Immigration Policy and Political Propaganda in the Bahamas

by Larry Smith

The recent controversy over Immigration policy is clear evidence of the inability of Bahamian governments to rationally tackle the core issues that hold our economy back.

As Franklyn Wilson noted, the country's overall approach to immigration was settled as far back as the early 1970s, and yet we can still waste time over it today. The issue was put to rest by the implementation of a strict Bahamianisation policy by the new PLP government, accompanied by a massive investment in education. 

These two policy shifts reversed a trend towards the wholesale recruitment of expatriates, and broadened educational opportunities for Bahamians who could then expand the nation's middle class.

As the late Dr Keva Bethel described the period immediately following the Second World War: "The highest forms of employment to which the majority of Bahamians were likely to be able to aspire...were posts in the civil service, teaching, nursing, or the church. Moreover, only a proportionately modest number actually achieved those positions."

But in the first years after majority rule in 1967, the government spent as much as 19 per cent of the annual budget on education, building new schools throughout the country to provide better education for all Bahamian children.

As access to full secondary education expanded, Bethel wrote, "more Bahamians (were able) to enter areas of work that had formerly been closed to them—both in the public sector and in the rapidly developing private sector—and to proceed to tertiary-level education both at home and abroad."

This new approach to immigration was advertised by the extension of controls over the city of Freeport in 1970. Amid fears over abrogation of the Hawksbill Creek Agreement, the PLP government insisted on exercising final control over all work permit holders in Freeport.

In 1969 Prime Minister Lynden Pindling made his famous “bend or break” speech on Grand Bahama: "In this city, where, regrettably, almost anything goes, where, promisingly, some economic opportunities have come to Bahamians, Bahamians are nevertheless still the victims of an unbending social order, which, if it now refuses to bend, must be broken," he said.

The new Immigration law that followed nullified the relevant clauses in the Hawksbill Creek Agreement, and asserted the government's sole control over immigration matters. This dramatic action in Freeport set the tone for the government's medium-term approach to immigration throughout the country.

And a 1971 royal commission headed by a West Indian former chief justice reaffirmed the government's right to control immigration policy, both for reasons of national security and to give job priority to qualified Bahamians. 

What followed was a vigorous campaign to Bahamianise the work force, which affected large numbers of expatriate teachers and other professionals. And the Independence constitution was designed to restrict the right of those born in the Bahamas to become citizens, which affected many Haitian and West Indian migrants, while many white residents who held Bahamian status were also denied citizenship.

This protectionism fuelled a perception that the government's policy was capricious and arbitrary. Stories abounded of bribes paid for work permits, businesses harassed by officials, residents humiliated for no reason, and deals made with favoured expatriates. In other words, immigration policy became overtly political and counter-productive. 

Although the initial policy goals may have been rational, there was little doubt that the government's ideological intransigence and protected inefficiency contributed to a decline in investor confidence and a fall-off in development during the 1970s, when many out island resorts and other businesses closed. Global turmoil and high inflation sparked by the 1973 Arab oil embargo also played a major role in the economic downturn.

Another consequence of the immigration crackdown was the impact it had on education. The government wanted to improve, as well as to Bahamianise, the system. According to historian Michael Craton (himself a former teacher at the Government High School), "There was a rapid expansion of secondary schools on New Providence, a stronger emphasis on technical training, and attempts were made to increase the relevance and Bahamian content of the curriculum."

Unfortunately, as the economic boom of the 60s turned into the slump of the 70s, problems were created by the speed of this expansion, and the subsequent underfunding that it produced. By all accounts, the overwhelming problem was the shortage of "willing and able Bahamian teachers", which led to a lowering of educational standards. This is the same critical problem we face today - 40 years later.

The 2012 Labour Force Survey put the Bahamian workforce at 192,205. With unemployment around 14 per cent and youth unemployment at almost 30 per cent, there is no denying we have a serious social and economic problem on our hands.

However, a recent Inter American Development Bank report identified a massive skills shortage in the country. This skills gap is expected to become more acute as new investments come on stream, something which the prime minister has already acknowledged. The inevitable result of a skills gap is high unemployment among poorly educated workers and young people. 

So the IDB report concluded that training and education can drive our economic and social growth. 

