Living up to global perceptions?

Friday, April 7, 2006

In this issue’s “Cayman Islands in the Foreign Press” column, there is an interesting extract from a report by the Grenada Broadcasting Network equating the Cayman Islands with what it refers to as the “bigger countries” of Jamaica and Trinidad & Tobago, both of which have populations numbering in the millions rather than the tens of thousands.

This perception within the region that we are a country of wealth and influence apparently tends to elevate our size in people’s minds as well, with the notable exception of a Jamaican Olympics official who was also recently reported as saying we have a population of 5,000.

There is, however, no doubt that we have achieved a certain stature, not only within our own region, but also globally within the financial community.

However, we are concerned that this might turn out to be a somewhat tenuous position if steps are not taken to consolidate our achievements.

Our National Heroine, Sybil McLaughlin, in a recent letter to the editor pointed out that where there is no vision, the people perish. She also pointed out that, along with rights, comes responsibility.

Mrs McLaughlin made the point that Britain has never had a written Constitution as such but, nevertheless functioned well without one.

This was, we suggest, because there were sufficient checks and balances within the system of law and administration of justice to temper the propensity of those in power to ignore the rights of the individual.
In the Cayman Islands there has never been a robust enough judiciary adequately to safeguard such individual rights and, in the absence of enforceable human rights, those in public office have frequently failed to exercise the responsibility that comes with the freedom to act with impunity.

Indeed, one of our eminent local Queen’s Counsels (now deceased) once referred, with good reason, to what passed for the administration of justice in the Cayman Islands as “frontier justice”.

Clearly, too many of those in authority have failed to act fairly and responsibly and, if we are to aspire to be any kind of example for other small countries then it seems necessary to force those in public office to do the right thing by means of a new constitution incorporating a bill of rights.

Similarly, the government’s stupid “roll-over” policy, which, as another of our readers pointed out, is just a polite term for expulsion, raises human rights issues but, as things currently stand, there is no means of redress on the part of those affected.

The Cayman Islands achieved its current respected, prosperous status – both the reality and the perception – largely on the backs of expatriate workers and now we want to expel those who would like to make a long-term home here instead of just coming and leaving again without any real commitment to the country.

We could understand the government saying at a certain point that there is “no room in the inn” and no new immigrants will be allowed in to achieve security of tenure until others leave of their own accord, but a policy of expulsion of established expatriate workers is certainly not something we should be promoting.

Indeed, were any other developed country to try a similar tactic, there would be a tremendous global hue and cry.
What we are doing, in effect, is getting rid of a significant number of people who like what they found here in terms of our way of life and core values and wish to be assimilated into our society.

What we will get instead is a lot of newcomers who will tend to increase the pressure on our traditions and mores, rather than preserve them.

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