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Free movement among nationals of St. Vincent and the Grenadines (SVG), Barbados, Dominica and Belize came into effect on Wednesday, two days after a law facilitating such movement was passed in the St. Vincent and the Grenadines Parliament.

Dominica and St. Vincent and the Grenadines are members of the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) that since 2009, already allow for free movement among the nine-member sub-regional grouping.

The four Caribbean Community (CARICCOM) countries decided to forge ahead with full-fledged free movement under the CARICOM Single Market and Economy (CSME) that allows for the free movement of goods, skills, labour and services, while other members of the 15-member integration movement work through their reservations.

The free movement means that, effective October 1, except where prohibited on the grounds prescribed by law, such as national security concerns, citizens of the four countries can travel to and work in each other’s countries for an unlimited period of time and can work on arrival, without needing a work permit.

They would also not need a CARICOM Skills Certificate, which previously defined the categories of workers who could move among the bloc and live and work indefinitely.

In Kingstown, the free movement was effected by amendments to the Immigration Restriction Act, which received bipartisan support.

The amendments also allow nationals of the OECS associated member states, namely the French Caribbean departments of Martinique, Guadeloupe and St. Martin, to visit and remain here up to six months.

‘. persons born in those countries or born of individuals who are born in . any of those French overseas territories would be entitled to a six-month entry into St. Vincent and the Grenadines to enhance freedom of movement,’ Prime Minister and Minister of National Security, Dr. Ralph Gonsalves, said while tabling the legislation in Parliament.

However, unlike under the CARICOM arrangement, employment is not permitted.

Gonsalves said that while the agreement among the four CARICOM countries included Belize, in practical terms, Barbados, located 100 miles east of SVG, would be the one of greatest practical importance to SVG.

‘Clearly, Belize is of historic significance because there’s a significant group of Garifuna, persons of Garifuna descent, who came out of St. Vincent and the Grenadines,’ he said, in reference to the descendants of indigenous Vincentians who were exiled to Belize in the 1790s after their chief, Joseph Chatoyear, was killed by British colonisers.

‘But clearly, the one where we have most people moving would be between St. Vincent and the Grenadines and Barbados,’ Prime Minister Gonsalves said, adding that this would be of great help to Vincentians.

‘And many of us have constituents, people who currently, from St. Vincent, go to Barbados and they’re not supposed to work in the six months but sometimes they do work under the radar, but they are not very well protected, because they are not supposed to be working,’ he said.

Gonsalves said the converse is also true for Barbadians residing here, saying, ’employers often take advantage of them because they do not have the legal status.

‘Now, after October the first, they’d be able to go to Barbados and work – come out the plane and work there – in the way in which Grenadians can come here under the OECS arrangement or St. Lucians or Vincentians go there, Antigua, or St. Kitts.’

Also on Monday, Parliament passed a law ascribing contingent rights, such as the right to own property and access healthcare and other social services, to the CARICOM or OECS national to whom the free movement rights have been extended.

Gonsalves, however, emphasised that the free movement does not extend to people who obtain citizenship through economic citizenship programmes.

Dominica is the only country among the four CARICOM nations that have agreed to full free movement that has a CBI programme.

‘Well, you will notice how the common legislation here is formulated,’ Gonsalves said, noting that in CARICOM, Antigua and Barbuda, Dominica, Grenada, St. Kitts and Nevis, and St. Lucia have Citizenship by Investment (CBI) programmes.

Under the CBI, foreign investors are granted citizenship of the islands involved in return for making a substantial investment in the socio-economic development of these islands.

‘The other nine do not have. That’s why the formulation is as it is here,’ Gonsalves said, adding ‘this section applies to a person who holds a passport or a document establishing identity and nationally prescribed by law issued by a qualifying OECS state, evidencing that the person was born in the state, or is a descendant of a person born in the state or in another qualifying OECS state.

‘So that takes care of that particular problem,’ he said, referring to the CBI-designated citizens.

The Investment Migration Agency (IMA) says a significant number of foreign nationals granted citizenship of Grenada under the Citizenship by Investment (CBI) progrmme during the second quarter of this year, has come from the United States.

