Prime Minister Gaston Browne says improving living standards in Antigua and Barbuda have reduced the need for citizens to migrate, arguing that quality of life at home now rivals that of many developed countries.
Speaking on the Browne and Browne Show on Pointe FM on Saturday, Browne said economic growth, expanded services and technological changes have altered the traditional reasons Antiguans and Barbudans once felt compelled to leave the country.
“On the basis that we have a few dollars here, you can enjoy a standard of living that is second to none,” Browne said, pointing to the country’s natural environment, outdoor lifestyle and improving economic conditions.
He said in previous decades, migration was often driven by limited access to education, healthcare and consumer goods, but that reality has changed significantly. Browne noted that university education is now available locally and that many medical procedures which once required overseas travel are now being performed in Antigua and Barbuda.
“In the past, our people had practically no avenue other than to travel to the United Kingdom, the United States and Canada,” he said. “Today, you can get the university education right here in Antigua.”
The prime minister also said advances in global commerce and technology have reduced the practical need to travel abroad, citing the rise of e-commerce and electronic payments. He said people no longer need to physically travel overseas to access goods and services.
Browne urged citizens to reconsider the risks associated with migration, including overstaying abroad, and instead recognise the opportunities available at home. He said economic stability and rising incomes allow residents to meet their obligations and maintain a high quality of life without leaving the country.
He also highlighted Antigua and Barbuda’s natural advantages, describing its beaches, clean waters and outdoor living as superior to the “artificial environments” many people endure in colder or heavily industrialised countries.
The prime minister said retaining people at home is essential for sustained national development, warning that excessive outward migration can drain the country of skills and labour needed to support growth.
Browne said building confidence in local opportunities is key to changing migration patterns, adding that improved living standards should encourage more Antiguans and Barbudans to remain in, or return to, the country.
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This man is painting a picture of sunny uplands, tremendous growth and prosperity for many Antiguans, but the reality is that too many are living from hand to mouth and/or pay check to pay check.
Nepotism, cronyism, favouritism and who you know are the real reasons that the majority of honest hardworking Antiguans are suffering financially at present.
Our politicians know this and are in total denial.
Browne continues to distort the reality, but the truth is, that those who get educated and attain degree status tend to leave Antigua for greener pastures abroad.
He should be directly targeting those disheartened Antiguans living in Trump’s bigoted America and appeal to them to return with their important skillsets. .
A good start would be to persuade his “new” Diaspora Minister Dr. Dave Ray to sell-up in US and come back to live here.
Dave, whey you dey? 🤣
@Brixtonisn,
Dave os going to be challenged, for only knows the ALBP members that Gaston spoke about in his video clip about food stamp and unpaid medical bills.
They are unlikely to return for the ham and Turkey handout cannot compete with food stamps
It is performative politics Gaston is portraying here to fool the people to be elected once more, because himself and his politicians and the white monopoly capital domination he serves extract all the wealth and land opportunity for themselves.
And for professionals to come home and be micro manage by politicians will derogatory, I listened to molwyn Joseph taking the notes from the doctors to read medical terms to the public himself, making pronouncements about microbials, and let’s take for example Lionel Michael who is working in the BVI, I am sure he is getting all his project financed in the health sector than what obtains when he was working in antigua. You have engineers in Antigua working in Apua and public works that can’t get the financing to procure the tools and material needed to carry out their academic expertise, I myself came back from working abroad and was frown up on by the entitlement elites who feel that there square pegs in round hole are the norms . Do a lot of professionals that could impact this country leave the workforce and the country. Antigua need some radio and TV programs aimed at social engineering of the people to change the mindset and cultural milleau. And one a the biggest hindrance is the politicians who are destructive to the laws and constitution of this country. There go to be checks and balances, the judiciary and police must be able to prosecute politicians for corruption so that the society becomes what it should be.
My brain cannot take a Prime Minister whose brain is wired to impulsively trash anyone who disagrees with him.
Neither can I live in a small community of Antigua and Barbuda, where the people loves a political system which debases their dignity.
The Prime Minister says there are good reasons for returning to Antigua:The beaches and clean water as well as Antigua is more prosperous.
The beaches are not safe from burgles readily into vehicles; and besides are not always clean.
Clean water only comes in bottles; and the Prosperity he speaks of is only for a few.
Why habour wishes go to a beach when your vehicle isn’t safe from burglary.
Can I drink the water that he claims is clean?
The system works great where Prosperity is only for the well connected people. Political Party hacks and foreigners.
America is a challenge for black people more than it has been since the 60s civil rights movement.
But in America I’m subjected to much less scrutiny and discrimination than in Antigua and Barbuda.
I’d rather be in America; a place that’s cold like ice, and my encounter are with strangers who don’t judge me.
I can obtain Government services digitally and efficiently.
