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- MOTION SEEKING REVOCATION OF 'RASTA LAW' PASSED IN
LEGCO
-
- It remains to be seen whether the government of the British Virgin
Islands will act upon a motion which was
- passed in the Legislative Council on Friday October 1, which seeks
to revoke the controversial so-called 'rasta law'. For what it's worth,
the day will go down in the history books as the day a motion was passed
asking the
- Minister responsible for Immigration to reconsider the Immigration
and Passport (Prohibited Class of Persons)
- Order, 1980, with a view to having it revoked. But that may very well
be as far as it goes.
-
- The Act prevents the free entry into the territory of persons referred
to as hippies and rastafarians. This law
- was passed at a time when there was a crime wave in the British Virgin
Islands, reportedly fuelled by persons
- deemed to be hippies and rastas and was intended to try and reduce
the level of crime. However, the exercise of
- this right by Immigration Officers here to refuse entry to any undesirable
person, has been criticised by certain
- people. There have been situations where a black NAACP lawyer from
Washington D.C., the late international poet laureate Audre Lourde and
also the female companion of American movie star Morgan Freeman became
affected by this law and consequently, the BVI has received some negative
press, particularly in Essence Magazine and more recently in the Trinidad
media. The U.S Virgin Islands is also reportedly using this as a promotional
tool to lure visitors away from the BVI to the USVI - 'America's Paradise'.
-
- In the Legislative Council on Friday, Leader of the Opposition Dr.
Orlando Smith said while, as he understands
- it, the law was made to reduce the amount of crime in the BVI at the
time, it was based on the wrong premise.
- "It goes against human rights and it continues to cause embarrassment
to this country," he declared.
-
- According to Dr. Smith, a Territorial at large Member, this Order,
because it does not define the persons to
- which it refers, forces the Immigration Officers to use crooked thinking
- 'rastas wear locks, therefore all persons who wear locks are rastas;
hippies have long hair, therefore all persons who have long hair are hippies'.
- "And we all know that this is not true...as a matter of fact,
the wearing of locks has become a style," he
- continued.
-
- Furthermore, the Opposition Leader stated, the Order discriminates
against two classes of persons - those
- whose religious belief is rastafarianism and a large number of people
who wear locks or wear their hair long as
- part of their hairstyle - contravening the Universal Declaration on
Human Rights.
-
- "Mr. Speaker, I'm suggesting that we stop this embarrassment and
allow the proper use of the Immigration Act
- to screen undesirable persons from our territory," he appealed.
-
- The motion was passed with the support of two Members on the government
side, Deputy Chief Minister and
- Minister for Health, Education and Welfare the Honourable Eileene Parsons
and Member for the 1st District and Parliamentary Private Secretary in
the MHEW Hon. Andrew Fahie.
-
- In a division requested by the leader of government business in the
House, the Clerk recorded eight voting for
- the motion, three against and two Members were absent. Hon. Parsons
recognized that a lot of people who come to the BVI with their hair natural
are not rastas. "It has now become a style....so the thing about the
rastafarians and the religion doesn't really wash with me, what washes
with me is that that natural look has now become a hairstyle for all kinds
and conditions of persons and when some of them come, how are you going
to know? They come for legitimate business."
-
- She said she thinks the time has come when government can very well
abolish the law and be watchful. In the words of Opposition Member at large
Hon. Ronnie Skelton, the law has done its job. He said in 1980 when the
rasta craze hit the BVI, residents were scared, didn't know what to expect
and so government acted to protect its people and land.
-
- "But I think the time has come for us to be a bit more tolerant
in our approach to especially human beings; we must understand..rastafarianism
is a religion....like in any society, in any religion, there will always
be the bad
- apples....but we shouldn't hold the whole religion accountable for
a few bad apples," he observed.
-
- BVI Chief Minister Ralph O,Neal, who opposed the motion, recalled being
a Legislator when this Act was passed, and noted that those who now propose
its revocation obviously did not understand what was happening back then.
-
- This law is also in effect in Dominica and Singapore. He said he does
not recall any big debate when this Bill was introduced in 1980. He said
he has not been embarrassed nor has he been the laughing stock, in any
country. "All I would say Mr. Speaker, I will have the names of all
who vote for this motion put up in my office and when people come and say,
these fellas that come in this territory and doing this and doing that
and the police got to do something and you've got to do something about
it " I will say 'go to who passed the motion'!"
-
- Chief Minister O'Neal said while it is being proposed that this Order
be revoked, no one has come forward with
- any suggestions to determine what should be done.
-
- "The Immigration and Passport Act is a strong piece of legislation;
it gives the Immigration Officer the power,
- yes, to prevent whoever is undesirable, in their opinion and you have
some thugs as Immigration Officers, who, if you think this is embarrassment,
let them use that power that they have and everybody will hear; because
when the Immigration Officer stops you, regardless of who it is, you are
well stopped," he said in the House last Friday.
-
- According to the Minister responsible for Immigration, the schedule
to this Ordinance lists about 8 or 9 classes
- of persons, even those suffering from communicable diseases.
-
- "So, it's no trouble to me at all, but to hear the leader of the
Opposition saying that in 1980, it was crooked
- thinking and what not, he really didn't know what was happening in
this country...when people were tied up in their cultivations, they were
beaten, people were robbed, several cases came up, the rastas came up
and did their
- damage and went back and had the police upset," he recalled.
-
- Hon. O'Neal said to hear people say now that in 1980 government made
a mistake is nonsense. "People were
- at their wit's end...older women who were living by themselves and
so on, they were scared...in other words, all the people in 1980 who were
in Executive Council when the Order was made didn't know what they were
doing? And I challenge you that that was not so!" he went on.
-
- In speaking against the motion, Mr. O'Neal recalled being threatened
with death by one of these rastas. "Let
- them come in, let them do what they like and then you all will see,"
he declared.
-
- The Island Sun contacted the Attorney General's Chambers to seek clarification
on this high profile action. As
- explained by Legal Draftsman Cherno Jallow, this was a non-binding
resolution. If the government does not decide to act on it, there will
be no legal consequences. If government decides to act, it will be referred
to the Executive Council for decision. If the decision is in the affirmative,
the Attorney General's Chambers will be instructed to prepare the relevant
instruments to revoke the said Order. Incidentally, if a person who wears
dreadlocks wishes to enter the British Virgin Islands, according to the
law, it is just a matter of applying.
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