Thursday, April 22, 2004

Blz: Controlling immigration

Tonight, seven Hondurans who were refused entry to Belize on Tuesday are back home, recovering from an unplanned overnight stay in the custody of immigration officials in Dangriga. According to the department's director, Colonel Peter Parchue, the three men, two women, and two children arrived in Belize via boat on Tuesday afternoon in possession of valid visas but could provide authorities with no further information, such as names and addresses in Belize, to support claims that they were in the country to conduct "business"... It was this deficiency, says Parchue that forced officials to refuse them permission to enter. As mandated by law, the boat captain who transported the Hondurans into Belize is obligated to return the passengers to their homeland or face charges which include a three thousand dollar per passenger fine. However, when we contacted boat captain Carlos Reyes, he maintains that there needs to be an investigation into immigration officials in Dangriga as several occurrences have led him to question the way the officers use their discretionary powers.
...
Reyes transported the seven Hondurans to Punta Gorda this afternoon where they caught another boat which took them home. News 5 understands that all seven were issued visas by authorities in San Pedro Sula, Honduras, but as Director Peter Parchue points out, a visa does not necessarily guarantee the right to enter to Belize.
I wonder if the Hondurans will protest, hold marches, and bang on the windows of any government officials and such?

0 Comments:

Post a Comment

<< Home