Immigration, Gov't say Jamaican's claims of abuse untrue

BRIDGETOWN, Barbados (CMC):

THE AUTHORITIES here have refuted claims by a Jamaican woman that she was sexually and verbally abused when she arrived at the Grantley Adams International Airport nearly two weeks ago.

The woman, Shanquie Myrie, described in graphic details what she claimed was a demeaning cavity search by a female officer when she arrived here on March 14. She also accused the officer of making discriminatory remarks about Jamaicans.

The report prompted Jamaica's Minister of Foreign Affairs Ken Baugh to write the authorities here demanding an investigation into the allegation.

However, at a news conference Saturday, Minister of Foreign Affairs Maxine McClean said "a thorough investigation" by the Immigration and Customs Departments revealed that the woman's claims were untrue.

"There is absolutely no truth to a story carried in a Jamaican newspaper on Thursday, March 24, that a female citizen of that country was body-searched by immigration officers on arrival at the Grantley Adams International Airport," McClean said in a prepared statement.

Extensive investigations

"Chief Immigration Officer Ms Erine Griffith has refuted this allegation made in the Jamaica Observer. She has confirmed that her department and Customs have carried out extensive investigations and the claims were baseless," the minister added.

The foreign affairs minister confirmed that Myrie was denied entry into Barbados, explaining that immigration officials became suspicious when the Jamaican first said she would be spending her planned two-week stay with a female friend, then changed that story to say she intended to stay with a male friend.

She said that both immigration and police officers interviewed Myrie, and, while they searched her luggage, they never searched her body.

McClean said that in an attempt to avert any major fall-out between the two countries as a result of the report in the Jamaican media, the Barbados Government had invited the Jamaican High Commissioner to Trinidad and Tobago to a meeting to discuss the publicised incident, as well as the wider immigration issue between the two Caribbean Community nations.