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Tuesday, 08 December 2009
A Barbadian lawyer is claiming that the country's Registration Department may have misinterpreted the law after a Jamaican woman's bid to register her baby was denied twice.
Attorney-at-law Douglas Trotman says he is prepared to go to court after two applications to the Registration Department by Jamaican Kerry-Ann Riley.
Ms Riley, an illegal immigrant went to the Department twice to have her baby registered but was turned down, although the baby's father, a Barbadian, was present.
The Jamaican woman, now 30, was taken to Barbados from Jamaica by her father when she was 11 years old.
However, while she has never applied for citizenship, all of her five children were born there.
The child in question, her fifth, was born on April 23 and still has no legal name or identity while her other four children are all registered citizens of Barbados and attending Government schools.
The Barbados Registration Department turned down her application saying since she does not have a Barbadian identification card and valid passport; neither she nor the child's father can register the baby.
But according to Mr. Trotman, the Registry is misinterpreting the law.
"The constitution of Barbados would give the child a right to be recognized in relation to whether their parents are married or single. Essentially, the registration Department has been doing what they believe to be right but unfortunately, they're wrong and if the Registrar doesn't take this point, then the only recourse is to go to the law courts," he said.
The attorney also conceded that Miss Riley's status in the country could be contributing to her plight.
"It's possible ... we currently have a green paper on immigration and there was an amnesty that expired on December 1st and has been extended until December 31st. She qualifies under the amnesty and so, she should not be subjected in anyway to the deportation.
"There is somewhat of an anti-foreigner (theme), if I may use that term, here," Mr. Trotman said.
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