According to Senator Courtenay, the majority of appointments so far have been made by persons in the Cayo District-a total of 1,586 persons, while over six hundred persons from the Belize District have signed up as well. Since doing so, a total of 4,752 persons have signed up-1,627 of which are minors. Hundreds of thousands of persons are expected to turn up to take advantage of the program, and the government has already begun taking appointments. That system has turned up persons who have convictions elsewhere, and they have been rejected and deported,” added Senator Courtenay. “To persons who have expressed concerns about security issues about gang members being allowed to pass through this process: that is unlikely because of the system in place, and I can say that system has already turned up, not in relation to the amnesty, because that has not begun, but persons who have applied for citizenship and persons who have applied for permanent residence. Second, there is a very rigorous security check that is done for every applicant for permanent residence, and that would also be done and applied to these applicants,” he stated. It applies to all nationalities, ethnicities, and races. “I want to stress two things: one, this is not solely for people from Latin America or Central America. He also stressed the fact that the program is open to migrants of all nations: ![]() Courtenay, however, maintained that no such thing would happen under the program. In the past, some members of the public have expressed concern that gang members from other nations, fleeing persecution by their governments, would use the amnesty program to their advantage. That includes persons who have fled from neighboring Central American and Latin American nations either in fear of gang-related violence or in search of better employment opportunities, as well as migrants from Haiti who have escaped political upheaval. They are fearful that if they do so, they will be arrested, deported, or arrested and charged or suffer some consequence-fined perhaps,” he stated.Īmnesty 2022 is expected to benefit up to sixty thousand irregular migrants living in Belize. Like in any country, they’re fearful of coming to the Immigration Department to seek to regularize their status. These persons are in Belize, and for all intents and purposes have made Belize their home however, they remain irregular. ![]() “There are tens of thousands of persons in Belize who have either come here irregularly or came here regularly and have become irregular. ![]() Leader of Government Business, Senator Eamon Courtenay rose to present the Bill and outlined the Government’s position as it relates to the Amnesty Program: The Bill seeks to facilitate the implementation of Amnesty 2022-the program for irregular migrants which is expected to begin in August of this year-by allowing for amendments to the Belizean Nationality Act Chapter 161 of the Substantive Laws of Belize (Revised Edition 2020). One of the bills brought from the House of Representatives to the Senate this Monday was the Belizean Nationality Amendment Bill 2022. Almost 5,000 migrants from across the country have already scheduled their appointments for the 2022 Amnesty Program.
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