The introduction of commercial immigration to Bermuda has been put on the back burner according to Michael Fahy, the Minister of Home Affairs.

Senator Fahy told The Royal Gazette the Bermuda Government does not have the appetite to proceed with the concept, which is designed to attract foreign investment into the Island but has proven unpopular with large sections of the community.

“We presented an idea to the public, we did further research, and I think at the moment that will go on the back burner,” he said during an interview with this newspaper yesterday.

“I don’t think we have the appetite at the moment to pursue it. I was never interested in just giving someone a passport.

“We wanted to make sure there was some opportunity for job creation, but the various models that would make it worth our while, they are just not there and I don’t think the economic benefits to Bermuda are there at this time.”

Commercial immigration allows individuals to gain certain residential and citizenship rights in another jurisdiction that they invest in. The concept was broached in the One Bermuda Alliance’s 2013 Throne Speech as a potential means of creating jobs and stimulating investment in the Island.

More than 20 countries have implemented some form of commercial immigration including St Kitts, Antigua and Barbuda, Britain and Canada.

“There are any number of different models of commercial immigration in jurisdictions,” Sen Fahy said yesterday. “In some you just buy a passport, which is in my view dangerous, and there are others where you have to have a certain residence that never attaches any voting rights. That was the model I repeatedly said we would be more inclined to look at.”

Government held a number of public meetings on the subject early last year, with the Progressive Labour Party describing the concept as a “red line” that should not be crossed.

This June, a poll from Profiles of Bermuda showed six in ten voters were against the idea.

Sen Fahy said that immigration is a touchy subject on the Island, noting that some have referred to it as a “third rail” of local politics which people are afraid of addressing.

While the PLP has often called on the Government to pursue collaborative immigration reform, Sen Fahy said it is not something he is interested in pursuing at the moment.

“I don’t understand how you can have a collaborative immigration reform effort when there are definitive red lines that are put in advance of any discussions or any thought at all, so until their views change in respect of what is actually prepared to be discussed, I have no interest in having that collaborative approach with the Opposition at all,” he said. “They appear to be at odds in their views with immigration reform generally. This Government has very definitive views about where we think we need to go and we will go down that road, consulting with the public as we go.

“To suggest that the Opposition has all the answers when they have effectively left us in a big mess through their lack of real reform ... I’m not interested in taking that approach at this time.”

Sen Fahy also challenged PLP claims that thousands of permanent resident certificate holders would seek Bermudian status in the aftermath of a 2014 Supreme Court ruling. He stated that less than 800 people have applied.

“We felt the maximum number would be 1,400 or 1,500 people plus maybe a couple dependants of those applications,” he said. “The number is in the mid-700 range.

“We have right now processed about 160, 170, but we still have outstanding paperwork and police reports are required.

“It’s disappointing for those who have made their applications and have to wait, but I can assure those persons that the process is still ongoing.

“Again, the numbers that were thrown around about tens of thousands of people were rubbish.”

Sen Fahy also noted KPMG’s assistance in processing the applications, stressing that the company was not involved in the decision-making process.

Asked if he thought his own background, as someone who was not born in Bermuda, made him a bigger target for criticism, he said: “My personal status is absolutely nothing to do with any of this.

“There are some that like to make noise about the fact that I was born elsewhere and I have been in Bermuda since I was three, and I find it disingenuous at best when people make noise about that when you just have to look at anyone who sits on any bench, whether it’s Government or Opposition, and look at their own families and their own histories as to where they were born and where their families were born or where they decide to have their children born to take advantage of immigration policies in other countries.

“When we get to that level of discourse where people are rubbished because of their national origin or place of birth, we have reached a pretty low level in political discourse, and I rubbish that as well.

“If some people who are anti-government want to take that stance, that’s up to them as well.

“It’s disappointing, but we can do better.

“People can say what they want. I’m not interested in hearing it any more.”