Jamaica Still Negotiating Issues Regarding Third Country Nationals With the US
KINGSTON, Jamaica - Jamaica's government has said that it is still in negotiations with the United States regarding migrants from third countries being deported to the island.
Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade Minister Kamina Johnson Smith told a news conference that Kingston has engaged with the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) to support third-country nationals (TCN) while they are in the country and to facilitate their return to their home countries.
Earlier this year, the Andrew Holness government announced that it had signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Washington allowing for third-country nationals transferred from the United States to transit through Jamaica to their final destination.
Several other CARICOM countries, notably, Dominica, St. Lucia, Guyana and St. Kitts and Nevis have signed similar agreements with the US, with some countries indicating that they are prepared to take up to 10 migrants annually.
Johnson Smith told reporters that Jamaica will begin receiving migrants after the IOM completes its assessment.
“It has its own independent process that it undertakes, having engaged with PICA (Passport, Immigration and Citizenship Agency), MNSP (Ministry of National Security and Peace), and other relevant departments and agencies to make sure everyone is aligned.
“The IOM will be the body that is responsible for the TCNs when they are here and for getting them back home, but the government receives them and hands them over to the IOM, so there is a process in which they need to do to make sure that they are, in fact, ready,” Johnson Smith adding that the IOM does not have an office in the region and usually hires staff for projects such as the TCN arrangement.
She told reporters that the MoU agreement between Jamaica and the US will not be released, adding that she had undertaken consultations with her Cabinet colleagues and with the US government.
“As indicated, this is not a unilateral arrangement; it is a bilateral arrangement and one in which they have not generally released their agreements and have not agreed to release this one,” Johnson Smith said.
The government has already indicated that the arrangement with the United States will not be funded by the Jamaica government and that migrant with criminal antecedents will be transiting through Jamaica.
“In participating in the TCN programme, Jamaica will join close to 30 countries, including several members of Caricom, who have similar arrangements.
“Furthermore, the Government reiterates its commitment to working with the IOM and the Government of the United States of America to ensure that all arrangements for the next stage of TCN implementation are appropriately governed and implemented in accordance with both our domestic laws and international law”.
