JAMAICA will be repatriating the 62 Haitian boat people who arrived in two fishing boats on the island’s east coast on Tuesday. Daryl Vaz, the Government’s chief spokesman, told reporters Thursday at a press briefing at Jamaica House in the nation’s capital, Kingston, that plans were being made to have the Haitians sent home within a few weeks.
Three of the 62 Haitians, who are said to be prison escapees, are to be returned to police in their country.
Days after the January 12 earthquake that killed more than 200,000 people and left a trail of destruction in the impoverished French-speaking Caribbean island, Jamaica had promised to land Haitians fleeing their country and care for them until conditions had improved in their homeland.
However, the Jamaican Government, faced with several economic challenges of its own, is now singing a different song.
Vaz, the Cabinet minister without portfolio with responsibility for information, said Thursday that the country will not be able to host the asylum seekers for any extended period of time.
“Jamaica is facing its challenges like the rest of the world…,” Vaz told reporters. He cited financial constraints as one of the reasons for the decision, noting that it would cost Jamaica $9 million to host the Haitians for one week, as well as transportation cost to return them home.
“We are cognisant of all of the challenges people are facing in Haiti, but we have to be responsible in terms of our responsibility to our Jamaican people,” said Vaz. “(With) the times and the situation that we are facing, it is difficult for us to continue spending funds that we could be spending here on very essential services.”
In the meantime, the Port Antonio Seventh-Day Adventist Church, where the Haitians are now being housed, has agreed to allow the displaced Haitians to stay there for two-and-a-half weeks.
By Esteban Israel
HAVANA, Cuba (Reuters) — When a recent flight from Miami touched down at Havana’s Jose Marti Airport, a passenger shouted “Viva Cuba!” in a show of the enthusiasm Cuban Americans have for returning to their homeland.
Since President Barack Obama lifted restrictions last year on their visits to Cuba aiming to increase people-to-people contact, they are coming in such numbers that Cuba has had to remodel the airport terminal for US flights.
The immediate beneficiaries are the eight US-based charter services who operate the only flights allowed from the United States and who say business is booming.
The only foreseeable fly in the ointment, they say, is the US government’s inclusion of Cuba in countries where US-bound passengers must undergo extra screening, which Cuba has protested.
The charter companies say direct flights by Cuban Americans to their homeland skyrocketed 70 percent in 2009 and are expected to jump another 36 percent this year.
Cuban officials recently said about 250,000 Cuban exiles visited the island from the United States in 2009 up from an estimated 170,000 the year before, when many found a way around the old restrictions by traveling through third countries.
Obama, who has said he wants better relations with Cuba, lifted restrictions imposed under President George W. Bush that limited Cuban Americans to one visit home every three years.
The result, said Armando Garcia, president of Miami-based Marazul Charters, “has been a tremendous growth and 2010 looks incredible.”
“I would say we will reach 300,000 passengers just from the US (this year),” he told Reuters.
Garcia and other operators said they were scheduling more flights to meet demand. In March, a total of about 250 flights were scheduled from Miami, New York and Los Angeles, up from 170 a month last year, the operators said.
The United States has imposed a trade embargo against Cuba since 1962, which still prevents most Americans from visiting the island 90 miles (145 km) from Florida.
But there are an estimated 1.5 million Cuban exiles in the United States, a big enough market that charter operators are interested in flying from more cities, including Fort Lauderdale, Tampa, Key West and Jacksonville in Florida and Las Vegas.
The Obama administration sent a chill through the Cuba charter industry in January when it included Cuba among 14 countries where extra security, including a pat down, is required for U.S.-bound passengers due to terrorism concerns.
Despite its protests, Cuba has been on the US State Department’s list of terrorism-sponsoring countries since 1982.
The Cuban government reacted angrily, calling in the chief US diplomat in Havana to deliver a note of protest and saying it would “categorically reject this new hostile action.”
Charter operators say so far the measures have not been enacted and they are hoping Cuba’s airport security is sufficient to keep the US government from shutting down the flights.
“Even before the rule came out Cuba had a very high level of security for people leaving the country,” said Tom L. Cooper, owner of Gulfstream International Airlines.
“It appears to me to be fully compliant and we are not foreseeing any problem whatsoever either going to Cuba or coming from Cuba.”
