No Migrants Entered Belize

Elton Bennett

On Friday, the caravan was spotted by the Cadena’s operating base near Belize’s border with Guatemala. The splinter group comprised of about fifteen to twenty persons who authorities feared would have made their way into Belize. Captain Bennett says none of the migrants made their way into Belize.

Captain Elton Bennett, Commandant, Belize Coast Guard

“The Cadena’s operating base did spot a small splinter group from the main one thousand that was heading our way; this was about somewhere between fifteen and twenty. They were on foot and heading north in Guatemala. We were following that situation closely and we had eyes on, using different means, to ensure that we were able to know for certain if they headed towards Belizean borders and when and in what numbers so that we could put forward the relevant demonstration of policy. Since then, we have not seen any movements towards Belize. We do believe that that small movement continued north in Guatemala and eventually west on to the Guatemalan/Mexican border. So for now, we have not seen any migrants spill over into Belizean territory.”

Duane Moody

“I know you touched on it that it is still being monitored, but where the caravan is at this point in time?”

Captain Elton Bennett

“The last report is that the mass of the caravan was on the Tecun Uman border between Guatemala and Mexico. And whilst Mexicans were processing some of those migrants, there was a large number that bypassed that official border crossing point and entered into Mexico, creating havoc to the security system and onto the government system on a whole. And so that’s what we want to avoid from happening in Belize by putting out our early warning, early detection and early show of force at the border to ensure that we send that message quite clear to any mass migration of people through Belize that the Government of Belize position is that we would not accommodate or tolerate in its form of a migrant caravan to pass through Belizean territory.”