Last week when we spoke to the Prime Minister, he said Belize was in negotiations with the United States to discuss the possibility of this country becoming a safe third country for the United States to ship its rejected asylum seekers. That's a sharp shift in position from earlier this year when he had rejected that possibility. But, it seems things have evolved since then - and the UDP isn't happy about it. Yesterday Senator Patrick Faber questioned what becoming that safe third country will entail for Belize:
Patrick Faber, UDP Senator
"What they're asking Belize to do is to accept people from other parts of Central America who can't make it to the United States. And we have got to ask the question, who is it that you're asking us to take?"
"How is it that we are going to provide for these people when in fact we are not able to provide for the Belizean people? You know, that is the most sickening thing of all. Every bit of what my colleagues have spoken about this afternoon come out of a deafening silence on the part of the government."
"How is it that you as the Prime Minister and the media laments on this daily, but we allow them to get away with it? How can you not address these matters? How can you go and sign these agreements with countries and don't tell the nation, especially when they have serious implications?"