When in America government services that are not stuck in processes and procedures from colonial times; and you are a nobody when approaching Government employees trying to get through Government bureaucracy.
In America, I’m likely to encounter covert racism; but I’ll take covert racism along the way; over overt racism by Government workers and politicians, where racial bias is so embedded that they don’t even understand how racist their policies and political practices are.
The Prime Minister is selling a dream that only fools would buy. The issue of brain drain in Antigua and Barbuda has far more to do with the country’s political and economic climate than anything else. Many young professionals simply cannot see themselves returning home to struggle to make ends meet after earning two degrees, only to be placed in junior positions that neither reflect their qualifications nor their experience.
When graduates return, they are often labelled “junior engineers,” “junior clerks,” or similar titles for years on end, regardless of their competence. Our work culture consistently refuses to create avenues for young minds to express themselves, innovate, or assume leadership roles. Instead, positions of authority are guarded by individuals who have occupied them for 15 years or more some of whom are unfamiliar with modern technology, equipment, or contemporary processes, yet are unwilling to accept input from younger, more qualified professionals.
Young professionals are frequently paid wages comparable to staff with no degrees, limited experience, or minimal technical knowledge. They are placed in roles where upward mobility is almost impossible, not due to a lack of ability, but because of institutional stagnation and fear of change. I have friends at APUA and APC who have remained junior engineers for four, five, even six years. The same can be said for accountants working as tellers and HR professionals stuck in clerical roles, despite being fully qualified.
Let us also not ignore the rampant nepotism that further drives young Antiguans away. Many sons and daughters of politicians and well-connected individuals are given effortless access to high-level positions and opportunities, while others often equally or more qualified are overlooked entirely. These individuals acquire property, secure influential roles, and accumulate power without having to demonstrate merit, competence, or hard work. This reality breeds frustration, resentment, and a deep sense of unfairness among young professionals who have done everything “right” yet remain locked out of meaningful progress.
This is the true root of brain drain not a lack of patriotism or national pride, as the government would have the public believe. The narrative being pushed deliberately ignores the structural barriers entrenched within both public and private institutions. In many ways, this system functions as a mechanism to suppress advancement, ensuring that young people remain undervalued, politically dependent, and excluded from decision-making. Until this culture of favoritism, stagnation, and gatekeeping is dismantled, no amount of political rhetoric will convince educated Antiguans and Barbudans that returning home is worth the sacrifice.
@Jeffers While I understand your point, I disagree with pitting “juniors” against “seniors” or young against old. A major reason for Nazi Germany, the Holocast, World War 2, and millions dead was because Hitler and the Nazis brainwashed young unemployed Germans into believing that Jews were the enemy because they were successful immigrants. Many of those young Germans ended up dead dragged into wars started by older persons envious of the positions and successes of others. They never achieved success in their personal lives by tearing down other people. Both paper qualifications and on-the-job experience are important in the real world. Newer qualifications do not mean better solutions without wisdom and real world experience. Newer technologies cannot always be implemented into existing systems without something else breaking. What is needed is dialogue amongst all parties in the team – both new and old, focused on solving problems, creating better systems that work in our context while also taking historical rationales into consideration. Unfortunately, like the Nazis, team leaders love pitting employees against one another using whatever they can come up with to divide the team e.g. young vs old. Space should be made for new workers that bring useful new knowledge to the team. That does not mean they should start running the show from day one with no significant experience or historical knowledge because that would be a different catastrophe waiting to happen as they solve one problem but create a million more. Juniors will naturally move up the ranks as seniors retire. Dialogue, teamwork, and mutual respect are the true keys to progress.
Recall right after completing my undergraduate degree, in the early 90’s, in the US, going for a drive with some friends and hearing about 4 young white men shout at us “Go back home”. A few months later when I landed at VC Bird, I wanted to kiss the tarmac. When in the US, I remember seeing family members, wake up at 4 am to catch the train. They would be back home by 7 PM, yet still struggle. Will admit there has been some short period of times that I wondered if I made the right decision to return. I chose a field of study that ensured I would find employment. I have no regrets about my choice to stay in Antigua. There needs to be better career counseling offered in A&B because too often we are forced to import There are entities in A&B (public and private) who suffer from lack of needed skills
@ Tenman,
You went college in the heart of Texas where and at a time when vestiges of the KKK and Jim Crow was still in existence.
If your family members who by your appearance to not have valuable skills therefore were still struggling.
Your account of their situation says they did not equip themselves with opportunities readily available to them in the US and maybe they should return to Antigua.
You have been very clear in your comments that you are the beneficiary of this current government commercial activities when you defended the IT Corporation real estate deal with WIOC.
Your statement about lack of career counciling is consistent with your shallow understanding of why people choose overseas jobs and not waste their lives in dead end jobs in Antigua and Barbuda.
