Govt member calls for discontinuation of TCI relations with Haiti – Says ‘too many of them, not enough of us’

BY DELANA ISLES

Government-appointed member, Hon Jameka Williams has called on the government to discontinue its relationship with Haiti until some stability returns to the neighbouring country.

In a two-minute speech delivered in the House of Assembly last Thursday, January 26, Williams recalled the upsurge of violence in the country since the assassination of Haitian President Jovenel Moïse on July 7, 2021.

Reference was also made to the effects of devastating hurricanes which have left many in extreme poverty.

She said while the Turks and Caicos Islands has for years relied on Haitians for its unskilled labour, a relationship that spans decades, the TCI is too small a nation to concern itself with the hardships of Haiti.

Williams was mainly concerned with the increased number of persons – Haitians in particular – in the territory who do not “look like her”, saying that she is not racist.

“In recent years there are too many people, particularly on the island of Providenciales that does not look like me. We can barely recognise anyone anymore.”

The member complained that when she goes about her daily life – from the grocery store to the bank, the airport and even the hospital – “it’s too much of them and not enough of us”.

She is concerned that Haitians have dominated the TCI’s workforce, its schools and social programmes geared at protecting and empowering Turks and Caicos Islanders.

“I am fearful for the TCI that should this illegal migrant issue continues to be left unchecked, in about five years we will have a TCI we all do not recognise; and so to this end, I think it is time for us to discontinue our relationship with Haiti until there is some level of normalcy in Haiti with its government and the island on a whole.”

The member emphasised that it is not only Haitians who are saturating the islands, other nationalities are ‘flying under the radar, and milking this country of all its benefits”.

She said: “They are in the Caucasian and Asian communities, involved in the sale of our real estate, dominating the water sports industry and Villa markets, doing the catering and property management and they are grossly offensive and disrespectful to our people. Who are we building this country for?”

Williams bemoaned the exodus of native Islanders to places like the US and the UK because they feel there is no real opportunity for them in their own home.

She claims that there are too many restrictions on Islanders and fewer on outsiders.

Not racist: “I’m not a racist nor am I discriminating against any nationality but this is still the Turks and Caicos Islands and I was sent here to this honourable house to

Williams noted that while there are measures the government has put in place to stem the illegal migration problem, she wants the people who sit on the National Security Council to urgently intervene and help save this country for native Islanders.

Her speech comes just two weeks after the government announced a moratorium on visas for Haitian nationals.

The reasons for the moratorium were due to an increased number of irregular migrants attempting to enter TCI over the last year illegally and clandestinely; the upsurge in violent crimes in Haiti and in the TCI. The number of persons repatriated and deported to Haiti recently; the rise in communicable and infectious diseases in Haiti (cholera etc.); hiring of illegal immigrants and persons not authorised to work in the TCI by unscrupulous employers; and a noticeable propensity of persons arriving in the islands who are violating the terms of their visitor’s visa by overstaying and engaging in gainful occupation.

The moratorium will be in effect for six months.