By NICO SCAVELLA

Tribune Staff Reporter

nscavella@tribunemedia.net

FORMER Deputy Prime Minister Brent Symonette yesterday said the government should delay implementing its new restrictions that will make it compulsory for students of foreigners living in the Bahamas to have a school permit to attend classes until 2016.

Mr Symonette is also a former minister of immigration under the Ingraham administration.

“I would have left it the way the FNM had it. If they wanted to impose these restrictions I would have put September of the next school year, whilst trying to get them into this school year, and then giving them a waiver period so you have time to get this information,” he said at a Rotary Club meeting at the East Villa restaurant yesterday.

“So in other words a child that shows up in September that does not have this information should not be banned from going to school.”

The restrictions were announced by Immigration Minister Fred Mitchell last week and will apply for the fall school semester.

Last week Mr Symonette said making it harder for children of immigrants to get an education could create a slippery slope that results in a myriad of long-term social problems for Bahamians.

Arguing that the policies are intended to target Haitians in particular, Mr Symonette raised concerns about the social implications of potentially restricting education access.

He said that he doubted the new policy is well thought out and questioned how the Department of Immigration will be able to meet the increased demand for processing.

On Tuesday, Amnesty International (AI) Caribbean Campaigner Robin Guittard expressed concerns over the new restrictions, and said they “could violate the Bahamas’ international obligations”.

Mr Guittard said the non-governmental organisation would be seeking formal communication with the government to request clarification on the matter.

Florida lawmaker Daphne Campbell, in a letter to Prime Minister Perry Christie yesterday, called the restrictions a “deeply disturbing” change.

Last week’s announcement was also highlighted as a “tough” policy in the Saturday edition of The New York Times.

However, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Immigration has defended the move, stressing it is in accordance with the Immigration Act and a part of the Christie administration’s wider policies.

Deputy Prime Minister Phillip “Brave” Davis has bashed The New York Times and other critics for continuing to “misrepresent what our laws are and to misrepresent how we apply our law”.