belize || a rural/urban environment for central american immigrants in belize

A RURAL/URBAN ENVIRONMENT FOR CENTRAL AMERICAN IMMIGRANTS IN BELIZEAuthor(s): JOSEPH O. PALACIOSource: Caribbean Quarterly, Vol. 33, No. 3/4, BELIZE (SEPTEMBER & DECEMBER, 1987),pp. 29-41Published by: University of the West Indies and Caribbean QuarterlyStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/40654132 .

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29

A RURAL/URBAN ENVIRONMENT FOR CENTRAL AMERICAN IMMIGRANTS IN BELIZE

by

JOSEPH O. PALÁCIO

Introduction The current violent turmoil spreading throughout Central America has captured the interest of social scientists. The focus, however, is on the causes of the violence and the wider global implications within the geo-politics of the region. There is as yet minimal analysis of the situation of the men, women, and children who have been forced to leave their home countries and wander throughout the region in search of some peace and a place to settle.

This paper describes the social and economic characteristics of immigrants coming from rural areas in Guatemala and El Salvador to Belize. It analyses these characteristics as part of an unusual opportunity - rarely found in the experience of refugee/migrants - to make use of resources that are both rural and urban. It starts by discussing the unusual place of Belize within the movements of refugee/migrants in Central America and ends with a statement on the implications of the situation discussed in the case study of such movements into Belize and other parts of the region.1

Refugee/Migrants in Belize Torres-Rivas (1985)2 did a survey of the situation of refugee/migrants in

Central America and Mexico. His overview begs the further question of a need for more micro-level studies that focus on such aspects as arrival and settlement, food and household economy, and the patterns of socioeconomic change that they are undergoing on being uprooted from one country to another.

Belize is often overlooked in discussing the countries of Central America. To the Spanish-speaking countries it is the small anglophone territory, which has been the subject of disputes between Great Britain and their sister republic, Guatemala. To the Belizeans themselves the rest of Central America consists of countries with whom they share little historically, culturally, and politically. Their primary orientation is toward the English-speaking Caribbean, the United States and Great Britain. Although Belize is neighbouring Guatemala and El Salvador, the two countries from which the immigrants in this paper originate, it maintains no diplomatic relations with Guatemala



30

and only minimally so with El Salvador. An upshot of the lack of information exchange, among other forms of bilateral relations, is that far fewer refugees from these countries come to Belize as against those going to the United States, Mexico, and the rest of Central America.

During the past fifteen years, the flow of refugees to Belize from El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Nicaragua has been the greatest factor that is drawing Belize closer to the Central American ambit. Actually, Belize shares far more characteristics with the rest of Central America than is usually assumed. About 35 per cent of its population speak Spanish as their first language while several others are fluently bilingual in English and Spanish. As a Third World country relying on the export of primary products, it has basically an agrarian economy like the other countries. Current- ly 50 per cent of its population lives in semi-urban and rural communities, which are growing at a faster rate than the urban population.

There were 8,645 'aliens' (non-Belizeans) registered by the government during the 1984 amnesty extended to all foreigners who had entered the country illegally. Of these ninety-five per cent were from Guatemala, El Salvador, and Honduras. The main attrac- tions of Belize in order of increasing importance are jobs, land, and the atmosphere of peace. There are job opportunities in the agro-industries of sugar and banana, which Belizeans are reluctant to accept because of the low wages and the insecure work situation. Belize has one of the lowest persons to land ratio in the region at 17 persons per square mile. Although the bulk of the land is in private hands, ownership of large tracts by persons non-resident in the country makes it easy for one to squat and grow crops in parts of the countryside. Finally, Belize has a tradition of law and order with regard for the individual's civil and human rights, inherited from the British. It attained its political independence in 1981 and it jealously protects its parliamentary system of democracy, which ensures a peaceful change in government. Given the ready availability of these pre- requisites for daily life - jobs, land, and peace - which are being increasingly minimized in the rest of Central America, the question to ask is not why the refugees are coming to Belize but why so few.

