The Senate yesterday passed legislation which will allow Bermudians jailed overseas to finish their sentences on the Island and for foreign prisoners here to be sent back home.

Bermuda will ask Britain to include the Island in the Council of Europe's Convention on the Transfer of Sentenced Persons 1983, to which 44 countries have signed.

Government Senate Leader David Burch said the move was a "humane but practical" approach but it was not a solution in itself.

But the United Bermuda Party, while supporting the legislation in principle, said it was merely "symbolic" because 26 of the 44 foreign nationals in Bermuda's jails are Jamaicans and Jamaica has not signed the convention so they cannot be sent home to complete their sentences.

Sen. Burch said the Repatriation of Prisoners Act 2002, which was passed unanimously yesterday, will make Bermuda party to an international treaty signed by 44 countries, including Britain, the United States, and Canada.

"It is clear from reading the signatories that not all countries that have people in prison in Bermuda are signatories.

"Despite this, it is the most comprehensive option available," he said.

He said prisoners could only be transferred if they agreed; if their country of origin had signed the convention; and if they had more than six months of their sentence to complete.

The Attorney General has final say on agreeing repatriations and has the option to refuse a request from a prisoner to be repatriated out of Bermuda.

Government did not have figures on the number of Bermudians serving sentences overseas, but there are fewer jailed abroad than there are foreigners in Bermuda's jails, said Sen. Burch.

It costs $42,000 per year for every prisoner in Bermuda, but any savings would be "misleading", he said.

Government was using this, in tandem with the Alternatives to Incarceration (ACI) scheme, to reduce the numbers in the Island's jails.

"The reduction in the prison population will result in economies of scale.

"The long-term reduction in prison numbers (will lead to) a reduction in facilities and support staff," he said.

He stressed that repatriating prisoners was not a "soft option" because inmates would still have to serve the remainder of their sentence in their home country.

He added that all those convicted in Bermuda and repatriated would be placed on the Island's stop list, because that already happens with foreign inmates jailed in Bermuda.

Sen. Neville Darrell (UBP) said the move was unlikely to result in cost savings because the remaining 18 non-Jamaican foreign prisoners cost about $750,00 a year to incarcerate.

He said although there was a feeling inmates might be more receptive to rehabilitation if they were closer to their families, there was no research to support this.

He pointed out that Bermudian prisoners on the Island were close to family and friends, yet there recidivism rate was 80 percent.

"This bill is largely symbolic.

"Let us not deceive ourselves that there is anything other than a symbolic benefit to us as a country," he said.

He said there was a danger that more drug mules would target Bermuda if they knew they could be repatriated back when sentenced on the Island.

Sen. Michael Scott (PLP) said the issue was not about Jamaican rights, but about human rights.

Sen. Leonard Santucci (UBP) said based on his church ministry work in prisons, it was advantageous for criminals to be near to their family and loved ones.

Summing up, Sen. Burch said: "The convention represents the most comprehensive option currently available."

He said although Jamaica was not a signatory to the convention, it did not preclude Bermuda reaching a bilateral agreement with the Caribbean nation on repatriation of prisoners. And he suggested Government could work on the issue with Jamaica through Caricom if Bermuda joined the organisation.