The Smuggling Of Migrants Bill was passed in the House Of Assembly on Monday supported only by members of the governing party.
The bill was amended by the deletion of Clause 11 which dealt with the non prosecution of migrants being smuggled. Minister of National Security, the Hon. Wayne Munroe addressed the issue during his contribution. He said, “when you have the public whipped up we did the very sensible thing, we made an assessment. Does removing it offend clause five, the answer is no because there’s no offense that the migrant can commit and that’s why it was done. And so it’s just very simple as that. And the very sad thing is they know better but for political expediency they seek to whip up the public.”
Leader of the Coalition of Independents, Lincoln Bain publicly voiced concern that the bill creating a pathway for migrants to seek asylum in the country last week while leading a protest against it last week.
Leader of the Opposition, the Hon. Michael Pintard also voiced concerns about the bill while speaking in the House on Monday. He said, “what we are concerned about is illegal migration and bad actors in the system who facilitate it and broken systems that we fail to correct. So our discussion is not to demonize anyone or any particular group because many members in this House and previous Houses for over a hundred years came from various jurisdictions. What we are saying is people ought to come in the correct way if they wish to enjoy the benefit of full citizenship.”
Pintard also released a statement on Tuesday promising to repeal the legislation should the Free National Movement win the next general election.
