Dear Mr. Editor,

PLIGHT OF MIGRANT WORKERS

Underlying the flourish of development that enables the pockets of some Anguillians and investors alike to be gilt is a rising groan from the cogs that make this development possible. While it is appreciated that the Labour Department and Immigration Department work at enforcing laws that seek to control the influx of migrants who participate in the development of this nation, it is felt that there is a hostility towards these migrant workers, especially those from other Caribbean territories.

Careful research indicates that a number of local businesses and Government offices are populated by foreign workers, and projects presently underway indicate that there will be a continued reliance on imported labour. What many feel to be an anti-foreigner sentiment is growing in momentum and is being enshrined in laws that many feel are discriminatory. One gentleman from Montserrat expressed that he understands the need to curb the population growth, but feels that increasingly the system is working against the migrant worker. The reality of the situation demands that there needs be a compromise brokered between the exigencies of development and the systems governing the circumstances of the migrant worker.

Beneath the compliant face of the worker who relies on his/her employer for a yearly renewal of his work permit is a bubbling cauldron of frustration at labour and immigration laws that seem insensitive to the human needs of the individual. One young lady employed within the public sector explained that her contract made allowances for her to be accompanied by her spouse and up to 4 children under the age of eighteen years. Yet two of her children were initially denied stay on the island because according to one official within the Immigration Department, the laws were changed after her contract was made. After many visits between the Chief Minister’s Office and the Immigration Department, two of her children have been allowed stay on the island, but they need to have their passports stamped at the end of every term at a cost to her. To date, she is unable to have her eldest child be with the rest of the family. Added to this, her children have to attend private school because the public school cannot accommodate them. The end result is the desire to leave Anguilla at the end of her contract.

Sadly, there is a growing distrust and contempt for authority figures within the Labour Department whom some feel are governed by emotionalism and not professionalism. One Anguillian stated that she is fed up with the glib and careless talk that so easily falls from the lips of our leaders in regards to foreign workers who look just like our own people. She quoted one such leader as saying that “[a certain group] should not be allowed here because they don’t use birth control”. Another young man, who is not from Anguilla also expressed his disenchantment at the same speaker who was quoted as saying that “if they want to come here to work, we are going to make them pay”. The words of Barack Obama at one of his presidential debates very well apply, “Let’s tone down the rhetoric.”

It is understood that there are migrants who are willing to enter the island at any cost and would go so far as to falsify documents or certificates of qualifications. These certainly must be aggressively dealt with. However, there are those among us who are competent workers and law-abiding citizens whose meaningful and well intended contribution is frustrated by a selective implementation of laws.

The trickle down effect of anti-foreigner sentiments voiced by ‘those who should know better’ is the empowerment of some insensitive employers and contractors. One Windward island construction worker explained that there is a difference in employee expectations for the Anguillian workers and the foreign workers. He noted that he was expected to perform many different functions on the job site, work harder and longer and perform the risky jobs while being paid less than his Anguillian counterparts whom he noted felt no pressure to perform to their full working potential. One of his compatriots, he explained, left the island in frustration because of similar expectations in work while being given far less for his expertise, and having to endure less than desirable housing being provided by his employer.

Some reports point out that recruiters often lure workers here by false promises of accommodation and rewarding salaries. Upon arrival on island agreements are breached and the migrant workers are intimidated to present their cases to the relevant authorities. It is understood in their circles that any attempts to find redress to their concerns will be met by threats of deportation by their employer. Some go so far as to say that “an exchange of money within the offices helps the employers to right their cases”. Further abuses involve the payment of Social Security which sometimes is not paid, or is paid late and so when the worker is injured or is sick, he does not receive compensation.

The scramble for housing has also widened areas for insensitivities and abuses. Real estate has sky rocketed in value and even the Anguillian populace is being scorched by its blast-off. Every hole has become a place of habitation. Stories abound about the most derelict of structure being let at the price of a four star hotel room. Furthermore, landlords and ladies raise the rent at their whim and fancy, and there is no recourse for addressing this. There are outrageous hoists in rent that border on criminal. One young lady reported that she was made to pay US$800 for a one bedroom apartment plus US$40 for water per month; and then was asked to pay US$90 for water every two weeks. This story is one of the more palatable versions in the get- rich-quick scheme that is at work on island. The migrants are certainly paying.

The request for housing for contract workers at the five star projects under construction is certainly the main catalyst for the astronomical rise in rent. The developers are offering Manhattan prices for real estate. That is there prerogative, especially since they have the means. What is incomprehensible and reprehensible is that the average landlord is expecting the average migrant who works for an average or less than average salary to pay these same Manhattan prices for rent!

It is believed that the migrant who comes here is “making money”! If the average Anguillian is groaning under the weight of rising prices and mounting costs of basic services, how could it be any different for anyone else? Especially when one considers that some of the migrant’s money has to be further parceled out for a family that was left at home.

The fears are real and the frustration is palpable. Hopefully, we are far too enlightened to believe that we could invite others to live among us while we formulate laws and act out prejudices that separate us from them and not expect to feel the backlash of this. There are tensions in dichotomies: Anguilla-foreigner, black-white, empowered-disempowered, superior-inferior, rich-poor, vocal-silent. Tensions seethe and bubble over into open conflict. When people contribute after many years, they would no doubt feel that they are entitled to some of the spoils of the land. Global tensions among ethnic groups are fought along the same thematic lines.

The truth is that we need the migrant workers to serve our interests at this juncture in our development. And it seems as if we will need them for a while to come. It is certainly pointless to harass those that abide by our laws while executing their jobs competently. We could certainly lessen the traffic of workers in and out of the island by working with those that are working with us. This is one way of ensuring stability and continuity especially in our school system. This is all said nonetheless with the knowledge that many have tried to bamboozle the system, and those must be weeded out. However, proper background checks on applicants surely should help to combat this.

All must remember that Anguillia is now being economically poised in the way that many Caribbean islands have been. If it is true that “change is the only constant” then we should know that this economic ‘bliss’ is only for a time. Anguillians have also enjoyed the privilege of being able to work in other territories so that Anguillian men could retain a sense of their manhood knowing that they could build a home and raise a family from monies earned elsewhere. It was the need for money that connected our blood lines from Santo Domingo in the west to Trinidad and Venezuela to the south. In most cases, at the bottom of all this migrant traffic at this time is the same basic desire to address basic human needs.

Some persons point to the fact that those who ardently support the disenfranchisement of the foreigner are the same ones whose children are being birthed in the United States and are sharing in the benefits of that nation. The hypocrisies are apparent.

The cacophony of groans is crescendo-ing. Our glib speakers have to tone down the rhetoric. Those who boast of the booming economy cannot afford to be indifferent to the plight of our fellow Caribbean nationals who share many commonalities with us. We cannot continue to chop at the hands that keep the economy afloat. Those in authority cannot continue to be the purveyors of xenophobia. We have to accommodate our migrant workers in more meaningful ways while maintaining national interests so that we could live peaceably together.

Certainly, these workers do more than simply accept a pay cheque at the end of the week or month. They help to keep the economy vibrant. Certainly they come with skills that can be utilized in community service programs, but no doubt, the desire to contribute voluntary services is dampened by real or perceived injustices that they feel are enacted upon them. These workers are part of our congregations, part of our social clubs; they lengthen the queues in the supermarkets and at the gas station…They are part of our lives and we have to adopt attitudes and policies to work with the people that support our development. We need to create the infrastructures that accommodate our workers while preserving our national identity so that all of us can enjoy mutual satisfaction.
- Observer

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