Prime Minister of Barbados Hon David Thompson
Prime Minister David Thompson issued a ministerial statement in parliament today regarding the immigration issue. For some time now it has been apparent to sensible Barbadians that the national security of Barbados had become breached given the large undocumented number of immigrants living in Barbados. It was an election campaign issue and on assuming office Prime Minister David Thompson appointed a sub-committee of Cabinet of which he was Chairman to investigate and make recommendations to government to relieve the problem.
Barbados will deport illegal immigrants who do not seek to regularize their status under a new policy – see CANA Report.
BU agrees with the measured and humane manner which the Thompson led government has approached this issue. While it is easy to lobby to deport all illegal immigrants, there is an understanding that many of the illegal immigrants have been living in Barbados for so long that it would be inhuman to uproot those people summarily.
But here are a few BU concerns:
The proposed shake-up at the immigration Department i.e. the officers responsible for enforcing the immigration laws of Barbados MUST be implemented in a transparent manner. It is known around Barbados that many of our current officers now maintain harems given their godlike powers to determine if an illegal immigrant is ‘fingered’ or not. We should not forget those who use their influence to satisfy the rich and powerful by prostituting themselves for the almighty dollar.
The law must deal harshly with those corrupt immigration officers who use their powers for personal gain. Equally those employers all across our country who employ illegal immigrants should be made to feel the full weight of the law as well.
While the Prime Minister has made a step in the right direction as always the devil will be in the detail.
Barbados Underground 
It is obvious that Barbados will not & should not change its upcoming managed migration policy in addition to enforcement tactics.If the Governments of the other Caricom nations do not back-off in all likelihood Barbados should withdraw from the CSME,while still remaining within Caricom.
I find it extremely interesting that NOT ONE country’s leader within Caricom or any in the opposition has suggested that if Barbados continues with the current immigration policy that maybe it should withdraw from the CSME.The opinions of Bajans both near & far are in unanimity that the immigration enforcement routines must continue to curb the illegal immigration mess that the previous administration created.No Caricom nation or leader will change what the people have asked in the past decade from the previous Government.Any upcoming talks of complete Free-movement of all nationals will not fly with the Barbados public.It is obvious that no one in “Caricom’s pro-integration movement” know what they are doing or talking about because everyone talks about “integration” but not the hard questions like what if it doesn’t work or what are the ‘fail-safes’ just in case something happens.
Mr. Thompson I believe knows this,& should take every step imaginable to ensure that Barbados is not getting the wrong end of this so called ‘integration movement’.CSME also doesn’t cover illegal immigrants it only covers skilled Caricom nationals in particular categories which I can completely agree with.I’m thinking that maybe other Sovereign Caricom Governments expect the Goverment of Barbados to allow Free movement for ALL nationals,which I believe was agreed to happen by the end of this year.
What a lot of people in the general Caribbean do not understand is that the more they attack our immigration officers,police force & sully our country’s name the more unanimous Barbados’ public perception becomes on this matter,so keep it up !
I heard Peter Wickham on the radio this morning saying that the P.M was wrong in being so bold as to send back the illegals. He claims that anyone who is here working or who has been here for 5 to 8 years and have a child that was born in Barbados should not be told to leave. Peter is two mouths, now he is hooked between trying to please the P.M and be in bed with Singh, Faria, gonsalves, Jagdeo and the rest but I know that the P.M and him wouldn’t last too long. His only string that he is holding on too right now is that he is related to national heroes Wickham and Barrow, but if Mr Barrow was here, the man that I know would diss him family or not.
@The Scout
Wickham is entitled to his view even if we don’t agree.
Barbadians are paying the price for being to generous to our neighbours and even strangers. For many years we have been allowing people to come into this country illegally and work, some has even started families here. From the time I was a little boy, I know of persons who came here on schooners and never returned and mixed well with bajans. However, from the time just over 10 years ago, that this influx of regional people started grvitating towards Barbados in large numbers, I became concerned. My concern and my warnings came when I saw this flood of indo-guyanese. I said then that when they get here in their numbers they would then show their colours and their nasty ways. It is now beginning to haunt us, these same people who we opened our arms to, now wants to take over our homes and our country. They now claim they have just as much RIGHTS to barbados as us bajans. This is where I draw the line, this is where I would fight for my RIGHTS. If a friend comes home at you to spend a week and overstayed his time without asking you if he/she can stay, why should that person be annoyed when you give him adequate time to leave or you would put him/her out? To make things worse, he/she now wants to call the shots in your house. Personally, I wouldn’t even give that person an extended time to leave, i would have put them out immediately. My P.M has shown lots of patience and maturity in this matter.
