The government has earmarked hundreds of thousands of dollars to build a detention centre for illegal immigrants
At present, immigration detainees in the British Virgin Islands are housed in hotels and guest houses rented on behalf of the government and for which even the government provides security. This approach has been viewed as less than ideal and resulted in a number of breaches of immigration detention over the past few years.
According to the BVI’s Premier Dr Natalio Wheatley, $700,000 has been allocated in 2023 towards the construction of a purpose-built detention centre that will house and process illegal immigrants in a humane manner in accordance with international conventions until they can be repatriated.
It is anticipated that the proposed measure will be a less expensive option in the long term, and that having a dedicated facility to accommodate the processing of illegal immigrants will improve the security and safety of the territory’s residents and will satisfy the British Virgin Islands’ obligations to ensure it meets international standards for the treatment of illegal immigrants.