One US transportation official in Washington told Reuters all indications suggest Cuba does comply with security standards set by the International Civil Aviation Organization, but declined to comment on the new security measures.
John Kavulich, senior adviser at the US-Cuba Trade and Economic Council in New York, thinks it unlikely Washington will make an exception for Cuba unless it faces mounting pressure from Cuban exiles annoyed with the requested pat downs.
With Cuban Americans emerging as Cuba’s second-largest source of visitors after Canadians, Kavulich said he expects Cuba will somehow accommodate the new regulations to keep the flights, and the money they bring in, coming.
Cuban Americans are an important source of dollars for the communist regime as it deals with the global economic downturn.
“They will comply in a meaningful way because the revenue stream is pretty significant and important,” he said.
BY EVERARD OWEN Observer correspondent
Wednesday, March 24, 2010
MANCHIONEAL, Portland – Sixty-two Haitians arrived in two boats in this east Portland district early yesterday morning, triggering speculation, held since the January 12 earthquake that destroyed Port-au-Prince, that Jamaica would experience an influx of refugees.
Fishermen and the Port Antonio Marine Police reported that they saw the first boatload of Haitians at about 3:00 am off the Manchioneal coast. The group, consisting of 24 men, six women and five children, was taken to the Manchioneal courthouse where they were processed by the police and fed by members of the Manchioneal community.
Five hours later, the Marine Police reported seeing another boat with Haitians off the Manchioneal coast. However, due to choppy seas they had to beach their 20-foot boat — named Ebenezer #4 Anzdeno — at Winnifred Beach.
This group consisted of 24 men, two women and one child.
“It was about three o’clock in the morning and it was dark as we were going fishing and we saw the boat in the sea so we called out to them,” said fisherman Errol Richards. “We threw a rope out to them to help them and we then called the police and they came, so we took them in. One of them spoke a little English.”
Denroy Palmer, who lives in Manchioneal and who spearheaded a community effort to refresh the Haitians, said: “We should respond to crisis and that is what we are doing until the other authorities come in. We have been doing this over the time they have been coming. We gave them a change of clothes and something hot to drink so they can be refreshed.”
The January 12 magnitude-7 earthquake killed over 200,000 people, injured tens of thousands and left millions homeless. It also destroyed much of Port-au-Prince, triggering a worldwide relief effort.
Jamaica was one of the first countries to respond to Haiti’s need for assistance, sending medical and military personnel, as well as tonnes of relief supplies. Jamaicans have also donated millions of dollars to the relief effort, and speculation was rife here in the days immediately after the earthquake that Haitians fleeing the devastation would end up on Jamaican shores.
That concern included a security component as approximately 3,000 convicts had escaped when the quake destroyed Port-au-Prince’s main prison.
Yesterday, the Jamaican police said they were fully prepared to monitor the movement of the Haitians, as they would be housed in a section of Port Antonio prepared for that purpose.
“We have been travelling on the sea seven days. We left Wednesday,” said one of the Haitians.
When asked if they were heading for the United States he said: “Wherever.”
They were taken to the Fair Prospect Health Centre where they were processed and then moved to the Seventh-Day Adventist Church in Port Antonio.
“As soon as they arrived we made sure that they were screened and given the necessary humanitarian treatment and they will be accommodated at the Port Antonio Seventh-Day Adventist Church for about two weeks the most,” said Denise Lewis, the Office of Disaster Preparedness and Emergency Management’s parish disaster co-ordinator.
ST JOHN’S, Antigua, CMC – A man wanted in the United States to answer to charges including attempted murder, has waived his right to extradition proceedings, saying he wants to go to the US to defend charges against him.
Weston Gordon appeared before Senior Magistrate Asquith Riviere in the All Saints Magistrates’ Court on Tuesday when his attorney George Lake notified the court of his decision.
Director of Public Prosecutions Anthony Armstrong did not oppose Gordon’s waiver of his extradition rights.
Senior Magistrate Riviere said having examined and reviewed the request of the US government for Gordon’s extradition and all other relevant documents, he is satisfied that the offences for which the man is charged are extraditable crimes under section 9 of the Extradition Act No.12 of 1993.
Riviere said he is satisfied that there is evidence to support the request, which he added would be sufficient if the crimes had taken place in this country.
The magistrate said since Gordon has waived his right, there was no reason to satisfy him that the extradition should be prohibited.
