The paper discusses the process of reintegrating deportees in Jamaica. There is a belief among the media, citizens, and the government of Jamaica that the high rate of deportees to the country is boosting the crime rate in the country. Jamaica is among those nations that have a high number of homicides. Between 2005 and 2009, about 15,618 deportees were returned to Jamaica from various nations across the globe (Brown, 2011). Most of the deportees returned to Jamaica turned to crime. A large number of the deportees form part of the garrison communities that are highly associated with political movements governed by crime.
The process of deporting individuals most of which are criminals to Jamaica only works to boost the criminal enterprise in the Caribbean country. The deported criminals pose a serious threat to the national security of Jamaica stretching its ability to handle the burden that seems less of a threat to the deporting countries (Caballero, 2011). The process of deportation has a negative impact on the global security since the deported criminals re-engage and expand foreign criminal networks in Jamaica. The deportees return to Jamaica jobless and hopeless having been denied the chance to exploit the opportunities they had gone to pursue in other countries. Most deportees live on the street and find themselves engaging in criminal activities as an easier way out of their misery. Some of the deportees are reintegrated back through family and friendship ties. Those that lack such ties are adopted by local gangs thus intensifying the rate of crime, which is because of their lack of reintegration into their former positions. In this paper, factors affecting the reintegration process of deportees to Jamaica are discussed.
The lack of proper data collection, rehabilitation programs and employment opportunities influences reintegration of deported persons in Jamaican society.
According to Mark Golding, the Jamaican justice minister, deported criminal convicts Jamaica may be roaming the city streets without anyone keeping an account of their where about. Golding says that provisions permitting the state to track deportees, especially those with serious convictions, are existent within the country’s legal framework.
About 250 individuals were deported to Jamaica after having committed serious sexual crimes between 2008 and 2012. An entirely different set of statistics from the US immigration and custom enforcement (ICE) indicates that out of the 1548 deportees sent to Jamaica, 1225 of them were deported because of crimes they committed while on US soil with only 323 cases reported as non-criminal cases (Brown, 2011). These shocking statistics led to Jamaica’s ranking as the first out of 220 nations in terms of deportation of its citizens. The country lacks a strict regime that monitors the activities of the deportee once they land in Jamaica as free persons. One of the biggest problem police have with such deportees is establishing their identity. The case of aliases by travelers from Jamaica is way too common and thus poses a challenge when such people get deported. The police testify that a good number of deported convicts are associated with various crimes in the country such as drive by shootings and the rampant kidnapping cases. These crimes’ rates shot up when a considerably large group of deportees arrived back. Data collected on all deported cases could help the government and other organizations reintegrate deported individuals. Data collected on the deportees could be used to track their activities, which would allow the government to create programs geared towards assimilating them back to the society.
When deported back to Jamaica, the deportees are not allowed to carry anything else besides their passport. Once in Jamaica, the deported persons lack essential documents such as their birth certificates and thus cannot access social services. Applying for new documents is quite an expensive process in Jamaica and considering the circumstances surrounding a deportation, the deportees have little or no funds on them. If they attempt to apply for a job, they would require tax identification numbers that requires one to have a national identity card. Most of the deportees are shrugged off by family and friends, and so seek refuge in community charitable homes (Headley, 2005). Some may hardly remember their time in Jamaica since they left the country at a tender age. Some family members may offer some assistance but most of such help instances cannot be sustained. The rehabilitation programs are meant to increase the contribution of such deportees towards nation building. It, however, is unfortunate that some deportees have a hard time admitting their state and experience self-denial. Counseling is part of the package that comes along with deportee rehabilitation program. The program also helps them reintegrate through acquiring new identity documents for the deportees, and equipping them with useful skills that would make them eligible for employment. Having spent time in jail, some of the deportees require a reform program that would ensure they refrain from their old habits once they get back to the society.
Most of the deportees suffer stigmatization from their fellow citizens, especially close friends and relatives, who regard them as failures since they left the country for greener pastures only to come back with nothing and in disgrace. Most potential employers tend to avoid employing deportees since they have a feeling that all deportees are criminals and cannot be trusted. This kind of stigma forces men and women of skills to waste away since they cannot find a job merely because they are deportees. This major factor causes deportees into the life of crime in an attempt to sustain themselves. Employers generally view all deportees as having some elements of criminal activities and thus fear assimilating them through job openings. They feel that such individuals have not transformed and may continue with the criminal activities that got them deported in the first place. Some of the deportees turn to illegal economic activities such as drug trafficking and smuggling. This is prompted by the fact that most of them cannot afford food or clothing. They lack places to stay and end up on the streets since they cannot afford housing due to lack of finance. Some feel that the torture of staying in Jamaica is excessive and migrate to the neighboring countries to start a new life there.
Statistics link deportees to Jamaica with the increased crime rates in the Caribbean nation. As much as this may be true, most of the crimes perpetuated by deportees are not out of their own choice but rather due to the harsh condition, unemployment, stigma and degrading life that they face once they land back to Jamaica (Golash-boza, 2013). The government fails to track the whereabouts of the many Jamaican deportees. As a result, criminal deportees find the chance to hide under the mask of other deportees of goodwill. Most deportees find it hard to reintegrate in the society especially due to the rampant stigma associated with their state. The government needs to set up a proper deportee reintegration process if it wants to stop the many unavoidable criminal activities carried out by deportee. This is because most of them are done out of necessity rather than choice
References
Brown, C. (2011). The Jamaican deportees: (we are displaced, desperate, damaged, rich, resourceful or dangerous): who am I?. Bloomington: Authorhouse.
Headley, B. D. (2005). Deported: Entry and exit findings, Jamaicans returned home from the U.S. between 1997 and 2003. Kingston, Jamaica: Bernard Headley.
Golash-Boza, T. A. (2013). Forced transnationalism: transnational coping strategies and gendered stigma among Jamaican deportees. Global Networks, 5.)
Caballero, J., & Georgetown University. (2011). Sent 'home' with nothing: The deportation of Jamaicans with mental disabilities. Washington, DC: Georgetown University Law Center.
