Migration key issue for Cayman’s future

Cuban migrants arriving on Grand Cayman

(CNS): Two local government officials attended the United Nations Regional Consultative Process on Migration in Belize last week in the first of what is expected to be a collaborative process in the Caribbean to deal with the issue. Michael Ebanks, assistant chief officer in the home affairs ministry, and Christopher Eakin, policy director at immigration, took part in the conference, which examined matters of national security, refugee protection, trafficking in persons, human smuggling, intelligence services and counter-terrorism around the region.

“We anticipate that human mobility will continue to grow in scope, scale, and complexity, and forums such as this allow us to find solutions for our national security within the context of the wider international arena,” said Ebanks.

Cayman has implemented laws on human trafficking, human smuggling and terrorism, and officials said the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) considers the Cayman Islands as only one of two Caribbean countries with comprehensive legislation protecting asylum seekers and refugees, and the only country in the region with a functioning asylum system.

Given the global migration issues fueled by wars in the Middle East, violence and insecurities in many other nations, Cayman’s issues relating to migration are very different from the experiences of most other countries today. Although Cayman is not immune to human trafficking associated with drugs, weapons and the sex trade and has an ongoing flow of Cuban migrants passing through on their way to the US, the domestic economy depends very heavily on legal immigrant labour.

“Migration plays a significant role in Cayman’s development – presenting challenges, risks, and opportunities. For this reason we will continue to take a careful and calculated approach to managing immigration policies as part of the ministry’s strategic objective to ‘make Cayman better’,” said Eric Bush, chief officer in the home affairs ministry.

The meeting, sponsored by the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) and the UNHCR, brought together delegates from Aruba, the Bahamas, Belize, the Cayman Islands, Guyana, Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago, and the Turks and Caicos Islands.