Belizean Students Can Come Home

Dean Barrow

Dozens of Belizean students remained stuck in different parts of the world when the state of emergency was imposed.  They have been unable to return because of the closure of borders and the new laws prohibit everyone, including Belizeans, from entering the country. Since there is containment of COVID-19 in Belize, students and other Belizeans, such as diplomats can begin planning their return.  According to the PM, students will need to write the Ministry of Foreign Affairs after which arrangements will be made for them to return home. As part of the arrangement, the students will be put in mandatory quarantine at their own cost.

Prime Minister Dean Barrow

“It may well be that the number of Belizeans could be such that special chartered flights could be put on by the airlines that Belizeans would be able to pay for without taxing the government any further. But I would concede that as things now stand the Mexico route via Cancun would appear to me what is most in play. That is why we are very careful in saying, look you can come but let’s do a kind of census. Let us have you indicate who you are, where it is that you want to come and how, by what route, you expect to come. So that we can then say alright we will initially accept a group of fifty perhaps and the health people and those who are in charge of logistics will better advice us.  Remember this is a work in progress and we will determine then how many at any given time we can accept bearing two factors in mind. Number one, when you come you will have to be quarantine and you don’t get out of that quarantine for fourteen days at which point you would be tested and it is only if you test negative that you are going to be released.”