Information Minister outlines limits of Jamaica-US third-country nationals transit pact

Information Minister Senator Dr. Dana Morris Dixon has moved to ease public alarm over Jamaica's memorandum of understanding with the United States on third-country nationals, saying the arrangement is a short-term transit measure and not a large-scale resettlement programme.

Speaking in a Jamaica Information Service ministerial update, Dr. Dixon acknowledged that many Jamaicans were unsettled after reports linked the deal to figures as high as 10,000. She said the government has acted transparently and in the national interest, and that the United States is negotiating similar arrangements with several countries, some of which are already operational.

Under the pact, persons recently returned by US authorities would pass through Jamaica on their way to other countries. Dr. Dixon put the ceiling at 25 individuals at any one time, up to twice per month. She said the US approached Jamaica as it has other partners, including Caribbean states that have already signed on.

Dr. Dixon addressed conflicting accounts about who opened talks. She said the third-country nationals programme is a US initiative, but that separate discussions involving Minister Marks on recruiting skilled workers from countries such as the Philippines, Ghana and Nigeria were at one point confused with the transit deal. Officials on both sides later clarified that the two matters were unrelated, and negotiations have since focused solely on transit.

She distinguished the arrangement from Jamaica's ended Cuban medical professionals programme, which she described as successful but halted over labour-law compliance. The government still wants Cuban doctors and nurses to return, she said, whereas the US deal involves no long-term employment in Jamaica.

The memorandum will be published within days, Dr. Dixon said, adding that Deputy Prime Minister and Security Minister Dr. Horace Chang's earlier statements reflect its contents. Persons with criminal antecedents will not be permitted to transit Jamaica, and the International Organization for Migration will oversee compliance. If more than ten individuals seek asylum while in transit, the programme ends. Housing and other operational details remain under negotiation.