Expatriates have formed an integral part of the Cayman Islands since the explosion of the financial sector in the 1970s and the continuing influx of residents and workers.

The demographic makeup of the community has shifted over the past two decades as the population has grown.

This year, government officials have implemented potentially significant changes to local immigration policy. On the horizon are major public-private projects that could bring even more new faces to Cayman.

Through it all, elected representatives walk a fine line between embracing foreigners for mutual benefit and ensuring that Caymans retain control over the future of the jurisdiction.
Population trends

For the vast majority of the past 500 years since Christopher Columbus first espied Little Cayman and Cayman Brac, population growth in the Cayman Islands has been minimal to moderate.

According to government statistics, the annual growth rate was less than 2 per cent between 1802 (when the population was 933 people) to 1970 (when just over 10,000 people called Cayman home).

In the 1970s however, the annual growth rate spiked to 5.8 per cent. By 1979, the population was nearly 17,000 people, an increase of two-thirds since the beginning of the decade. The population has grown more or less steadily since then – fluctuating due to events such as Hurricane Ivan in 2004 and the global recession starting in 2008 – and stood at about 54,000 people according to the 2010 census.

Generally, there are more people living in all areas of Grand Cayman and the Sister Islands now compared to 1979, though some areas have grown more rapidly than others. George Town has consistently been home to about half of all Cayman residents, while West Bay’s share of the population hovers around 20 to 25 per cent.

Thanks largely to booming suburban-esque residential development east of George Town, the population of the district of Bodden Town has grown the fastest of all the areas, going from less than 1,600 in 1979 to more than 10,000 in 2010 (about the total population of all three Islands in 1970). Bodden Town’s share of the population has increased from less than 10 per cent in 1979 to 19 per cent in 2010.

From 1979 to 2010, the population in North Side grew from about 750 to 1,400; the population in East End grew from 1,100 to nearly 1,400; and the population of the Sister Islands grew from 1,700 to 2,300.

In the past 20 years, Cayman’s population has doubled, with the number of non-Caymanians growing slightly more than the number of Caymanians. In 1990, about 66 per cent of the population was Caymanian. That dropped to a low of 53 per cent from 1999-2001 and stood at 59 per cent in 2009 (the most recent figures available).

The proportion of Caymanians to non-Caymanians would be even less if the government had not granted Caymanian status to a large number of individuals from 2002-2004. At the end of 2001, there were about 22,000 Caymanians. At the end of 2005, there were nearly 32,000 - an increase of more than 40 per cent.

According to 2009 statistics, the proportion of Caymanians to non-Caymanians is greatest among the youngest end of the population and oldest. The percentage of Caymanians younger than 14 is 77 per cent, while the percentage of Caymanians 65 years and older is 92 per cent. Non-Caymanians outnumber Caymanians in the 25-44 age bracket.

Work permits by country
As of October 2011, there were about 19,400 work permit holders in Cayman. That number had crested above 24,000 in the middle of the last decade. According to government statistics dating back to 1995, Jamaican citizens have comprised by far the greatest portion of permit holders, ordered by country of origin.

However, during from 1995 to 2011, the number of Jamaican work permit holders has actually dropped by more than 1,000, and the Jamaican share of Caymanian work permits has correspondingly decreased from 52 per cent in 1995 to 39 per cent in 2011.

Over the same time period, the number of workers from the Philippines has increased by almost 1,900, and the Filipino share of work permits has increased from 4 per cent in 1995 to 13 per cent in 2011.

In October 2011, about 7,500 work permit holders were Jamaican and 2,500 were Filipino. The next most popular countries of origin for work permit holders were the United Kingdom with 1,700 (or 9 per cent), United States with 1,300 (or 7 per cent), Canada with 1,100 (or 6 per cent), India with 750 (or 4 per cent) and Honduras with 740 (or 4 per cent).

Current policy moves
Premier McKeeva Bush grabbed headlines this year when he proposed a two-year suspension of the immigration rollover policy. To that effect, in late September legislators approved the creation of two new types of work permits, a Term Limit Exemption Permit and new 10-year work permit.

The Term Limit Exemption Permit can be granted for one year at a time for a maximum of two years beyond the regular seven-year work permit term.

The new permit does not count toward continuous legal residence requirements for permanent residence, lawmakers say. The 10-year work permit is designed primarily for people in high-level positions, who would then be able to apply for permanent residence.

A committee tasked with studying the rollover policy is slated to release its findings and recommendations in April 2012.

In November, Cabinet approved regulations easing visa requirements for Jamaicans younger than 15 and older than 70. In September, Governor Duncan Taylor refused to endorse an expanded version of the proposal that would have also given visa exemptions to Jamaican nationals of all ages with US, UK or Canadian visas.

In early November, the Philippines government announced a labour export ban to 41 countries, including Cayman. Other countries on the ban list were Afghanistan, Libya, Iraq and Zimbabwe.

The list included jurisdictions that, according to the Philippines government, did not have adequate labour and human rights protections in place for Filipino workers.

After an international outcry, the Philippines government almost immediately issued clarifying statements that delayed action regarding the noncompliant countries for three months. Toward the end of December, the Philippines government announced it had reached satisfactory agreements with 37 of the 41 countries.

Future of immigration
A trio of major projects planned for Cayman would potentially result in new waves of immigrants from other countries. In each case, the government is discussing concessions with the developer to ensure an adequate supply of foreign workers.

Dr. Devi Shetty’s proposed medical tourism hospital would presumably attract many Indian physicians and nurses. Construction of the George Town cruise berthing facility by China Harbour Engineering Company would result in the temporary arrival of a bevy of Chinese workers. Meanwhile, Cayman Enterprise City is expected to draw skilled workers from a variety of international corporations.

On the other hand, the ForCayman Investment Alliance between the government and Dart Group is being marketed as providing employment to construction workers already in Cayman. Dart representatives have also said that upon completion of the new resort and residential developments the company intends to continue its current practices of hiring as many Caymanians as possible.

There has been conversation – specifically around Dr. Shetty’s hospital and the China Harbour proposal – about how the Indian and Chinese workers would assimilate into Cayman society.

However, it is worth noting that India is already the sixth-most popular source of work permit holders in Cayman. People with Indian roots have been pivotal to the cultural development and makeup of the Caribbean region since the colonial era.

In addition to Indian expatriates, Shetty’s hospital is also expected to attract medical and nursing students from North America, South America and the Caribbean.

Regarding the China Harbour project, local contractors have said they worry that there will be no attempts for temporary Chinese workers to assimilate. Contractors aired concerns that Chinese companies typically bring in their workers for specific projects, and move them out when the work is done.

In the longer term, observers have said that construction projects are a form of ‘soft diplomacy’ employed by the Chinese government with the aim of opening up new markets for Chinese citizens to visit in the future.

So even if Chinese workers do not become a part of the Cayman community, the Islands could become more familiar with Chinese citizens if Cayman becomes a popular destination for Chinese tourists.
 

Source www.eso.ky