The aphorism 'just when you think things can't get any worse, it will', seems applicable to Jamaica's attempts at grappling with the challenges posed by the deportation of thousands of persons from the United States, Canada and Britain.

With Britain facing what it sees as its own crisis of a spike in the number of foreigners in its jails, the government of Prime Minister Gordon Brown has enunciated plans to send back over 1,400 Jamaicans convicted of crimes in the United Kingdom, to complete the rest of their sentences here. It is unclear from the reports published yesterday, what the status of these Jamaicans are in Britain.

A clarification of this point is needed, we believe, since it has become the practice of deporting countries to send back persons who often have only tenuous links with Jamaica, and sometimes none at all, beyond the fact that they were born here and may have left as infants. At other times, the link seems to be that they are of Jamaican parentage. In effect, Jamaica becomes a dumping ground for their home-grown problems. We have also had cases of persons being sent back here who are not Jamaicans.

This, of course, is not to deny that many of our compatriots have been involved in extensive crimes, including narcotics trading and murders.

At present, there are some arrangements under which Jamaican authorities are supplied with information about deportees who have already completed their sentences, to determine if they are also wanted locally on criminal charges. If they are, then they face the prospect of more jail-time. Organisations like the Salvation Army and Food For the Poor have been offering some immediate assistance. But this is hardly adequate in the absence of a more comprehensive policy. Jamaica, in fact, is faced with an immediate prospect of potentially exacerbating its already high crime problem.

With hundreds of these adults, mostly men, falling into the category of social misfits each year; and with many not likely to find employment soon - assuming they are interested - the situation is ripe for a further deterioration in social stability.

Yet, we can hardly fault the British for wanting to rid themselves of a costly headache. Perhaps in the discussions between the two governments, new avenues should be explored to consider intermediary measures that may be implemented to reduce the social risks to either country. That, of course, may be wishful thinking.

The British seem to be following the policy of the United States which, as far back as 2002, made it clear that it had no mandate, funds or interest in helping to resettle criminal deportees. They did offer help in working out a monitoring system, however.

The Jamaican state lacks the capacity to effectively monitor the number of deportees sent back each year, so that, realistically, we must expect a fair number to fall off the radar. Those who are inclined to pursue a life of criminality will merely have greater opportunities to transfer new skills and techniques to the local situation.

With Jamaica's prisons already overcrowded, this is but one more headache with which the Jamaican government will have to contend. A possible respite in the current scenario would be for Caribbean governments to mount a more vigorous lobby, insisting that only persons with legitimate links to the region be sent back here. It does not offer much breathing space, but it is one that should be pursued.