Data released by the IMA said that American accounted for 12 per cent of the 402 people approved as new citizens followed by persons from China and Nigeria, each accounting for 10 per cent.

The figures show that during the first three months of this year, one per cent of the 632 applicants approved for new citizenship were US nationals, making it the first time that Nigeria and China were not the top ranked countries.

The IMA said that other nationalities approved as citizens for the period came from Pakistan, the United Kingdom, The Philippines; Uganda, Uzbekistan, Ukraine, Egypt, France, Germany, India, Kuwait, Lebanon, Republic Of Congo, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Spain, Syria, Turkey, Bangladesh, Vietnam, Zambia, Democratic Republic of the Congo and Haiti.

As of the end of the second quarter of 2025, a total of 893 new citizens were approved through the IMA bringing a total of EC$103.2 million (One EC dollar=US$0.37 cents) according to the June 2025 monthly fiscal report from the Ministry of Finance.

IMA chief executive officer, Thomas Anthony, in August announced that Grenada will be focusing on marketing the CBI programme to Africa and that a delegation would be visiting West Africa in October this year.

‘We have been exploring more African countries, more recently we were in Kenya in collaboration with the Nairobi Chamber of Commerce and at that event we have more than 100 individuals attending and we believe that we will see some fruit from that event,’ said Anthony.

Under the CBI programme, foreign investors are granted citizenship of Grenada in return for making a substantial investment in the socio-economic development of the country.

West Indies stand in T20I captain, Akeal Hosein has urged fans not to lose hope in the regional team following their shocking 2-1 loss to Nepal in their just concluded T20I series.

His plea came after the sixth-ranked West Indies demolished Nepal by 10 wickets in the third and final T20I on Tuesday to earn a consolation win after they were thoroughly outplayed by their 18th-ranked opponents in the first two matches.

Hosein, who captained the side in the absence of regular skipper Shai Hope, acknowledged that while their supporters had all rights to be discouraged after the loss, he said the team would get its act together leading up to the 2026 Men’s T20 World Cup, slated to bowl off in early February’I mean we owe everything to them. We’ve been disappointing them for a while now and hopefully we can sort of give them a positive message with such a clinical performance.

‘But as I’ve said in the past, we’ve really disappointed them and hopefully we can make that turn leading up to the World Cup,’ Hosein said.

Despite the embarrassing series loss, Hosein said he was very impressed with the way in which the Windies outplayed Nepal in the final T20I.

He also gave Nepal credit for preparing pitches which suited their strengths in the opening two matches of the series.

‘I’m happy to see them come out and give that sort of performance, the last game in the end of the series, losing two games up front, I think it was an excellent effort and clinical as well.

‘But I thought Nepal ticked all the boxes in this series. They batted well, they bowled well, and they fielded well and if I can go one step further, in winning a series I believe you have to do everything possible in your power, especially when it’s your home series,’ Hosein said.

‘And if you can look over the past three games, the first two games were definitely their home conditions, a surface that they are accustomed to, it was slow and low. And if you can see, once they secured that series, they came and they played on a green top, probably for experience or to get accustomed and it was a totally different match.

‘So, kudos to them, they used their home advantage pretty well and that’s why they are the winners here today,’ he added.

The United Nations Wednesday urged the international community to fund a new UN Support Office in Haiti, less than 24 hours after the Security Council adopted a resolution authorising the transition of the Kenya-led Multinational Security Support (MSS) mission to a Gang Suppression Force (GSF) in the French-speaking Caribbean Community (CARICOM) country.

It said that the new office in Port au Prince, to be known by its UNSOH, is meant to provide logistical and operational support to the GSF.

‘Establishing a UN Support Office funded by peacekeeping-assessed contributions was initially recommended by the Secretary-General Antonio Guterres back in February, as you will recall,’ said Stéphane Dujarric, the spokesperson for the Secretary-General.

‘We urge member states to support the Gang Suppression Force, including through scaled-up voluntary contributions and the provision of uniformed personnel. All of this to help overcome the challenges that have constrained the Multinational Security Support mission,’ Dujarric told the daily UN briefing.

‘In this regard, we welcome the establishment of a Standing Group of Partners for the Gang Suppression Force by member states to provide high-level strategic direction, oversight, and relevant political decision-making for the new force. This was also among the Secretary-General’s recommendations back in February.’

