COB Grants Resident Tuition to Non-Citizens

As the recent documentary Can you see us? makes painfully clear, Bahamian-born Haitians face a great deal of social and legal discrimination here in the Bahamas. Since Bahamian-born children of foreigners are not automatically granted citizenship on the basis of birth (but instead must wait until they are eighteen to apply for it and, even then, wait years for their applications to be processed), one of the biggest problems facing Haitian young people aspiring to pursue a college education is that, until recently, they did not qualify for resident tuition rates at the College of the Bahamas and, instead, were required to pay the non-resident tuition rate. Needless to say, this policy has prevented many otherwise qualified Haitian-Bahamians from going to college simply because they were unable to pay the non-resident tuition rate, which is double that of the the resident rate.

Thankfully, those days are behind us as C.O.B. has recently approved a new tuition policy which reclassifies most Haitian Bahamians (as well as Bahamian-born persons of other nationalities) as residents for purposes of tuition. In other words, Bahamian citizenship is no longer the sole factor in determining who does or does not qualify for resident tuition. C.O.B. is to be commended on this change in policy as it will go a long way towards making a college education more accessible to the growing number of people--Haitian or otherwise--who were born here, grew up here, and continue to live and work here. Hopefully, the Bahamas government will now follow C.O.B.'s lead and make efforts to more quickly and efficiently process the backlog of citizenship applications from the many Bahamian-born persons who consider the Bahamas to be their home.

Jou Drapo Ayisyen (A Photo Essay)

Jodiya se jou drapo ayisyen. Or, for those of us in the English-speaking world, today is Haitian Flag Day.

Here in Nassau, Haitian Flag Day celebrations were observed throughout the weekend, the biggest event being yesterday's parade and cultural festival sponsored by the United Haitian Association in the Bahamas (UHAB) as part of their ongoing collaboration with the International Languages and Cultures Institute (ILCI) at the College of the Bahamas.

Both Estela and I attended this event as members of the Bahamas Human Rights Network (BHRN) where we, along with several of our colleagues, helped to staff an information table promoting BHRN's work in the Haitian community. While a number of people did stop by our table and we did collect contact information from several dozen people interested in joining our mailing list (and, hopefully, attending our meetings), I found the day to be productive for other reasons as well.

First, it was a great opportunity to get better acquainted with a number of our colleagues from BHRN in an informal, casual setting. Many of our colleagues bring years of activist experience to BHRN from other human rights organizations--both local and regional--and it was great to hear their stories and learn more about their work, something we don't normally get to do at our regular meetings.

In addition to getting better acquainted with our colleagues from BHRN, we also bumped into numerous friends and acquaintances from throughout the Haitian community and, likewise, met a lot of new and interesting people for the first time, thus developing a greater appreciation for those who are working on behalf of and in collaboration with the Haitian community.

As with last year's Flag Day events, this year also proved to be an important--albeit painful--reminder that the Haitian churches, while often doing good work amongst immigrants from Haiti, have not yet figured out how to minister effectively to the Bahamian-born children of their members. Consequently, at Haitian Flag Day once sees hundreds of Haitian-Bahamian young people who have drifted away from churches that have failed to effectively reach their generation. Many of the Haitian churches, of course, do have sizeable youth groups, many of whom participated in providing entertainment for the day's festivities. But based on the general trajectory we've observed over the past eight years of ministry with local Haitian churches, it is likely that many of these young people will no longer be active in the church five to ten years from now. (This, of course, is a complex issue that is beyond the scope of this particular post. For those who are interested, Manuel Ortiz offers a helpful analysis of ministry issues ethnic churches face in reaching second-generation immigrants here.)

Last but not least, this was a wonderful celebration of Haitian culture and history. In spite of Haiti's political instability and status as one of the poorest countries in the world, the reality is that Haitians have developed a rich and beautiful culture that has made significant contributions to the regional history and culture of the Caribbean and, indeed, the African-Diaspora throughout the Americas. In that regard, this weekend's Flag Day celebrations properly emphasized the positive aspects of Haiti rather than dwelling upon the negative. Yes, things are tough in Haiti but Haiti and the Haitian people also have much to celebrate and to share with the broader international community. Hopefully, that is the message that was communicated through this year's celebrations.

COB tuition policy for non-citizens under review

The May 26th edition of The Tribune reported that Carl Bethel, the newly appointed Education Minister, plans to review the policy under which Bahamian-born youth who are not yet Bahamian citizens must pay the foreign tuition rate at College of the Bahamas (COB). This action is in response to concerns raised by Lucien Emmanuel, a Haitian Bahamian student who has been admitted for studies at the Eugene Dupuch Law School this coming September. The Ministry of Education will work with officials from the College of the Bahamas to review this policy.

