THE British High Commission in Kingston will assume diplomatic responsibilities for The Bahamas when the Nassau mission closes in 2006, as part of a UK Government plan to save as much as οΎ£100 million.
But those residents in The Bahamas who require visas to travel to the United Kingdom would have to apply for the document electronically through the British embassy in New York. At present, Bahamian nationals do not require visas to travel to the UK, but other residents, such as Jamaicans, need visas to go to the UK.
“With the anticipated closure of the British High Commission in Nassau, relations with the Bahamas will be covered by the High Commission in Kingston, although we shall continue to provide locally-engaged consular support in Nassau,” said press and political affairs officer Mark Waller.
The Bahamian consulate was among more than 20 British embassies and high commissions that Britain’s foreign secretary, Jack Straw, announced last Wednesday would close at the end of 2006. Another 11 are being downgraded.
Straw said the changes would focus Britain’s efforts on priorities such as combating international terrorism, energy and climate change.
“These changes are part of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office’s (FCO’s) strategy, with the aim of redeploying resources, over time, to help us deliver our strategic priorities,” Waller said.
“The changes announced will mean closing eight sovereign posts.,” he said. “Our overseas network is not set in stone, but the FCO needs to be able to respond and keep pace – moving resources where they are most needed – to and with global challenges and new threats that require rapid and flexible responses.”
The Nassau office is the only office to be closed in the Caribbean, but Waller said the change “does not represent an abandonment of The Bahamas”.
“We will continue to have effective representation, albeit in a different form,” he told the Observer. “The FCO will continue to monitor the provision of services in each of the eight countries affected by this announcement and, to help deal with the increase in responsibility, embassies and high commissions that will take on additional responsibilities will be reinforced where necessary.”
The UK, he said, will retain substantial interests in the Caribbean.
Aside from Nassau, the other embassies and high commissions to close are those in Maseru, Lesotho; Mbabane, Swaziland; Antananarivo, Madagascar – all in Africa; four in the Asia-Pacific region: Port Vila, Vanuatu; Nuku’alofa, Tonga; Dili, East Timor; Tarawa, Kiribati; and one in South America – Ascuncion, Paraguay.
Japan’s consulate in Fukuoka, as well as the trade office in Vientiane, Laos is also scheduled to close. Eight other consulates – one in Africa, three in North America, including two in the United States, are also down for closure.
But the majority of the cuts will take place in Europe and will involve four offices in Germany and one in Portugal.
The 11 consulates slated for downgrading include two each in the US, Australia, Spain, France and Germany and one in Auckland, New Zealand.
Arlene Martin-Wilkins, The Jamaica Observer
