GRENADA-OECS immigration ministers to meet in Grenada

ST. GEORGE’S, Grenada, CMC—Prime Minister Dickon Mitchell will deliver the feature address at the third Council of Immigration Ministers from the Organization of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) on Wednesday.

The two-day meeting, which will also be addressed by ECS Director General Dr. Didacus Jules, will discuss key issues, including enhancing border security personnel’s capacity, addressing environmental disaster impacts, implementing the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Arrest Warrant Treaty and Model Bill, and enacting Advance Passenger Information (API) and Passenger Name Record (PNR) legislation for timely passenger data.

The API and PNR are passenger data airlines and governments use to manage and identify travelers.

In addition, the meeting will also discuss the implementation of the free movement regime and the OECS Policy on Rights Contingent on the Right to Freedom of Movement, which grants citizens the right to stay, work, and access to services indefinitely without discrimination.

The regime is a core component of the Eastern Caribbean Economic Union (ECEU), which was established on June 18, 2010, under the Revised Treaty of Basseterre (RTB).

In May 2011, OECS leaders decided to grant several benefits associated with moving persons to their citizens and qualifying family members within the ECEU.

These include indefinite stay, whereby OECS citizens can live in any protocol member state indefinitely and receive an indefinite stay stamp upon arrival, and hassle-free travel, which allows citizens to travel within the ECEU with a valid government-issued picture ID such as a driver’s license, national identification card, or voter card.

In addition, OECS citizens can also drive within any protocol member state using a valid driver’s license issued by their home country. OECS citizens and their third-country spouses can work in these states without a work permit.

The OECS groups the islands of Antigua and Barbuda, Dominica, Grenada, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Lucia, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, and Montserrat.