Two years after the UK authorised Bermuda to begin negotiations over gaining full Caribbean Community membership, the social justice group Citizens Uprooting Racism in Bermuda held a public forum posing questions around the topic.

Hashim Estwick, the immediate past president of Curb, told attendees at the Bermuda National Library: “We don’t have the answers — but it’s a learning journey for all of us.”

At the close of the group’s first community meeting to explore the pros and cons of joining the 15-member political and economic bloc, Mr Estwick took a question from The Royal Gazette on whether moving Bermuda from associate to full membership could tackle a longstanding threat to the island’s workforce.

Jason Hayward, the Minister of Economy and Labour, announced in September 2022 that 8,418 extra people working at a rate of 1,684 additional workers, or a 5 per cent annual increase, over the next five years, was needed to keep the island’s economy and social safety net afloat.

He played down the goal in October 2024, when Mr Hayward said he was confident the island was moving in the right direction but conceded that reaching 8,000 over the following three years may be ambitious.

Mr Estwick said on Thursday: “Look at Bermuda’s demographics. They’re trying to close down schools because there are not enough people.

“How do you grow an economy without people? Our social services are really good but getting more and more costly, the population is ageing — so how do you then ensure that we have more people?”

He cast doubt on the notion of coaxing Bermudian emigrants back home to work.

Mr Estwick said: “I know they’re trying, but that’s not it. Because some of them just do not want to come back; some talk about the cost of living.

“So if joining an organisation will allow Bermuda to have access to people from different countries, that look like Bermudians and have ancestral ties — they can probably grow the population strategically.”

He added: “Not floodgates, but strategically. Bermuda’s immigration standards are some of the most onerous in the world. What I’m saying is, they’re very good at that — keeping bad people out.

“We do not have an immigration crisis; we’re very good at enforcement. So I do not think that Bermuda, knowing that it needs more people, would have a problem with that.”

The forum heard that joining Caricom was far from just a Bermudian decision: Britain would have to approve it first.

Additionally, only one full member of the bloc, Montserrat, is a fellow British Overseas Territory.

Asked if Bermuda would need to go independent if Britain blocked it from joining, Mr Estwick said: “Correct, but you have to look at it on two fronts.

“We have to ask Caricom, does Caricom want Bermuda? If Bermuda is allowed to join as a dependent territory, it opens the gates to more territories to join.”

Sir John Swan, a former premier and a Caricom sceptic, has maintained that joining the organisation should only be settled by referendum.

Similarly, Michael Fahy, the shadow home affairs minister, said in December that Bermuda residents should demand a referendum — an option ruled out by the Government.

Curb forum members went both ways. One said the question ought to be put to the people, “the same as independence” in 1995.

Another said: “I feel we should just leave that up to the Government. We put that government in, and they should have to make that decision.”

Mr Estwick highlighted that none of Caricom’s full members had gone the way of a referendum to join.

He added: “This was one of the government decisions that’s made in parliament.”