THE dilemma of individuals with Jamaican roots who have never set foot on the island until they were forcibly thrust here by foreign governments is one that forensic social worker and Family Unification & Resettlement Initiative (FURI) founder Carmeta Albarus is all too familiar with.

While FURI is laser-focused on providing individuals who have been returned to the island involuntarily with much-needed assistance in reconnecting with family locally and abroad, the anomaly of non-nationals forced to live in Jamaica is one which Albarus has been wrestling. In one case alone, that fight has gone on for 17 years.

According to Albarus, her client — who was born in Germany while his father was stationed there as a military official, but who returned to the United States with his family after his father’s tour of duty ended — got a rude awakening when after a run-in with the law he learned that he was stateless.

“His father was in the military and was stationed in Germany and his mother got pregnant with him in the US, actually, and she went to Germany and had him there. They assumed that because he was born in Germany, and on the base there, that he would be a citizen and so they went back… and then, you know, parents got separated and he got into a little trouble and when the time [of reckoning] came, he’s not a citizen of the US and he’s not a citizen of Germany either, because you don’t get birthright citizenship in Germany,” Albarus, who was a guest on a recent episode of virtual talk show Heart to Heart, told host Tyrell Morgan.

The forensic social worker, who has more than two decades of experience working within the criminal justice system in the United States, and is known for her work with convicted Jamaican sniper Lee Boyd Malvo, says she remains mystified by what took place next.

“The [Jamaican] Consulate in Florida did something that, up until this day, I cannot imagine that somebody who is supposed to be looking out for the best interest of his citizen would do something like that. What this person did was to issue travel documents in his father’s name,” Albarus shared.

She said the young man — upon arrival in Jamaica, after being quizzed about his date of birth, his paternity, and place of birth — was “held” by immigration officials.

“His mother had to fly down and show that at the time of his birth she was a Jamaican citizen and he got derivative citizenship. He had never ever, ever been to Jamaica, never touched foot in Jamaica, has nobody in Jamaica, but the consulate in Miami issued documents and there was no verification by PICA (Passport, Immigration and Citizenship Agency) or any other agency and that young man is in Jamaica right now and he has been here now for 17 years,” the FURI founder said.

Albarus said her client has been “trying to survive”, and though out of place has never run afoul of the law while here.

“Up to right now we are still working with this young man,” she said, noting that the work of her agency, whose local offices are on Hagley Park Road in St Andrew, is made harder by the “bias” which exists towards individuals who are involuntarily returned.

“We sort of help them with getting their papers, getting their TRN (Taxpayer Registration Number), if they have health concerns we refer them for health and mental health treatment if that is necessary, and we guide them in terms of how they can prepare for employment and all of that, but because of the bias against individuals who have been involuntarily returned sometimes it’s difficult,” she said.

She noted that Jamaicans at home make it even harder for these individuals to find their footing, especially if they outperform them on the job. Still, yet for others Albarus said that same bias has kept them among the unemployed.’

“You have people come down with their master’s (degree) and can’t even get jobs because of situations like that, so we can do as much as we can, but until the society… has a different face in terms of persons who have been sent back we’re going to be stuck in this problem,” she noted.

According to the 2023 Economic and Social Survey Jamaica published by the Planning Institute of Jamaica in 2019 there were 1,051 involuntary returned migrants; 653 in 2020; 501 in 2021; 568 in 2022; and an estimated 574 in 2023. Conversely, the numbers for voluntary returned residents showed 721 in 2019, 731 in 2020, 867 in 2021, 787 in 2022, and 943 in 2023.

Involuntary returned migrants are those who are forcibly repatriated to their country of origin due to legal reasons such as immigration violations or criminal activities.

In a 2019 study commissioned by the Ministry of National Security an overwhelming majority of deported Jamaicans gave the State a thumbs down for its role in helping them readjust.

The 2019 study, which involved 400 Jamaicans — the majority of whom were deported from the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada and several other territories — said family members were largely their support base.

According to the study, which was conducted by researchers from the Department of Government at The University of the West Indies, Mona, 63 per cent of those surveyed said the Government did not follow up on their integration, 62 per cent said the Government was not responsive, 62 per cent strongly disagreed that the assistance given was effective, while 60 per cent said the Government was not quick to provide support.

Fifty-eight per cent of the respondents said they were met at the airport by family members, while 17 per cent said they were met by no one. Another 16 per cent said they were met by friends, eight per cent by a government entity, and one per cent by a private organisation.

ALBARUS… the work of my agency is made harder by the “bias” which exists towards individuals who are involuntarily returned