Persons who are born in the Bahamas to non-Bahamian parents are not considered to be Bahamian citizens and must wait until they are eighteen years old to apply for Bahamian citizenship. In practice, it takes years for citizenship applications to be processed, if they are even processed at all. In the meantime, these young people, typically Haitian Bahamians, remain second-class citizens in the country of their birth. In regards to their education, this can be a major setback as inability to obtain Bahamian citizenship in a timely fashion prevents them from pursuing tertiary studies at the College of the Bahamas unless they can afford the foreign tuition rates. Likewise, lack of citizenship prevents them from applying for a Bahamian passport in order to pursue study opportunities abroad.

Unfortunately, the definition of who does or does not qualify for Bahamian citizenship on the basis of birth is a bit complex. The Tribune article notes that a child born in wedlock in the Bahamas to a Bahamian mother and a foreign father does not qualify for citizenship on the basis of birth. In contrast, a child born in wedlock in the Bahamas to a Bahamian father and foreign mother does qualify for citizenship on the basis of birth. Thus, in marriages between a Bahamian and a non-Bahamian, the children will not automatically qualify for citizenship on the basis of their birth UNLESS their FATHER is a Bahamian.

But wait! Things are even more complicated than this. Unlike children in the previous category, children born out of wedlock to a Bahamian mother and a foreign father automatically acquire citizenship at birth through their unmarried Bahamian mother. Put differently, the law seems to reward the children of unmarried Bahamian women with citizenship while penalizing those of women who are legally married.

Again, those who are born in the Bahamas but do not qualify for citizenship due to one of the above situations must wait until they are eighteen to apply for citizenship, a process that is fraught with difficulties and, more often than not, doesn't have a happy ending.

From a human rights perspective, changing COB's tuition policy to accommodate non-citizens born in the Bahamas doesn't really get at the heart of the problem. These young people would be better served if the government were to commit to processing their citizenship applications in a timely fashion or, better yet, simply grant citizenship to all persons born in the Bahamas without exception. For a variety of reasons, however, such changes will not likely be on the horizon anytime soon. In the meantime, Education Minister Carl Bethel is taking a bold step that, hopefully, will open the doors for Haitian Bahamians and others to pursue their education and, perhaps, lay the groundwork for even bigger changes in the future.

Celebrating Haitian Heritage

Yesterday, May 18th, Haitian Flag Day was observed as a national holiday in Haiti and was also celebrated throughout much of the Haitian diaspora. In some school districts and municipalities in Southern Florida, the entire month of May has been designated as Haitian Heritage Month.

Here in Nassau, Haitian Flag Day festivities will be held today--May 19th--at Cable Beach. Hopefully, my wife and I will be able to participate in the Haitian Flag Day activities this evening. If so, I will provide an update to this post in the next day or so.

UPDATE (as of 5/25): Estela and I did go to this activity and it turned out to be pretty typical as far as outdoor festivities in the Bahamas go. Haitian Flag Day celebrations were held in the parking lot of Fidelity Bank at Cable Beach and there were several vendors' tables where Haitian food and souvenirs (e.g., Haitian flags and t-shirts) were sold as well as live entertainment provided by local Haitian artists.

What I found to be REALLY interesting about the event, though, was the demographic. There were probably at least three generations of folks present at the event, ranging from very small children to middle-aged adults who were all clearly born in or grew up here in the Bahamas. Most of the Haitians that we encounter through our work in the local churches are immigrants from Haiti. Their children are often born in the Bahamas but it is rare for many of them to stick around in the church after they become teenagers and I could easily count on one hand the number of Bahamian-born Haitians that I know who attend a Haitian church. So this event was a good opportunity to observe a whole segment of the Haitian community that we rarely come into contact with. More importantly, it is a poignant reminder of the challenge the Haitian churches face in finding more effective ways of ministering to their youth and building up a new generation of leaders rather than remaining dependent on the constant flow of immigrants from Haiti to grow their membership.

I was also inspired by the theme for the event, chaj pou youn, se chaj pou tout (or, loosely translated as "the burden for one is the burden for all." In a social context where the black crab complex (as defined by Bahamian author Patricia Glinton-Meicholas) seems to plague Haitians as much as Bahamians, the theme was a welcome reminder of the importance of working together and supporting one another for the good of the Haitian community rather than fostering rivalries and competition. In terms of community development, I would like to find ways to develop this theme by fostering greater collaboration between Haitian immigrants and Bahamians of Haitian descent. Too often, our churches themselves have simply reenforced negative patterns of individual competition and have done little to promote a sense of social responsibility.

Read more about this event here.