Today the Ministry of immigration held their Regional Conference on Migration under the theme "A Better World with Respect for Human Rights and Dignity." We spoke to Shanika Norales,Port Commander, who says that it's the first time Belize is leading the initiative.
Shanika Norales, Port Commander, Ministry of Immigration Border Management and Immigration Services
"The conference here today is the continuation of a two day conference which is the regional conference on migration and regional consultation group on migration. It's a midterm meeting that is being held. Currently Belize is the PPT for the RCM. This is the first time Belize is leading in this initiative and we have 11, 10 member states that are here from Central America including US and Canada. Then, we have observer organizations that are here who provide technical as well as financial support to the many initiatives that we do."
"It is a platform whereby we share best practices and Belize can definitely mirror on some of the practices that are done within the region. We also sit at these conferences and these mechanism whereby we are able to disseminate information that is not readily available to them but they can utilize it and likewise they can provide us with information that is not readily available to us where we can utilize to make sound decisions when it come to the many migration issues that we face as a country and in extension as a region."
Norales states that some of the issues discussed at the conference are irregular migration, which she says is a crucial issue, disaster, which is a new phenomenon in the immigration that causes displacement for migrants and child labor.
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