The Tribune

EDITOR, The Tribune.

I write in response to the article in your daily (Wednesday, November 25) featuring an interview with the Hon Mr Elsworth Johnson, Minister of Financial Services, Trade and Industry, and Immigration, in which Mr Johnson indicated that the Government is “looking at” citizenship by investment as an option for economic stimulus. I find this unacceptable.

Twenty-eight years ago I was invited to speak at the 1992 FNM Convention to bring to light an injustice – the denial of the right of citizenship to children born outside The Bahamas to Bahamian mothers in certain circumstances.

I had thought my case unique, but my story brought to light the sad experiences of many families who had been separated, or displaced, because of the same issue.

Now years later another layer has been added to the conversation - the plight of generations of people born in The Bahamas whose citizenship status remains uncertain. Despite the years of debate, and several referenda on the subject, the issue has yet to be resolved.

Yet now I read that the government is “looking at” citizenship by investment, as opposed to the traditional route of granting permanent residency status through investment.

There is a deep and wide gulf between ‘citizenship’ and ‘permanent residency’, both in concept and in construct.

If granting citizenship is so easy to do, why have the thornier issues of birthright regarding those of Bahamian parentage, or those born in The Bahamas, not yet been resolved?

Perhaps Mr Johnson and other members of the Cabinet do not feel the sense of pride I feel when they hold that little navy blue book, so regally embossed with our Coat of Arms, in their hands.

Perhaps they did not have to subject themselves to public scrutiny and opprobrium to obtain that statement of birthright, as I did when I took the stage to plead for mine. So perhaps they do not feel the swell of indignation that I felt this morning, at this idea of someone paying for the privilege to become a Bahamian citizen.

Let us not mince words: ‘citizenship by investment’ is a fancy way of saying ‘selling passports’. I don’t care if Malta, or Germany, or Dominica, or any other country is doing this. We have fought for years to come out of the shadow of the label “A Nation For Sale”. Yet here we are again, apparently considering prostituting ourselves and our sovereignty to the highest bidder. Please, Mr Johnson. I implore you and your fellow members of Cabinet to consider the implications of such a decision. Bahamian citizenship cannot be for sale. What is the message that we are sending to our youth...those to whom we look to build our nation’s future?

CATHY RAMSINGH-PIERRE

Nassau,

November 25, 2020.