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Diaspora groups of the eastern caribbean - Opportunities, challenges and needs for collaboration

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Antigua-et-Barbuda
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IOM
Date de publication
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INTRODUCTION

The Eastern Caribbean region has some of the highest emigration rates in the world: for every Caribbean national living in their home country there is one person of the Caribbean diaspora living abroad. Members of the Caribbean diaspora are diverse, well-educated and known for maintaining strong ties with their home countries. This is reflected not only by the high levels of remittances they send home, but also through diasporas’ consistent engagement with their communities of origin and interest in supporting the development of their home countries. The combination of these factors makes the Caribbean diaspora an essential and often untapped resource for governments in Caribbean countries.

One way in which diaspora communities maintain connections with their home countries is by forming diaspora organizations and informal social groups. Diaspora organizations from the Eastern Caribbean region have historically provided avenues for diaspora communities to maintain social bonds with other members of their communities of origin and contribute to their home countries. Although these organizations have played an important function in connecting diaspora communities abroad to countries of origin, little research has focused on diaspora organizations from the Eastern Caribbean region and no research to date has mapped out these organizations or assessed the needs of existing diaspora groups.

The objective of this study is to identify the level of organization of diaspora groups from the Eastern Caribbean sub-region, their needs, challenges they face and their level of commitment to engage with governments from countries of origin. Using a qualitative approach, this study maps out diaspora organizations from eight Eastern Caribbean countries (Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, Commonwealth of Dominica,
Grenada, Montserrat, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines) located in Canada, the United States of America and the United Kingdom. Based on information gathered from surveys and interviews with diaspora organization leaders and government representatives, this report identifies challenges and opportunities for future engagement between diaspora organizations, governments of origin and the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS). In addition to this written report, this research has resulted in a database and digital map of diaspora organizations available on IOM’s iDiaspora platform (www.idiaspora.org).

In this report, Chapter 2 outlines the methodology used to identify and collect data on diaspora organizations in this study. Chapter 3 provides an overview of migration trends from the Eastern Caribbean region and available data on the eight countries of focus in this study. Chapter 4 outlines the characteristics and profiles of identified diaspora organizations from the Eastern Caribbean region, their missions, objectives and key activities that they engage in. Chapters 5 considers the extent to which diaspora organizations currently engage with governments of origin, both from the perspective of government representatives and that of organization leaders. Chapter 6 analyzes the challenges, needs and changes that diaspora organizations are undergoing, particularly considering the COVID-19 pandemic. Finally, the report concludes with policy recommendations and a concluding section on how to continue and improve engagement between diaspora groups and governments of origin and address some of the challenges that organizations are facing.