COMMENTARY: How the 2007 Constitution redefined ‘belonging’
By Mitsy J. Ellis-Simpson, Contributor
When the Virgin Islands adopted its 2007 Constitution, it was celebrated as a proud step toward self-governance and maturity. Yet within that historic document was a quiet change that continues to shape families, identity, and the future of this Territory in ways few imagined. For the first time, the Constitution created a divide between Belongers by birth and ancestral history, and Belongers by grant, preventing those who earned their status through residence, marriage, or Cabinet approval from automatically passing it to their children. This single change redefined what it means to belong in the Virgin Islands and quietly disrupted family lineage that had once been protected under law. What may have seemed like a technical adjustment to the 1976 Constitution at the time has grown into one of the most complex, questionable, and emotional issues facing the Virgin Islands today.
As the Constitution undergoes another review, the question before us is simple but profound: Should the rights of Belongers by grant and their children be treated as less than those who belong by birth or through ancestry? The answer will determine not only the fairness of our laws but raise important discussions about inclusion and exclusion, broken lineage, economic continuity, and the future of our national identity. I have made a profound statement in the past that the BVI can build wealth on its existing foundation. However, a foundation deliberately divided weakens the very structure on which sustainable growth and shared prosperity depend.
The 1976 Constitution
Under the 1976 Constitution, belonging was tied to connection. It recognized commitment and contribution through family, marriage, and years of service. Many of the people who helped build this Territory became Belongers through that connection. They were the nurses, teachers, builders, hospitality workers, and business professionals from different walks of life who laid the foundations of our communities and shared in the dream of progress. Clearly, this Territory has a diverse history that should be carefully protected. Section 2(2) of the 1976 Constitution sets out the definition of a Belonger, and subsection (g) of that section essentially provided that a Belonger includes a person who “is the child of any person to whom any of the foregoing paragraphs of this subsection apply.”
The 2007 Constitution preserved existing Belonger rights but redefined how those rights could be passed on. Importantly, Section 2(2) of the 2007 Constitution modified the automatic transmission of Belonger status from those who belong by grant. As a result, children born overseas to lawful Belongers are now treated as outsiders in the eyes of the law. They cannot automatically inherit what their parents earned through decades of loyalty and contribution.
Before the 2007 Constitution came into force, many residents became Belongers by operation of law. A woman who married a Virgin Islander, for example, automatically gained Belonger status, and her children often did as well. The law recognized family, continuity, and loyalty as enough. This simple and humane principle was later replaced by an application process that now leaves some families with uncertainty. People who once belonged automatically must now apply for what used to flow naturally through the connection of parent and child.
Today’s barriers of Belonging
Belonging today carries not only legal barriers but also financial ones. Immigration fees were recently increased significantly, making it harder for working families to complete the process. For many, the cost of securing belonging now feels out of reach—one has to question whether this Territory has turned belonging into something that must be bought rather than something that is earned. Belonging cannot be treated like a transaction if the Virgin Islands is to remain a fair, inclusive, and cohesive society. A community cannot thrive if people feel that their place within it is on shaky ground. The true cost of exclusion will not be measured in dollars but in division, lost potential, and weakened trust.
This is not just a social matter but an economic one. Families who cannot be sure that their children will share their rights often hesitate to invest. Changing the Constitution where it tilts imbalanced to one group will have a great effect on how Belongers by grant look to the future. They delay building, expanding, or improving their homes and businesses and instead invest elsewhere. Confidence declines, and so does the pace of local growth. A policy intended to protect heritage may, in practice, limit the same progress that heritage relies upon. I see this as a grave mistake and a missed opportunity already affecting many of us who call the Virgin Islands home.
Land ownership makes this issue even more meaningful. In these islands, land represents more than property. It represents legacy, permanence, and identity. The right to freely own land belongs primarily to Belongers. When a Belonger’s child is not automatically recognized as such, the family’s connection to that land becomes uncertain. A home built over years of hard work and sacrifice can no longer pass easily from parent to child. Breaking that chain of inheritance weakens the very sense of continuity that holds these islands together.
Inclusion
Inclusion, when managed with care, is not charity. It is sound economic policy. Welcoming those who have contributed to the development of the Territory strengthens our human capital, encourages investment, and ensures continuity. Exclusion, on the other hand, sends away talent and finances, discourages second-generation returnees, and makes us dependent on short-term labour instead of committed residents who see their future here. Exclusion may also discourage participation in the internal affairs of the Territory, such as participation in general elections.
So what do we tell Belongers by grant about their future and the future of their children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren in this Territory? That they need to apply to belong? That their participation and their dreams are limited by deliberate political division? That they can vote, but they can’t run for office? That it is possible their rights could be taken away or further limited in the future?
