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Human rights advocate calls for ‘protector’of immigrants
Gordon Barlow, a member
of the CIHRC Hon Alden McLaughlin,
Minister of Education
Friday, January 6, 2006
A member of the Cayman Islands Human Rights Committee (CIHRC) recommends a look at history to find ways to protect the rights of migrant workers in the Cayman Islands.
Gordon Barlow, a long-time champion of human rights, said, “I would like to see a revival of a historical office that existed in some of the British Caribbean colonies during the 19th Century, when indentured workers were imported from India and China.”
He said that in the years following the emancipation of the slaves, the British Government appointed a “Protector of Immigrants”. The purpose was to prevent the creation of a new variation of slavery.
“When indentured labour was introduced in Cayman in 1972, the British Government didn’t bother to revive the Office.
“So while all the Protection, Immigration, Work Permit Boards, etc, work diligently to protect the interests of employers, some foreign workers have always been allowed to exist in near-slavery conditions.”
Mr Barlow was asked to clarify the term “near slavery” in connection with migrant workers’ conditions in the Cayman Islands.
“I should have said, ‘alleged’. The point is, nobody in authority cares about the lives or rights of migrant workers. Even the Ombudsman’s Office is not authorized to protect them, it says.
“Well, in situations like that, when every single Government agency is on the side of the employers, some employers are sure to start acting harshly. And that is what has happened.
“We need to introduce some sort of balance, and a Protector of Immigrants (or Migrants) might be just the thing. It is no secret that a great many unskilled migrants call their indentures ‘like slavery’.”
With the complete failure of the first CIHRC to achieve anything tangible, Mr Barlow was asked if there was a risk that the new CIHRC would become just a talking-shop, and avoid becoming part of any solution to Cayman’s actual human-rights abuses.
“Well, I agree with our Chairman that a program of public education is needed, and that will require some backroom planning. But as every good teacher knows, lessons should be part theory and part practice.
“It is in every member’s interest that we not fall at the first hurdle. If we duck out of the practical side of our lessons, including enquiring into specific cases, we might as well all pack up and go home.
“I am working on the premise that we will be allowed to do our job properly, and will not disappoint those who see us as a source of help.”
Last week, Cayman Net News reported on a team of construction workers recruited in the Dominican Republic, who claimed to be held in sub-standard conditions. Mr Barlow was asked, if the allegations are true, how common is such treatment?
“Well, it has been going on for the twenty-eight years I’ve lived here. There are plenty of classified ads for helpers at $150.00 a week, and many helpers soon discover that they must work sixty hours for that wage. That’s $2.50 an hour – and it’s not always paid on time!
“The Labour and Immigration Laws are both being broken with impunity. It’s all about who you know. Governments have always turned a blind eye to some of their friends’ rule-breaking.” However, Mr Barlow said that the CIHRC cannot do anything directly to enforce the relevant Laws.
“Maybe by publicizing some specific human-rights abuses we could embarrass officialdom into sorting out the irresponsible officials and their cronies.
“It was pleasing to see Net News’ coverage of the Dominican Republic workers’ allegations. Two or three years ago those allegations would not have been reported.”
Mr Barlow is critical of the make up of the Cabinet appointed CIHRC, which is chaired by Education Minister, the Hon Alden McLaughlin.
“Our present Committee may not have quite the right balance to be all that much of a factor. Most of our members work for Government, and are not used to opposing Government policy.
“On the private side, we have nobody from the Jamaican or Latino migrant communities – even though most of the abuse-allegations come from those communities. And after thirty-odd years, censorship by intimidation probably won’t go away without a fight,” he said.
Mr Barlow has been openly critical of Cayman’s treatment of Cuban refugees. Ninety-nine are currently being detained in these Islands, and official reports say they are being processed for repatriation.
He was asked if he thought that they would be treated in accordance with the United Nations Convention on Migrants.
“Not a chance, I would say. Our treatment of the boat people is going to come back and haunt us, I believe. We are too small a territory to get away with cruelties the way larger nations can. “Allegations of ‘ghost detainees’, illegal repatriation to a Communist dictatorship, denial of habeas corpus, and rumours of human trafficking… Dear oh dear! For Cayman’s officials to be mixed up in such things is shameful beyond measure.”
