Letter of the Day | Cease and desist forcibly removing humans to Jamaica

THE EDITOR, Madam:

How could the government, on behalf of us Jamaicans, agree with the US to accept third-country nationals who are being forcibly removed from the US to Jamaica, and more so during October, the month when we remember that our forebears were forcibly removed from Africa and sent to Jamaica? This paradox is bad.

Britain, on which our legal and political system is based, has already ruled that forcible removal of people from the United Kingdom to Rwanda was illegal. If it is illegal for Britain, then it would be illegal for us, since our highest court is British.

How could the government support the forcible removal of people to Jamaica from the USA while at the same time petitioning the Privy Council to answer questions about the forcible removal of Africans to Jamaica some 400 years ago? The Privy Council is being asked whether the seizure and transport (forcible removal) of Africans to Jamaica was ever lawful under English law, or whether the capture and transportation (forcible removal) of Africans constituted a breach of international law or a crime against humanity.

It is ironic in that the same activity on which we are seeking an opinion regarding its legality, we are actually participating in a similar thing. It appears as if the Ministry of Security is not aware of what the Ministry of Culture is doing by asking these questions of the Privy Council. The Ministry of Culture should add a fourth question and ask the Privy Council whether the forcible removal of third-country nationals from the US to Jamaica is against British law, Jamaican law or international law, or is a crime against humanity. This is a crime against humanity.

Those who believe that all human beings are made in the image and likeness of God to reflect God and represent God on Earth should be concerned about this injustice being done to these third-country nationals, the least of the brethren. Therefore, to forcibly traffic another human being to another country that is not their own is wrong. This is a stain on our freedom-loving countries of Jamaica and the US.

We do not need to know other terms of the TCN agreement between Jamaica and the US. What is needed is for the Jamaican government to cease and desist from being a party to this evil of forcibly removing third-country humans from the US to Jamaica.

DEVON DICK