VI snubbed from anti-corruption summit in London
Both countries indicated they would not have been attending because they were not invited.
Following the Panama Papers scandal, where 11 million documents leaked from law firm Mossack Fonseca revealed the names and company details of those with offshore investments situated in so-called tax havens, the Virgin Islands and other financial services jurisdictions came in for malicious attacks from the international press, with a BBC presenter even alleging that the Virgin Islands had built its new Peebles Hospital from ‘dirty money’.
British Prime Minister David Cameron was caught on microphone on May 10, 2016 saying that leaders of “fantastically corrupt” countries including Nigeria and Afghanistan will attend an anti-corruption summit in London this week.
He referred to “Nigeria and Afghanistan — possibly two of the most corrupt countries in the world.”
According to The Times of London, there are mixed views on whether both countries should have been invited to the summit. Robert Palmer, the campaign leader at Global Witness, said: "We think any country or territory that is obviously part of this problem should also be part of the solution."
However, Transparency International's Maggie Murphy warned that countries with poor records on corruption may water down the summit's agenda. "If Panama has not been invited, perhaps it is because of their stated interest in tackling corruption is not yet convincing enough," Murphy said.
Efforts to get a comment from Premier Dr The Hon D. Orlando Smith on the VI not being invited to the summit were futile.
The summit on May 12, 2016 brought together leaders of various countries who have committed to tackle corruption in their respective territories, including Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos, Afghanistan President Ashraf Ghani and Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari.
VI was snubbed for CARICOM meeting with Barack H. Obama
This is not the first time the VI has been snubbed from attending a high level meeting.
While the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) was meeting with the United States of America’s 44th President, Barack H. Obama, for a one-day important summit on April 9, 2015 the Virgin Islands (VI) and the other Associate members of the Caribbean Community had to sit out as they were not issued an invitation.
The VI is an Associate Member of CARICOM, along with Anguilla, Bermuda, Turks and Caicos Islands and Cayman Islands.
.jpg)
Follow Us On
14 Responses to “VI snubbed from anti-corruption summit in London”
http://www.forbes.com/sites/riskmap/2016/05/13/anti-corruption-summit-focuses-on-the-enablers/#531411ff184e
everything from everyone everywhere, and then having the gaul to call that 'transparency' or 'anti-corruption'.
what slime they are, especially the ring leaders the US and UK. Us ought get a big spanking....