Category: News

A Bahrain court on Tuesday revoked the citizenship of 115 people at a mass terrorism trial, the most to lose their nationality at any one time, amid a yearslong crackdown on all dissent in the island kingdom.

Bahrain’s Sunni-rule government increasingly has wielded denaturalization as a hammer to beat back dissent on the Shiite-majority island off the coast of Saudi Arabia in the Persian Gulf.

The court decision Tuesday came as much of the Mideast focused on Israeli security forces killing 59 Palestinian protesters as the U.S. Embassy opened in Jerusalem the day before. Like much of the crackdown, it has quietly escaped attention.

Bahrain’s Public Prosecution said the case involved a little-known militant group it identified as the “Zulfiqar Brigades,” whose mass arrests authorities previously announced in 2016. Zulfiqar is the name of the forked sword of Imam Ali, the son-in-law of the Prophet Muhammad who is revered by Shiites.

Prosecutors accused defendants of building and detonating bombs, receiving weapons training and plotting to kill police officers. Prosecutors also alleged defendants received training and support from Iran and its hard-line paramilitary Revolutionary Guard.

Bahrain long has accused Iran of stoking dissent in the country, something Tehran just as long has denied.

A statement from prosecutors said 53 defendants received life sentences, while dozens of others faced prison time. It said 23 defendants were acquitted.

Bahraini officials did not immediately respond to requests for comment for more information. Activists said the sentencing raised the number of those who have lost their citizenship since the 2012 to over 700.

“This outrageously harsh sentence is setting a new level of injustice in Bahrain,” said Sayed Ahmed Alwadaei, the director of advocacy at the Bahrain Institute for Rights and Democracy. “Rendering people stateless in a mass trial is a clear violation of international law.”

Bahrain, a nation only some 760 square kilometers (290 square miles) in size, is home to some 1.4 million people. About half are Bahraini citizens, the majority of them Shiite. The island is also home to the U.S. Navy’s 5th Fleet and a new British naval base.

The island has been ruled since the 1780s by the Sunni Al Khalifa family. King Hamad, who took the throne in 1999, initially took steps to move the country from an absolute monarchy to a constitutional one.

However, the island’s Shiite majority accused the government of treating them like second-class citizens. They joined pro-democracy activists in demanding more political freedoms in 2011, as Arab Spring protests swept the wider Middle East. Saudi and Emirati troops ultimately helped violently put down the demonstrations.

Bahrain promised change after the protests. But since April 2016, Bahrain has engaged in a new crackdown on dissent, overturning reforms that blocked civilians from being tried in military courts. It has shut down political parties, arrested political activists and forced others into exile.

The U.S. previously pushed back against Bahrain on human rights matters, using its influence as the island’s defense guarantor with over 7,000 U.S. troops attached to a sprawling base called the Naval Support Activity in Manama.

However, that’s changed with President Trump. His administration approved a multibillion-dollar sale of F-16 fighter jets to Bahrain without the human rights conditions imposed by the State Department under President Barack Obama.

Amid the crackdown, local Shiite militant groups have carried out several attacks on security forces. Independent news gathering in Bahrain also has grown more difficult, with the government refusing to accredit two Associated Press reporters and others while shutting down a prominent local independent newspaper.

 

Source: abcnews.go.com

To access the data sheet on the Portugal’s Golden Residence Programme (GRP) results as of the 30^th April 2018, please click here

Episode 1 of the documentary series Caribbean Citizenship by Investment, the first-ever documentary on all five citizenship by investment programs (CIPs) in the Caribbean, is now available.

In the series, we visit each country to learn more about the respective citizenship by investment programs and life on the ground on the islands. The first episode covers the Saint Kitts & Nevis CIP and will be followed by episodes on Grenada, Saint Lucia, Dominica, and Antigua & Barbuda.

The series includes interviews with officials from the respective citizenship by investment units, some of the prime ministers, CBI-real estate developers, as well as ordinary residents, and is intended to both give an introduction to citizenship by investment programs in the Caribbean, as well as to help international audiences learn more about the differences between each country.

