Hyacinth Jones, president of the Mandeville Returning Residents Association. -Ian Allen/Staff Photographer

Howard Campbell, Gleaner Writer

IN AUGUST 2005, Hyacinth Jones and her husband arrived at the Norman Manley Inter-national Airport from a visit to England, when they noticed a car following them from Kingston to their home in Manchester.

The Joneses, returning residents who lived in the United Kingdom for over 30 years, said the man tailing them approached her party when they reached home and introduced himself as a long-time friend of their driver.

"I noticed that our driver moved away because he was frightened, so I said, 'get the hell out of my house!' because he wanted to take up our suitcases," Mrs. Jones related during a recent Gleaner Editors' Forum in Mandeville. "I said I was going to call the police, and as soon as I said that he was gone."

Families returning

The Joneses were lucky. Two other families returning from the UK on the same flight were reportedly robbed.

Cynthia Cummings, who moved back to her home parish of St. Elizabeth in 1995 after 34 years in the UK, said her family has also been targeted by criminals.

"I was robbed in the first three months, I was staying with my parents in Santa Cruz," she recalled. "They set the house alight and robbed us."

She added, however, that she did not believe the incident was aimed at her, reasoning that her father, a grocer, might have been the main target.

Many returning residents living in central Jamaica, are terrified by crime. Their families in the UK are just as worried.

"I have a brother in England who rings me every week because they are very concerned," Mrs. Jones said. "They say, 'pack up and come'."

Not giving up

The Joneses show no intention of giving up, however, directing their energy towards providing leader-ship in the face of adversity, instead.

Sergeant Paulette Knight of the Mandeville police said to date this year, there has been only one reported case of crime against a returning resident in Manchester. Toward the end of late 2005 and throughout 2006, she said there were nine reported cases.

Sergeant Knight said criminals usually track 'returnees' to the post office or bank whenever they think they are about to collect, or cash, pension cheques.

Superintendent Michael James, then head of the Manchester Police Division, pointed to a number of factors why returnees are prey to criminals. One is, many find it difficult getting accustomed to a Jamaica overrun by urban crime.

Police adjusting

"If you left Jamaica when the environment was peaceful or tacit and you came back to find an environment that is turbulent or violent, then you have challenges," he reasoned. "The same thing can be said about our police adjusting to the needs of the returning community whose expectations are consistent with where they are coming from."

Sergeant Knight said the police, through their parish community thrust, have regular meetings with returned residents and neighbourhood groups. They have forged a relationship with 'returnees' who are given safety tips and made aware of the obstacles parish police face.

At the two-day Diaspora Conference at the Jamaica Conference Centre in downtown Kingston last year, several Jamaican senior citizens living in the UK and the United States, cited the country's relentless crime rate as the main reason for them not returning home.

Many returning residents who live in neighbouring parishes of Clarendon, Manchester and St. Elizabeth, have formed organisations that address their concerns. They also do charity work in their communities.