Michael Fahy, the Minister for Home Affairs, has dismissed claims that a new immigration policy is designed to increase the One Bermuda Alliance’s voting base.

Last Friday, Senator Fahy announced new measures to allow residents who have lived on the island for 20 years to gain status, while those resident for 15 years will be entitled to permanent residency.

He told The Royal Gazette it was “absurd” to suggest that the Bermuda Government knew how those that would be entitled to apply for status under the changes would vote.

“I fully accept that in the Sixties and Seventies that Government manipulated immigration law to maximise votes, but that is not happening here,” Mr Fahy said. “The people who will benefit from obtaining status are from across racial, ethnic, class and gender divides.

“If you take this ridiculous view of the PLP to the next level and assume the people benefiting from this policy are white and would vote OBA, you need to look at where these people probably live and the most likely situation is that they live in safe OBA seats. So this serves no political purpose even if you look at it from their perspective.

“However, I dismiss the idea altogether. It is not relevant to the discussion. What is relevant is doing the right thing.”

Mr Fahy said the new rules, which will also allow adoptive children of Bermudians in Bermuda to obtain status under certain conditions, would prevent the island from falling foul of family rights enshrined in the European Convention on Human Rights.

He also outlined plans to highlight a string of immigration cases that showed that the present system needed replacing.

“Over the last three years I have spoken with so many people that have fallen foul of the present system,” Mr Fahy added. “These are sad stories of people being here all their life but missing the opportunity of status because they were out of the country for two years due to illness or a 34-year-old nurse who came to Bermuda from Jamaica at 7 who is on a work permit with no rights despite being here 27 years.”

Mr Fahy revealed that the Government anticipated less than 1,000 will benefit from the changes initially, with about 200 a year after that.

The latest move to overhaul immigration policy prompted an angry response from the Progressive Labour Party as well as Opposition MP Walton Brown, who condemned the move by saying the time had come for “direct action”.

Walter Roban, Shadow Minister of Home Affairs, described the policy as a kneejerk reaction to the OBA’s recent by-election defeat.

He said: “It shows that the OBA is not a party that learns from their mistakes but rather one that seems intent on repeating their mistakes with the goal of securing long-term power.

“The PLP continues to call for joint comprehensive immigration reform rather than this piecemeal approach being employed by the OBA.

“The constituents of Devonshire North Central voted solidly for Diallo Rabain, in repudiation of the OBA’s Bermudians-last policies. Premier Dunkley, Minister Fahy, and the OBA government would do well to listen to the people when they speak.”

Last night, Mr Fahy responded to the Opposition’s criticism saying: “The responses from Mr Roban and Mr Brown are not at all surprising and are absolutely typical of what the public have come to expect from the Opposition when it comes to immigration. In true fashion, their rhetoric and misleading statements are what they lead with.

“It is absolutely laughable to say these changes are a kneejerk reaction to anything, which makes it clear that Mr Roban did not read our comprehensive statement from Friday.

“Rather than using stock phrases like ‘comprehensive immigration reform’, which after all this is, Mr Roban might share his party’s vision.

“The further outlandish remarks he and Mr Brown make, which certainly demonstrate their contempt for the right thing to do and their dismissal of human rights and those who are likely friends and neighbours, show they are the ones out of touch with what Bermuda needs to be sustainable.

“Calling for civil disobedience or similar cries do nothing more than show the world we are not welcoming.

“It beggars belief that anyone would have a problem with giving rights to people who have spent 20 years in a country.”