Population figures
Total country population
94,816
Forcibly displaced population
Refugees (under UNHCR's mandate):
5
Asylum-seekers:
0
IDPs (of concern to UNHCR):
0
Other people in need of international protection:
0
Other
Statelessness persons
0
Host community
0
Others of concern to UNHCR
0
Country context
Barbados lies in the eastern Caribbean Sea, southeast of Saint Lucia and northwest of Trinidad and Tobago, forming part of the Lesser Antilles island chain. Its coastal plains and interior uplands frame the context in which issues of forced displacement and statelessness are addressed.
Antigua and Barbuda acceded to the 1951 Convention relating to the Status of Refugees and its 1967 Protocol on 7 September 1995. On 25 October 1988, the State succeeded to the 1954 Convention relating to the Status of Stateless Persons, committing to recognize and protect individuals lacking any nationality, though it remains outside the 1961 Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness.
...There is no Refugees Act in the country; instead, asylum claims are handled on an ad hoc basis under the general Immigration Act, with protection access determined in practice through procedures established informally in cooperation with international protection mechanisms. Persons recognized as refugee acquire permissions to reside lawfully and to undertake gainful activity, but these rights are conferred through administrative discretion rather than explicit legislative entitlement. Removal and detention measures for persons whose asylum claims are unsuccessful are governed by the same Immigration Act provisions that apply to other categories of non-nationals.
Nationality law in Antigua and Barbuda is founded on the Constitution of 1981 and the Antigua and Barbuda Citizenship Act (CAP 22), which set out the conditions under which nationality may be acquired by birth, descent, registration or naturalization, and include a prohibition on depriving a person of nationality if such action would render them stateless. No recent amendments have introduced targeted safeguards to facilitate maternal transmission of nationality or to identify statelessness at birth; legislative reform in this area remains under consideration.
Those seeking international protection in Antigua and Barbuda originate primarily from neighbouring countries, notably Haiti and Venezuela, with arrivals accommodated in urban and peri-urban settings. Recognized refugees and asylum-seekers integrate within local communities, accessing housing and social services under the prevailing immigration permissions framework. Work authorization follows the general provisions for non-nationals, and long-term residency hinges on the outcome of individual status determinations.
Statelessness predominantly affect individuals born abroad who cannot derive nationality through their parents or who lack documentation to evidence their entitlement at birth. The 1954 Convention’s accession obliges the State to provide identity papers and travel documents to stateless persons lawfully in its territory, yet systematic procedures to identify and assist stateless individuals are limited in practice.
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