Mai stated that Belize is a pioneer in the implementation of the CARICOM Single Market and Economy National Border Control Officer Secondment Program, supported by the European Development Fund (EDF) within the framework of the program to strengthen integration and security in the region.
The Deputy Minister praised the importance of border agents, who will be able to ensure the fluidity of trade and travel, as well as their fundamental role in regional security, through this training program. She emphasized that the objective of the program is to provide participants with the essential knowledge, skills, and tools to perform this crucial function.
The Minister of State for Foreign Trade, Marconi Leal Jr., reaffirmed the importance of border officials in tourism, trade, and economic growth, despite global challenges such as the COVID-19 pandemic, and noted that this initiative will be progressively replicated in other CARICOM states.
The Caribbean region is characterized by very fluid population movements, along with considerable transit movements of migrants and goods. Irregular migration, migrant smuggling, human trafficking, environmental migration, and mass exoduses are factors that determine the current dynamics of migration in the area, hence the importance CARICOM places on this issue.
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