MWAG condemns treatment of Jamaican Journalist

The Media Workers Association of Grenada (MWAG) is deeply concerned about the shabby treatment meted out to Jamaican journalist Tenesha Thomas who has been effectively ordered to leave the country within 24 hours.

MWAG would like to register strong suspicions about the circumstances surrounding Miss Thomas's forced departure from Grenada and the refusal by immigration officials to exercise their discretion in this matter.

Also, the association is annoyed and dissatisfied with the explanation offered by authorities in making their case for her expulsion from the island, particularly since it has emerged and has been admitted by immigration that a clear error was made on their part.

We feel that it is an unfair ploy for a professional journalist or for that manner anyone to be forced out of the country in the manner in which Miss Thomas has been, on the grounds that an immigration officer imputed a wrong date on her passport.

Our concern for Miss Thomas who was detained by four immigration officials and taken in on the basis that she had over-stayed her time in the country must not just be of genuine concern to us but to colleagues in the region.

Thomas had a returned ticket for the first week in March and showed officials that her passport was stamped until August 2, 2008.

Immigration officials who claim that an error was made said the date was meant to be the eighth of the second month, rather than the second of the eighth month.

We also note the refusal of authorities to use their discretion which they can do in this manner.

Based on our own inquiries, we are satisfied that there may be sinister motive behind Miss Thomas' forced departure from Grenada, rather than a concern about an immigration infraction. We are also satisfied that the immigration agents themselves would have acted differently if they were not under specific instructions. In this case we have no choice but to sympathize with the immigration department for the difficult position with which they have been placed.

The treatment of Miss Thomas, a Jamaica journalist in Grenada, represents an attack on press freedom at a time when the region claims to be forging a single market that involves free movement of media professionals. - MWAG