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8 COPA passengers flee country after seeking asylum

Headline8 COPA passengers flee country after seeking asylum

BELMOPAN, Mon. Jan. 24, 2022– Last week we reported that 37 passengers onboard a COPA flight that landed on Tuesday at the Philip Goldson International Airport were denied leave to enter Belize, but were later taken to the Best Western Belize Biltmore Hotel after a night in detention at the Queen Street Police Station. Today, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Foreign Trade and Immigration has released an update on the situation of those 37 passengers.

“In accordance with its legal obligations, the Government of Belize allowed the representatives of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees in Belize to have direct access to the Venezuelan nationals who had arrived in Belize on the 18th January 2022 and who were refused leave to land,” stated the release.

The representatives were allowed to interview the passengers. As a result, eight of them were handed over to Help for Progress and were to have sought refugee status in Belize.

Later in the evening, however, the Foreign Affairs Ministry issued a second update, stating that the so-called asylum seekers had escaped from the UNHCR and fled to Mexico.

“This afternoon UNHCR National Office – Belize informed that the eight (8) Venezuelan nationals that were taken by UNHCR National Office – Belize to the Help for Progress shelter in Belmopan on Saturday 22nd January 2022 have left the shelter and apparently made their way to Mexico. Consequently, they never visited the Refugees Department to apply for asylum,” stated the ministry’s press release.

Before the escape, the Government of Belize had indicated to the UNHCR National Office – Belize that it was to ensure that the eight persons did not disappear while their refugee applications were being processed. The ministry has referred to the refugees’ escape as an “unacceptable turn of events” and Minister Eamon Courtenay has spoken with Mr. Roland-Francois Weil, UNHCR Head of Office, informing him of the need for strong protocols to prevent future incidents like this one.

In regards to the other passengers, on Friday, the sole Dominican national who was aboard the flight—and who, it is being alleged, initially incited unrest among the passengers at the PGIA that led to their detention—was escorted back to Panama on a TAG Airlines flight. And on Saturday, 19 Venezuelans and 1 Moroccan national returned to Panama on a COPA flight.

The press release also noted that several of the other remaining passengers, including some children, tested positive for COVID-19 and will remain at the Best Western Belize Biltmore Plaza Hotel at the expense of COPA Airlines until it is safe for them to return to Panama.

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