Basseterre, St. Kitts, December 31, 2018 (SKNIS): Former
Prime Minister of St. Kitts and Nevis and current Leader of the
Opposition, the Right Honourable Dr. Denzil Douglas, heads a list of
notable people who have been barred or excluded from the United States
of America by the Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) of
the United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS), which handles
deportation in the United States, often in conjunction with advice from
the U.S. Department of State.
According to the US Department of
Homeland Security “Former Prime Minister of the Federation of St. Kitts
and Nevis, Denzil Douglas, has had his visa to enter the United States
revoked in January 2015. This was because of his lax citizenship by
investment controls which allowed for the participation of illicit
actors, including individuals intending to use the secondary citizenship
to evade US sanctions, who were then obtaining SKN passports with
relative ease.”
Dr. Douglas’ name appears on the list among other
notable figures including Hamid Aboutalebi, Iranian diplomat and envoy
to the United States; Gerry Adams, Irish Republican, later President of
Sinn Fein; Lily Allen, British singer; Luke Angel, a British teen who
sent a curse-laden e-mail message to the White House directed at
President Obama; Kurt Blome, A German microbiologist and Nazi scientist;
Boy George, British Singer and fashion designer, whose real name is
George O’Dowd; Hortensia Bussi de Allende, Widow of Chilean President
Salvador Allende, who was overthrown; Pete Doherty, British singer; Kyle
Falconer, Scottish lead singer for The View; William “Leffen” Hjelte,
Swedish professional Super Smash Bros. Melee player; Diego
Maradona, Former Argentine soccer player and coach; and Nelson Mandela,
South African Revolutionary and later president of South Africa—ban was
later lifted. Other notable personalities appear on the infamous list.
Minister
of Foreign Affairs of St. Kitts and Nevis, The Honorable Mark Brantley,
recently mentioned in the National Assembly on December 19 that the
FinCEN Advisory from the United States Treasury, issued on May 20, 2014,
stated that under the former Dr. Douglas-led Administration there was
abuse of the Citizenship by Investment (CBI) programme and that
passports obtained through the St. Kitts and Nevis CBI programme were
used to facilitate financial crimes.
Part of the FinCEN Advisory
read: “While many countries offer programs similar to the SKN
Citizenship-by-Investment program, the SKN program is attractive to
illicit actors because the program, as administered, maintains lax
controls as to who may be granted citizenship. While the SKN government
has publicly pledged to improve these controls, FinCEN believes that
they remain ineffective. For example, in 2013 the SKN government
announced that all Iranian nationals were suspended from participating
in the SKN Citizenship-by-Investment program. Despite this public
assurance, FinCEN believes that Iranian nationals continue to obtain
passports issued through the program. As a result of these lax controls,
illicit actors, including individuals intending to use the secondary
citizenship to evade sanctions, can obtain an SKN passport with relative
ease.”
Minister Bradley also mentioned that for the very same
issue of lax controls as to who may be granted citizenship, Canada
removed its visa waiver for St. Kitts and Nevis. However, the Foreign
Minister said that the Federation is re-engaging with Canada in a
“meaningful way” and that the Team Unity Administration has restored the
integrity of the CBI programme, which now has “one of the most robust
due due-diligence of any CBI programme in the world.”
Dr. Douglas has never acknowledged that his US visa was revoked and that he has been barred from entering the United States.
However,
an article appeared in the Jamaica Observer newspaper, dated March 18,
2015– “Report: US Confirms revocation of Denzil Douglas’ diplomatic
visa”
“Contrary to denials by the former prime minister of St
Kitts and Nevis, Dr. Denzil Douglas, that his United States diplomatic
visa had been revoked prior to last month’s general elections, US
officials have reportedly confirmed that the revocation was part of a
gradual process, although not done deliberately to coincide with the
election campaign,” the Jamaica Observer stated.
“Douglas has
refuted the claims that his US visa was revoked, stating that the whole
story is untrue and simply an effort to tarnish his reputation,” the
Jamaica Observer added.
In commenting on the revocation of the visa
by the US government, Prime Minister of St. Kitts and Nevis has always
said that “The United States, the most powerful country in the world,
determined that Denzil Douglas was improper and unfit to be accorded a
US diplomatic visa and it is a shame and scandal for any national leader
to have had such a condemnation put on him,”
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