 

 

Source: cision

The Trump administration said on Friday it will end temporary protections for immigrants in the United States from Honduras on Jan. 5, 2020, leaving potentially 57,000 people vulnerable to deportation.

It is the latest in a series of decisions by President Donald Trump to shut down temporary protected status (TPS) granted to immigrants after natural disasters or violent conflicts that would prevent them from safely returning to their home countries.

Trump has denounced a “caravan” of migrants, mostly from Central America, that has crossed Mexico seeking entry into the United States in San Diego. Many say they are fleeing violence and political unrest at home and hope to claim asylum in US immigration courts.

Marlon Tabora, Honduras’ ambassador to the United States, said the conditions did not exist in the country to repatriate tens of thousands of people. “These families have lived in the United States for 20 years and re-integrating them into the country will not be easy if they decide to return,” he said.

Hondurans are the second largest nationality with TPS to lose their status, which was granted to the country – along with Nicaragua – in 1999 following the devastation of Hurricane Mitch.

The government said it had conducted a review and found “conditions in Honduras that resulted from the hurricane have notably improved.” The 18-month timeline to end the program would allow “individuals with TPS to arrange for their departure or to seek an alternative lawful immigration,” the Department of Homeland Security said in a news release.

In January, the Trump administration ended TPS classification for some 200,000 Salvadorans, which had allowed to live and work in the United States since 2001. Their status will expire in 2019.

TPS critics have complained that repeated extensions in six- to 18-month increments of the status, sometimes for decades, has given beneficiaries de facto residency in the United States.

In November, then-acting Homeland Security Secretary Elaine Duke set a deadline of six months to make a decision about TPS for Honduras, which is one of the most violent countries in the Western Hemisphere and recently has been convulsed by protests following a contested presidential election. Duke is no longer in charge, replaced by Kirstjen Nielsen.

Most of the other countries that have come up for TPS review have been terminated except for Syria, which is in the midst of a devastating war. The administration also recently ended the program for Haiti and Nepal.

Immigrant advocates said the decisions on TPS are upending the lives of people who have settled in the United States, sometimes for decades.

“They have made enormous contributions to this nation as workers, small-business owners, homeowners, parents of US citizens and community members,” said Frank Sharry, executive director at the Washington-based America’s Voice Education Fund. He said Congress should help to create a pathway for long-time TPS holders to remain in the United States.

Karen Valladares, the director of the National Forum for Migration, a non-governmental organization in Honduras, said people still are choosing to leave because of gang and drug-related violence and lack of economic opportunities.

“There have not been concrete improvements in the security situation,” Valladares said. In some ways, “Honduras is worse off than when they left.”

 

Source: businessinsider.com

In light of recent changes made to the regulations of the Citizenship by Investment (CIP) , opposition Member of Parliament (MP) Ernest Hilaire is calling for the programme to be immediately discontinued.

Speaking at a press conference on Thursday, the former CIP chairman argued that the new changes places Saint ‎Lucia as a cheap island paradise, as against having it positioned as a high-level option ‎for citizenship.

More importantly, Hilaire said ‎the changes to the CIP regulations creates a greater level of uncertainty and poses a threat to the island’s national security, especially since it is no longer mandatory for investors through CIP to submit a police nor bankers’ reference.

The SLP spokesperson on business and investment also argued that the due diligence process was much more robust and rigid, but with these changes it has placed the entire programme in jeopardy.

Below is Dr. Hilaire’s full statement:

I want to start by stating clearly that the SLP Administration did announce that the Citizenship by Investment Program would be reviewed and where necessary amendments would be made.

This is usual in managing any programme and certainly a requirement for a sensitive initiative as the CIP. So the Labour Party is fully prepared to review and where necessary make suggestions to change the CIP.

What the UWP Administration has done is, that, within one year of operations without the CIP having even being given a chance to properly market and operate, to make some horrendous changes. Changes not to the Act, the substantive guiding principles but to the Regulations.

There is no doubt that the changes to the CIP Regulations as announced will introduce greater levels of uncertainty, scrutiny and security fears about the operations of the CIP.

Let us examine the changes and the consequences which lead me to expressing such a strong statement.

