Hilary-Robertson Hickling, Contributor
AS FRANCE smoulders after the fires that have signalled the discontent of French citizens born of migrants from north and west Africa cool, we see that it is time to manage migration. France, Britain, Germany and other countries in Europe invited and lured former colonials and other persons to help to rebuild their war-torn countries after the Second World War. These countries promised new opportunities in multi-cultural societies, there was the promise of tolerance and the rights that the citizens of those countries enjoyed.
For most migrants with brown and black skins the promise has proved to be empty and it is clear that those countries wanted their labour but not the people themselves. This experience is a constant one for the majority of Jamaicans who are indeed black. Now even Cayman is requiring visas of Jamaicans although Jamaicans are reported to constitute half of the expatriate population in the islands.
'BORN FI DEAD'
A Canadian journalist has expressed his disdain for Jamaicans and our 'born fi dead' country. It is amazing that though we have been mainly law-abiding citizens for genera-tions in the U.K., U.S. and Canada for generations there is the pretence that those badly behaved and violent Jamaicans in those countries are typical. While one cannot discount the impact of those murderous elements it appears disingenuous to stereotype Jamaicans in that way. We need to organise our country so that we can stop being taken for the proverbial 'preckeh", or as a laughing stock. That has to come from us getting our house in order. We must ensure that there are enough opportunities in Jamaica for those who want to remain here to build the country and region. We also have to deal severely with our lawless citizens who migrate with their lawlessness and besmirch our country's image. It is a pity that all the Jamaicans living in Cayman could not just stay home for a week to make their absence felt.
I am willing to collaborate with any persons intent on building Jamaica, as the more I travel is the more that I can see the racism which is endemic in these great civilised metropolitan societies.
INDEPENDENT PEOPLE
I long for our county to cease being a mendicant indebted to the IMF and the World Bank. Garvey's ideas are current even today as we struggle to become independent people. I hope that I am alive when we do that and thousands of Jamaicans can return to their homeland instead of being second class citizens in many lands overseas. In spite of the remittances which are helping to keep our country afloat, I know of the high cost which is being wreaked on families, communities and the nation. In spite of the promises of globalisation and the so-called free movement of persons envisioned, we know that we are not wanted.
Human beings seem quite expendable and racist elements in those countries seek to place immigration at the heart of political campaigns. In the U.S., the Mexicans who provide significant human resources for the American economy are caught in the middle of many debates and the hardening of policies with draconian controls. It is going to be necessary for those countries which need migrant labour to rationalise their policies; those generations born in the metropoles will have to fight for their rights.
The world has changed forever and we have to share the same world. People migrate in search of a better life. They leave their homes with great expectations but far too many meet racism disappointment and alienation. The issue which seems to be at the heart of this problem is that Euro-American civilisation is really all about the enrichment of the Europeans and their descendants in the Americas at the expense of all other peoples in the world. The paradox is that globalization is forcing this to change.
Hilary-Robertson Hickling is a lecturer at UWI, Mona
