Belize ratified the United Nations 1951 Convention and 1967
Protocol relating to the status of refugees on 27 June 1990 (United
Nations High Commissioner for Refugees 27 June 1990). The Legal
Researcher for the U.N.H.C.R. in Ottawa said that becoming a
signatory to the Convention and the Protocol means that Belize has
agreed to grant the refugees all of the rights and obligations
given in the Convention (7 August 1991). For example, no one whose
refugee claim has been accepted will be refouled from Belize
(
Ibid.).
In terms of the refugee determination procedure, the U.N.H.C.R.
Legal Researcher said that, because the ratification of the
Convention is still relatively recent, an official procedure for
complying with it has not, to his knowledge, been adopted yet in
Belize (
Ibid.). This source said that it is not clear as to
whether Belize will continue to follow their old, pre-ratification
policies and procedures (
Ibid.). The U.N.H.C.R. office in
Ottawa will communicate with their people in Belize to try to
obtain more information on procedural matters.
When further information becomes available, I will forward it to
you.
In terms of rights of refugees in Belize, in November 1989,
Vice-Minister for Foreign Affairs and Economic Development Samuel
Rhaburn stated: "Belize has a very liberal policy towards refugees"
(
Refugees November 1989). There is no direct Government
assistance to refugees, but U.N.H.C.R. and several N.G.O.s provide
assistance (Bureau for Refugee Programs September 1989).
Refugees said, "More often than not he [a refugee] will find
work, housing, will send his children to school, and is eligible
for the social and medical services open to any Belizean, without
any questions being asked" (February 1988). Registered refugees are
eligible to receive government health care and other social
services (U.S. Committee for Refugees 1990). These social services,
as well as work, are even available pending adjudication (Bureau
for Refugee Programs September 1989). Only newly arrived and
vulnerable refugees receive direct U.N.H.C.R. assistance (U.S.
Committee for Refugees 1990). Refugees are scattered amongst the
population in Belize (
Refugees February 1988) and are being
assimilated into Belizean society (
Refugees June 1990),
although unregistered refugees have set up their own communities in
some areas (
Refugees November 1989). The U.N.H.C.R. provides
grants for occupational training and helps to arrange
apprenticeships (
Refugees February 1988).
The following is information about Belize's pre-ratification
refugee determination procedure. Belize's post-independence
government worked closely with the U.N.H.C.R. to establish a
settlement area for refugees (Barry 1989, 48). Three organizations
that dealt with refugees were the Refugee Board, the Refugee
Committee, and the Refugee Office (
Refugees June 1990).
A Refugee Eligibility Committee (established in March 1988 and
composed of the head of the Refugee Office, two social workers, an
attorney, and representatives of U.N.H.C.R. and the local Roman
Catholic Refugee Apostolate) attempted to make refugee
determinations within 30 days of application and, according to the
U.S. Bureau for Refugee Programs, had evolved into an effective
mechanism for dealing equitably with asylum seekers (September
1989). However, in September 1989 there was a five-month backlog of
cases before the Committee (
Ibid.).
In June 1988, the Immigration Advisory Committee was restructured
(Bureau for Refugee Programs September 1989); in 1989 it was
drafting a comprehensive immigration code, including the
definition, rights, and legal status of refugees and displaced
persons (
Ibid.).
In December 1988, the government established an eight-member
advisory committee chaired by Joseph Palacio, an academic, to
analyze the refugee situation and to propose amendments and
additions to the country's immigration law (
Refugees
November 1989). Palacio was quoted as saying that the
post-independence governments of Belize had not had enough time to
formulate their immigration policies (
Ibid.). As of 1990,
the government of Belize had not drafted a code to regulate its
response to refugees (U.S. Committee for Refugees 1990).
As of June 1990, Belize had recently restructured its Refugee
Committee, then headed by Ismael Garcia, Belize's Ambassador
designate to Central America (
Refugees June 1990). It is not
clear whether any of the Refugee Committee, the Refugee Eligibility
Committee, the Immigration Advisory Committee, and the advisory
committee are the same body. Recall that, with the ratification of
the U.N. Convention and Protocol, the above bodies may no longer be
operational and the procedures may have changed considerably
(U.N.H.C.R. 7 August 1991).
Please find attached background materials on the general situation
of refugees in Belize. Be advised that most of these materials
predate the ratification of the U.N. Convention and Protocol by
Belize.
Bibliography
Barry, Tom. 1989.
Belize: A Country Guide. New Mexico:
Inter-Hemispheric Education Resource Centre. Pp. 46-49.
Bureau for Refugee Programs, U.S. Department of State. September
1989.
World Refugee Report. Washington, D.C.: Bureau for
Refugee Programs, U.S. Department of State. Pp. 65-66.
Refugees [Geneva]. February 1988. "Belize: A Peaceful Corner
in a Region at War."
Refugees [Geneva]. November 1989. "The Promised Land?"
Refugees [Geneva]. June 1990. "Said Musa: Minister of
Foreign Affairs and Economic Development."
United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. 3 December 1988.
"Memorandum: Refugee and Voluntary Repatriation Statistics in the
Northern Latin American Countries."
United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. (REF/1655 27 June
1990). "Belize Ratifies UN Refugee Convention."
United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. 7 August 1991.
Telephone Interview with Legal Researcher.
U.S. Committee for Refugees. 1990.
World Refugee Survey - 1989
in Review. Washington, D.C.: American Council for Nationalities
Service. P. 69.
Attachments
Barry, Tom. 1989.
Belize: A Country Guide. New Mexico:
Inter-Hemispheric Education Resource Centre. Pp. 46-49.
Bureau for Refugee Programs, U.S. Department of State. September
1989.
World Refugee Report. Washington, D.C.: Bureau for
Refugee Programs, U.S. Department of State. Pp. 65-66.
Central America Report [Guatemala]. 16 June 1989. "Region:
Dispersal of Central American Refugees.
The Economist [London]. 23 December 1989. "The Year of the
Refugee: Voting with their Feet, their Trabants, and their Oars:
Latin America and the Caribbean 283.100."
Refugees [Geneva]. February 1988. "Belize: A Peaceful Corner
in a Region at War."
Refugees [Geneva]. November 1989. "The Promised Land?"
Refugees [Geneva]. June 1990. "Said Musa: Minister of
Foreign Affairs and Economic Development."
United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. 3 December 1988. "
Memorandum: Refugee and Voluntary Repatriation Statistics in the
Northern Latin American Countries."
United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. (REF/1655 27 June
1990). "Belize Ratifies UN Refugee Convention."
U.S. Committee for Refugees. 1990.
World Refugee Survey -
1989 in Review. Washington, D.C.: American Council for
Nationalities Service. P. 69.