CARICOM envoy hails Barbados-Guyana ID-only travel

CORRECTION

An earlier version of this story incorrectly stated the number of non-nationals who have taken full advantage of the free movement agreement since Barbados opened its borders six months ago. Barbados TODAY regrets the error. The story has been corrected.

 

Barbados and Guyana’s decision to allow travel with national ID cards marks a politically significant push towards full CARICOM free movement, Barbados’s envoy to the regional bloc said.

Ambassador David Comissiong said the move signals that the Caribbean Community (Caricom) framework is growing into its full potential.

He told Barbados TODAY the new arrangement between Barbados and Guyana, coupled with the October 2025 launch of full free movement among Barbados, Belize, Dominica and St Vincent and the Grenadines, represented a major breakthrough for the region.

“The pleasant experience thus far of the full free movement along with the recent announcement by Prime Minister Mottley and President Irfan Ali of this new initiative to facilitate movement between our citizens between Barbados and Guyana simply with the national ID card, I think it’s a very positive development.”

Ambassador Comissiong revealed that regional leaders had already begun expressing interest in expanding the concept to other participating territories.

“In fact, from the time that news was published, I was immediately contacted by one of my fellow ambassadors in one of the full free movement countries asking why can’t we implement a similar measure among the participating four countries,” he said, adding that Barbados had always been open to the idea of ID-card travel within the region.

While acknowledging that extending the arrangement to Belize may prove more challenging because of the absence of direct flights between the countries, he said officials remained optimistic that a workable system could eventually be developed.

The CARICOM envoy also pointed to what he described as encouraging trends in regional labour movement, particularly from Jamaica to Barbados.

“We’ve always had inward migration from Jamaica,” he said, noting that in earlier years it was largely professionals or Barbadians returning home with spouses after studying at the University of the West Indies.

More recent migration patterns showed more working-class Jamaicans filling vital service roles in Barbados, he noted.

“From what I can see, they have really fitted in well, they have found a niche, and they are responding to a real need in Barbados, especially in the area of caregivers and home helpers,” Ambassador Comissiong said.

The ambassador disclosed that other CARICOM countries were also preparing to join the free movement framework pioneered by the four countries.

“The idea always has been that the others would join us,” he said, explaining that the four participating countries were simply the pioneers of a wider regional initiative.

“All the signs we are seeing with the movement of people across the Caribbean community seem to be positive [and] moving in the right direction.”

Figures obtained by Barbados TODAY from the Ministry of Home Affairs indicated that from October 2025 to April 2026, around 14 758 nationals from Dominica, St Vincent and the Grenadines, and Belize travelled to Barbados.