PM Skerrit says issue of denying CARICOM citizens at ports of entry of member states has to be addressed

CARICOM Chairman, Dominica's Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit, says the issue of denial of CARICOM citizens at ports of entry has to be addressed if they are to enjoy the benefits of the CSME.
 
Addressing a CARICOM press conference Wednesday, PM Skerrit says these occurrences lead to negative views being expressed by not only citizens but also visitors to the islands.
 
He says they have mandated the CARICOM Secretariat to bring together the relevant authorities to fashion a solution to this issue.

The Dominica  Government is currently facing legal action for the deportation of controversial Jamaican artiste Tommy Lee Sparta and his entourage in 2014.

Cabral Douglas says he is preparing to sue the government for what he describes as the illegal arrest, detention, and deportation of the Leroy Russell, who is also known as Tommy Lee Sparta.

According to Douglas, who organized the concert, Tommy Lee was scheduled to perform at a concert in February 2014 and based on the relevant free movement provisions outlined in the Revised Treaty of Chaguaramas , the action taken by the government in deporting the artiste, was in breach of the Treaty signed by Caribbean Community (CARICOM) member states.

In 2014, Jamaican Shanique Myrie was awarded damages in the sum of US$38,000 by the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) after she filed a lawsuit claiming she was subjected to a dehumanising cavity search by a female immigration officer at Grantley Adams International Airport, locked in a filthy room overnight and deported to Jamaica in March 2011.

​The CCJ had also ruled that Barbados should foot the bill of Myrie's legal costs and said the action was a serious breach of her right of entry into that country.