NEW YORK, United States — A pall of gloom already darkening prospects for the 10th Biennial Conference of the Global Jamaica Diaspora Council (GJDC), set for June this year, spread ominously after a duelling group of Jamaicans formally registered itself by a similar domain name.

Unless something dramatic changes, two Global Jamaica Diaspora Councils will battle for the hearts and minds of Jamaicans, dispersed mainly across the United States, the United Kingdom and Canada, for supremacy over the June 16-19 conference set for the north coast resort city of Montego Bay, St James.

Some in the group want the conference boycotted entirely, while others prefer to stage an alternative gathering on the same dates at the same venue — Montego Bay Conference Centre — insiders tell the Jamaica Observer.

The latest development comes in the wake of protest demonstrations earlier this year — spearheaded by Dr Rupert Francis with backing from attorney Wilfred Rattigan, a former Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) special agent — to force the Jamaican Government to engage more with the Diaspora on issues such as corruption, crime, violence, and the need for improvements to the island’s health-care system.

Tension between the Government and the group of nationals heightened last Thursday when it emerged that the name Global Jamaica Diaspora Council, which the Government recognises, had been registered in the US by an opposing faction.

“The registration took place in the state of Florida, and we are now moving to have it registered in other states as well as with the Internal Revenue Service [IRS],” said a member of the group who was authorised to speak anonymously to the Observer.

The spokesperson was confident that “once registration with the IRS is completed, current office holders of the [official] Global Jamaica Diaspora Council will no longer be able to operate as such”.

Worried about the adverse impact that the impasse could have on the 10th biennial conference, the Jamaican foreign ministry on Friday, one day after the registration, threatened legal action and expressed “grave concern” over distribution of promotional material bearing a striking resemblance to the ministry’s official communication for this conference”.

In a press statement, the ministry accused those responsible of clearly intending “to sow confusion and mislead members of the Diaspora”.

“This purported parallel Diaspora conference is in no way associated with the ministry, and has been organised without any consultation or endorsement from the ministry, or the legacy partners, or sponsors associated with Diaspora engagement,” it said.

The ministry called for a cessation of the offending promotional material, especially for the biennial conference, promising that “further use may prompt legal action from the ministry”.

But pushing ahead, the group also released a flyer promoting an upcoming protest against the Government in Manhattan, New York, on May 10, 2024, saying it was being done jointly with the Jamaica Diaspora Crime Intervention and Prevention Task Force and the Global Jamaica Diaspora Council.

The group noted that the ministry, in its statement, had made no mention of the registration of the name Global Jamaica Diaspora Council as a legal organisation, or the likely complication that may arise over future engagement between the Government and the Diaspora.

Members of the group said they had long advocated that the Global Jamaica Diaspora Council be registered as an organisation, in keeping with United States requirements and regulations.

“The fact that it is constantly referred to as a movement is testimony that it was never registered, as is required,” the spokesperson told the
Observer, adding that without registration the council could achieve very little.

New Jersey-based Patrick Beckford, who led the then Diaspora Advisory Board for the north-east US, is one of those calling for changes with how the Diaspora is organised, arguing that the Diaspora needs to be autonomous.

“We should be allowed to organise ourselves as a legal body so that we can then register and operate as such,” he said.

He lamented the “current arrangement where the Government controls the number of representatives on the Diaspora Council”, describing it as unacceptable.

Beckford believes that “if the Jamaican Diaspora is properly organised and constituted it would have more clout and legitimacy in working with the Government in making representations to US authorities, for example, in stemming the illegal flow of guns into the island, as well as on other issues”.

He has pointed to countries such as Israel, India, Nigeria, and Ireland with strong and autonomous Diaspora organisations from which Jamaica could learn.

Prominent Diaspora activist Irwine Clare said the current brouhaha “is a culmination of missed opportunities over the years to properly and effectively organise the Diaspora… That situation laid the groundwork for what we are now facing, as the Diaspora was never structured as intended.

“It is disheartening and unfortunate that we should find ourselves in this position on the eve of another biennial conference, but it must also be understood that any group or individual has the right to do what they perceive is right, as long as they do so within the confines of the law.

“At the end of the day, we should not forget that the interest of Jamaica is what is most important,” said Clare, who heads Team Jamaica Bickle and holds the national honour of officer of the Order of Distinction (OD).

Another Diaspora community leader Dr Karren Dunkley disagreed with boycotting the conference, saying that those opting for a boycott should consider attending “so we can effectively address the multifaceted challenges facing our nation”.

She said the individuals organising the parallel conference were within their democratic rights to do so, but it was imperative that all discussions — whether at the official or the parallel event — have a focused agenda on organising the Diaspora around Jamaica’s national development issues.

Current Diaspora representative for the southern US, Peter Gracey also supported the view that “people have a democratic and legitimate right to disagree and organise”, but advised individuals to check with the official conference site for whatever information they may need.

It is not the first time that some within the Diaspora have found themselves at odds with the Government close to a Diaspora Council conference.

In 2011, then junior minister in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade Marlene Malahoo Forte was dispatched to the Diaspora to quell a groundswell of discontent which almost stymied that year’s biennial conference in Ocho Rios, St Ann.