CCJ ruling opens flood gates to unemployed, criminals- Barbados PM

Last Updated on Saturday, 26 December 2015, 21:00 by GxMedia

(BARBADOS NATION).-Prime Minister Freundel Stuart last night voiced concern about the implications of the Caribbean Court of Justice’s (CCJ) recent ruling, saying an automatic six-month stay for CARICOM nationals visiting Barbados would attract the unemployed and criminals.

However, he told Barbadians to respect the ruling in the Shanique Myrie case, saying Barbados was not “any banana, plantain or fig republic” but “a country governed by the rule of law”.

He also urged Customs, Immigration and police officers at the border not to interpret the court’s reference to “hassle-free” travel in CARICOM so loosely “that people can walk through the airport without anybody asking them anything” for fear of being sued.

In an 88-minute address at a meeting of the St Philip North branch of the Democratic Labour Party (DLP) at Hilda Skeene Primary School, Stuart said people with good jobs were unlikely to be keen on spending six months in Barbados.