Message To The Migrants

EARLIER THIS YEAR, undocumented CARICOM migrants residing in Barbados were sent into a state of panic when authorities started to routinely order the removal from Barbados of "illegals" who, in an effort to regularise their status, had voluntarily gone into the Immigration Department and filed applications for immigrant status.

Of course, these applicants for immigrant status were simply following a modus operandi that had developed under the previous Barbados Labour Party regime, of permitting undocumented CARICOM migrants who had resided in Barbados for five or more years to come forward and have their status regularised.

It came as a great shock therefore when, contrary to the past practice, instead of granting the applicants official permission to remain in Barbados while their applications were being processed, the authorities started to order them to leave the island.

The panic intensified in May when Prime Minister David Thompson announced that his Government would be offering an amnesty to undocumented CARICOM migrants - but only if such migrants had been residing in Barbados from before January 1, 1998.

This led to a feeling of doom and gloom in the CARICOM migrant community, for there was a perception that undocumented migrants who had come to Barbados after January 1, 1998, would be ordered to leave the island once they came to the attention of immigration authorities.

Thus, there was great apprehension and a reluctance to follow the Prime Minister's directive that all undocumented migrants should report to the Immigration Department between June 1 and December 1, 2009.

It was at this stage that leading members of the People's Empowerment Party (PEP) joined with other citizens and residents of Barbados to establish the Coalition For A Humane Amnesty.

The coalition immediately went into action and sought to catalyse a reconsideration of the policy, with a view to making modifications that would render the policy less threatening and disruptive to qulaified CARICOM migrants.

The coalition reached out to all of the relevant policymakers of Barbados, inclusive of Prime Minister Thompson, Minister Arnie Walters, the chief immigration officer, Permanent Secretary Greaves, all of the members of the House of Assembly and Senate, and the major civil society organisations of Barbados.

Out of this process, the following very important and helpful modifications emerged:

(1) Migrants who have resided in Barbados for at least five years prior to June 1, have been given a guarantee that they will not be required to leave Barbados when they lodge their applications for status at the Immigration Department.

(2) Such applicants will be permitted to remain in Barbados pending the processing of their application - and in the event their application is rejected and they exercise their right of appeal to the Immigration Review Committee, pending the determination of their appeal.

(3) Applicants who do not meet the criteria for the "amnesty" have no guarantee of being given status in Barbados, but at least they do have a guarantee that their application will be seriously considered on its individual merit.

Published: November 13, 2009