The Jamaica Coalition for a Healthy Society (JCHS) is calling for the immediate suspension and public review of the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) signed between the Government and the United States Department of Homeland Security to facilitate the transfer of third-country nationals to Jamaica.

In a statement issued yesterday, the coalition said it “registers its strongest possible objection” to the agreement, which provides for Jamaica to accept third-country nationals, persons who are neither Jamaican citizens nor United States nationals, on Jamaican soil.

It argued that the agreement “was negotiated in secret, announced without public or parliamentary consultation,” and exposes Jamaica to “potential legal, humanitarian, and security risks” about which, it said, the Government has demonstrated “an alarming lack of transparency.”