Robert Buddan

For 104 days from February 1 to May 15, 10 CARICOM states will comprise a Single Domestic Space (SDS). This effectively means that the right to enter one country gives a right to enter all the other nine. People will be able to travel as freely across the 10 islands as a Jamaican travels from Kingston to Montego Bay, except of course that they will be subject to each country's immigration and national laws.

The SDS spreads across Antigua/Barbuda, Barbados, Dominica, Grenada, Guyana, Jamaica, St. Kitts/Nevis, St. Lucia, St. Vincent/Grenadines and Trinidad/Tobago. The SDS has been created for the Cricket World Cup (CWC). It is often said that nothing brings Caribbean people together like cricket. We can now say that nothing has brought more freedom to the Caribbean like cricket has. For 'Caribbeanists', this temporary arrangement is a glimpse of what the future should be.

Ease on travel

The Deputy Prime Minister of Barbados, Mia Mottley, said, "The first of February represents the coming of age of a wish and desire on the part of Caribbean people to haveease of travel through the territories of the region." She was right. But the significance of the SDS goes beyond ease of travel or freedom of movement for labour in a single market. It is about becoming a real community.

The Caribbeanist sees the region as a civilization of its own. The SDS is not permanent, but for the Caribbeanist, it confirms that there is enough that is common between the islands to have made it possible at all, without any political divisions or claim that it is a backdoor to federation.

The SDS symbolises what Caribbeanists believe exists, a common identity, a natural unity, and a regional community, rare among ten or more states anywhere else in the world.

The SDS is the best example of the distinction that Prime Minister Simpson Miller made between an 'imagined community' and a real community. The 'imagined community', as one famous scholarly book describes it, is held together in great part by myth and convenience of interests. But the real community is bonded together within the same cultural fabric. There is no 'clash of civilization', as another famous scholar wrote of other countries, but a seamlessness of culture, made richer by its national variations.

GLOBAL S PACE AND REGIONAL PEACE

There is a global space that cricket will create as well. Fourteen CARICOM countries and 11 non-Caribbean countries and their dependent territories will not require a CARICOM Special Visa to move around. They will require what their governments say they should have, such as the new passports that the U.S. Government says its citizens must have. It is not CARICOM that is restricting anyones legitimate movement. It is their own country for their own reasons.

But as we share our space we must ensure our peace. This is a space in which, hopefully, countries of different civilisations can relax their tensions, put politics, race and religion aside and enjoy cricket. The SDS is a space of friendship, which was not always possible in previous world cups. The tournaments in Asia (India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka) and Africa (South Africa, Kenya and Zimbabwe) saw boycotts of certain countries out of fear that civil conflicts and political differences would affect the players.

Yet, even then, cricket won. When Australia and the West Indies ill-advisedly refused to play in Sri Lanka (1996), Pakistan, India and Sri Lankan players played a friendly match without incident. When England and New Zealand boycotted matches in Zimbabwe (2003) more for political reasons than any other, other countries played there, again without incident. No country had boycotted matches in England in 1999 despite the Northern Ireland problem. Thankfully, there is no reason to boycott any of the nine Caribbean host countries because the region has no political, racial, or religious war that poses a threat to any playing country.

Still, as Minister of National Security, Peter Phillips said, the events of September 11, 2001 changed everything. When the final of the 2003 tournament was being played, the United States started the war against Iraq. This war and the 9/11 attack, have forced the Caribbean to be especially security conscious about this world cup. The clash of civilizations has cast a shadow over our Single Domestic Space and the enjoyment of freedom within that space. Hopefully, its shadow will pale against the light of cricketing friendship. But we have to be prepared.

We have started on the right foot. The SDS came into effect with hardly a glitch, so much so that people were largely unaware of it. In fact, the Advanced Passenger Information System, introduced to speed up passenger movement while improving detection, will help governments to fight crime. CARICOM has a watch list of people in place who have been deported, asked to leave a country or been convicted of serious criminal offenses. Mia Mottley, Chair of the CARICOM Sub-Committee on Security for CWC said that 17 CARICOM Visa applications had already been denied out of 7,000 received within a week of the launch of the SDS.

In addition to immigration checks and the CARICOM Special Visa, CARICOM has established a number of security arrangements, including many new ones specifically for the Cricket World Cup.

The CARICOM Regional Task Force on Crime and Security was established in 2001 to deal with illicit drugs, firearms and terrorism. Its representatives include those from the Regional Security System, the Association of Caribbean Commissioners of Police and the Caribbean Financial Action Task Force.

The CARICOM Implementation Agency for Crime and Security was established in 2006 as a permanent entity and management nerve centre for the implementation of the agenda of the Task Force. Its current focus is on securing the region against crime during the world cup.

The International Support Advisory Group is made up of 10 countries and several international organisations that offer support for the world cup in security, health and planning for natural disasters. It is working to provide support for public safety and security for the world cup.

The CARICOM Ministerial Sub-Committee on Resource Mobilisation for Crime and Security represents ministers of national security in CARICOM states. Jamaica's Minister of National Security, Dr. Peter Phillips, chairs it. Dr. Phillips has held a range of important discussions with political leaders and military personnel from several countries, including the United States, United Kingdom, Canada and France. The Sub-Committee has briefed the Inter-American Defense Board about security arrangements.

Vigilance has to be exercised over the Single Domestic Space to protect freedom, which cannot be taken for granted. Jamaica, for instance, is located near the Miami-Cuban corridor and within the Jamaica-Haiti-Dominican Republic triangle, two potential trouble spots.

This is a learning experience for the region and lessons learned will be vital for managing freedom beyond the Cricket World Cup when we establish our single market and economy. The better we manage security the more confidence wecan have to make the single domestic space permanent at some future time and realize the dream of Caribbeanists.

Robert Buddan lectures in the Department of Government, Mona, UWI. Email: Robert.Buddan@uwimona.edu.jm