| Regularizing Daily Movement Of Hundreds of Guatemalan Students |
| Thu, October 20, 2016 |
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| Exactly two years ago, we told you all about the hundreds of Guatemalan children who cross the western border from Melchor every day to attend primary and high schools in Belize. It's a decades old practice where the Guatemalans send their kids to Belize to learn English, and to benefit from an education system that's better than their one. But, officially, it just passed under the radar, most of the kids would just cross daily without even being processed through the immigration point because they were regulars. No record would be made of their crossing.
Well, finally, that has changed. The Department of Immigration has activated a long dormant provision for student permits. It regularizes the movement of these students - about 650 of them daily - and it provides revenue for government, since each card costs 70.00 dollars for a Guatemalan citizen. Surprisingly, there was no great resistance from the Guatemalan parents who seemed eager to formalize their children's movements. Reports tell us that lines formed at the Immigration office on the Belize side and at the end of it, over 650 student passes were issued.
Director of Immigration Diana Locke told us that her department got full cooperation from the ministry of education, the schools, parents and the Guatemalan consul.
The department's next plan is to launch border cards at the northern border.
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