It was extracted from the Immigration Ordinance and presented as a separate bill.

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Introduction

The Government of the Turks and Caicos recently presented the Asylum Bill 2024 to the House of Assembly. However, most of the content of the Asylum bill is not new as asylum is already covered in our Immigration Ordinance and has been so for years.

This bill basically extracted the asylum portion of the Immigration Ordinance and it became separate Aslyum with some additional changes.

What is Asylum?

Asylum is a means by which an individual can live in Turks and Caicos if there is a fear of persecution and harm in the indivdiual’s home country.

Aslyum is already covered under Immigration Ordinance.

Part V111 of our current Immigration Ordinance addresses asylum in the following sections

• Section 82 covers application for asylum. 
• Section 83 covers grants of exceptional leave pending grant of asylum.
• Section 84 covers Grants of Asylum.
• Section 85 covers revocation of indefinite leave to remain on the islands.
• Section 86 covers Appeal for refusal of grant of asylum.
• Section 87 covers Deportation of asylum seeker
• Section 88 covers Asylum seeker’s intent to apply elsewhere for asylum or to voluntarily leave islands
• Section 89 covers Directions of Governor under this Part.
• Section 90 covers limitation of rights of appeal under section 86
• Section 91 covers helping asylum seeker to enter islands

What is the different about this Asylum Bill 2024?

The Asylum Bill 2024 has the same coverage that is already in existence. Based on my review,  the major additional changes are as follows

• The new bill has the establishment of an eligibility committee. Any person seeking asylum must apply to a committee rather than to the Minister. However, the Minister will decide based on the recommendation from the Committee.
• The committee will consist of five members who are either Turks and Caicos Islander or British Overseas Territories. I do like the fact that it is an independent committee who will be professional and have expertise in the field to aid the Minister in deciding.  However, I think it should be clearly stated that the recommendation should be based on the input from most of the committee members. In other words, the recommendation does not require everyone to agree.
• The next major change is that if the applicant wants to appeal, they must appeal to a Refugees Review Committee. Currently they can appeal to the Governor. I like this too as it removes the power from the Governor to appeal the decision
• The next major change is under section 16, 2 (Grant or refusal of exceptional leave) (a) that the applicant has shown proof that he did not enter the islands illegally” Having this under this section is ambiguous. I followed up on this and apparently when the House of Assembly met, this section was recommended to be moved from Section 16 to Section 14 under the application for asylum. While being illegal may be a barrier to apply for asylum, it should be noted it does not prevent an illegal person from applying and also our country is guided by the 1951 Refugee Convention, something that we inherited during the Jamaica was administerig our affairs.. The illegals though must show good cause as to why they enter illegally and is applying for asylum. This is not so under our current immigration ordinance.

1951 Refuge Convention

• This Convention provides the guidelines for asylum, including the rights of the asylum applicants and the responsibilities of the country that grants asylum. The 1951 Refuge Convention guards against discrimination of refugees and so if you are illegal, you can apply for status.

Repeal of Part V11I of the Immigration Ordinance.

The Asylum 2024 bill and Section V111 of the Immigration bill will not run simultaneously. In section 42 of the bill, Part V111 of the Immigration Ordinance will be repealed if this bill is passed. It makes sense given that the informaiton in this seciton will be in the Aslyum 2024 bill.

Personally, I think the Government should have amended Section V111 of the Immigration Bill with the above changes rather than implementing a new bill.  Perhaps it may have neem clearer to the public that this content is not new. However, it is my understanding that the Ministry of Immigration wanted a separate bill dealing with Asylum rather than having it in Immigration Ordinance.

Why make changes now?

I know I am curious as to why the changes were made now. I thought the Government would have been tight light on the Asylum because of what happened to Sri Lankans as we do not want to encourage others to apply. However, the more I think about it, the Sri Lankans has set a precedent, and it became international news and so it is difficult to keep this on a low profile. On the other hand, this can come back to bite us as we have now brought more public awareness about Asylum which in turn may open the eyes of others to apply for asylum status.

It is my understanding that these changes for the Asylum 2024 bill were requested a long time ago but of course I do not know how Government works when it comes to legislation.

Conclusion

As mentioned already, most of the content of bill is not new. The asylum is already covered in the Immigration Ordinance and has been so for years. The public may not be aware of this, but Current and former parliamentarians should be aware of the existence of the asylum laws under the Immigration Ordinance. Quite frankly, if one were to read it, the wording in the Asylum 2024 bill is almost the same as the wording in Part VIII of the Immigration Ordinance.

Parliamentarians really need to do a better job in communicating with the people. I think before a bill is presented to the House, the people should be informed as to what is presented. Better yet, consulting with the people will be the best way.