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Town Hall Meetings To Discuss Green Paper On Immigration

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Reproduced from BGIS Website

Government is moving swiftly to ensure that the public is fully apprised of the contents of its Green Paper on Immigration.

To this end, the Ministry of Labour and Immigration will be holding a series of Town Hall Meetings across the country, beginning next week Thursday, January 14, to explain the policy as contained in the Green Paper, and to seek input from the public.

Four Town Hall Meetings will be held at the following locations:  Solidarity House, Barbados Workers’ Union, January 14; Christ Church Parish Church, Church Hall, January 28; Alexandra School, February 4; and, Princess Margaret Secondary School, February 11.

All meetings will begin at 7:30 p.m., and Prime Minister David Thompson is scheduled to address the first one at Solidarity House.

Senator Arni Walters, the Minister of State in the Ministry of Labour and Immigration, along with senior Immigration Department officials, will be present at each meeting.

It is expected that the public will be better informed about Government’s policy position on immigration matters, which will form the nucleus of the proposed White Paper and any revised legislation.

The Green Paper is currently available for perusal at the Immigration Department, Wharf Road, and the Government Printery on Bay Street, in addition to the main Public Library on Fairchild Street, the City, opposite Independence Square, and at all branch libraries across the island.

Persons may also view it on the Barbados Government Information Service’s web site, http://www.gisbarbados.gov.bb

Meanwhile, the Immigration Department is still inviting written input and comments from interested persons and public and private institutions as well as the wider public.

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331 responses to “Town Hall Meetings To Discuss Green Paper On Immigration”

  1. David Avatar
    David

    @Souljah

    Isn’t that what politicians do?

  2. Souljah Avatar
    Souljah

    Methinks Mr. Commisiong still sees himself as a politician and his views should therefore be accorded the same amount of disdain, if not more reserved for other has been lightweight politicians who have never won a seat in an election.

    He is just an extra in this script, a mere diversion at most. His easy access to the media does not make him any less important in the scheme of things.

  3. ''''''FIRE''''' Avatar
    ”””FIRE””’

    NO AMOUNT OF TALK CAN STOP WHAT IS HAPPENING. THATS HOW IT IS BRO

  4. ''''''FIRE''''' Avatar
    ”””FIRE””’

    PRIME MINISTER MAKING CHANGES
    IN PERMANENT SECRETARIES MINISTERS PARLIAMENTARY SECRETARIES WITHOUT UNDERSTANDING CERTAIN BASICS. YOU CANT GET BLOOD FROM STONE—–YOU MIGHT GET BLODD FROM STONES THOUGH-HA HA

  5. Jay Avatar
    Jay

    Looks like Caripass is about to be launched soon according to this Dominica article.I am actually not opposed to it if the card does include Biometrics & but not sure what the security background check would entail.

    http://dominicanewsonline.com/?p=6054

    “ROSEAU, Dominica, CMC – Caribbean Community (CARICOM) citizens are likely to begin using a new travel card from July 1 this year after regional leaders signed the document allowing for its implementation during the intersessional summit that ended in Dominica late on Friday.

    The CARICOM Travel Card (CARIPASS) Treaty will allow for passengers being electronically processed through immigration checkpoints in keeping with a growing trend in the international arena.

    CARIPASS would entitle current holders of passports issued by the 15-member CARICOM grouping and legal residents, who are 16 years and over, to become part of a trusted traveler regime once they have been deemed eligible.

    Under the system, CARIPASS holders would be expeditiously processed through specially designed self-service gates at airports and eventually seaports and could proceed directly to Baggage Arrival and Customs Halls.

    The cards are alternative travel documents for regional travel and are valid for periods of one or three years at a cost to be determined according to international norms.

    The travel card (CARIPASS) will be issued at national passport and immigration headquarters and is being designed to assist the frequent regional traveler in avoiding long immigration lines at the airport.

