By Damion Mitchell, Staff ReporterTHE NUMBER of persons deported to Jamaica has increased steadily over the past three years, statistics obtained from the Constabulary Communication Network (CCN) indicate.
And according to Annmarie Barnes, Senior Director of Strategic Planning, Policy, Research and Evaluation in the Ministry of National Security, the number of persons deported because of criminal reasons was "a cause for concern."
In an interview with The Gleaner Monday, she stressed however that the introduction of tougher changes in immigration laws in Canada, the United Kingdom and the United States have contributed to the increase. She noted that not all deportees were criminals.
Figures from the CCN show that from 2000 to 2002, 7,545 persons were deported to Jamaica. Of this number, 5,203 were engaged in some form of criminal activity and the remaining 2,343 were involved in immigration and other breaches.
According to Ms Barnes, "the Ministry was investigating the extent to which there is a definite link between the deportation of hardened criminals and the increase of crime."
In a study she recently undertook as part of a doctoral educational programme, she said there were cases where deportees had been convicted on criminal charges since their return to the island.
While declining to disclose further details of the research, she said, "the number of deportees including persons who have been convicted is clearly a cause for concern." She said they were a burden on the social support system.
Addressing concerns that there was not a structured system for the reintegration of deportees, Security Minister, Dr. Peter Phillips said, "we continue to make representation to the US Government and the other countries precisely to indicate the extent to which they are in fact exporting a problem to us."
Notwithstanding, he said, the Government had an obligation to accept into the country, all persons who hold Jamaican citizenship.
"Certainly there are some of them (deportees) who contribute to the worsening situation of crime," he said. Minister Phillips said discussions were under way to identify methods to protect the security of citizens from deportees who were engaged in criminal activities.
