Government to debate new immigration law this year

NASSAU, Bahamas (CMC):

The Bahamas government says it will introduce new legislation recommending new measures to deal with immigration.

Attorney General Cal Bethel said the Nationality, Immigration and Asylum Bill, which addresses the long-standing problem of statelessness and the rights of Bahamians to pass on their citizenship, will be debated in the Parliament this year.

The legislation, which would replace the Bahamas Nationality Act and the Immigration Act, had been put out for consultation on February 21, 2018.

“It has to be thoroughly reviewed to make sure, you know, that we don’t state the obvious in the new bill but rather … to enact laws which cover and make provision in areas where the constitution is silent or has not made provision,” Bethel said.

“A number of the comments received during that process have been factored in. Again, I and my legal team will be looking at it from a quality and consistency point of view. And also, there’s some residual questions that were raised at the last minute by particular jurists, who reviewed them, that we will have to look at and consider as to whether the bill is restating what is in the constitution or not restating it.”

‘Right of abode’

The proposed legislation will establish a “right of abode”, or a right to live, in The Bahamas for anyone born in the country to foreign parents before reaching the age of 18 years.

It would also establish a right to live in The Bahamas for anyone born legitimately outside the country to a Bahamian mother, while that person is still a minor.

According to the proposed legislation, these minors would be able to apply for a resident belonger’s permit which could be approved by the immigration director, “provided that such an applicant is in the custody and care of a parent or guardian who has the right of abode in The Bahamas”.

Human rights group here say the legislation is aimed at making it much more difficult for persons, mainly Haitians, who enter the country illegally, from acquiring citizenship.