The country’s main opposition United Progressive Party (UPP) has “vehemently” opposed government’s decision establish a presence in Iraq and to remove Iraq from the list of countries whose nationals were barred from obtaining Antigua & Barbuda citizenship under the Citizenship by Investment Programme (CIP)
Political Leader Harold Lovell declared the decision unwise and called on the government to “seriously rethink this policy and to make the safety of the citizens a priority”.
Lovell said nothing good can come from such association.
“There can be no benefit to the people of Antigua & Barbuda; we have no cultural ties and we have no trade ties with Iraq,” Lovell said.
The political leader said the party holds the view that with the insurgency in Iraq where the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) is deeply entrenched in that country, such a move by the government unnecessarily exposes Antigua & Barbuda to untold danger as well as further compromises the integrity of the country’s passport.
“Perhaps it will benefit a few individuals financially, but it will not benefit the people of Antigua & Barbuda and we are calling on the Gaston Browne administration to reverse this decision,” Lovell said.
News surfaced over the weekend that war-torn Iraq, a second home base for terrorist group Islamic State, had been removed from the list of nations blacklisted from CIP.
This was confirmed in a press release last Friday when Governor General Sir Rodney Williams announced the appointment of Antigua & Barbuda’s Ambassador to Iraq, Ahmed Abhas Oleiwi Al-Hassani.
The new ambassador also confirmed he had obtained Antigua & Barbudan citizenship under the economic programme, and that he had played a major role in removing Iraq from the CIP blacklist.
Political Analyst, Arvel Grant, who weighed in on the matter yesterday said due diligence would be key now that that citizens of Iraq are eligible for the economic programme.
He also said there are risks associated with opening the CIP to any nation on earth.
“The issue about whom we invite to participate in the programme has very little to do with which country they live in; it has more to do with the level of due diligence we carry out and the extent to which we make sure that we do not take on security collaterals with the issuing of the passport,” Grant said.
In 2014 the government took the decision to ban citizens from Afghanistan, Iraq, North Korea, Somalia Yemen and Iran the right from obtaining citizenship under the programme.
Last year, Iranians were removed from the blacklist, but Syrians were deemed ineligible.