An MH-60S Sea Hawk helicopter from Helicopter Sea Combat Squadron 22 (HSC-22), attached to the amphibious assault ship USS Wasp (LHD 1), performs humanitarian aid operations on the embattled island of Dominica following the landfall of Hurricane Maria. U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Michael Molina/Released)170924-N-VK310-0009. Via the Official U.S. Navy Flickr Page, CC BY 2.0 In the wake of the devastation left by Hurricanes Irma and Maria, Trinidad and Tobago, along with its neighbours across the archipelago, have banded together under the #OneCaribbean hashtag, sending supplies and other relief to the islands most adversely affected and creating a sense of community. But solidarity isn't the only thing that the disaster has inspired. After Trinidad and Tobago's prime minister, Dr. Keith Rowley, offered accommodation to Dominican hurricane victims whose homes had been destroyed, saying immigration restrictions would be waived for a period of six months, xenophobic comments began to spring up on social media. With government critics questioning whether the country should be opened up in a period of economic recession, some of the backlash has been perceived as political partisanship. Many netizens were taken aback at the level of hatefulness and wasted no time in calling it out. Leslie-Ann Boiselle posted this status update on Facebook: A public status update by Facebook user Leslie-Ann Boiselle, who said, “Seeing such putrid hatred, insensitivity and downright callousness aimed at those who are in dire need is so disappointing.” And Patricia Worrell added: I have NO political bias in favour of any party right now. I watch all with cynicism, and listen to the utterances of each with a ton of salt. Nonetheless, the comments about PM Rowley's response to the Dominica situation on one political party's page are stomach turning! And no intervention by any person in a leadership position in that party to suggest that the hatred expressed on that page, and directed against a suffering people in the name of politics is wrong? Nah! I think people may have reached an all-time low there! The blog Politics868 likened the reaction to the United States’ reluctance to welcome European Jews on the eve of World War II. Compared with other countries’ responses to recent migrant crises, it argued, “a mere 2000 Dominicans is nothing to get bothered over”. Attorney Ria Mohammed-Davidson wrote in to blog Wired868, saying: The visceral responses which this decision has provoked betray an unfortunate lack of awareness of the full panoply of rights contained in the Revised Treaty of Chaguaramas, particularly the right to free movement under Article 45. This right was further concretised in the 2007 Heads of Government decision which granted to all CARICOM [Caribbean Community] nationals an automatic, six-month stay upon arrival in any Member State. Facebook user Rhoda Bharath added: Since the 1770s Trinidad and Tobago, whether as a colony or Independent nation has allowed immigrants through co ordinated programmes. We have had political refugees. Labour/economic refugees. People fleeing religious persecution, wars, poverty. Post Independendence we continue to have immigrants and refugees for one reason or another of all nationalities. Immigrants have always been an integral part of our development as a society. The PM has offered 6 months of safe refuge to our neighbours….and the xenophobia and prejudice I am seeing blows my mind. Keep rationalising hate and ignorance! #HurricaneMaria #TrumpTrinidad However, Facebook user Dave Williams remembered a time that one former leader of a PNM government — the current ruling party in Trinidad and Tobago — had been less than charitable to Haiti, another of its Caribbean neighbours. Keith Francis issued an apology on behalf of his countrymen: Dear Dominica, On behalf of all of the right-thinking Trinbagonians among us, I apologise for our having here persons who are less charitable and more ungracious in your time of trouble. They do not represent the majority of us. We are collectively better than what you have been made to observe. You are welcome here, and we will do what we can to help you even as we face challenging times ourselves. #kthxbye #SeeYouSoon #BeCaribbeanStrong Luv, The Me CC: Antigua, Venezuela, St. Lucia, Grenada, Haiti, and everyone else that small-minded and dirt-hearted Trinbagonians have offended in the past. Such a myopic stance also struck other Facebook users as ironic, especially considering that Trinidad and Tobago's national anthem includes the lines, “Side by side we stand, islands of the blue Caribbean Sea”.