53 Jamaicans deported from Barbados in first six months
Sonya King and her infant son Kaleb Joseph. She told the Jamaica Observer this week that she was originally denied entry by Barbados immigration officers, who had also treated her badly.
BRIDGETOWN, Barbados (CMC) – More than 50 Jamaicans have been deported from Barbados during the first six months of this year, according to official figures released here.
According to the immigration statistics, released by the Division of Defence and Security of the Prime Minister’s Office, for the period 2013-16, 53 Jamaicans have been deported during the period January to June this year.
The figures show that 34 Jamaicans were deported in the fist six months of 2013; 48 the following year and 101 in 2015.
In 2013, a total of 10,816 Jamaicans arrived here, with the 2014 figure at 10,031 and 10,557 last year. So far this year, 5,332 Jamaicans have arrived in Barbados.
The figures were released Thursday as the Barbadian authorities said they found no evidence to substantiate the charges of mistreatment of a Jamaican national and her son when they arrived at the Grantley Adams International Airport on August 27.
In the statement, the Division of Defence and Security said it is satisfied that immigration officers who were on duty “did everything possible to make Ms (Sonya) King and her son as comfortable as possible, especially considering that events unfolded during the wee hours of the morning”.
Sonya King told the Jamaica Observer earlier this week that she was subjected to a horrific ordeal when she and her infant son, Kaleb Joseph, sought entry into Barbados.
King said she was initially denied entry and treated in a hostile manner when the immigration officer heard her Jamaican accent and saw her passport.
King made reference to poor sleeping facilities and said, “I felt like an animal, lower than dirt”.
In its report on Thursday, the Division of Defence and Security said King was initially denied entry because “she did not have evidence of either a return ticket to Jamaica or status in Trinidad as is legally required”.
The division also denied that immigration officers did not provide King with hot water, needed to make tea for her baby.
So what was the reason for the deportations? Despite my lack of interest in visiting places like Barbados, every country has the right to its own governance, this nuh mean they get to dehumanize you though. The report needs more details and info of the reasons provided for the deportations.
Jamaicans dont need to go stay ah nobody else island. All the rest of the islands think they better than us. Let you get a trini, basian, and etc mixed up with a Jamaican dem quick to dismiss us with disgust. I had an issue with a lady who was from Montserrat someone asked her if she was Jamaican and she said it “No, IM NOT Jamaican”! she was like she hates when people ask her that.
I asked whats the problem why she said it with disgust. She try to change up. The lady who got her mixed said she never heard of Montserrat I said it’s a irrelevant island that no ones knows about and they always get volcano eruptions. Ohhhhhhhh you should’ve seen her face. She couldn’t say shit after that.
Other islands love borrow our style. Let a non-Caribbean person ask questions about jerk chicken, reggae, and etc. They quick to jump on the bandwagon to explain our culture. But wont promote theirs…………..