**BY Hon. Thomas Christopher Famous JP, MP Bermuda**
**“Sheep head and Goat head not the same”**
A Caribbean phrase often repeated by the elders when some things which may look similar, but are definitively not the same.
At the conclusion of the recent CARICOM 49th heads of Government meeting held in Montego Bay Jamaica it was stated that 4 Caribbean nations would embark on Freedom of Movement, effective October 1st, 2025.
Those nations include The Republic of Barbados, Belize, Dominica and St. Vincent and the Grenadines.
**Diversity and Reality** The Caribbean consists of islands and countries of various sizes and populations. From Hispaniola with over 20 million persons to Saba with a population of less than 2,000 persons and everything in between.
We have a wide variety of economies ranging from Agriculture to Tourism and Financial services, with different cultures and subcultures.
In the smaller islands such as Bermuda, the Cayman Islands, the Turks and Caicos Islands and the Virgin Islands, there are presently an ongoing set of challenges that are adversely affecting the generational islanders.
These include low birthrates; lack of affordable housing; as well as declining populations of generational islanders. In both the Cayman Islands and the Virgin Islands, belongers account for less than 35% of the total populations. This has created cause for concern that they are now irreversibly in the minority in their own islands.
Many are now competing with guest workers for employment and livable wages. Compounding this issue is that housing and home ownership for the working and middle class has become increasingly unaffordable, with many reduced to becoming lifelong renters at best.
Unlimited and unrestricted migration from other islands will cause immediate upward pressure for housing on islands that have limited land space. Unrestricted labour influx would cause the wages in many professions to stagnate.
Unrestricted residency rights will lead to native persons further becoming minorities in their own islands.In other small islands, there are infrastructure challenges with adequate water and power supply. Any significant population increases would demand immediate costly investment in expanding these services or risk water shortages and power brown outs.
So, for the persons in those islands and those that represent them in their respective parliaments, the logistics of Freedom of Movement is not really appealing to them at this point in history. Effectively, proposing uncontrolled immigration would end political aspirations for many.**Contrast and Compare**
Freedom of Movement will have its benefits where and when properly prescribed. An example would be a need for more hospitality workers in Barbados resulting in increased remittances to Dominica. There will be those countries which will have net positives.
Freedom of movement cannot adversely affect larger countries such as; Belize, Jamaica, Guyana or Trinidad and Tobago. It is simply logistically impossible for them to run out of land space or for the native persons in those countries to become the minorities in their own lands.
Simply put, one size does not fit all. As Granny says, “Sheep Head and Goat head are not the same.”