Letter to the Editor
Should the Work Permit Systembe abolished?
Mr. Gates's recent letter (Issue # 40) urgedthe new Government to look again at the recommendations of theVISION 2008 Committees, and we must all hope that happens.
I too sat on the Immigration Committee, and was very closely involvedin its final Report and Appendix. Those documents were the resultof CONSENSUS agreement, by the way, not a mere majority vote.
The Appendix covers human rights, and the ethical standards ofImmigration Board members. What our Committee meant by "humanrights" had nothing to do with homosexuality, and it is apity some letter writers seem to equate the two things!
This is not the place to spell out everything that "humanrights" means; I may do that another time. However, it isconvenient to look at what the VISION 2008 Immigration Committeediscussed in relation to human rights for non-Caymanian residents,both transients (short-term workers) and immigrants (who havemade their homes here).
Freedom of Employment
No consensus could be reached onexactly how long before foreign residents should be granted thisfreedom, though we agreed that 20-30 years was grossly unfair.
As part of our documentary research, I reviewed a book called"Indentured Labor, Caribbean Sugar, Chinese & IndianMigrants to the British West Indies 1838-1918". (The bookis in the Public Library. I will be glad to send a copy of myreview to anyone who wants it.)
The review compared the rules governing indentured foreign labour(a) in the years following the abolition of slavery, and (b) in1998 in Cayman. The latter rules were and are far, far harsherthan the former. One major difference is that those earlier migrantshad an official "Protector". Today of course there isno such official - and no protection, since our officials areall on the other side of the fence.
My present opinion is that Cayman's work permit system shouldbe abolished as completely as slavery was abolished in 1832. Andfor much the same reasons. It encourages exploitation of foreignworkers, and it engenders a lack of compassion among employersand administrators alike. It is an evil system.
There are other, morally acceptable, ways of controlling the inflowof foreign residents.
Domestic workers are its chief victims, and the Cayman IslandsAuthorities turn a blind eye to bullying and exploiting them --to abuses of human rights, in fact. How on earth ordinary, decentCaymanians can remain silent in the face of such a situation,I don't understand. At a time when child-abuse and wife-abuseare being "outed", is it too much to ask that domestics-abusebe "outed" too?
Hey, I am only an immigrant. It shouldn't be left to an immigrantto speak out publicly in defence of foreign domestics. Donítpreachers talk about the Good Samaritan any more, in church?
Long-term Residents.
Our VISION 2008 Committee recommended-- by consensus -- that nobody with ten years' residence shouldbe sent away. The anti-immigrant bigots say, "Send them home!"But we ARE home! If you live in a place for ten years, it hasbecome your home. Somehow, that message has to be knocked intothe thick heads of the bigots. Again, help is needed from theordinary, decent Caymanians.
Today we have 55,000 people, and 12,000 voters. In the year 2008,barring an economic slump, Cayman's population will hit 90,000.Of those, 12,000 will be voters. A short seven years after that,at the present rate of progress, the population will be almost200,000. Of those, 12,000 will be voters! If Cayman is to be admiredin the world, then todayís 12,000 had better realize thatrule by bloodline is simply not appropriate any longer.
People have said to me, "But we can't give the vote to allforeigners who work here, as soon as they step off the plane."Well, of course not! However, Caymanians cannot deny voting rightsto genuine immigrants forever, either.
A population that increases 7% a year, doubles every 10 years.Ask yourself, at what point in history will a voting elite of12,000, selected on purely ethnic grounds, be forced to surrenderits monopoly? Never? You think so? Ask yourself, are you doingyour children any favours, by leaving them this selfish legacy?
If it adopts the VISION 2008 recommendation, our new Governmentwill get Cayman back on the road to nationhood that was abandonedin the mid-1980s when Status grants were discontinued. A few thousandfrustrated foreign residents will become enthusiastic citizens.
Citizens help to make nations great, of whatever size. Denyingcitizenship to immigrants preserves the privileges of the rulingtribe, but it does not build a nation.
Today, our politicians, senior civil servants, statutory boardmembers, business owners, and even voters, are ALL (with rareexceptions) "selected" by bloodline. How Mickey-Mousethat appears to overseas observers! In the year 2008, it is goingto seem even more absurd and unfair.
Gordon Barlow
George Town