Special permission was granted for Buju Banton to perform here because his criminal conviction automatically disqualified him from gaining entry into Barbados.
The 45-year-old Jamaican, whose real name is Mark Myrie, will make the fourth stop in his Long Walk To Freedom Tour on April 27 at Kensington Oval.
Minister of Home Affairs Edmund Hinkson, whose portfolio includes immigration, confirmed the decision was made at the ministerial level.
“The Minister of Immigration always has the right on circumstances to allow someone in Barbados. Let’s put it that way, and we have agreed to allow Buju Banton to come in,” Hinkson said.
Under the Immigration (Amendment) Act 2018, among those prohibited are:
4. Persons who (a) are or have at any time engaged or reasonably suspected of being likely to engage in the unlawful giving or using, the offering or exposing for sale, or the buying of, or the trading or trafficking in, any drug; or
(b) have been convicted of an offence under any enactment relating to dangerous or narcotic drugs.
5. Persons who (a) have been convicted of or admit to having committed a criminal offence, which, if committed in Barbados, is punishable with imprisonment for a term of 5 years or longer.
Hinkson declined to state the conditions under which Buju was granted permission or whether the application was made by the local promoters or his agents in Jamaica.
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