Letter of the Day | Jamaica’s detection systems worked

THE EDITOR, Madam:

There has been much talk about an aircraft which came to Jamaica with persons who were refused landed status by the Passport, Citizenship and Immigration Agency (PICA). As someone in the travel industry, I am seeing growing interest in travel to Jamaica from non-traditional markets. India, Russia, and some South American countries like Chile and Argentina have taken an interest in vacationing here. India tourism can be particularly lucrative, as they tend to travel in groups for wedding and other celebrations.

While we should welcome this interest in non-traditional traffic, we should also be mindful of human trafficking. Jamaica is central in the Caribbean and could be a gateway to the rest of the Caribbean and the United States. Our immigration and border control mechanisms must strike the right balance of keeping Jamaica at the forefront in the minds of travellers as a friendly and welcoming place, but must also make it clear to those who would want to use our country as a trans-shipment point for human trafficking, that we have the capabilities to differentiate and interdict them. This recent incident showed that our immigration system worked to do just that.

TINGE OF XENOPHOBIAFrom the news published, it appeared that two passengers were not declared on the advance manifest provided to immigration before the plane landed in Jamaica. The dilligence of the immigration (officer) detected this, which led to further inquiries of the other passengers regarding their arrangements to stay in Jamaica. It seems that they were not able to provide satisfactory answers, and PICA decided not to land them. I could not fault the authorities for allowing the passengers to leave the airport and go to the hotel for which they had been booked. I have been stuck in airport lobbies overseas and it isn’t a good situation to be in.

Foreigners walking along the waterfront taking pictures and buying ice cream must have been a strange sight for Jamaicans. This brings me to my fundamental point. Imagine if we had five flights of 250 visitors coming to Kingston weekly to stay in our hotels, eat at our restaurants downtown, visit our art gallery, and take in the Kingston Harbour from the waterfront. This would be transformative. If we continue to develop our infrastructure and attractions, such as Port Royal, the Blue Mountain coffee experience, Bob Marley Museum and the linear park along the waterfront, we would not have hands to welcome visitors.

In the narratives that emerged, however, I detected a tinge of xenophobia. India has been very good to us. Indians are a part of our ethnic make-up; and always remember that the shoe is often on the other foot for our fellow Jamaicans trying to get into foreign countries. I understand, it’s the silly season where everything is going to be politicised and big drama is created. The Government handled the situation creditably and I believe from this experience, if there were any trafficking organisation trying to target Jamaica as a transit point they would be deterred, as our immigration systems showed that we have the ability to detect and return any such attempt.

TANYA HYLTON