Dear Editor,

The majority of people who constitute the Caribbean region’s 30-plus-million present-day inhabitants can directly trace their genetic heritage to people who, no doubt, came to these shores by ships; some forcefully and criminally trafficked, while others came in search of better livelihoods. These predecessors, our forebears, were victims, refugees and migrants.

Over the last couple of months, the collective gaze of the world’s attention has been fixed on the unfolding crisis that now engulfs the European continent. We look on day by day at the swarms of human beings fleeing their homelands in droves, some fleeing the war zones of Syria and Afghanistan, while others seek to escape economic oppression in Eritrea and Sudan. These human beings are in search of better livelihoods.

Over the last couple of months, the collective gaze of the world’s attention has been fixed on the unfolding crisis that now engulfs the European continent. We look on day by day at the swarms of human beings fleeing their homelands in droves, some fleeing the war zones of Syria and Afghanistan, while others seek to escape economic oppression in Eritrea and Sudan. These human beings are in search of better livelihoods.

Considering our status as members of an ever-shrinking global community, and given our historical reality of being descendants of slaves, migrants, and refugees, one cannot help but to find it quite sad that the Caribbean Community has remained largely silent, if not ignorant of the burgeoning situation.

I am afraid that the time for issuing statements has long passed. At this moment, only action will suffice, and this action must take the form of resettlement of refugees. The truth is that small island states will never have either the space or resources to play host to thousands, but we can do our part, if only to give shelter to hundreds.

Our big brother to the North has awoken from his slumber. Now it’s our turn. We, too, as a region, must also take refugees; this will no doubt be hard but it should be made easier by the fact that many Caribbean states already have existing Syrian and African communities.

Noel Matherson