BELMOPAN, Belize – Belize's government says it intends to make public the agreement it signed with the United States to act as a “safe third country” for migrants as they seek asylum in the North American country.
Illegal migrants in the United States could be deported to Belize (File Photo)Prime Minister John Antonio Briceño said the two-year deal, which still needs approval from the Belize parliament, will mean that migrants deported from the US could apply for asylum here instead of returning to their home countries.
The US State Department called the agreement “an important milestone in ending illegal immigration” and “shutting down abuse” of the US asylum system.
The agreement applies to Central American and Caribbean nationals, except Guatemalans, and human rights groups in the US and abroad have strongly criticised such deals, saying migrants face the risk of being sent to countries where they could be harmed.
Foreign Affairs Minister, Francis Fonseca, said the document has already been shared with the clerk and Senators, insisting “it’s not a secret document.
“They will be able to have that and debate it. I already made the point that there’s a process that this has to follow. We sign the agreement. But it has to be ratified by the Senate. So there will have to be tabled, it’ll have to be tabled at the Senate.
“We’ve already sent it over to the Senate. It’ll have to be debated there. We will have to respond to any questions and concerns raised by the Senators, but there’s also another limb which will require that we amend our domestic legislation, right?”
Fonseca said, for example, the Refugees Act will have to be amended and that it will have to be taken to Parliament and “we will present that amended bill, and we’ll have an opportunity to debate that and discuss that.
“So it’ll be a very open, transparent process. And then the final point is that, as I have said, and I said in my statement in the House on last Friday, this entire agreement will be underpinned by what we call operational procedures.”
He said that the signing was just the beginning of the process, and government has to finalise those operational procedures with the United States “and only when we have finalised that, when it has been ratified, when we have done the domestic legislation.
“And we have finalised and agreed upon the operational procedures. Only then will the agreement take effect. So those steps have to be followed, and all of those steps will be very open and transparent.”
Fonseca said that this position is very clear in that “we have a statement of principles that govern our position as it relates to the operational procedures, which means that we will determine where, which countries of origin these people will come from for that.
“In our case, it’ll be people from Central America and the Caribbean in Central America, with the exception of Guatemala, for obvious reasons. And then we will place a cap on the number of people who will be able to be transferred to Belize. And our position is that number should not be more than 10 people per annum.”
Belize’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs posted on social media that the agreement “includes strict security measures to protect Belize’s national security and sovereignty”.
“The agreement gives Belize full authority to approve or reject transfers, limits eligibility to specific nationalities, and ensures comprehensive background checks, among other measures,” it said.
Briceño said that for Belize it will be “more like a job programme, whereby people with certain qualifications can come to Belize” and “participate meaningfully in our economy”.
But Opposition Leader Tracy Taegar Panton expressed “grave concern” about the deal, saying it “could reshape Belize’s immigration and asylum systems, impose new financial burdens on taxpayers, and raise serious questions about national sovereignty and security”.
She said that the agreement will take effect after ratification in the Senate and not after the debate in the House of Representative.
“However, there are critical omissions that raise more questions than answers. Again, I wish to reiterate the lack of transparency and accountability by this Briceno administration. This has become its hallmark, the same administration who promised to establish and uphold the gold standard for transparency and accountability in government.
“The full text of the agreement has not been disclosed. The preamble to the agreement and some of the recitals has recently been shared with members of the Senate, however, the full text, the comprehensive text, including the annexes, transitional arrangements, technical assistance and cost sharing commitments have not been disclosed. The annual cap on numerical limits also remains unknown. How many asylum seekers will Belize be accommodating?,” she added.
