Quarterly Jamaica Diaspora & Returnee Update — | Q4 2004

Quarterly Update | October–December 2004 | Jamaica Homes News

Key Takeaways: Q4 2004 in Six Lines

• South Asian tsunami on December 26 shocks global Jamaican community
• Bush defeats Kerry; diaspora voters split on immigration prospects
• Hurricane Ivan rebuilding donations flow steadily from UK and Canada
• Ukraine Orange Revolution transfixes diaspora democracy advocates
• Jamaican remittances continue climbing through difficult fourth quarter
• Returnee summit outcomes shape 2005 property investment plans

December 26: The Day Everything Changed

For those with family scattered across London, New York, Toronto and Kingston who spent December 26 at the breakfast table watching television, the moment the footage began to arrive from the coasts of Sumatra, Thailand and Sri Lanka is not something that will fade. The South Asian tsunami killed more than 225,000 people in fourteen countries within hours, making it the deadliest natural disaster in living memory. As this edition goes to press in the first days of January 2005, the full scale of the catastrophe is still unfolding, and diaspora communities everywhere are mobilising to respond.

The Jamaican diaspora’s reaction has been immediate and generous. In the United Kingdom, community collections were organised within days at churches, community centres and workplaces across London, Birmingham and Nottingham. In the United States, Jamaican-American organisations joined the broader Caribbean community effort, with many channelling donations through the Red Cross and Oxfam. The CARICOM secretariat has coordinated a regional response, and Jamaica’s own government has pledged a contribution. What has struck community observers is the spontaneous nature of the giving — not driven by institutional appeals but by an instinctive human response to catastrophe on a scale most people could barely comprehend.

The tsunami has also reinvigorated conversations about Caribbean disaster preparedness. Within the Jamaican diaspora, the memory of Hurricane Ivan — which struck Jamaica in September — is still raw, and the juxtaposition of two catastrophic events in the same calendar year has concentrated minds on what a major earthquake or catastrophic storm surge could do to Jamaica’s coastal communities. The Office of Disaster Preparedness and Emergency Management has been urged by diaspora organisations to publish clearer guidance for overseas Jamaicans wishing to contribute to preparedness programmes rather than only emergency relief.

The US Election and What It Means for the Jamaican Community

On November 2, George W. Bush defeated Senator John Kerry with 286 electoral votes and a popular vote margin of approximately three million votes — a far cleaner result than the disputed 2000 election and one that has settled, at least temporarily, the question of American political direction. For Jamaicans in the United States, the result carries mixed implications. Under the first Bush administration, deportations of Caribbean nationals with prior criminal convictions accelerated significantly, straining communities and families on both ends of the deportation pipeline.

Bush’s re-election came despite strong disapproval of the Iraq war among Caribbean-American voters, who overwhelmingly preferred Kerry in exit polling. However, Kerry’s support among Black American voters — while wide — was not sufficient to overcome Republican turnout advantages in key swing states. Jamaican-American community leaders in South Florida, New York and Atlanta are now focused on engaging with whoever Bush nominates as the new Attorney General and Homeland Security Secretary, both posts critical to immigration enforcement policy. There is some hope that Bush’s longstanding support for a guest worker programme might yet translate into legislative action in his second term.

Ivan’s Long Shadow: Rebuilding Jamaica and Grenada

Hurricane Ivan made landfall in Jamaica on September 11 and 12, causing significant damage across the island before continuing on a devastating path through the Cayman Islands and Grenada, where it was catastrophic. In the months since, diaspora fundraising for Ivan relief has been sustained, if less prominent than it was in the immediate aftermath. Jamaican community groups in the United Kingdom organised multiple benefit events through October and November — concerts, dinners, auctions — and the proceeds have supported roof repairs, school rebuilding, and emergency housing in affected parishes.

The Jamaican government’s recovery efforts have been measured positively by international observers, though the pace of rebuilding in some rural areas has drawn criticism. JAMPRO has used the recovery period to attract investor interest in resilience-focused infrastructure, and several diaspora-connected investors have expressed interest in green rebuilding projects in the tourism belt. Grenada’s situation has been more acute: the island lost an estimated 90% of its structures to Ivan, and Caribbean diaspora communities across the UK and North America — including significant Grenadian community groups — have mounted one of the most sustained recovery fundraising efforts seen in the region since Hurricane Hugo in 1989.

Ukraine’s Orange Revolution and Diaspora Democracy Activism

While not directly connected to Caribbean affairs, the Ukraine Orange Revolution — which unfolded through November and December after a fraudulent presidential election sparked mass street protests in Kyiv — has resonated within Jamaican diaspora circles that are closely engaged with questions of democratic accountability. The eventual annulment of the fraudulent vote and the scheduling of a new election is seen by many community activists as an inspiring example of civil society defending democratic norms. Jamaican political commentators writing in the diaspora press have drawn comparisons to Caribbean electoral disputes and to the long struggle for genuine universal suffrage in Jamaica’s own political history.

Remittances Close a Strong Year

As the year closes, the Bank of Jamaica’s data confirms that 2004 has been another strong year for remittance inflows. Despite the disruption of Hurricane Ivan and the general economic uncertainty of a US election year, Jamaicans abroad have maintained and in many cases increased their financial support for families and communities on the island. Estimates suggest that total remittances for 2004 will exceed US$1.5 billion — a figure that puts the Jamaican diaspora’s contribution to the national economy in very concrete terms.

Money transfer operators have played a significant role in making this flow more accessible. Reduced fees — driven by competition and advocacy from community organisations — have meant that more of each remittance dollar reaches the intended recipient rather than disappearing in service charges. The campaign for lower remittance costs, championed by organisations in both the UK and the US, has made measurable progress this year, and further fee reductions are anticipated as new entrants compete with established players like Western Union and MoneyGram.

Returnee Planning: Building on the Biennial’s Momentum

The 1st Biennial Jamaica Diaspora Conference held in June 2004 was the landmark institutional event of the year for the diaspora community, bringing together thousands of Jamaicans abroad with government ministers, JAMPRO officials, property developers, and civil society representatives. The second half of 2004 has been, in many ways, a period of implementing what was discussed in June. Diaspora investors who attended the conference and committed to specific property or business projects have been progressing those plans through the second half of the year, and several new business registrations in Jamaica can be traced directly to conference introductions.

The National Housing Trust’s diaspora engagement programme continues to attract attention, and the Ministry of Finance has been consulting with diaspora financial representatives on the design of a diaspora investment instrument. The goal is to create a structured way for Jamaicans abroad to invest in national development projects — infrastructure, social housing, renewable energy — with competitive returns and a clear governance framework. The 2nd Biennial Conference, scheduled for 2006, is already being planned, and diaspora committees in the UK, USA and Canada are preparing recommendations to table at that event.

As the year ends, the Jamaican diaspora faces 2005 with a mixture of pride and urgency. Pride in what the Biennial represented, in the resilience shown after Ivan, and in the consistent financial commitment that remittance figures demonstrate. Urgency because the challenges — crime, governance, deportations, youth unemployment at home — are not resolved and will require sustained engagement to address. The community goes into 2005 with more institutional infrastructure to support that engagement than it has ever had before.

Jamaica Diaspora & Returnee Quarterly Update — Edition 88, covering October to December 2004. Published by Jamaica Homes News on 2 January 2005. The series documents diaspora affairs, returnee investment, and community news across the United Kingdom, United States, Canada, and the Caribbean.

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