The latest work permit figures we have are from the last administration, which reported 7,091 permits approved in 2011 - less than 5 per cent of the labour force. More than half of these were for housekeepers and handymen. Typically, the current administration has provided no numbers or background information to help illuminate this debate.

But there are a lot of resentful anecdotes out there in social media land about super-qualified, degree-holding Bahamians who are unable to get a job in their own country. Clearly, those stories need to be verified, and when they are we should have a serious conversation about that. 

I dare say there are abuses to the immigration laws, just as there are abuses to every other law in the country. I also think it is clear that education and social issues have a lot more to do with the jobless rate than a few foreigners who may be partying down at our expense.

We know, for example, that Atlantis employs over 8,000 people but only 74 are on work permits, which is less than the number permitted by the Heads of Agreement Perry Christie negotiated in his last term. And Atlantis has had to spend more than $20 million on training, while the recent IDB study reported that more than half of all businesses in the country also support training programmes.

The total lack of facts, perspective and logic in this important national debate is most unsettling. But here is what Immigration Minister Fred Mitchell had to say recently: the current immigration policy is the same as the previous immigration policy. The only difference is tone and application. And since immigration policy is applied by the government, if egregious abuses exist, we know exactly where to look. 

It's like licensing the number houses every year for 20 years, and then accusing them of operating illegally.

For example, if a major hotel makes speaking Russian a requirement for dealing with American guests (as one commenter alleged on Facebook recently), I am certain that the officers in the Immigration and Labour Departments are smart enough to spot such a glaring discrepancy and deal with it upfront - without launching a belated police action to take someone into custody in front of hotel guests.

But according to Mitchell, no-one should criticise this "shoot first and ask questions later" policy on the part of his officers, who are only doing their job. What a ludicrous position to take. It is the job of the Immigration Department to know the status of all expatriates in the community - since they are the ones who vet them. There should be no need to ask permit holders what their status is.

That brings us to the question of why this issue is being pushed so vehemently now, when the basic issues were settled decades ago. Well, the new government faces a long uphill struggle to expand economic opportunities for Bahamians. And fixing the education system will not have an impact for years (although the education minister has commendably put together a bi-partisan committee to look at the problem).

So the easiest way to assuage the demand for jobs in a difficult economic climate is to make a play on the words "putting Bahamians first". This is what Mitchell's hardline talk is all about. Indeed, we believe it goes further than that. He is staking out his strategy for the PLP's pending leadership succession. 

As we know, different ministers have had different and often contradictory things to say about immigration policy, among other policies. In fact, it is difficult to discern the outlines of any government policy today, because cabinet ministers appear to be operating independently. 

However, there is one thing we are sure of - reverting to the Pindling era of political intimidation and racial hostility is no recipe for either economic development or social equity. It is so easy for cynical politicians to spout aggressive propaganda with no constructive engagement, but where will that get the rest of us in the end?

Comments

[Harcourt Bethel]

...after 40 years, no change; politics as usual!

[Rick Lowe]

It would be interesting to know how many work permits are issued for Government employees besides teachers. Judges, Doctors, Lawyers, Directors etc, etc.

[Sherry Albury]

Succinct and beautifully constructed/constructive article. There are many Bahamians eager to engage in the sensible and constructive debate.

[Nicobet]

There are a number of qualified young Bahamians who cannot find a job in this country -- but the problem is far less likely to be immigrants holding those jobs and far more likely to be the pervasive and general lack of vision throughout this nation, which has not invested, either on a public or a private scale, in industries other than real estate, banking, finance, and the ubiquitous tourism. There is a knowledge and skills gap at work which means that those young Bahamians who have qualifications that would enable them to work in/invest in/develop other sectors of the economy -- for instance, marine science fuelled by agencies other than mega-resorts, for instance, or sustainable development, or agriculture, or maritime law, or international relations, or the cultural industries, or scientific research, or aeronautical studies, or cyber studies, or any of the other thousands of industries we do not make room for in our nation -- those young Bahamians are unemployed and even unemployable in our country. And the difference between them and the generation before: they are not going into teaching. Instead, they are leaving. It's not the expatriates who are at fault here; rather, it's the generation of Bahamians who think that the world stops where it did when they came of age in the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s. Immigration is the symptom. Our small minds are the problem.

[larry smith]

And does political tribalism play a role?

