Immigration is playing hard ball against a "stateless" man whom the Department says has been "flouting" the Island's immigration laws for years.

Robert George Medeiros, 27, has been placed on a "stop list" and will not be allowed to enter Bermuda again unless he gets citizenship in another country.

Mr. Medeiros - who was born in Bermuda - finds himself in the unfortunate position at the moment of holding no valid citizenship - anywhere.

This week, his cousin Chery Machado contacted The Royal Gazette after she claimed her attempts to find out why Mr. Medeiros was being denied entry to Bermuda were unsuccessful. Mr. Medeiros attempted to re-enter Bermuda from Toronto, Canada, on August 1 but was told his British Dependent Territories passport was "garbage".

Ms Machado said he was shocked when he could not re-enter, even to retrieve his personal belongings and sell his car.

While he was born in Bermuda in 1973 to Portuguese parents, his parents returned to Portugal in 1981.

They never applied for Bermuda status for themselves or their two children, but once back in Portugal, they didn't apply for Portuguese citizenship for them either.

"Robert's parents along with himself never proceeded to file for his Portuguese status throughout the years of living in Portugal," his cousin wrote to The Royal Gazette.

"In 1992, Robert was reissued a British passport with no uncertainties or problems."

The young man returned to Bermuda in 1997 to care for his only relative remaining in Bermuda, an elderly uncle.

While he entered the Country easily, after a short time here he was told he should inquire about his immigration status.

When he did, he was told he was a "stateless person" because he had not applied for Bermudian status between 1986 and 1994 when it would have been possible for him to obtain it.

"Considering he was in Portugal within that time period he was not aware of this procedure and obviously did not apply for Bermudian status, a status he thought he already held," said Ms Machado.

Ms Machado claims that Bermuda's treatment of her cousin has been heavy handed.

"Not only was he not informed why or what a stop list was, he was treated in a most inhumanely manner," she wrote.

"He was embarrassed and shocked and felt as though he was a criminal."

But the Ministry of Labour and Home Affairs said Mr. Medeiros has been abusing the system for four years.

The Ministry issued a statement on the matter although officials rarely comment on specific cases.

"Within a few minutes of his arrival in Bermuda in 1997, Mr. Medeiros was made fully aware of his situation first by the Department of Immigration and again by his legal advisor," the statement said.

"He obtained a Social Insurance number by passing himself off as Bermudian and, by his own admission, began to work illegally. When he was discovered working illegally, he was of course asked to leave Bermuda.

"Astonishingly, although he left when instructed to do so, he returned to Bermuda for a third time a few months later and remained in Bermuda working illegally until he recently left for Canada.

"During his absence, Mr. Medeiros was placed on the stop list because he has persisted in overstaying his permission to remain as a visitor and has been working illegally for most of the past four years."

"It is the view of the Department of Immigration that Mr. Medeiros has demonstrated that he cannot be trusted to enter Bermuda and leave when requested. He will therefore have to organise friends or family to sell his car and pack up his belongings for him."

And to avoid similar problems from cropping up in the future, the Department will be amending the work permit questionnaires and will require new applicants to submit proof of their own citizenship and that of their children in advance of coming to the Island.

"Although Mr. Medeiros is in a difficult situation, it is hard to have a great deal of sympathy for him because his plight is entirely of his own making," said the Labour and Home Affairs statement.

His sketchily obtained Bermuda Social Insurance number has also been cancelled.

"An error was made by the parents of Mr. Medeiros in that they failed to register him as a Portuguese citizen while he was still a minor living in Portugal," the statement added.

"That is clearly unfortunate because Mr. Medeiros still has no country in which he has the right to reside."