ST JOHN'S, Antigua (CMC):

Prime Minister Baldwin Spencer has defended his government's decision to expel two Caribbean journalists from the country, charging that they failed to comply with immigration laws.

On Wednesday, immigration officials ordered Trinidadian Vernon Khelawan and Lennox Linton of Dominica out of the country, drawing immediate condemnation from regional media bodies and the main opposition party, but Spencer told the Caribbean Media Corporation (CMC) that officials had good reason to ask the media workers to leave.

"It is clearly a question of whether or not our laws should be allowed to be deliberately and flagrantly ignored and violated by individuals, and when efforts are made to have these things corrected, nothing happens.

"There comes a time when one has to deal with the laws of this country and if it affects certain persons, so be it," he told CMC, adding that no one was above the law.

Immigration processes

He said Linton argued that he was not required to go through certain immigration processes under the CSME, but officials were "at pains to inform him that these things were not yet in place".

In the caseof Khelawan, he said the Trinidadian journalist did not get his papers updated.

The Prime Minister maintained that the journalists were not deported and Wednesday's action did not prevent them from returning to the island.

"Of course they can come to Antigua. We haven't restricted them from coming back to Antigua, there are certain things they will have to do in relation to our immigration and work permit laws in this country and if they follow those things and we are so minded to deal with them, then they would be dealt with like anybody else," he added.

Spencer said the expulsions were part of an overall effort by the country's immigration department to clamp down on a large number of individuals who were found to be violating the laws of the country and were not only targetted at journalists.