Beautiful Virgin Islands

Tuesday, Jun 03, 2025

VI Premier speaks up for Caribbean people violated by UK

VI Premier speaks up for Caribbean people violated by UK

Pointing out the hypocrisy of the United Kingdom (UK) regarding their treatment of particularly Caribbean people, Premier and Minister of Finance Honourable Andrew A. Fahie has painted a grim but all too true picture of the atrocities that the people of the Virgin Islands and the rest of the region have faced at the hands of the United Kingdom (UK), including via slavery and the more recent Windrush Scandal.

Premier Fahie was at the time summoned before the UK-sponsored Commission of Inquiry on Monday, October 11, 2021, when he was questioned on the issue of Belongership.

The Premier made the point that Belongership was intended to bring some balance to the British Nationality Act, which has caused many persons born in the Virgin Islands to be stateless.

He then further delved into areas where Caribbean people and people of African ancestry were wronged by the UK but there is no CoI into those atrocities.

“You have been commissioned by the Governor to do a CoI on terms of reference that are specific, so Sir Gary Hickinbottom, you have to do what you are commissioned to do, but who do we commission for reparation? Who do we commission for slavery? Who do we commission for Windrush?”

The Windrush Scandal in 2018 saw hundreds of Caribbean immigrants living and working in the UK wrongly targeted by immigration enforcement as a result of the government’s “hostile environment” policies.

Premier and Minister of Finance Honourable Andrew A. Fahie  was summoned before the UK-sponsored Commission of Inquiry on Monday, October 11, 2021, when he was questioned, among other things, on the issue of Belongership.


We have no rights!


Premier Fahie said the VI has no rights to commission anyone to get justice.

“These are century-old debates, and we cannot do it because the entity that sent you is larger than us, and there is no law that allows us to look into areas that concern us with them. So when this is finished, yes, you would have completed your terms of reference, and while I am concerned about the tenants of the terms of reference, but that’s nothing for you who’s going to look out for us?”

Sir Gary R. Hickinbottom, Commissioner of the CoI, said he had to focus on his terms of reference, which did not include what the Premier was asking.

“You will appreciate that my terms of reference are, in that respect, very narrow. In terms of Belongership, I am looking at the process, that’s what we are looking at and these wider issues which are sensitive, some of them are very difficult, but I understand that you feel very passionate about them. But they fall entirely outside my terms of reference; it isn’t to say that I am not sensitive to them, they may be relevant background to the report, but what I am doing in the report is looking at two things, firstly governance, the way the state decisions are made and implemented, Belongership falls into that category and also in relations to serious dishonesty in public office.”

Ex Governor of the Virgin Islands Mr Augustus J. U. Jaspert had said in September 2020 that the Virgin Islands should not look forward to reparations for slavery as the UK has no intentions of paying.


Double-standards


Premier Fahie also accused the UK of double standards, saying, “While some officials in the UK paint Belonger status in the Virgin Islands as a mortal sin, they cast a blind eye to the double standards that exists in the UK’s own statutes in the British Nationality Act, 1981.”

The Premier said because of this Act, which is also implemented in the VI, thousands of children have been made stateless because the current Act dictates that if a child is born in the UK, that individual can only apply for citizenship if one of their parents are already a UK citizen in the UK or in one of the Overseas Territories.

There are exceptions if a newborn child is found abandoned or if the parent is serving in the armed forces.

Honourable Fahie said in the territory, the Belonger status seeks to provide a balance “and I came here to defend what we are doing for our people and what we are doing for our Caribbean brothers and sisters who have been unfairly treated through Windrush, through slavery, and have not been through reparations.

“We know that this is not a court, it is an inquiry but based on when you go through our laws you will say what you see to you based on the evidence, what is lawful and what is unlawful and then you do a report but the very entity that you turn in the report to will have a decision to make to implement some of your recommendations from that report,” he said.

Premier Andrew A. Fahie has always advocated for the Caribbean people to unite and this was also evident when one of the first things he did as Premier in 2019 was to boldly ensure some 1500 persons, including Caribbean expats, were granted Belongership status under a fast-track programme, having lived and worked in the VI for 20 years and above.


Advocate for Caribbean unity


Premier Fahie has always advocated for the Caribbean people to unite and this was also evident when one of the first things he did as Premier in 2019 was to boldly ensure some 1500 persons, including Caribbean expats, were granted Belongership status, having lived and worked in the VI for 20 years and above.

