At the same time, Morgan is reminding citizens that countries have the right to determine who they allow to travel to their respective nations.

The minister was responding to a question at Wednesday's post-Cabinet press briefing relative to Canada announcing this week that 13 countries have been added to its electronic travel authorisation (eTA) programme for eligible travellers, with five Caribbean countries added to the list.  

Jamaica was not among those Caribbean countries, which were Antigua and Barbuda, St Lucia, St Kitts and Nevis, St Vincent and the Grenadines and Trinidad and Tobago.  

A media release stated that travellers from the 13 countries who have either held a Canadian visa in the last 10 years or who currently hold a valid United States non-immigrant visa can now apply for an eTA instead of a visa when travelling to Canada by air. 

Morgan said such developments have to be contextualised, especially in relation to Jamaica.

He disclosed that Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade Minister, Senator Kamina Johnson Smith, "constantly" has engagements with various international partners, and "we have a very good relationship with the people of Canada and the Government of Canada."

Continuing, he said: "I think we should be very careful in how we analyse this visa matter.

"There are certain stipulations, for example, you have to, in some cases, have a visa for over 10 years, so it's not a straight line, and states are free to make their assessments as who they allow in their country," Morgan advised. 

He said Jamaicans should also take note of the several challenges relative to "persons who present problematic documents" when travelling overseas.

"A large number of Jamaicans present problematic documents, and when they are applying for visas to several countries, we have a large number of persons who have criminal records who are trying to apply," the minister indicated.

"There are also significant issues with Jamaicans attempting to illegally across the border into these countries, whether they go through Mexico, United States, or go further up through Canada," added Morgan.

There were also incidents of persons overstaying in some of these countries, he reminded.

"Whenever these things happen, we have to contextualise them. This Government will continue to work to advocate on behalf of our citizens to find ways for ease of travel across the world," declared Morgan.