Jamaica Diaspora
The quarterly intelligence report on Jamaica’s global diaspora for October–December 2021: full-year 2021 remittances approach a record US$3.49 billion as the year closes, Q4 GDP growth of approximately 6.7 per cent confirms Jamaica’s robust post-pandemic rebound, COP26 in Glasgow places Caribbean climate vulnerability on the world stage, the Omicron variant emerges in late November and threatens to disrupt the reopening trajectory, and preparations begin for the 9th Biennial Jamaica Diaspora Conference planned for June 2022.
The Jamaica Diaspora Annual Roundup for 2021: COVID vaccines roll out across host countries and Jamaica; the delayed Tokyo Olympics see Elaine Thompson-Herah win the 100m and 200m double; Biden is inaugurated in January; the Windrush Lessons Learned Review is published finding the Home Office ‘institutionally racist’; Jamaica mourns the death of Bunny Wailer; and remittances exceed US$3.0 billion for the first time.
The inaugural quarterly intelligence report on Jamaica’s global diaspora for July–September 2021: the Haiti earthquake of 14 August galvanises the Jamaican diaspora’s Caribbean solidarity response, the COVID Delta wave tests healthcare systems across North America and Europe while suppressing diaspora travel to Jamaica, Q3 2021 GDP growth of approximately 5.9 per cent confirms the post-pandemic rebound, remittances continue at record-pace through the third quarter, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs follows up on commitments from the Virtual Jamaica Diaspora Symposium of June 2021.
The quarterly intelligence report on Jamaica’s global diaspora for April–June 2021: the Virtual Jamaica Diaspora Symposium convenes on 18–19 June as a substitute for the delayed in-person 9th Biennial Conference, Jamaica’s economy records exceptional Q2 2021 GDP growth of approximately 14.2 per cent on a low 2020 base, remittances maintain their remarkable pandemic-era pace, the COVID-19 vaccine rollout accelerates in diaspora countries, and diaspora travel to Jamaica remains suppressed though borders remain open.
The quarterly intelligence report on Jamaica’s global diaspora for January–March 2021: Joe Biden’s inauguration on 20 January transforms the US immigration enforcement environment, the American Rescue Plan Act injects $1.9 trillion into the US economy boosting Jamaican-American household liquidity, COVID vaccines begin rolling out in diaspora countries, Jamaica’s economy shows early recovery signs following 2020’s contraction, the Virtual Diaspora Symposium is announced for June 2021, and remittances maintain their extraordinary pandemic-era pace.
Jamaica’s housing market closes a remarkable COVID year with rising prices and record remittances, as the NHT reports year-end results for 2020.
The quarterly intelligence report on Jamaica’s global diaspora for October–December 2020: Joe Biden wins the US presidential election on 3 November generating enormous diaspora expectation for immigration policy reform, COVID-19 vaccines receive emergency authorisation in December bringing hope of a 2021 recovery, full-year 2020 remittances post a remarkable outcome despite the pandemic’s economic disruption, Jamaica’s COVID second wave strains the health system through Q4, and the Christmas season sees diaspora remittances surge to support Jamaican families through an unprecedented holiday period.
The Jamaica Diaspora Annual Roundup for 2020: the COVID-19 pandemic reshapes every dimension of diaspora life; Caribbean communities suffer disproportionate COVID mortality in the UK and US due to frontline occupational exposure; the Black Lives Matter movement reaches its global peak after George Floyd’s murder; Joe Biden and Kamala Harris win the US presidential election; and Jamaica remittances reach a record US$2.9 billion despite — and because of — the pandemic.
Jamaica’s housing market posts surprising momentum in October–November 2020 as virtual viewings normalise and vaccine news lifts global sentiment.
The quarterly intelligence report on Jamaica’s global diaspora for July–September 2020: the COVID-19 pandemic’s paradoxical effect on remittances continues as diaspora solidarity surges despite economic disruption, Black Lives Matter protests reshape the political landscape for Caribbean diaspora communities across North America and Europe, Jamaica’s economy contracts severely under the weight of tourism’s collapse, the Trump administration’s deportation policy continues at pace, and Jamaica’s open-border approach with health protocols distinguishes its COVID strategy from regional peers.
In six weeks in the spring of 2020, a pandemic arrived and a man was killed on a street in Minneapolis, and the world the Jamaican diaspora had known changed in ways that are still being measured. The lockdown and George Floyd’s murder defined a generation.
The quarterly intelligence report on Jamaica’s global diaspora for April–June 2020: global COVID-19 lockdowns reach their peak intensity, Jamaica implements curfews and movement restrictions while keeping its air border open under health protocols, US CARES Act stimulus unexpectedly boosts remittance flows despite the economic shock, George Floyd’s killing on 25 May catalyses a global racial justice moment felt across Caribbean diaspora communities, and the 9th Biennial Jamaica Diaspora Conference is formally postponed.
The quarterly intelligence report on Jamaica’s global diaspora for January–March 2020: the COVID-19 pandemic is declared a global pandemic on 11 March, Jamaica records its first confirmed cases in late March and closes its borders to visitors, the 9th Biennial Jamaica Diaspora Conference faces mounting postponement uncertainty, enormous economic shock hits diaspora communities globally, and remittances end the quarter in deep uncertainty.
When Boris Johnson entered Downing Street in July 2019 with a promise to deliver Brexit by any means, the Caribbean community in Britain faced a simple and frightening question: what would leaving the European Union mean for people whose right to be here had already proved more fragile than anyone had admitted?
Jamaica closes 2019 in the strongest economic position in a generation. A year-end housing market review and cautiously optimistic look ahead as the new decade begins.