On April 28, 2019, in Basseterre, St Kitts & Nevis where he was the Keynote Speaker at the People’s Action Movement’s (PAM) 54th Anniversary Convention, Hon Fahie said now more than ever the Caribbean region must think of ways to implement regional unity if it is to succeed as thriving economies in the future.

“For unity to succeed there must also be trust and mutual respect. Too many times in the Caribbean we spend more time tearing down, than uniting. We have to understand in this coalition, none is more important than the other. But you are not the least either, you must demand respect and you must give it,” Hon Fahie told those gathered.

“I come to you today as a friend, and as an observer, but also too as a member of the wider Caribbean fraternity… I come to you also as one of the strongest believers in regional unity, and so I also want to allude to the concept of unity on a regional basis,” he said.

According to Hon Fahie, for Caribbean leaders to truly deliver on the promises of a better way for its people, “there is no better way than to act as one united Caribbean.”

Newsletter

Related Articles

Beautiful Virgin Islands
0:00
0:00
Close
China Accuses US of Violating Trade Truce
Panama Port Owner Balances US-China Pressures
France Implements Nationwide Outdoor Smoking Ban to Protect Children
German Chancellor Merz Keeps Putin Guessing on Missile Strategy
Mandelson Criticizes UK's 'Fetish' for Abandoning EU Regulations
British Fishing Boat Owner Fined €30,000 by French Authorities
Dutch government falls as far-right leader Wilders quits coalition
Harvard Urges US to Unfreeze Funds for Public Health Research
Businessman Mauled by Lion at Luxury Namibian Lodge
Researchers Consider New Destinations Beyond the U.S.
53-Year-Old Doctor Claims Biological Age of 23
Trump Struggles to Secure Trade Deals With China and Europe
Russia to Return 6,000 Corpses Under Ukraine Prisoner Swap Deal
Microsoft Lays Off Hundreds More Amid Restructuring
Harvey Weinstein’s Publicist Embraces Notoriety
Macron and Meloni Seek Unity Despite Tensions
Trump Administration Accused of Obstructing Deportation Cases
Newark Mayor Sues Over Arrest at Immigration Facility
Center-Left Candidate Projected to Win South Korean Presidency
Trump’s Tariffs Predicted to Stall Global Economic Growth
South Korea’s President-Elect Expected to Take Softer Line on Trump and North Korea
Trump’s China Strategy Remains a Geopolitical Puzzle
Ukraine Executes Long-Range Drone Strikes on Russian Airbases
Conservative Karol Nawrocki wins Poland’s presidential election
Study Identifies Potential Radicalization Risk Among Over One Million Muslims in Germany
Good news: Annalena Baerbock Elected President of the UN General Assembly
Apple Appeals EU Law Over User Data Sharing Requirements
South Africa: "First Black Bank" Collapses after Being Looted by Owners
Poland will now withdraw from the EU migration pact after pro-Trump nationalist wins Election
"That's Disgusting, Don’t Say It Again": The Trump Joke That Made the President Boil
Trump Cancels NASA Nominee Over Democratic Donations
Paris Saint-Germain's Greatest Triumph Is Football’s Lowest Point
OnlyFans for Sale: From Lockdown Lifeline to Eight-Billion-Dollar Empire
Mayor’s Security Officer Implicated | Shocking New Details Emerge in NYC Kidnapping Case
Hegseth Warns of Potential Chinese Military Action Against Taiwan
OPEC+ Agrees to Increase Oil Output for Third Consecutive Month
Jamie Dimon Warns U.S. Bond Market Faces Pressure from Rising Debt
Turkey Detains Istanbul Officials Amid Anti-Corruption Crackdown
Taylor Swift Gains Ownership of Her First Six Albums
Bangkok Ranked World's Top City for Remote Work in 2025
Satirical Sketch Sparks Political Spouse Feud in South Korea
Indonesia Quarry Collapse Leaves Multiple Dead and Missing
South Korean Election Video Pulled Amid Misogyny Outcry
Asian Economies Shift Away from US Dollar Amid Trade Tensions
Netflix Investigates Allegations of On-Set Mistreatment in K-Drama Production
US Defence Chief Reaffirms Strong Ties with Singapore Amid Regional Tensions
Vietnam Faces Strategic Dilemma Over China's Mekong River Projects
Malaysia's First AI Preacher Sparks Debate on Islamic Principles
White House Press Secretary Criticizes Harvard Funding, Advocates for Vocational Training
France to Implement Nationwide Smoking Ban in Outdoor Spaces Frequented by Children
×