Riviere later committed Gordon to be extradited to the US pending the decision from Prime Minister Baldwin Spencer in his capacity as Minister of External Affairs.
In addition to the attempted murder charge, Gordon has been slapped with four counts of aggravated assault and one count of being in possession of a weapon for unlawful purposes.
The US government is alleging that in September 2005, in New Jersey, Gordon accosted the complainant. Earl Matthias.
Matthias and his 14-year-old son were reportedly in a store when Gordon approached them and an argument ensued over outstanding monies. Gordon allegedly pulled a knife and stabbed Matthias twice in the stomach.
Gordon, an ex-police officer, was arrested and was granted bail but failed to show up for his trial on July 17, 2006. He subsequently left the US for his homeland.
Lake said at the time Gordon left the US jurisdiction he did not have the necessary immigration status to remain in that country.
Q: There is a lot of talk in the news about your embassy revoking the visas of Jamaican citizens. I am sure I have nothing to worry about myself, but I am still curious — can you explain why visas are revoked and the actual process of revocation? Is there any way to check on the status of my visa, just in case?
A: All countries’ ability to revoke a visa is an important tool in the effort to ensure that foreign citizens only travel to the intended country for the purposes for which they are authorised to travel. In essence, any country can revoke any visa when it is determined that the holder no longer qualifies for the visa.
According to United States immigration law, the decision to revoke an individual’s visa is done on a case-by-case basis according to the facts of each particular visa holder’s situation. The decision to revoke a visa is not political nor is it an instrument of foreign policy. It is based solely on the application of United States immigration law, regarding a particular individual’s continued eligibility for a visa which (s)he has already been issued.
Who has the authority to revoke a visa?
Under section 221(i) of the US Immigration and Nationality Act, the only people authorised to revoke a visa are consular officers at US embassies and the Secretary of State in Washington, DC. It is important, however, not to confuse revocation with cancellation. Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) officials have the authority to cancel a visa at the port-of-entry if they deem the visa holder to be inadmissable. This is because a visa only grants the holder the right to apply for entry into the United States at the port-of-entry; a visa does not grant the holder the right to enter the country — that can only be done by an officer of the CBP. When a visa is cancelled at the port-of-entry by CBP officials, the inteding traveller is sent back to the country of origin where he or she may reapply for a new visa at the US Embassy.
Under what circumstances is a visa revoked?
The fact a visa has been revoked does not necessarily indicate something negative about the visa holder, nor does it mean that the visa holder will never be able to obtain another visa. It only means that subsequent to the issuance of a visa, evidence came to light to suggest that the visa holder may be ineligible to retain that visa under the laws of the United States. A consular officer may revoke a non-immigrant visa under various circumstances, including, but not limited to, the following:
* The visa holder has been issued an immigrant visa;
* The visa has been physically removed from the passport in which it was issued;
* The visa holder is ineligible to enter the United States for reasons relating to health, public safety, and national security; or
* The visa holder no longer qualifies for the visa they were issued.
Many of the visas revoked at the embassy are revoked after a visa holder has died, in order to prevent future misuse of the visa by a third party. Even if a visa is revoked because information came to light to suggest a visa holder was either ineligible to enter the United States or no longer qualified for the visa, that person is not necessarily barred from applying for or obtaining another visa.
To protect the national interest of the United States, visas may be revoked promptly after information becomes available that refutes a visa holder’s eligibility to hold a visa under US law. After a visa is revoked, consular officers rely on the visa application process to resolve any outstanding issues, should the visa holder wish to reapply. If the visa holder does reapply for a visa, a consular officer will carefully screen his application and make a definitive determination of eligibility. This includes reviewing whether the grounds for revocation were inaccurate or if the circumstances surrounding the revocation have changed, either of which may result in the issuance of a new visa.
What is the process for revoking a visa?
According to regulations, once a consular officer decides to revoke a visa the officer must, if practicable:
* Notify the visa holder of the intention to revoke the visa;
* Allow the visa holder the opportunity to show why the visa should not be revoked; and
* Request the visa holder present the passport in which the visa was issued for physical cancellation.
