BY ALICIA DUNKLEY-WILLIS—-
Senior staff reporter—-
Some of the more than 40 deportees who arrived in Jamaica from the United States in April this year are seen leaving a truck that took them from the airport to a hotel in the capital city.—
The overwhelming majority of deported Jamaicans surveyed in a study commissioned by the Ministry of National Security have given the State a thumbs down for its role in helping them readjust.
The 2019 study, which involved 400 Jamaicans — the majority of whom were deported from the United States, the United Kingdom and Canada and several other territories — said family members were largely their support base.
According to the study, which was conducted by researchers from the Department of Government at The University of the West Indies (UWI), Mona, 63 per cent of those surveyed said the Government did not follow up on their integration, 62 per cent said the Government was not responsive, 62 per cent strongly disagreed that the assistance given was effective, while 60 per cent said the Government was not quick to provide support.
Fifty-eight per cent of the respondents said they were met at the airport by family members, while 17 per cent said they were met by no one. Another 16 per cent said they were met by friends, eight per cent by a government entity and one per cent by a private organisation.
The finding is one of several unearthed by researchers Shinique Walters, Professor Lloyd Waller, and Stephen Johnson. The study is expected to drive the development of a policy to guide the rehabilitation and reintegration of involuntary returned migrants, or deportees.
Speaking with the Jamaica Observer in an exclusive interview last Thursday, Walters, a lecturer at The UWI, said the data showed a huge gap in the State’s response where these individuals are concerned.
“Seventy-three per cent of returnees were given shelter by families. We found that, let’s say I’m an electrician and I apply for a job and I make it to the interview and I say I am a deportee, they were overlooked, they moved on to the next person. Mentally it affects them. This, again, is what the Government is trying to fix. Based on what the policy should do, it has the potential to make them feel a little bit more secure to say when I go out there to seek employment as an involuntary returned migrant I stand a better chance probably [to be hired],” Walters said.
When the researchers asked the deportees to state their reason for migrating, 43 per cent cited lack of employment, while another 43 per cent indicated family ties. However, over 70 per cent of the same group said they did not want to return to Jamaica, with 31 per cent citing crime and violence as the major deterrent even though it did not feature in what influenced their decision to migrate in the first place. Ironically, only 11 per cent actually fell victim to crime or experienced intimidation.
Interestingly, 60 per cent said they would risk going back to the country from which they were deported.
According to the data, 60 per cent of individuals were deported for trafficking illegal drugs, while just under 10 per cent were booted for illegal guns, gang violence, false documents, shop lifting, burglary, overstaying, prostitution, assault, identity theft, and other illegal activities.
Walters said the study did not seek to unearth how the individuals got involved in the criminal underworld as the focus was more on assisting them, now that they are back in their homeland.
Those needs, she said, as pointed out by the returnees, were many as the majority return with no new skills and no movement on the educational ladder.
“If when they return they are also trained, these are things they also said they wanted. So based on this kind of training I am no longer a drug lord, is it okay for you to discriminate against me at this point? I think what the ministry is trying to say is, ‘Yes, this person is a deportee but has something to contribute’,” she said.
The alienation, Walters said, is made worse by their undocumented status. According to the data, only 34 per cent of the individuals had their birth certificates.
“We found a lot of them had issues with documents. It’s so weird, my understanding is that for you to have a passport you must have had a birth certificate; a lot of them kept saying they couldn’t get these documents and that was a question we raised but we didn’t get an answer to it. We put it forward as one of the recommendations to say solve this problem,” she told the Sunday Observer.
When asked how long after returning to Jamaica they were able to find employment or start their own business, 48 per cent of respondents said two to three years.
According to the study, the majority of these people were employed in the informal sector in low-income jobs or were self-employed.
“It is a concern, it’s a little bit long. It’s something we looked at to say how can we prevent the negatives around this, it is something that was a concern,” Walters said.
Noting that only two per cent of the study group said they were enrolled in integration programs, Walters said this needed to be addressed.
“The issue is that when they return to Jamaica they are pawned off to their families. One of the things I’ve said to them is, probably you need to create a hub…create a space where they can get guidance, because they go back home, some of them get involved in all kinds of things. They can be properly reintegrated, provide them with the documents they need so they can function in society because if you don’t, they are at a loss and then they are going to feel further discriminated against. So they can’t get a job or start their own business, so the reintegration part is very important,” she said.
“They have to create a space — whether they want to call it a hub or a club — you are an involuntary returned migrant, what does that mean for you, how can you access documents, how can you function, all those things are important. By right, they should be handed over to someone,” she said.
According to the researcher, based on the responses of the individuals when asked about their emotional health, “they are not doing too well”.
The study found that 34 per cent said they wanted jobs to assist them with reintegration, while 43 per cent said they were not aware of any reintegration programs. Walters said among the recommendations made by the researchers to the ministry was the need for a public education program or an initiative to educate returnees.
When asked what type of stigma or discrimination they experienced, 30 per cent said denial of rights, 22 per cited inappropriate language, 22 per cent pointed to negative attitudes from health care staff, while 11 per cent said they were refused treatment.
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