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TURKS AND CAICOS WEEKLY NEWS
April 23 - 29, 2011
We welcome letters from all members of the public on a variety of topics.
Clarification on enlargement of the franchise Dear Editor, Please allow me space to address a lack of information I have seen in our marketplace and in the media surrounding Belongership and enlargement of the franchise. Nationality in a British overseas territory is not as simple as in most other countries. In Turks and Caicos ours is split and the two parts have no legal relationship to each other. Further, the grant of a Permanent Residence Certificate (PRC) in Turks and Caicos does not equate to permanent residence elsewhere – the UK for example. Our international nationality is British Overseas Territory Citizen. Our local nationality is Belonger. The passport is to the British Overseas Territory Citizen. The franchise is to the Belonger. Thus, the person I would say is a Turks and Caicos Islander is that person who is both a British Overseas Territory Citizen and a Belonger to the Islands. British Overseas Territory Citizenship is described in and defined by the British Nationality Act. Belongership is described in and defined by the Turks and Caicos Islands’ Immigration Ordinance. It follows then that the Governor, acting for Britain’s Home Secretary, is the competent authority regarding British Overseas Territory Citizenship under the British Nationality Act and the Governor, along with the Cabinet, is the competent authority regarding Belongership under the Turks and Caicos Islands Immigration Ordinance. Our foreparents had the foresight to keep one nationality by linking both parts of the nationality top and bottom. Up until October 31 1992 only persons who were Commonwealth citizens (includes British Overseas Territory Citizens by whatever name) could become Belongers. Thus, the two parts of our nationality were connected, let’s say, at the top. Up until September 18 1990 every person who was
naturalised in the Islands – became a British Overseas Territory Citizen - became a Belonger. Thus, the two parts of our nationality was connected, let’s say, at the bottom. The path to Belongership was through naturalisation and Commonwealth citizenship (British Overseas Territory Citizenship, etc.) The history buffs among us would immediately recognise, from the dates, that the PDM disconnected the bottom link and the PNP disconnected the top. One disconnect was to avoid uncontrolled enlargement of the franchise; the other was to facilitate enlargement of the franchise. The $64m question is who is a Belonger now, who is a British Overseas Territory Citizen and what does it mean to be a permanent resident? Who is a Belonger today? Every Commonwealth citizen born in the Islands before September 19 1990; Every Commonwealth citizen born in the Islands before November 1 1992 whose parents were not at the time in the Islands illegally; Every person born in the Islands when at the time of his birth at least one of his parents was a Belonger; Every person born outside the Islands before November 1 1992 to married Belonger parents; Every person born outside the Islands after September 18 1990 when at the time of his birth at least one of his parents was born in the Islands and at least one of his parents was a Belonger; Every person born outside the Islands before November 15 1997 when at least one of his parents was a Belonger and at least one grandparent was born in the Islands; Every person who is or ever was the dependent child of a Belonger; Every person born outside the Islands and lawfully adopted in the Islands by a Belonger; Every woman who married a
LETTERS SHOULD BE KEPT TO A MAXIMUM OF 450 WORDS
Belonger before September 19 1990; Every man who married a Belonger after December 16 1974 but before September 19 1990; Every person who married a Belonger after September 18 1990 and lived with the Belonger spouse for not less than five years then made application for a certificate of Belonger status when on the date of the application he is not living apart from his spouse under a decree of a competent court or deed of separation; Every person who has married a Belonger after September 18 1990 and, save for the death of the Belonger spouse, would have lived with the Belonger spouse for not less than five years then made application for a certificate of Belonger status when on the date of the application he has not remarried or has married another Belonger; Every person naturalised in the Islands before September 19 1990; Every person who has been granted a Certificate of Belonger Status by the Governor in, Executive Council, Cabinet or Advisory Council. All 14 groups of individuals are Belongers - franchise holders. Our law is written such that changes to it do not only affect those persons being born after the change but includes those who may not have qualified before but qualify under the new change. It is not very simple - one must take each case and work through it to ascertain whether the individual qualifies now or qualified at any time during his life. Let’s take for our example Ms Lucy who emigrated from the Islands during the 1940s. Ms Lucy qualifies as a Belonger under number one, two and three. Her son David, born in New York, qualifies under number five. His daughter, Julia, qualifies under number six. All of Ms Lucy’s grandchildren born before 15 November 1997 are Belongers. Look at the nice lady, with hair like silk and skin like milk, who married Humphrey from North Caicos. I have heard it argued that her minor children are only Humphrey’s dependents if they come to live with the couple, thus, they may or may not qualify under number seven. The Ordinance defines child: a person who has not attained the age of 18 years and who is the child, stepchild, or lawfully adopted child of any person; and the fact that a person’s parents are not or have not been married to one another shall be left out of account in establishing whether the person is the child of
