Quarterly Jamaica Diaspora & Returnee Update — | Q4 2003

Quarterly Update | October–December 2003 | Jamaica Homes News

Key Takeaways: Q4 2003 in Six Lines

• Saddam Hussein captured December 13; diaspora debates Iraq war aftermath
• Concorde retires October 24; transatlantic diaspora era changes permanently
• Jamaica crime statistics dominate diaspora media through year end
• Biennial Jamaica Diaspora Conference officially announced for June 2004
• Deportation rates from US and UK reach new quarterly highs
• Returnee interest in north coast property strengthens into new year

Saddam Captured: The World Watches, the Diaspora Debates

On December 13, 2003, US forces discovered Saddam Hussein hiding in a narrow underground hole near the town of ad-Dawr, close to his hometown of Tikrit. The image of the dishevelled former Iraqi dictator being examined by a military doctor was broadcast around the world within hours and dominated global television and newspaper front pages for days. President Bush, announcing the capture from the White House, described it as a watershed moment in the Iraq conflict. The Jamaican diaspora — whose views on the Iraq war are divided along broadly generational and political lines, with older community members more likely to support the intervention and younger voices more uniformly opposed — engaged with the news with characteristic intensity in community radio phone-ins, church discussions and social gatherings across the Christmas period.

The capture has not, however, resolved the fundamental questions that diaspora opponents of the war raised in 2003. The absence of weapons of mass destruction — the primary justification offered by both the Bush and Blair governments for the invasion — remains a source of profound political anger. The Hutton Inquiry in the United Kingdom, examining the circumstances surrounding the death of weapons inspector Dr. David Kelly, has kept that anger fresh. For Jamaican-British community members who marched in February 2003 alongside two million others in London, the capture of Saddam is not, in itself, a vindication of a decision they opposed from the outset.

Concorde Retires: An End of an Era for the Transatlantic Community

On October 24, 2003, British Airways and Air France simultaneously flew their final Concorde services, ending 27 years of supersonic passenger aviation across the North Atlantic. The aircraft’s retirement — precipitated by the fatal Air France crash of July 2000, falling passenger numbers in the post-9/11 environment, and the increasing cost of maintenance for an aging fleet — marks the end of something genuinely singular in the history of transatlantic travel.

For the Jamaican diaspora community, Concorde was never the everyday mode of travel — its tickets cost thousands of pounds, placing them out of reach for almost all community members. But the aircraft was a symbol of the world that the Windrush generation and their successors had entered: a world in which the Atlantic shrank, in which the journey between Jamaica, London and New York became manageable rather than epochal. The retirement of Concorde coincides with a period in which cheap transatlantic air travel — on carriers like Virgin Atlantic, British Airways and a new generation of budget airlines expanding their long-haul routes — has made the journey cheaper and more accessible than at any point in the previous generation. The diaspora’s physical connection to Jamaica has never been easier to maintain, even as the symbolic icon of transatlantic speed departs the skies.

Jamaica’s Crime Problem: A Community in Anguish

Through the final quarter of 2003, Jamaica’s crime statistics have continued to dominate coverage in diaspora media and to generate painful conversations in community spaces across the UK and North America. The island’s murder rate — already among the highest in the world on a per-capita basis — has risen further this year, and a number of high-profile killings in Kingston and Spanish Town have received international media attention. For the diaspora community, each headline cuts in a particular way: these are not abstract statistics but communities where relatives live, where children grow up, where many hope to return.

Community discussions about the causes of Jamaica’s crime crisis are complex and often heated. The legacy of political tribalism and garrison communities, the role of the drug trade, the consequences of mass deportations from the United States and United Kingdom — which return individuals who have spent formative years in a very different environment — and the limited employment opportunities for young men in marginalised communities all feature in diaspora analyses of the problem. There is no consensus on solutions, but there is increasing frustration with a national conversation that too often oscillates between draconian policing proposals and resigned fatalism. Diaspora voices, particularly those in professional networks with experience of community safety policy in the UK or US, are increasingly insisting on being part of that conversation.

The 1st Biennial Jamaica Diaspora Conference: Officially Announced

The formal announcement by the Jamaican government of the 1st Biennial Jamaica Diaspora Conference, to be held in Montego Bay in June 2004, has been received with considerable excitement across diaspora communities worldwide. The announcement — made by Prime Minister P.J. Patterson’s office in the final weeks of 2003 — represents the culmination of years of advocacy by diaspora organisations for a formal institutional framework for engagement between overseas Jamaicans and the government and private sector of the island.

Initial registration information has already prompted a strong response from diaspora organisations in the United Kingdom, the United States and Canada. In London, the Jamaican High Commission has been fielding enquiries from community groups interested in participating, and a number of established diaspora organisations have begun preparing delegate lists and position papers for the working groups. The conference secretariat is expected to publish a full programme in early 2004, and the scale of anticipated participation suggests that the event will be significantly larger than anything the Jamaican government has previously organised in direct engagement with its overseas communities.

Deportation: A Continuing Crisis for Both Ends of the Pipeline

The final quarter of 2003 has seen continued high volumes of deportations of Jamaican nationals from both the United States and the United Kingdom, maintaining a trend that has accelerated sharply in the post-September 11 security environment. The US government’s deportation of Caribbean nationals with criminal records — a policy that predates 9/11 but has intensified since — has created a community of returned Jamaicans who spent most of their formative years abroad, have weak connections to Jamaican society, and limited access to the support systems they need to rebuild their lives.

The impact on Jamaican communities at the receiving end is increasingly well-documented. CAPRI and other Jamaican policy research bodies have produced analyses showing the correlation between deportation volumes and certain categories of violent crime, not because deported individuals are inherently criminal but because a large number of deeply alienated men with no social roots are deposited into communities with high unemployment and few support services. The Jamaican government has raised the issue bilaterally with both the US and UK governments and has argued for transition programmes and better pre-deportation notification. Progress has been slow, but the 1st Biennial is expected to include a dedicated session on deportation policy and diaspora advocacy, recognising that this is one of the most consequential policy areas for the community.

Returnee and Investment News: North Coast Momentum

As the year closes, estate agents and property developers on Jamaica’s north coast report a strong pipeline of diaspora enquiries heading into 2004. The Ocho Rios, Runaway Bay and Montego Bay corridors continue to attract the most interest, with several new developments specifically marketed to overseas Jamaicans offering phased payment options, property management services and rental income guarantees. The anticipation of the June 2004 Biennial conference is itself creating momentum, as potential investors time their decisions to take advantage of the information and networking opportunities the conference will provide.

In Kingston, commercial property in New Kingston remains the focus of diaspora professional investment, with interest from returnees in financial services, law and technology growing steadily. The ongoing development of the Kingston waterfront — a long-discussed project that has gained new momentum under the current government — is attracting particular attention from diaspora investors who see the potential for a transformed urban core to anchor broader economic development in the capital. The community enters 2004 with cautious optimism and a sense that the institutional machinery for meaningful engagement is, for the first time, genuinely falling into place.

Jamaica Diaspora & Returnee Quarterly Update — Edition 92, covering October to December 2003. Published by Jamaica Homes News on 2 January 2004.

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