Salvapan - The Study Site In 1971 the government officially moved to its new capital city of Belmopan from

Belize City. For a government with limited resources and limited constitutional power (not yet being fully independent from Britain), the building of a city in the midst of the tropical forest was a most difficult undertaking, necessitating a tremendous amount of reserve. The reasons for the building of the city have been discussed.4 One of them was the need to open up the vast hinterland of the country whose potential for agricultural development had not yet been adequately appreciated.

While government bureaucrats were busy settling into their modern homes and offices, there was another group also gravitating toward the community. These were persons from the surrounding rural areas moving into Belmopan or establishing satellite communities nearby. During the late 1970s Central American refugees began arriving and gradually forming their own communities near the city.



31

The oldest one of them is called Salvapan. It is located about a fifteen-minute walk from the centre of Belmopan. It consists of 58 houses. Most are on the side of a bush road. The others are situated further away, joined by footpaths that become muddy and dangerously slippery even after a short period of rain. The houses are bush huts each with two or three smaller houses adjoining, which are used for sleeping, storage of excess household implements, or fowl coops. Salvapan is similar to other rural villages in Belize, except for slight differences in the architecture of the houses, which reveal characteristics taken from the natal region of the owner.

Collectively, the houses do not look too impressive to the casual observer. However, they are home - at least temporarily - for 250 persons. The adults originate in El Salvador and Guatemala but have children that were born in Belize. They came to Salvapan because it is only about 30 miles from the border with Guatemala, through which most of them cross. From there they can travel by public transportation to Belmopan. Besides, the people living in the neighbouring rural communities are almost all Spanish-speaking.

The main method of data collection was a survey using a questionnaire instrument administered by two women living in Belmopan during the month of September, 1985. We covered 22 households, being almost half of a total of 58 in the community, chosen by random sample. The interviewers went to every other household and asked to speak to the housewife. The respondents were told that co-operation was completely volun- tary. The very high rate of response, 22 out of a target figure of 29, was a tribute to the approach of the interviewers as well as to the willingness of the respondents to provide the information.

As principal investigator, I visited the area twice during the survey to engage in open-ended discussions with some of the heads of households. I also had extensive briefing sessions with the interviewers. As a past resident of Belmopan, I had seen the growth of Salvapan from a milpa area used by the residents of Belmopan to being gradually taken over by its present residents. They came separately and in small groups and built houses near each other. Observing the changes over a period of eight years made me appreciate the steps the residents went through to establish themselves.

Theoretical Framework The scope of this study lies within the study of involuntary migration. The

volume edited by Hansen and Oliver Smith includes several articles on the experience of groups from different parts of the world, who have been forced to relocate as a result of social upheaval. Most of them are rural folk who are most vulnerable when others inter- vene among them through armed conflict, forcing them to disrupt their way of life and to relocate elsewhere. In a concise statement summarizing the contributions to the volume, Scudder and Colson6 review some of the major findings in a sequential pattern starting with the causes of relocation, the process of moving, and the eventual resettlement in a new area. Using the information we have acquired so far, it is possible to predict some of the recurrent patterns that underline involuntary migration.



32

The traumatic experiences that the migrants have undergone in their place of origin task their ability to cope with the additional problems that they face in a new habitat. In response they try to re-create the kind of life that they had, as the one anchor on which they can rely. Peasants who have traditionally relied on the land for sustenance look for land that is available to work. This is often a source of conflict with the current occupants as competition ensues for land, a scarce resource.

The migrants are caught in a double-bind situation. They need relief assistance to hasten their rehabilitation. However, they should also participate as much as possible in their own resettlement, partly to overcome their apprehensions about their new environment vis-a-vis their previous experience and partly to determine the directions of their new living conditions.7 Bureaucrats who are responsible for the administration of relief assistance to the displaced often misunderstand the need to maintain a two-prong approach toward their clients - to provide assistance while permitting them to be involved in decisions about their future. Here lies the basic flaw of several resettlement schemes and their eventual failure.8

The human dimension underlying resettlement predicates the need to explore scenarios that allow a development of the potential of the migrants while providing them with appropriate assistance. One possibility for rural migrants would be to have them settle close enough to supplies of available land and also near badly needed services, such as health and education facilities, together with other forms of assistance. Simul- taneously, there should be an humanitarian concern toward their welfare on the part of the government of the host country.

