REPORT OF THE SENATE SPECIAL SELECT COMMITTEE July 14, 2020 INTRODUCTION This Select Committee was established pursuant to a motion passed in the Senate on September 30, 2016. The purpose of the Committee was to inquire into and report on the findings of a special audit report prepared by the Auditor General in relation to the Immigration and Nationality Department. The terms of reference of this committee were as follows: A. To conduct an independent and impartial investigation and inquiry into all policies, processes and procedures in the grant of nationality, and the issuance of visas and passports in the Ministry responsible for Immigration and Nationality that pertain to the findings of the abovementioned Special Report of the Auditor General for the period 2011 - 2013; B. To require the production of such papers and records as the Committee shall deem relevant to the enquiry and to examine pertinent documentation; C. To determine whether, consequent on the investigation and inquiry statutory and other procedures were complied with; D. To require the attendance before the Committee of the Chief Executive Officers of the Ministry of Immigration and Nationality and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and any other Chief Executive Officer who is named by the Auditor General in her Special Audit of the Immigration and Nationality Department on Nationality, Visas and Passports for the period of 2011-2013 (“the Special Audit Report”) and/or who may have information, by virtue of his office, which may be relevant to the inquiry, pursuant to Section 61A(2)(g) of the Constitution of Belize; E. To require the attendance before the Committee of those Ministers named by the Auditor General in the Special Report and/or any other Minister of Government who may have information which may be relevant to the inquiry, pursuant to Section 61A(2)(h) of the Constitution of Belize; F. To require the attendance before the Committee of the Director of Immigration and Nationality and all such current and former public officers in the Ministry responsible for Immigration and Nationality, pursuant to Standing Order No. 72 of the Senate Standing Orders, as well as for the production of all relevant papers and records of the Ministry, as may be necessary to conduct its enquiry and investigation; G. To examine all such persons required to attend before the Committee as witnesses, pursuant to Standing Order No.72 of the Senate Standing Orders; H. To hold and conduct its sittings and meetings in public and broadcast live except for sittings which are held only for the purpose of deliberation of the matters which are the subject of the Committee, which sittings shall be held in private; I. That the Committee shall hold its hearings with due urgency and expedition, in accordance with Standing Order 75 of the Senate Standing Orders, make a report to this Honourable Senate as soon as may be practicable of the result of its inquiries, with all such comments and recommendations as the Committee may deem fit, furnishing this Honourable Senate with a full statement of its proceedings and of the reasons leading to its conclusions and recommendations; and J. That the report shall be tabled in this Honourable Senate and become a public document; K. All Committee members shall be allowed sufficient time and equal opportunity to question witnesses, and shall be permitted to question each witness who attends a sitting; L. Each witness shall be afforded the opportunity, pursuant to Standing Order 72(13) of the Senate Standing Orders, to review his/her evidence, and shall have liberty to suggest corrections due to inaccurate reporting, within 14 days of 2 the date from which the evidence was sent to the witness by the Clerk; M. The Committee shall be permitted to hire attorneys, accountants and such other experts as required by the Committee; N. The Office of the Senate shall be the office of the Secretariat of the Committee. The Auditor General’s Report covered the period 2011 to 2013 and was divided into three sections: Visa, Passport and Nationality. Each section included an executive summary and outlined the audit mandate and objectives and summarized the findings of the audit exercise. The Report contained some 675 pages (not including exhibits and appendices). The Committee sat for more than a year over the course of forty-two sessions which included 39 public hearings and interviewed several persons (listed in Appendix 1 hereto) commencing on October 12, 2016 and culminating on November 22, 2017. The full transcript of the public portion of the Committee’s work containing 1844 pages has been produced and exhibited at Appendix 2 in accordance with the authority vested upon the Committee in Standing Order 75(2). Regrettably, the Committee experienced prolonged delays in the receipt of the compilation of material to form the basis of this report. Other impediments have also contributed to the substantial delay in the production of the Committee’s report. The delays notwithstanding, it is submitted within the time stipulated by the Standings Orders of the Senate. Our report now follows and is divided into the same categories as the Auditor General’s Report for convenience. Reference to the Auditor General’s Report in any particular section of this Report refers to the corresponding volume of the Audit General’s. 3 A. VISAS At the outset we should mention that the legal framework does not use the word visa; rather, the law utilizes the word “permits” which we have, over time, come to accept by the general term “visa” in our day to day interaction in immigration matters. In keeping with the language of the Auditor General we will use the word visa herein to refer to the types of permits created by the Immigration Act. Section 9 of the Act lays the foundation for entry permits to Belize and reads as follows: 9.-(1) The principal immigration officer may issue to any prospective immigrant a permit to enter or remain in Belize subject to such conditions as to occupation, security to be furnished, or any other matter or thing as the principal immigration officer may think expedient. This section vests upon the Director of Immigration the discretion to grant a permit to any immigrant for entry into the country and to remain herein for any period of time upon such conditions as the Director may determine. Section 13 of the Act qualifies Section 9 by establishing the types of temporary permit that the Director may issue: 13.–(1) The kinds of permits which may be issued to a person entitling such person to enter and remain temporarily within Belize shall be as follows, (a) an in transit permit; (b) a dependent’s permit; (c) a temporary employment permit; (d) a student’s permit; (e) a special permit; (f) a visitor’s permit. (2) The issue of any permit of a kind mentioned in this section, shall be in the absolute discretion of the Director of Immigration and Nationality Services. Thereafter Section 19 further addresses the considerations for the granting of a visitor’s permit: 19.–(1) A visitor’s permit may on application be issued by the Director of Immigration and Nationality Services to any prospective visitor to Belize who satisfies the Director of Immigration and Nationality Services that he wishes to enter Belize for the purpose of, (a) spending a holiday; (b) travelling; (c) temporarily carrying on any business, trade or profession; or (d) investigating the possibilities of settlement in Belize. 4 (2) A visitor’s permit shall entitle the holder to enter Belize within the period stated in such permit and to remain therein for such period not exceeding six months, as is stated in such permit, Provided that the Director of Immigration and Nationality Services may extend such last-mentioned period, if he considers it expedient to do so, for any further period or periods not exceeding six months in the aggregate. (3) It shall be a condition of issue of every visitor’s permit that the holder shall not accept employment within Belize without the permission in writing of the Minister, and if the holder of any such permit accepts employment without such permission, he shall be deemed to have acted in contravention of this Act, and the permit may be cancelled by the Director of Immigration and Nationality Services. The “Visa Section” of the Auditor General’s Report focused primarily on the temporary permit known as the visitor’s permit. Likewise, this section of the Committee’s Report will also focus on that type of permit to which the Auditor General generally referred to as a visa. Prior to 2014 the law placed the discretion for the granting of visas solely on the office of the Director. Although it was understood from the public hearings that there were some guidelines which were put in place by the Director; it seemed to the Committee that these guidelines were loosely imposed during the relevant period of the audit. In 2014; Government, in response to the “Wonhong Kim episode” (to be discussed later), put in place a series of statutory reforms seeking to address some of the weaknesses across the system which saw the implementation of revised guidelines for the application process and the establishment of the visa vetting committee which is tasked with reviewing every visa application and making a recommendation for the grant or otherwise of the visa. It is necessary to highlight the changes made post Won Hong Kim as it is necessary to understand the context of the Auditor General’s findings and recommendations as these were based on findings prior to the 2014 changes and, to some extent, some of the weaknesses observed by the audit were addressed by the changes implemented in 2014.