URGENT FUNDRAISING APPEAL to go to the Privy Council

AN IMPORTANT MESSAGE SEEKING YOUR HELP WITH A LEGAL CHALLENGE FOR CHILDREN BORN AND BROUGHT UP IN BERMUDA Please support fundraising efforts to help Michael Barbosa’s appeal to the Privy Council. He is seeking to have the Court recognise his right to be considered a belonger under the Bermuda Constitution. If he succeeds, this could help a number of other persons born in Bermuda and who currently have no way to call Bermuda home. This could help them to live and work in Bermuda. For more details, please read the bellow fundraising appeal from his lawyer, Peter Sanderson. If you wish to contribute, you can wire funds to one of Wakefield Quin’s trust accounts: HSBC 006-001267-001; or Butterfield 20-006-060333550-100, quoting reference ‘8679.4 Barbosa’. Please also email Peter at psanderson@wq.bm to confirm your contribution, with the word ‘Barbosa’ in the subject line. You can also contribute by cheque or by cash by visiting his offices at 31 Victoria Street. --- Hello, My name is Peter Sanderson. I am an attorney at Wakefield Quin Limited, and we represent Michael Barbosa in an important legal challenge. Mr Barbosa was born in Bermuda in 1976 and has lived here most of his life. He has British Overseas Territories (BOT) citizenship because he was born here. He has a Bermuda passport but this gives him no special rights to live or work here. Like many who were born and brought up here, he has no current right to obtain PRC or Bermudian status. The Bermuda Constitution has a list of people who are “deemed” to belong to Bermuda, which includes Bermudians and naturalised BOT citizens. It goes on to say that laws should not discriminate against belongers (including immigration laws). The list in the Constitution does not mention BOT citizens who obtained their citizenship by birth rather than by naturalisation. We took Mr Barbosa’s case to the Supreme Court, arguing that the list was not an exhaustive list of belongers, and that a born BOT citizen ought also to enjoy the same rights. We won the case. However, Government appealed to the Court of Appeal, who agreed with Government. We are now appealing to the Privy Council in London, and need your help. We are instructing a Queen’s Counsel to have the best chance of success. Mr Barbosa cannot afford this alone. If we win the appeal, it will benefit other children who were born in Bermuda and have lived here for the first ten years of their life, who can apply to register as BOT citizens. It will enable some children who were forced to leave to come back here, to rejoin their families. We are short of our fundraising target, and so your support will make a crucial difference to this case. If you wish to contribute, you can wire funds to one of Wakefield Quin’s trust accounts: HSBC 006-001267-001; or Butterfield 20-006-060333550-100, quoting reference ‘8679.4 Barbosa’. Please also email me at psanderson@wq.bm to confirm your contribution, with the word ‘Barbosa’ in the subject line. You can also contribute by cheque or by cash by visiting our offices at 31 Victoria Street. In the event that there are excess funds left over at the end, we will refund identifiable contributors in proportion to the amount donated. If you wish to discuss further, you can reach me on 494-4021, and I am happy to answer any questions you may have. *Mr Barbosa has been issued a licence, #2002, by the Registrar General to solicit funds.