Immigration Officers Receive Training on CSME

The CARICOM Single Market and Economy was adopted by the CARICOM Heads of State to allow the free movement of goods and services, labour, as well as a common trade policy, among member states. The Department of Immigration is charged with the administration of the free movement of people. In 2012, twenty-eight immigration officers were initially trained on the principles of the CSME. On Monday, a subsequent training was held with immigration officers on the principles of community law and the practical operations of the CARICOM agreement for free movement of people. Both Acting Director of the Immigration Department, Maria Marin, and Deputy Programme Manager of Free Movement of Labour, Olivia Smith, addressed the participants of the training at the opening ceremonies. According to Marin, immigration officers will have a greater understanding of the critical role they play in implementing this key component of the CSME.

Maria Marin, Acting Director, Department of Immigration and National Services

Maria Marin

“This exercise is linked to the very important history and major developments of the regional integration movement established by the Treaty of Chaguaramas, 1973 and the Revised Treaty of Chaguaramas, 2001 in the form of the Caribbean Community and Caribbean Common Market. Subsequent meetings and agreements by the member states heads of government have resulted in additional measures to strengthen the creation of one large market among the member states giving rise to the natural outcome of free movement of people in the form of labour, also the free movement of goods and services, free movement of capital and other similar regimes. It is with this in mind and the advancement of the regional integration movement that these training sessions have been developed, especially in relation to the free movement of people.”

Olivia Smith

Olivia Smith, Deputy Programme Manager, Free Movement of Labour

“The whole objective is to provide officers with an indebt understanding of the agreement with respect to the free movement of persons, the right and obligation of both the member states and CARICOM nationals who seek to move. The immigration training is funded under the tenth European Union Development Fund and it is being provided to member states. The whole objective is to ensure that all member states are in the position to administer the regimes as agreed to by the heads of government, the Revise Treaty provisions and the outcomes of the Caribbean Court of Justice. The objective of the training also supports what the revised treaty in article six envision for our Caribbean people; which were to improve the standards of living, full employment of labour and other factors of production; coordinated and sustained economic development and convergent of expire and expiration of trade and economic relations with states and to position CARICOM states to be internationally competitive. This is especially important for small states such as ours in the face of globalization and trade liberization; we have to find a common platform for our survival. And we are hoping that the implementation of the free movement regime will be one of the fundamental pillars that will allow us to achieve this.”