Just like Donald Trump would not admit that he used the Presidency to $6.8 billion , and neither would the people around him or those who profits from his actions.
Gaston Browne will not admit he has handsomely profited and quadrupled his net worth from being the Prime Minister, and neither would you as Anglo Baby admit to the reality of the state of affairs in Antigua and Barbuda.
The nurses had an out for they were in high demand across North America.
With Trump putting an $150,000 on H1-B visas, our nurse like all the Monroe University trained chefs, who are not in Antigua but scattered around the kitchens of the Eastern Caribbean our locally trained nurse will soon follow them.
People like you who posses a university degree from a respected institution are doing a disservice and writing nonsense about the state of employment opportunities and quality of life and ignore the gorilla of a corruptive government.
The crumb snatchers never agree, so I don’t expect you too.
@Jeffers, you make a very valid point when you mention that:
“… guarded by individuals who have occupied them for 15 years or more some of whom are unfamiliar with modern technology equipment or contemporary processes …”
I can definitely attest to this.
When I returned to live in the country after years in business and management working in Europe. If ever I needed information on business related matters such data protection, I was amazed at the lack of knowledge in this important area.
Furthermore, you can visit any bank branch, and speak to the management about how they go about protection your private and confidential information, and they are completely flummoxed.
In European countries low level clerks no more about data protection than bank managers in Antigua from my experience.
Is it any wonder potential returnees are sceptical about coming back?
@ Jeffers,
What you have stated are the facts, and the history.
These times we in with current US immigration policies is not enough for anyone for Antiguans who are at risk to be the reason for returning to Antigua. Those who are not at risk, are chuckling
In disdain.
What you wrote is an indictment of the way the country has been run in decades. It is now imbedded into the culture.
When Prime Minister Browne speaks about brain drain he is shifting blame to individuals making poor choices in America.
Prime Minister is well an aware that it’s the system of local Government that causes brain drain. The system is kept in place through which they control and manipulate for political gain.
Brain drain isn’t a new concept or phenomenon, it’s suit their political purposes.
Many Antiguans lives have been turned upside by the Trump administration immigration policy. Few will consider returning home as a result because of the current situation you so clearly describe.
Just another example of political gimmickry.
😂.
So Trump is throwing out all the illegal people and GB is stating that he has better living in Antigua..So it’s a win win then. 😂.
Not unless GB is referring to all Antiguan’s are living terribly in the US, and not just the illegal ones?
So this is why you also let in so many illegals in Antigua GB, including the 1000 Africans that duped you, because Antigua has such a great living standards?
😂. Well you hear it for yourself folks..GB claims that Antigua is better than the US to live right now.. 😂.
So then no one can blame Trump for trying to make his country better then, buy deporting these drifters who are living off the system?
By GB argument, we should just now shut up about the US visa restrictions, because GB has milk and honey in Antigua.. 😂
@Anansi Constant, clearly you are guessing about me Let me help: – Undergraduate degree was in NJ.. Graduate degree about a decade later later in Texas. Persons I found in Texas were more welcoming. Grandfather(moms side) attended a US university (Lincoln) and became the first Dentist in A&B. Uncles attended Howard (one followed in my grand fathers foot step). Father was the first in his family to get a first degree (UWI), then Canada for his graduate degree
You really need to stop spreading false information because its well known that A&B and the region lacks needed skills. In the US especially young American’s (18 to 29) have lamented the death of the so called American dream (Pew Research Center poll late 2024) . They complain about lack of opportunities and corrupt US politicians, lack of affordable housing, healthcare being too expensive, and being overburdened by student debt. Not sure why you would encourage persons to go to a place where its leadership has made clear he sees them negatively.
No disrespect but my country 100% greater than here the money still shit the police still shit some Antigua people needs a life all I working for is rent to some African subletting someone place which there are no law for here in Antigua because a police told me she don’t know what am saying about subletting if you’re the prime minister you and the commissioner needs to wake up the country because they are lot more going on than thinking 🤔 of. And FLOW needs to STOP what the fu.k they are doing in Antigua taking people money and giving Shit instead of sue the man on the opposition side sue Flow for robbing the people of Antigua money for shit data
Living in another country is better for us than Antigua
Anansi Your confidence is truly inspiring, it’s rare to see someone operate with such certainty entirely unburdened by accuracy, I am 45 and and know about Mr Browne since 1999 and the person I met back then was a man with money who was building and selling homes. Your confidence is truly inspiring, it’s rare to see someone operate with such certainty entirely unburdened by accuracy, to try and give the impression without providing side work is madness especially when your going to make accusations, the American people made a mistake by voting for trump but that’s now the situation in antigua Barbuda. As a matter of fact PM brown administration is the one who finally Change things to the point that government is building cheaper and better quality homes for the citizens of this country, when you going to accuse post the evidence if you can’t Silence would be the only thing to improve what your saying…
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