1. Amendment of Regulation 7.

This involves revoking subregulation 3. This provision, which required an Applicant to declare Net Worth of at least US$3Million, sought to ensure that only persons of a certain net worth would qualify for citizenship.

We did not think and still do not believe that we should allow anyone who can just afford the donation level of US$100,000 to qualify for citizenship. We boast that we are selling a lifestyle, that Saint Lucia is premium, that we are not cheap and a free for all, yet the Government proceeds to remove the one regulation that sought more than any other to restrict the CIP to high net worth individuals.

This is no longer a programme that seeks to attract high net worth individuals; Saint Lucia has become a cow which can be milked by any person with $100,000. Let us forget about high net worth, it is a programme for no worth!

It also involves revoking subregulation 7. This is pure madness! I am sorry but I can’t express in any gentler description. Did the Prime Minister read what he was signing?

Subregulation 7 reads “An Applicant for citizenship by investment must satisfy all conditions specified under Section 30 of the Act”

Now let us refer to Section 30 of the Act. This Section provides for the conditions which someone needs to satisfy to qualify. The consequence of this revocation is that it is now no longer mandatory for someone applying to provide the basic information on which an assessment can be made.

It is no longer mandatory to provide a police certificate from their country of origin; you do not even need a bankers reference to apply for citizenship, something that you require to apply for a VISA; the application does not even have to be in English, and does not have to be done by the applicant declaring that the information is correct.

If this is for real and the Prime Minister has signed an SI revoking Subregulation 7, then he has destroyed any semblance of common sense in the administration of the Saint Lucia CIP. On the basis of this change alone the CIP should be discontinued immediately.

1. Amendment of Regulation 9

This change serves to add a subregulation which provides for the Board of the CIP to retain 20% of each monetary contribution made to the National Economic Fund for marketing and promotion. There are two major issues with this change.

Firstly, the Act provides for the Unit to collect fees and it is the Unit which administers the Programme. Therefore why is it the Board which is empowered to retain 20% of all donations?

Secondly and, more importantly, the Act provides clearly what must be done with monies deposited in the National Economic Fund. Section 33 provides the answer. Monies must be deposited into the National Economic Fund and that the Minister MUST present to Parliament each year for its approval how these monies must be used.

The National Economic Fund should be placed within the Treasury with deposits going to the Consolidated Fund and used according to how Parliament has agreed. It is not for the Minister to announce through Regulations how the money is to be used.

Furthermore, the Minister must provide more information on marketing and promotion as suggested. Let me explain why. As it is constituted there are two marketing agencies that are promoting the CIP at their expense wherever it is agreed. In return for each applicant brought in, these agencies get 10% of the donation or the fees. So we need to ask the following –

⦁ Is the established marketing arrangements revoked?
⦁ If not, is the CIP paying 10% to marketing agencies then holding 20% for more marketing? This means for every $100,000 received, the people of Saint Lucia will only get $70,000 for a citizenship!!!
⦁ If so, why would you revoke an arrangement where you pay 10% to now collect 20% to spend on the same marketing? Is there any other agencies which will be receiving payments from the 20%?

1. Insertion of new Regulation 15
We agree with this as it was an oversight in the original Regulations.

2. Amendment of Schedule 1
We agree with this as it was an oversight in the original Regulations.

3. Amendment of Schedule 2 –

This is scandalous. The CIP was position as a high valued option for persons who want to be part of a select few. Therefore as noted by the Leader of the Opposition there were three fundamental provisions – a high net worth, a limit to 500 annually and a sufficiently high donation level.

This amendment together with the other changes makes Saint Lucia a cheap island paradise. It is shameful that the Government will boast that we are now cheaper than Dominica as our new selling tagline and position Saint Lucia as destination that has less value than the cheapest.

We boast of selling Jade Mountain, Ladera, Viceroy, Sandals and soon the Royalton at Cap Estate, all high end options, of being one of the world’s leading wedding and honeymoon destinations, of having world renowned beauty and attractions but we are reduced to be sold as the cheapest destination for citizenship.

