Attorney General and Minister of Legal Affairs Anil Nandlall on Tuesday disclosed that the legal and regulatory frameworks governing immigration and citizenship in Guyana are under review.
Speaking during his programme “Issues in the News”, he said this review is being conducted by the Attorney General Chambers in collaboration with the Ministry of Labour and Manpower Planning, Ministry of Home Affairs, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation.
“A large part of our citizen regulatory framework is constitutional. So that can’t be changed by ordinary legislation. But the aspects of it that can be changed by ordinary legislation that is currently being reviewed,” Nandlall noted.
“The objective is to restrict acquisition of Guyanese citizenship, to put checks and balance in place, to regulate with greater scrutiny the granting of citizenship, and to regulate land ownership or property ownership in respect of non-citizens of Guyana,” he explained.
Noting that these are very topical issues, Nandlall assured that the review process will be widely consultative.
“Many important stakeholder organisations have made out a case to the government, and they continue to agitate for this initiative to begin. Obviously, it will be a consultative process,” he assured.
Further speaking on the government’s legislative agenda, Nandlall noted that the Ministry of Labour and Manpower Planning is undertaking two importance exercises in relation to the country’s labour landscape.
The first is a comprehensive review of Guyana’s existing labour laws.
“We have a consultant here, Justice Deborah Thomas Felix, former president of the Industrial Court of Trinidad and Tobago, and another expert from the International Labour Organization, ILO. They are looking at the current landscape. They are identifying the gaps. And then they will submit a report, out of which we will draw recommendations of different types, including statutory outputs,” he outlined.
The Attorney General noted that consultations are ongoing with stakeholders, including various government ministries and agencies as well as members of the private sector and wider civil society.
The other important undertaking is a review of the country’s health and safety regulatory framework.
“This is crucial to ensure the safety of our workers, in particular in areas in the new and emerging sectors in our country, where we have little or no relevant regulatory framework,” Nandlall noted.
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