Most visa revocations occur at the embassy, where all three requirements are easily met during an in-person interview. When a revocation takes place at the State Department in Washington, DC, however, the Department notifies the local embassy of the action so that officers at the consular section can notify the former visa holder. When a visa is being — or has been — revoked without the visa holder present, every effort is made to contact the individual to inform them of the decision. Once notified by the State Department of such an action, embassy officials do not delay in trying to notify the person involved. When contacted, that person is asked to present their passport at the embassy so that the visa can be physically cancelled. The failure of the visa holder to bring in the visa for physical cancellation, however, does not affect the validity of the revocation.
Since a thorough effort is made to contact every visa holder who has had their visa revoked, any current visa holder who has not been contacted by the embassy should assume that their visa is still valid. Due to the sheer number of visa holders in Jamaica, the embassy is not in a position to respond to any inquiries regarding the status of a particular visa.
The Department of State regulations relating to visa revocations can be found in the Department’s Foreign Affairs Manual, at 9 FAM 41.122. The Foreign Affairs Manual is available for public viewing at the State Department’s website, www.state.gov.
The American Embassy staff in Kingston will answer any questions you may have regarding US consular law, regulations and/or practice. In order to respect the privacy of applicants, the embassy will not answer questions on specific personal applications.
BY GFBC Staff: A wah do dem???? The US has Jamaica, under satellite surveillance, “unuh tek dis ting fe joke. “Dudus” is a precedent take the World Bank and IMF money and the US a trak unuh, TG unda surveillance for real…. CARICOM unuh learn fe fend fah unno sef.
TIVOLI Gardens, the tough West Kingston base of Christopher ‘Dudus’ Coke, is under satellite surveillance by United States authorities who are determined to have Coke extradited to answer drug- and gun-running charges in New York, the Sunday Observer has learnt.
According to a security expert with knowledge of the operation, the US has powerful audio and video evidence of activities involving Coke, as well as several Government officials, including members of the legislature, inside the Tivoli Gardens community centre.
ROSEAU, Dominica, CMC – Caribbean Community (CARICOM) citizens are likely to begin using a new travel card from July 1 this year after regional leaders signed the document allowing for its implementation during the intersessional summit that ended in Dominica late on Friday.
The CARICOM Travel Card (CARIPASS) Treaty will allow for passengers being electronically processed through immigration checkpoints in keeping with a growing trend in the international arena.
CARIPASS would entitle current holders of passports issued by the 15-member CARICOM grouping and legal residents, who are 16 years and over, to become part of a trusted traveler regime once they have been deemed eligible.
Under the system, CARIPASS holders would be expeditiously processed through specially designed self-service gates at airports and eventually seaports and could proceed directly to Baggage Arrival and Customs Halls.
The cards are alternative travel documents for regional travel and are valid for periods of one or three years at a cost to be determined according to international norms.
The travel card (CARIPASS) will be issued at national passport and immigration headquarters and is being designed to assist the frequent regional traveler in avoiding long immigration lines at the airport.
Executive Director of the CARICOM Implementation Agency for Crime and Security (IMPACS), Lynne Anne Williams, told reporters that the CARIPASS Treaty come into effect Friday with the signature of the leaders of six member states.
She said once the module legislation as proposed by the CARICOM Secretariat is accepted by their national parliaments “it is envisaged that the card would become operational by the beginning of Julyâ€.
She said that a marketing and promotional campaign will be launched within the next few weeks so as to give Caribbean nationals more information on the new initiative.
CARIPASS was one of the agenda items at the recently concluded Ninth meeting of the Council of Ministers of National Security (CONSLE) held in Antigua.
Besides CARIPASS, CONSLE referred to the regional government a number of issues relating to the upcoming International Cricket Council (ICC) World 20/20 competition to be held in the Caribbean in May.
WASHINGTON, United States, March 3, 2010 – Migration is taking a toll on nursing care in the Caribbean’s countries.
According to a new World Bank report, nursing shortages across the region are limiting access and quality of health services and affecting the Caribbean’s competitiveness. And the Washington-based institution has advised countries to work harder at training and retaining these health care professionals.
The report released yesterday, ‘The Nurse Labor and Education Markets in the English-Speaking CARICOM – Issues and Options for Reform’, said the region is facing a rapidly growing shortage of nurses as demand for quality health care increases due to an aging population, and high numbers of nurses take up higher paying jobs in Canada, the United Kingdom and the United States.
The report said the situation may compromise the ability of English-speaking CARICOM countries to meet their key health care service needs, especially in the areas of disease prevention and care.
