Bulk of Caricom work permits going to foreign nationals

(Barbados Nation) The bulk of work permits issued by CARICOM states in the past ten years went to foreign nationals.

And this is of concern to Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit of Dominica, who has lead responsibility for free movement at the CARICOM Heads level.

Of the 85 000 work permits issued between 2000 and June 2010, 63 750 were to nationals of third countries (non-CARICOM citizens).

“These findings clearly highlight that the main movers in our community in the past decade have been non-CARICOM nationals,” Skerrit said. “So, foreign nationals are finding and creating job opportunities for themselves in our region while our CARICOM citizens do not appear to be taking full advantage of the opportunities open to them in this regard.”