International Organizations Welcome Government’s Extension of Amnesty Program

The government announced, following its November twenty-ninth Cabinet meeting that it had decided to approve a three-month extension to the current amnesty program. This gives irregular migrants who want to remain in Belize additional time to register and apply to do so. The program closed at the end of November, but the government saw the need to extend the application period until February 2023. It is a decision that UNICEF, the United Nations Human Rights Commission and the International Organization for Migration welcome. The government opened the program in August of this year with the aim of granting permanent residency to Guatemalans who have settled in Belize over decades and have Belizean spouses and children. Migrants hailing from other countries that have also settled in Belize decades ago and have family ties here can apply for Belizean citizenship.