Jamaica Sells Well…Just Maybe Not for Returnees
By Audrey Arthurs
Construction is everywhere. New hotels quickly erected, investment condominiums ubiquitous, and Air BnB’s in abundance because Jamaica caters exceptionally well to tourists. Despite the numerous travel advisories, tourists continue to flock to the “land of wood and water” to partake in all its spectacular offerings – the thriving, feel-good reggae music festivals, the tasty, finger-licking good jerk chicken served with refreshing coconut water, and the calm, pristine turquoise waters of the beaches. Tourists are relatively safe if they take the usual precautions to ensure a problem-free vacation. In 2024, Jamaica welcomed 4.3 million visitors and made $4.3 billion U.S. Thus far, 2025 promises to be another banner year.
Yet returnees (Jamaicans who moved away and wish to return home, especially for retirement), may not fare as well. In the past few years several returning residents have been murdered in Jamaica, sparking rising concern amongst Jamaicans who live abroad. For Jamaicans, “abroad” usually means places like Britain (especially London, Manchester, and Leeds), Canada (especially Toronto and Montreal), and the United States (especially cities like New York, Miami, Atlanta, and even Hartford, CT). The outmigrations of brave Jamaicans to white-majority, western nations, in search of a better life for themselves, their children, and their extended families occurred across generations starting in the early twentieth century, and were characterized by their confrontation with the stark realities of structural and systemic racism in everything from housing and transportation, to education and healthcare access. The promise of lands of “milk and honey” did not pan out for many of them, at least not without mighty struggles against racism. Meanwhile, the rhetoric of earnings that match one’s work ethic, drive, and ambition was soon exposed by the reality of narrow definitions of belonging and a dominant whiteness that was jealously protected and insulated at every turn. Thus, while Jamaicans who have never left the island to go “a foreign” too often imagine that their fellow Jamaicans abroad are rolling in cash in a land where the money “grows on trees,” the reality is that those who risked it all to live and work abroad, especially those of African descent, have faced remarkable hurdles, injustices, and indignities to attain whatever wealth they have accumulated, often just enough for a modest retirement. This disconnect is of course partially responsible for what appears to be the violent targeting of returnees.
Although Jamaica is not a war-torn nation, it tragically shares common ground with many such countries like Sudan, Syria, Iraq, Myanmar, and Afghanistan where citizens also face serious and often lethal security risks. The national government has acknowledged the unsafe conditions that returnees face and have prepared a detailed “Welcome Home” booklet with sound advice, and essential contacts to ensure their safe return and seamless integration back into local communities. Alarmingly, over half of this twenty-page booklet focuses on safety, including how to leave the airport discreetly and practical advice regarding security vigilance.
In 2018 alone, twelve returning residents were targeted and killed, horrifically so. The wounds on some of the victims’ bodies seemed personal in nature, signifying rage, and vengeance. One murder specifically stands out, that of an older Jamaican couple returning to Jamaica from Winnipeg, Canada to retire and enjoy their hard-earned savings. They were in the middle of constructing their retirement home when they were violently murdered by their caretaker. In December 2019, the number of returning residents killed increased to twenty-five. Since then, there has been a downward trajectory with five returning residents killed in 2020. But the lower murder statistics has done little to ease the minds of Jamaicans wanting to return home. Let’s face it, no one wants to be part of that statistic! These targeted murders haunt Jamaicans abroad, making them feel vulnerable and fearful. Always having to think defensively about even mundane interactions becomes mentally and socially exhausting.
According to Statistica, in 2024, Jamaica had the dubious distinction of having the third highest homicide rate in the Caribbean and Latin America. Only Haiti and Trinidad and Tobago rank higher. Violence is an intrinsic part of Jamaica’s history that was embedded into its culture by the Spanish and the British from the period of Transatlantic Slavery. It is this knowledge that prompted the esteemed scholar of Jamaican Slavery, Prof. Trevor Burnard, to characterize Jamaica as a place of “radical uncertainty” for the enslaved who were never certain of where the next attack, beating or assault would come, the enslavers or their fellow enslaved people. Before emancipation of the enslaved in 1834, Jamaica was known as the island of resistance because the enslaved launched more rebellions than the rest of the other Caribbean countries combined. During the period between 1720 and 1740, religious, cultural, and military leader Nanny of the Maroons and fearless Captain Cudjoe (Kojo) launched the Maroon Wars, in 1760, Tacky spearheaded the Easter Rebellion, Sam Sharpe meticulously organized the Christmas Rebellion of 1831, and Paul Bogle led the Morant Bay Rebellion in 1865. These well-documented, full-scale insurrections occurred alongside smaller less conspicuous ones.
