ACDA lauds Guyana govt’s remigrant programme

African Cultural and Development Association (ACDA) Executive Director Dr Eric Phillips has applauded the Guyana government’s initiative to entice accomplished Guyanese migrants to return home.

Dr Phillips said that the remigrant diaspora programme which seeks to create a framework for overseas- based Guyanese to come back and make meaningful contributions is a good way to start. However, Dr Phillips, who has lived more than half of his life overseas, said that the programme must be implemented in a more structured and organised manner.
The programme now allows for persons to return for short periods of time and either serve as guest lecturers at the university or make other contributions.
“Many Guyanese have taken advantage of this through non-governmental organisations, but it needs a lot more structure,” Dr Phillips remarked.
He noted that systems must also be put in place to ensure that Guyanese are reluctant to leave in the first place. Many Guyanese go abroad, develop themselves and make major economic, social and political contributions to their adoptive homeland. In addition, most individuals with valuable skills eventually migrate, leading to a further brain drain.
“It’s very difficult to go overseas and after five years when you get married and have a good job to come back (to Guyana),” Dr Phillips said.
He pointed out that unless people of all races and cultures feel comfortable and are able to make a living in their own country, they will continue to leave for better opportunities and may not come back.
Politicians must work in harmony Dr Phillips emphasised that the political architecture must be altered and politicians must be willing to find ways to work in harmony to achieve the country’s motto of: one people; one destiny.
“I think that people are going to be willing to come back and contribute and those who want to leave will do so on a temporary basis to access an education and return,” the ACDA director stated. He detailed that as a matter of priority, the administration must work toward ensuring that Guyana is a sufficiently habitable and survivable place for all people.
According to Phillips, if this is done in a transparent and balanced manner, Guyanese will return in numbers.
“I myself came back to Guyana and it has always been difficult to reintegrate.
A lot of our people leave Guyana, go overseas and do extraordinary things. You can go to any country in the world and find Guyanese who have excelled,” Phillips pointed out.

Guyana’s Ambassador to Caricom, Elizabeth Harper and a delegation from Guyana recently made a passionate plea for Guyanese living overseas to return home, invest in their country of birth and assist in its development.
Guyana is one of three countries, including Haiti and Jamaica, which are said to have the highest migration rates in the region. Harper stated that the first order of business would be to garner a pool of skills among the diaspora from which the state can draw to fill critical vacancies on the local shores.
“The first thing that we are trying to do is collect the data of what our diaspora has out there, the skills they have, their interest in a particular area and when we are able to get that data and assess it, then we have to do the parallel exercise to make sure that we can match those interests and match the skills with the gaps in the public and private sector,” Harper said. (Excerpt from Guyana Times)