Belize Recognizes World Refugees Day

Today is celebrated as World Refugees Day 2023.  The day is being recognized under the theme, “Hope away from home, a world where refugees are always included”. In honor of the day, the Refugees Department in the Ministry of Immigration held an event this morning in Belmopan to disseminate information on the process undertaken to apply for refugee status in Belize and the number of confirmed refugees in the country. The event was organized in hopes of demystifying some of the false notions that exists with respect to refugees in Belize. News Five’s Paul Lopez reports.

Paul Lopez, Reporting

Currently, only two hundred and twenty individuals are living in Belize as confirmed refugees. Once categorized as asylum seekers, these individuals applied for refugee status through the Refugees Department and later obtained approval. On World Refugees Day, the Refugees Department in the Ministry of Immigration held a desensitization session in Belmopan.

Nikolai Zelaya

Nikolai Zelaya, Legal Protection Officer

“During the early part of the nineteen eighties when there were civil wars in El Salvador, also in Honduras and Guatemala, we had a number of people, a large flow of people coming in from these countries and from Civil. So in 1982 the Government of Belize, with the help of UNHCR established a community which you all very familiar with known as Valley of Peace and the first two hundred refugees settled there.”

In 1991, Belize established its first Refugees Act. By 1993, Belize had approximately nine thousand recognized refugees. Those individuals have either already received permanent residency or returned to their country of origin. The two hundred and twenty individuals in Belize that are currently living with a refugee status were confirmed between 2017 and 2022.

Jillian Marchard

Jillian Marchard, Eligibility Clerk, Refugees Department

“Our RSD application, known as our refugee status determination, they shall apply after arrival to Belize and it is sent to the Refugees Committee. Registration interviews are conducted by the registration officer. It is done to gather information related to substantive evidence of the refugee claim. Aslyum Seekers RSD applications are accepted by the registration officer. The officer issues an an asylum claim submission slip or a stamp that must be renewed every three months until the application process is completed.”

The process takes approximately three months to be completed. The applications are processed by an eligibility committee comprised of ten members, including public officials and members of civil society. According to the department’s data, the majority of asylum seekers applying for refugee status in Belize are from El Salvador.

Alexis Salazar

Alexis Salazar, Refugee Eligibility Officer, Refugees Department

“We ask the question, does the applicant have a reasonable possibility that he or she would experience harm if that person returns to their country. A part of the legal analysis has what my colleague mentioned, country of origin information. When we speak on country of origin information this is in-depth research regarding that specific country that the applicant is coming from. So we look at reports that have been done on these countries and these reports outline the conditions of these countries, what is happening there, and we also look a lot on statistics, meaning how many people are leaving these countries and the reasons why they are leaving these countries.”

Contrary to popular views, not all asylum seekers are approved for refugee status. In fact, many are turned back following the rigorous vetting process. These individuals can either appeal the decision or enter another country to seek refuge and the minister responsible for the Immigration Department gives the final confirmation.

Gilroy Middleton

Gilroy Middleton, Chief Executive Officer, Ministry of Immigration

“The total number of current confirmed refugees is a total of two hundred and twenty of which in 2017 there were some twenty-six confirmed refugees. That back log occurred between 2018, 2019, and 2020. So, we have no confirmed refugees for those three years. In 2021 we had some eighty-nine confirmed refugees. In 2022 two hundred and fifty asylum seekers applied. Of that number seventy-three individuals were confirmed. And in 2023 so far we have twenty- two confirmed refugees for a total of two hundred and twenty. Looking more into the statistics, of that two hundred and twenty, we have one hundred and fifty seven being from El Salvador, forty-five from Honduras, fourteen from Nicaragua and four being from Guatemala, representing two percent.”

Reporting for News Five, I am Paul Lopez.