The Haitian Diaspora in the Anglophone Caribbean
Although the Haitian diaspora can be found working mainly in low-skilled and cheap-labor jobs, with or without regular migration status, in most insular Caribbean states, the situation was different in Jamaica before independence in 1962. Until then, the Haitian diaspora was composed mainly of exiled Haitian elites, including former presidents such as Boyer, Soulouque, and Geffrard.
Although the Haitian diaspora can be found working mainly in low-skilled and cheap-labor jobs, with or without regular migration status, in most insular Caribbean states, the situation was different in Jamaica before independence in 1962. Until then, the Haitian diaspora was composed mainly of exiled Haitian elites, including former presidents such as Boyer, Soulouque, and Geffrard. After the 2010 earthquake in Haiti, affected persons who tried to seek refuge in Jamaica were mostly repatriated.
Population: The Turks and Caicos Islands have the largest Haitian diaspora in the Anglophone Caribbean in proportion to their population, with 9,437 Haitians or 30 percent of their population of 31,458 according to the 2012 census. According to Dominicas last census in 2011, citizens born in Haiti represented the largest immigrant population in Dominica, namely 1,054 people, 1.5% of its 71,293 citizens. Although these figures do not include undocumented Haitians, they do provide some measure of the situation. In the case of Jamaica, the closest and largest Anglophone country to Haiti, all non-Commonwealth foreigners together represented 51,371 from 2007 to 2016, mostly Chinese and Indians, and no mention is made of Haitians. It should be noted that many Haitians do not settle permanently in these Anglophone countries and often use them as a springboard to migrate elsewhere or return to Haiti when the situation improves.
Legal framework: At the 29th CARICOM Heads of Government Summit in July 2018, it was unanimously agreed to allow Haitian citizens, like all other CARICOM community members, an automatic stay of six months upon arrival in any CARICOM country provided they do not become a charge on public funds of the receiving country. Barbados, Montserrat, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Grenada, Dominica, Suriname, and Guyana had implemented this change by 2019. However, Barbados and Dominica later reinstated the visa requirement in 2019. Dominica and Jamaica allow all Haitian citizens to enter without a visa if they possess a visa for Canada, the United States, or the Schengen area.
A 2009 UNICEF study in Dominica found a direct correlation between citizenship by birth and full access to education for immigrant children, together with better integration of the Haitian diaspora. Of the Anglophone islands with a Haitian diaspora, Dominica, Jamaica, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Grenada, Saint Kitts and Nevis, and Guyana have citizenship by birth, jus soli, on their territory.
Socioeconomic situation: Although the Haitian diaspora can be found working mainly in low-skilled and cheap-labor jobs, with or without regular migration status, in most insular Caribbean states, the situation was different in Jamaica before independence in 1962. Until then, the Haitian diaspora was composed mainly of exiled Haitian elites, including former presidents such as Boyer, Soulouque, and Geffrard. After the 2010 earthquake in Haiti, affected persons who tried to seek refuge in Jamaica were mostly repatriated.
Current challenges: The challenges range from dangerous migration routes to hostility and resentment amid nationalist-populist rifts within local populations. The waters between Cap-Haitien in Haiti and the Turks and Caicos Islands are known for sharks and heavy swell. Those conditions faced by overloaded boats have caused the deaths of hundreds of Haitians who have attempted this crossing. In addition to the difficulty of natural conditions, there is the issue of human trafficking, whose involuntary victims are often migrants.
These arrivals in Anglophone insular states have also led certain local factions to characterize them as invasions by Haitian migrants. While these accusations often go unchallenged, in August 2019 the Guyanese Minister of Citizenship, Winston Felix, denounced and condemned xenophobic attacks against the Haitian diaspora by exposing the inconsistencies and divisive nature of the accusations.