THE Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade in Jamaica says it has placed high importance on the reported abuse and dehumanising cavity search of Jamaican Shanique Myrie by a Barbadian immigration officer earlier this month.
In a release yesterday, the ministry said a senior level delegation, including officials from the Ministry of National Security/Passport Immigration & Citizenship Agency (PICA), will travel to Barbados this week for discussions on the serious allegations and on the wider issue of the treatment of Jamaicans by Border Services officials in the eastern Caribbean island.
“The case of Ms Myrie is the most serious one to have been reported to us. The ministry received her written complaint on Wednesday, March 23. The following day (Thursday, March 24) our high commissioner in Trinidad and Tobago, Sharon Saunders sent Ms Myrie’s report to the senior foreign service officer of the Consular/Barbados Network of the Barbadian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Foreign Trade and International Business. She requested that the case be investigated,” the release stated.
Myrie said she was subjected to two cavity searches before being labelled a man thief when she tried to enter the island through the Grantley Adams International Airport on March 14. She was kicked out of the island the following day.
Despite repeated denials from the Barbadian authorities, Myrie is standing by her story and has since retained the services of an attorney as she attempts to sue the Barbadian Government.
Yesterday, the ministry said most Jamaicans who suffer discriminatory treatment in Barbados have mostly given anecdotal reports, but few have filed formal complaints.
“Anecdotal complaints do not equate to substantial statistical evidence,” the ministry said.
Last Thursday, permanent secretary in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Evadne Coye and minister of foreign affairs and foreign trade Dr Kenneth Baugh tried unsuccessfully to get word on the allegations from their respective counterparts in Barbados.
“Regrettably, despite repeated attempts to speak with the foreign affairs permanent secretary, Ambassador Coye was unsuccessful. However, on the morning of March 25th, Coye faxed a formal note to the Barbadian Foreign Ministry, stating Jamaica’s grave concern over the reported abusive, inhumane and degrading treatment of Ms Myrie. The note requested a thorough investigation and advised that a delegation led by Saunders would travel to Barbados to discuss the Myrie case and other reports of disrespectful treatment of Jamaicans in Barbados and entering Barbados,” the ministry said.
“To date there has been no response to its note faxed on March 25. However, Minister Baugh received from his Barbadian colleague, by e-mail, the text of the press release signed by Barbados Government Information Service on 26th March, refuting the report by Ms Myrie,” the ministry said.
According to the Barbadian foreign ministry, some 404 Jamaicans were refused entry out of a total of 18,227 in 2008 while 218 were refused entry out of a total of 14,952 the following year. Last year, 229 Jamaican nationals were refused entry out of a total of 17,900. (Jamaica Observer)