St. Vincent and the Grenadines (SVG) has not signed any agreement with the United States regarding third-country nationals and discussions on the matter have “slowed down quite significantly”.
“St Vincent and the Grenadines received a request from the United States government to consider entering into a partnership to address the issue of third-country nationals. No agreement has been offered to us. We have not signed any agreement,” Minister of Foreign Affairs Dwight Fitzgerald Bramble told Parliament on Tuesday.
Bramble was responding to a question from opposition senator Carlos James, who asked whether the government had received “a formal request from the government of the US to enter a third country agreement, or any similar arrangement for the removal of non‑nationals from the United States to SVG and whether Kingstown had signed on to any such agreement.
Bramble explained that Washington had sent a draft instrument for Kingstown to examine.
“They proposed a memorandum of understanding for us to consider, and we have been in discussions regarding that memorandum of understanding to try to figure out what’s going on there,” the foreign minister said.
Bramble stressed that the US approach was part of a wider regional initiative and not directed at SVG alone.
“The entire OECS Member States have been approached as well.”
He said SVG has been coordinating with its Eastern Caribbean neighbours in looking at the proposal.
“As a matter of fact, we have been working along with our OECS counterparts to address this issue in a sort of a collaborative way,” he said.
Bramble, however, said discussions have not advanced to any binding commitment.
“But up until now, we have not signed anything,” he said. “And as far as things have been going, the discussions have really slowed down quite significantly over the few weeks.
“So that is where we are with that, Honourable Senator. Thank you.”
Bramble did not go into detail about the content of the proposed memorandum or the specific categories of migrants that might have been affected under any eventual arrangement.
James’ question came against the backdrop of regional and international debate about “third-country national” processing or relocation arrangements, under which migrants of other nationalities present in one state may be sent to another country.
Bramble’s response sought to draw a clear line between receiving and considering a request and agreeing to it.
“We have been in discussions… to try to figure out what’s going on there,” he said of the draft MoU.
But he repeated: “We have not signed any agreement… we have not signed anything.”
