It appears that Shanique Samantha Myrie, the Jamaican resident who last week claimed that she was sexually assaulted by a Barbados Immigration Officer, has been caught in a lie.
Government is however planning a high-level meeting with the Jamaican High Commissioner to Trinidad to try to prevent any major fallout between the two countries as a result of the media hype surrounding the incident. (nationnews)
Minister of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade Senator Maxine McClean made it "absolutely clear that a thorough investigation had been carried out by the Immigration and Customs departments into a report that had been carried in the Jamaican Press suggesting that Shanique Samantha Myrie had been finger-raped by Immigration officers after she arrived on Barbadian soil on March 14".
As far as Immigration was concerned, she noted that of the more than 54 000 Jamaicans who flew into Barbados between January 2008 and the end of 2010, just over 900 had been refused entry.
McClean pointed out that in Myrie's case, eyebrows were raised after she first spoke of spending her planned two-week stay with a female friend and then changed that story to say it was a male friend with whom she intended to stay.
Senator Maxine McClean also noted that Ms. Myrie was questioned by both immigration, and the police, and the only cavity on her person searched was her baggage.
There were also reported to be two other person on the flight who were also interviewed, and saw exactly what transpired.