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February 3, 2005
Montserratians facing return to volcanic island
Jeremy Schwab
In 24 days, 292 refugees from Montserrat living in the United
States, many of them in the Boston area, will be sent back to
their mostly destroyed Caribbean island under the shadow of an
active volcano.
Barring a last-minute change of heart by Congress or President
Bush, the Montserratians who fled to this country in 1997 following
the volcano’s 1995 eruption, will be forced to return to
their impoverished country.
The island’s volcano still erupts occasionally and could
be active periodically for decades, say scientists.
On July 6, 2004, then-Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge terminated
the temporary protected status for Montserratians as of February
27, 2005.
According to a document released by the Caribbean Research Center
at Medgar Evers College in New York, Ridge cited the Webster’s
Revised Unabridged Dictionary definition of the word temporary
to argue that because the volcanic activity may continue for decades,
the situation can no longer be considered temporary. Thus, by
a twist of logic, the refugees should be forced to return home.
“The plain meaning of ‘temporary’ is lasting
for a time only; not permanent,” said Ridge, according to
the Caribbean Research Center document.
While they may scratch their heads at the justification
given for sending them back, Montserratian refugees now have more
pressing things to think about.
“Some people you are sending back have no family there,”
said Allan Edwards, a Montserratian who has run Allan’s
Formalwear on Blue Hill Avenue for over 30 years and is not a
refugee.
“Their houses are covered over. There is no economy, because
the only port they had was destroyed, and the economy thrived
due to tourism. So why are you sending them back?”
Vera Weekes, assistant director of Medgar Evers College and the
chief lobbyist for a bill that would grant Montserratians permanent
residency, said that the bill has been stalled due to post-September
11 fears.
“In 2001, there was a lot of support for the bill,”
said Weekes. “Then we got 9/11. We are in a period of anti-immigrant
feelings and people are confused about who are terrorists.”
Montserratians and supporters in the Boston area continue to fight
for Congress to pass the bill or President Bush to grant the refugees
permanent residency.
Last month, the Cooperative Metropolitan Ministries organized
35 people, including parishioners from Dorchester’s Greenwood
Memorial United Methodist Church and the Full Life Gospel Center,
Sudbury’s United Methodist Church and Newton’s Shir
Hadash, to meet with Sen. Edward Kennedy. Kennedy promptly wrote
a letter to Bush asking him to grant permanent status.
Janice Galloway, co-chairwoman of the Massachusetts Temporary
Protection Status Steering Committee, said her group is doing
all it can to fight for Montserratians to remain here.
“It is very stressful,” she said. “Everybody
is sending letters to the offices of the president and Homeland
Security, making phone calls. Doing everything to get the situation
reversed.”
But without much political clout, the situation appears grim for
the refugees.
“The bill was re-introduced last week,” said Weekes.
“But we need someone to push it. We are not millionaires.
We thought it might be included in some of the pork being split
up, but we don’t have any money to rub palms.”
While the refugees could choose to emigrate to England, as Montserrat
has a special relationship with England, that would not be much
better than moving back to their volcanic island, say Montserratians.
“I would never encourage people to go to England,”
said Weekes. “You must have someone to stay with. And they
may not want you, they may kick you out.”
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