Agencies to Work Together to Protect Refugee and Migrant Children

The United Nation’s Children Fund, the UN Refugee Agency and the International Organization for Migration have signed the first joint work plan for migrant and refugees in Belize.  According to a joint release, the plan outlines strategic actions to protect the local population of migrants and refugees through advocacy and legal reform and strengthening of data systems, technical capacities to improve response and provision of services to support their integration into Belizean society.  The plan also includes the development of minimum acceptable standards for service delivery in migrant and refugee hosting communities and protocols to protect against statelessness.  The agencies say they will continue community engagement through mobile hubs where asylum seeking, refugee and migrant families have access to services such as health and birth registration as well as information on asylum and migration procedures. Belize is home to two thousand three hundred and ninety-four registered and an estimated three thousand four hundred more unregistered asylum seekers and refugees.