THE MONTHLY GLEANER | APRIL 6 - MAY 3, 2023 | www.jamaica-gleaner.com | NEWS MISSED 7 [ REGIONAL ] New network aims to save migrant lives in the Caribbean UNITED NATIONS, CMC: THE UNITEDNations’ International Organization for Migration (IOM) says a new UN-backed network aims to drive action to save migrant lives in the Americas, including the Caribbean. “Thousands searching for a better life meet their death crossing deserts, rivers and remote areas in the region,” said the IOM in a statement, adding that its Missing Migrants Project documented 1,433 deaths last year – the highest number since its establishment in 2014. The Project is run by the UN agency’s Global Data Institute (GDI), which last week launched the first Network onMissingMigrants in the Americas. “The objective is to save lives, improve data collection and support the families of survivors,” IOM said. “When people have access to safe and regular migration pathways, that increases the likelihood that they can contribute to economic prosperity at home and in their places of destination,” said GDI Director Koko Warner. She added that a lack of these regular pathways “often has tragic results and is a lost opportunity”. The IOM said the network connects civil society organisations, government institutions, journalists, and other key actors. Participants meet in “virtual cafés”, a Missing Migrants Project initiative established three years ago, the IOM said. Although the exact number of those who die transiting through this region is unknown, at least 7,495 people lost their lives between 2014 and 2022, according to Missing Migrants Project data. The IOM said the new network will also work to strengthen national and regional capacities for the collection and exchange of data on migrant deaths and disappearances. Actions will include issuing recommendations to try and prevent these deaths and disappearances, searching for and identifying the deceased, and providing support and reparation to their families, the IOM said. “It will also facilitate the creation of strategic alliances among participants by conducting joint investigations, among other measures,” it said. BAHAMAS Former attorney general supports change to citizenship status NASSAU, CMC: FORMER ATTORNEY General Allyson MaynardGibson has called on the government to pass legislation giving Bahamian men and women an equal chance to pass citizenship to their children and spouses. Bahamians rejectedmore liberal citizenship laws in the 2002 and 2016 constitutional referendums. “I urge us to think about what the suffragists did, us as women, us as Bahamians who believe that all Bahamians, women andmen, are entitled to be treated equally and I say that there’s already a bill drafted that gives women the right to pass their citizenship on to their spouses and their citizenship on to their children and single Bahamian men also to pass their citizenship on to their children under certain circumstances,” she said. In February, Attorney General Ryan Pinder said that legislation allowing Bahamian men and women to pass on citizenship in all circumstances would be brought to Parliament once the Privy Council has ruled on whether children born out of wedlock to Bahamian fathers and foreignmothers have an automatic right to citizenship. Last year, former Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham called on the Philip Davis administration to abandon the appeal of Chief Justice Ian Winder’s landmark ruling. But the Privy Council, the country’s highest court, heard the matter on January 17. But Maynard-Gibson said people should push for change. “Now that’s not to say it’s the same as eliminating discrimination from our constitution but I want to point out that today, while people are wringing their hands and worrying about what will happen, there are women who are suffering, there are children who are suffering and there are men who are suffering and it is the job of our legislators to eliminate, not cause suffering. Pass the bill. Maynard-Gibson also urged the government to outlaw martial rape. CAYMAN ISLANDS Permanent residency points deemed unconstitutional – Court of Appeal GEORGE TOWN, CMC: THE PERMANENT residence system in this British overseas territory received a significant setback when the Court of Appeal recently handed down a ruling which stated that the system does not give sufficient weight to the individual circumstances of an applicant. Last Thursday, the Court of Appeal declared that the Immigration Act is incompatible with section 9 of the Bill of Rights, which deals with family and private life. Two individuals, whose permanent residency applications were denied over insufficient points, appealed the decisions and the court found that the failure to consider anything other than the points the applicants score is not compatible with the Constitution. This means that court has effectively ruled that if a person applying for permanent residence presents a good enough argument under section 9 of the Bill of Rights that their family or private life would be detrimentally impacted if they are forced to leave, there should be an alternative means for considering issues not addressed by the point system that could help someone secure the right to reside here even if they fall well short of the points needed. Leon D’Souza and Joey Buray were both represented in the appeal by Alastair David, who argued that their right to a private life was infringed when they did not get enough points and therefore faced an enforced exit from the Cayman Islands, where both men have lived for more than 14 years. The judges concluded that neither of themhad made a case that there was a specific or compelling reason outside of the points they earned that should also be considered.
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