Why do we need a visa?
published: Wednesday | December 14, 2005

THE EDITOR, Sir:

ACCORDING TO new statistics made available recently, the interception of drug mules at our ports and the exportation of drugs from Jamaica have been reduced substantially. I am then calling on the British High Commission to explain why Jamaicans still require a visa to enter Britain. I expect that the Commission may proceed to cite economic reasons or criminal figures, but I would not be willing to accept that nor should anyone else, since there are other economies which are not considered 'first world' but nevertheless their citizens are allowed to enter Britain without a visa. Nor would I accept crime figures as a reason for excluding Jamaicans from visa-free travel to Britain, since other nationals commit crimes as well and, in fact, Jamaicans as a whole are not known to be a terrorist threat to any country.

UNFAIR VISA REGIME

Currently, the visa regime imposed by Britain against Jamaicans is unfair. Similarly, a national of Argentina does not require a visa to enter the U.K. while a Jamaican in Argentina does. Under the current regime, it appears then, that a Jamaican in Argentina would require a visa just for being Jamaican! In light of this fact, we either need the visa regime abolished, or we need to rethink our relations with the Crown!

I am, etc.,

IAN MARTIN

mrland@aol.com

Via Go-Jamaica