Premier faces backlash over CARICOM free movement comments
Premier Dr Natalio Wheatley has come under criticism following remarks that the territory would not accept free movement of Caribbean nationals if granted full membership in the Caribbean Community.
Speaking at the 50th regular CARICOM summit in St Kitts and Nevis, Premier Dr Natalio Wheatley said the British Virgin Islands “will not allow the free movement of Caribbean nationals if it is accepted as a full member of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) grouping”.
He told the Caribbean Media Corporation that the BVI is seeking to advance its application for full membership, noting that “there is a process that has to be undertaken. The process has begun”. He added that discussions with senior CARICOM Secretariat officials have been progressing and that “thus far things have been going very well…and we expect to see a good outcome very soon”.
However, Dr Wheatley made clear that freedom of movement under the CARICOM Single Market and Economy would not form part of the territory’s participation. “Freedom of movement will be one of the areas that we will not sign up to,” he said.
He explained that the BVI’s constitutional position as a British Overseas Territory limits its authority in certain areas. “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,” Dr Wheatley said.
The Premier also referenced resource constraints, stating that the territory must ensure it is not overwhelmed. While expressing ideological support for integration, he said the BVI has “finite and limited resources” and noted that over 70 per cent of the workforce is already from outside the territory.
The comments triggered criticism on social media, where several Facebook users questioned the consistency of seeking deeper regional integration while rejecting a core component of the CARICOM framework. Some commenters argued that free movement is central to the CARICOM Single Market and Economy, while others contended that the Premier’s position could weaken the territory’s case for full membership.
Dr Wheatley has maintained that full membership for the BVI “will look different than it looks for an independent sovereign country”, citing the territory’s constitutional arrangements with the United Kingdom. He has also indicated that a similar position would apply in relation to the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States.
The BVI is among several British Overseas Territories seeking to advance their status within CARICOM. Montserrat remains the only Associated State with full membership in the grouping.
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lol oh noes whatever shall we do?
Congratulations, you are today’s other one.
Go join your friend below, Emigrant and you can both touch grass together.
But we already knew this….
“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,” Dr Wheatley said.
Wow, it seems like Virgin Islanders will have to stop emigrating down island and looking jobs there *sarcasm*
Wilful ignorance is a sin. The reasons for his comment are clearly and explicitly stated, but here you are, offended for being offended sake.
Congratulations, you are today’s one.
You missed the sarcasm?
He has no jurisdiction to sign the territory up for anything same way he has no jurisdiction to allow freedom of movement. Not a sovereign state. Ironic to use the term “full membership” if unable to do the things that full members are required to do. Soon they will learn. Surely, the one thing they wanted was free movement. That’s why they been entertaining this…hmph…
shouldnt we have a referendum to see if we want to join?
There are many member countries of Caricom who do not allow free movement of people from other member countries in their land. None of them allow Haitians and Haiti is a member of Caricom. Stop the noise!
Amen.
The issue is not this, the exercising of common sense.
The issue is that everyone wants to come and take advantage of what the BVI has to offer and at the same time, tell them what they are doing wrong, how much of it they are doing wrong, how they should do it right for the benefit of everyone else, who is not a BVIslander and how much better other countries are than the BVI.
BVI has its faults, every country does, but if we are so beyond terrible, the question becomes:
WHY. ARE. YOU. HERE?!
Well not all CARICOM members are allowed free movement. They excluded Haiti so BVI can exclude them as well.
Only backlash??
The levels of ignorance on basic matters really is astounding. Firstly, only 4 members of Caricom have full freedom of movement. Other member states have more bespoke arrangements that allow freedom of movement of skilled labour etc. and some member states do not have freedom of movement at all. It is not true to suggest that to be a full member of Caricom there MUST be freedom of movement. In fact, Madam PM from T&T in her speech at the opening ceremony said T&T will not be signing up for freedom of movement because it is not in the interest of T&T at this time to do so. St. Kitts and Nevis the host of the recent Caricom gathering also does not have full freedom of movement. And perhaps check to see how easy it is to move to the Bahamas as a Caricom citizen before starting with the negative comments. Geez I wish people would educate themselves before they start complaining and speaking on issues they know nothig about!!!!
Stop with the misleading tactics. You are either an Associate or Free and both come with specific expectations.
Hey wiggie DO YOU OWN THE TERRITORY ? ? ? . WHAT ARE YOU TRYING TO PROVE ? ? ? WITH BUOUR XENOPHOBIA & NARCISSISTIC DRAMA, WRITING & BLOGGING THE SAME EVILNESS EVERYDAY , YOU NEED YO KEEP YOUR SH*T ON YOUR YELLO SITE OR KEEP IT FOR YOURSELF . AND TRY SOME ” P R A Y E R S “
If Wiggy posted that comment, then thanks to him!
Master WEATIE,Is saying )> ah feel like am in a rock and a hard place
Why it is that this young, green, have-not-a-clue Government seems to think that it is okay to make decisions that will heavily impact the lives of their people without the input of the people.
We already have freedom of movement on many levels as persons arrive in the Territory, touting vacation when speaking to the Immigration Officers that greet them and five years later they are still here and bragging about how many years they have been here.
But I digress, the advisors of the Hon. Premier should let him to know for us, please, that we live in a democratic society and unilateral decisions on such important matters is not a good fit for our country. I saw another flagrant example of this where the FS, an advisor of the Premier, said it is not important to speak to the people about the airport expansion project and that it is important to just get to it. Well, it is not always the ‘what’, but the ‘how and the how much’ that we would like to talk about. In fact, I wish that Hon. Rymer had spoken to us about the Economic Zone and the Market Projects as they were a blatant waste of taxpayers dollars. The Zone more than the other.
You cannot enjoy the trips and the benefits. Just stay out. Stay away. BVI has nothing to offer Caribbean people but U.S$$. Caribbean has long gone passed the BVI. With this mentality, Will continue to move backwards.
We got enough local criminals . Can’t allow free movement
Plus BVI small you think we can handle an influx of people? Look at we parking during slow season. Full to the brim.
Then hotels booked out during big events and festival
Too many expats in Government offices. Many were barking from our Government offices during some Caribbean elections. House cleaning needs to be done. Lets educate our young people to take these roles.Hon.Sharie
is on the right track.
Our young people needs jobs. Whoop! Whoop