    Executive Director of the CARICOM Implementation Agency for Crime and Security (IMPACS), Lynne Anne Williams, told reporters that the CARIPASS Treaty come into effect Friday with the signature of the leaders of six member states.

    She said once the module legislation as proposed by the CARICOM Secretariat is accepted by their national parliaments “it is envisaged that the card would become operational by the beginning of July”.

    She said that a marketing and promotional campaign will be launched within the next few weeks so as to give Caribbean nationals more information on the new initiative.

    CARIPASS was one of the agenda items at the recently concluded Ninth meeting of the Council of Ministers of National Security (CONSLE) held in Antigua.

    Besides CARIPASS, CONSLE referred to the regional government a number of issues relating to the upcoming International Cricket Council (ICC) World 20/20 competition to be held in the Caribbean in May.”

  6. X-man Avatar
    X-man

    http://uk.news.yahoo.com/22/20100316/tuk-uk-britain-tuberculosis-fa6b408.html

  7. David Avatar
    David

    The next and final meeting to be held at BWU Solidarity House next Thursday (25th) at 7.30PM. The Prime Minister is reported to be attending. Let us hope it is note postponed,,,again!

  8. Jay Avatar
    Jay

    It looks like the other islands within CSME are getting into the mix.So far we have Barbados,Trinidad,St. Kitts & Nevis & Antigua so far ramping up deportations & all are countries that are the better performing within CSME…….who could’ve seen that,lol.

    ————————————————————————————————
    http://www.thestkittsnevisobserver.com/2010/03/19/deportation-exercise.html

    “The brewing issue of the deportation of non-nationals from Nevis was addressed by Premier Hon. Joseph Parry on Tuesday when he said the Immigration Department was simply “doing its job”.

    There have been widespread reports of Guyanese nationals and members of the Spanish community residing in Nevis being targeted for deportation following the January 25th general elections. Some of the alleged targeted individuals had legally lived on the island for many years, had children born on Nevis and owned businesses and property there. According to informed sources, work permits and business licenses were being denied following which persons have been deported to their countries of origin.

    Reports of raids conducted by police and persons from the island’s Department of Labour tell of non-nationals being stopped at any place and time and asked to provide proof of residency and work permits.

    Opposition Leader, Concerned Citizens Movement representative Hon. Mark Brantley has expressed “deep concern” about the issue and accused the incumbent Nevis Reformation Party of using deportation as a means of victimizing non-nationals who they perceived may have voted against them during the recent general election.

    “This is unusual; this is unprecedented, where they are using the refusal and denial of work permits, extensions of stay in the country, business licenses and immigration status as means to pressure Guyanese, Spanish and anyone else they deem to be unsupportive of the NRP. I am being told by NRP activists that non-nationals voted CCM and so they have to go; all of them have to leave the island. I want to know on what basis do they know who anybody voted for,” Brantley said.

    Parry denied the claims insisting that deportation of non-nationals was a routine occurrence targeting individuals who were residing on Nevis illegally.

    “I would hope that some non-nationals who are working here… I would hope that some of them voted for us and some of them voted for the other side. I mean I don’t expect that all would vote for us. Little Nevis can only take so many persons. It reaches a point where things become impossible. Let me state first of all that whatever took place on Friday last week is something that is an ongoing process going on for years. There are people here who are here illegally; there are people who don’t have work permits; we are in the middle of a recession, it has not been easy for anybody here and the police and Immigration are doing their work,” he said.

    “It’s not a matter of little Nevis or big Nevis; it is something that is happening throughout the Caribbean right now that as times become more and more difficult, as people come here illegally, the police and Immigration will remove them from time to time.”

    Brantley contends that work permits and stays in the country were being denied without any reason given and people were being terminated from government jobs then told they had to leave due to the change in their work status.

