Foreign Affairs Minister, E.P Chet Greene, says he plans to meet with the Chief Immigration Officer and her team shortly to discuss implementing new guidelines on immigration announced by Prime Minister, Gaston Browne, over the weekend.
Greene said the meeting will discuss the methodology for implementing the edict as stated by the country’s leader.
Antigua and Barbuda has long been a haven for Caribbean nationals seeking a better way of life and its bustling economy and generally lax immigration policies have resulted in the largest concentration of non-native residents of any CARICOM territory.
Just last month, the Caribbean Court of Justice said the decision by the government to seek an exception in an expansion of the CARICOM Skills programme was permissible.
However, with the severe economic impact being felt by the country as a result of the coronavirus pandemic, PM Browne said the country wants to limit all immigration, albeit, temporarily.
“One of the things we have to do is to control the number of people coming into the country as new immigrants. I know we have a large immigrant population, but we can’t have a situation where you have high unemployment and people coming in to burden down the system,” he announced.
The PM is urging non-national residents here to advise their relatives back in their native lands that travelling to Antigua and Barbuda, at this time, is being discouraged, temporarily.
“There is no formal ban on travel to the country…but we are appealing for those residents with families members overseas to inform them that we do not want any burdening of the system especially in light of the crisis forced upon us by the pandemic,” he stated.
Browne promised that if and when the country’s economic situation improves and there’s need for additional workers, he will have no difficulty in allowing more people in.
