It is one of the tragic shortcomings of Caribbean governance that hard data and statistics are not frequently considered, even when available, in national decision-making. Attitudes toward modern migration comprise one notable area.
As a consequence, public narratives on such matters are frequently over-populated
with and influenced by uninformed official and unofficial opinions, politically
flavoured intuition and mischief, isolated personal anecdotes, and general prejudice.
In the process, the developmental possibilities missed are innumerable.
I have already written enough about the role of xenophobia, racism, and
opportunistic political posturing in relation to the heavy inflow of Venezuelan
migrants – many of them undocumented – to T&T over the last decade or so.
My commentaries have included mocking references to the “close de
borders (with Venezuela) crew” and condemned the routinised stereotyping of men
and women seeking a better life away from the country of their birth.
There is also the durable myth of politically engineered “small island”
arrivals in time for elections in the 1950s that I have made the focus of
personal research.
When I saw some responses to a proposed Caricom Observer Group for next
year’s general election, it reminded me of how far a single, often repeated
untruth can reach.
It is the constant lament of academics and regional and international
development agencies present in the Caribbean that we live in chronically
data-starved environments.
It is not that the infrastructure to focus on such matters does not
exist. When it comes to migration statistics, for example, those of us with an
interest in knowing more rely almost exclusively on external agencies to distill
and evaluate raw information extracted from official figures.
Through this, for example, we know that in most cases, the
English-speaking Caribbean, is a net exporter of migrants, unlike that period
when we were arriving from elsewhere, populating our countries, and contributing
to a net importation of people.
In other words: today, more people are leaving than are arriving (to
stay) - the latter representing both documented and undocumented migrants,
re-migrants (people returning home after prolonged absence), deportees (more of
whom we shall soon witness), and intra-regional journeyers. UN data suggest
that in 2020, close to 350,000 people born in T&T now live overseas.
As part of global outward migration trends, there has been a notable increase
in the number of “high-skilled” Caribbean emigrants moving to developed
countries. These include mainly people with tertiary level education/specialised
training.
The 2010 estimate for T&T was in the order of 50 percent of our tertiary-educated/trained
people. In some quarters, we are considered to be among the highest per capita Caribbean
contributors to this regional “brain drain.” Add to this, the fact of our
ageing population with more than 25 percent of us now over the age of 55.
Among the several things this means is that migrant inflows can
contribute toward the required “brain gain” to fill important gaps in selected
areas. I am certain the university folks are looking at this more closely than
some of us mere journalists.
Now, having considered this, think about the political narratives
surrounding the value or lack of value of Venezuelan and other migration into
T&T.
There is imprecision in the manner in which state authorities have
communicated this subject, and even less regard for what is provably true on
the part of other political actors when it comes to things such as a significant
contribution to crime statistics and a major role in the displacement nationals
in the job market.
Of course, we do not stand alone in declaring the purported dangers of
migrant arrivals - though they aren’t known to consume our pets. Stand by for action
not far away. Plus, mere hours following the overthrow of Bashar al-Assad in
Syria last week, there were European countries promptly shutting the door on refugee
claims and wondering when those already there would ever go back home.
You never know what might happen in the Caribbean when things eventually
change in Venezuela or if peace and stability ever come to Haiti.
ILO Director-General, Gilbert F. Houngbo, says in the latest global
report on migration: “Migrant workers
are indispensable in addressing global labour shortages and contributing to
economic growth …ensuring their rights and access to decent work is not only a
moral imperative but also an economic necessity.”
The ILO report notes (and we don’t have the figures for T&T) that the
disparity in employment rates between them and non-migrants in many countries owes
much to “language barriers, unrecognised qualifications, discrimination,
limited childcare options, and gender-based expectations that restrict
employment opportunities, particularly for women.”
What are the facts of our case? Does anybody know? Does anybody care?
