More than 20,000 workers from Central America entered Belize in 2022

By Zoila Palma Gonzalez: Data from the Statistical Institute of Belize (SIB) indicate that of the foreign-born population who came to live in Belize, 22% came here to work.

Chief Executive Officer in the Ministry of Economic Development, Dr. Osmond Martinez explained that in 2022, there were 21,000 workers imported from Central America.

“So, for example, in 2022, there were 21 ,000 workers that were imported from Central America so that they can continue to contribute to our economy through the agro -productive and construction sector,” Martinez explained.

CEO Martinez says that the BPO and Tourism sector are boosting and their numbers and have attracted young people, young, educated people who are well rewarded in terms of their salary.

“So they don’t want to go and work in the construction sector or the agro -productive sector. So the citrus, banana, the sugar industry continue to face challenges year after year. And so, there is an importation of hundreds and hundreds of workers every year,” CEO Martinez stated.

However, CEO Martinez said that as the Ministry of Labour works on work permits, it is also crucial to screen anyone entering the country since there is a lot of crime across Central America.

“But we have to be clear and it is visible that there is still a lot of crime in Central America, criminals, gang members. So it is important that who comes to Belize is well -screened and that all the background is done and all the due diligence that needs to do by our security department is being done,” he added.

CEO Martinez reiterated the importance to enable that environment where visas can be issued on a more timely manner and the work permit.

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