Prime Minister Gaston Browne says Antigua and Barbuda will not immediately sign on to the new CARICOM agreement on full free movement, arguing that the country has long practiced regional openness without the need for formal accession.
Speaking on his weekly Browne and Browne Show on Pointe FM, the Prime Minister said Antigua and Barbuda has been a “regional leader” in welcoming Caribbean nationals for decades, often offering amnesties to help regularize their status.
“Antigua and Barbuda has had free movement for decades,” Browne said. “We’re not part of this formal agreement, and deliberately so. Most of the movement that has taken place within CARICOM has been people coming to Antigua not St. Vincent, not Belize, not Barbados, Antigua.”
Browne described the country as the “gold standard” for regional mobility, citing studies that show more than half of intra-CARICOM migration in recent years has been to Antigua and Barbuda. He noted that nearly half of the nation’s population consists of CARICOM nationals or their descendants.
“They come, they settle, they work, and nobody interferes with them,” he said. “Every few years, we grant thousands of people amnesty to ensure they can live and work legally.”
While reaffirming his commitment to regional integration, Browne said his government must balance that goal with the practical realities of migration management. He warned that granting automatic rights under a full free movement regime could create social and economic strain.
“If already, without any formal arrangement, we’re receiving large numbers of migrants, then giving full legal rights without limits could create challenges,” he explained. “We support free movement, but it must be managed.”
Browne said Antigua and Barbuda has requested a derogation from CARICOM to maintain flexibility and control over the pace of migration. “We need that space to manage our situation responsibly,” he said. “We have the largest Caribbean diaspora per capita, and that requires careful management.”
The Prime Minister stressed that Antigua and Barbuda remains committed to the principle of regional unity and may join the full agreement at a later stage.
“At some point, we will join,” he said. “But for now, staying out gives us the opportunity to manage migration on our own terms. Our openness speaks for itself. Antigua and Barbuda has been the standard bearer for free movement in the Caribbean.”