The World Bank estimates that there are 7,800 nurses working in the English-speaking CARICOM.
Evangeline Javier, Sector Director for Human Development in the World Bank’s Latin America and Caribbean region said “our research suggests English-speaking countries in the Caribbean must adopt policies that aim to train more and at the same time retain quality nurses.â€
World Bank Sector Leader for Human Development and lead author of the report, Christoph Kurowski, has advised Caribbean nations to examine their policy responses towards the migration of health workers.
“Ideally, countries in the region should adopt a joined approach that balances the rights and interests of nurses and governments, as well as poorer and richer countries within the broader framework of the Caribbean Single Market Economy,†he said.
It is projected that in the coming years, demand for nurses will increase due to the health needs of the aging population. In fact, the World Bank expects that unmet demand for nurses will more than triple during the next 15 years – from 3,300 nurses in 2006 to 10,700 nurses in 2025.
At the same time, data suggests that the number of English-speaking CARICOM-trained nurses working in Canada, the UK and the US is about 21,500, that’s three times higher than the workforce in the region.
The new World Bank report also points to high demand for nurse education but low completion rates – 55 percent – as a challenge and opportunity in tackling nurse shortages.
Having more nurse tutors available, maximizing completion rates and accepting more students into programmes would significantly bolster the number of new nurses entering the health system, it said.
The key policy recommendations outlined in the report are that Caribbean countries should increase training capacity; managing migrating by taking steps such as leveraging the expatriate community, mentoring, staff exchange, and codes of practice for international recruitment; and join forces and adopt a regional approach to increasing training capacity, managing migration and strengthening the evidence-base, if possible, with technical and financial support from countries where a large part of their nurse workforce will tend to migrate, Canada, the UK and the US.
The English-speaking CARICOM countries studied for the report included Antigua and Barbuda, Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Dominica, Grenada, Guyana, Jamaica, Montserrat, St Kitts and Nevis, St Lucia, St Vincent and the Grenadines, and Trinidad and Tobago.
PROVIDENCIALES, Turks and Caicos Islands, CMC – A major backlog of applications has been blamed for a decision to temporarily suspension of the processing permanent residence certificates in this British Overseas Territory.
Permanent secretary in the Ministry of Border Control and Labour, Clara Gardiner, told the Caribbean Media Corporation (CMC) that the hold on receipt and processing of new applications will take effect from February 26 and continue until May 31.
“This was due to a significant backlog of cases that have been in the system for a number of years,†Gardiner said.
She explained that under “ideal circumstances†the process of issuing permanent resident certificates would take “two to three months†but because of some administrative changes, many applications have not been processed.
A government statement said while the hold is in effect “only completed applications received on or before February 26, 2010 will be processedâ€.
The British government last year resumed day-to-day control of the Turks and Caicos Islands, located to the south east of the Bahamas and north of Haiti, amidst widespread allegations of corruption involving local government officials.
By RUKMINI CALLIMACHI, Associated Press Writer Rukmini Callimachi, Associated Press
DAKAR, Senegal – Senegal is offering free land to Haitians wishing to “return to their origins” following this week’s devastating earthquake, which has destroyed the capital and buried thousands of people beneath rubble.
Senegal’s octogenarian President Abdoulaye Wade told a meeting of his advisers that Haitians are the sons and daughters of Africa, because the country was founded by slaves, including some believed to have come from Senegal.
“The president is offering voluntary repatriation to any Haitian that wants to return to their origin,” said Wade’s spokesman Mamadou Bemba Ndiaye late Saturday following the president’s announcement.
“Senegal is ready to offer them parcels of land — even an entire region. It all depends on how many Haitians come. If it’s just a few individuals, then we will likely offer them housing or small pieces of land. If they come en masse we are ready to give them a region,” he said.
He stressed that Wade had insisted that if a region is handed over it should be in a fertile area — not in the country’s parched deserts.
Senegal, a nation of 14 million roughly the size of South Dakota, is considered one of the most stable and developed in the sub-region. Still nearly half of working-age adults are unemployed and the country has been burdened by high food prices, frequent blackouts and spiraling energy costs.
Many have criticized Wade for being a dreamer, proposing lofty projects that do little to alleviate poverty or address endemic corruption. Others see him as a statesman who dares to have a vision for Africa.
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