Belize Established the UN Migration Network
The United Nations has a number of agencies in Belize and with the launch of its Migration Network, all of those agencies, primarily those that deal with issues of migration, will join synergies and work along with the government to develop more programs that support migration. It’s all geared toward recognizing the need for greater services in that area to assist people, who have migrated, lived and worked in countries other than the one of their birth and want to remain there. Today, at the Radisson, the International Organization for Migration (I.O.M.), collaboration with the government, launched the U.N. Migration Network. News Five’s Marion Ali was there and has this report.
Marion Ali, Reporting
Between 2009 and 2019, Belize recorded the largest number of migrations into the country within the entire Central American region. That figure was up at twenty-four percent and in order to address the needs that come with people moving in and settling down, the International Organization for Migration, through its local office, is working along with UNICEF, the United Nations High Commission for Refugees and others, to prioritize the key areas to become more efficient in its work. Head of the IOM, Belize, Diana Locke told us today that amending current legislation is a part of that change.
Diana Locke
Diana Locke, Head of Office, IOM, Belize
“We’ve had discussions with the government in terms of legislative review for immigration laws, so that is one of the things that we will be working with them on next year. We have supported the Ministry of Human Development in terms of doing some review of its TIPS Legislation and I think they’re looking at even more. We’re aware that the Labour Department is doing a comprehensive review of their legislation.”
Because migration sometimes involves human trafficking, as people move across borders, IOM is also spearheading efforts to address that problem.
Diana Locke
“We have been and we do and will continue to do a lot of training to create an awareness of human trafficking, how to identify it, how to report it. We’re doing that right now, that’s ongoing. The PACT employees – sorry, not PACT, Belize Audubon Society – we did the training for their workers, very, very lively exchanges; very interesting discussion with them. I learned a lot from them and I recognize that they actually were encountering trafficking situations that they did not know that that was what it was.”
Marion Ali For News Five
