The United Nations Committee on the Safety of the Rights of All Migrant Employees and Members of Their Households has referred to as on Jamaica to offer larger readability on its remedy of undocumented migrants, notably these arriving by boat from neighboring nations akin to Cuba.
Throughout the review of Jamaica’s preliminary and second periodic reviews this week in Geneva, Committee Specialists raised issues about detention procedures, entry to authorized support, and protections for people with out legitimate immigration standing.
“How are migrants approaching Jamaica from Cuba by boat handled when they don’t have paperwork? What occurs to them? The place are they despatched?” requested Committee Skilled and Co-Rapporteur Jasminka Dzumhur. “And who gives authorized support in these instances?”
The Jamaican delegation responded that whereas irregular migrants are thought of in breach of the nation’s immigration legal guidelines, their rights are protected below the Jamaican Structure.
“If an individual requests to use for refugee standing, they can’t be faraway from Jamaica till this software is taken into account, no matter their nationality or how they entered the nation,” a delegate mentioned. “We don’t criminalize individuals in irregular migration.”
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The officers defined that undocumented migrants are sometimes held at native police stations close to their level of entry. If essential, they could be positioned in correctional services — although authorities emphasised there is no such thing as a “cross-contamination” between migrants and convicted inmates.
“There’s a sturdy emphasis on safeguarding the dignity and rights of all people, no matter standing,” the delegation mentioned, including that selections about deportation or repatriation are coordinated with the related diplomatic authorities when attainable.
Nonetheless, Committee Specialists famous gaps within the data offered and pressed for extra concrete information and assurances of authorized protections.
“We have to perceive how the rights of undocumented migrants are virtually ensured, not simply what’s outlined in legislation,” mentioned Dzumhur. “Are there mechanisms in place to ensure authorized support or entry to the asylum course of in a well timed method?”
In a pre-recorded assertion, Jamaica’s Minister of Labour and Social Safety, Pearnel Charles Jr., acknowledged the challenges. “Migration is an integral a part of Jamaica’s nationwide expertise,” he mentioned. “We’re dedicated to selling protected, orderly, and common migration that aligns with worldwide requirements.”
The Committee will challenge its concluding observations on Jamaica’s report within the coming weeks.
