No short term review of Canadian visa restrictions

Canada says there will be no short term review of its decision to impose visa restrictions on nationals from St Vincent and the Grenadines and St Lucia.

Nationals from the two countries will now have to travel to Trinidad and Tobago to acquire a Canadian visa before travelling to the North American country.

In defending the move, the Canadian High Commissioner to St Lucia Ruth Archibald says her country is concerned about the high number of false claims for resident status by nationals from the two countries.

Miss Archibald cited statistics showing that there were 591 refugee claims by St Lucians alone in 2001, adding that this was fairly substantial when compared with the St Lucia’s population.

She says while a review of the visa travel restriction for the Caribbean region may take place, this will not be done in the short to medium term.

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