Foreign Affairs Minister of Antigua and Barbuda, Chet Greene, has called for an end to intolerant attitudes toward Dominicans and Jamaicans living in the country and lingering prejudices across the Caribbean.
Speaking on the radio station, Pointe FM, last weekend he said Antiguans should stop telling people from other islands that they should go home.
“We have to stop telling Jamaicans and Dominicans to go home,” he remarked. “That is not the solution, could never be the solution.”
He pointed out that presently people from the Caribbean, including Antigua, are being kicked out of the United States.
“The same Dominicans and Jamaicans being told to go home are being expelled from the United States just like Antiguans are,” he said. “We’re all in the same boat.”
He stated that there should be unity among Small Island Developing States (SIDS) as they face new trends in trade and economics.
“Trade requires market,” Greene said. “If we want regional manufacturing and food security, we need to embrace Caribbean civilization—not just as an idea but as a practical strategy for survival.”
He called on his fellow Antiguans to see other people from the Caribbean as part of the solution, not the problem.
“The status quo is no more,” he remarked. “Whether we like it or not, the way the world works is changing, and we have to change with it—together.”
Though it is often quipped that there are more Dominicans living in Antigua than Antiguans, an official count of the Dominican population on the island remains unknown.
Anectodally-speaking many Dominicans know of a friend, relative, or community member living in Antigua, so it is surmised that the number is great.
