It's not only Central or Latin Americans who have attempted to seek refuge in Belize. Recently, a group of Belarusians made a case to come to Belize. We asked the director about it today and here's what he said:
Nikolai Zelaya, Director, Refugees Department
"The issue of the long wait period was a problem for the past 2 to 3 years. We have not had that problem. There is no backlog at the Refugees Department, and the normal time from the time the person makes their application until they are given a recognized refugee card is 60 days, so it is a 2-month period. We are aware and for general knowledge, refugees, while they are at the asylum seeker stage, they are not allowed to work, therefore we try to minimize the amount of time being taken up by administrative decisions, we try to minimize as much as possible, and the time frame right now is 60 days. Keep in mind, however, that every person who applies for a refugee status has to go through security clearance. This is done by the Special Branch of the police. For persons who are from Central America, this is an easy process because they are so close to us and we have a good relationship with our Central American counterparts. However, people who are extra-regional, for example Africa or Europe even, it happens, those security clearances take a long time, so their application would be longer than a Central American."
