CARICOM passport superior to American
By George Alleyne
A recent Caribbean Court of Justice
ruling has re-enforced the fact that a
passport issued by any of the 15 member
states of CARICOM is considered
superior to that of the US as a travel
document within this region.
This unusual state of affairs in
which passports of tiny third World or
Developing countries carry a higher
ranking than that of the powerful
United States was made clear when
a Grenadian national, who is also an
American citizen, opted to use his US
passport to enter Trinidad and Tobago
instead the document from the land
of his birth, and was rejected.
Contending that he had been denied
his right to free movement as a CARICOM
citizen the Grenadian, David
Bain, took the matter to the CCJ.
But this court, which holds final
jurisdiction over matters of all CARICOM
agreements, ruled that the
“onus lies upon an intended entrant
into a CARICOM Member State to
establish that he or she is a national
of such a state with the right to freedom
of movement”.
In dismissing the claim on May 29,
the CCJ indicated that it also relied
on submissions from the Caribbean
Community (CARICOM) which stated
that the “appropriate travel document
to invoke the right of freedom
of movement is the CARICOM passport
or a passport issued by a CARICOM
Member State”.
The CCJ concluded that all the
documents Bain presented did not
conclusively establish his Grenadian
nationality.
Freedom of movement of CARICOM
citizens under the Revised Treaty
of Chaguaramas entitles nationals
entry and an automatic six months
stay in any territory with the option
of extending that time. This is unless
they have a criminal record or possess
no proof of an ability to financially
sustain themselves during the
stay.
That same CCJ made clear these
enforceable conditions in 2013 when
it ruled that Barbados immigration
officers had violated the rights of
Jamaican Shanique Myrie in 2011
by subjecting her to a cavity search,
locking her up, then deporting the
CARICOM visitor contrary to Treaty
rules.
At time the court had ordered Barbados
to pay Myrie a sum of money
for damages, plus pay her attorney
costs.
In December 2017 when Bain had
sought entry into Trinidad’s Piarco
International Airport as an American
proffering his US passport, he
explained that his Grenadian documentation
had expired some years
ago.
But Trinidad authorities said they
found similarity of Bain’s name to that of
a person with criminal convictions relating
to illegal drugs.
In spite of the Grenadian offering his
island’s driver’s licence and voter registration
card as supplementary identification
the Trinidadian immigration officers
denied him entry.
In the decision made by Justices Adrian
Saunders, CCJ President; and Jacob
Wit, David Hayton, Winston Anderson
and Andrew Burgess the Court reported
it determined that, while there was no
doubt that Bain is a Grenadian citizen,
he did not present sufficient documentation
to prove it to the immigration
officers.
According to the CCJ, the presentation
of the Grenadian driver’s licence and
voter’s identification card was not sufficient.
Unlike the Grenadian passport,
neither document was meant to serve
as evidence of citizenship. In addition,
they were neither machine readable nor
designed to be stamped by immigration
officials.
This ruling holds lessons for members
of the Caribbean diaspora who may be
visiting a CARICOM jurisdiction outside
the one of their birth because without
their home country’s regional passport,
rights of entry and stay are restricted.
Caribbean Court of Justice President,
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Caribbean L 34 ife, June 7–13, 2019
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justice Adrian Saunders.
Photo by George Alleyne