And, we also got perspective from Home Affairs Minister Kareem Musa, who studied law in Jamaica. He soft shoed the restriction on Jamaican travelers to Belize:
Jules Vasquez
"It is against the spirit of regional oneness that is espoused in the CSME and the treaty of Chaguaramas. What do you think of it in totality?"
Kareem Musa, Minister of Home Affairs
"As far as I am aware, Jules, and I believe this came up as well in Cabinet yesterday. There has been no move by the Belize government to impose any restrictions. What the government said is that it will consult with the ministry of tourism on the way forward to see whether or not we need to impose these types of restrictions. And it's not any serious restriction. I believe it has to do with providing proof of your hotel stay and things like that which is very common between countries. And I think it's all due to the fact that as a Caribbean country, we are the only one that is actually attached to the mainland that can get you to the United States of America. And so other Caribbean countries aren't faced with that issue that we have. Because as you
know Uncle Sam is looking at us and saying, oh, you're clearly allowing passage for these passengers to come to Belize and then to move on to the United States which is absolutely not the case. But at the same time, they are looking at that very closely in terms of your human trafficking tier ranking and that sort of thing."
Jules Vasquez
"But, a.) isn't it against that spirit of regional one-ness, which we should be working towards?"
Kareem Musa, Minister of Home Affairs
"I don't believe so Jules, it's not as though we're declining or saying we will not allow Jamaicans to come to Belize, absolutely not, it's just to put in place certain mechanisms to ensure that you're just coming to Belize."