    “Premier Parry said in Cotton Ground that the Guyanese must “fall in line”, that he is not begging any of them to vote for him because he is from Nevis. The reality is that we have given Commonwealth nationals the right to vote after one year of living in the country and you cannot give a man the right to vote and then seek to victimize him because of how you perceive he has voted. It is wrong! This government is wrong for victimizing poor people and it has to stop.”

    Parry maintains that those non-nationals being deported were people who were “here illegally or people who do not have work permits” and such persons were causing strain on scarce national resources.

    “I must state here and now that the government has stated quite publicly and openly that we are not issuing any new work permits and that is enough information for us to accept here that if people come for a holiday when their time is up they have to return to their country otherwise we will have to encourage them to go back because we cannot afford the pressure that the country is under at this particular time.

    “Some of our schools are under pressure; we are running out of classrooms, we have been forced to build bigger classrooms and that costs money in difficult times. Our social services are under threat and stress and only this morning I learned that certain persons are going to the hospital to get medicine who should not have had access to the medicine, but the system as it is may be a little lax and so people are draining the supplies of the hospital. That means an extra cost to the government or that somebody will not be benefitting from things like those. So it is best to ensure that we in Nevis are not overloaded to the point where we have a breakdown.”

    The Premier also said that illegal immigrants were contributing to crime on the island since their status did not allow for them to legally obtain jobs.

    “It’s only recently that I’ve heard about credit card scams that are taking place on the island, break ins – all these things happen when you have a situation like this because people have to live.”

    Parry also said that deportation of illegal immigrants was not indigenous to Nevis, but an international occurrence.

    “I would hope that people would understand that what is happening in Nevis at this time is not unusual, it’s happening in Anguilla, Antigua, Barbados, quite a number of islands and it’s a matter that you can only take so many persons on the island. It’s not Nevis alone; it’s not the Caribbean alone. There is no country that allows people to stay infinitum or illegally in their country. Some of the persons who come into the country the Immigration know who they are, where they are, the Immigration has some of their documents and Immigration does its work,” he said.

    Brantley however, said he is fearful of the message being sent throughout the region and beyond as it related to the way non-nationals were being treated in Nevis, as some countries may adopt a ‘retaliatory’ attitude toward Nevisians in their respective countries.

    “We in this island must be careful. Let us desist from victimizing our Caribbean brothers and sisters. I wonder sometimes if they were to return the favor what would happen. If St. Martin tomorrow decided that all Nevisians had to go- Anguilla, USVI, Puerto Rico, Barbados- if they were to decide tomorrow if that’s the way you’re treating other people, all of you are gonna be sent home, I know there will be wailing and gnashing of teeth. We should not do unto others what we do not wish them to do onto us. Let us treat people fairly and do honor to the name of Nevis, not dishonor.”

    Prime Minister Dr. Douglas also recently weighed in on the issue of deportation of non-nationals saying the process was the responsibility of the Ministry of National Security which handles immigration matters. He said it was policy to try to assist non-nationals with children born in the country to legalize their status as opposed to deportation however persons committing criminal offences “we would want to get them out of here”. “

  9. mash up & buy back Avatar
    mash up & buy back

    This is very interesting Jay,why aren’t we hearing ricky singh,president jagdeo or shridath ramphal on this Nevis & st kitts deprtation of illegal guyanese.

    Same problem they are facing there we are experiencing here.

  10. X-man Avatar
    X-man

    @ DAVID,
    http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/london/8580096.stm

    This high profile case was concluded today. It comes as no surprise. It highlights the dangers of uncontrolled immigration. This is what happens when you allow desperate individuals into your country, with absolutely no moral compass.

    Individuals like these have British passports and may one day decide to make Barbados their home.

    You know my views on immigration in Barbados. Barbados has been warned.

  11. mash up & buy back Avatar
    mash up & buy back

    Last Imigration Town Hall meeting to be held this Thursday 25th March,7:00 pm. at the Solidarity House in St Michael.

  12. mash up & buy back Avatar
    mash up & buy back

    Can anyone report on the immigration town hall meeting last night where the P.M. attended?

