When a government of ‘despicables’ rules a nation, unbridled immorality flourishes at every level.
Such a government is corrupt, deceptive and unprincipled. This kind of leadership is broadly referred to as a kakistocracy (government by the worst or least qualified citizens), or in the worst case, it is a kleptocracy or a government by thieves.
Under such a government, public policies and far-reaching decisions are made according to self-interests and nepotism. Regardless of how illegal or immoral the wishes of their associates may be, compromised leaders see them as their ultimate command.
Jamaica has found herself in this sorry state of affairs, where some of the most despicable characters have wormed themselves into the social and political fabric of the society and are now beating desks in Gordon House.
They sanction every foolishness and foist their ignorance on the society through nonsensical policies and legislation that confuse civil servants and the very judiciary that are tasked to execute them.
Blinded by their own ignorance and arrogance, despicable in government, they believe that every Jamaican is awed by their glaring lack of human compassion and surreptitious stupidity.
Last week, the police, under government instructions, scooped up another group of Haitians who landed in Jamaica illegally and hauled them before the court, in preparation to speedily dispatch them back to the war-torn nation from whence they came.
Every single time a group of Haitians arrives in Jamaica, desperately fleeing death-threatening violence and economic hardship in their own country, they are rounded up and summarily repatriated without being given even a hare’s breath opportunity to apply for asylum.
Jamaica sided with the United Nations to send police support to Haiti to do a job that the UN itself cannot do, even armed with a band of 53,213 personnel. The UN has at its disposal thousands of uniformed and civilian peacekeepers and diplomats across its Secretariat, agencies, and special political missions globally, but it cannot handle the hotbed in Haiti.
The Jamaican government does not even spend time to sift through the Haitians who arrive seeking help to see if there are any worthy of protection or asylum privileges. There is no evidence that this government has employed any routine to check the credentials of arriving Haitians, but at the same time, they have flung Jamaica wide open to house the ‘most despicable’ people who are deported from the United States under the Third Country National (deportee) Agreement.
Long before the first batch of US foreign deportees were to land, Jamaica and the world were informed that they are listed among the most ‘despicable’ of humanity. United States Secretary of State Marco Rubio, during a White House Cabinet meeting, told all and sundry that the undocumented migrants being sent to third countries under the programme are “despicable” and referred to them as “perverts, paedophiles and child rapists”.
The U.S. government has allocated a reported $410 million globally to support third-country national (TCN) deportation agreements, though individual payment amounts vary by country and are often kept confidential. A congressional investigation revealed that the U.S. paid more than $32 million to five foreign governments to accept approximately 300 third-country deportees (averaging over $1 million per person).
When money is involved, ‘despicability’ is of no account to the Jamaican kakistocracy. Haitians on the run for their lives cannot be accommodated, as they have no money attached to their arrival.
The government of the Dominican Republic is a different story. They signed a similar memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the United States under the “Shield of the Americas” initiative to host a limited number of third-country nationals (TCNs) deported by the U.S.
In this agreement, that government explicitly excluded Haitian nationals. Haitians are not allowed to land in the Dom Rep, not even vulnerable women, children or the elderly, regardless of life-threatening circumstances they may face.
According to the Dom Rep government, the decision to completely bar Haitians from the agreement with the US stems from deep-seated geopolitical, national security, and domestic factors.
It is true that Haiti has earned the wrath of God by its spiritual infidelity, but the global anti-Haiti rhetoric was set in train centuries ago when France, its former coloniser demanded money from the former enslaved people in order to recognise their blood-won freedom.
Exactly 21 years after the revolution, Haiti had to pay for the audacity to fight for freedom. In 1825 France declared that it would only recognise Haiti’s independence at a price of 150 million francs, the equivalent of about three times Haiti’s GDP at the time.
Since 1825, France has transformed from a primarily agrarian kingdom into a highly industrialised, technologically advanced global republic. This transformation occurred across eras of intense political instability, industrial revolutions, chaos, revolts and natural disasters of Biblical proportions. France, which is currently being rocked by a strong wave of street protests, may never understand that spiritual wickedness in high places has devastating rewards.
Jamaican Prime Minister Andrew Holness likes to declare that criminals who fail to surrender will meet their maker. But he must also understand that criminals in the security forces, in the church and in the government will also face the same fate.
Despicables in the Jamaican kakistocracy may be riding high on their own arrogance, but their day of reckoning is sure to come.