Regional movement mimics that of the 1970s says Mottley

The decision by four CARICOM countries to allow full movement of their nationals between themselves is the same principle that was adopted by Barbados in the 1970s when St. Lucians and Vincentians were asked to move to Barbados to help with work in the sugar industry.

“When Guyanese move here, we have always been able to integrate them into our society. Friends. If you choose to exercise your own right to full freedom of movement in Dominica, in St Vincent and the Grenadines, or in Belize, you will enjoy the same right to live, to work without a permit and to study on an indefinite basis,” Prime Minister of Barbados, Mia Mottley said in a national broadcast last week.

“This is not a one-way arrangement. This is a regional road, and it runs both ways. We are proud to be one of the four pioneering countries in this journey, and know that future generations will be inspired by our tenacity and our commitment to progress. This was my friends, the vision of the founders of CARICOM…,” Prime Minister Motley pointed out.

Her comments came in response to the October, 1, 2025 initiative that allows the free movement of nationals between St Vincent and the Grenadines (SVG), Barbados, Dominica and Belize.

As a result, nationals of these countries now have the right to enter, leave and re-enter, move freely, reside, work and remain indefinitely in the mentioned countries without the need for work or residency permits.

The Prime Minister said that Barbados’s Cabinet approved the policy framework, and the Bill was laid in the Parliament of Barbados on Tuesday, October 7, making the move legal.

“…there is no prejudice to anyone wishing to come, given the fact that they are already entitled to six months under the current arrangements and will not be prejudiced in any way pending the legislation passes through parliament over the next few weeks,” Mottley said.

“The fastest developing country grows when people bring talent and energy and enterprise and those that fall equally are those that turn inwards and refuse to recognize the need for skills to come in to help build out their country.

“We don’t only need investment and money for our country’s growth and development, we need people and skills. People who come to live and work here will fill that gap that exists, not force Bajans out of a job,” she pointed out.

“They will help our businesses to serve more customers, create competition that benefits the consumer. They will rent homes or buy homes. They will buy from our shops. They will support local businesses. They will hire our tradesmen. They will go to our places of entertainment. This additional economic activity will benefit Bajans across the board, as we have seen in the past, this step also supports our public finances,” the Barbados leader noted, as she outlined the benefits which will accrue from the decision of the leaders of the four countries involved.

“Those who work will pay income tax. I spoke about them registering with the Barbados Revenue Authority. Those who are employed will contribute to the National Insurance Scheme and the resilience and regeneration fund. And at the risk of sounding like a stuck record, I’ll say it again. Barbados, my friends, is ageing.

“The number of people in their working years is declining. The number of seniors is rising. The number of persons being born has declined. It is expected that one in every two Bajans will be over the age of 65 years old in less than 25 years. I ask you to think about what you were doing in the year 2000 when the century changed, for you to understand how close a horizon this is for us, because this is our reality,” Mottley said.

She noted that while we want our people to live longer, it also places pressure on pensions and health costs and the workforce, and therefore countries must maintain a strong base of contributors to the social security scheme.

She said as well that while free movement among these four countries is not the only answer, it does go hand in hand with the other work that countries are already doing to support the population strategy.

“Only days ago, we launched the inter- sectoral implementation group for the Barbados population policy. We know that our population has declined and has aged, and that group therefore exists to drive the delivery of the policy that we have adopted. Free movement complements that work by attracting additional working age contributors from people who speak the same language, have a common history, and for the most part, are already familiar with our culture, and it also gives Barbadians greater options across the region.”