Emancipation did not relieve the systemic oppression of people of African descent, for under British rule, racism, cruelty, and exploitation remained the norm. The enslaved therefore transitioned into the dissatisfied, working poor who bore the devastating impacts of high unemployment, economic depression, and the racial policing of migration opportunities, just as Jamaica was simultaneously experiencing high birth rates. The confluence of global turmoil, local socio-economic struggle, and political malfeasance perpetuated the country’s volatility.
The Peoples National Party (PNP) led by Norman Manley was founded in 1938 at the same time as multiple strikes involving the sugar workers, dockworkers, and farmworkers led to numerous assemblies and public meetings. Jamaican workers were angry with the subpar working conditions and low wages. Alexander Bustamante their labour rights leader was arrested “for inciting unlawful assembling and obstructing a police inspector”. Following his release, Bustamante broke away from the socialist leaning PNP to form the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) thus starting the two-party system.
In 1962, Jamaica achieved independence from Britain and along with that independence The Jamaican Constitution was created that promised to uphold “the rights and freedoms of all Jamaicans,” ensuring the right to “equitable and humane treatment”. These rights and freedoms were guaranteed regardless of race, colour, place of origin, class, gender, religion, or political opinion. Alongside the constitution, Jamaica’s Motto “Out Of Many, One People” suggests unity within diversity. As egalitarian as this sounds, it has not been experienced by the poorer or darker-skinned Jamaicans because Britain’s racial ideology and socio-political and economic mandates remained in place by passing the baton to elite white Jamaicans and their light-skinned compatriots.
With the emergence of the JLP and PNP, both parties claimed that the other was controlled by external forces. The United States was still experiencing the holdover of McCarthyism (anti-communist agenda) and was concerned about PNP’s socialist leanings and ties to Cuba and the Soviet Union. Meanwhile, the JLP mandate was more closely aligned with the United States and by extension, the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) . The passionate rivalry and the quest for power over the population soon took precedence over civil calm and peace. The people, looking for relief, were incentivized instead towards discord by the warring politicians who urged them to attack their fellow citizens who supported the opposing parties. Soon after, politically-sponsored violence became institutionalized, common, and encouraged.
For example, in 1962 and 1967 the general elections were riddled with state-sanctioned violence. Adding to this the anti-Chinese riots of 1965 were triggered when Chinese employers beat a black female employee for stealing. Then in 1968 the Rodney Riots in 1968 followed. The “rude boys,” young men who relocated to the city centres seeking job opportunities but found none, were called upon to protect political interests. The same unmoored youths later became “dons and shottas” or “Shotta dons” as the drug trade increased in the 1970s and 1980s. These drug-infested communities housed disenfranchised people who had access to automatic weapons allegedly supplied by the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). Jamaica does not manufacture guns!
“Purposeful” Violence
The violence is tolerated because the gangs/garrisons have special relationships with each political party and are relied upon to deliver votes. In return, the politically protected gangs are armed with weapons as the state provides covert sanction of their violent operations. Having very few options, the average Jamaican may feel compelled to pledge their loyalty to gangs and rely on them for material goods, which exposes the ineptitude of the government and social safety nets. But when violence becomes normalized and people are disenfranchised and traumatized by it, one knock-on effect is a devaluing of human life.
Another significant problem to highlight is the instability of family life. It is not easy for a stressed out, traumatized parent to care lovingly for their children due to their economic precarity and social instability. This of course creates unstable environments for the children. In addition, most Jamaican families are women-led, highlighting the importance of fatherhood and the need for stable, caring, reliable, trustworthy male role models for these youths. Young boys (especially those without a counterbalancing positive male role model) are indoctrinated into gang culture, while young girls are used as messengers by the gangs and both sexes have experienced sexual assaults and rape. The marginalized communities are bombarded with economic, physical, emotional, spiritual, and intellectual abuse. Every aspect of their lives is substandard, including education. Social skills are not properly learned. Children cannot thrive in a society without safety, security, access to the necessities of life, and a sense of possibility. Youths from troubled homes, who are lacking in education, unsurprisingly often end up in the penal system. The grinding poverty becomes generational and cyclical.
