Delroy Chuck
THE knee-jerk response of the Jamaican government to retaliate and demand visas for Cayman Islands residents to visit is wrong and silly. Yes, it was also wrong for the Cayman Islands to impose visa restrictions on Jamaicans and, worse, to require police clearance. Two wrongs can rarely, if ever, cancel one another. How come the Jamaican government did not respond similarly when the United Kingdom imposed visa requirements recently? No doubt, we believe the Caymanians can be forced to change their posture but not the U.K. government.
We have only ourselves to blame. Jamaicans are viewed as refugees, leaving a crime-infested, poverty-stricken and socially-depraved environment. Just look what we have come to? Little Cayman Islands can ruffle our feathers and with justification. Jamaicans have entered without work permits, overstayed and violate their visitor entry permit. The same happens in other countries, as Jamaicans leave our shores in search of better opportunities abroad. Soon, other Caribbean territories may well treat Jamaicans with disdain and disrespect, which is exactly what happens right here at home.
TREAT OTHERS WELL
Now, if we want others to treat us well, we must start by treating one another well. How do we explain the continuing abuses, brutalities and injustices meted out to citizens by agents of the state? Is it any wonder that we pay out hundreds of millions of dollars, as reported by the Minister of Justice, AJ Nicholson, for compensation to victims of state abuses? More importantly, how are Jamaicans treated in government departments, hospitals and even in their demand for basic services, such as good roads? Are they treated with respect and dignity? Certainly not! Similarly, in our homes and at the workplace, Jamaicans are treated as outsiders, unwanted and second-class citizens, in their own country. How can we expect others to treat us better?
Jamaicans must wake up to the reality that the world does not owe us a good living. We have to make it for ourselves. We need to erase our tainted and deteriorating image. In fact, we are the ones promoting remittances as a major source of revenue and support the concept of exporting our people to earn abroad. We boast of the healthy remittances, perhaps of more than 10 billion US dollars over the past seven or so years, when we should be ashamed of our economic failure to provide the needed jobs and opportunities for our people. It is just not right that our people are forced to migrate and compete with people in their own lands for jobs and benefits. Then, what have the 10 billion dollars in remittances done to make Jamaica a better and attractive place over the past decade?
RESPECT
Our citizens deserve respect and dignity. Yet, it can only come if we promote them, not only by preaching and exhortation but by action and development. They will not come by promoting begging and borrowing. They will not come when the cries for justice, peace and hope are unanswered and ignored. The surest and easiest way for any human being to gain respect and achieve human dignity is to have the means to take care of himself, his children and extended family. A man without a job or the economic means to look after himself cannot preserve the little respect and dignity he possesses. When Jamaicans have to beg, in whatever form or place, it is demeaning and belittling. The mendicancy of our government, begging for trade preferences, oil deals and bilateral grants, and moving across the globe with its begging and borrowing bowls are eagerly adopted by our people at the stoplights and street corners.
PROUD CITIZENS
We can learn from others. The citizens of small countries like Barbados, Bermuda, Cayman Islands and Singapore are not treated like pariahs abroad. When they travel to distant lands, they do not need visas in most countries and are not harassed and despised. They are proud citizens of their countries and respected at home and abroad. How did they achieve that status? They did so by developing their countries, growing their economy, providing jobs and choices for their people, educating and enhancing their people's skills and qualifications, and respecting the rights and dignity of every citizen.
The strong-arm tactics of our government, or its tit for tat response to visa restrictions, will achieve nothing worthwhile. Let us look into the mirror and ask if the respect and dignity we deserve should not start at home before we demand them abroad.
Delroy Chuck is an
attorney-at-law and Member of Parliament. He can be contacted by email at delchuck@hotmail.com.