Do you remember that it was the same Prime Minister when as Leader as the UWP in opposition said he was opposing the CIP because it had no transparency and accountability? That the Board must be an independent Board with no one appointed by politicians? That ALL the money of the CIP MUST go to the people of Saint Lucia? Remember?

Yet, the same person now as Prime Minister, as Minister responsible for Citizenship by Investment has appointed a Board in the same manner, with no changes to the Legislation to allow a Board appointed as he said is necessary.

The CIP Act requires that by the end of September 2016, a Report should have been presented to Parliament indicating who received citizenship, how much money was earned and what was it used for. To date the Prime Minister has failed to do so. Yet, the Prime Minister says that the CIP has earned EC$6 million but the Chairman of the CIP says it has earned almost US$4m (EC$10.8m).

Rather than meet the requirements for accountability and transparency, the UWP Government is making changes that bring shame and disgrace to Saint Lucia.

Saint Lucia deserves better. The CIP changes are largely insulting and degrading to Saint Lucians.
Whatever happened to Brand Saint Lucia …is it no longer Simply Beautiful but now Simply Cheap?

 

Source: stlucianewsonline.com

At a time when H-1B visa rules are being tightened + , there is growing interest in the EB-5 visa program. The number of EB-5 visas issued to Indians touched a record 174 between October 2016 and 2017, up from 149 in the corresponding year-ago period.

Under the EB-5 visa programme, also dubbed as ‘cash for visa’, individuals can apply for lawful permanent residence in the United States (this is not citizenship) for themselves, their spouse and children below 21 years, if they make the necessary investments and create at least 10 permanent full time jobs for US workers. The current minimum threshold investment limit is US$ 1 million (which translates to Rs 6.5 crore).

A reduced investment of $500,000 is permitted for business operations in specified rural areas or those with higher unemployment limits – known as target employment areas (TEAs). Mark Davies, chairman and managing attorney of Davies and Associates, New York City told TOI, “Two years back, most people were not aware of the existence of the EB-5 program. However, now the awareness has skyrocketed, and therefore, the number of applications has increased enormously.”

Vivek Tandon, CEO of EB-5 BRICS, an advisory firm in California, said, “The EB-5 visa program has been in existence since last 30 years. Since 2015, there have been many proposals to increase the investment amount. This could have an adverse effect on the number of applications being filed out of India.”

According to some reports, the program is likely to be tweaked after September 2018. Ishaan Khanna, director of Investor Relations, who was on an F1 visa studying at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles, CA, has now decided to invest in the EB-5 visa.

He told TOI, “During the end of my third year in college, I realised how much the United States had to offer for someone like me and the professional opportunities I would have access to rather than in India. I was majoring in Information Systems at the time and I had just finished an internship with a tech company. Keeping all this in mind, I began to research all my immigration options and found the EB-5 visa which was suitable for me. Knowing that my H-1B visa chances were limited, I decided to invest in this.”

 

Source: timesofindia.indiatimes.com

The tiny twin-island Federation of St. Kitts and Nevis, under the leadership of the Team Unity government, continues to punch above its weight in a number of areas – from economic performance to improvements in information and communication technology (ICT) – particularly when measured against the accomplishments of much larger nations regionally and internationally. “In every area in which we engage, we are being compared, not just with another small island, but … with the rest of the world, and so we have to think big,” said Prime Minister the Honourable Dr. Timothy Harris at Friday’s ceremony to commission the new forensic laboratory.

On the economic front, St. Kitts and Nevis is the only country in the Organization of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) with a near 5 percent projected growth in 2018, driven largely in part by a robust construction sector and a booming tourism industry.

Also noteworthy is that St. Kitts and Nevis’ Citizenship by Investment Programme, the oldest and most trusted programme in the industry, has racked up several accolades in recent times that have solidified its position as the platinum brand of the industry.

Prime Minister Harris, who recently wrapped up a tour of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Hong Kong, where he successfully promoted the country’s CBI programme, said “from my interaction with [more than] 200 international marketing agents and their support teams and developers, I was assured that St. Kitts and Nevis’ CBI programme is considered in the market place as the most reliable and it is now the most sought-after programme.”