The Salvapan case study comes close to meeting this ideal scenario. Salvapan has a combined rural/urban atmosphere that meets the needs of its Guatemalan and Salvadoran refugee settlers. It is rural in the sense that the new arrivals can build houses; or, as

happens more often, they can stay with relatives without having to pay rent in cash.

They grow their food in kitchen gardens or milpa plots that are nearby. There is a com-

munity spirit based on overlapping ties of sharing a common previous experience, kin-

ship, and friendship. On the other hand, the residents have access to urban based resources in Belmopan. These include schools, health facilities, and church. They can also walk to the only government Refugee Office in the country where they can learn about changes in aid programmes to themselves.

There has been no study of immigrants in such an environment in Belize. Wouters did a survey of refugees in dispersed rural communities.9 As a part of the project resulting in this study, Palácio did a survey of Central American immigrants in four urban communities. Indeed, it is doubtful whether any such study has been done in any other part of Central America. The description and analysis of the Salvapan case study contribute to an appreciation of the wide range of possibilities that exist within the field of resettlement.

It is necessary to elaborate briefly on the larger constraints within which the government of Belize allowed Central American migrants to settle so closely to its capital city. In his analysis of resettlement schemes in Belize started after hurricane Hattie,



33

Palácio introduced the concept of the limited power of government to coerce its inhabitants to move into new areas and to settle there. With respect to the Salvapan residents, we find the government allowing persons to settle not because of an inability to stop them but out of a feeling of humanitarian concern and a belief that they could contribute to the development of the country by continuing their traditional agricultural tradition.

When the Central Americans started coming in large numbers, the Belize government had an 'open door' policy to immigrants. It was not actively recruiting them but it would look positively toward persons arriving who could contribute to the welfare of the country. Whereas the government was accustomed to dealing with individuals or small groups of new arrivals, it was not prepared to face the problems of hundreds of refugee/migrants. It was difficult to force them to return. It was equally difficult to absorb them into the native population, given the demands they made on the country's limited resources.

One response was the Valley of Peace resettlement scheme. In 1982 the government allocated 50 acres each to 100 families of both refugees and Belizeans to do agriculture. The Valley of Peace project is located about ten miles northeast of Belmopan, in a direction opposite to that where our study site is found. The other response was to allow refugees to settle temporarily in an area closer to Belmopan.

Major Findings - Basic Characteristics We interviewed a total of 22 persons, one for each household. All except three

were housewives. The exceptions were two men and one fourteen-year-old girl, who gave information in the absence of the housewife. The age range of the respondents was from 14 to 55, the median being 36 years. They accounted for 170 persons living in the households subdivided in Table 1 into 36 men, 39 women, and 95 children younger than 18 years.

Table 1

Number of Adults and Children in the Respondents' Household

Men 36 21% Women 39 23% Children _95 56%

TOTAL 170 100%

There was an almost equal distribution of Salvadorans and Guatemalans (Table 2), which belies the name 'Salvapan'. It was formed by joining syllables from El Salvador and Belmopan under the impression that the inhabitants were mostly Salvadorans. This might have been the case when the community was first formed in the mid-1970s but it is no longer so. Out of the total population of 170, 22 per cent are Belizeans who are offspring born in the country.



34

Table 2

Nationalities of Persons in Respondents' Household

Salvadorans 67 39.0% Guatemalans 64 38.0% Belizeans 38 22.0% Mexican 1 .6%

TOTAL 170 99.6%

Because of rounding the total does not come up to 100 per cent.

In Table 3 there is a list of the departments of origin. Nine of the 14 departments of El Salvador are represented. The Guatemalans originate in departments further away from the border with Belize. We did not ask how long they had stayed in their last place of residence before coming across the border to Belize. A few said that they had come from their birth place, starting their sojourn only when it had become absolutely necessary. Some Salvadorans said that they had stayed for months in Guatemala. Further investigation is needed to reveal what had been the pattern of movement before coming to Belize.

