Montserrat is not going to be used as a penal colony, Premier Reuben Meade has assured residents after he confirmed that three prisoners from Diego Garcia are to be incarcerated on the island.
“It’s not, in my view, a big issue,” he told listeners to an interview on ZJB Radio on 27 November, adding that it is not the first time that something similar has been done.
“We have quietly done it in my time, in my previous dispensation, to help the British Virgin Islands, where they had to protect a prisoner or two. Let’s put it that way,” he said.
Meade said the government on several occasions has allowed certain jurisdictions to use Montserrat’s prison facilities “for a fee”.
“So I don’t want persons to go there with the feeling that we’re now becoming a penal colony, and that we’re going to build a new prison,” he continued.
“No, none of that is happening. We’re simply accepting three prisoners on behalf of a government that supports us financially.
“They have a problem. They want us to help us to resolve that problem, and we are putting up our hands and saying, yes, we will help you to solve that problem, but under certain conditions.”
Former government consent
Meade first spoke about the transfer of prisoners in an interview with journalist Mike Jarvis on 23 November.
He said the UK had asked the previous premier Joseph Farrell for permission and he had consented.
Because he had said yes, it would not be right for us to say no,” Meade told Jarvis.
He said it would be difficult for them to go to the UK because they would become “trapped” in the system there.
“So what is in it for Montserrat? I can’t disclose that, but what I can assure you is that those prisoners, once they have served their sentences, they will have to leave Montserrat.
“And that’s an assurance which I have asked them for in writing.”
In his latest interview, Meade indicated that as an aid-dependent territory, compliance is important in order to maintain a favourable standing in the future.
He added that the UK will provide all of the necessary support for the prisoners, including additional staff.
Pending agreement
Dozens of Sri Lankan migrants made their way to the United Kingdom’s remote overseas territory, the Chagos Islands, over three years ago in order to seek asylum.
They have been living in a makeshift camp on the Indian Ocean island of Diego Garcia ever since, the BBC reported earlier this month.
In October this year, the UK agreed to officially hand the archipelago over to Mauritius. However a deal has yet to be signed.
The asylum seekers have been offered the option of relocating to the UK, while three, who have been imprisoned for criminal activity, will be transferred to Montserrat.
The nature and length of the sentences, along with details of the identity of the prisoners has not yet been released to the public.
Under the potential agreement, the joint US-UK military base located on Diego Garcia will be leased to the UK for 99 years.
