Belize Accepts Third Group Under Safe Third Country Agreement
A third group of deported Caribbean and Central American nationals arrived in Belize this morning under the Safe Third Country agreement with the United States. Eight of them, most from Haiti, will now be allowed to remain in Belize. The Government of Belize says each transfer is reviewed individually and that it can reject any request. But public concern has been fueled by reports suggesting these arrivals include serious criminals deported from the U.S. Today, we spoke with Luke Martin, Public Affairs Officer at the U.S. Embassy in Belmopan, who pushed back against that claim.
Luke Martin, Public Affairs Officer, U.S. Embassy
“This is, I guess, a third of the flights. One arrived this morning and we know they were all regional people. They requested to come to Belize. Belize government reviewed it, everybody’s cases. And in these ones, they passed the security background clearance, and they felt it would be a good fit for them and Belize. We are not exactly sure about the final number that arrived. We are looking at about seven. The majority of them are from Haiti but there were Central Americans as well. Belize is a great destination for both Central America and Caribbean asylees, because you have cultural connections both directions. You have the language opportunities here for those that are coming from the Central American countries if they don’t speak English. So that is what has worked out here so far. I know there was a lot of misinformation in the beginning of what kind of people would these be. Are they all coming straight out of the prisons, but that is not the situation. These are people looking for homes and they chose Belize as a place to go through this asylum process to figure out, is this the place for them.”
Government says this is the first group transferred under the agreement, after all required reviews and clearances were completed.
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