We Are allHuman Beings Alike
Dear Sir,
I was born in Belize British Honduras, CentralAmerica 58 years ago. My sister and four brothers were also bornin Belize City. My parents are born Caymanians, my children andmyself have been living in Cayman for the past 28 years; thisis the only home they have known. Now I find myself needing togo to Belize City to get passports for three of my grand daughtersthat were born here 10 years, 9 years and 5 1/2 years ago. I alsoneed to get two of my sons' passports renewed that had expiredin May 1999 as they cannot leave the Islands to go anywhere.
We all were born British, and Belize althoughshe has gotten Independence since we have been living here, Belizestill has Queen Elizabeth on her money just like the Cayman Islands.
When my mother and my father went to livein Belize City, he was working on a ship, as an engineer thatwas travelling from Tampa to Belize and that is how we all happenedto be born in Belize. The Government in Belize did not tell myCaymanian parents, you need to go back to Cayman to get passportsfor your children that were born here. No, the Government treatedus like human beings, we all got our passports and whatever elsewe needed and on top of that, we also got our education. Neithermy mother nor my father had to pay school fees for us. I rememberwe all got free food at school too, and yet, the Government inCayman is demanding school fees from my son for these same littlegrand daughters that were born here and living here all theirlives on this Island.
I will go to Belize and bring back theirpassports for them, although they were not born in Belize. I haven'tany idea how much thousands of dollars that they owe SavannahSchool now for school fees. You know it's not the money, but thelove of the money is the root of all evil. My youngest daughter,all my other 18 grand children and two great grand children wereborn here in Cayman. They are not prisoners like my other threelittle grand daughters that were born here and two of my sonsthat have been living here for the past 28 years, it's so unfair.
My daughter-in-law, my son's wife, has beenliving here for the past 12 years, she is from La Ceiba, Honduras;two of my Caymanian aunts were living in La Ceiba for years andyears. After they died, they were also buried in La Ceiba, theirfamily still lives there; my father also died in La Ceiba andhe was also buried there.
On the 11th of this month, my daughter-in-law,my other son's wife, came back from La Ceiba, Honduras; when shegot here Immigration told her that her husband is not Caymanian,she told them that she came back here to work as she has a workpermit.
That is so unfair. My two daughters-in-laware two very nice women. I know of other people that come hereto Cayman and when their time is up and they go to ImmigrationDepartment for more time, their last little one hundred dollarsthat they could take home with them is taken away from them, withoutthem even getting more time; and they are told to catch the flightthat same day. Unfairness. We all are human beings alike.
Anne Brenda Coe Dawson