HRA Chairman Saad Kassis-Mohamed Calls on Antigua and Barbuda to Restore and Protect Barbudan Communal Land Rights
The Human Rights Association (HRA) today calls on the Government of Antigua and Barbuda to restore the communal land rights of the people of Barbuda, to repeal or amend the legislation that has enabled the privatisation of Barbudan land without the free, prior, and informed consent of its people, and to ensure that the Barbuda Council retains its authority over land and development decisions on the island. The HRA further calls on the government to end all development activity on land whose title remains disputed and to establish a transparent process through which Barbudans can exercise meaningful control over the future of their island.
The people of Barbuda have held their land communally since emancipation in 1834, a system that has endured for nearly two centuries and that defines the relationship between Barbudans and their island. Under that system, no individual could hold freehold title to land in Barbuda; the land belonged collectively to the community and was governed through the Barbuda Council. In September 2017, Hurricane Irma devastated the island and the entire population of approximately 1,600 people was evacuated to Antigua. Within weeks of the evacuation, the Government of Antigua and Barbuda passed the Barbuda Land (Amendment) Act 2017, which for the first time permitted freehold land title in Barbuda. The Barbuda Council was not consulted. The legislation passed while Barbudans remained displaced and unable to participate in the legislative process that determined the future of their land.
The HRA has reviewed accounts from Barbudan community members and representatives of the Barbuda Council who describe what followed as the systematic dismantling of their land rights under the cover of disaster recovery. Among those who have spoken to the HRA is Elaine, a Barbudan woman in her fifties whose family has lived on the island for four generations. She described returning to Barbuda after the hurricane to find development surveyors already active on land her community had held collectively for generations. She stated that Barbudans were told reconstruction and investment would benefit them, but that no meaningful consultation took place and that decisions about their land were being made in St. John’s without their participation. A second account comes from a member of the Barbuda Council who described the amendment act as legislation that stripped the council of its authority at the moment when Barbudans were least able to respond to it, and who stated that subsequent development approvals have proceeded without the consent required under Barbudan customary land governance.
The consequences are concrete and ongoing. Large-scale tourism and resort development projects have been approved on land that was previously held communally, with construction proceeding despite the objections of Barbudan community leaders and residents. The economic benefits of that development have not accrued to the Barbudan community in any proportionate or agreed measure. The communal land system that protected Barbudan livelihoods, housing security, and cultural identity for nearly two centuries has been replaced, through legislation passed in their absence, by a freehold system that serves the interests of external investors rather than the people of Barbuda.
HRA Chairman Saad Kassis-Mohamed stated:
“The people of Barbuda held their land collectively for nearly 200 years. That system protected them. It was not taken from them through open debate or democratic process. It was taken from them in the weeks after a hurricane, while they were displaced and unable to respond, through legislation passed without their knowledge or consent. Elaine’s family has lived on that island for four generations. She returned home after Irma to find surveyors already on land her community had held collectively since emancipation. That is not development. That is dispossession. The HRA calls on the Government of Antigua and Barbuda to restore what was taken and to ensure that no further decisions about Barbudan land are made without the free, prior, and informed consent of the Barbudan people.”
“The people of Barbuda held their land collectively for nearly 200 years. It was not taken from them through open debate or democratic process. It was taken in the weeks after a hurricane, while they were displaced and unable to respond, through legislation passed without their knowledge or consent. Elaine returned home after Irma to find surveyors already on land her community had held since emancipation. That is not development. That is dispossession. The HRA calls on the Government of Antigua and Barbuda to restore what was taken.”
Saad Kassis-Mohamed, Chairman, Human Rights Association
The HRA calls specifically on the Government of Antigua and Barbuda to repeal or substantially amend the Barbuda Land (Amendment) Act 2017 to restore the communal land tenure system; to suspend all development approvals on disputed Barbudan land pending a community-led review; to restore the full authority of the Barbuda Council over land and planning decisions on the island; to establish a formal, transparent, and time-bound consultation process through which Barbudans can exercise free, prior, and informed consent over all development activity; and to ensure that any economic benefits derived from development on Barbudan land accrue equitably and directly to the Barbudan community.
The Human Rights Association is an initiative of the WeCare Foundation, Cape Town, active across Africa, South Asia, and the Gulf region. The HRA works to protect the human rights of individuals facing unjust detention, denial of medical care, and due process violations, and engages directly with United Nations mechanisms to advocate on their behalf. For more information, visit wcrfoundation.com/human-rights-association.