Near the end of last Thursday’s House of Assembly sitting, Education and Culture Minister Myron Walwyn called on his fellow lawmakers to come together and support the locally born children of non-belonger residents in the territory.

Mr. Walwyn (R-at large) quoted from a United Nations Children’s Fund report on the Virgin Islands that was tabled at a previous House of Assembly sitting.

The 2011 report, titled the Current State of Legislation in the Eastern Caribbean and British Overseas Territories from a Children’s Rights Perspective, discussed whether the VI’s laws are in keeping with the standards set by UNICEF’s Convention on the Rights of a Child.

“One of the most significant gaps in the protection of human rights affects migrant children and those born in BVI of non-BVI parents,” the report reads. “The rules of citizenship and belonger status are complex and difficult to understand, and there is some level of discretion in the decision of granting or not the status of belongership.”

Mr. Walwyn read from that section of the report, which was also repeated verbatim in a 2016 UNICEF report on the Virgin Islands.

“As clearly stated on the BVI Immigration Department website, if a child is born in the BVI and the parents are not citizens or belongers, they are required to apply in writing to the Immigration Department for permission for the child to reside,” the report explains. “The immigration laws do not automatically grant any rights to such persons born in the territory.”

While reading from the report, Mr. Walwyn seemed most upset by the following passage:

“However, children born in BVI of non-BVI parents are mainly considered as temporary migrants, face restrictions in the enjoyment of their rights, and can be stateless if they cannot obtain the citizenship of the country of origin of their parents.”

That passage is a serious critique of the territory, according to the minister.

“This is a terrible indictment on the fabric of the society in the Virgin Islands,” Mr. Walwyn said. “And we have to do something about it. I hear the talk all the time about the [2007] Constitution and that we’re going to review the Constitution. Deal with this first.”

Shortly afterwards, Deputy Premier Dr. Kedrick Pickering rose in agreement with Mr. Walwyn’s statements.

“It is an issue that I have stood in this House and spoken on many, many times very passionately,” Dr. Pickering (R-D7) said.

See the April 27, 2017 edition for full coverage.

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