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Contact:
Claudia Monlouis
Tuesday, September 5, 2006 – Guyanese are expected to be the biggest
grouping to benefit from the Amnesty for CARICOM nationals who have been living
illegally in Saint Lucia.
The Prime Minister 's Press Secretary Earl Bousquet says the decision was made
in part to sensitivity for the strong links that exists between Guyanese and St.
Lucians.
“Nonetheless this is an amnesty for all CARICOM nationals irrespective of which
country they come from. Of course we know St. Lucians left for Guyana in the
early 1950's to mine gold and several have children here, some of whom have
taken up residents in Saint Lucia. But there are many people from different
parts of the CARICOM region.”
The Press Secretary says it is an opportunity that should be seized because
after the expiration date, the full force of the law will be felt.
“By January the first of next year - 2007, Amnesty will be granted and it will
allow such persons to regularize their status once they have been living in
Saint Lucia for three years or more. The fees that they would not have been able
to pay for, for those years will be waived. The Prime Minister has also
indicated that the government will allow those persons to regularize their
status. For example if they want to become permanent residents they will have to
pay the fees to come permanent residents and if they want to become citizens
they will have to pay the fees to become citizens.”
The Amnesty will not be applicable to persons with criminal records and strict
measures will be adopted to keep such persons out of the programme. A special
unit will be established in the Ministry of Home Affairs to administer the
program. More details on the program will be disseminated to the public at a
later date.
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