Belize Migration Policy Consultations Continue With Business Leaders

Since the launch of Belize’s Migration Policy, the Government continues efforts to strengthen the management of movement across the country’s borders, setting out a framework for how foreign nationals may enter, reside, work, and, where applicable, obtain citizenship in Belize. As part of the ongoing national consultation process running from May 15 to the 22nd, the Ministry of Immigration, Governance and Labor, in partnership with the United Nations Development Program and the International Organization for Migration, continues stakeholder engagement across the country. On Tuesday, Director of Nationality and Passports Dayna Blades convened a meeting at the Magistrate Court in Belize City with representatives from the Belize Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the Belize Business Bureau, UNDP, and the Belize Immigration Department. In countries like Belize, effective migration management remains a key part of national planning. According to Blades, discussions focused on the policy’s impact on business, investment, labor mobility, and national development, along with issues such as border security, work permits, residency, and refugee protection.

Dayna Blades, Director, Nationality and Passports: “Today we are coordinating the migration policy. The objective of today is that we’re meeting with stakeholders as we’re going around doing consultation in our migration policy. It’s a week-long session that we have been having. It started from over the weekend. We’ve been in Bella Vista. We’ve been in the Belmopan area. We’ve met with key stakeholders yesterday from the justice sector. And today we are meeting the business sector because we do want to hear what their concerns and how we can better manage their needs in terms of migration. Migration is a dynamic issue. It affects all sectors of the country and we need to ensure as we’re drafting the policy that we’re taking into considerations all of a holistic approach and all of government approach, each stakeholder that we’re engaging with is important to making, in considering their recommendations so that it can be taken into drafting of the final document that we’re hoping to complete in the end of July. I think the immigrants coming to Belize can expect that whenever they’re coming into the country they’ll be coming into a structured environment because this is what the policy is all about to make sure that we are properly regulated and structured so they should have that confidence when they come and access our services.”