_{(l-r) Francis Fonseca, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Patrick Faber, UDP Senator}

by Charles Gladden

BELIZE CITY, Wed. July 16, 2025

Belizes’s two major political parties – the United Democratic Party (UDP) and the People’s United Party (PUP) – have weighed in on the CARICOM free movement decision, which was announced during the 49th Regular Meeting of the Conference of CARICOM Heads of Government.

The decision means that skilled nationals who are citizens of four countries within the Caribbean – Barbados, Belize, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, and Dominica – will be able to freely move to any of the four participating member states to conduct business or offer services without restrictions. Qualified workers can seek employment in other member states without needing work permits.

This decision is a major move within the region, however, UDP Senator, Hon Patrick Faber criticized the move, saying the government needs a plan.

“Briceño and his government committed to Belize being one of the four countries to implement as of October 1st of this year; not next year, not the year after, this year. We have two and a half months before this bombshell lands on Belize. It means, my friends, that CARICOM nationals who qualify as skilled workers, as artisans, as professionals, or as entrepreneurs, will be able to enter Belize without a visa and a work permit, artisans with what they call CVQs,” Senator Faber said.

During his remarks, Senator Faber noted that the Prime Minister of Belize, Hon. John Briceño, only provided a brief comment on the matter when local reporters inquired about it, and he (Faber) pointed to immigration challenges that the country had recently been facing due to the arrival of Jamaican travelers who were suspected of entering Belize illegally with the intent of making their way to the United States.

“There’s no easy fix for this, but you have to have a plan. Briceño and his administration have failed to tell us what the plan is. Yes, we need regional integration. Yes, we want Jamaicans, Trinidadians, Bajans, and everybody to come and we be one melting pot; but you got to be prepared for what you are accepting on behalf of this nation,” Senator Faber expressed.

Hon. Francis Fonseca, Minister of Foreign Affairs, however, has indicated that there is already a plan in place, as skilled persons must apply for the CSME Skilled Certificate, which would grant them free movement.

“Our accession was approved by the Cabinet several years ago, so we are following up on that. We are a proud member of CARICOM. Our brothers and sisters in CARICOM deserve the opportunity, as do Belizeans, to travel to these countries that have started and follow the internal domestic laws of those countries,” he said.

The free movement falls under the Protocol on Enhanced Cooperation, which all CARICOM members signed in 2023 and aims to eliminate the need for work permits or skills certificates for nationals moving among CARICOM states.