Yesterday, 42-year-old Majid Khan began his new life in Belize after 2 decades inside Guantanamo Bay. He's a former Al Qaeda terrorist but after being released, Belize's government agreed to accept him into the country and have him resettled.
It's a controversial issue that most Belizeans - or at least the vocal ones on social media - don't seem to agree with.
And yesterday you heard the UDP chairman condemn the decision, whereas the leader of the opposition actually sided with the government. And today he told us why: as a reformed convict, he said Khan's story struck a chord with him. And while it's a little difficult to compare a 19-year-old who shot a gun in a club to a 22-year-old terrorist, Barrow said Khan deserves a second chance.
Here's what he told us:
Shyne Barrow, Leader of the Opposition
"Politics is not supposed to be homogenous, in a democracy, a democracy is reflective of different participants with different perspectives within a party. When the minister from Port Loyola disagrees with the minister from cayo south about housing, they just have two different realities of the housing situation."
"I just think that sometimes maybe the media makes far too much of the UDP internal realities because I pride myself in being a leader that is not heavy handed and does not compel people to parrot my views and my perspective."
"As far my personal position on Mr Khan, my supposed that I have given is based on a humanitarian level as well as a personal level. I more than anyone in the House of Representatives and maybe in all of Belize, know the journey of redemption. I know the journey of rehabilitation, reformation, atonement, contrition. I understand that far too well, I understand that 24 years ago, the 19 year old child that I was that made a mistake, even though I was defending myself, I am not the same person."
"That does not erase what he was convicted of, his participation in terrorism, but he also participated in cooperating with the United States government to prevent further terrorist acts so I can be the one to hold someone's past against them in perpetuity, especially someone who has paid their debt, 20 years in solitary confinement in Guantanamo bay. That is living hell. But I do understand the concerns that the party chairman has and many of my colleagues in the UDP have and many belizeans may have. Someone that was convicted of terrorism, convicted where people lost their lives. It is a valid concern. I do believe that the government of Belize should have brought the matter to the House of Representatives for approval."
"We have had bilateral relations with the United States government for about 42 years, there has to be a level of trust and confidence in that relationship. I trust that if Mr Khan posed any threat to any national security, whether it be that of the US or Belize, he would not have been released from Guantanamo Bay."