[Nicobet]

If you're asking me, then the answer is that political tribalism plays a role but far less today than it did under our fathers' PLP (and FNM). Tribalism or no, young Bahamians are disadvantaged more than any other group of Bahamians for the reasons I mentioned above. They are our most qualified and best educated group of Bahamians and the most underemployed, for many of the above reasons. The rest of us are stuck on the Stafford Sands model of our economy; they have moved beyond that. We have yet to design the society in which they have their place.

[larry smith]

Well that's a chicken and egg conundrum. The intellectually maligned "sands model" has conferred enviable prosperity on the Bahamas compared with the rest of the region for many decades. Our grandfathers would not have conceived of such prosperity, white or black. And if there is a better model - or a more promising business option - why don't we move in that direction?

I agree that in some things an accommodating government policy framework is necessary (such as renewable energy). I also agree that incentives can be given in some cases. And setting realistic goals would be a good thing too.

What will the Bahamas at 40 committee be doing in this regard?

[larry smith]

Are the inequities in our society the result of our economic model? What would change if we tried to encourage the activities you suggest?

[drew Roberts]

I have a question.

When one applies for a business license these days and the form asks for the nature of the business, is there a place for "Other" yet?

all the best,

drew

[Lotus]

"There are a number of qualified young Bahamians who cannot find a job in this country -- but the problem is far less likely to be immigrants holding those jobs and far more likely to be the pervasive and general lack of vision throughout this nation, which has not invested, either on a public or a private scale, in industries other than real estate, banking, finance, and the ubiquitous tourism. "
-----------------------------
This is unbelievably dead on. The idea that there are qualified Bahamians unable to find jobs is certainly not a social media myth because I have been living that for the last 6 months since I returned home for the first time in about a decade and I know of many others who are underemployed for the reasons expressed above. The most common greeting I have gotten since returning home is, "go back!". Finding a job for the sake of a job is easy; creating a career in the Bahamas can be incredibly hard outside of the typical job scope. The other pervading issue is the accessibility to opportunities as "who you know" still takes precedence. The company website for one of the jobs I applied to still reads "no job opportunities available". I only knew of the opportunities because I was fortune enough to know someone in the organization and found out there were 3 positions available in the department of interest. So I sometimes scratch my head when I hear the business community complain about the lack of skilled Bahamians when they do not take a proactive approach in the recruiting process and still only advertise jobs in newspapers like it's the 1990s. I had two offers in a foreign country within a week of graduating from grad school because it was accessible. This is one of the reasons why we have a human capital flight problem in the region. The appointments by the PLP post-election further shows that there isn't a concerted effort to "bridge the gap" for the long term sustainability of the Bahamas. Fresh ideas, innovation & entrepreneurship is unfortunately not celebrated here, it is stifled.

Some of the things I would like to see done:

Smaller government by getting rid of the main boondoggle government agencies and privatizing them.

Reduce the amount of MPs twiddling thumbs.

Appoint Senators who are the future visionary leaders of the country rather than the rejects of the party.

Restructure our education system by implementing a combination of ideas suggested by The Coalition for Education Reform so that we can shift into a knowledge based economy to complement our service sector and diversify our labour market. (eg. voucher programs possibly starting in the family islands as trial(Special Education Zones) and add vocational education streams with a general academic base and a entrepreneurship focus; connect with independent contractors, plumbers etc. etc. to set up apprenticeship programs upon successful completion.

Digitize...Digitize...Digitize like its 2013

Stop pandering to the voters about creating jobs when we know governments do not create job, private firms do. Promote entrepreneurship and make the process and regulatory environment for entrepreneurial activity and investment more efficient in order to absorb shocks to the economy.

Set term limits for elected officials, to reduce corruption

Freedom of Information - transparency

Implement community policing initiatives (something similar to Chiles Safer Communes program)

Promote the civil liberties of all Bahamians regardless of religion, ethnicity, social class and sexual orientation

Land registry and properly securing property taxes before thinking of implementing consumption taxes.

explore renewable energy opportunities to reduce oil dependency, starting with regulating net metering and net billing

Legalize webshop gambling, because at this point its just silly not to.

Proper drainage systems in residential areas.

I believe a more free society will create wealth rather than jobs, which would improve the quality of living and reduce interpersonal violence, nothing is isolated.