BARBADOS ANNOUNCES NEW IMMIGRATION POLICY

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 BRIDGETOWN 000293

SIPDIS
SENSITIVE

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PBTS PREL PGOV BB XL
SUBJECT: BARBADOS ANNOUNCES NEW IMMIGRATION POLICY

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SUMMARY
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1. (SBU) A recent announcement by Barbados PM David Thompson that
places greater restrictions on undocumented CARICOM aliens has
elicited negative reactions from the opposition, the local Guyanese
community, and regional commentators. While the policy is
consistent with other GOB actions to "fence in" economic
opportunities for Barbadian nationals, it flies in the face of their
purported support for greater regional integration and effectively
negates their traditional criticism of U.S. criminal alien deportee
policies. End Summary.

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THE NEW POLICY
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2. (U) On May 5, Barbados Prime Minister Thompson announced that
effective June 1, all undocumented CARICOM nationals who arrived in
Barbados prior to December 31, 2005 and have remained on the island
undocumented for eight years or more are required to report to the
Immigration Department to have their status regularized. Failure to
do so, he noted, would result in deportation from December 1.
(Note: It is unclear why they have selected the December 2005 date
given that no one could have lived eight years in Barbados unless
they arrived in 2001. End Note).


3. (U) Under the government's new policy, conditions for
regularization include (1) an application for immigrant status; (2)
the ability to substantiate the claim that the applicant has been
residing in Barbados for at least eight years prior to December 31,
2005 specifically before January 1, 1998; (3) the ability to provide
evidence of current employment; (4) Spouses and children residing in
Barbados with the applicant are also eligible to apply under the new
policy; (5) all applicants will undergo a security background check;
(6) applicants with three dependents or more will be considered but
will not automatically qualify for status.


4. (U) Under the new policy, CARICOM non-nationals who have been
in Barbados undocumented for less than eight years will be deported.
The government has yet to detail how this new deportation policy
will be implemented. In line with the government's existing policy
(which parallels that of the United States),those with criminal
records will be deported at the end of their incarceration or sooner
if it is found that they have remained undocumented in Barbados.


5. (U) The new immigration policy is based on recommendations made
by a Cabinet subcommittee on immigration set up in June, 2008 to
investigate the levels of illegal immigration. The subcommittee
contended that the current levels of illegal immigrants on the
island are "unacceptably high, increasingly difficult to control and
posed potentially negative socio-economic challenges for the
country."

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NEGATIVE REACTIONS
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6. (SBU) The Opposition reacted immediately, speaking out against
the new immigration policy. Leader of the Opposition Mia Mottley
charged that the new policy will lead to discrimination against
every regional traveler to the island and give the impression that
the Government of Barbados is only concerned with Caribbean illegal
immigrants in the country (as opposed to illegal immigration writ
large). This, she argued, could cause a backlash for Barbados in
the region as 53 percent of Barbadian exports go to regional
countries and 20 percent of tourist arrivals are from across the
region. Mottley also expressed concern for those non-nationals who
may have unsuccessfully tried to regularize their status due to the
inefficiencies of the Immigration Department. She stressed that
this issue should be dealt in a delicate and transparent manner so
that it does not breach the Barbados Constitution, the Treaty of
Chaguaramas (CARICOM Treaty),and the CARICOM Charter of Civil
Society.


7. (SBU) The Honorary Consul for Guyana in Barbados, meanwhile, has
appealed to undocumented Guyanese living in Barbados to deal with
only the Immigration Department or the consulate on matters relating
to their status in the country. He said he fears that unscrupulous
people such as lawyers and consultants will take advantage of the
situation and charge exorbitant prices for unnecessary "advice" and
"representation."

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COMMENT
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8. (SBU) This new policy is consistent with other actions by the
government intended to improve economic opportunities for
Barbadians. In recent months the government has tried to implement
"buy Barbadian" campaigns, and some international businesses have

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complained that work permits for expatriate staff have been delayed
inexplicably for months -- which they see as a pressure tactic to
encourage more local hiring for high-paying management jobs. The
policy is also consistent with an ingrained undercurrent of
anti-Guyanese sentiment in Barbados -- Barbadians complain that
illegal Guyanese workers take jobs away from Barbadians, depress
local wages, and sap public services. The new policy also flies in
the face of CARICOM's stated intention to integrate the region more
closely through the CSME (Caribbean Single Market and Economy)
process, which ultimately envisions free movement of people inside
the CARICOM space.

9. (SBU) Of greater interest from the U.S. perspective, is that the
Barbadian position would seem to undermine the country's oft-stated
position that the U.S. should not deport illegal aliens back to
their country of origin, but rather should integrate them into U.S.
society. Barbados, like all CARICOM countries, has strongly opposed
the U.S. policy of deporting criminal aliens to their country of
citizenship upon completion of their sentences. Caribbean leaders
have claimed, despite evidence to the contrary, that returning
deportees are a leading cause of rising crime rates in their
countries. A 2007 joint UN/World Bank study found no such link, and
in fact found recidivism rates among deportees to be lower than
among the general criminal population. Barbados' new immigration
policy takes exactly the same action against illegal CARICOM
national aliens that the U.S. takes against all criminal aliens --
cutting the legs out from under their complaints about our policies
and implicitly recognizing the need for countries to accept all
their citizens, even the criminals, back into their country of
citizenship.

HARDT