Chairman of the Caribbean Community (Caricom), Grenadian Prime Minister Tillman Thomas, says the time has come for all member governments to live up to their commitment to free intra-regional movement of Caricom nationals.
Mr Thomas is calling on government to arrest the widening complaints of nationals who are abused upon arrival at ports of entry.
His call for fair and non-discriminatory treatment of Caricom nationals arriving in member states was highlighted when Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham of The Bahamas in May 2009 publicly castigated Bahamian immigration officers for their “offensive behaviour” towards Jamaicans arriving in that community partner state.
Ingraham had denounced what he identified as the frequent “insolent and rude behaviour” by Bahamian immigration officials on the prejudiced assumption that the Jamaicans were all bent on engaging in illegal activities and, therefore, did not deserve the welcome mat.
That situation has not changed much since then.