Protecting ancestry and heritage
Notwithstanding these challenges for one group, the concerns of indigenous Virgin Islanders through ancestry must be heard and respected as well. Anyone’s wish to protect ancestral land, heritage, and voice comes from a deep sense of identity and stewardship. Yet protection and inclusion are not opposing ideas. A balanced system can preserve the rights of those born here or those with ancestral history while recognizing the contributions of those who have built lives and families here over many years.
This is a moment that calls for balance and leadership when recommendations are made for amendment of the Constitution to the United Kingdom. It requires clear vision and the willingness to look beyond politics to what is right for the Territory’s long-term future. Inclusion does not dilute identity; it strengthens it. It ensures that those who have invested in this community can continue to see themselves as part of its progress. The Virgin Islands needs leadership that unites the native and the naturalized, the long-rooted and the newly committed, in a shared sense of purpose.
This issue is not only about laws and policies. It is about fairness, family, and the next generation. It is about children of lawful Belongers who, through no fault of their own, cannot automatically inherit the rights their parents worked hard to earn. These are families who have given decades of service and loyalty to the Virgin Islands, yet the law now draws a line between those who belong by birth or ancestral history and those who belong by grant.
As the Constitution undergoes another review, this question deserves honest reflection. Should belonging stop with one generation simply because a parent earned their place rather than inherited it? Can we truly speak of inclusion while preserving laws that divide families and weaken the bond of belonging that once defined this Territory?
If we fail to address this imbalance, we risk moving further away from inclusion and toward exclusion. Revisiting this provision would not undo our history; it would affirm our values and recognize the lineage of Belongers by grant, ensuring that their children are equally included in the future of the Virgin Islands they helped to build.
A strong BVI can’t be built on inequality
The Territory’s progress depends on people who live here, work here, and raise their children here. A strong Virgin Islands cannot be built on exclusion and inequality. It requires a stable and invested population that feels secure in its right to belong.
Inclusion is not just social fairness; it is the foundation of economic strength, community growth, and national pride.
The same spirit that carried us through rebuilding our lives after the 2017 hurricanes Irma and Maria must guide us now — not in words but in action. As we remember, people of every background stood together to rebuild this Territory. Belongers, residents, and expatriates worked side by side, not because of their legal status but because of their shared love for this place. In that moment, the idea of community transcended paperwork. It was lived through action, compassion, and courage. This spirit of togetherness — building back together — is what truly defines belonging. A nation is not diminished by recognizing those who belong and their lineage. It is strengthened when it has the courage to make belonging whole again.
No doubt, the Virgin Islands has always drawn its strength from unity, but more can be done to move us toward greater unity. A nation does not lose itself by fairly recognizing those who belong. It loses itself when it forgets how.
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Food for thought Mrs. Ellis: the VIPers party that you are close to and party of, have shown to the world that they reject
Belongers from haingthiwr voices heard and being able to speak about the injustices that your VIPers government have initiated war against the belongers.
Ask your buddy CSC about his views. You and your ilk are opportunistic hypocrites tha pander to the people so you all can continue to pillage the working class of thes BVI’s!
Segregation and discrimination are the new norms around here!
Who she paid te pen for her? Her husband? Leave the people with their rights. VIP Keep her out. Go look for your right alliance then. All you come here to lick the people them out of them place. When you get three sets of generations born here, descent here, or grand-fathered in here, then they will become Virgin Islanders. All you to nuff wid all you self. Go tell that to England and America nuh. If you are a resident of America,you can’t run for president. All you stop the divide. All you abuse the system that’s why the VI man who born to a woman from outside ,children them can’t be Virgin Islanders. That term is preserved for Prosper them generation. Look here, them ready to lick the people them out of them birthrights. Go, siddung,gal!
The point of Misty’s article ain’t to take away nobody rights. She just saying people who been here looong and earn Belonger should be able to pass that on to them children too. We could protect our heritage and still do the right thing by others. I read both constitutions and the new one move further to division. That’s all she saying. No need to be disrespectful or so fearful man. you going be ok.
You don’t understand yourself
Miss Simpson trying to help the BVI
BVI is a part of the world
It belongs to the world.
God almighty have us here.
Mrs. Simpson is talking about “Belongers by grant, preventing those who earned their status through residence, marriage, or Cabinet approval from AUTOMATICALLY passing it to their children.”
The question I have is..can those who obtained belonger’s by grant, pass it down to spouse or children through a different process if they cannot pass it down “automatically”?
It can passed to spouse after a certain amount of time but not to offsprings! Thats what they cooked up in the constitution. it shows you how slavery was easy and how criminals commit crimes because of greed and selfishness and control
They should take these points into account for the next review. Let’s see how we can all work together for the common good.
The CARICOM states have long worked toward unity across member states. This is important because it emphasizes a regional commitment to inclusion the least. What the BVI did to the constitution by restricting belonging of people who earned their rights is disingenuous. A new review of the constitution should be able to remove barriers that are unjust. Very interesting!
of ‘belonger’ in the BVI is simply legal entitlement to a diverse quantity of privileges inaccessible to the majority of persons living and working in the BVI. It’s divisive, backward in the 21st century and should be scrapped in any future BVI constitution.
