At a media briefing held earlier today, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade, Senator Kamina Johnson-Smith, gave a fulsome update on the Third Country National (TCN) situation as it pertains to Jamaica.

The agreement was signed earlier this year between the Government of Jamaica and the United States of America.

It has sparked much national discussion, with some fearing that Jamaica would become overrun by criminals that the United States are keen to get out of its country.

Minister Johnson-Smith did allay many of those misgivings today.

“After internal consultations and thoughtful negotiations, both governments have now finalised operating procedures related to the MOU in order to settle the guardrails and parameters underpinning the agreement.

Jamaica’s capacity restraints were taken into account as was our belief in the principles of safe, orderly and lawful migration.

“Both the Ministry of National Security and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade have formerly engaged with the International Organisation for Migration (IOM), the United Nations’ body responsible for migration matters, to support TCNs while they are in Jamaica and to facilitate their return to their home countries. This arrangement will not be funded by the Government of Jamaica, and no TCN with criminal antecedents will be transiting Jamaica,” said Minister Johnson- Smith.

For some time now many concluded that the Jamaican government would be footing the bill and that the country would be a haven for criminals and reprobates. Minister Johnson-Smith disabused the cynics today.

The arrangement is not peculiar to just Jamaica. Thirty other countries, including several members of CARICOM, have similar arrangements

Minister Johnson-Smith continued: “The Government of Jamaica reiterates its commitment to working with the IOM and the Government of the United States to ensure that all arrangements for the next stage of TCN implementation are appropriately governed and implemented in accordance with domestic laws and international law.

“TCNs are not deportees. They are not nationals of Jamaica but are nationals of other countries who entered the United States illegally and are being returned to their home countries through the IOM’s assisted voluntary return program. The IOM is funded by the United States for this purpose. This is a transit arrangement, one in which no criminals are to be sent. We understand there are countries that have agreed to receive people who have committed crimes, but Jamaica is not one of those countries.”

Criminals who did dastardly deeds in America will not be taking over Jamaica. The TCN arrangement will not add to Jamaica’s crime problem, and it will not see people coming here being a financial burden to the country. Minister Karina Johnson-Smith articulated this very well today

Here she went further and was very succinct, saying, “ We have not agreed to receive 10,000 individuals. We have negotiated guardrails to address capacity constraints. We have agreed to a maximum of 25 individuals for a two-week period, which will be on a continuous basis with the IOM making arrangements for their return. This arrangement will be suspended if 10 TCNs apply to stay in Jamaica through asylum procedures or other humanitarian applications.”

So the question is, when will these TCNs begin arriving in Jamaica?

The Minister of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade relayed that the IOM is currently making assessments and that it is the body responsible for the TCNs when they are here and for getting them back home. The IOM does not have an office in Jamaica.

When will the MOU document be released to the public?

“It’s a bilateral arrangement, and the United States does not tend to release information on their agreements. They have not agreed to release this one. We have shared all the relevant information we have to the public, so there is nothing hidden per se. Over the last ten years I have not shared details of a bilateral agreement with the public. We are not hiding anything here. Both St. Lucia and Dominica have started to receive TCNs under the arrangements, and we are expected to see more across CARICOM,’ informed Minister Kamina Johnson-Smith.