‘Born your children them here’ – Julio S. Henry
The extent of the debate and division was further highlighted at a May 20, 2019, Town Hall Meeting, called by the Government to get some feedback from the public in an exchange where the Leader of Government Business, Hon Fahie noted that suggestions will be taken up by his VIP administration as they seek to chart a way forward in a manner that will be beneficial for everyone.
‘Hard Talk’ radio host Julio S. Henry, in dissecting the conversations and debates at the Town Hall Meeting, noted that one of the issues brought to the forefront was the fact that locals were making children overseas, yet attacking immigrants who come to the VI and do the same.
This he said, as highlighted by the Premier, is a growing issue as in the next couple of generations the status of indigenous Virgin Islanders and possibly Belonger status could be wiped out.
Demise of BVialnders
“Some people felt that the Premier was a little harsh, when he dose out a little portion of reality, he spoke about that we BVIslanders also are contributing to our own demise, when many [and] some of us, are having our kids and we’re having generation of kids outside of the BVI,” he told the listening audience on the Tuesday, May 21, 2019, edition of his show on Tola Radio VI.
Further, Mr Henry continued, “At one point down the road if you look at the British Nationality Act, if you look at the Belonger status, it talks about… different ways you could be considered a Belonger.”
He pointed to instances where if the grandparent is an Indigenous BVIslander, their grandchildren can receive Belonger status and citizenship in that case.
“The Premier made a very wise [observation]… it was a little harsh dose of reality but its [a] true scenario. Two three generations from now, some of us have kids, your kids have kids, their kids have kids outside of the territory [and] eventually there is no more BVislsnader, that's the reality,” he said.
Make Children in VI – Henry
When the VI House of Assembly (HoA) last met on May 17, 2019, there was a protest from a handful of persons against the ‘fast track’ Residency & Belonger Status Regularisation Programme where they succeeded in blocking the 2nd and 3rd reading of an act designed to kick the progress forward.
The petition, which had garnered 82 signatures, urged Premier Fahie to not go forward with the process until he discusses the issues with the “indigenous” and already regularised population of the Territory.
According to Mr Henry, “So the moral of that story is to have your kids in the BVI, born your children them here, your future is here, build the country and some of us are fighting against others who are migrating to the Virgin Islands, have established themselves, got married whether it was to a BVIslander or not… they decide to start a family, to go through the process, they get Belongership. How are we going to fight against that?”
Further, he said some people were a bit offended at the Premier's sentiments, however, “it also means that you lose your cultural connection.”
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19 Responses to “‘Born your children them here’ – Julio S. Henry ”
What on earth is that? You locals make humans sick with your garbage, trash, refuse...
You are so right, it is sickening to have to listen and read the garbage that is being spoken by some elected officials and these so called talk show hosts. You cannot BORN your children, you give BIRTH to your children. As a Virgin Islander, I am ashamed of the way our people speak. The Virgin Islands are not hidden in some isolated corner of the Caribbean, we are on the international front, known all over the world and our citizens should be our ambassadors providing well defined, articulate topics using the proper English language.
glad you all know he is useless
And nothing gets done