Additionally, the nation continues to outpace its OECS counterparts in terms of ICT development. In the 2017 ICT Development Index, produced by the International Telecommunications Union (ITU), St. Kitts and Nevis ranked 37th out of 176 countries worldwide as it relates to developments in information and communication technology.

Prime Minister Harris further noted that he was filled with a sense of pride in knowing that St. Kitts and Nevis was evaluated as the least corrupt jurisdiction in the Caribbean region. The World Justice Project (WJP) Rule of Law Index 2017-2018 ranked the nation 25 out of a total of 113 countries in the world. The WJP Rule of Law Index measures countries’ rule of law performance across eight factors: constraints on government powers, absence of corruption, open government, fundamental rights, order and security, regulatory enforcement, civil justice and criminal justice. “They evaluated the government, they evaluated the judiciary and they evaluated other sectors of the country and ranked your country among the least corrupt,” he said.

Noting that the continued growth and prosperity of the nation hinge on the safety and security of the people, the Team Unity administration has made substantial investments in the Ministry of National Security, including the opening of the brand-new forensic laboratory in Tabernacle.

“The peace, order, safety and security, and good governance are responsibilities [that] my Cabinet takes seriously,” Harris stated, adding that his administration has provided year-over-year increases in budgetary support to the Ministry of National Security in 2016, 2017 and 2018.

 

Source: thestkittsnevisobserver.com

About 1,100 UK citizens work for the EU in Brussels and Luxembourg.

Mr Juncker called Belgium a kind host and asked its prime minister, Charles Michel, to “show the same generosity when it comes to granting Belgian citizenship” to British EU staff.

When the UK leaves the EU next March Britons will lose their EU citizenship.

The UK and EU have already pledged to protect citizens’ rights after Brexit, but that does not mean granting nationality.

Article 49 of the EU staff rules states that “an official may be required to resign” if he or she loses their EU citizenship and is no longer a national of an EU member state.

Many British EU staff are longstanding residents with families.

An internal EU Commission document quoted by Politico news last monthsaid Article 49 would not mean British staff losing their EU jobs, apart from cases involving “conflicts of interest or international obligations”.

Responding to Mr Juncker’s plea during a European Parliament debate, Mr Michel said Belgium’s citizenship law in the context of Brexit was “contradictory”, but he did not specify the difficulties.

“The government is examining the judicial possibilities on this question, which affects a number of people who have been living in our country for a long time,” he said.

European Commission spokesman Margaritis Schinas said later that Mr Juncker’s remarks were meant as a reminder for the Belgian leader. “We live up to the promise that our colleagues of British nationality should be given maximum guarantees to stay, not only with their employment but also if they want to stay as Belgian citizens. But this is entirely in the hands of the Belgian government, not ours,” he said.

Michael Ashbrook of Solidarity, Independence, Democracy (SID), a trade union representing EU staff, told the BBC that “all the British staff are trying for EU citizenship”. “They are very worried”, he said, referring to the impact of Brexit on their jobs.

“There has been talk of dismissing British ‘contract agents’ on Brexit day, rather than letting them complete their fixed-term contracts,” he said.

Resolving the status of British staff, to keep them in their jobs, would take the Commission “just a few minutes”, he said.

Brexit sets a legal precedent for the EU and raises a host of new legal challenges, because no state has left the 28-nation bloc before.

In the debate the Belgian leader clashed with UKIP’s Nigel Farage, an anti-EU MEP.

“Belgium is not a nation; it’s an artificial creation,” Mr Farage said. The Dutch- and French-speaking parts of Belgium “dislike each other intensely”, he alleged.

Mr Michel replied ironically: “I’m happy to hear this sound advice from Nigel Farage on the future of Belgium. He has been busy with the future of Britain, with Brexit – and we can see where Britain has got to with that.”

To qualify for Belgian citizenship, an applicant must have lived in Belgium for at least five years legally and passed a language test.

Luxembourg requires at least five years’ residence and competence in Luxembourgish, a language with only about 390,000 native speakers.

 

Source: bbc.com

Public input received on misuse of residence by investment schemes to circumvent the common reporting standard.

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