Dujarric said that the UN is calling on Haitian stakeholders to build on this momentum by accelerating efforts to complete the political transition, adding that the head of the political office in Haiti, Carlos Ruiz Massieu, continues to support Haitian actors on that path.

‘The UN Political Mission in Haiti’s prevention and good offices work remains now more relevant than ever,’ Dujarric said, updating reporters also on what he described as ‘the horrific situation regarding gender-based violence’.

He said that the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) is warning that these atrocities continue at alarming levels in Haiti.

According to the UN spokesman, between January and August of this year, ‘our humanitarian partners reported more than 6,450 incidents, nearly half of those cases being rape. One in seven of these survivors is a girl under 18.

‘According to our partners armed groups were reportedly responsible for 75 per cent of the cases. Displaced people account for 70 per cent of the survivors,’ Dujarric said, noting that only a quarter of rape survivors were able to access medical care within the critical 72-hour window, while another quarter received treatment only after more than one month.

‘These delays are driven by insecurity, stigma, weak referral systems and the absence of health services in so many communities in Haiti,’ he said, adding that the vast majority of incidents were concentrated in the West Department, with the capital, Port-au-Prince, alone accounting for more than 30 per cent of cases.

‘We and our partners have been providing life-saving services, including medical and psychosocial support, legal assistance and temporary shelter. However, OCHA reports that access to services remains uneven, with most of these problems concentrated in Port-au-Prince and the surrounding communes.

‘OCHA warns that chronic underfunding is compounding the crisis and leaving the vast majority of survivors without care. Less than 20 per cent of the US$19 million required this year for gender-based violence prevention and response in Haiti has been received so far,’ Dujarric said.

He said urgent support is needed to extend services beyond the capital, Port-au-Prince, and ensure that women and girls across the country can access protection and care.

Belize has been elected Part III of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) for the period 2025 – 2028.

A government statement said that the election took place during the celebration of the ICAO’s 42nd Assembly at the Chicago Convention and that the Council, during this period, shall be the body charged with carrying out the directions of the assembly and discharging the duties and obligations laid out in the Convention.

Kennedy Carrillo

The statement said that the work to be carried out by the newly elected Council over the next triennium will include improving aviation security, the development of policies and protocols for the inclusion of artificial intelligence in aviation, achieving environmental sustainability goals, and supporting the next generation of aviation professionals.

‘This is a historic victory for Belize, as it will, for the first time, join and contribute meaningfully to the highest technical body in aviation. Belize is committed to supporting both the Caribbean and Central American sub-regions.

‘Notwithstanding, the representation will be used to promote those policies and initiatives that seek to advance Belize’s aviation strategic objectives,’ the statement said, adding that ‘aviation continues to be a significant contributor to Belize’s socio-economic well-being, as it is one of the most significant pillars that support tourism’.

It said that Kennedy Carrillo, who has been appointed as Belize’s representative to the ICAO Council, will be based in Montreal, Canada, where she will participate in deliberations and initiatives that seek to make Global Aviation safer and more secure for all.

Prime Minister Mia Mottley says Barbados will ‘open our doors with order and with pride’ as Barbados joins three other Caribbean Community (CARICOM) countries in fully implementing free movement of their nationals among themselves from today.

Barbados, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Belize and Dominica are implementing one of the major aspects of the CARICOM Single Market and Economy (CSME) that allows for the free movement of goods, skills, labour and services across the region.

The Guyana-based CARICOM Secretariat said that extensive preparations have been undertaken to ensure ‘a smooth and secure rollout’ of the full free movement among the four countries, adding that the other member states that participate in the CSME and have not signed on to full free movement ‘will continue to facilitate movement of their nationals under the existing regime for skilled workers, for the provision of services and the operation of businesses’.

In a nationwide radio and television broadcast on Tuesday night, Prime Minister Mottley acknowledged that Barbados is on the cusp of a change that will touch the lives across the Caribbean region and strengthen the nation.

Financial constraints have forced Cricket West Indies (CWI) to significantly alter and in some instances cut some of their regional competitions next year.