Table 3

Departments of Birth of Respondents

Nationality Departments Guatemalan 10 Jutiapa 4 Chiquimula 1

El Progresso 3 Baja Verapaz 3 Esquintla 1

Salvadoran 11 San Vicente 2 Morazan 1 Ahuachapan 1 La Union 1 La Libertad 1 Sosonate 1 San Miguel 1 Usultan 1 Cuscatlan 2

Mexico Yucatan 1

Most of the respondents (77 per cent) were born in semi-urban and rural villages, communities with a maximum population of 15,000. Only 23 per cent came from towns with a larger population. The level of education among them was low. The proportion of those who did not start primary school came up to 45 per cent and an additional 41 per cent started but did not finish. Such low levels underline the basically rural charac- ter of the respondents. Besides, the fact that almost all of the respondents were women, who usually receive even less education than men in rural Central America, further accounts for the very low levels. In the case of their spouses, who also came from rural communities, the level was slightly higher with a few finishing primary school and even proceeding to secondary school.

Most of the households (86 per cent) were male headed and a little more than half (54 per cent) were conjugal family units. They were overcrowded with a mean number of 7.4 residents, consisting mostly of children younger than 18 years. The number of children per household ranges from 1 to 7; only two did not have any. The average



35

number of children for all households is 4. Slightly more than half (56 per cent) of the women were married to their spouses; 23 per cent were living common-law; and 14 per cent were separated. The median age of the spouses was 36, the same as that of the women.

The picture that unfolds of the household structure is one of men and women living in long-standing family units with a large number of their own children. The older children and/or parents were staying with them in nine (41 per cent) extended family households. Our study of Central American immigrants in urban communities shows that they were younger adults who have fewer children and live in an equal number of marital and consensual unions. There was a larger proportion of different types of household units among the urban residents. These were single person households and others consisting of men and/or women staying together with no special blood or affinal ties. In Salvapan we find the traditional form of family unit with strong conjugal and blood ties that is associated with life in rural communities of Central America.

The head of the households built almost half (10) of the houses; four were renting; and the other eight were guests of the owner with whom they worked out an agreement. These were most probably relatives or friends who were caring for the house while the owner had moved to another part of the country. Cash exchange for the use of house was not the predominant relationship between the user and the owner, as in the case of town dwellers.

Table 4

Accessories in the Households

Type % Have

Stove 36 Kerosene lamp 55 Radio 55 Refrigerator 0 Sewing Machine 36 Bicycle 36 Pickup truck 27

The houses themselves were simple structures built out of thatch roof, cut stick walls, and mud floor. They open into one room that is used for cooking, eating, and en- tertaining. Thirteen had only one bedroom for use by all the family members. The other nine had two or three bedrooms. Table 4 gives a breakdown of the types of accessories found within the home. Most use wood-burning fire hearths. The type of lamp used by 45 per cent is a can of kerosene with a homemade wick. A little less than half do not have transistor radios. None had refrigerators. A few had hand model sewing machines that the women use. Households with such few accessories are found only in the more remote parts of Belize. In neighbouring rural communities of Belizeans there are more accessories found in the households than in those of the Salvapan households.



36

Arrival and Settlement

The residents fled from the violence and social dislocation in their home countries, bringing along their immediate family members. The first settlers of Salvapan came in 1970. During the ten-year period 1970-1980 half of the residents came. The other half came in the three years between 1982 and 1985. There are two reasons. One is that push factors operating in the home countries are worsening. The other is that the residents are sending for compatriots to follow them in a pattern of chain migration. Even at the time of arrival more than half said that they were prepared to stay in Belize permanently.

While in Belize, about half of them maintain close touch with their home country. They made between one and fifteen return trips. These were mostly Guatemalans who make trips to border towns for shopping, like several Belizeans. If circumstances permit, they venture to their original village to visit with relatives. On the other hand, the majority, 16 (73 per cent), were certain that they wanted to remain in Belize; five were not too sure; and only one respondent did not want to stay. The reasons for wanting to remain were the atmosphere of peace and tranquility and maintaining a family in Salvapan, both of which contribute to an opportunity for self -improvement.

During the trips to the areas of previous residence they learned about the latest happenings and informed compatriots about their conditions in Belize. The information exchange is a part of the personal network that in turn attracts others to come to Belize. A little over 40 per cent said that they came after relatives already settled here had sent for them and an additional 27 per cent heard about the country from relatives or friends. Almost all said that on arriving at the border they came directly to Salvapan.

