Anguilla, Unique Island In The Caribbean

Anguilla has always had a unique position among its Caribbean neighbours from the early days to the present time. Geographically, it is the most northerly of the Leeward Islands chain and between it and its former sister islands of St. Kitts-Nevis is a cluster of French and Dutch territories.

It is this location that led the late Anglican Priest, Guy Carleton, to declare that neither God nor geography had decreed that Anguilla should be part of St. Kitts and that the marriage of the two islands was an unholy matrimony.

Anguilla was the poorest island in the Leeward Islands and in derision was called “the backwater of the Caribbean.” It is this abject poverty and neglect and the unpopular union with St. Kitts, dating back to 1825, that influenced the proud and independently-minded Anguillians to strive for separation for almost a century and a half. It was only in 1967, with full internal rule placed squarely into the hands of the then much-despised and feared St. Kitts Government, that the Anguillians eventually revolted.

Anguilla has resisted several attempts of outside plunder and domination. The historical accounts of the French invasions and raids by a party of “Wild Irish” and Carib marauders are evidence of the Anguillians’ struggles for survival and the protection of the integrity and freedom of their island.

It is the only island in the Caribbean that has successfully achieved separation from any political or constitutional grouping and it has done so without bloodshed. It is now a proud, unrepentant and considerably prosperous small island state and is perhaps the envy of some of its neighbours.

Anguilla’s High Court Judge, Madam Justice George-Creque, was right when she said this week that Anguilla had a unique judicial history. The island, linked with St. Kitts-Nevis in 1967 as a State in Association with Britain, fell under the jurisdiction of the then West Indies Associated States Supreme Court. When it rebelled against St. Kitts in May that year, Anguilla lost its judicial status and in 1971 was provided with a separate judicial arrangement by Britain. Anguilla returned to the jurisdiction of the regional judiciary in 1983, following the establishment of the Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court which replaced the West Indies Associated States Supreme Court when St. Kitts-Nevis and other islands achieved independence. Anguilla is now among eight other territories celebrating the 40th Anniversary of the sub-regional court.

It is also now preparing to celebrate the 40th Anniversary of its revolution that has brought it so much prosperity. The rich history of the island, its natural beauty, upscale tourism industry and its people, all combine to make Anguilla a unique island in the Caribbean.