This was revealed on Wednesday by CWI’s chief executive officer, Chris Dehring and Director of Cricket, Miles Bascombe, who both admitted that 2026 would be a challenging year for the region’s governing cricket body with its revenue expected to drop significantly.

Among some of the casualties is CWI’s Under-17 tournament, which has been scrapped, the women’s tournaments will be merged, while the Combined Campuses and Colleges (CCC) and the West Indies Academy have been axed from the men’s tournaments.

Speaking during CWI’s quarterly press conference, Dehring said CWI was scheduled to host over 33 events next year, including tours of Sri Lanka, New Zealand and Pakistan.

He explained that based on the financial model of the ICC, the West Indies was not set to benefit from hosting either of the three tours.

Dehring said with the profits from co-hosting the 2024 Men’s T20 World Cup already gone, tough decisions had to be made in CWI’s best interest.

‘We have to take an honest look at ourselves and understand that we’re not going to get out of where we are without a long-term vision, a long-term plan, and an execution of those plans based on the resources that we have.

‘.The year 2025-2026 is going to be a very challenging financial year for us,’ Dehring said.

From left: CWI chief executive officer Chris Dehring; CWI president Dr Kishore Shallow and Director of Cricket, Miles Bascombe at CWIs quarterly press conference.

‘.When we host countries like India or England, we are able to hold our head above water because those tours tend to pay for themselves, international broadcast rights for the television products that we produce help us to fund all the development programmes, all the tournaments that we host every year

‘When we have to host Sri Lanka, Pakistan and New Zealand, as much as we enjoy playing the cricket against them, hosting those teams come with a financial price. It’s a price we have to pay to keep our seat at the head table at the ICC and retain our Full Membership, so we have to host these tours, they are a part of the Future Tours programme that we agreed to.

‘But we’re not going to be able to recoup even the television production costs of those tours, much less make a profit to pay for all the developmental tournaments. People don’t appreciate the number of events and tournaments that CWI hosts. We host over 33 events next year, tours, tournaments, overseas tours, domestic leagues, training camps and that is slightly reduced because we’ve had to make some fairly significant changes to those tournaments and tours, simply because we’re not going to have the cash,’ he further added.

Dehring said CWI has formulated a ‘four-pronged’ attack aimed at addressing those financial issues, which included continued lobbying with the ICC to restructure its financial model, reengineering its domestic tournaments, working closer with CARICOM and getting more financial support from companies in the Caribbean.

As it relates to changes in regional tournaments, Bascombe said there would be a reduction in the number of matches across competitions, with the CCC and WI Academy also being removed.

He said the women’s tournaments would see the ODI and T20 formats being merged into a singular tournament.

Bascombe said with the Under-17 tournament being withdrawn, there would be an extended Under-19 tournament, with players being exposed to both the red and white ball format.

Despite the major cutbacks, he said cricketers in the region would still have more than enough opportunities to showcase their skills and vie for places in the West Indies teams.

‘The changes to these tournaments, though forced, we have tried to ensure that there is enough cricket that we can have a good account of our player pool.

‘Players have enough time and opportunity to give a good account of themselves and make themselves eligible for selection to West Indies teams,’ Bascombe said.

The following is the CANANews and SPORTS Schedule for Wednesday, October 1, 2025.

HAMILTON – National Security Minister, Michael Weeks, warned that he could not ‘overstate the seriousness’ of the threat posed by Hurricane Imelda as it moves closer towards Bermuda on Wednesday with maximum sustained winds of 90 miles per hour (mph).

BRIDGETOWN – Prime Minister Mia Mottley says Barbados will ‘open our doors with order and with pride’ as Barbados joins three other Caribbean Community (CARICOM) countries in fully implementing free movement of their nationals among themselves from today.

GEORGETOWN – The Guyana government has unveiled a new plan aimed at stemming the outflow of United States currency that has now almost quadrupled over the past year to about US$1.2 billion.

BELMOPAN – The Belize government says it has received a report into the alleged kidnapping of a Belizean and his surrender to Guatemalan authorities in August.

WASHINGTON – The United States has announced support for the Trinidad and Tobago government’s Dragon gas proposal with Venezuela saying it will take ‘steps to ensure it will not provide significant benefit to the Maduro regime’.

