The effort to secure Barbados’ borders is intensifying, with the Immigration Department preparing to introduce “a modern system of facial recognition”, among other measures.
Chief Immigration Officer Margaret Inniss, while stressing that she could not go into details considering the national security implications, told the DAILY NATION in an exclusive interview over the weekend: “We are anticipating that some time early next year, we will have a complete system that really positions us for the modern world.”
She also made it clear that the technical difficulties her department encountered between December 2024 and March 2025, which negatively affected visitor arrivals data provided to the Barbados Statistical Service (BSS), had in no way impacted Barbados’ border security.
She was speaking at the BSS’ office in Baobab Tower, Warrens, St Michael, where she and BSS senior statistician Nadia Skeete shed light on the recently reported downward revision of visitor arrivals.
“We are in the process of modernising our system and this [technical difficulties situation] has in no way impacted securing our borders as such,” Inniss said.
“We are about midway through and it’s more looking at a modern system of not only data collection, but a modern system of facial recognition, how we better secure our borders, not only for us locals, but for those persons who we are inviting in on island. This type of modernisation helps us to be more competitive from a global perspective,” she explained.
The Chief Immigration Officer reminded that the Immigration Department plays two roles: “We facilitate services and then we are also one of the arms to protect our borders, a part of [national] security, so to speak.”
While not specifying the technical difficulties that have been resolved since April 2025, Inniss said: “At no time did the technical issues we had affect our border security. We have a very robust border security system, all of which I can’t detail for you, as you can appreciate.
“And so our borders continue to be protected and we’ve even used some other security agencies and methodologies to further secure our borders. So the incomplete data during that period did not in any way impact the securing of our borders.
“The Barbados Immigration Department, we acknowledge that we had some technical issues during the period identified and we declare our hands that every system can be strengthened. We’re in the process of developing our border security methodologies,” she reiterated.
Inniss said the department had already benefited from technological and other advancements over the years, mentioning the shift from a paperbased embarkationdisembarkation card to an online system which provided information before passengers arrived at the Grantley Adams International Airport.
“First of all, it’s in keeping with the global market. Second, we get real-time data from a security perspective,” she noted.
“We get basically the advanced passenger information system. Now we can see what is a threat or person of interest in real time, as compared to before when a person had to present themselves before you. So, for us, it is something that really is advantageous to the country as a whole.” (SC)
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