VZCZCXRO8429
RR RUEHGR
DE RUEHWN #0293/01 1392045
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 192045Z MAY 09
FM AMEMBASSY BRIDGETOWN
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 7405
INFO RUCNCOM/EC CARICOM COLLECTIVE

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 
 
BRIDGETOWN 00000293  002 OF 002 
 
 
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