Once you have TCI Status, you are a TCI Islander

Introduction

The recent appointment of a Michael Francois to the post of Deputy Director in one of the Border Control functions has created an uproar among some people because the gentleman is of Haitian heritage and it alleged that other qualified Turks and Caicos Islanders applied for the post. The truth is that the gentleman has a Turks and Caicos Islander Status and so he is a Turks and Caicos Islander and has the same rights as those that called themselves “indigenous” Turks and Caicos Islanders.

If someone has a Turks and Caicos Islander Status, the right thing for us to do is called them Turks and Caicos Islanders. Likewise, those individuals should also call themselves Turks and Caicos Islanders.

There is only one category

The politicians that we voted for passed a very lenient Turks and Caicos Islander Status Ordinance in 2015. The Ordinance allows individuals to obtain a Turks and Caicos Status through rights or by grant. Since the bill was passed, no significant amendments have been made by successive governments, suggesting a consensus on the bill.

Once you obtained a Turks and Caicos Islander status, you are considered a Turks and Caicos Islander. Yet some of us still referred individuals of Haitian heritage as Haitians, individuals of Dominican heritage as Dominicans and individuals of Bahamian heritage as Bahamians. What is even more alarming is that even if a child has one parent who is from Turks and Caicos, but the other parent is a Haitian or Dominican, some of us still do not recognize that individual as a Turks and Caicos Islander. We often only acknowledge someone (of a different heritage) being from Turks and Caicos if they excel in sports.  A great example of this is Mr. Delano Williams who has one parent from TCI and one parent from Haiti.

I know that some of the individuals of Haitian heritage, Dominican heritage, Bahamian heritage etc do not call themselves Turks and Caicos Islanders and so you may ask why we should call them Turks and Caicos Islanders if they themselves do not refer to themselves as Turks and Caicos Islanders.

Despite what we call others and what they call themselves, there are no subcategories or second-class Turks and Caicos Islanders. There is only one category of Turks and Caicos Islanders.

Turks and Caicos Islanders should always be given first preference

When it comes to hiring of individuals, Turks and Caicos Islanders should always be given first preference and we should hire the most qualified person. However, we should not hire someone just because they are a Turks and Caicos Islander, we should hire them because they are qualified for the job, otherwise we will be setting up our own people for failure.  I do however recommend that if you must recruit an external individual, make sure a Turks and Caicos Islander is understudying that person so that the TCI Islander is equipped and ready to assume the role once that non- Turks and Caicos Islander term is up.

The recruitment of Michael Francois

Now let us discuss a little about the recruitment of Michael Francois. This man is a Turks and Caicos Islander whether we want to accept it or not. He served in the Police Force for twenty years moving up to Inspector. He applied for one of the positions of Deputy Director in the Border Control department. It is my understanding that other people applied too.  However, there is an interview panel who interviews the candidates and then makes their recommendations to the Public Service Commission that consists of 5 members. It is obvious that the interview panel was impressed with Mr. Francois and made the recommendation for him to be one of the Deputy Directors.

Trust the process and the people

Many people observe from an external perspective and think that specific individuals are suited for certain jobs.  However, we do not know the performance of those individuals and we do not work with these individuals, so we do not know their work ethics.

We must trust the process and the Heads of Department and the Public Service Commission for the selection they have made. They did the right thing by not discriminating against a Turks and Caicos Islander who is of Haitian Heritage.

We should not assume that this gentleman will only look out for people of Haitian heritage because his parents are from Haiti. Furthermore, he has a deputy director position and so he reports to a director who is the ultimate decision maker and whose decisions must align with the laws of the Turks and Caicos Islanders. Any illegal actions by his deputies reflect on him as the director.

Conclusion

According to the Turks and Caicos Islands Constitution (2011), a Turks and Caicos Islander is someone who belongs to the Islands under certain criteria — such as by birth, descent, or naturalization. These legal criteria are defined clearly and do not create multiple official “categories” of Islanders in a legal sense.

I challenge individuals who have the Turks and Caicos Islander status to refer to themselves as Turks and Caicos Islanders. I am quite aware that some individuals will not do so and do not care to call themselves such because they are only interested in the status for the benefits and they think their country is better than TCI anyway. On the other hand, I believe that some people want to call themselves Turks and Caicos Islanders, but we keep reminding them that they are not Turks and Caicos Islanders.

If you want to blame someone, blame the politicians for the laws they passed. Do not blame those who received the status. Do not blame the interview panel. Do not blame the Public Service Commission. Do not blame the Deputy Governor.