Government was this morning expected to pass its White Paper on long term residency, offering status to around 400 non-Bermudians and job security to others.

Following a mammoth debate in the House of Assembly, which was still continuing when The Royal Gazette went to press in the early hours of this morning, the long-awaited "compromise" was set to finally be agreed after years of lobbying from pressure groups.

As a result, those people who have lived continuously on the Island for 20 years or more will be able to buy cheaper housing, provided it is not a Government project, and annual rental values will no longer apply if they are purchasing condominiums.

And those people that do not qualify for status but were here before August 1, 1989 will receive security in the form of a Permanent Resident's Certificate, meaning they will not need to renew work permits every year and will be able to retire on the Island.

Last night, the Coalition on Long-Term Residents said although they had not received everything they had asked for on the issue, they had been greatly encouraged by the eagerness shown by Minister for Labour and Home Affairs Paula Cox to reach some kind of compromise.

And outspoken United Bermuda Party MP Trevor Moniz, who has supported the long-term residents for nine years, attacked every member in the House and said none of them had ever stood shoulder to shoulder with him on the issue, including members of his own party.

And he said although there was improvements with the White Paper, Government was still creating second class citizens by refusing to give all long-term residents status.

In opening the debate, Ms Cox said: "During the past nine months, the Government has focused upon the development of a long-term residents' policy that will be suited to the economic and social needs of the Government and the people of Bermuda and that will at the same time protect the rights and dignity of our long-term residents.

"The task leading to the production of the White Paper was certainly not an easy one. The Government believes that the right balance has been achieved in the long-awaited resolution of the long-term resident's issue."

Ms Cox said she had estimated that there were about 1,500 long-term residents in Bermuda - that is non-Bermudians who have been resident for 20 years or more.

And she said, judging from the statistics on Working Resident Certificate-holders, that figure translated to about 850 households, of which 550 will be families.

They will be able to apply for Permanent Resident's Certificates.

Shadow Minister of Labour, Home Affairs and Public Safety, Michael Dunkley said the policy only presented a "half baked" solution and was only a step towards resolving the issue.

Opposition leader Pamela Gordon said she believed the issue of immigration should no longer be a Government responsibility because it was subject to political games.

And she claimed the Government's offer of status to 400 non-Bermudians was merely an "appeasement move" because if Bermuda becomes Independent from Britain, as the Progressive Labour Party hopes, then everyone residing on the Island will be offered citizenship, anyway.

And Ms Gordon said that in 1997 the United Bermuda Party had drawn up a Green Paper on long-term residency, but decided not to pursue it because it could have been seen as unethical with an election only months away.

However, Ms Gordon said when she was Premier and the rest of the caucus had decided that the issue of long-term residency had to be resolved, they decided there would be no groups of residents given any kind of second class citizenship.

But Mr. Moniz said he wanted to speak about "facts and not fantasy" on the subject and claimed Ms Gordon had failed to tell the Chamber about the conclusions the previous Government had come to in its Green Paper on the issue of Long Term Residency but instead just outlined the options.

He said, in fact, the conclusion had stated that there was "no compelling reason to give status".

He said: "For nine years I have argued for this. Talk about a voice in the wilderness. People said I have lived and breathed this (the issue), but it has been much more than that. Let's live the facts and not the fantasy. If you want to change your mind, say 'this is what I now believe."

The Coalition on Long-Term Resident's said it still had concerns about the White Paper and suggested a number of amendments to the proposed policy.

Their statement will be carried in Monday's edition of The Royal Gazette