Premier Reuben T. Meade says Montserrat is “likely to participate” in a St Kitts and Nevis immigration system that uses electronic gates and real-time tracking. He described it as a key tool for border security as the region continues examining proposals linked to freer movement of people.
Meade spoke with local media following the 50th Meeting of CARICOM Heads of Government and related OECS discussions, saying the free movement agenda remains under review.
“We [are] in the process of examining that,” he said, responding to questions about recent regional discussions involving several CARICOM member states.
He said Montserrat has been studying the St. Kitts model closely.
“Immigration has been. I have been. Customs have been looking at the St. Kitts model in terms of the immigration system,” Meade said.
He described a system designed to capture traveller information digitally and improve tracking.
“It has a tracking mechanism to be able to track anyone coming through that system,” he said.
Meade said the approach would remove the need for passport stamping and would rely on biometric checks and online pre-clearance.
“You don’t even need to get your passport stamped because the system takes care of all of that,” he said. “So you walk through a gate, which is a electronic gate. Your photograph is matched against your passport photo that you put up online to make sure that the person who passport was submitted, it’s the same person entering and you just walk through.”
He said the system would address gaps in information, including the handling of cruise ship passengers.
“Cruise ship passengers just come off vessels and walk through. We don’t know who they are. We don’t know where they’ve come from,” Meade said.
He said government would seek to apply a clearance process to cruise arrivals to better monitor who enters and leaves the island.
“So we will introduce that to the cruise lines as well. Before you come off, you have to do a clearance,” he said. “So that we know who you are, and we know who has come and who has left.”
Meade linked the proposal to wider concerns around regional security.
“ISIS is in the region now,” he said.
He said the system would also allow rapid access to data useful for planning and decision-making.
“You get real time information,” Meade said. “They can give your age profile, which country you’re born in, where you’re coming from, name it. It’s there.”
He added that real-time data would be particularly important as Montserrat addresses air and sea access and travel planning.
The premier also discussed continuing constraints on regional movement linked to transit and visa issues, particularly affecting Haitian travellers and others who must overnight in transit countries.
“We recognise that, not only, but the persons from the Dominican Republic and so forth,” he said. “If they are transit and have to overnight, then there’s a problem. If they’re doing a same day connection, there’s no problem.”
Meade said the government has a philosophical objection to restricting travel by CARICOM nationals.
“I have a philosophical problem with any member state of CARICOM being restricted from traveling in CARICOM,” he said.
He said Montserrat has decided Haitian nationals “can in fact” enter, subject to normal immigration assessments.
“We have made a decision that nationals can in fact [come] to Montserrat,” Meade said. “They will, of course, be given the usual stay that a CARICOM national gets.”
He said immigration could ask persons to leave if they are unemployed or are determined to be a burden.
“They can be asked to leave at the end of that day if they’re unemployed or the immigration department has determined, sorry, you’re becoming drain on government consciousness,” he said.
Meade also argued that labour needs and population decline require a practical approach to movement.
“Our population is declining,” he said. “Your contractors, for example, are screaming that they can’t find workers.”
On travel costs, Meade said CARICOM leaders have been discussing how to reduce regional travel taxes, potentially shifting the burden away from CARICOM travellers.
“We’ve had that discussion as it relates to how can we make travel cheaper because the taxes… [are] killing in terms of prices,” he said.
He said one option under discussion is reducing or removing taxes for CARICOM nationals while placing more of the burden on non-regional visitors.
“Could we transfer some of that tax to the non regional visitor… and allow CARICOM nationals to travel tax free throughout the region,” Meade said. “That is something which is on the table.”
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