Immigration Department denies U.D.P. allegations

The Ministry of Immigration has responded to allegations by the Opposition United Democratic Party that permanent residency permits are being sold to people in Asian countries without the applicant ever coming to Belize. The Ministry vehemently denies the charges saying that there is a standard policy for the issuing of permits which requires all applicants to show proof that they have lived in Belize for at least one year and submit police and medical records as well as take an AIDS test. The Ministry says there has been no deviation from this policy. As for the insinuation that businessman Gaby Affif is engaged in the widespread sale of residency for a three thousand dollar fee, the Ministry states that Affif is a licensed immigration consultant, and that he was given this status by the United Democratic Party government. The Ministry says yesterday’s statement by the U.D.P. was timed to coincide with the start of the Government’s Amnesty Program for illegal immigrants and says the U.D.P. is hoping to, in their words, “drum up the public hysteria that the country is being overrun by non-Belizeans”.