    What questions were asked,what were the responses,crowd size etc

  13. young bajan Avatar
    young bajan

    my dad email adress;my dad has this friend who marries this black gt-girl .since my dad friend meet this indian sweetie he turn hindu.we as proud bajan born under christianity.no christian/black person can convert to hinduism.A hindu can convert to a christian,muslim but will be outcaste by hindu community.by the way I am not racial.

  14. Albert Avatar
    Albert

    I went. It was excellent.

    After about 1 hour of silent, patient listening the Prime Minister took the stage and responded to Commissiong, a man called Maughn and a few others who were talking on and on about Barbadians being un-Caribbean.

    The PM’s reply was a tour-de-force. It was clinical.

    When I saw how the PM operates, I can also see why many of BU’s bloggers can’t read him. I watched him absorb all the snide remarks and criticism for an hour (and I said to the lady next to me that I came here to hear the PM clarify some points but he won’t talk). Then he took the mike and “opened up” as a Barbadian on our detractors.

    Thompson bowled a ball at Commissiong that destroyed all further argument.

  15. Albert Avatar
    Albert

    The best speech for the night was from a rasta guy the PM call “muttley” who was right on target.

  16. Avatar
    Anonymous

    Albert

    What were some of the remarks made by the prime minister and the rasta guy?

  17. Young Bajan Avatar
    Young Bajan

    The young bajan posting above, please refrain from using that name as it is utilised by me and i do not wish to have your comments and opinion being sited as mine.

  18. Christopher Halsall Avatar
    Christopher Halsall

    @Young Bajan: “The young bajan posting above, please refrain from using that name as it is utilised by me and i do not wish to have your comments and opinion being sited as mine.

    By definition, an Anonymous Coward has no rights of claim.

    If you wish to claim your voice, use your real name.

  19. michael Avatar
    michael

    is possible that we can have full transcript of the pm message

  20. Avatar
    Anonymous

    Chris Halsall

    You are not administrator of this blog.

    I was confused by that early post under young bajan’s name since from time to time he makes some useful comments.

    Agree with you Michael,I will like to see the prime minister’s entire comments and some of the questions asked by a few persons who attended.

  21. David Avatar
    David

    There is coverage of the meeting in the online newspaper barbadostoday.bb.

    White Paper promised by late June!

    Barbados cannot allow unmanaged migration to continue, says PM
    on Saturday, March 27, 2010 E

    By Andre Skeete

    BRIDGETOWN, Barbados (JIS) — Barbados cannot continue to “bury its head in the sand” and ignore the fact that there is a serious problem with undocumented immigrants.

    Barbados Prime
    Minister David Thompson This from Prime Minister, David Thompson, who stressed that Barbados was being presented with many challenges due to increased pressure on its limited resources.

    “We don’t have the financial resources to do it, we don’t have the physical space, we have housing challenges, [and] we have big health issues because of squatting.

    “It has created a situation where you have substandard housing in some areas, squatting in water zones in this country… elements of corruption in the public sector have been encouraged, with people seeking to get false identification cards, with persons renting ID cards that don’t carry photographs so that children can go and receive benefits in the polyclinic system…we are not going to allow that to happen,” he said.

    Thompson was speaking during the final Town Hall meeting to discuss the Green Paper on Immigration last evening at the Barbados Workers’ Union headquarters, Solidarity House, Harmony Hall, St. Michael.

    The Prime Minister explained that all Government was seeking to do was to implement a managed migration programme, which would reduce too many decisions being placed at the discretion of a minister, allow persons travelling to Barbados to know what was expected of them or what they are entitled to and the requisite body they would have to report to have any concerns addressed.

    He stressed that the idea was not “to chase everybody out” but to find ways to deal with it, taking into account Barbados’ financial commitments, its obligations to CARICOM and to international bodies.

