CGID Lashes Out At Dominica´s Visa Requirement for Haitians

The New York-based Caribbean Guyana Institute for Democracy (CGID) has criticized the imposition of a visa requirement and a $400 security bond on Haitians traveling to the Commonwealth of Dominica as “an act of discrimination against the Haitian people and a flagrant violation of Articles 7, 45 and 46 of the Revised Treaty of Chaguramas.

“These are issues which must be brought before the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ). It is foreseeable that CGID will play a role in such litigation,” so said the Institute´s President Rickford Burke.

The Treaty of Chaguramas, which established the Caribbean Community (CARICOM), was revised by CARICOM Heads in 1989 in Grand Anse, Grenada, to establish the Caribbean Single Market and Economy (CSME). The CSME, which transforms CARICOM territories into one economic unit, takes effect on January 1, 2006.

In July 2005, Dominica´s Prime Minister, Mr. Roosevelt Skerrit, announced that the steady influx of Haitians has come to a point where it is a serious national security concern, and that the new restrictions would reduce the large number of visitors from Haiti.

Mr. Skerrit said his administration adopted this bold step after carefully considering the plight of Haitians. His government has ordered Dominica´s Immigration department to repatriate Haitians who arrive without the necessary requirements to enter Dominica. Ironically, Prime Minister Skerrit has responsibility for overseeing free movement of people and other related matters in CARICOM.

The CGID head said he understood Dominica´s dilemma of confronting illegal immigration and the attendant national security risks this phenomena poses.