BELMOPAN, Belize (CMC) — Belizean lawmakers are debating a motion which, if successful, means the country will start taking in asylum seekers from Central America and the Caribbean who have been turned away by the United States.

The Belizean Senate referred the motion regarding a highly controversial safe third country agreement to the Constitution and Foreign Affairs Committee after legislators Tuesday debated the matter.

Opposition legislators are against the accord saying it is surrendering Belize’s sovereignty and is challenging the John Briceño government to take the matter to the population even as the government maintains that the agreement is about championing human rights.

“The Briceno administration, in our view, Madam President, is compromising Belize’s dignity and independence in exchange for, let me put it the way my friend the Senator put it over there, for a diplomatic favour or diplomatic friendliness,” said Former Deputy Prime Minister and Opposition Leader, Patrick Faber.

“We Madam President, ask that we abandon this agreement or at very least, that the government comes clean, telling us the details. Let’s get the details. Go out and do whatever consultations you need to do with the citizenry of this country and then you bring this back because as you said, it cannot be enacted until the Senate passes it.

“What is the rush? What is the rush,”  he added.

But government legislator, Hector Guerra, disagreed with the views of the Opposition, saying “as much as you hear that the heavens are falling down, that we are ceding our sovereignty as a country, in fact, this agreement is an exercise of our sovereignty.

“It reserves our right to accept, to reject, to even terminate the agreement at any time -suspend at any time, if we believe that we do not at a particular point in time have the capacity to deal with these individuals.

“And so I’d really just like to end by saying that this agreement, contrary to what the Opposition and Senator Faber wants the Belizean people to believe is not about Belize becoming a dumping ground. It’s not about Belize ceding sovereignty. It’s about control, compassion, a recognition of human rights,” Guerra said.

Legislators representing the social partners also addressed the issue.

“Nobody will gaslight me into thinking that supporting or withholding my support for this agreement is saying whether or not I want to uphold the rule of law,” said Glenfield Dennison, who is representing the labour sector.

“Nobody will gaslight me or bring any invalid argument to me that whether or not I support this agreement or don’t support this agreement is a reflection of my position on human rights. Nobody will make me believe that this is a simple arms length transaction between two friends because inherent in a request by a friend to do something is the ability to say no thank you,”  he added.

Business Senator, Kevin Herrera, said, “When we are pressured to become a logistical backwater for their immigration challenges, even though we have a comparable challenge or a larger challenge, that clearly shows the old assumption that our security and social welfare are secondary.

“We are not merely a convenient holding cell for the US asylum system. We are a sovereign nation that needs to look after the best interests of its citizens first. It is for this reason madam president, that I believe issues as weighty as this one should’ve perhaps been put to a referendum. Let the people decide,”  he said.

Last month, the government said it intends to make public the agreement it signed with the United States to act as a “safe third country” for migrants as they seek asylum in the North American country.

The prime minister said the two-year deal, which still needs approval from the Belize parliament, will mean that migrants deported from the US could apply for asylum in the country instead of returning to their home countries.

The US State Department called the agreement  “an important milestone in ending illegal immigration” and “shutting down abuse” of the US asylum system.

The agreement applies to Central American and Caribbean nationals, except Guatemalans, and human rights groups in the US and abroad have strongly criticised such deals, saying migrants face the risk of being sent to countries where they could be harmed.

Foreign Affairs Minister, Francis Fonseca, said the document has already been shared with the clerk and Senators, insisting “it’s not a secret document”.