Minister of Home Affairs Gregory Nicholls says Barbados must balance economic opportunity with labour market protection, even as the Government has moved to ensure Barbadian workers are not threatened by foreign labour being brought into the island.
Speaking during a recent debate in the House of Assembly, Nicholls described the Immigration Bill, 2026, as the most significant reform of Barbados’ immigration system since 1979.
Nicholls made a case for Caribbean nationals coming into Barbados for employment, saying there could be “no equivocation as to the status of our brothers and sisters from the Caribbean community”. He said that “for too long Barbados has had interpretations of our laws” that have sent mixed signals about whether or not Caribbean people can have certain rights as it relates to entering the country.
Touting regional integration and CARICOM’s free movement of people, the St Thomas Member of Parliament said it was recognised that regional integration was “not merely about economic policy” but about people. He noted the Bill “respects and gives certainty to the rights already afforded to qualified CARICOM nationals, while ensuring that Barbados does maintain the ultimate authority and ability to regulate migration in accordance with our national interest, that will not be trumped by national security, public health or those concerns”.
He said his ministry had met with the Minister of Labour and ministry officials to ensure Barbadian workers and lawful permanent residents “do not come under threat”, while asserting that Barbados needed “to meet its commitments to the people who are investing in the large capital projects intended to drive economic expansion and create opportunities for Barbadians”.
Nicholls said the Bill introduces “modern administrative tools such as electronic processing, online immigration services and automated passport control systems. He promised Barbadians will see an improved Immigration Department with the ability to give faster service delivery, utilising even the Barbados Postal Service to avoid people having to make a trip to the Immigration Department and waiting in line there. (GC)
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