Increase in education for migrants

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Migration is a constant threat at almost all borders globally, even so in Belize and it is in mind to dissuade illegal immigration that the International Organization for Migration (IOM) has taken heed. IOM representatives were in Belize on Thursday, September 12, 2019 to donate and inaugurate television sets which will be installed at main entry points. Those include the Philip Goldson International Airport (PGIA), which is already functioning and four other main points of entry.
At the PGIA, the information is geared toward arriving passengers to give them a sense of what to expect while in country, what information they will need to provide, as well as the signs of human trafficking and human smuggling to beware of.
Chief Executive Officer with responsibility for Immigration and Refugees Edmund Zuniga says that the sets will be used for infomercials for migrants. Currently, the team is working on putting more infomercials together to play on the other four screens, especially in Belmopan where CEO Zuniga says a concentration of migrants are. Those infomercials will advise persons on the procedure to apply for a passport, permanent residence, citizenship, or other immigration services.
The donation of the Information Platform, says Marcelo Pisani, Regional Director, IOM, is a part of a larger project which IOM has with the Government of Belize (GOB). He says that the television screens will be used to propagate information on legal means of migrating. “The idea is to strengthen the capacities of the project to protect migrants, to fight against trafficking and smuggling, to provide information so they can make decision knowing what are the legal means to migrate.” Pisani highlighted that Belize continues to be a transit country for immigrants, especially those from El Salvador, and through use of the information platform and television sets, we can hope to address some of those challenges and vulnerabilities.