Haitians still require visas for most regional travel
Despite continuous discussion of the importance of free movement to the strengthening of Caricom integration, ordinary Haitian citizens still require visas to travel to most Caricom territories.
President David Granger, current chair of the Conference of Caricom Heads of Government, in his closing address at the 28th Intercessional Meeting last week, stated that all citizens of Caricom had the right to be treated as Caribbean citizens wherever they are.
He explained that during the course of their two discussions, the Conference reflected on the importance of the Caricom ‘brand’, and the pride that they have in regional citizenship, citizenry and membership.
“There is no such thing as a ‘stateless person’ in our community. There should be no such occurrence as a citizen of a Caribbean state being treated as inferior in any jurisdiction in the community,” Granger stressed.
However, while the Ministry of Foreign Affairs states that Haitian holders of Diplomatic /Official/ Special passports are able to travel to Guyana visa free for 90 days, those holding ordinary passports do not have this privilege. They also do not have that privilege in most of the other 13 members of Caricom. Antigua and Barbuda offers an electronic visa on arrival.
According to Carol Primo-Lewis, Head of the Immigration Support Services of the Department of Citizenship, while Haitians are issued a Caricom passport, only those travelling on the diplomatic version of that passport are able to travel to Guyana without a visa.
Asked to explain why this was so, she directed queries to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, but telephone calls went unanswered.
A Caricom passport, which features the Caricom logo and the words “Caribbean Community” printed on the cover, is a national passport which is issued in accordance with agreed common colours and format for intra-regional and extra-regional travel. The Coat of Arms and the name of the member state are also featured on the cover.
The issuance of the Caricom passport was agreed to by Heads of Government and the document is seen as a defining symbol of regionalism. The first Caricom passport was issued on January 7, 2005 by Suriname.
Though Haiti ratified the revised treaty of Chaguaramas in 2007, it is not a full member of the Caribbean Single Market and Economy since it does not enjoy free movement of people within the region.
In 2013, then Haitian president Michel Martelly, on a visit to Guyana, said that his country was implementing programmes to gradually become a full party to Caricom’s free travel.
Martelly had said that the process was staggered given Haiti’s large population and poverty.
“There will probably have a massive exodus …Haiti is having an economical problem so we have to find a better way for everyone, to allow everyone to have free movement…” while not creating an invasion of Haitians who are looking for jobs, he had said.