Belize and the United States have launched a new initiative marking a milestone in their cooperation on border protection amid concerns being raised by opposition legislators.
The initiative will allow for officials from the Ministry of Immigration to work with their US counterparts under the Biometric Data Sharing Partnership (BDSP).
As part of this new partnership, Belize’s points of entry will receive a software and hardware upgrade that enables immigration officers to conduct background checks on visitors by accessing the United States Department of Homeland Security’s identity database, one of the world’s largest biometric law enforcement archives.
‘We are pleased to introduce the Biometric Data Sharing Partnership, a collaborative initiative between the Ministry of Immigration and the government of the United States through its embassy here in Belize,’ said Immigration Minister, Kareem Musa, at the signing ceremony.
‘This partnership modernises how we identify people entering our country, supports our immigration officers with advanced tools and training and strengthens national security.
‘We remain fully committed to safeguarding our national borders while providing excellent service to those who visit us with genuine intent,’ Musa added.
Home Affairs and Enterprise Minister, Oscar Mira, said that in an ‘increasing inter connected world, national security, border management and public safety are no longer challenges that anyone country can face alone.
The chief executive officer in the Ministry of Immigration, Governance and Labour, Tanya Santos, said that the new technology will provide immigration officers with the ability to ‘identify certain red flags be it in behaviour, patterns of travellers that would allow them to submit someone to secondary screening where their bio-data will be captured’.
The Charge’ D’Affaires at the US Embassy here, Catherine Beamer, said that this initiative will provide Belize with access to data from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) data base.
‘This data base is one of the world’s largest biometric data base. we have countries from all over the world providing information and we are sharing it with our partners like Belize’ the diplomat added.
However, opposition legislator, Patrick Faber, told a news conference that the party is questioning the agreement reached with the United States.
‘ A year ago we saw the prime minister (John Briceno) signed an agreement with the US government about sharing biodata information and up to now we have not heard any clarification as to what that is.’
He said that Musa signed an agreement for the sharing of biometrics and biodata ‘and we have to be concerned when we are not hearing from our leaders about this information sharing.
‘People might say this is no big deal. It is nothing happening here. It is ok to share this information. Think about your private information being shared to somebody, especially if it may land in the hands of your enemy or somebody working against you or trying to coerce you to do something that you might not find important to do. Think of it in that light,’ Faber told reporters.