Govt. hints at migration policy in budget

Jan 28, 2026 News

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…allocates $10B for work of foreign ministry

(Kaieteur News) – With Guyana’s migrant population steadily rising and mounting public calls for stronger regulation, Finance Minister Dr. Ashni Singh on Monday signalled that the Government may soon move toward establishing a formal migration policy.

During his budget presentation in the National Assembly on Monday Dr Singh said, in keeping with their manifesto commitment, “we will be continuing to deepen ties with the Guyanese diaspora through engagements and outreaches. Further, the development of a migration policy will allow for the recruitment of foreign workers to meet the needs of our country’s rapid economic growth, without compromising the rights and interests of Guyanese.”  He said in pursuit of these objectives and more, Guyana’s commitment to fostering strategic alliances and promoting mutually beneficial cooperation in 2026 $10 billion is budgeted for the work of our foreign ministry.

Back in November Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo had announced that the government is actively considering the creation of a migration policy to regulate the growing number of non-nationals living and working in Guyana. Speaking at one of his weekly press conferences at Freedom House, Jagdeo said the initiative stems from national security concerns and the need to better manage cross-border movement. “We’ve been discussing over several years, the need for a migration policy,” the vice president stated.

Back in December last year, Leader of the Forward Guyana Movement (FGM) and Member of Parliament Amanza Walton-Desir had signalled that her party will press for sweeping reforms to the Guyana Citizenship Act during this Parliament. At the centre of FGM’s proposal is a dramatic increase in the residency requirement for citizenship, from the current five years to 15. Walton-Desir had expressed concern over the increasing number of non-Guyanese entering the country, warning that this trend could significantly influence Guyana’s policy direction and outcomes in future elections. She emphasised that Guyana’s emergence as an oil-producing nation makes it vital to review and strengthen its citizenship laws.

“One of the things that we will be pursuing aggressively is the reform of the Guyana Citizenship Act. The current requirements are too lenient,” Walton-Desir stated. She noted that Guyana is no longer a “backwater post-colonial country” that needs to maintain relaxed citizenship standards for Commonwealth citizens. “What we are is a country that is embroiled in a dispute for our Essequibo, what we are is an oil producing nation. We are now grappling with migration flows because we have the demand for labour to support this new economy,” she said.

According to Walton-Desir, Guyana’s small population makes it vulnerable to rapid demographic shifts. She argued that such changes are already occurring, claiming that in some parts of Georgetown there are streets with little to no Guyanese presence. “Very easily a demographic shift can happen in Guyana, and very quickly we can be overrun,” she warned.

As a result, Walton-Desir said FGM will be advocating for a 15-year residency requirement before an individual can qualify for naturalisation. “We have got to increase our naturalisation requirement, its five years, we will be pushing for it to be put to 15 years, because you must live here for 15 years, you must establish yourself, you must have a system of vetting that is community-based,” she explained. Defending the proposed requirement, Walton-Desir emphasised that such requirements can be made possible. “When you look at other countries, for example Bermuda, it has a 15-to-20-year window, you look at what we tout that we are going to be the new Dubai, well you got to be there for a minimum a of 30 years, so in some cases it’s not even possible,” she said.

She clarified that the proposal is not intended to prevent CARICOM nationals or other foreigners from living and working in Guyana, but rather to restrict participation in national elections to Guyanese citizens. “We are saying that you are not going to be participating in our elections, you are not going to determine the course of this country, Guyanese will do that. There are more Guyanese living outside of Guyana than in Guyana at the moment so our focus has to be preserving the privilege of Guyanese citizenship for our children, our children’s children and for those who will come along the line in the future,” Walton-Desir said.

Census results

Results from the recently released housing and population census state that since 2012, cross-border migration from Guyana’s neighbouring countries has increased sharply to almost 400% as of 2022, with Venezuelans accounting for the largest share of migrants.  According to the census data, the number of migrants from Venezuela, Suriname and Brazil rose by 384.4 percent, moving from 3,193 migrants in 2012 to 15,467 in the 2022 census. However, the report notes that there were various challenges in counting migrants, which led to an understatement of their population.

Notably, when the census figures are compared with administrative records it highlights the challenges.  Administrative data show that 19,709 Venezuelans were registered in Guyana between 2018 and 2022, compared with 12,654 Venezuelans recorded in the census. At the same time, the administrative records do not account for migrants who may have returned to Venezuela, died, or used Guyana as a transit point to other countries, nor do they capture the number of undocumented migrants. The report also noted that the United Nations has estimated that the number of Venezuelan migrants in Guyana stood at approximately 40,456 as of mid-2024, underscoring the likelihood that a substantial number of migrants were not captured during the census exercise.

Further, the census findings indicate that Venezuelans made up 81.81 percent of the total migrant population from the three neighbouring countries in 2022. In previous censuses, Venezuelans represented the smallest group of migrants, but by 2022 their numbers had surged by 1,452.64 percent. Migrants from Suriname and Brazil followed, with Brazilians accounting for the smallest share, although their population still grew by 23.83 percent since 2012.

Strong leadership

Meanwhile, Dr. Singh also noted in his budget presentation that partly as a result of Guyana’s rapidly improving economic circumstances, but also because of our Government’s tireless efforts “to ensure that we assume positions of strong leadership on key issues of interest to us, Guyana is enjoying growing prominence and visibility on the global stage.” This, he said is exerting new and changing demands of our foreign service, and elevates the importance of ensuring that we further strengthen our international partnerships at the bilateral, regional, and multilateral levels.

“Mr. Speaker, the preservation of our sovereignty and territorial integrity is a national responsibility borne by all Guyanese. In this regard, we are pursuing a legal and peaceful settlement to the ongoing border controversy with our western neighbour. In May 2025, Guyana engaged the International Court of Justice (ICJ) to prevent Venezuela from conducting elections in the county of Essequibo. On August 11, 2025, Venezuela submitted its Rejoinder to the ICJ as was mandated by the Court in its Order of June 14, 2024, which constitutes the final written pleading in the case and in accordance with the previous schedule set by the court.” He said government now awaits the schedule of oral hearings on the merits of the case, which will be followed by its deliberations and the issuance of its final Judgment. Government will spare no effort to ensure that Guyana’s interests are protected and defended.

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• budget, census, Foreign Ministry, Migration policy, Venezuelan refugees

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