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Guyanese will continue to migrate from a crime-ridden country

Jun 29, 2015 Letters

Dear Editor,
Recently, I went to the funeral for Jason Cort, a young professional who was robbed and brutally gunned down in his own home. He left behind a fiancée who is also a professional, and a two year old son to mourn his passing. The murder of this quiet and innocent man, and many others like him, is indicative that this country is a daunting place in which to live. A country is dangerous to live in when a person is not safe even in his or her own home.
I know some people will disagree with me for describing our country as a violent place. But who would disagree with me that almost every day, innocent people are being robbed and murdered, and I’m not talking about people who are involved in illegal activities. Who would disagree with me that most people don’t feel safe outside or inside their home? Some people don’t want to hear our country is unsafe. They want to keep it a secret; this suits their selfish purposes, their financial interests; their ostrich mentality. It does not help, it hurts.
There is also a perception in the country that when someone is gunned down, like this young man was, it may be because he did something wrong. In other words, in our society, a person is guilty until proven innocent. Whereas, in other societies, people are innocent until proven guilty. I want to make it clear this young man was in no way tainted. He wasn’t killed because he did anything wrong.
And now that he is dead, his fiancée will be faced with an important choice for her future: to remain in Guyana and possibly face a similar death or to migrate to a safer country with less violence, and a chance at a quality existence.
I’ll tell you what most people in her situation have chosen to do: they’ve chosen to migrate because they don’t have the confidence that law enforcement can protect them. And if she chose to leave Guyana, then our country will have lost two young professionals, one by murder and the other by migration. And for a country that is already struggling to keep our young professionals from leaving this is not good.
Editor, this is why I’m putting it to you that a high crime rate definitely influences migration. People will continue to leave the country as long as they don’t feel safe.
I would like to be more optimistic about the future of my country, but I’m having a hard time feeling optimistic when I see that crime is getting worse and not better. If this young woman comes to me for advice on whether to remain or leave the country, what reasons can I give to her to remain in Guyana? I can’t tell her things will get better. I can tell her that there are safer places to live than here.
Editor, some people will read this letter and feel nothing: no compassion, no empathy, no sorrow for this family, because life has little value here. Some people have become unmoved by tragedies: they’ve become numb, callous and could care less about this horrific tragedy, because they’re not personally affected by it. The truth is, in this country we’ve become so selfish and self-centred, that we don’t care about anybody but ourselves.
Editor, even though this young man’s death was a tragedy, it didn’t come as a  surprise, because we are living in a violent village and people are robbed and murdered daily in a violent nation. Today it is Jason. The question is who will be next?  The point is: this does not have to happen. Not like this; not so many times; not with so little reaction from wider society.
Anthony Pantlitz

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