It’s not the first time that a country has issued a travel advisory against another and it certainly won’t be the last . So it comes as no surprise that Canada issued a travel advisory to it’s citizens wishing to visit Jamaica.
The silly reaction of many Jamaicans to this routine advisory by Canada to the Island’s crime problem should come as no surprise either.
A travel warning, travel alert, or travel advisory is an official warning statement issued by a government agency to provide information about the relative safety of travelling to or visiting one or more specific foreign countries or destinations.
In other words it is the duty of Governments to warn their nationals traveling to other countries of the risks and possible dangers they may encounter and and how to navigate those risks. A travel advisory is completely different than a travel ban, which ultimately prevents people from travelling to certain countries for whatever reason.
Canada recently issued a travel advisory to it’s citizens travelling to Jamaica, the advisory not the first ‚warned Canadians how to protect themselves while on the Island. In 2007 Canada issued a similar advisory to its citizens leading up to the August 27th general elections on the Island.
The advisory warned that “Canadians in Jamaica should maintain a high level of personal security awareness,” . “Canadians should avoid demonstrations at all times and not attempt to pass through roadblocks, should they occur,”>
The advisory went on to state that although the two previous national elections were relatively peaceful , elections in the 1980’s were violent affairs.
Additionally it added that Jamaican officials themselves had advised that there is potential for violence and disturbances during that year’s elections.
It is therefore a bit curious that Jamaicans would have a problem with Canada taking steps to warn it’s nationals of the risks inherent in travelling to Jamaica or any other place for that matter , particularly when they just recently lost one of their citizens and the United States recently lost two aid workers just weeks apart to violent crime.
THIS IS IT…
There is no nationwide advisory in effect for Jamaica. However, you should exercise a high degree of caution due to the high level of violent crime. https://travel.gc.ca/destinations/jamaica.
A travel advisory is not a personal vendetta which larger nations have against their much poorer weaker neighbors. They are not Capitalistic tools used to punish smaller countries which does not do larger nation’s bidding (though they can be).
Canada does not have a singular focus on Jamaica as some seem to believe, as such Jamaicans can look at the link provided in the previous paragraph, that it’s nothing personal .
Canada has an A‑Z travel advisory on literally all nations on Earth . Relax Jamaicans the world is not out to get you.
In fact the Jamaican Government would be derelict in it’s duty to Jamaicans looking to travel if it does not have it’s own travel advisory which informs Jamaicans on how to be safe while traveling abroad.
Jamaica is absolutely free to include Canada and all other countries which have issues which should be raised a s a matter of precaution.
There is a confounding practice among some Jamaicans to circle the wagons and become defensive whenever anyone point to the exceptionally high crime rate on the Island .Cursing and berating even Jamaicans who are uncomfortable with crime. I see this issue as a two-fold issue really.(1) Jamaicans react negatively because they are traumatized significantly and would rather bury their heads and pretend it does not exist. Or (2) They are involved somehow in what’s going on .
To a large extent , there is evidence that many Jamaicans in the diaspora are actively fueling crime by sending back high-powered weapons to the Island.
When you pretend that those who point out the problem are the problem you miss the opportunity to fix the problem. When you circle the wagons you end up with a circular firing squad ‚before long you end up killing yourselves.
The Island’s crime problem cannot be hidden in the age of cell phones , the internet and the rapid dissemination of information and images made possible by a single click. There is no privacy , no hiding place , we live in an increasingly interconnected world . Pretending that travel advisories are tools designed to destroy Jamaica is the optimum insanity . Nationalistic pride is cool and commendable but it will not fix a nation in a serious state of denial about the exponentially high rate of murder and other serious felonies.
It is absolutely mind boggling to see the idiotic attempts among many Jamaicans to rationalize and device metrics which seeks to prove that Jamaica’s crime rate is just fine. It causes me to wonder whether they are traumatized or simply a part of the problem?
When you bury your head in the sand you expose your a** that is never a good strategy.