Reprinted from the Daily Nation, Barbados —

Prime Minister David Thompson has spoken out strongly against those Caribbean governments that have commented publicly on his administration’s new immigration policy, saying their reaction was hurting the regional integration process more than the policy itself.

“There seems to be a mad rush now for everybody to say something new. I have announced a domestic immigration policy that is not a matter for other Caribbean prime ministers to comment on,” Thompson said, referring to a six-month amnesty offered to Caribbean Community (Caricom) nationals living in Barbados illegally to regularise their status or face deportation.

Guyana’s President Bharrat Jagdeo has expressed concern about the treatment meted out to his nationals in Barbados, many of whom claim they have been roughed up by immigration authorities and deported.

St Vincent and the Grenadines Prime Minister Ralph Gonsalves is another regional leader to raise concern about Bridgetown’s policy, saying it flies in the face of the spirit of Caricom.

But Thompson said it was a matter that Barbados has a right to pursue.

“It is a sovereign matter which our Parliament and our policy directives base the objectives on,” he said. “Therefore, to have a scenario where everybody is seeking to say something seems to me to be doing more to damage the objectives of Caricom than anything else.”

Despite the Barbados leader’s latest pronouncement, the issue is sure to stir up debate when Thompson sits at the table with his regional counterparts at the Caricom Heads of Government Summit in Guyana from July 2-4.

Last weekend, Opposition leader Mia Mottley called on the government to “correct the unfortunate reputation that Barbados is rapidly developing” as a result of its new immigration policy.

“A government is entitled to implement strong policies. These policies, however, must be applied consistently, fairly and humanely,” she said.

Mottley also expressed fear that “for a country where people’s standard of living depends on people visiting our shores, any reputation of Barbados being inhospitable to visitors will affect our economy”.

“A hostile environment for immigrants must not be an unwelcome environment for Caribbean visitors,” she said.

“The focus must be simply those who have arrived and who have never been documented. Further, when people are asked to leave that they are given the time to pack up their belongings and leave in a manner that does not reduce them to feeling like criminals,” the opposition leader added.

Antillean · Bridgetown, Barbados

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