Ombudsman urges Caribbean leaders to follow youth example on regional unity

Caribbean governments stuck on the question of free movement should look to their young people for inspiration, Ombudsman Nigel Taylor said, pointing to the spirit of solidarity already on display among students at the CARIFESTA XV Student Jamboree.

Taylor,  the president of the Caribbean Ombudsman Association, who also serves as camp director of the jamboree, made the comments during a visit to the residential camp at Lester Vaughan School, where more than 250 students from 12 countries are taking part in a week-long cultural exchange.

His remarks come just weeks after CARICOM announced that Barbados, Belize, Dominica, and St Vincent and the Grenadines will implement full free movement of nationals from October 1.

Addressing the reluctance of some governments, Taylor said: “It’s a natural psychological thing. People like the whole idea of being in charge… indigenous authority. So they don’t want to feel that the authority is being trampled or threatened.”

He argued the region must move beyond that mindset. “There is no mono in this. There must be a poly,” he said. “We need to move from the one-centred mentality into a plurality society where people in all areas [whether] sports, economics, whatever it is… move from the singleness of thought and mind and perpetuate a pluralism where we work together as one.”

On the matter of CARICOM free movement, the ombudsman said it must be approached with trust and not suspicion. “If it is pure and clear,” he said, “then there should not be a problem, with persons trying to think that there’s some untoward movement or untoward action.”

Reiterating his support, he added: “It makes sense.”

Taylor said the clearest example of what is possible lies within the very camp he helps lead. “I have seen in this camp where we have persons from many, many countries, but when they came here, all of their idiosyncrasies seemed to have fallen by the way,” he said.

“If children, young people, could be propelled to understand the whole concept of integration, of oneness, I think adults should lay aside political matters, social matters, psychosocial matters, all these areas, and try to emulate what a child sees.”

He described simple, thoughtful acts of friendship between students from different islands, recalling one morning when he saw campers collecting apples for others who had missed breakfast. “That kind of togetherness is what we need. Seriously,” he advised.

Quoting scripture, Taylor added: “The Bible says a child shall lead them.”

shannamoore@barbadostoday.bb