Mr Barlow said there is some argument as to whether the responsibility for the Cuban migrants is Cayman’s or Britain’s.
“I will be writing to the Commonwealth Secretariat in England and the UN High Commissioner for Refugees in Switzerland asking for a ruling. Again – what a thing for our people to be involved in!”
A Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the Governments of the Cayman Islands and the Republic of Cuba concerning the repatriation of illegal migrants was signed in 1999 by Acting Governor James Ryan.
“If I were in charge, I would tear up that wretched MOU, and tell the world that from this day forward Cayman will stand by its obligations under international law, come hell or high water.
“And I would prosecute any and every Government official who is betraying his or her country by flouting those obligations,” he said.
In answer to Mr Barlow’s strongly-worded opinions, Mr McLaughlin said, “As a member of the CIHRC Mr Barlow is entitled, and I believe obligated, to raise matters such as those referred to in his interview with the committee.
“Remarkably, he has not, but has chosen instead to adopt a public platform to first address them. I must therefore question his bona fides. Regrettably, Mr Barlow is sometimes given to hyperbole and to stating allegations or opinions as though they are fact.
“While, as I have said before, I believe the focus of the CIHRC ought to be public education, it will not resile from investigating allegations of human rights abuses where there is evidence of this.
Mr McLaughlin said that as far as the Cuban situation is concerned, this matter is currently under review by Cabinet as the growing number of migrants is a matter of concern to the government on a number of fronts.
“I have publicly acknowledged that the make-up of the committee is not ideal, but it is certainly better than none at all. This government is committed to developing a culture of observing and protecting human rights in Cayman. But we have been in office for a mere seven months.
“Nothing other than complaining has been done on the human rights front by Mr Barlow or any one else for all these years past. Regardless of the imperfectness of the CIHRC as presently constituted, it is a concrete step in the right direction.
“If Mr Barlow believes that there are other persons who ought to be added to the CIHRC, the Government will be happy to consider this. Thus far, however, he has not expressed this concern to the CIHRC or to me.
“The fact that the Government has appointed Mr Barlow to the committee in itself ought to make it clear that we are not trying to create a committee which will simply ‘toe’ the Government line. We are earnestly seeking diversity of opinion and interests.”
[email protected]
Gordon Barlow, a member
of the CIHRC Hon Alden McLaughlin,
Minister of Education
Friday, January 6, 2006
A member of the Cayman Islands Human Rights Committee (CIHRC) recommends a look at history to find ways to protect the rights of migrant workers in the Cayman Islands.
Gordon Barlow, a long-time champion of human rights, said, “I would like to see a revival of a historical office that existed in some of the British Caribbean colonies during the 19th Century, when indentured workers were imported from India and China.”
He said that in the years following the emancipation of the slaves, the British Government appointed a “Protector of Immigrants”. The purpose was to prevent the creation of a new variation of slavery.
“When indentured labour was introduced in Cayman in 1972, the British Government didn’t bother to revive the Office.
“So while all the Protection, Immigration, Work Permit Boards, etc, work diligently to protect the interests of employers, some foreign workers have always been allowed to exist in near-slavery conditions.”
Mr Barlow was asked to clarify the term “near slavery” in connection with migrant workers’ conditions in the Cayman Islands.
“I should have said, ‘alleged’. The point is, nobody in authority cares about the lives or rights of migrant workers. Even the Ombudsman’s Office is not authorized to protect them, it says.
“Well, in situations like that, when every single Government agency is on the side of the employers, some employers are sure to start acting harshly. And that is what has happened.
“We need to introduce some sort of balance, and a Protector of Immigrants (or Migrants) might be just the thing. It is no secret that a great many unskilled migrants call their indentures ‘like slavery’.”
With the complete failure of the first CIHRC to achieve anything tangible, Mr Barlow was asked if there was a risk that the new CIHRC would become just a talking-shop, and avoid becoming part of any solution to Cayman’s actual human-rights abuses.
“Well, I agree with our Chairman that a program of public education is needed, and that will require some backroom planning. But as every good teacher knows, lessons should be part theory and part practice.
“It is in every member’s interest that we not fall at the first hurdle. If we duck out of the practical side of our lessons, including enquiring into specific cases, we might as well all pack up and go home.
“I am working on the premise that we will be allowed to do our job properly, and will not disappoint those who see us as a source of help.”
