Dear Editor,

“Your refusal of entry was not, in any way, related to your nationality, but with the answers that you gave to immigration. Mr Merlo Reid, when he placed the cancelled stamp in your passport, told you that you misrepresented when you said that you were staying with Pamela Clarke,” he said.

After reading the above paragraph in the article “Four more witness to take stand in Myrie case”, I came to the conclusion that the CARICOM is more like CARI-GO-BRING-COM and must be disbanded if this kind of treatment continues.

Anyway, before we start to rant, we might want to define “freedom of movement.” Let’s look at what it means in the European Union. It means: (1) Look for a job in another EU country, (2) work there without needing a work permit, (3) reside there for that purpose, (4) stay there even after employment has finished and (5) enjoy equal treatment with nationals in access to employment, working conditions and other social and tax advantages.

Why did the immigration officer in Barbados check Myrie’s passport and stamped it after she left Jamaica? It doesn’t work like that in the EU. If, for example, I am travelling from Brussels to Helsinki, at the check-in counter in Brussels I am asked to show my ID/passport so that the personnel can see if the name on the ID/passport matches the name on the ticket.

Before boarding the plane, I might be asked to show my ID/passport along with my boarding pass. After I reach Helsinki airport, I simply walk straight to the luggage section and collect my luggage and then walk out from the airport without talking to another person.

For freedom of movement to work, all the signatory countries should have two sections at their airports, one for international flights and the other for passengers travelling within the CARICOM.

Switzerland recently joined the Schengen Area and its border is 99% open. The one per cent check-in is for people trying to sneak across the border without a vignette (road tax). Switzerland and many other countries in Europe charged motorists a road tax to use the roads. With the two sections at the airport, a passenger will only get checked at the departing airport by showing his or her ID/passport to verify his or her name. When you reach your destination, you simply walk straight out of the plane to the luggage department to collect your luggage and, if you don’t have luggage to collect, then you simply walk out of the airport without saying howdy to anyone.

If the freedom of movement is not working like that in the CARICOM, then the whole thing is a fraud. The problem with CARICOM is that some countries are jealous of other countries, some countries don’t trust other countries’ citizens, some countries have one foot in and one foot out and some countries’ behaviour towards the black race have Martin Luther King, Marcus Garvey, Bob Marley and the rest of the late civil rights leaders turning over in their graves.

The countries within the CARICOM must realise by now that the population within the CARICOM is 90% black, which means that immigration officers at the airports around the CARICOM will continue to see more black people than white. I am of the opinion that race played a part is this debacle in Barbados. It is an open secret that some persons in Barbados despise black people.

Hero Scott

herocarlito@yahoo.com