Minister of Agriculture Weighs in on Jamaican Migration

Jose Abelardo Mai

Minister of Agriculture, Jose Abelardo Mai, also weighed in on the matter, saying that Belize’s decision to add more requirements for Haitian and Jamaican nationals to enter the country has nothing to do with trade. Mai explained that while he has said that it is difficult to conduct trade with CARICOM because of all the red tape mechanisms in place, the decision now to require more from these travelers is based solely on immigration reasons.

Jose Abelardo Mai, Minister of Agriculture

“In the case of we putting on requirements for visas for the Jamaicans, it has nothing to do with trade. It has to do with the human trafficking that’s passing through the country. We’ve seen the data showing the amount of Jamaicans that come into the country and do not leave. And so where are they? Where are these Jamaicans? And so the government has to react to this. Now, the Jamaicans may not be happy with it, but we also have a responsibility to act and to safeguard or borders from human trafficking. It is a global problem and if the U.S who is our trading partner tells us, listen guys, you need to tighten on this, then we need to do so. So I believe that it is in the best interest of country to do something about it, and it’s also in the best interest for Jamaican government to do something about it too, because many of these people do not reach the US at all. These people die on their way to the U.S. I’ve seen people – have heard of it, I’ve seen families speak about it, that families die. And so I think we’re all in this. So it’s not a punitive measure because of trade or a lack of easy trade to the CARICOM. It’s not, that’s not the case.”