Coalition of Independents (COI) supporters led by COI Leader, Lincoln Bain protested the Smuggling Of Migrants Bill outside of the House of Assembly on Wednesday. This is the second time in as many weeks that the group has gathered on Bay Street to voice their opposition to the bill which was tabled back in October.
Bain told reporters, “we are a nation of 200,000 adults, a total of less than 400,000 people, and if we open the flood gates now, if we open the flood gates to all and sundry to come here and say the magic word asylum then we are going to be in problems.”
The COI Leader commended the government for amending the bill after some outcry from the public before it was passed in House of Assembly. He said, “I want to credit the government for partially listening to the people by removing section 11 which we would not have tolerated, that section was diabolical.”
According to Bain the new legislation would allow persons to stay in the country and their naturalization must be expedited.
Attorney General and Minister of Legal Affairs, Sen. Hon. Ryan Pinder defended the bill while appearing at a press briefing at the Office of the Prime Minister last week. He said the bill entitles migrants to humane treatment and non-refoulement but not status or the right to remain in the country.
