TCI Green Paper Pushes for Cultural Safeguards Amid Rising Immigration and Identity Concerns

Deandrea Hamilton | Editor

Turks and Caicos, June 28, 2025 – As the Turks and Caicos Islands (TCI) edges closer to a serious conversation on independence, the recently released Green Paper outlines a cultural preservation strategy that recognizes a fundamental truth: the soul of the nation is at a crossroads.

The territory’s economic growth—fueled by tourism, construction, and financial services—has leaned heavily on a migrant workforce. At the same time, the local population has struggled with brain drain, emigration, and declining birth rates. The result is a shrinking community of Heritage Turks and Caicos Islanders, now a numerical minority in their own land. This demographic shift has stirred debate about identity, ownership, and cultural continuity.

The Green Paper tackles this tension head-on. In its chapter on Preserving Cultural Identity and Heritage, it proposes that independence is not merely a political move, but a cultural reckoning. The document argues that preserving the traditions, dialects, values, and contributions of Heritage Islanders is essential to the legitimacy and cohesion of a future nation-state.

To safeguard this cultural legacy, the paper recommends a National Cultural Heritage Act to protect oral histories, historical sites, local music, and the indigenous dialect. It also calls for a National Museum and Heritage Commission run by and for Heritage Turks and Caicos Islanders, and the introduction of Cultural Legacy Grants to fund traditional arts, crafts, and knowledge systems.

Still, the paper walks a delicate line between preservation and inclusion. While asserting the primacy of Heritage Islanders in shaping the cultural and political direction of TCI, it also acknowledges the country’s growing diversity. With immigrants contributing to economic and civic life, the plan proposes the creation of a National Identity Charter—a collaboratively drafted vision statement that outlines shared values and rights for all residents.

A National Integration Programme is also proposed to promote cultural literacy, civic engagement, and mutual respect across communities, with cultural education embedded in the school curriculum to celebrate both local heritage and immigrant contributions.

On governance, the paper recommends institutional safeguards to ensure Heritage Islanders remain visible in national leadership. This includes cultural advisory councils within government, leadership development programs for Heritage youth, and potential constitutional protections recognizing Heritage Islanders as cultural stewards of the nation.

Yet despite these forward-looking ideas, the origins and authority of the Green Paper remain unclear, as does its political backing. Still, its proposals mark a critical intervention in an ongoing national dialogue: how does TCI retain its cultural soul while adapting to its increasingly globalized reality?

As the islands contemplate independence, the challenge is not just about sovereignty—it’s about who gets to define what it means to be truly Turks and Caicos.