Although Salvapan was home for them, most complained about the lack of basic infrastructure in the community. There are no roads, electricity, and running water supply. The close juxtaposition to Belmopan, the capital city and the government's showcase urban community in Belize, makes the miserable conditions of Salvapan stand out in stark contrast. Indeed, their stay in Salvapan is basically temporary. One of the conditions laid down by the government in allowing them residential space is that they should be prepared to relocate should the land be needed for city expansion. They cannot build any permanent structures on their lots.

On the other hand, there were factors that reinforced communal solidarity among them. Differences in national origin did not detract from the fact that as rural folk they had suffered at the hands of outside forces that had disrupted their entire well- being. Respondents from El Salvador and Guatemala gave similar stories about having their houses ransacked, lands taken away, husbands and sons disappear, and being forced to move to government-controlled communities. There were kinship ties between household units that we did not explore in detail. During their periods of leisure time the men play football with each other or drink. The women visit and gossip. The children play with their Belmopan peers only during school time. Finally, there is a feeling among the residents that one of the residents who has been there the longest is a leader in the community. New arrivals refer to him for help. Besides, he assumes the position of village spokesman. Briefly we see a form of village social organiza- tion taking shape, similar to that in their previous communities.



37

Food and Household Economy We asked the respondents what food items they had served the day before in the

three meals. Excluded were beverages, seasoning, and non-cooked foods, such as fruits. The frequency distribution is in Table 5. Breakfast was a serving of three items, the most frequent being beans, corn tortilla, and eggs. Lunch also included three main items from a selection of beans, corn tortilla, rice, chicken, among others. The 'other vegetables' served at lunch were plantain, yucca, and pumpkin. At supper - the lightest meal - only two items were usually served. The Other vegetables' were beans and bread bought from the store. The Other meats' were cheese, chicken, and beef. Flour tortilla and eggs were also eaten frequently.

Many of the items consumed were produced in the community. Table 6 gives a frequency distribution of the number of respondents producing some of the most commonly used foods. The seed crops are beans and corn. The table vegetables are tomato, cabbage, and beets; and the tree crops, coconut and plantain. Not included in the table are the root crops, which are yucca. Four respondents produced at least three different crops, nine had at least two, and four at least one.

Table 5

Food Items Consumed in Three Meals

Breakfast

Food Item Frequency Combination Frequency Beans 15 Corn tortilla, eggs 4 Corn tortilla 13 Corn tortilla, beans 3 Eggs 10 Flour tortilla, eggs 2 Bread 6 Flour tortilla, beans 2 Other 5 Eggs, beans, other 2 Flour tortilla 4 Combination other, Cheese 1 3 items 12

Lunch

Beans 10 Rice, soup, chicken 3 Corn tortilla 7 Combination of other, Rice 7 3 items 13 Chicken 6 Other vegetable 5 Soup 3 Other meat 3 Other 1

Supper

Other vegetable 7 Flour tortilla, eggs 8 Other meat 6 Corn tortilla, eggs 3 Flour tortilla 5 Combination of other, Eggs 5 3 items 4 Other 1



38

Table 6

Main Food Items Produced

Item Frequency

Chicken 8 Seed Crops 6 Table Vegetables 5 Tree Crops 3

Ten claimed to have milpa land ranging in size from five to twenty-five acres. The government allows them to use the land for an annual rent of $10.00 (Bze ) to produce their own food crops that are not permanent crops. They also rear poultry and keep small kitchen gardens adjoining the houses. Apart from consuming their own produce they exchange food items with others in the community.

Self-sufficiency in food production is a tradition that is well rooted among the residents. Eleven said that they had produced more of their own food in their country of origin than in Belize. Only four said that they were producing about the same amount. In Salvapan food cultivation, especially for the men, is becoming more a part-time activity. Fifteen did manual wage labour in yard cleaning, construction, and working in a white lime processing operation. Ten women were also participating in cash earning activities as domestic help and food vendors.

