Choiseul On The Move

 

AMERICA IS SENDING DEPORTEES TO SAINT LUCIA. WHAT EXACTLY HAVE WE AGREED TO?

There are some issues we cannot just watch pass by because they are happening in Castries and not directly in Choiseul.

This is one of them.

Saint Lucia is preparing to receive its first group of third-country nationals transferred here from the United States under an agreement between our Government and the US Government.

Six persons, five men and one woman, are expected in the first group. We have also been told that Saint Lucia can receive up to 10 persons every three months over the next two years.

Do the maths.

If the programme runs at its maximum, that could amount to as many as 80 persons over the two-year period.

Now before we go any further, there is something we need to get straight.

These people should not automatically be called criminals.

CARICOM has stated that the agreements are intended for the transit of persons without criminal antecedents to their countries of origin, rather than for permanent settlement in Caribbean countries.

That is important.

An immigration violation does not automatically make somebody a murderer, robber, drug dealer or violent criminal.

We have to be fair about that.

But being fair to the people coming here does not mean Saint Lucians must close their eyes, shut their mouths and ask no questions about an arrangement that could have consequences long after the first six persons arrive.

In fact, the more Choiseul on the Move look at this arrangement, the more questions we have.

FIRST QUESTION: WHO EXACTLY ARE WE RECEIVING?

Government says Saint Lucia has the right to accept or reject persons proposed by the United States.

Good.

But how are we checking them?

Are Saint Lucian authorities carrying out their own independent background investigations?

Are international criminal databases being checked?

Are aliases checked?

Are immigration histories checked?

Or are we depending primarily on information handed to us by the United States?

There is a big difference.

If somebody is being removed from America and sent thousands of miles to our little island, I think Saint Lucians have every right to know what level of independent screening takes place before that person gets on the plane.

We don't necessarily need somebody's private medical records or personal information splashed across Facebook.

But we need to know that the system protecting us is solid.

THEN WE HEARD SOMETHING THAT REALLY CAUGHT OUR ATTENTION

Foreign Affairs Minister Alva Baptiste has indicated that these people are not prisoners and will not simply be locked away when they arrive.

Fair enough.

But Government has also spoken about voluntary repatriation and the possibility of supporting those legally able to remain toward integration into Saint Lucian society.

Hold on.

We thought this was a transit arrangement.

CARICOM itself said these agreements were intended to facilitate transit to people's home countries rather than settlement in Caribbean states.

So when did "transit" start including "integration"?

That is where we believe Government owes the country a much clearer explanation.

Because there is a huge difference between somebody spending a few weeks in Saint Lucia while arrangements are made to return him to his country and somebody eventually living and working here.

Those are two completely different things.

AND THIS IS WHERE CHOISEUL/SALTIBUS COMES INTO THE PICTURE

Let us make this clear.

We have found absolutely NO evidence that any of these first six persons are coming to live in Choiseul/Saltibus.

None.

So nobody should leave this article saying Choiseul on the Move reported that American deportees are being placed in Choiseul.

We did not.

But Choiseul/Saltibus is part of Saint Lucia.

And if integration becomes part of this programme, these persons will not necessarily remain in Castries forever.

They could eventually live anywhere.

Choiseul.

Saltibus.

Soufriere.

Laborie.

Vieux Fort.

Gros Islet.

Anywhere.

That is why communities outside Castries should be paying attention to this discussion from NOW.

SUPPOSE SOMEBODY DECIDES TO REMAIN IN SAINT LUCIA?

What happens next?

Can that person work?

Does he receive a work permit?

Can he rent a house wherever he chooses?

Who helps him find accommodation?

Who pays his expenses while he is unemployed?

Does he qualify for healthcare?

What happens if he becomes sick?

What happens if he cannot be returned to his country?

What happens after six months?

One year?

Two years?

Can his family eventually join him?

These are not wild conspiracy theories.

These are ordinary questions that should have ordinary answers when a Government signs an international arrangement involving people being transferred into our country.

