And last week we also asked Minister Courtenay about the status of the Amnesty program which is set to close off at the end of the month.
He says the numbers aren't quite what they were expecting and shared that the process may get yet another month-long extension.
Eamon Courtenay, Minister Of Foreign Affairs & Immigration
"Amnesty is winding down I understand that it's approximately 12,000 people have taken advantage of it, much lower than we had anticipated but it's of concern to me because again, we have good reason to still believe that there is still a lot of irregular migrants in Belize, what we have found out is that perhaps it was the way we designed it and so we adjusted it because the way we had designed it and the amnesty offices are open from 9-5 or 8-5, you're on a farm, it's open Monday to Friday, your at the office Saturday midday. So, you have no opportunity if you wanted to come and apply for amnesty, so for the last three or four months they have been doing a lot more outreach, literally going to communities, going to farms and saying, hey,. They've gone to San Pedro, construction sites and looking for people and there has been a significant uptick but it is clear that we should have done that earlier to try and capture more of them. I think the international organizations are asking us to try and extend it for another month because they can see."
"They are doing mobile hubs and getting a lot of people, so I would have to take that to Cabinet whether we go to the end of March, um, but as I say it's about 12,000 people that so far have taken advantage of it or have applied and that's a lot so I do believe that there are a lot more out there."
As things currently stand the last day for submission of documents in the Amnesty program will be February 28th, 2023.
