off the Island.

New Home Affairs Minister Maxwell Burgess yesterday said that, with immediate effect, non-Bermudians who have been on the Island for more than 20 years, will be able to stay on a temporary basis if they are made redundant from their job -- if they can find alternative employment.

And he agreed the announcement implied that a White Paper currently being drafted on the issue will go a long way to giving long term residents full Bermudian status.

"We will be sympathetic to allowing long term residents to seek alternative employment, if they have a work permit,'' Mr. Burgess said. "As from today if a long term resident loses their job to a Bermudian, we will assist them in finding other employment.

"This means that long term residents who have been here for more than 20 years and who have a work permit have security.

"We are currently working on a White Paper but I can't guarantee that that will be before the House rises but it will be in place.

"We in the UBP are far more protective of the rights of long term residents than the PLP,'' he claimed.

Mr. Burgess claimed the move showed Government and the new Cabinet were willing to tackle the thorny issue of long term resident status. Critics, including some Government backbenchers, have accused former Home Affairs Ministers of continually putting the issue on the backburner.

Under current law long term residents have been forced to leave the Island if they lose their jobs.

UBP Smith's South MP Trevor Moniz, who has repeatedly pushed for the rights of long term residents to be improved, last night welcomed the news.

But he urged Government to keep the momentum going and get the White Paper tabled in the House of Assembly as soon as possible.

"I am concerned about creating second class citizens who don't have the right to vote or buy property,'' he said.

"I think we have to bite the bullet on this issue. I know people who have been here for 20 years who have become completely assimilated into the life of Bermuda.

"They have contributed to the Island, their children are Bermudians and it's only right that they should have the rights of full Bermudian citizenship.

"I welcome this to the extent that it shows we are moving forward with something positive and concrete but I hope it's not going to be used as a reason for putting it on the back burner again.''