A Region That Showed Up—Except the Neighbour

If ever Jamaica needed proof that we stand within a real Caribbean community, it came quietly and movingly today, 18 November, when several smaller CARICOM states—many with far fewer resources than ours—stepped forward to express solidarity with Jamaica after the devastations of Hurricane Melissa. Messages of support and emergency pledges from St. Vincent and the Grenadines, St. Kitts and Nevis, Grenada, Dominica, Cuba, Belize, Barbados, and Antigua & Barbuda may not command world headlines, but they remind us what genuine regional brotherhood looks like: small nations recognising our struggle and offering help in the midst of their own challenges.

But there was one nation whose silence echoed loudly—not out of spite, but out of a relationship we ourselves have strained: Haiti.

This is not the moment for gloating, triumphalism, or “I told you so.” Jamaica is in deep distress. Tens of thousands remain without power; billions in infrastructure damage have been incurred; and critical sectors—from agriculture to health—are staggering. Yet in this difficult moment, we must be honest: the solidarity we witnessed today from our smaller CARICOM brethren throws into sharp relief the diplomatic and ethical failures of the present Holness-Chang administration regarding Haitian refugees.

The Record Is Clear

Over the last three years, a pattern emerged:

• Rapid repatriations of Haitian asylum seekers without transparent individualised refugee status determination.

• Public framing of Haitians as threats, even when boats carried women, children, and traumatised families.

• Minimal effort to set up temporary processing or humanitarian support, despite Jamaica’s international obligations under the 1951 Convention and the 1967 Protocol.

• Repeated diplomatic signals that Haitians were unwelcome, even as CARICOM itself urged members to uphold humanitarian commitments.

  
  

This is not conjecture. The numbers tell the story.

• 2022: More than 100 Haitians arrived in separate boats; nearly all were  repatriated roughly and swiftly.

• 2023: Multiple groups landed, again mostly repatriated; Jamaica publicly emphasised “security” over asylum obligations.

• 2024: In at least two incidents, Haitians were detained, processed briefly, and sent back under "military" conditions described by international agencies as “uncertain,” despite widespread gang violence in Port-au-Prince.

  
  

These actions were not taken in a vacuum. They were observed and perplexed the whole region. It was egregiously un-Caribbean.

And Now—In Our Hour of Need

After Melissa, Jamaica urgently needs technicians, linesmen, masons, carpenters, emergency workers, and community organisers. Haiti, despite its own turmoil, still has one of the highest ratios of community-trained emergency responders in CARICOM, supported by decades of international investment following their 2010 earthquake. Haitian artisans, builders, and volunteer corps have historically travelled to assist neighbours after storms. But goodwill—like trust—is cumulative.

It is therefore unsurprising, though heartbreaking, that Haiti has not figured prominently among those CARICOM states reaching out to Jamaica in these days. Their silence is not hostility. It is relational collapse—one we helped engineer.

A Critique Without Malice

This is not the time for Jamaica to gloat over any neighbour, nor is it the time to engage in political point-scoring. Our suffering is real. Lives have been lost. Families remain displaced. Communities are exhausted. Yet it would be a betrayal of truth to pretend that our foreign policy and migration decisions have had no consequences.

The question practically asks itself: How can a nation expect solidarity from a neighbour to whom it repeatedly signalled coldness, suspicion, and rejection?

The Lesson Forward

If Jamaica is to rebuild a future of sturdy regional friendships—friendships that matter in the next Melissa, the next Beryl, the next catastrophic season—we must correct course.

That means:

• Establishing transparent, humane refugee procedures.

• Affirming publicly that Haitians are our neighbours, not intruders.

• Working within CARICOM to support Haiti’s stabilisation—not merely with statements, but with policy coherence.

• Recognising that regional solidarity is reciprocal: we receive what we have given.

  
  

Today, our smaller CARICOM brothers and sisters have shown moral stature far beyond their size. They did not measure their compassion. They simply acted.

Let us receive their support with gratitude—and let us also confront, without bitterness, how our own choices have left us standing more alone than we needed to be.

by Dennis A. Minott, PhD.

November 18, 2025.