There is a shift in the household economy of Salvapan residents from one that is peasant agrarian to one where wage labour on non-agricultural tasks is assuming greater importance. This stems not so much from the unavailability of land (or the lack of a secure title) but from the availability of wage labour and the increasing importance of cash for household goods within the economy of the larger Belmopan area.

What is the opinion of the residents about their present economic situation as compared to what it had been before they came? Their answers were split almost equally into those who said that it had improved; it was the same; and it had worsened. Those who said that it had improved gave as reasons being able to eat better; have some cash; and access to land. Those who said that it was worse contrasted their present housing condition with what it had been. The equal distribution of the response is a realistic appraisal of the changes that they have undergone. The fact is that some basic elements of their rural lifestyle have improved while some have worsened. Besides, for all of them to start anew in a different environment is a stressful transition. The comparative impressions on their economic situation have to be seen within the context of their answer to a previous question - whether they want to remain permanently in Belize. The overwhelming response was in the affirmative. They see the possibilities for overall improvement to be generally much better in Belize than what they had been in their country of origin, despite the inconveniences they were undergoing.

Health, Education, and Church In both health and education, the respondents saw marked improvements. Nine

of the nineteen women had become pregnant since they were in the area. Almost all



39

attended the pre-natal clinic at the city hospital. All except one gave birth at the hospital; and all attended the post-natal clinic regularly.

The other times they or their families used the hospital outpatient services were for minor ailments (14) and bouts of malaria (4). For these ailments and the use of maternal/child health services they said they received quick and good attention. A large proportion (72 per cent) of them expressed satisfaction with the treatment they received. Ninety per cent said that it was as good or better than what was available to them in their country of origin.

All except four respondents said that they were sending their children to the Belmopan elementary and secondary schools. They were very conscious of the advantages of a sound educational background, an opportunity that several of them did not receive. Furthermore, all said that they would be interested in taking adult education classes in literacy, English, and vocational skills. At the time of the survey no such classes were being offered.

Almost 75 per cent (16) of the respondents said that they attended church services regularly. The churches represented were Roman Catholic (9), Assembly of God (1), Baptist (1), Pentecostal (1), and Other' including Jehovah's Witnesses and Nazarene. The multiplicity of denominations among so few persons shows that the religious groups are seeing the immigrants as a target group needing specific attention. Some respondents mentioned receiving periodic donations of food and clothing from the church.

Refugee/Migrants in Belize - Present and Future

Earlier we had seen that the success of resettlement depends on the extent to which refugee/migrants are able to develop their potential within the host society. The Belize government provided the residents of Salvapan with a place to build their homes and to grow their crops. It extended to them the use of educational and health facilities. Through the auspices of the UNHCR there are other kinds of rehabilitation assistance available to them.

The residents have capitalized on these opportunities. They have been able to maintain household units with strong conjugal and blood ties. These units now include several offspring with Belizean nationality. They can move around the country in search of better living conditions. Some persons who built houses at Salvapan have now moved to other parts of Belize. They can make return visits to their previous place of residence. The ultimate advantage of such visits is that they can measure the extent to which they have 'progressed' within their new environment.

They can engage in wage labour. The Salvapan residents are in a transition state of relying both on home production of food as well as on wage labour. To a large extent this is a function of their adjustment to an economy where there are more demands to spend cash and more opportunities to earn it than had existed in their previous communities.

Among the needs they are now expressing are permanence in the ownership of house lots and supply of utilities, such as electricity and running water. They would



40

also want title to their milpa plots, and adult education classes. These are all indications of having arrived at the other end of the spectrum of resettlement - namely a feeling of becoming firmly established as a member of the host society. Over 70 per cent of Salvapan residents confirmed that they want to remain permanently in Belize.

The Salvapan situation has some important implications within the field of immigration in Belize and the region. -There are other communities of Central American refugee/migrants located near Belmopan as well as near other urban centres, such as Benque Viejo del Carmen and Orange Walk Town. The notion of establishing satellite communities with a dual rural/ urban orientation is not unique to Salvapan.

However, the conditions that created an openness on the part of the government and people toward refugee/migrants in the 1980s have changed. The numbers of new arrivals have increased tremendously. Towns are expanding, taking in new land areas to accommodate demands from Belizeans. Even in the rural areas land is now a scarcity for the Belizeans themselves. The immigrants are seen increasingly as encroaching on resources that are not sufficient for the native population.

