The Democratic Labour Party (DLP) is calling for rigorous scrutiny of the Citizenship Bill, 2026, and Immigration Bill, 2026, warning that Barbados must safeguard the integrity of its passport against growing international exploitation.
Its stance follows the exclusive story in the last SUNDAY SUN detailing organised overseas operations marketing Barbados as a prime destination for expectant African mothers and promoting the island’s passport as a gateway to visa-free travel to more than 150 countries as well as other significant benefits.
In a press release, DLP spokesperson on legal affairs Corey Greenidge warned Government of the need to preserve the integrity of Barbados’ passport.
“The DLP wishes to make clear that the issue is not whether any laws are being broken.
The issue is that the report provides tangible evidence of something that many Barbadians may not have fully appreciated: Barbadian citizenship and the Barbados passport possess significant value internationally,” he said.
The DLP has been highly critical of the two bills in appearances before Parliament’s Joint Select Committee.
Greenidge reiterated that the party’s fundamental issue with the legislation was its underlying philosophy.
“Throughout its submission . . . the Democratic Labour Party has consistently argued that citizenship should not be viewed merely as an administrative status or an economic tool,” the attorney stated.
“Citizenship represents membership in the Barbadian nation. It carries legal, political and constitutional consequences, and the decisions made today will have implications for decades to come.”
He said the SUNDAY SUN report served as a wake-up call, proving that foreign nationals were already successfully navigating Barbados’ existing legal framework to extract value from Barbadian nationality.
He argued that this makes the proposed bills, which potentially introduce new pathways to citizenship, even more dangerous without robust safeguards.
The DLP called on Government to slow down the legislative process to ensure the “generational value” of the Barbados passport was protected from international exploitation.
Only last week, the United States State Department revealed it had dismantled several “birth tourism” rings operating out of Europe, West Africa and North Africa, which were helping foreign nationals travel to the US specifically to secure American citizenship for their children. (MB)