Two Caribbean prime ministers sound forth on freedom of movement in the Caribbean Community (Caricom).Sometimes it seems like a mini war of words without the name-calling.
Lofty rhetoric or straight talking?
The Prime Ministers of St Vincent and the Grenadines and Barbados have recently made public statements on the vexed question of the right of eligible nationals of Caricom member nations to move freely across the region.
Barbados is fingered in the regional media as the country most guilty of frustrating the will of the regional single trading market in this area.
The Vincentian Prime Minister Ralph Gonsalves said he used very frank and robust language against such practices at a meeting in Bridgetown in January.
Inferior goods
Speaking to the media on his return home, Dr Gonsalves made no reference to Barbados, but he let forth on how he believes Caricom nations generally should behave when it comes to the rules of the single market.
He said: "No one country can cherry pick their way through these various instruments, that you take those most favourable to you and try to resist those you might consider unfavourable.
"In that regard, St Vincent and the Grenadines cannot be asked to purchase goods more highly priced from Caricom countries, sometimes inferior goods ... and yet you could make life difficult for my nationals to enter or stay in your country to work."
It is perhaps when he raised the term "managed migration" that it could be interpreted that he had Barbados in mind - because that is the term frequently used by Barbados Prime Minister David Thompson and his governing Democratic Labour Party.
They had used it in relation to the flow of Guyanese migrants into Barbados, one of Caricom's more well-off nations.
Phased introduction
This what Dr Gonsalves said: The revised (founding) Caricom Treaty of Chaguaramus established a system of managed migration and no country can substitute its own system of managed migration..."
As he indicated, the single market dreams of full freedom of movement, but has had to settle for a phased introduction.
Just a limited number of categories qualify at the moment, such as university graduates and media workers.
Dr Gonsalves said his comments at the Bridgetown meeting received backing from other member states, including Barbados.
At a news conference on 1 March, the Barbados Prime Minister was asked about the free movement issue.
"We are seeking to comply with what Caricom has asked us us to comply with," Mr Thompson said.
"But I can't promise you that we are going to eliminate all barriers to freedom of movement immediately in Barbados and I'm not going to allow any other Caribbean leaders to encourage me to be involved in a lot of lofty rhetoric."
Again, Mr Thompson did not give names.
Development fund
He said that his government aim was for those "invited" to the island's shores to enjoy adequate social services in line with what Barbadians enjoy.
"We have to have an orderly process to achieve that goal; the idea of just throwing open your doors is not going to be my approach to it."
Mr Thompson suggested that Caricom use its new development fund to improve the standard of living of disadvantaged areas of the region.
"If we try to increase standards across the board in the Caribbean then we can have an integration movement that makes a lot more sense."
--BBC Caribean.com
No comments:
Post a Comment