NASSAU, BAHAMAS — The government has decided to scrap the draft Nationality, Immigration and Asylum Bill and split the issues, according to Attorney General Ryan Pinder.
The bill was initially drafted by the Law Reform Commission, headed by Dame Anita Allen, in 2018 and has since undergone at least three draft versions.
It would have repealed the Bahamas Nationality Act and the Immigration Act and also outlines provisions for migrants seeking asylum in the country.
“There’s going to be a new bill,” said Pinder, during the weekly press briefing at the Office of the Prime Minister.
“Some of the concepts in that bill will be utilized.
“…We think a better approach is to do an issue by issue approach rather than what we would have seen in the bill.”
Seeking to address long-standing issues surrounding statelessness and the right to pass on citizenship, the proposed legislation put forth sweeping changes to the country’s immigration law, as well as provide a system for asylum seekers to gain refuge in The Bahamas.
Under the first draft of the bill, anyone born in The Bahamas after July 9, 1973 to non-Bahamian parents and who does not apply for citizenship before by their 19th birthday would lose the right to apply for citizenship.
Additionally, the bill would have given individuals who fall under that category six months after the law takes effect to apply for some form of status or risk being deported.
Provisions under the draft legislation would also establish a “right of abode” in The Bahamas for anyone born in the country to foreign parents while they are a minor.
The government is currently reviewing legislative reforms ranging from immigration and citizenship to gender-based matters and the age of consent.
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