Caribbean

Historic Leap for CARICOM as Four States Remove Barriers to Travel and Work

At the beginning of October, four Caribbean Community (CARICOM) member states implemented one of the long-elusive goals of the regional integration project: full freedom of movement between countries. Nationals of Barbados, Belize, Dominica and St. Vincent and the Grenadines are now allowed to travel among the four countries without limitations on length of stay or restrictions on their ability to work – no visas, no work permits, no skills certificates required. They will also be able to access emergency and primary health care, alongside public primary and secondary education for the children, in the country in which they are staying. The move is in keeping with the Enhanced Cooperation Protocol of the Revised Treaty of Chaguaramas. The protocol allows for groups of at least three CARICOM nations to implement regional integration policies that go further than the current status quo. The decision by the four countries to open up to free movement among their nationals was ratified by...