AND WHO IS PAYING?

This is another one that interests me.

We have people right here in Choiseul/Saltibus struggling with transportation.

Parents are struggling to send children to school.

People complain about roads.

Young people are looking for work.

Families struggle with the cost of living.

Our police have enough problems already.

Our healthcare system has its own challenges.

So we don't want to hear six months from now that Saint Lucian taxpayers have quietly started picking up expenses associated with an American immigration programme.

The United States is one of the richest countries on earth.

If America needs Saint Lucia to assist with a problem created by American immigration policy, then America should pay the FULL cost of that arrangement.

Accommodation.

Transportation.

Administration.

Healthcare associated with the programme.

Security and screening.

Repatriation.

Everything.

Not 50%.

Not 75%.

Everything.

Our limited resources should remain available to serve the people already living here.

CARICOM itself has said these arrangements should not divert resources and services away from Caribbean citizens.

We should hold everybody to that promise.

BUT THERE IS SOMETHING ELSE BOTHERING US

Today it is six.

The limit is ten per quarter.

What happens tomorrow?

This is how Government needs to explain the agreement to us.

Suppose one of the six cannot return home.

What happens?

Suppose two decide they want to remain.

What happens?

Suppose another group arrives three months later while persons from the first group are still here.

What happens?

Suppose after the two-year pilot America wants the programme expanded.

What happens?

Because this is how temporary programmes sometimes become permanent policy.

That doesn't mean it WILL happen.

It means Government should tell us what safeguards exist to prevent it from happening without proper public and parliamentary scrutiny.

LET US ALSO BE CAREFUL HOW WE TREAT THESE PEOPLE

I know emotions will run high on this issue.

But these six people are human beings.

We do not know their names.

We do not know their stories.

And based on the criteria publicly stated by CARICOM, they are supposed to have no criminal antecedents.

Our blog is not prepared to call somebody a criminal simply because America deported him.

Many Saint Lucians have had immigration problems overseas.

Some have overstayed.

Some have been deported.

That did not automatically make every one of them dangerous people.

We should therefore give these individuals the same human dignity we would want afforded to one of our own relatives being returned from overseas.

But compassion must never replace common sense.

And humanity must never replace proper national security.

We can have both.

CHOISEUL/SALTIBUS SHOULD BE ASKING QUESTIONS TOO

Our Parliamentary Representative and other elected officials should be able to tell constituents what this arrangement means.

Not party talk.

Not red versus yellow.

Information.

Has the full agreement been made public?

Exactly what background checks are conducted?

What nationalities are being accepted?

Where will these persons be accommodated?

How long can they remain?

Can they work?

Can they eventually settle permanently?

Can they live anywhere in Saint Lucia?

Who pays for their accommodation and other needs?

What happens if they cannot be returned home?

And most importantly, what protection is there to ensure that an arrangement beginning with six people does not gradually become something Saint Lucians never agreed to?

Those are reasonable questions.

THIS IS OUR COUNTRY

Saint Lucia should cooperate with our international partners.

America is important to us.

Thousands of Saint Lucians live, work, study and have family connections there.

But partnership does not mean we stop asking questions.

Especially when decisions taken at Cabinet level can eventually reach little communities like ours.

That is why Choiseul/Saltibus should not dismiss this as "something happening up north."

We need to follow it.

We need to know who is coming.

We need to know what the agreement allows.

We need to know what America is paying.

We need to know what "integration" really means.

And we need to know where temporary transit ends and permanent settlement begins.

For now, there is no evidence that these first six persons are criminals and no evidence they are being sent to Choiseul/Saltibus.

Let us not manufacture fear where the facts don't support it.

But neither should we allow those two facts to stop us from asking the harder questions.

Because sometimes the biggest problem is not what happens on Day One.

It is what a small decision becomes five years down the road.

Choiseul on the Move will be watching this one closely.

What are your thoughts? Should Government publish the full agreement so Saint Lucians can see exactly what we have signed up for?