Has anyone else read Caribbean 360 News (online) today? An article entitled “Jagdeo slams Barbados treatment of Guyanese” and I don’t mind telling you, it is frightening. That man Jagdeo is going to cause serious trouble in the Caribbean and poor little Barbados will get the sh….y end of the stick. Here is part of what that Dictator said: “Guyanese and West Indians generally are treated in a despicable manner by the Barbadian government”. “Despicable”, Jagdeo? You are the one who is despicable. It looks to me as if this creep wishes to cause an all-out war between Guyana and Barbados. I am normally a placid person, but I can tell you that that statement has raised my hackles and I am sure it was intended to do the same to many not-so-level-headed Bajans. Jagdeo is going to cause some real friction between Bajans and Guyanese and the Bajans will get the blame if there is any violence. How come other CARICOM islands can deport illegal Guyanese without a peep out of that criminal Jagdeo and his henchmen such as Gonsalves and Faria? Why is it only little Barbados getting the big stick? Mr. Thompson, we Bajans are behind you – deal with Jagdeo however you think fit.
This is a fact!
When there was an influx of Indo-Guyanese on the job sites, they use to talk down to the black bajans.
THAT IS A FACT!!!
We must continue to let our leader know that the majority of Barbadians support his new immigration policy.The test of our character is being tested severely by the detractors such as dishonest,political reject & nuisance David Comissiong,musty Norman Faria & the despicable anti-man Peter Wickham.
Norman Faria is changing his tune and is trying to appease Barbadians by his recent rhetoric stating Barbadians are not xenophobic or hostile but are accommodating and friendly and saying other things to that effect.
David Comisssiong & Petere Wickham are attempting to discredit the new immigration policy by constantly rehashing the view that illegals should not be remove because they are our brothers & sisters and have started families and are making contributions to this society.
Those things are secondary and minor to the principle point that those people have broken our immigration laws and like common criminals should be punished.No reward of amnesty should be given to law breakers. However because of the complexities of the problem and to get a hold of the situation and offering amnesty is one way of controlling the problem I will give in.
David Thompson you are under immense pressure and I know after receiving reports from reliable sources that maybe you might relax some of stringent measures recently announced in you new immigration policy.I am pleading with you Mr Prime Minister please do not relax any of your measures .
Scout,JC,Jay Adrian Hinds along with David & BU and the rest please continue to offer the support to our Prime Minister.He needs it now more than ever.Believe me I know what I am talking about.Compromise might be in the offering.
I agree with David to a certain extent.There is an old saying here in the US,I might not like what you say but I would fight for your right to say it.
But,I also share The Scout’s grave concern about the future of the country.I am not one to lead to immediate conclusions but I’ve seen many Guyana nationals on Stabroek news mentioned that,”Barbados & many of these small islands should be used only as stepping stones”.That denotes to me that Barbados must make a concerted effort to not only stem the recent tide but also any future efforts because this is an extremely long term problem that will likely span generations.
This is why I ALWAYS try to mention that a Barbados passport has the most visa free access to the world than any other Caricom member state’s passport according to the Henley visa index.
Click to access HVRI2009_GlobalRanking.pdf
1.Certain nationals from certain countries will want to get a hold of a Barbados passport to abuse our visa exempt freedoms.
2.The new Schengen exemptions from June 1st will be an even further draw for further illegal immigrants whom aspire to move on to Europe.
3.It would be easier to be approved for a US visa if a Barbados passport is gotten.The US embassy in Guyana doesn’t even accept evidence from nationals there because the US embassy considers all evidence submitted to be fraudulent,hence why visa interviews are oral only there & are much easier to deny,In Barbados it would be a different story.
4.Human smuggling has been on the rise in Barbados because it is seen as a good central hub due to GAIA & Barbados’ tactical location.
I could go on & on,but these & many other legit reasons are why Government must do something about this illegal immigration mess.
Why should Jagdeo try to put anyone else’ house in order? The man has been a failure and still is a failure. The real problem is that the DGuyanese people, primarily the BLACK people have become spineless and have allowed themselves to be boxed into a corner by the dictates of this DICTATOR who has become so drunk with power that his actions are now bordering on madness.
People of Barbados, beware of his HENCHMEN who are the moles in the hole, namely Singh and Farrier, they are only doing what is ingrained in them. Take off their masks, then tell me what you have discovered.
Interesting to hear Peter Wickham voice the opinion today on radio that he believes that the views which are pro-Thompson and the need to clamp down on immigration are the views of a minority of Bajans. Remember that this is a man who uses empirical data in his line of work but is easily driven to generalizations in this sensitive matter. Remember also he is a talk show host. Go figure.
