Jamaica is leading on the Haiti issue
Dear Editor,
I do not believe that the best way to assist is to allow the Haitians who have turned up on our shores illegally to stay.
International law on refugees and migrants must be observed scrupulously by the Jamaican authorities. Those who qualify for asylum or other humanitarian accommodations should be allowed to stay in Jamaica if they so desire; however, there should not be a blanket offer of asylum.
There appears to be much ignorance of the role Jamaica has played and is currently playing in assisting our Haitian brothers. While allowing Haitian refuges to stay in Jamaica may seem like the morally correct thing to do, it is only a palliative! It feels good for our conscience, it relieves those who braved the seas to arrive on our shores, but it does nothing to resolve the problem for the 11 million Haitians who remain in an unstable and insecure state.
Thankfully we have a conscious and savvy prime minister who has demonstrated that he understands these matters. Andrew Holness has, in fact, stepped up and has been leading the region’s response on Haiti.
In fact, I believe he has committed too much of his time to the Haiti situation. He was the first to come out and offer tangible help to Haiti; he was the first to lead a mission to Haiti; he pushed Caricom to establish a meditative mechanism for Haitian stakeholders; he has hosted the Haitian stakeholders in Kingston; he has been working with the UN Secretary General António Guterres to develop a response plan for Haiti and he has presented the plight of Haiti to the UN Security Council in trying to secure UN Security Council resolutions for a humanitarian and security intervention.
The best way to help the people of Haiti is to help them come to a political solution in their country. This means diplomatic effort, security support, and institutional capacity-building. This appears to be the direction of Jamaica’s foreign policy on Haiti. There is no immediate gratification using this approach, it requires patience and considerable husbandry of the process; however, it usually yields a more lasting peace.
Jamaica is, in fact, leading on Haiti.
Bernard Headley
bernard.headley@yahoo.com