The layers of status in the BVI from visitor to worker to landowner to resident to belonger is simply a class system that complicates all economic activity to the point that any progress is so slow it’s negligible.
A lot of them running for the UK passport to get the same privileges
A lot of them have USA passport and enjoy tge same rights and privileges
But a Belonger in the BVI must be treated in the BVI less thsn a thrid class cirzen
Is this just ??
Belongers by birth and marriage stay her and work umteen years and help to build the development of the country
While some sail away to greener pastures.
So i guess belongers contribtion means nothing
?
Ah hah ! That is why they failed to recognize their services. They keep
It on a down low
Myron should never be in the house he is an island man
Myron is a lawful citizen of the BVI. This is exactly what the article talking about. A 2007 constitution which was fixed to discriminate against others especially Caribbean people. It’s more like grant them the belonger but hold them by the neck. Then they get up and smile with you in church.
Well written.
Its clear from all sides of the political spectrum these days that inclusion is only important when it suits people themselves.
And its a long winded way of noting it is a racist and divisive law. And it suits the racist and divisive politicians.
BVI Tortola need a Chief Minister
Too may stupidness painting the Island.
Now look the stupidness about Belonger.
Crazy
Listen I am a Birth right citizen
But them island people why why why
We treating them so .
They help built this island.
Listen my government here you all please do better.
These are the folks that weere appointed to fix up a xenophobic constitution and the UK accepted it GF, JWR, Edison O’Neal, Persia Stoutt, Elihu Rhymer, AM, Carvin Malone, SD, DP they all went in there fixed the constitution for themselves and them families generation and throw others under the bus. They all know the injustice they did to belongers which not born bvi. Them and the government them time were motivated by selfishness, wickedness, control and greed at whatever cost. These guys created an an “us versus them” constitution that will take someone with big balls to change. How short-sighted and crazy is this. THese long-term division and mistrust could never get bvi to independence.
Why name some and not the others?
How can you just take away people’s rights. What will their rights be in 30 years. This is real talk mehson!
Mmmm this is a powerful and deep topic that is is akin to some colonial structure of slavery. Most Caribbean constitutions were drafted in a postcolonial environment where elites feared that too much inclusion might “dilute” native control. The idea that political power and identity must be protected from outsiders.
Ironically this mindset mirrors the logic that once excluded the majority of Caribbean people from power under colonial rule. If one was to unpack what’s happening you looking at a deep moral and social hierarchy that echoes some of the same structural patterns that slavery and later colonial hierarchies created. Systems where law determined who was fully human in the eyes of the government, and who was less than whole.
The concept of exclusion “who is allowed to belong, who can inherit rights, and who is perpetually “othered” are very historical continuations of colonial systems of hierarchy.
What the uk overseas constitution did was created a class distinction —-
1. Those whose belonging is permanent (by birth or descent), and
2. Those whose belonging ends with them (by grant).
That’s where the crux of the division is even if the fox screaming something else. The division is stated in the law regardless of how you put it. So in other words the real privilege is for those belongers with ancestral ties. While the ones by grant privilege stops right there.
Look at America.. because of past segregation and oppression and less funding, black communities are still playing catch up. My two cents is that the segregation and structure for belonging should be squashed. Black people should learn from the colonial past. Preserves hierarchy is a psychological and institutional legacy of slavery black people are conditioned to continue thinking the same old way.
Excellent article- plenty food for thought.
Awesome
Can a Virgin Islander go to St. Kitts because she is married to a Kittian man, can she though popular hold political office?
Go study the British Nationality Act before you come here demanding rights that’s not yours. Myron is the biggest divider in this country. Heard he said he going to make a frigg, but some of us plan to ask him if his parents ever suffered in the belly of them sailing vessels going to and from St. Thomas building this country when the white man left us? He ever drank long water to survive in the 40s and 50s, he ever slept on dried out pissy lodgings made of cloth and grass, he ever ate roasted potatoes for breakfast or slept in grass or board house with drop-shade. Long man, there must be something reserved for the generations of Ancestry Virgin Islanders, it is the right to rule their country and be first class citizens. Know your place in the people them place. Look like them ready you beat the people for them country.
I don’t know about St. Kitts, but I do know that it has happened in at least one other Caribbean island.
Bvislanders do not trust down island people and down island people don’t trust them either. There will be no common ground or independence point blank. We just will move like Gaza and Israel. No need to see eye to eye No compromising either. I want all of the rights nothing less.
It’s is time the island people leave ,stop the silliness.Most of those people can return to their countries and make a better life for themselves. So, don’t stay and decrease you life span with the constant harassment to pay bills, go home.