On Thursday, the Antigua and Barbuda’s ambassador to the Organization of American States (OAS), Sir Ronald Sanders, expressed his hopes for a closer Caribbean community that will foster a greater political voice on the world stage.
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His comments come as the OAS prepares to hold discussions on irregular migration and refugees in the region.
According to official reports, under the new term, the OAS Permanent Council will address the issue of human trafficking and smuggling in the region, which involves identifying the countries of origin and the factors that drive this illicit activity, as well as examining the impacts and challenges that it poses for both transit and destination states and exploring potential solutions.
As Chair of the Permanent Council, Sir Ronald said the region needs to be united in voice if they hope to convince the rest of the world on issues affecting their vulnerable states.
He also stated that while only Haiti and, to a lesser extent, Jamaica could be the only countries in the Caribbean where irregular migration could be considered to occur, it was incumbent on the region to ensure its status as a stable democratic region and increase economic opportunities for its citizens.
“Most people try to do that [migrate to other countries] legally, but there are desperate people who do not, and they do it by either declaring themselves refugees or jumping on boats and going through very dangerous passageways to turn up at a border somewhere hoping that they will be given asylum as economic refugees,” he said.
“We have to get the resources that will help us to rebuild when these things happen and since we are not causing these problems — this isn’t a policy decision of the government, it isn’t an action of the people that causes these to happen — these are caused by exogenous shocks like climate change,” Sir Ronald added.
Furthermore, he also expressed frustration that countries tend to talk around the issues rather than seeking to directly address the challenges facing the Latin American and Caribbean region.
According to Sir Ronald, the only way that countries in the region will progress will be not to give up hope and “keep knocking on the door” of the international community.