The following is a copy of a statement by the Coalition on Long-Term Residents to Government's White Paper following Friday's debate.

The Coalition on Long-term Residents wishes to thank the Minister for her efforts with respect to granting rights to Bermuda's long term residents.

However, the White Paper leaves considerable gaps, which exclude large numbers of long term residents, not only from status, but also from the long promised Permanent Residency Certificate (PRC).

For many long term residents, these gaps constitute a chasm of despair. Hence, Government's proposed policy as outlined in its document Community for a New Millennium is far from meeting the Government's objective as expressed in last October's Throne Speech of bringing "closure to this sensitive and emotive subject."

Since the issuance of the White Paper, many anguished long term residents have contacted the coalition.

Of particular concern is the Government's expressed policy of six-year work permits for all but key personnel when juxtaposed with the 40-year-old threshold requirement for the granting of the PRC.

It is almost as if the Government and its attending committee had designed the White Paper's PRC policy to specifically exclude long term residents of more than 20 years who came here as children.

As currently outlined in the White Paper, many long term residents' children could be deported from Bermuda, their home in every sense, within just a few years of their 40th birthdays.

This is extraordinarily insensitive when one considers that these are the people who are most in need of protection, given that they have spent the majority of their lives here in Bermuda and would have the greatest difficulty returning to their countries of birth. Those who came here as children, having had no control over their destiny, are least responsible for this unconscionable situation.

Equally unconscionable and discriminatory is the Government's proposed policy of extending status to those long term residents with British Commonwealth citizenship who are registered on the electoral rolls.

Although expressly discriminatory to Portuguese and other nationals, West Indian long term residents, despite being British nationals, feel that they are no less discriminated against by the White Paper, as many were unaware that they could register or were never encouraged to register to vote.

Many other British nationals took the view that until achieving citizenship it was not moral for them participate on the electoral register. Others just fell off the register for a variety of reasons, not all of which could have been avoided.

The coalition's view is that no national group should be favoured over another and that all people of any nationality, having been present on the Island in 1976, should enter the Promised Land together.

Childless long term residents are also discriminated against by the Government's White Paper. Childless individuals who have resided here for 30 years have approached the coalition concerned that they still will not be granted status under the Government's proposed policy.

Upon reviewing the Government's White Paper on long term residents, the coalition can only draw the conclusion that the Government continues to play political games with people's lives. The policies that the Government outlines for granting of status and the PRC are too complicated and onerous.

We propose the following amendments to Government's proposed policy on long term residents:

* Granting of status to all long term residents residing on the Island before 1976.

* The granting of PRCs to all long term residents on the Island on July 31, 1989.

* Status be granted to PRC holders on reaching 20 years of residency.

* Removal of all age thresholds or Bermudian child requirements for the granting of PRCs and status.

Closure will not be brought to this very sensitive issue until the Government makes these small incremental steps to resolving the fair distribution of rights to Bermuda's long term residents.

By giving up the numbers game, it will establish itself as the Bermuda Government administration that truly had the courage to deal with the issue after decades of prevarication by other administrations.

Doing the right thing will prove to be a benefit to this Government at the next election, as well as a credit to Bermuda in the world community.