Diaspora protests on

A group of members of the Jamaican diaspora, who remain unhappy with the Government's stewardship, including its failure to put a lid on the country's rampant crime, violence, and corruption, are pressing ahead with the first of its countrywide protests on Friday in Miami, Florida in the United States (US).

Dr Rupert Francis, chairman of the Jamaica Diaspora Crime Intervention & Prevention Task Force, who is spearheading the protest, told The Gleaner yesterday that the group has already secured permission from the City of Miami Police Department to have the protest outside the Jamaican consulate-general's office in Miami, from 7:30 a.m. to 1 p.m.

The protest is expected to take the form of a rally, with addresses from speakers including the chairman and Wilfred Rattigan, former Federal Bureau of Investigations special agent and attorney. Other protests are being planned for Washington DC, New York, Canada and the United Kingdom.

Francis, a retired captain in the Jamaica Defence Force, wrote a letter to Ambassador Audrey Marks, Jamaica's most senior diplomat in the United States, last December, giving notice of plans for countrywide protests at offices managed by the Jamaican Government in the US.

According to Francis, the planned protests are against “the increasing state of public corruption; the high level of violent crime; the [Government's] failure to provide promised service delivery; unfulfilled promises to the diaspora regarding its involvement in the political process; and the legal defence that diaspora members do not have standing to sue the Government”.

Additionally, Francis said he would be asking donors to review where their money is being spent. He clarified that his organisation has no intention of asking donors to withdraw their support from the country. That, he said, has been a misplaced assumption.

'Beating around the bushes'

Meanwhile, Francis rubbished arguments from other groups in the diaspora, including the Global Jamaica Diaspora Council (GJDC) and its youth arm, which are opposing the protest, claiming it is an attempt to embarrass the Andrew Holness-led Government, disrupt bilateral and multilateral relations, and tarnish Brand Jamaica.

“Why hasn't the Government addressed us personally rather than beating around the bushes sending out attacks and talking about the Brand Jamaica that we want to hurt. That is absolutely not true,” he said.

On the contrary, Francis said, “What we are doing is to protect it for generations to come, shows our love for our country, and this will improve the brand to know that we as a people have a voice.”

At the same time, he said, “We believe that Brand Jamaica is being hurt by the fact that our leaders are not doing what they are supposed to be doing and crime is absolutely out of control. You are seven per cent less [murders] than you were last year and you are happy about that. There is carnage on the roads, our children are being killed, eight-year-old and all that, who is talking about that?”

Asked if anything could have been done to abort the protest, Francis said that, had the Government reached out to the group for a serious discussion, then its dissatisfaction would have been much less vocal and visual.

“When the email was sent, the Government should have reached out to the group, but what they did is to send out erroneous information to sully my character,” he said. “We want mutual respect and inclusion.”

For him, the protest is, “important to show that we as a diaspora, we as a people, both at home and abroad, can come together for the benefit of Jamaica.

“I don't know why they think it is a bad thing for us to do this, what we are doing is standing up for Jamaica. All our voices should matter.” Francis said.

“My message is that we are all Jamaicans and, together, we can work it out, but the Government need to be responsible and say we can help in building Jamaica just like we can help in anything else, but don't talk to me about hurting Brand Jamaica,” he added while stressing that there has been minimal engagement from Government.

He said the Government should be more cognisant of what it has in the Jamaicans abroad, their importance to the country, and the difference they can make in everyone's lives.

Furthermore, he said, the members have a duty to the young people to carry on the torch, and cannot fail them.

“Look at what is happening in our schools, look at what is happening all over. We need a solid approach to the future, not just for 2030, but beyond. Have you seen the carnage in schools, or am I the only one? I have seen children almost killing each other, stones being thrown at teachers, shooting people in church. Where have you heard of that in Jamaica before? In church, there is no respect so we have to start at respect. So we have to retool and start at the beginning.”

Alando Terrelonge, state minister in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade, in a previous response, while arguing that members of the GJDC were shocked by and in disagreement with the letter to Marks, highlighted that diaspora members have had an “unprecedented” level of engagement with the Government over the last five years.

The GJDC, which is the successor to the Jamaica Diaspora Advisory Board and includes members representing various regions across the diaspora, is chaired by Terrelonge, who has responsibility for diaspora affairs.

Terrelonge has argued that engagements have been facilitated through the formation of the GJDC and the Global Jamaica Diaspora Youth Council.

Additionally, he has said that, over the last two years, the Government has increased the number of council members from eight to 30, which has widened representation within the diaspora.

Approximately 1.1 million Jamaicans are domiciled overseas, according to the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs' Population Division (2020), with women accounting for 57.5 per cent of that figure.

“Our mission is to engage the diaspora, connect with the diaspora, and empower the diaspora, not only in terms of how they relate to Jamaica, but also in terms of empowering them in their own community,” he said, pointing to the assistance provided to them via embassies and high commissions.

tanesha.mundle@gleanerjm.com