Following Wednesday’s Senate Sitting in which the newly amended Belize National Bill was passed into law, Senator Godwin Hulse, who is the Minister of Immigration, discussed the Bill with reporters and said that while the new legislation is designed to stop immigration fraud in its tracks, nothing is airtight.
SENATOR GODWIN HULSE
“The new law says, Mister President that the minister has to submit to the committee before he puts his signature; it says the committee will publish and the official place government publish things is the Gazette. Yes, we omitted to put the Gazette but we can put it and yes, you don’t see it but that is the official place and the media is there and the chamber is there and the unions are there and the churches are there to scrutinize the Gazette and put it in their local newspaper or broadcast it across the nation. It’s not hidden anymore; the public is engaged in seeing who the new person we are welcoming into our family. Jack is applying, this is where he lives, etc; you have days to give your comment and when you’re done, Jack has it but the law goes further. If you do it by fraud and all the rest we could rescind. The point is that it’s made public which for 32 years was done in secret with all sorts of games surrounding it; so don’t tell me we haven’t moved anywhere forward. Yes, I admit it could be strengthened and yes it will be strengthened and if you give me honest, good, down-to-earth recommendations of how it can be down we will strengthen and continue to strengthen until we get it right but don’t stand there and say it’s rubbish, it’s going nowhere; don’t do that because you cannot show me, in 31 years, anything better.”
Minister Hulse explained what the new amendment now requires.
SENATOR GODWIN HULSE
“I will show you how we will correct it; what we have decided to do, Mr. President, by this bill and I take the point of the Honorable Lisa Shoman but she knows that SI’s are the way these things are brought; she knows that SI’s is a subject to negative and affirmative resolution by both houses and when it comes you can say no or you can say yes or you can make your comments but it’s a form seen by regulation. This is the form; the regulation now, the new regulation that you might see by next week after this bill is passed, you have the applicant’s picture on the form, scanned into the form, it will have the full details; first name, last name, date of birth, place of birth, document, status, address, everything. It will have the finger print of the applicant, electronically done and manually done. So, 15 years from now you can say, ‘put your finger on a piece of paper and let me see if it’s the same one’; it will have his signature, the applicant’s. It will have the signature of the Director of Immigration, it will have the signature of the officer in charge of the department and it will have the signature of the minister which will be placed last and placed after swearing in but more importantly the Oath of Allegiance signed by the Supreme Court on the form. All of that is going to happen at swearing in and then the Minister shall put and to top it off it shall have the seal. It’s a significant cry from that.”
Minister Godwin Hulse.
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