In a 2022 article in the Jamaican Observer entitled Violence in Jamaica: The half has not been told, educator and social commentator Andrew G. Tucker asserted that, “For too long, at our impending peril, we have been oblivious to the cries, pain, and suffering of the Jamaican masses. We are currently sitting on toxic bombs of moral depravity, social injustice, economic inequity, and political mismanagement that will eventually explode when we least expect it.” This means that peace in Jamaican society is fragile at best because violence begets violence.
As time goes by and with no positive outlook and relief on the horizon, the downtrodden become angrier. As Bob Marley sang on the hit song Them Belly Full (But We Hungry), on the 1974 Natty Dread album, “A Hungry Mob Is an Angry Mob”. Speaking of Bob Marley, even he could not escape violence. An assassination attempt was made on Marley’s life on December 3, 1976 two days before his “Smile Jamaica” concert which was orchestrated to facilitate a truce between warring political factions and to ease tensions especially in the urban regions. It was concluded that the attack was politically motivated.
To alleviate the unrelenting poverty, Jamaicans rely on remittances from family members abroad. In 2024, Jamaicans overseas sent $3.36 billion home to help with living expenses. In addition, barrels containing personal goods, groceries, clothing, and other items are packed and sent regularly. Despite this life saving aid and support, the disenfranchised are left wanting because the decrepit environment discourages thriving. It also produces distorted thinking that easily shifts the dispositions of the marginalized from requesting aid to feeling entitled to it. Seeing few prospects, learned-helplessness becomes embedded in a disenfranchised population and they are forced to look outward for solutions from their family members who “made it” rather than inward.
It is far too simplistic to pinpoint just one segment of the population as criminal elements. Most robberies and murders are prompted by greed and from those seeking instant gratification. Planning for the future is a novel concept because many may not envision themselves living to a ripe old age. With a weak family structure, communities gravitate to mass-media for inspiration and guidance. They want to emulate the lifestyles that are advertised in dancehall and hip-hop videos, and more recently, on social media channels which showcase plenty of bling including luxury cars and palatial homes. Media then creates unrealistic desires and expectations with images of luxurious living – success, fame, wealth – that are unattainable to most people.
While those who have never left the island erroneously believe that people who moved to Canada, the United States, and Britain have it “easy, ” returnees sometimes “flex” on their friends and families, strategically spotlighting the “wins” of living abroad and perpetuating falsehoods. The returnees never share how tough it is to adjust to the cold climate, the racism they face at work, the actual size of their homes, or the fact that they are drowning in credit card, car loan, and mortgage debt. So, the logic goes, if things are so rich and easy abroad, it shouldn’t be a problem to share even more of the wealth. Thus, the sense of entitlement of the locals to share in the supposed wealth from abroad has only grown.
Additionally, returning residents often move back to the very communities in which they were raised, building their often more luxurious and conspicuous homes alongside those of comparably less economically stable residents. But the nostalgia and good vibes of going back “a yard” often dulls the returnees’ vigilance and awareness to the fact that they are being surveilled. Returnees do not consider that the Jamaica they left is not the same Jamaica to which they are returning.
In a 2022 The Gleaner article Senior Superintendent of Police Wayne Josephs observed that “most of the returning residents that I have seen who have been targeted are usually targeted by family members or persons associated with them, their gardener, their helper and so on,” members of their inner-circle. He noted that “there are several cases where people living and working abroad have sent home monies to relatives to build houses, or to bank the funds, and those relatives here have got comfortable with these properties which they are handling.” When the person then returns to Jamaica, they are seen as an enemy trespassing on the property of the person who was only ever intended to be an interim caretaker. I guess their relatives are following the legal principle that possession is 9/10th of the law. In regard to extended family, Joseph contends that “the returning residents themselves have made themselves too open to people such as their father’s grand uncle, grand cousin, they don’t know him from Adam but he is from the family. The returning residents have opened themselves too much,” making them very vulnerable to people who have crab-in-a-barrel mentality or “bad-mind,” a Jamaican term used to describe a person who is jealous and spiteful.
