Dancehall star Sean Paul backs calls to make Jamaica a republic as he slams UK visa restrictions | EUROtoday

Sign as much as our free fortnightly publication from The Independent’s Race Correspondent Nadine White

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Dancehall star Sean Paul has criticised the UK’s visa restrictions on Jamaican residents after The Independent revealed that the British authorities is being lobbied to elevate these curbs.

The chart-topping artist, 51, can be backing Jamaica’s bid to take away King Charles because the nation’s head of state, citing UK immigration rules as a key cause for this, he instructed Good Morning Britain on Friday.

“Every child got to grow up and be independent – and I think that country’s can be perceived in that same way,” the Kingston-born rapper, whose actual identify is Sean Henriques, instructed broadcaster Noel Phillips through the interview.

“We need to prove ourselves to be us, so salute to the great UK and I’m not saying ‘so long’, I’m just saying give us our chance to stand up and make you proud.”

Speaking to the visa difficulty and the way it impacts artistic expertise in search of to tour the Britain, Paul defined: “We are ‘Commonwealth’. A lot of times we get scrutinised. ‘Oh: red light, come to the back here’, ‘oh: Jamaican passport. Okay, cool, let me check you out more’.

“It’s unfortunate that has been that way for that long”.

This comes as a Jamaican state international affairs minister instructed this information platform that Jamaica is asking the British authorities to scrap visa restrictions for its residents so they might freely journey to the UK.

In an unique interview with The Independent throughout his go to to London final month, Alando Terrelonge mentioned the matter “remains an ongoing concern”.

Following 2003 sanctions, Jamaica stays the one nation with the British monarch as head of state that requires visas to enter this nation.

All Jamaican residents are topic to the restrictions in the event that they want to enter the UK, together with the King’s consultant, Governor-General Allen, and the prime minister Andrew Holness.

“Given the historic ties between Jamaica and the UK, we believe it would be good for the visa restrictions to be lifted,” Mr Terrelonge mentioned.

As some extent of compromise, the state minister instructed that Britain ought to start by lifting journey restrictions on Jamaican creatives, enterprise homeowners and members of presidency.

Mr Terrelonge additionally mentioned that nation is on observe to take away Charles as its head of state by 2025, signalling the tip to 350 years of colonial rule.

“We remain hopeful that by 2025 we would have completed those reforms and removed the British monarch as the head of our democracy,” he mentioned, including “notwithstanding it being a figurehead and that real power resides with the government of Jamaica and the people of Jamaica.”

“I’ve always maintained that we owe it to our ancestors who fought and died so that we could be free, we owe it to the framers of our constitution, the work done by our national heroes, for Jamaica to now walk as truly liberated and independent”.

The Jamaican authorities beforehand introduced a Constitutional Reform Committee to assist oversee the republic-forming course of.

However, a member of committee, Hugh Small, lately instructed native press that the nation won’t turn into a republic subsequent yr, saying that every one the required processes wouldn’t be accomplished by then, and urged the federal government to “be frank” with folks.

In 2022, The Independent first reported that Jamaica had long-begun the method of changing into a republic nicely earlier than the nation’s prime minister introduced the information.