Call for action tops Diaspora Conference wish list
Published:Tuesday | June 14, 2022 | 12:13 AMLester Hinds/Gleaner Writer
As the 9th biennial Diaspora Conference gets under way in Kingston today, Jamaican expatriates have unveiled their action wish list.
Top of the agenda is the vexed issue of an implementation deficit.
Michelle Fanger, an immigration attorney in Florida who sits on the Immigration Task Force in the diaspora, said that various Diaspora Conferences have arrived at measures and strategies but laments that they have been stuck in the pipeline.
Fanger said that at prior conference, a lot of ideas were proposed on creating synergy between the diaspora and Jamaicans back home but did not materialise.
“The conference is about ideas and what people want to see accomplished but the implementation of these ideas have been wanting,” she said.
Franger, who will be participating in the conference remotely, said she is hoping for more than chat.
Her preferred areas of interest are education, agriculture, and technology.
Tony Gray, former president of the Atlanta Jamaica Association in Georgia, is also optimistic that the conference will not be a talk shop. He, too, will be participating.
“I hope that concrete solutions will emerge from the conference that will be implemented to enhance the relationship between Jamaica and the diaspora,” he told The Gleaner.
Gray wants expats to get detailed information about business opportunities in Jamaica. He is also bullish about how overseas-based nationals can support the Government of Jamaica.
“We have the expertise here, but the Government does not seem interested in utilising such expertise,” he said.
Crime weighs on Gray’s mind and has been a persistent concern for Jamaican expats, many of whom cite the scourge of violence as a key factor deterring their return.
Captain Rupert Francis, head of the Diaspora Crime and Prevention Task Force, expressed concern that crime and security doesn’t appear to be front and centre of the conference agenda.
“Jamaica cannot move forward until crime is brought under control and people are made to feel safe. We have to focus on the youth to reduce crime among them and to turn them away from scamming,” he said.
History of failure
Francis, who will be participating in the conference, said that he also has concerns about the historical failure of policy implementation.
“Over the years, we have attended these conferences, come up with ideas, but they are never implemented. I hope that this will change with this conference,” he said.
Francis is somewhat concerned that the conference is being organised out of Jamaica instead of originating in the diaspora.
He has also disappointed that a Diaspora Policy is yet to become reality.
Patrick Beckford, a former Diaspora Board member, said that while the conference is always well organised, he would rather it being rotated throughout the diaspora instead of being staged only in Jamaica.
He also wants to see members of the diaspora chairing the discussion panels instead of people in Jamaica.
Beckford hopes that the conference will highlight linkage opportunities between expats and the Jamaican Government.