BVI not seeking free movement within CARICOM

BASSETERRE, ST Kitts, CMC -The British Virgin Islands (BVI) will not allow the free movement of Caribbean nationals if it is accepted as a full member of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) grouping, Premier Dr Natalio Wheatley has said.

He told the Caribbean Media Corporation (CMC) on Thursday that he is hoping to further advance his British Overseas Territory’s application for full membership at the ongoing Caribbean Community (CARICOM) 50th regular summit that ends on Friday.

The BVI, along with the Turks and Caicos Islands, Anguilla, and Bermuda, are seeking to advance their associate membership in the 15-member CARICOM grouping, with Bermuda already getting the green light from the United Kingdom.

However, Bermuda has said that it will not accept the issue of freedom of movement under the CARICOM Single Market and Economy (CSME), citing its small size and inability to support open borders.

Montserrat, as a founding member of CARICOM, is the only Associated State with full membership within the grouping.

The CARICOM leaders have travelled to Nevis for their retreat on Thursday, and prior to their departure, Wheatley said the BVI has “great support” from among the regional leaders with regard to its move to advance its status within CARICOM.

“Bermuda has put forward its application. The BVI has also put forward our application, and of course, the Turks and Caicos Islands will follow closely behind and we are hopeful that we will become full members very soon.

“But there is a process that has to be undertaken. The process has begun,” he said, noting that discussions have been taking place with senior CARICOM Secretariat officials, “and thus far things have been going very well…and we expect to see a good outcome very soon”.

Wheatley said on the issue of free movement, the “people of the associate territories, the associate members of CARICOM, must understand that the situation is going to be different for those territories that are under differing administrative powers. In our case, it is the United Kingdom, and so full membership for us will look different than it looks for an independent sovereign country and even the independent sovereign countries. Not all of them have signed up to the freedom of movement, and freedom of movement will be one of the areas that we will not sign up to.

“Most of the other areas we will be able to participate in it fully, but because we are not an independent sovereign country, freedom of movement, security and certain aspects of foreign policy are not within our gift to be able to make decisions on within the community.”

Wheatley said that the BVI was also seeking full membership within the sub-regional Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) “but it will be a similar position within the OECS.

“We don’t anticipate having freedom of movement and I don’t think all the members of the OECS will have freedom of movement. I think the freedom of movement is something we will have to look at carefully because while we may favour it from an ideological standpoint, we have to ensure that some of the smaller countries, territories where persons may want to come to, and to be able to work and not overwhelm, because we have finite and limited resources”.

He said the BVI, for instance, has over 70 per cent of the work force is from outside, so we already have freedom of movement to some extent.

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