GEORGETOWN, Guyana – Antigua and Barbuda has secured five year derogation from any further expansion of the Free Movement of Persons and Contingent Rights regimes under Chapter three of the Revised CARICOM Treaty.
Prime Minister, Hon. Baldwin Spencer in his contribution on this Agenda Item, sought and received the support of his colleagues on Saturday in caucus at the Thirtieth Meeting of the Conference of Heads of Government in Georgetown, Guyana.
PM Hon. Balwin Spencer
During the discussions on free movement of Persons and Contingent Rights, Prime Minister Spencer continued from his opening remarks to the Heads by laying out the reasons why Antigua and Barbuda needed time to consider whether it could accept an expansion of the categories. He reiterated the need for the conduct of an empirical analysis prior to the country agreeing to the expansion of the eligible categories in the Single Market and Economy.
He explained the difficulties currently being experienced and the steps being taken to ameliorate the problems associated with honouring existing obligations under the Free Movement Regime.
Belize argued for and was eventually granted approval for the conduct of a similar study of its socio-economic conditions impacting its ability to accept further expansion of the categories under the Free Movement regime.
The full text of the Heads Decision with=2 0respect to this matter reads:
“The Heads Noted Antigua and Barbuda and Belize concerns with respect to their implementation of its obligations related to the expansion of eligible categories of persons under the free movement of skills regime and the grant of Contingent Rights without the conduct of a social economic impact assessment in those Member State
Agreed that the CARICOM Secretariat will expedite the socio-economic impact study of the migration situation in those Member States before they are required to sign on to the expansion of the current categories of those eligible for free movement in the single market
Also agreed in light of the above, that the Conference will grant to Antigua and Barbuda a five -year derogation on the free movement of the new category – domestics agreed upon during this Thirtieth Meeting of the Conference of Heads of Government in order for that Member State to make the necessary adjustments to its infrastructure and other imperatives to facilitate the fulfilment of its Treaty obligations with respect to free movement of skills
Recalled that Antigua and Barbuda has always implemented a very liberal immigration policy which extended far beyond the approved category and recognised the efforts of this Member State to streamline its current migration policies”.