those parents; and accordingly that person shall be treated as if those parents are or have been married to one another. Humphrey’s children! However, six years later Humphrey’s spouse makes an application and is granted a certificate of Belonger Status. All of her children who are under 18 on that date certainly become Belongers under number seven. Her grandchildren born in the Islands would be Belongers under number three etc. Imagine it’s 1950: a well kept 55’ trawler is anchored off Cockburn Town. The passengers and crew could be Australian, Bangladeshi, Canadian, Dominican – any member of the Commonwealth down to Zimbabwean. One of them goes into premature labour and gives birth to a baby boy. This baby is a Belonger under number one. His legitimate children, born anywhere, are Commonwealth Citizens and Belongers under numbers three, four and five. His illegitimate children are Belongers. A boy born to rich parents in 1950 could easily have grandchildren, illegitimate or otherwise, before November 15 1997. Those grandchildren are Belongers under number six. They may not know that they are Belongers but Belongers they are. Who is a British Overseas Territory Citizen? In our eyes we see British Overseas Territory Citizenship in light of the Turks and Caicos Islands; the UK sees British Overseas Territory Citizenship in light of all its remaining overseas territories – it is to them one and the same citizenship. 1. Every person born in a British overseas territory when at the time of his birth one of his parents is a British Overseas Territory Citizen or settled in a British overseas territory; 2. Every newborn infant found abandoned in a British overseas territory where it cannot be shown that his parents are not British Overseas Territory Citizens; (we assume that the child was born in the territory and that the parents were citizens) 3. Every person born outside a British overseas territory when at the time of his birth one of his parents is a British Overseas Territory Citizen otherwise than by descent; 4. Every person adopted in a British overseas territory if one of the adopters is a British Overseas Territory Citizen; 5. Every person registered or naturalised as a British Overseas
Territory Citizen; 6. Every person who immediately before January 1 1983 was a citizen of the United Kingdom and colonies by virtue of his connection to a British overseas territory. We have naturalised persons holding PRCs for 12 months or longer. But even though we may deny them naturalisation, children born here while a parent hold a PRC are British Overseas Territory Citizens. What does it mean to be a Permanent Resident? Not what the two words seem to say! A PRC cannot immediately remove all restrictions from the certificate holder: Some certificates are granted without permission to work. There are two categories that must never be granted with permission to work; Those that are granted with permission to work must restrict the permission to a specified occupation and the holder must pay the appropriate ‘permission to work’ fee annually; If there are grounds for revocation the Governor may revoke the certificate; The certificate does not change or affect the holder’s nationality. During the validity of the certificate, a PRC holder is entitled to enter and remain in the TCI and no immigration officer may deny him entry or limit his stay in the Islands. If his certificate is with permission to work the Immigration Board cannot deny his permission to work. The Board’s responsibility is simply to collect the equivalent of the work permit fee appropriate to the occupation the certificate specifies. The certificate may be endorsed as applying to the spouse and any dependent child or children of the holder. Dependents endorsed on a PRC may be endorsed without permission to work or may be endorsed with permission to work restricted to a specified occupation. They too must pay the ‘permission to work’ fee appropriate to the occupation the certificate specifies. A PRC holder who has held his certificate for not less than 10 years may apply for permission to engage in gainful occupation without any limitation or restriction. If this permission/endorsement is granted no annual ‘permission to work’ fee is payable. This is the closest our system approaches permanent residence (settled) in the UK. There! Now go do some research then comment on enlargement of the franchise! Willette Swann
Please note that all submissions are subject to editing in keeping with defamation laws and newspaper style. Letters should be accompanied by the author’s full name, location and phone number. Names will be withheld if requested.