Denied entry to my own country
Dear Editor,
I’ve read stories of Jamaicans being denied entry to other countries; however, nothing prepared me for being denied entry to Jamaica, the land of my birth.
On Friday, September 30, 2016, I was the first passenger to disembark WestJet 2600 from Toronto in the early afternoon. As an airline professional, with over 20 years experience, I have never been to a country and on arrival found there was no one at Immigration to greet and process arriving passengers. This happened to us on arrival in Kingston.
After waiting several minutes I expressed disgust at the poor service with another passenger. Suddenly an immigration officer appeared, he must’ve overheard me. He instructed me to, “Shut up…or keep my voice down.” Of course, I let him know, as an adult, I didn’t appreciate being spoken to like that. He quickly glanced at my passport and passed me on to his supervisor, Miss Tracey Johnson, who explained that the officers were late due to a training session. I found the excuse even more appalling. Why would they schedule training during work period, early afternoon, when most flights start to arrive?
By then the supervisor decided I was to be denied entry. This stunned me, as a Jamaican by birth, who lived more than half of my life in Jamaica. I planned to visit a terminally ill relative and provide her with some nutritional health products. I explained all this to the officer who showed no empathy. I was to be returned to Toronto on the same day. This caused me much inconvenience, embarrassment and distress.
Inspector Nelson, who escorted me back on the return flight, further explained that, under the Geneva laws, the authorities could’ve also stripped me of my citizenship (sic). Again, I was stunned at the idea I could be stripped of my citizenship by birth!
I therefore call on the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to investigate this matter. I believe the Jamaican Immigration took matters to an extreme here and overstepped their boundaries only because I complained of what I thought was poor service.
How can we get better as a country if we’re so touchy about criticism?
Richard Leiba
richardleiba@gmail.com
