BELIZE-POPULATION: Refugees Change Complexion of Caribbean State
BELIZE CITY, Dic 29 (IPS) - When Belizeans leave home to visit Trinidad or Barbados or any of the islands in the region, they say they are going to the Caribbean.
The comment highlights Belize's view of itself as separate from the Caribbean. The country, though tucked under Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula and bordering Guatemala, is by history and language, very much apart of the English-speaking Caribbean.
It is part of the regional integration movement, the Caribbean Community (Caricom) and, in certain international fora, speaks as one with the region.
But, over the years, Belize has struggled with an influx of refugees from warring Central American neighbours which is changing the complexion of the country and pulling it further away from its Caribbean roots.
Of Belize's 218,000 people, 44 percent are mestizos, the majority of them from Central America.
The country has found it difficult to communicate its refugee problem to Caribbean states which do not share borders and which therefore cannot empathise fully with Belize's concerns.
Its experiences with refugees led Prime Minister Manuel Esquivel to display his impatience with the U.S. government when Caricom member states were asked to accept Haitian refugees earlier this year.
Though many Caricom governments refused, Esquivel was strongest in his opposition to the plan to provide accommodation for Haitians while the international community tried to restore democracy and exiled President Jean Bertrand Aristide.
Esquivel said plainly that once Haiti receded from the political spotlight countries which had accepted refugees would be left with them and with inadequate support from the United States and the rest of the international community.
The refugee situation in Belize has left the country grappling with social conflicts caused by too many people depending on scarce resources.
Belize, a mainly agricultural economy, has a large rural population -- 52 percent. But that population is made up largely of refugees who have settled on border areas and around the major rural towns of Cayo and Orange Walk.
© Inter Press Service (2014) — All Rights Reserved. Original source: Inter Press Service