No change in Antigua and Barbuda’s position on free movement

The Forty-Sixth Regular Meeting of the Conference of Heads of Government of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) recently received a report on the Reconstituted Intergovernmental Task Force (IGTF) and the crucial work it has been conducting.

The primary objective of this task force is to facilitate negotiations for revisions to the Revised Treaty of Chaguaramas (RTC).

The IGTF has been working tirelessly on an immediate directive the Heads of Government gave at their Forty-Fifth meeting.

This directive proposes amendments to the RTC that will provide a legal basis for the free movement of all CARICOM Nationals.

During this negotiation process, Antigua and Barbuda expressed their desire to maintain their current skills regime.

This regime enables the country to focus on addressing labor force demand in the local market.

Antigua and Barbuda has one of the most liberal immigration policies across the region and is regarded as a forerunner in the integration movement.

In the past, the country implemented an open-door immigration policy under the leadership of Sir V. C. Bird, which continued under successive labor party administrations until the global economic crisis brought on severe challenges that made it impossible to continue.

As a result, the CSME skills regime was adopted to allow the jurisdiction to strengthen necessary human resource capacities.

Dr. Clarence Henry, Antigua and Barbuda’s Ambassador to the Caribbean Community, stated that the country’s policy is pragmatic and realistic.

It is designed to avoid the dislocation of the indigenous population, protect jobs, and avoid exacerbation of economic/fiscal challenges.

While Antigua and Barbuda remain committed to the regional integration movement, they continues to balance their limited resources through a managed migration process. The current CSME skills regime facilitates this process.

Therefore, Antigua and Barbuda did not consent to the entire free movement of all CARICOM nationals, as is being contemplated by other Member States of CARICOM, until March 31st, 2024.

However, Antigua and Barbuda will signal its readiness to move towards the entire free movement of all CARICOM Nationals once it is better equipped to adequately accommodate the possible additional inflow of CARICOM Nationals who may intend to reside and work there.

It is worth mentioning that work on finalizing the legal amendments to the RTC to facilitate full free movement of CARICOM nationals will be conducted in the coming weeks.

This will be done by convening an IGTF meeting on March 7, 2024, a meeting of the Legal Affairs Committee on March 8, followed by a Heads of Government Meeting on March 15, 2024.

It is hoped that the CARICOM Secretariat will undertake a comprehensive public education programme on this matter once all arrangements have been concluded. This will prevent needless confusion on the movement of Community Nationals