The Filipino community is to withdraw from the Bermuda Day Parade claiming women could be subjected to public ridicule and verbal abuse.

The Association of Filipinos in Bermuda said a decision by Immigration Minister David Burch to bring in new visa requirements for citizens of the Philippines, Dominican Republic and Panama to crack down on women being brought to Bermuda as prostitutes or as wives in "sham marriages" has caused "untold amounts of abuse to be directed at Filipino women".

Now in a letter to the Minister, copied to nine Government MPs including Premier Ewart Brown as well as the Human Rights Commission, the Association said a decision had been made not to take part in this year's Parade celebrations.

The letter says: "We the Association of Filipinos in Bermuda would like to register our very strong objection to your statement when you referred to the Filipinos, the Dominicans and the Panamanians as prostitutes.

"We find this statement particularly offensive as this has caused untold amounts of abuse directed at the Filipino women by some members of the Bermudian community. We can only imagine the same disgusting comments are being made to the Dominicans and Panamanians."

The letter says the Association believes the stance is contradictory to earlier statements by Senator Burch when he said he had noticed an increasing trend of abuse of workers generally, adding that that sort of behaviour would not be tolerated.

It adds: "Due to the derogatory comments that are being made to members of the Filipino community, the decision has been made that we will not participate in the Bermuda Day Parade so that our members will not be subject to further public ridicule and verbal abuse."

Sen. Burch outlined the new visa requirements at the beginning of April and as of May 1citizens from the three countries would have to apply to British embassies for visas with the information then e-mailed to Bermuda's Immigration Department. After being vetted, the Minister will then decide whether to issue a visa or not.

At the time of the announcement Sen. Burch said: "For some time now concern has been expressed about the ill treatment and the potential for abuse and victimisation involving nationals from these three countries. When persons want to escape economic hardship, whether it be pursued through a sham marriage or by having a child for a Bermudian, problems do occur.

"The Department of Immigration has received complaints and investigated cases where women have been brought to Bermuda specifically from the Dominican Republic for the purposes of prostitution. There have also been a number of cases where marriages with persons from Panama, the Philippines, and the Dominican Republic involved significantly older Bermudian men married to women in their early twenties..."

A spokeswoman said the Minister had no further comment on the matter.