    Responding to critics who point out that many Barbadians had migrated to the Caribbean and other countries some years ago, the Prime Minister stated the majority of these persons travelled under legal guest worker programmes or other official migrant schemes.

    “The vast majority of Barbadians migrated under schemes…the Windrush scheme, many other people went to work in the London transport or to train as nurses. They went under orderly immigration programmes. That is all we are saying is necessary,” Thompson contended.

    The three hour meeting was attended by newly appointed Parliamentary Secretary with responsibility for Immigration and the Social Partnership, Senator Harry Husbands; Permanent Secretary with responsibility for Immigration, Gilbert Greaves; and Chief Immigration Officer, Erine Griffith.

  22. Young Bajan Avatar
    Young Bajan

    Now imagine Chirstopher Halsall is calling me a coward for utilizing my freedom of CHOICE NOT to use my name.
    He wants to belittle me for making a choice he disagrees with, Chris, I hope you understand that you are purporting a double standard on you part. Advocating people using their rights and be entitled to them but still then chastising them for same said action. I was simply ASKING the person not to use the name to get away from any confusion, but you would want to carry that to another level. Don’t make something that is real easy so ignorantly HARD!!!

    But then again i would have to assume you are the ONLY Christopher Halsall in the world or participating on this blog.

  23. JC Avatar
    JC

    Muttley kept it real, he started off by stating that a lot persons were there because of the Prime Minister. He went on to see that he saw a lady up to Wednesday, whom he knows has been deported four times previously and when he ask how she got back in the country she boasted that these things could only happen in Guyana.

    Furthermore, he went on to say that persons need to ignore the immigration’s officers claim that they are clean since he knows some persons who do take money! He then went on to remind persons about the phamtom gang and laughingly said not to lick him off of his carrier bike because he told the truth!

  24. mash up & buy back Avatar
    mash up & buy back

    JC

    Is muttley the rasta guy?

    What did the prime minister or the chief immigration office or gilbert greaves have to say to him?

    What else can you report?

    Negroman

    I want to hear your report too if you have any information about the meeting.

  25. mash up & buy back Avatar
    mash up & buy back

    Can anyone say if david thompson addressed the issue of the change in the amnesty period from 1998 to 2003 as was stated by Commissiong?

    I saw in the newspaper that commissiong was saying that a number of the applicants he sent in for amnesty to the immigration department were rejected.

    It would be interesting to know if these applications were based on the 1998 deadline or the 2003.

  26. JC Avatar
    JC

    Yes Muttley is the rasta guy. It seems as if the PM had stated that person who didn’t qualify for amnesty MIGHT still qualify for amnesty if they had a strong enough case.

    An old man who resides in the district hospital opened the meeting with a heart wrenching story of how he was pushed out of his home after many beatings and abuset. It pisted off a person by the name of Trevor Clarke (who later represented black people tall.) Greaves tried to calm the situation down by stating that he knew about the senior citizen’s plight. However, the old man set the tone for the meeting ………………………

  27. Avatar
    Anonymous

    JC

    You mean greaves was back to his old trick of trying to shut up the people who were asking questions.

    I hope a lot of the people talked about the 2 year period for citizenship after marriage,that want changing big time.

    Trevor clarke ain’t easy,it would be cat piss and peppa with him and the rights of black bajans.

  28. Avatar
    Anonymous

    @ anonymous

    Yup he was, (up to old tricks) and I KNOW for a fact that the ole man had 4 more pages to read!!!!!!!!

    A lady also got up to state that her son died under mysterious circumstances and she would like the marraiges of convenience to cease!

  29. young bajan # 2 Avatar
    young bajan # 2

    not a coward my friend i have my family to protect,

  30. young bajan # 2 Avatar
    young bajan # 2

    the lady that got up to speak about her son death under mysterious circumstances,just know evil exsists and some will go to any lenghts for their own selfish gain.go to guyana and stop in port mourant,mon repos,any black bajan.

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