The 3rd Diaspora Summit commenced today, bringing together residents and members of the Belizean diaspora abroad. They will spend the next 3 days engaged in panel discussions, presentations, and a business exchange through a mini expo at the summit. We stopped by the event this morning and learned more about the case for including the Belizean diaspora in nation building:
Aria Lightfoot, Organizer - Belize Diaspora Summit
"This has been going on for a while. There's been different levels of advocacies, and I've been involved with Belizean citizens abroad, Belizean-American Chamber of Commerce, so we have been doing different types of diaspora-related events. Right now we are formulating the summit as a more mature type, policy-focused, and we do it with an agenda and motivation involved, I mean, involved with the process."
Aria Lightfoot
"So we are introducing a policy paper requesting that the Government create a national diaspora policy for the diaspora community."
Aria Lightfoot
"So that comes with government and representation, and I think it is bigger than just voting—it is actually having representation. And that might look like something different from different perspectives. Some people discuss the idea of a Senate seat. You have NGOs who are in the Senate, you have the church that are in the Senate, and you have a lot of these are non-Belizean entities, and so that was some of the discussions that have taken place. Of course the diaspora wants to vote on national issues because I think it is still important, but again, it is a request for a proposal that these discussions take place."
Kareem Musa, Minister of Immigration & Labour
"As you know, I have always been a fierce advocate for Belizeans. No matter what part of the world you happen to reside, at the end of the day you are Belizean regardless of your address. The world has become so interconnected that you can now have meetings virtually any time of the day, can contribute in any kind of way to the development of our country. And if it is one thing that I have learned having studied abroad, is that Belizeans not only miss their homeland, they also want to help to develop it. And so in whatever capacity that I can assist in reversing the brain drain and actually creating a brain gain for Belize, I will do my part. As you know from the Ministry of Immigration standpoint, we have had two mobile hubs this year—one in Houston and one in Miramar, Florida—both extremely successful. There was one occasion where a young teenage girl actually cried in the Prime Minister's arms when she received her nationality certificate. It was a truly heartwarming experience for me as Immigration, to see that there are so many Belizeans, young Belizeans who want to come back home, who are interested in coming back home. And so we plan to do more of that. The next mobile hub will be in Illinois in August of this year. So, we're very excited about all of this."
