Behind the closed doors of some upscale AirBnBs across Barbados, a hidden industry is quietly taking root.
“They all look pregnant and we heard babies crying,” a resident in an affluent district recounted, watching groups of women dressed in hijabs strolling to the beach.
These are not standard tourists. They are in Barbados because of a highly-organised, heavilyfunded “birth tourism” scheme capitalising on Barbados’ citizenship laws, something the Government says is not on a widespread level, even as pregnant women stream into the country.
Wealthy African women are reportedly spending thousands of United States dollars to travel on the new Air Peace direct flight from Lagos to Barbados, a route that now runs twice a month.
Their goal is simple: secure a Barbados passport for their unborn children, instantly granting them visa-free access to over 150 countries.
This is not a new phenomenon. Back in 2024, this newspaper highlighted the same situation, exposing how wealthy Nigerian women were being encouraged to travel to Barbados specifically to deliver babies and obtain passport power.
Now, the scheme seems to have been enhanced with a direct airline route and an aggressive social media machinery.
Minister of Home Affairs Gregory Nicholls, speaking just hours after discussing the Barbados Citizenship Bill at the Joint Select Committee, was contacted by the Sunday Sun and shown the 2024 published story.
He responded: “My information suggests that this is not as widespread and pervasive as the initial story suggests. The Immigration Department has not detected any unusual cause for concern or alarm based on the number of persons coming from there.”
Nicholls admitted that Government lacked the hard data to back any claims made.
“More research would have to be done to confirm the number of births recorded to mothers in order to assess the claims made. I would have to get specific figures of these numbers and then crunch them,” he said.
It is understood that at the centre of the operation is a company called Stuttgartbirthservice, which charges a NGN$100 000 (US$77) consultation to orchestrate the entire endeavour. The company wrote on its Instagram page that the fee was necessary “because of the large number of enquiries we receive daily”.
For thousands more, it promises to handle everything: booking flights, securing accommodation, paying hospital fees and navigating the bureaucracy to obtain birth certificates, national identification cards and Barbados passports.
Its social media messaging is blunt and operational.
On May 14, just days before the inaugural Air Peace flight touched down at Grantley Adams International Airport, Stuttgartbirthservice posted a direct warning on its Instagram page under the headline Air Peace Flight Announcement: “Attention pregnant women travelling on Air Peace to Barbados on the 24th or 31st, please ensure you have all necessary documents in order to avoid being denied entry.”
The company left no room for doubt about its operations, posting a photograph of a Barbados passport cradled by a baby’s hands or feet: “If you are planning to have your baby in Barbados, rest assured that it’s a legally accepted practice. However, it’s crucial to familiarise yourself with our local regulations and guidelines to avoid any complications with immigration services.”
The scheme is a heavily marketed enterprise. A popular Nigerian social media influencer, boasting close to four million followers and serving as an ambassador for Stuttgart, is actively pushing the Barbados route. On Friday, she posted a video urging her large audience to act fast, telling “anyone planning their birth trip this year” to book their flight immediately if their delivery date falls between now and September, the duration of Air Peace’s flights.
With the Barbados Flag proudly displayed behind her, she promised a seamless process, stating: “So now that Air Peace operates the Barbados route twice monthly up until September 28th, you shouldn’t encounter any issues, provided all your documents are complete and properly arranged.”
Her sales pitch taps directly into the desires of wealthy Africans seeking better education, employment and health care systems for their children: “You give birth in Barbados or Brazil and boom, your baby is automatically a citizen, no long process, no stress, just a lifetime of opportunity.
“So if you ever decide to have your baby abroad, it should definitely be Brazil and Barbados as they both offer automatic citizenship by birth, which means your baby’s passport comes with real global power,” she said as she used the popular phrase “clock it”.
While the influencer promises “no stress”, the reality on the ground in Barbados is a frantic scramble. Sunday Sun investigations confirmed that pregnant women arrived on that inaugural May 24 flight. They are currently scattered across the island in AirBnBs, paying up to US$2 500 a month in rent. More women are expected to arrive on tomorrow’s flight and will be in need of housing.
A landlord said she was approached to “make money by housing pregnant African women” in her AirBnB. She said she politely turned down the offer, not wanting to get involved, but added she was “shocked” to discover how widespread the practice was. (MB)
The World is Clamping Down on this Practice.