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BASSETERRE, St. Kitts, CMC – St. Kitts and Nevis will become the third Caribbean Community (CARICOM) country to enter into an agreement with the United States to facilitate third-country refugees, so as to mitigate scenarios where Washington cannot return these individuals to their state of birth or origin.
Prime Minister Dr Terence Drew said that the twin-island Federation has agreed to join Antigua and Barbuda and Dominica in accepting deportees from the United States under a new Memorandum of Understanding (MOU). Guyana said this week that it is still negotiating its MOU with Washington.
“I want us to understand that St. Kitts and Nevis, of course, was approached by the United States of America, as were other CARICOM countries, and we took a very proactive approach, sitting with the Americans to reach an arrangement,” Prime Minister Drew told the “Roundtable” programme with journalists on Thursday.
“I think that arrangement is in keeping with our principles and, of course, having the collaboration with the United States of America as well. I know we are intelligent people, I know we have been looking very closely, and I know our people understand that the geopolitical environment at this time is not what we have been accustomed to.
“We know there have been shifts, so being proactive is very important, and I want to thank our people, of course, who have been involved in this. So St. Kitts and Nevis has negotiated and entered into a Memorandum of Understanding with the United States of America for the potential transfer of certain third-country nationals, and I want us to listen carefully to who are citizens or nationals of the Caribbean Community. This does not involve anybody outside of CARICOM,” said Drew, who is also the chairman of the 15-member regional integration grouping.
“And I will further say that because of security matters it does not include Haiti at this particular time. It does not involve anybody from any other place outside of the CARICOM region.”
Prime Minister Drew said that under the arrangement, the United States may propose transfers of CARICOM nationals.
“This is what St. Kitts and Nevis has negotiated, without violent or sexual criminal backgrounds, and St. Kitts and Nevis may accept them. We are not obliged according to the MOU. The MOU contemplates jointly developing operational procedures, including capacity-based limits and logistical arrangements.
“So, in St. Kitts and Nevis’s negotiations for our proactive diplomacy, this only contemplates CARICOM citizens at this time, for security reasons, excluding Haiti. These CARICOM nationals are without violent or sexual criminal backgrounds.”
He said that while specific details are still being finalised, the financial cost of the arrangements will be borne by the United States, as both governments continue discussions on logistics and implementation.
“We are a CARICOM country. CARICOM citizens can come to St. Kitts and Nevis, and all CARICOM countries, I think, have agreed to receive the appeal. So it means, therefore, that this arrangement, which I would call collaboration, really is a scenario that is in keeping with our CARICOM principles. It is not one cap that fits all. It depends on what each country negotiated. But we negotiated proactively.”
Regarding the possible impact on the Federation, Prime Minister Drew told the journalists that safeguards would be in place.
“So it does not necessarily infringe on anything. That’s one. Secondly, as I said before, the cost will be borne by the country that would ask us. And we have the option to determine if this is the right fit for us or not based on the scenario. And the benefit is that those are some of the things we will negotiate as well, what that would be like. This is the MOU.
“So we have a Memorandum of Understanding, and then we’ll put those logistical pieces in place to determine the specifics. Because, as you can see here, we are making sure that it does not, while we negotiate and while we have good bilateral relations, which you would know helps in a lot of different areas. We know the reality of the geopolitics,” Prime Minister Drew added.