Has it ever occurred to you that the communist/Russian trained President’s objective is to destabilise the Caribbean,Cuba excluded, by swamping these countries with live bodies.
I can’t help noticing that BU has not removed BFP from their Blogroll. You are truly a BIG man, David, and a decent man – nothing petty and spiteful about you!
I also see that Juris and Straight Talk put some good licks in PiedPiper, (who called us all on here “racist swine”) for calling Anonymous bloggers cowards. Can anyone imagine the audacity of that?! Yet the said PP, using one of his other names (Sargeant) put in an appearance among said “racist swine” on here yesterday. Boy, that PP sure is one mixed up, sick individual.
@RipTide or whatever alias you are using
Next time I’m in Barbados I promise to give you a loonie so you can buy a clue
David
You said Peter Wickham is entitled to his own opinion. That is true but what is his own opinion? On the one hand he is agreeing with the P.M against what he was saying all along on the call-in show while on the other station. However as an employee of the CBC, he is makingf an about turn but on the call-in programme on Monday he seems to forget which station he was on and once more he was critical of the P.M and his immigration policy. Simply said, the man is a weather cock, he has no credibility.
“Rip Tide”, do you really think that we are not aware that YOU are in fact “Straight Talk”? You use many, many aliases both here on BU and on BFP. The reason you were banned over at BFP is because you were caught red-handed by BFP, using multiple handles and conducting coversations with yourself in order to give the appearance of having many supporters of your pursuit of and obsession with an individual by the name of Patrick Porter. One has to question the sanity of an individual who is so devious as to have at least 10 aliases, used between two blogs, in order to feed some kind of sick, compulsive desire pursue an individual that stopped coming to the blogs, due to ill health, over a year ago.
Both myself and Sargeant have asked you on numerous occassions to give a clue as to why you think 1) he and I are one and the same person and 2) why you think we are Patrick Porter. Not once have you responded to the that request. Are we to assume that you have developed this obsession because shortening my internet handle would give us the initials “PP”?? Wow, how very primitive your brain is. Either put up or shut up. P. S. Are you Juris as well? 😉
David/BU: My apologies, but I would appreciate it if you would kindly inform Sargeant/Pied Piper that I am NOT Straight Talk, or Juris (would that I could be blessed with their intelligence). You would be able to verify this from the different IP addresses, and I would be grateful if both Straight Talk and Juris would also inform this idiot that they are NOT Rip Tide. Furthermore, I have NEVER been banned (like YOU) from either BU or BFP (using ANY of my aliases) – that is an unmitigated lie. I may have been “exposed”, but definitely not BANNED. I believe that both BFP and BU can confirm that I use Anonymouse.org to post my comments, for my own personal reasons, and I don’t pretend otherwise because I am not a pathological liar/con artist like you.
You want a clue? O.k., here it is: I wish you would stop jamming up the Inbox of a family member of mine in St. Peter with your links, attachments and scary weather reports, as if he does not have the intelligence to surf the web and find the articles for himself. You are truly a sick person. Get well soon, hear? OVER AND OUT.
Here is what the Barbados Advocate is reporting in its editorial today:
“Teamwork needed at the top
5/26/2009
WE return yet again to the topic of “Team Barbados” introduced by Prime Minister David Thompson during his 2009 Financial Statements and Budgetary Proposals.
For while this may seem like a concept that would be supported by anyone with this country’s best interests at heart, those of us who would have followed last week’s debate in the House of Parliament may have been left wondering if it is really being embraced at all levels of the society.
The Prime Minister humbled himself by saying that he does not have all of the answers, and therefore “Team Barbados” is more important now than ever.
Without this, the future of the country could be in jeopardy.
Without this, what is left to be governed may not be desired by either party.”
http://www.barbadosadvocate.com/newsitem.asp?more=editorial&NewsID=3853
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“A Team Barbados Approach” is nothing Owen Arthur’s: Politics of Inclusion, which Obama is now copying and Thompson is now trying to steal, having promised to slaughter the fatted calf for dems only.
Since everyone knows that the DLP does not have any answers (as made clear by the Advocate) but accept that the BLP does – then call elections.
Elections and the superior economic skills of the BLP – is the solution to Barbados’ problems and the economic mess Thompson and the DLP have created and continues to create.
I thank the Barbados Advocate for pointing out that we must rescue Barbados so that the BLP can put it back on track.
@Rip Tide aka Diggit;Canada Goose etc.
You want a clue? O.k., here it is: I wish you would stop jamming up the Inbox of a family member of mine in St. Peter with your links
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Since I was the one who thinks you were clueless, here’s a challenge: Publish the name or email address of the individual who is “jamming up the Inbox” of your family member. Someone will surely recognize him or her and expose them.