Last week, Cayman Net News reported on a team of construction workers recruited in the Dominican Republic, who claimed to be held in sub-standard conditions. Mr Barlow was asked, if the allegations are true, how common is such treatment?
“Well, it has been going on for the twenty-eight years I’ve lived here. There are plenty of classified ads for helpers at $150.00 a week, and many helpers soon discover that they must work sixty hours for that wage. That’s $2.50 an hour – and it’s not always paid on time!
“The Labour and Immigration Laws are both being broken with impunity. It’s all about who you know. Governments have always turned a blind eye to some of their friends’ rule-breaking.” However, Mr Barlow said that the CIHRC cannot do anything directly to enforce the relevant Laws.
“Maybe by publicizing some specific human-rights abuses we could embarrass officialdom into sorting out the irresponsible officials and their cronies.
“It was pleasing to see Net News’ coverage of the Dominican Republic workers’ allegations. Two or three years ago those allegations would not have been reported.”
Mr Barlow is critical of the make up of the Cabinet appointed CIHRC, which is chaired by Education Minister, the Hon Alden McLaughlin.
“Our present Committee may not have quite the right balance to be all that much of a factor. Most of our members work for Government, and are not used to opposing Government policy.
“On the private side, we have nobody from the Jamaican or Latino migrant communities – even though most of the abuse-allegations come from those communities. And after thirty-odd years, censorship by intimidation probably won’t go away without a fight,” he said.
Mr Barlow has been openly critical of Cayman’s treatment of Cuban refugees. Ninety-nine are currently being detained in these Islands, and official reports say they are being processed for repatriation.
He was asked if he thought that they would be treated in accordance with the United Nations Convention on Migrants.
“Not a chance, I would say. Our treatment of the boat people is going to come back and haunt us, I believe. We are too small a territory to get away with cruelties the way larger nations can. “Allegations of ‘ghost detainees’, illegal repatriation to a Communist dictatorship, denial of habeas corpus, and rumours of human trafficking… Dear oh dear! For Cayman’s officials to be mixed up in such things is shameful beyond measure.”
Mr Barlow said there is some argument as to whether the responsibility for the Cuban migrants is Cayman’s or Britain’s.
“I will be writing to the Commonwealth Secretariat in England and the UN High Commissioner for Refugees in Switzerland asking for a ruling. Again – what a thing for our people to be involved in!”
A Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the Governments of the Cayman Islands and the Republic of Cuba concerning the repatriation of illegal migrants was signed in 1999 by Acting Governor James Ryan.
“If I were in charge, I would tear up that wretched MOU, and tell the world that from this day forward Cayman will stand by its obligations under international law, come hell or high water.
“And I would prosecute any and every Government official who is betraying his or her country by flouting those obligations,” he said.
In answer to Mr Barlow’s strongly-worded opinions, Mr McLaughlin said, “As a member of the CIHRC Mr Barlow is entitled, and I believe obligated, to raise matters such as those referred to in his interview with the committee.
“Remarkably, he has not, but has chosen instead to adopt a public platform to first address them. I must therefore question his bona fides. Regrettably, Mr Barlow is sometimes given to hyperbole and to stating allegations or opinions as though they are fact.
“While, as I have said before, I believe the focus of the CIHRC ought to be public education, it will not resile from investigating allegations of human rights abuses where there is evidence of this.
Mr McLaughlin said that as far as the Cuban situation is concerned, this matter is currently under review by Cabinet as the growing number of migrants is a matter of concern to the government on a number of fronts.
“I have publicly acknowledged that the make-up of the committee is not ideal, but it is certainly better than none at all. This government is committed to developing a culture of observing and protecting human rights in Cayman. But we have been in office for a mere seven months.
“Nothing other than complaining has been done on the human rights front by Mr Barlow or any one else for all these years past. Regardless of the imperfectness of the CIHRC as presently constituted, it is a concrete step in the right direction.
“If Mr Barlow believes that there are other persons who ought to be added to the CIHRC, the Government will be happy to consider this. Thus far, however, he has not expressed this concern to the CIHRC or to me.
“The fact that the Government has appointed Mr Barlow to the committee in itself ought to make it clear that we are not trying to create a committee which will simply ‘toe’ the Government line. We are earnestly seeking diversity of opinion and interests.”
[email protected]