We are in a state of crisis. The Government refuses to listen to the majority of the black community and is pursuing a course of action that will bring the country nothing but turmoil and increasing racial division.

That the proposed immigration legislation was written before any announcement validates that there never was any real intent to collaborate or receive feedback from the people of this community. We understand that this legislation is due to be tabled today, a mere four weeks after the immigration proposals were announced, which means it will likely go before the House of Assembly for debate on Friday.

The Government’s continued failure to take a step back and consider immigration reform, which will democratically allow everyone’s voices to be heard, speaks to its intractability and its commitment to force this legislation through as quickly as possible.

Its actions are creating a rapidly spreading sense of outrage, frustration and disappointment among the black community. It is pushing black Bermudians towards action that they do not want to take, but they feel that there is simply no other recourse.

Why the hurry when a simple step back and creation of a parliamentary committee to consider all aspects of immigration reform could easily diffuse the present unrest?

Why the hurry when the majority of those individuals who have been here 15 years or more will continue to be here and contribute to, and benefit from, Bermuda’s economy while the process of immigration reform is discussed?

Citizens Uprooting Racism in Bermuda calls for this process to be inclusive of every stakeholder in the community. Isn’t this democracy?

Looking at the present immigration proposals, Curb believes that if the legislation was subjected to an equality impact assessment, it would never be passed in its existing form. With black Bermudians already out of work in their thousands, and the last census showing black Bermudians to be statistically more likely to be fired first, hired last, made redundant quicker and employed as part-time employees, with no benefits, this legislation will only make a desperate situation far worse for the black community.

Curb believes that the passing of this legislation will, in one generation, change the sociopolitical, environmental, racial and cultural face of Bermuda. Opportunities for black Bermudians will continue to worsen and force an even greater exodus overseas in the search for work to support their families.

Black Bermudians understand and recognise the pattern and thus are turning out to protest in their thousands. The history of immigration in Bermuda clearly articulates the physical, political and mental abuses imposed upon black people in Bermuda. Immigration in Bermuda has always been racial and politicised. The powers that be used immigration and voting restrictions to decide who they wanted on the island, who should go and who could vote.

West Indians, too, have suffered historically through being denied and/or marginalised in their attempts to emigrate to Bermuda and/or later seek status. Reasons given by the oligarchy was their perceived aggressive character and possible “bad” influence on black Bermudians. There is a continuing history of marginalisation and abuse of people of colour and, today, the Philippine community are the latest recipients of economic abuse at the hands of the establishment.

There are some human rights that are now considered to be so universal that they are binding on all countries, whether or not they are signatories to the relevant international conventions. For example, a country that uses state laws and powers to torture people violates human rights, even if it has not signed the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, commonly known as the United Nations Convention against Torture.

There is no such universal international human rights standard that requires states to give citizenship rights, such as permanent status and the right to vote, to long-term guest workers. The Government has failed to provide an example of a small country that grants such citizenship rights on a wholesale basis without limits. Curb calls on the Government to produce examples of small jurisdictions that allow status/citizenship without limits.

It is our understanding that, in fact, the international standard for small jurisdictions actually allows for an exemption to the granting of citizenship rights to guest workers in view of the impact on a small host population and imbalances that would likely result.

Indeed, there is a persuasive argument that the impacts of allowing significant numbers of guest workers to obtain citizenship would contravene the human rights of the host population. In Bermuda, where there is a statistical negative impact on one race, the human rights of black Bermudians may well be infringed by such legislation. This is particularly poignant in light of the historical imbalances and impact on the financial and voting power of black Bermudians that we witnessed into the 1970s.

Historically, there is absolutely no question that Bermuda’s immigration laws were used to violate black Bermudians’ human rights. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights is mentioned in our own Human Rights Act. The intent of this new immigration legislation will continue the violation of black Bermudians’ human rights in the country of their birth.

Given the sociopolitical oppression surrounding immigration process in Bermuda, and the growing unrest in the community, Curb urges the Government to do the right thing for all the residents of this island: put these immigration proposals on hold and allow the people of this country to sit down together and discuss the best way forward.

• Lynne Winfield is the president of Citizens Uprooting Racism in Bermuda and is writing on behalf of the organisation