BELIZE CITY, Tues. Oct. 3, 2018– Ten adolescent girls who are resident inmates at the Princess Royal Youth Hostel staged a protest around 10:00 a.m. this morning when they broke through the sheetrock ceiling and ended up on top of the roof of one of the buildings at their Mile 21 compound.

Authorities had to rely on police and Belize Defence Force soldiers to remove them, said a government press release that was issued today. In the press release, the Ministry of Human Development, Social Transformation and Poverty Alleviation gave their version of what occurred at the girls’ section of the institution.

The release said: “At around 10:00 a.m. on Tuesday, October 2, 2018, ten (10) female residents gained access to the roof from inside the female dormitory by breaking portions of the sheetrock ceiling and forcefully prying loose sheets of zinc. Upon discovering the breach of the building, the staff, with assistance from the BDF volunteers on site and the police, worked together and safely removed the residents from the roof.”

The release added, “The incident was sparked when alternative protocols were put in place to provide educational classes within the dormitory building instead of the usual classrooms. A few staff members had called in sick and so relief staff were being brought in to provide proper supervision. As such, the residents could not be escorted around the compound as per the normal schedule of activities until the relief staff arrived on the compound. Some of the residents, however, reacted negatively to the change in operations.”

The release said that the Youth Hostel strives to provide rehabilitation and development services for adolescents who are in conflict with the law, or who might have mental health issues, and that the hostel strives to enhance their knowledge and skills and empower them to become productive members of society. The release explained that behavioral issues are common among the high-risk female residents at the hostel.

“From time to time, this unfortunately manifests in aggressive and destructive behaviors. The staff, along with the counsellors and social workers at the facility, continue to work with the residents to help them to develop alternative strategies to manage their emotions and behaviors,” said the release.

This is not the first time that female wards of the Youth Hostel have protested their conditions and treatment.

In November 2015, three girls who had escaped from the facility and were captured afterwards and placed on lockdown, started a fire that ended up costing them their lives.

Shadisha Arnold, 16; Anna Carlos, 16; and Elizabeth McKoy, 14, all perished in the tragic fire that they had set themselves on Saturday, November 28, 2015.

It is believed that the three girls set the fire in an attempt to be released from the lockdown, but there was no one to open the door for them and as a consequence, they lost their lives. There was an internal investigation about the fire, but its results were never made public.

The government eventually paid off the families of the girls who had died in the fire, and life at the Youth Hostel continued as if nothing had happened.