Framework for Caricom’s regional migration policy coming soon

THE framework for Caricom’s regional migration policy is now under review by technical experts.

Caricom programme manager for crime and security Sherwin ToyneStephenson says it is a product of research and extensive regional consultations, including UN and Caricom institutions.

The call for such a policy in recent years was made at a February 2019 Caricom heads of government meeting about security.

In regular updates, Caricom often says it has been “making progress” in developing the policy.

Asked what that progress looks like so far, ToyneStephenson told Newsday it refers to the team learning more about Caricom member states’ priorities.

“We are at the point where we are about to have our member states validate the findings for the framework before having a high-level meeting in November, where ministers of foreign affairs and ministers of national security would sit together and look very closely at what the findings are, what the recommendations are.”

After their endorsement, heads of government would review the framework in February 2025 and make their own recommendations.

He made it clear that the framework is meant to act as a “toolkit” for countries to then develop their individual policies.

Initially, he said, his team’s mandate was to deliver a policy, but after ministers of foreign affairs held a meeting, it was decided that member states’ priorities should first be assessed.

“And we’ve done all that in a framework.

“Of course, we still need to do some technical checks on it, making sure that it’s palatable for the general public.”

One significant gap that was recognised during the process, he said, was data collection.

He believes this needs to be strengthened in the region.

“Data is the bedrock of most of what we are doing, and most member states’ law systems and legal systems would have evolved differently. So there’s some work that needs to be done to harmonise laws and outcomes across member states so that what is delivered at the regional level is able to be compared and analysed so that everybody speaks on the same framework.”

The four goals Caricom has listed as being the backbone in this policy were economic development, cultural enrichment, educational opportunities and sustainable development.

ToyneStephenson said within this whole process, the “links between labour” must be looked at.

He said it is a common complaint in the region that there is a “loss of valuable human resource,” aka brain drain, particularly in the health and education sectors.

“And while the policy does not want to interrupt anyone’s goals and dreams, because part of the reason citizens evolve and are protected is that they would be free to go after their own goals and their own economic developments…But we’re going to be looking at how we can perhaps find some substitutions along those data gaps.

“(We will be) looking at the possibility of people who are not actually from the region but have the kinds of qualifications to fill some of those gaps in the short term, and to also create opportunities where people who have already migrated can be able to give back as part of the diaspora.”

When it comes to sustainable development, he said that given the region’s geographic location and its susceptibility to different natural disasters, there are times when people become displaced.

“This is concerning, particularly in the instance where school children or people who are of school age would be displaced from schools and education is critically important. So certainly, the displacement of people due to climate change and due to naturally-occurring phenomena is significant among those issues that we’re considering.”

He added that the policy must also speak to emerging trends and patterns that may affect future generations.

“So it has to be sustainable and so that one of the things that the research has been uncovering or pointing to is the need for us to create stronger migration-type courses within our schools and institutions of learning so that a generation is prepared to continue to address those aspects and to be able to service immigration policy.”

Making it clear the policy is not intended to be “a static document,” he said it will allow member states to be flexible based on these trends.

He said several ministries were consulted, joking that there is no ministry of migration in any Caricom country.

“You would have ministries that share responsibility for migration…So national security is one of them because that speaks to our border security, intelligence gathering issues around migration, and even those processes that need to kick in to keep our citizens safe when they are moving and prevent people that are undesirable from entering our borders and creating any kind of mischief.”

He said health and education ministries, as well as ministries in charge of youth development, were also important to the conversation.

He believes this policy must be clear enough that the average “man in the street” can understand.

He said he has Bajan grandparents, was raised in Trinidad and Tobago and now works in Guyana, which is “the story of quite a lot of people in the region when you begin to speak to them and get what their story is.

“So the story is that we are a region that is accustomed to moving around and movement is a positive thing.”

But he warned that there is still the issue of criminals who prey on people who attempt to migrate to fulfil their dreams.

“So it is a conversation that we need to have with people in terms of how do I get from where I need to be…(and) what are the processes that need to go in place to ensure that whatever benefits that I have attained while I was here…can follow me. How can I safely move to do exactly what I want to do?”

He said it has been a wonderful experience putting a process together that will boost development in the region.

“You’re not determining what people are going to move to do. But you are obviously, once this thing is done right and once people feel safe, as an individual, going to benefit tremendously from being able to, when people begin to realise their dreams, the synergies that evolve and all the different products that fall out after that.”

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