No Rastafarians in BVI's?

The law was just revoked a couple of weeks ago.

Don't forget the ban on good fashioned hippies. Is that gone also?

Yes, they got rid of the entire law.

Yep, there was an article in the Daily News a couple weeks back. I guess they had stopped enforcing the rule consistently in recent years, though technically it was still on the books. They cited the fact that nowadays one cannot easily tell whether someone is a Rasta based on appearance alone ("Don't haffi dread to be Rasta", as Morgan Heritage says). Several decades ago when the movement was in its infancy this kind of opposition from government was common, especially in Jamaica where it started out, but I have never heard of another island that held onto its laws and prejudices as long as the BVI.

Conversely, dreads or locs are worn by many who are not Rastas, so I imagine that enforcement became quite problematic.

Onika - not terriably familiar with the law itself however I do believe it became just against persons with locks for the reason you mentioned. Interestingly enough I worked with a woman who was from Tortola... here family is still there, her parents were from there... her son wore locks but was not a Rasta. I asked one day when she said her family was taking a trip home for a wedding, if her son was ever given problems because of the locks. She laughed and said the people know better -we are "belongers" and that is my place and so my children's place too!! So the enforcement obviously had issues in various ways.

--Islander

Well Islander, I confess to having a special interest in the issue b/c I myself wear locs but am not a Rasta. I have never had a problem entering the BVI, but London, England was another story entirely. Makes me wonder if perhaps this was a policy implemented by the Britons? Nonetheless, glad to hear they abandoned it.

I found this article.

Associated Press (USA), Aus. 28, 2003

ROAD TOWN, British Virgin Islands (AP) -- Rastafarians can now legally visit this British Caribbean territory, following the removal of an executive order banning the religion's adherents from entering, the government said Thursday.

The 23-year-old ``Rasta Law'' ordered immigration authorities to refuse entry to rastafarians and ``hippies,'' most commonly identified by their dreadlocks.

The Legislative Council struck the order from the books Wednesday, after a survey determined most islanders were in favor of its removal, Chief Minister Orlando Smith said.

``A lot has changed in the BVI and the world since that order was made,'' and it is no longer possible to tell who is a Rasta or a hippie based on hairstyle, he said.

For years, the religious group and rights activists have criticized the order as unconstitutional in judging visitors based on their locks.

Though the order has not always been enforced, many Rastafarian visitors have complained of harassment at the airport.

Throughout the region Rastas say they are unjustly blamed for crime and looked down upon for their use of marijuana, which they believe brings them closer to God.

One of the religion's tenets is staying close to nature, which can mean not combing or cutting one's hair.

``It's high time that this law was removed, said Bernard Skelton-Green, local representative for the Rastafarian group.

The religion emerged in Jamaica in the 1930s, with the descendants of slaves angry over colonial oppression of blacks and attempting to reconnect with their African roots.

Rastafarianism's message of peaceful coexistence, marijuana use and African repatriation was popularized in the 1970s through reggae artists such as Bob Marley and Peter Tosh.

An estimated 700,000 people practice the faith worldwide. Some sects believe their god is deceased Ethiopian Emperor Haile Selassie.