VI Labour & Immigration policy a mess! – Natalio Wheatley
Wheatley expressed on the Umoja show aired last evening, August 29, 2013 that over the last thirty to forty years there have been immigration and labour policies that have not adjusted to the times and suggested that certain laws have not been enforced properly, “In my opinion the whole labour and immigration policy is a mess, it’s a free for all.”
He noted the British Nationality Act that governs the related policy would be difficult to adjust but said, “There are some areas that we can focus on that are under our control and that’s our immigration policies and our labour policies.”
Host of the programme Cromwell Smith aka Edju En Ka questioned why persons living in the VI in excess of thirty (30) years, remain on work permits even while they have children born in the Territory who have Belonger Status.
Smith further questioned whether there has been any real plan or strategy over the course of the Territory’s development from the 1960’s to present day when the economy transitioned from an agrarian economy to a service economy.
According to Wheatley it was important that these issues were ironed out in order to be able to manage the tensions between the various communities of the VI. He highlighted ethnic tensions in Trinidad and Guyana as examples of these situations. “People should be aware of all the conflict that has taken place between Africans and Indians in Guyana and Trinidad,” he said while suggesting that large populations of people could not be introduced into a place without the expectation of resulting pressures.
He applauded a measure taken by Premier Dr The Hon. D. Orlando Smith on his Facebook page urging persons to take pictures that reflect the diversity of the VI community. “This is an effort to build a unified BVI but it’s 2013, I applaud the effort in 2013 of course but from the beginning you should have had a plan of how to introduce a group of foreigners into the BVI and have a smooth transition,” he stated.
Smith felt that it was time to make a decision about people who have built their lives here in the VI and have made significant contributions to the Territory, “Put those people on the fast track for residency,” he said, “don’t have those people on a work permit every year or every two years as the case may be.” He felt that this would serve notice to Caribbean nationals that they are a part of the VI community and their contributions are appreciated.
“I think you should regularise the situation by establishing [expatriates] here and giving them some security and then you put a proper process in place,” Wheatley said. He felt the incoming Immigration Head, Guy Hill, would be able to help put this process in place that would allow persons who become part of the community to be truly assimilated into a VI identity.
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