Normalized Violence
Many Jamaicans on the island decry the negative labels hoisted on this scenic, tropical island that has immense potential. They argue that “crime is everywhere,” and to double-down, they will cite the violence in the United States as proof. However, most other nations do not require safety manuals to aid their own returning citizens in navigating the targeted violence of their countries of birth! Many Jamaicans then choose not to understand that people in other countries do not live defensively. In a 2017 article in The Gleaner, Shell-shocked – The psychological impact of crime, Dr. Alfred Dawes describes Jamaicans’ increased numbness to violent crimes. Of course, when a child is murdered or there are multiple shootings, there is outrage. But that feeling is not sustained, nor does it galvanize the population to actively address these senseless crimes. Those who are unaffected express righteous indignation of the state of Jamaica, congregate, and pontificate about all that ails the Caribbean island nation. At times, those offering insights lack empathy and humanity because they have insulated themselves from the general population. Dawes describes this segment of the population as numb because they are not directly traumatized and explains that they are “unable to grasp the concept of a near-miss traumatic experience. This psychological damage explains the inaction as things spiral out of control.”
Those who witness the atrocities may survive, but there are lasting impacts of psychic and emotional trauma that are not addressed in meaningful ways. Dawes notes that there is a difference between visiting the marginalized communities and living within them. A significant portion of Jamaicans live in these at-risk communities where they hear gun shots outside their doors. You are no longer invincible “as you suddenly realize that any second a bullet addressed ‘To Whom It May Concern’ may take your life.” As people continue to see close friends and relatives die or are forced to identify the desecrated corpses of loved ones, they are traumatized by a society in which violence and death have become an indelible part of their daily lives. Thus, most people in the at-risk communities suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). But because it is undiagnosed and untreated, the shell-shocked individuals must go on living with “bombs” falling outside their doors.
The politicians who armed their supporters in the 1970s have crosses to bear and need to take responsibility for the violence that continues to rain down on vulnerable Jamaicans to this day. A multi-pronged approach is necessary and starts with dismantling systems of oppression. Look beyond minimum wage to living wage, place value on all lives, and work endlessly and tirelessly to relieve suffering. Access to healthcare and education for all should be a priority. But most of all, we must cultivate a society where the basic tenants of humanity, dignity, love and compassion reign. Then Jamaicans abroad would gladly return and continue to help, instead of increasingly turning away in fear and seeking alternatives.
Advice for Returning Residents:
- Do not entrust family members or friends to act financially on your behalf.
2. Return as quietly as possible, meaning do not be flashy or discuss your intentions with anyone, including family members.
3. Return periodically to test the waters and acclimatize yourself to the culture.
4. Consider residing in a different location from where you were born and/or raised on the island where no one knows you or your history.
5. Consider retiring to another country altogether.
Audrey Arthurs
Audrey Arthurs is a PhD candidate in the History Department at the University of New Brunswick, Fredericton, Canada. Her PhD dissertation focuses on the visual culture of Black Male Resistance on reggae vinyl album cover art. She completed her MA in Art History at Concordia University (Montreal) in 2021 and her thesis reflected an interdisciplinary perspective, exploring the performance of gender and sexuality in Wilfred Limonious’ dancehall vinyl album covers. Her academic interests include Caribbean Art History, Black Activism Art, Black Diaspora Studies, Canadian Slavery, Transatlantic Slavery Studies, Vinyl Album Art (specifically Reggae and Dancehall Album Art), Black Women and Resistance, Black Masculinity, and Gender and Sexuality Studies. In 2021, she presented “FIREBUN’ Women as Active Agents in Resistance in the Danish West Indies,” at the NSCAD BHM Graduate Student Panel in Halifax, Nova Scotia and “Fist High, Kneel Low: Let Unity and Defiance Be Shown” at the Concordia University 26th Annual Graduate Interdisciplinary Conference in Montreal, Quebec. Audrey is Jamaican by birth, but has lived in Canada since childhood.