What’s Up with Belizean Students in Guyana?

On Friday, we reported on the six students who are stuck in Guyana and appealing for the government to open the northern border to allow them back into the country.  Those students had applied through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ online form to return on Saturday, but they were informed that the country wasn’t ready to receive them.  The students, according to a relative we spoke with, were worried about political unrest in that country and wanted to get out quickly, but COVID-19 has made their situation a lot tougher to navigate. Minister of Education Patrick Faber was asked about the matter.

Patrick Faber

Patrick Faber, Minister of Education

“These persons who have come indicated that they were in some kind of situation whether medical or financially or in the case of the students in Guyana where there would have been some indication that there was political unrest or some kind of safety issue there and so I suspect that once I hear from C.E.O. Annie today that will be the kind of response but I do promise to look more deeply today once I get a chance to be freed up in terms of those students in Guyana.   The Ministry of Education stands ready to support students. I’m not sure about financially. I know that’s a part of the concern of students from Guyana who are saying we want to come home but we can’t afford to pay for the quarantine, this is a wider problem for the government because of our financial crunch and the ministry is certainly not in a position to support that to the full extent that the request has been coming in but we are prepared to look at it and see where we can help.”