Skelton Cline: Decouple Belongership from Virgin Islander status

Radio host Claude Skelton Cline has urged the British Virgin Islands to distinguish between Belongership rights and what constitutes Virgin Islander identity, arguing the territory requires a fresh approach to immigration and population management.

On his November 10 Honestly Speaking programme, Skelton Cline outlined a framework that would permit long-term residents to remain free from annual immigration and labour permit requirements, while keeping that arrangement separate from the question of whether they hold Virgin Islander status.

"What we can no longer afford to do is to make Belongership synonymous with being a Virgin Islander," he said.

The proposal would leave untouched the rights of those already holding Belonger status. "Anybody who currently has Belongership, this does not affect you. Any rights and privileges that you have currently as a Belonger, this does not affect you," Skelton Cline stated. This protection extends to all current Belongers, regardless of whether they gained status through marriage or years of residence.

Skelton Cline acknowledged that his framework remains incomplete and would require expert input to develop workable policy. He also called anew for the government to freeze the creation of new immigration categories until the territory finishes its census.

Without complete population figures, he argued, the government cannot make sound choices about immigration, infrastructure or long-term direction. "We are a small nation. We must get our hands and our hearts around and beginning to manage population, growth, and development in this country," he said.

He framed his proposals as a tool for clarity rather than division. "We need clarity. And we need decisions around who we are going to be. But we cannot make those decisions without the full import of information," he argued.

Lawmakers earlier this year backed a proposal to recognise Ancestral Virgin Islanders as a separate category within the existing framework. The new designation would cover people able to demonstrate ancestry to someone born in the territory by 1860.