By Luke Browne, Managing Partner at Browne and Browne Chambers in SVG and Former Minister of Government
I read an article on economic citizenship that was written by Dr. Jason Haynes. I think I have a good relationship with Jason, and I certainly have tremendous respect for his achievements and scholarship. Indeed, I consider him to be one of the stars of this nation. Needless to say, I give great weight to his views on matters of law and public policy. However, we seem to have a difference of opinion on CBI Programmes.
Dr. Haynes made an argument for economic citizenship on the basis of economic benefits and an opportunity to reclaim our sovereign right to define citizenship on our own terms.
The first problem with this proposition is that we never lost that sovereign right. He essentially admitted this when he referred to the albeit non-consequential opinion of the Advocate General of the European Court of Justice who made the point that international law imposed no restriction on our right to define citizenship on our terms. We have that right. The question is how we use that right.
The foundation of my arguments against economic citizenship has nothing to do with a repudiation of European attempts to define citizenship for us. I believe that we should set our own criteria for citizenship. I believe that we should determine citizenship based on national and international values and it so happened that one of the principles that I believe should guide our approach to citizenship found expression in the recent judgment of the European Court of Justice against Malta’s CBI programme – citizenship should be based on a “genuine connection” between a person and a country and not just shallow financial grounds. I do not see this as being a Eurocentric proportion with undertones of colonial legacy at all. In fact, this appeals to my sense of universal values. I believe in this principle with my whole heart. I do not want to live in a country that allows basically anyone to become one of its citizens so long as that person has enough money to buy a passport. I am sorry that Jason found it necessary to give preference to “economic contribution” over “genuine connection” as a basis for citizenship.
Why should paying for a Vincentian passport so that you can evade taxes, circumvent travel restrictions, escape banking limitations or run away from legal dilemmas while maintaining no genuine interest in the development of our country entitle someone a principled claim to membership in the family of Vincentians?
To be sure, CBI Programmes carry the prospect of economic benefits. But money is not everything. We must stand on our values. Interestingly, SVG has had the 2nd highest economic growth rate in Latin America and the Caribbean (after Guyana) without CBI. We must not behave as if CBI is the only way to the Promised Land. We have been successfully doing the hard work of putting in place the national infrastructure for a 21st Century economy and it is paying rich dividends. As we speak, the government is undertaking additional projects that will continue the transformation of our economy. We have been getting foreign direct investment without CBI!
This does not affect our legitimate claims for reparations and climate justice.
Additionally, we must not behave as if there is no pathway to citizenship for foreign investors – there are existing pathways based on investment AND genuine connection. We simply cannot reduce the matter to just buying a passport.
Moreover, CBI Programmes in the Caribbean and the world have been marred by corruption, mismanagement, fraud, abuse and a lack of transparency. These are serious and complicated risks that will pose challenges for even the most robust regulatory regimes.
In conclusion, I do not think that it would be appropriate for SVG to implement a CBI Programme for the following reasons –
i) it would offend the principle of citizenship based on a genuine connection between a person and a country;
ii) there are viable alternatives to it as borne out by the case of St. Vincent and the Grenadines;
iii) we already have existing pathways to citizenship for investors who develop a genuine connection to this country; and
iv) the programme is fraught with risks and challenges.
I therefore support the current public policy against CBI Programmes.
Luke Browne is an attorney-at-law and former Minister of Government in SVG with an outstanding record of scholarship. He is a National Scholar and Rhodes Scholar. He was recognised by PAHO for Outstanding Stewardship in Health Development and in 2023 was named by JCI as one of The Top 20 Most Outstanding Young Persons Under 40 in the World. He has a BSc in Mathematics and Economics from UWI Cave Hill, an MSc in Applied Statistics from the University of Oxford and law degrees from the BPP University Law School.
