It has been almost two years since the Government announced in the Throne Speech that it would pursue full membership of Caricom — but the details of what that might mean for Bermuda have not yet been revealed.

That could soon change.

The Ministry of Home Affairs, which is tasked with implementing the plan, said in a statement last week that it was “working towards finalising its Caricom discussion document” ahead of “formal awareness efforts” beginning next month.

Bermuda, along with four other British Overseas Territories, the Dutch island of Curaçao and the French island of Martinique, is an associate member of the Caribbean Community.

The intergovernmental organisation has 15 full member-states, all in and around the Caribbean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean.

The discussion document, according to the home affairs statement, will include the “anticipated benefits” of changing from associate to “full membership, as well as costs” — details the Opposition and others have been seeking since 2023.

The statement said the ministry recognised the “importance of this national discussion and is committed to ensuring the public has a voice”, but it also sounded a note of caution.

“This is a sensitive time, and, in the interim, we urge media outlets to exercise care in their reporting.

“We also encourage the media and public to await the ministry’s official communications, which will provide the necessary context and clarity.”

The appeal for the media to “exercise care” — made after the ministry rejected a request from The Royal Gazette for an interview with Alexa Lightbourne, the home affairs minister, about the topic — was unusual but perhaps unsurprising, after the furore that greeted the Throne Speech announcement in November 2023.

Sir John Swan, the former premier, stepped into the fray, claiming that full membership would jeopardise the island’s existing relationships with the United States and Britain, and should be put to a referendum.

Article 45 of Caricom’s founding document, the Treaty of Chaguaramas, requires member-states to “commit themselves to the goal of free movement of their nationals within the community”, and Sir John suggested that that could threaten the US Customs pre-clearance at LF Wade International Airport or the island’s visa-free access to the United States.

David Burt hit back. The Premier dismissed the claim out of hand and described Sir John as out of touch.

His deputy at the time, Walter Roban, went farther, accusing the elder statesman of “overt discrimination” against West Indians during his tenure as United Bermuda Party premier and home affairs minister in the 1970s and 1980s.

The issue of free movement is contentious — and not only here — but the Government insists it is a non-issue for Bermuda.

Mr Roban, the former home affairs minister, clearly stated in November 2023: “Given Bermuda’s small size, I can already confirm that we would not accept the Protocol on the Free Movement of Persons as a condition of membership.”

The British Virgin Islands, another Overseas Territory exploring switching from associate to full membership, has also said it is not interested in participating in free movement.

Even among the 15 full member-states, free movement is not a given.

Caricom, founded in 1973, has had a long path towards that goal, and it was only on October 1 this year that four members fully implemented it, under the Caricom Single Market and Economy initiative.

Citizens of Barbados, Belize, Dominica, and St Vincent & the Grenadines can now live and work indefinitely in any of those four countries, in what Britain’s The Guardian newspaper dubbed an “EU-style deal”.

Mia Mottley, the Prime Minister of Barbados, and David Comissiong, its Ambassador to Caricom, have spoken of their belief that the change will boost their country’s economy significantly by bringing in young, skilled workers to counteract a falling birthrate and ageing population.

Chris Famous, a Progressive Labour Party MP strongly in favour of Bermuda forging closer links with the Caribbean, said that such an arrangement was out of the question for Bermuda.

“The logistics of free movement means that in … Barbados, they'll never run out of space,” he told the Gazette.

“In Bermuda, we will run out of space in a heartbeat if we had free movement from people from anywhere.”

Michael Fahy, the shadow home affairs minister, takes a different view. He asked: “How can you sign up to something and disregard one of the articles before you even join?”

He said he found it “very strange” that the island would enter into negotiations to gain the benefits of full membership, while rejecting a central tenet of Caricom.

Mr Fahy said the island’s size should not prevent it from exploring the idea of free movement and he suggested that it could consider limited arrangements with specific countries.

“If you could potentially help solve some of the issues that we do have in terms of our own population concerns, our own inability to fill key roles, from police to healthcare, to some of the services that we're relying on, there may very well be room for some kind of free movement of people's arrangement with particular Caribbean nations,” the One Bermuda Alliance MP said.

Since Caricom’s inception, the Treaty of Chaguaramas was amended by nine protocols, one of them concerning free movement, to establish the Caricom Single Market and Economy.

Mr Roban said in 2023 that four of Caricom’s 15 full members — Antigua & Barbuda, Bahamas, Haiti and Montserrat — had “opted out of the free movement of labour”, ie, they had not signed or ratified the relevant protocol.

