Better Bahamian-Haitian Relations for Success and Wealth in The Bahamas and Haiti

Selling Haiti as a place to invest in

The Nassau Guardian Editorial:

The Bahamas government recently signed three agreements with the Haitian government intended to further trade development between the countries and lead to a decrease in illegal migration from Haiti to The Bahamas. The signings took place during the last visit of Haitian President Michel Martelly to The Bahamas.

The agreements include a framework for bilateral cooperation, an agreement on trade and technical cooperation in agriculture and fisheries, and an agreement on the promotion and protection of investments. More specifically, the agricultural agreement allows Haiti to export fresh fruit to The Bahamas.

Talking up his country, Martelly said one way to curtail illegal migration would be for Bahamians to invest in Haiti.

“The people that come here, they don’t come here because they don’t love their country,” he said. “They come here because they want a better life.

“So if we can bring the better life to them by getting investors to go to Haiti to invest in bananas, in mango, in corn, in rice and in vegetables... that would be good enough.”

Many Bahamians are stuck in a bigoted view of Haiti and Haitians. That country is the poorest in the hemisphere and its people have long been fleeing to other nations in search of better lives.

The discussion here when it comes Haiti is too often just about the illegal migration of Haitians to The Bahamas. There is money to be made in Haiti by Bahamians.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) projects Haiti’s real GDP to grow by four percent this year and the same amount in 2015. The World Bank notes that the positive trends in Haiti’s economy can primarily be attributed to a pick-up in agricultural production and the construction and industrial sectors – particularly the textile and garment industries.

In his opening remarks at a luncheon hosted by the Bahamas Chamber of Commerce and Employers Confederation (BCCEC) at the British Colonial Hilton during his visit, Martelly challenged the international perception of Haiti as a country dependent on donations and international aid, stating that the country is “distancing [itself] from aid and inviting trade”.

Members of Martelly’s delegation stressed the opportunities in the power, construction and agricultural sectors that Haiti offers Bahamian businesses, also calling for Bahamian assistance in strengthening Haitian financial services.

While some Bahamians remain stuck in the view of Haiti as an eternal basket case from which our immigration problems originate, BCCEC CEO Edison Sumner is wise to the gradual transformation down south, describing the growing market in northern Haiti as a “new hot spot for the incubation and expansion of business” between the two countries.

Bahamians and Haitians now need to shift the myopic discourse that has evolved between us. We need to focus on the wealth that can be created by doing business together, rather than being paranoid about the number of Haitians living in The Bahamas.

November 01, 2014

thenassauguardian

The Haitian Situation in The Bahamas - Part 3

The Bahamas Haitian Situation ‐ Part 3

By Apostle Cedric Moss
March 25, 2004

It is sad to watch people work feverishly to try to prevent something they are not aware has already happened.  They slam the gate shut, put a lock on it, and wipe their sweaty brow, ignorant to the fact that the horse has already stampeded out.  As I listen to Bahamians generally express the ways they do not want Haitians to 'take over' The Bahamas, I am amazed that they do not realize that much of what they do not want has happened and will continue to happen.  And it's too late to change it.

Get Used To It

Several months back, I followed a long discussion on the Haitian situation on the local discussion website, www.bahamasissues.com.  The title was, 'Not the Haitian Flag'.  The thread was started with the following comments: "I don't know about you, but I have a problem with the amount of Haitian flags I see popping up on cars.  In the midst of my celebrating my independence, while I am proudly displaying my flag, the Haitians are displaying theirs.  What is that all about?  It is an insult to me.  If they are proud of their country then they should go home and put up their flag. How dare you come in my land and put up your flag.  Wake up my people.  This is a serious time; this may seem like a small thing but is only the beginning.  Today it is the flag, tomorrow it will be streets named after them, they will be running for public office soon, and then in the very near future peas and rice, and names like Cox and Bain will be replaced by Haitian names and dishes.  They have already started to open businesses and guess whom they employ?  This up and coming generation is in for the fight of their lives; we must fight to keep this land for our children.  THIS LAND IS MY LAND.  Sail away my friends."

Perhaps the most obvious point that was missed by the person who offered those comments is that many of the persons donning Haitian flags on their vehicles are Bahamians with Haitian parentage or affinity.  In addition, this land is no longer just 'our' land since many Bahamian-Haitians own land too.  And they will not sail away ‐ they are here to stay with their expressions of Haitian patriotism.  So we must get used to it.

Managed Assimilation

Even if every Haitian living illegally in The Bahamas decided to go back to Haiti, we would still have tens of thousands of Haitians and Bahamians of Haitian descent living here.  Either way, we have a sub-culture within a culture.  What are we going to do?  Continue to ignore them?  While this might have been acceptable many years ago when Haitian communities were allowed to exist in The Bahamas because they were not looked upon as being permanent, to continue to respond in this way, in my opinion, is a threat to our national security.  Prejudices already run deep, primarily Bahamians against Haitians.  There is also resentment on both sides for different reasons.  In my view, we have all the essential ingredients for our own 'ethnic' time bomb.  How do we diffuse it?  I trust that we do not attempt massive rounding up and repatriation because these acts could very well detonate it.  Instead, I believe an intentional process of managed assimilation will effectively diffuse it.

One People, Two Cultures

The goal of a managed assimilation process for regularized Haitians and Bahamians of Haitian parentage should not be to create one culture.  Instead, it should be to create one people while recognizing two cultures.  No doubt some will object to such a process.  However, since there is nothing we can legally do about a significant number of the Haitians and Bahamian-Haitians living here, we would be better off trying to forge one people with two cultures than allowing two people and two cultures.  If we continue to allow two people with two cultures living in hostility in one land, we will become the Caribbean version of the Jews and Palestinians.  I pray we do otherwise. 

Apostle Cedric Moss serves as Senior Pastor at Kingdom Life World Outreach Centre. Commentary and feedback may be directed to: apostle@kingdom-life.org.

The Haitian Situation in The Bahamas - Part 1>>>

The Haitian Situation in The Bahamas - Part 2>>>