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The Committee notes with regret that the Government’s report has not been received. It must therefore repeat its previous observation, which read as follows:

The Committee notes with regret from the Government’s report that the seafarers’ identity document required under the Convention does not exist for national seafarers in Barbados, and that foreign seafarers holding identity documents issued pursuant to the Convention are not accorded the facilities provided for in that instrument.

It further notes from the Government’s report that the Immigration Department has no objections to accepting the responsibility for issuing the seafarers’ identity document provided for in the Convention, although it has never been charged to do so. The report refers to two possible solutions: amending the Immigration Act; or enacting new legislation to empower the Immigration Department to issue such documents.

The Committee urges the Government to take the necessary steps to ensure that its obligations under the Convention are fully respected and to inform it of measures taken in this regard.

The Committee hopes that the Government will make every effort to take the necessary action in the very near future.