KINGSTON – Chairman of the 15-member regional integration grouping, CARICOM, Prime Minister Andrew Holness, has welcomed the decision of the United Nations Security Council to back a resolution authorising the transition of the Kenyan-led Multinational Security Support (MSS) mission for Haiti into a new Gang Suppression Force (GSF).

SPORTS:

ADMEDABAD – West Indies Test captain Roston Chase believes that heading into their two-match Test series against India as an underdog and ‘with nothing to lose’ will make them a very dangerous outfit.

DUBAI – West Indies stand in T20I captain, Akeal Hosein has urged fans not to lose hope in the regional team following their shocking 2-1 loss to Nepal in their just concluded T20I series.

The Belize government says it has received a report into the alleged kidnapping of a Belizean and his surrender to Guatemalan authorities in August.

In addition, the government said that Police Commissioner, Dr Richard Rosado, who had been sent on 45 days’ leave ‘in the first instance’ would return ‘to active duty effective immediately’.

A government statement said that the report into the abduction of Ryan Joseph Budna had been received from the lead investigator, Assistant Commissioner of Police Suzette Anderson.

It said that based on the high level of public interest in this case, the report made two recommendations, which were accepted by the Cabinet.

‘The recommendation moving forward is that an Independent Investigation be conducted in relation to this incident,’ and ‘that none of the police officers assigned to this Inquiry be allowed to make any statement to the media or within the public domain, in order to safeguard the integrity of the said Inquiry in the event that the matter is addressed in a court of law’.

The statement said that Cabinet had also agreed to refer the recommendations to the Attorney General for legal guidance on how best to give full effect to this recommendation.

‘Considering the fact that the evidence, as disclosed in the Inquiry Report, does not in any way implicate Commissioner of Police, Dr. Richard Rosado, Cabinet has requested that his leave of absence be discontinued and that he return to active duty effective immediately,’ the statement added.

Last month, Prime Minister John Briceño said he had instructed the country’s police commissioner to proceed on 45 days’ leave ‘in the first instance’ after he had earlier asked his Home Affairs Minister, Kareem Musa, to provide an update over the controversial ‘abduction’ of Budna.

On August 24, the Belize Police Department said it had officially launched an investigation into an incident involving Budna, which occurred on August 22.

‘The Policia National Civil (PNC) of Guatemala has confirmed that Mr Ryan Joseph Budna is in their custody pursuant to an arrest warrant; however, they have not disclosed the details surrounding his apprehension,’ the police said, adding that its own investigation was initiated based on an official report filed by a witness to the event.

‘The witness reported observing a confrontation involving several individuals, one of whom matched the description of Mr Budna, who was subsequently placed into a dark-coloured SUV bearing a Belize City license plate,’ the police added.

But a government statement said that Briceño had received the police report from Musa and ‘found the report to be incomplete and, therefore, unsatisfactory’ and that Anderson, be immediately assigned the responsibility to complete the police investigation into the Budna matter, with the goal of submitting a complete report by the end of September.

Several attorneys have already indicated a willingness to fight for Budna’s constitutional rights, with attorney Arthur Saldivar telling reporters ‘we all have a right to liberty and freedom of movement’.

Meanwhile, Musa said he has always been supportive of an independent inquiry into the matter.

‘It has never been done and so we will have to look at the dynamics of that, because they will have to have access to all that the police has access to. Its is uncommon. We will have to look regionally to see what the processes are, how it is appointed, how it is that they work along with the DPP moving forward.

‘And so, these things hopefully we can sort out in a very quick time, rapid time, so that we can have a access to the police information,’ he added.

West Indies Test captain Roston Chase believes that heading into their two-match Test series against India as an underdog and ‘with nothing to lose’ will make them a very dangerous outfit.

The West Indies will look to end a 42-year Test series drought on the Asian subcontinent when the opening Test bowls off on Thursday at the Narendra Modi Stadium.

India, who is ranked fourth in the ICC’s Test rankings, will go into the series as overwhelming favourites having dominated the eighth-ranked Windies both home and away over the past three decades.

Speaking in a pre-match press conference on Wednesday following his side’s final training session, Chase, who will be leading the Test team in his second series, said his side had been given very little chance of even winning a Test match.