By Stabroek News

Copyright stabroeknews

Nationals from four Caribbean Community (CARICOM) countries – Barbados, Belize, Dominica and St. Vincent and the Grenadines – will now be able to exercise their rights to enter, leave and re-enter, move freely, reside, work and remain indefinitely in the receiving Member States, in keeping with a CARICOM Heads decision taken at the 49th Regular Meeting of the Conference of CARICOM Heads of Government this year, without the need for a work or residency permit.

A press release issued yesterday by the CARICOM Secretariat stated that the four member states’ nationals will also be able to access emergency and primary health care, and public primary and secondary education, within the means of the receiving Member State.

The Governments of the four CARICOM Member States, the statement read, have agreed to implement full free movement among themselves from 1 October this year. CARICOM also noted that representatives from these four Member States have been meeting and working to ensure the required measures to support the full free movement of their nationals will be undertaken and commence on 1 October 2025.

This free movement arrangement, the Secretariat advised, falls within the new Enhanced Cooperation Chapter of the Revised Treaty of Chaguaramas. Under that Chapter, the Conference of CARICOM Heads can allow groups of at least three Member States to seek to advance integration among themselves where the Conference agrees that the targeted objectives cannot be attained within a reasonable period by the Community as a whole.

The release also noted that this type of free movement expands on what is offered under the CARICOM Single Market and Economy (CSME) and is available to all CARICOM nationals of the participating four countries. The other Member States participating in the CSME will continue to operate free movement under the existing Regimes (Skills, Services, Business Establishment and general facilitation of travel).