Freedom of movement within CARICOM

Saturday, November 22, 2003

CASTRIES, St Lucia: In a communiqué issued at the end of the just concluded Ninth Special Meeting of CARICOM Heads of Government in St. Lucia, Governments are said to be satisfied with the progress towards common lines at immigration points that do not differentiate between the host country and other CARICOM nationals.

The use of embarkation/disembarkation cards with a common set of information and the use of other documents other than passports for intra-regional travel were two other areas in which progress was recorded.

The meeting welcomed the information that Guyana had amended its legislation to provide for the acceptance of photo-IDs other than passports from all CARICOM member states and that seven OECS countries were extending a similar facility to each other as a first step.

Conscious of the security implications, Heads of Government agreed that the study which has been commissioned on the security aspects of hassle-free travel should be accelerated.

It was agreed that in the meantime, member states which are accepting forms of identification other than passports will continue to do so with the remaining member states taking steps to complete similar arrangements as soon as possible.

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