pioneer of the deepening of the integration process, it will serve the interests of all the people of the region. The greater is its success, the better will the entire region be for it.

Praise and thanks to our pioneering leaders and hard working officials for this initiative. We must do our part to ensure that it succeeds and that the vision of Marcus Garvey, Albert Marryshow, Robert Bradshaw and George McIntosh becomes a living reality.

_ Renwick Rose is a Social and Political commentator.