Somehow I don’t think that you can do it; it seems like you have an overactive imagination but there is help, my advice: see your family physician before your condition deteriorates.
Good Lord, you’re so sick you don’t even remember which one you are – Sargeant or PP! My last comment was in response to PIEDPIPER! But, as I said, OVER AND OUT. I do not think David, nor the “racist swine” on here appreciate feuding bloggers, so crawl back over to BFP where you won’t find “racist swine”. OVER AND OUT. DONE WID DAT.
OK Diggit
Did you read my statement….. the one I said about clueless? You included my handle in your response what do you expect me to do? Sit idly by while you besmirch my name? OK I know it is an anonymous blog but some people may think you are correct when you said that I post under different names. For the last time I post under SARGEANT…. no other name(s).
Next time I’m in Barbados I’ll take that loonie and buy some fishcakes from Leacock stand on Miami (Enterprise) beach.
Rip Tide aka Diggit, please stop trying to fool others and yourself by using that tired worn-out story about using “Anonymouse.org” as though this somehow proves that you are not a complete charlaton. The whole purpose of Anonymouse.org is to change and mask a person’s IP so as not to be detected or traced. Are you really so dense that you do not realize that by constantly mentioning your use of Anonymouse.org, you, in fact, are revealing that you have a great deal to hide? As Sargeant has suggested, please reveal the e-mail address that is bombarding your relatives inbox in St. Peter. I need a good laugh as I do not exchange e-mails with anyone in Barbados and don’t even know anyone who resides in St. Peter. As I have already requested, put up or shut up.
Hogsqueal said ”Elections and the superior economic skills of the BLP – is the solution to Barbados’ problems and the economic mess Thompson and the DLP have created and continues to create”
Oh. I had not realised that it was the DLP that spent 250 million, by debt financing, on the White Elephant down Kensington, which will not even be used during the upcoming tours by Bangladesh and Sri Lanka.
I did not realised, that it was the DLP that committed huge debt burden, right before the world recession, in building the highway extension.
We were saved in the nick of time in not spending even more on flyovers, they would only have been useful to jump off when our debt burden got even higher.
Both of the above expenditures, despite the previous administration being warned on another blog of the impending recession, warned over three and a half to four years ago!
But no, they went ahead anyway.
And yet, I see rubbish such as you just posted!
Pity in their brilliant economic wisdom, they did not fix the hospital, they did not ever publish the financial statements of GEMS (thanks, reminds me that I now need to follow this up on the blogs), did not in 14 years improve our water system which the Thompson administration now has to do.
Golly, I have always refrained from descriptive assessment of other bloggers, but you do bring me close.
Have a happy time in your ‘personal happy land’.
Peace
By the way, just to enlighten you about PM Thompson’s offer to the other former leaders.
Although I am not a DLP member, I, simple as I am, can easily see that this is a political move, aimed to insure against the expected downturn in the economy, so that your good leaders cannot say, ‘but he never asked our opinions in how to go about doing things’.
He opened a door, which your people shut…to their detriment.
If I was advising the Opposition, I would have advised acceptance, in order to bring Opposition words to the table, publicly.
Instead, now the PM has his insurance policy, he got what he wanted.
Hogsqueal can you please explain this?
In the attached story about the Auditor General report on cost overruns associated with the construction of the Crab Hill Police station the writer states “Jose Y Jose Construction Company began work on the building in 2005”…… Some time ago when I was in Bimshire one of my friends told me that the lead investor in Jose Y Jose was a leading politician now safely ensconced on the Opposition benches. How did Jose Y Jose get the job? Was it an open process? Did the politician put in a “good word” for Jose Y Jose or did the politician award the contract to Jose Y Jose?
Oh for the good old days when politicians declared their assets
http://www.nationnews.com/news/local/Crab-hill-query-FRONT-PAGE-OTHER
Multiple aliases?
Lord have mercy, some of you people need to get a life nuh!
I still like BU, despite the fact that whenever I pay a visit it seems to be the same tiny little band of nutjobs frothing at the mouth.
There are exceptions, of course: Bush Tea, for example, seems like a sane, thoughtful fellow.
But most of you sound so weak and so powerless, desperately sounding off here because you have no influence in the real world.
No offence, but you always remind me of that line in Shakespeare: you’re full of sound and fury, signifying nothing.
@Rumplestilskin
This is the point we continue to make that some of us get bog down in what is political strategy versus what is. The same can be said of the 100 days issue, like Obama, Thompson has struggled to deliver on all promises made in the campaign.
@Hog Squeal
We have advised you to engage the BU family if you want to get discussion. If you feel that your rote statements are accomplishing anything carry along smartly.