Not all have dismissed it entirely though. Gaston Browne, the Prime Minister of Antigua & Barbuda, was quoted this month as saying the country had facilitated the movement of Caribbean nationals “for decades”.

He said Antigua, which has a population of about 100,000 in its 170 square miles, remained committed to the spirit of free movement and may join the formal agreement in the future.

The Bahamas has opted out of the CSME, while tiny Montserrat — a British Overseas Territory and the only full Caricom member that is not a sovereign nation — has special arrangements limiting its participation.

Mr Famous said: “One size does not fit all.”

He added: “If there are 22 members of Caricom, only four have chosen freedom of movement. That tells you the majority don't see it in their best interest at this point in time.”

He described Montserrat, one of the founding states of Caricom, as an “anomaly” as the “only British colony that is a full member”.

The island, in the West Indies, has a population of fewer than 5,000 and a very small economy.

Reuben Meade, its Premier, was quoted in the Jamaica Observer this year as saying that Caricom’s institutions needed a revamp as the trade bloc was “no longer affordable to most of us and does not provide value for money”.

Ms Lightbourne has described Caricom’s “fundamental purpose” as being to “foster sustainable regional development, economic co-operation, cultural solidarity and collective international negotiation power”.

The home affairs minister wrote earlier this year: “By enhancing our existing membership, Bermuda stands to significantly benefit from strengthened regional partnerships, increased economic opportunities and a reaffirmation of the cultural and historical ties that link us closely with our Caribbean neighbours.”

Mr Famous said that those ties, dating back to the days of enslavement and encompassing several waves of migration here, were significant and much more meaningful than the island’s connection to Britain.

“The majority of Bermudians have no biological ties to Britain,” he said. “The only history that I have with Britain is that they enslaved my ancestors.”

The backbencher and party organiser claimed commentators criticised the expense of Bermuda’s politicians travelling to Caricom, yet never questioned the cost of trips to Britain, including the UK and Overseas Territories Joint Ministerial Council, “which is kind of a pointless meeting”.

He quoted the PLP’s constitution, which requires the party to “take common action with such organisations in the Caribbean region for the promotion of a higher standard of social and economic life for the population of the respective countries of the region as a whole”.

Mr Famous said: “To those who would say, ‘Oh, suddenly there's a lot of talk about Caricom’ — this has been part of our, not just physical DNA, but part of our political DNA from inception.”

Mr Fahy said it was of vital importance that the soon-to-be released discussion document looked to the future and drilled down into the details of any likely new trade routes that could help to lower the cost of living here.

“If that's the case, then make the case for it,” he said. “Show us what trade routes would open up.

“Show us how that will benefit Bermuda, in terms of trade, whether that's importing or exporting goods.

“I find it difficult to grasp … because a lot of the goods and services that are coming in and out of the Caribbean are, of course, with their largest neighbours within the Caribbean.

“They already have shorter transport links, so it's cost-effective for them to trade together. They also have quick ability to trade with the United States and South American countries, as they are much closer.”

Caricom’s website — which, wrongly, lists Bermuda and Montserrat as independent states — says all its full members “are classified as developing countries”.

That will change if Bermuda, the BVI and the Turks & Caicos, another BOT exploring closer involvement, take the next step.

Bob Richards, the former OBA deputy premier and finance minister, said the case for full membership for Bermuda had not been made yet but he would be interested to hear it.

“I mean the economic case,” he added. “The associate membership has been relatively harmless, I think.

“Certainly it’s given us an excuse to get ministers to go down to the islands and hob-nob. I don’t see much tangible benefit from that.”

He said he could understand “from a cultural standpoint” the desire to forge closer links with the Caribbean, but added: “From an economic standpoint, it doesn’t make any sense.”

Pointing to Bermuda’s long-term sovereign credit rating of A+, he questioned why the island would want to associate itself “from a financial standpoint” with countries whose economies were “inferior”.

The retired politician pointed to reports of Caricom countries not paying their membership dues, adding: “They are always looking for money. Little Bermuda might be viewed as a cash cow by some of them. That’s something I’m concerned about.”

Sharing his personal view, he said a referendum should be held on the issue, even though the Government had Britain’s consent to go ahead and could make the decision without a single-issue vote.

Ms Lightbourne has intimated that the matter will go before Parliament rather than the people. Even so, next month’s “formal awareness efforts” and the Green Paper due early next year will undoubtedly reignite debate about Bermuda’s future within Caricom.

The home affairs ministry said: “These [awareness] efforts will include public engagement and outreach aimed at supporting a full and informed understanding of Caricom and its impact for Bermuda.”