In formulating policy on immigration the Belize government can look back at Salvapan to assess what are some avenues to take in dealing with refugee/migrants who originate in rural communities. The question to be asked is - should they be allowed to gather near urban communities or should they be encouraged to go further into the countryside. One area that deserves attention in answering this question is the potential that they have to contribute to agricultural development at the smallscale farming level. This would have to be measured, nonetheless, against the total land that is available for such purposes nationwide.

Another area is the delivery of services to refugee/migrants. Given the problematic logistics of reaching them throughout the country, a system of transportation and com- munication among them has to be worked out. By being able to reach them with relief assistance wherever they are, it will be possible to discourage them from gathering near urban communities.

Thirdly, the very existence of thousands of persons from the rest of Central America in Belize predicates a need to strengthen bilateral ties with the other countries in the region. The informal relations that now exist between these persons and their kin in other countries of origin can provide the leverage to create diplomatic, economic, and cultural exchanges.

Finally, this study contributes to an understanding of differences among refugee/ migrants within the region and in other parts of the world. It emphasizes the need to carry out measures that will hasten the resettlement of refugee/migrants, particularly those from the rural communities, where most refugees in the Third World originate.

NOTES

1. "Central American Immigrants in Four Urban Communities in Belize", Joseph O. Palácio (1985). The study was funded by a grant from the Intergovernmental Committee for Migration (ICM).



41

2. Edelberto Torres-Rivas, "Report on the Conditions of Central American Refugees and migrants", Hemispheric Migration Project Occasional Paper Series, Center for immigration Policy and Refugee Assistance, Georgetown University and Intergovernmental Committee for Migration. 1985.

3. Joseph O. Palácio, "Central American Immigrants in Four Urban Communities in Belize" (1985).

4. Joseph O. Palácio, "Post-hurricane Resettlement in Belize" in Involuntary Migration and Re- settlement - the problems and responses of dislocated peoples, eds. Art Hansen and A. Oliver Smith, Westview Press, Colorado, 1982.

D. 1D1Q.

6. "From Welfare to Development: a conceptual framework for the analysis of dislocated peoples", Thayer Schddr and E.Colson, Westview Press, Colorado, 1982.

7. Art Hansen and A. Oliver Smith (eds.) pp. 13-36. 8. See for example "The Social Consequences of Resettlement - The Impact of the Kariba

Resettlement upon the Gwembe Ronga", Elizabeth Colson, University of Manchester Press, Manchester 1971; "Here there is life: the Social and Cultural dynamics of successful resistance to resettlement in post disaster Peru", and Involuntary Migration and Resettlement - the problems and responses of dislocated peoples, eds. Art Hansen and Oliver Smith, pp. 85-104, Westview Press, Colorado'', 1982. "Resettlement in Zande Development Scheme", pp. 201-224; (1982) and David R. Smock, "The role of anthropology in a Western Nigerian resettlement Project" in D. Brokensha and M. Pearsall (eds.) The Anthropology of Development in sub- Sahara Africa, Monograph No. 10, Lexington, Ky: Society for Applied Anthropology, 1969.

9. Myriam Wouters - "Report on the Socio-Economic Survey of Dispersed Salvadoran Refugees living in Belize", Unpublished report submitted to the UNHCR, Costa Rica, 1983.

10. See Palácio, "Central American Immigrants in Four Urban Communities in Belize", Manus- cript submitted to Hemispheric Migration Project, Center for Immigration Policy and Refugee Assistance, Georgetown University, 1985.

11. Joseph O. Palácio, "Post-hurricane Resettlement in Belize" in Art Hansen and A. Oliver Smith, eds. Involuntary Migration and Resettlement - the problems and responses of dislocated peoples, pp. 121-138, Westview Press, Colorado, 1982.

12. Elementary school education is free and compulsory by law in Belize for children between the ages of 6 and 14. The reasons given by respondents for not sending their children were that they arrived too late to register them and that the children had to care for their younger siblings.



belize || a rural/urban environment for central american immigrants in belize

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