Belize
East Asian and Arabs

The 20th century saw the arrival of more Asian settlers from Mainland China, India, Syria and Lebanon. Said Musa, the son of an immigrant from Palestine, was the Prime Minister of Belize from 1998 to 2008. Central American immigrants from El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua and expatriate Americans and Africans also began to settle in the country. 6,000 Mexicans live in Belize.

The importation of Chinese workers to British Honduras was a response to economic shifts in the mid-19th century. As logwood and mahogany production declined, sugarcane plantations became of increasing importance. Recruitment of workers from China was facilitated by the colonial governor John Gardiner Austin, who had previously served as a labour broker in Xiamen, Fujian on China's southeast coast. 474 Chinese workers thus arrived in British Honduras in 1865. They were sent to the north of the colony, but were reassigned to central and southern areas beginning in 1866 due to the large numbers of deaths and abscondments. By 1869, only 211 remained accounted for; 108 had died, while another 155 had sought refuge with the native peoples at Chan Santa Cruz.

From the 1990s and presently, Belize has been a safe haven and many have integrated to Belizean society. Belize's citizenship-by-investment programme, which began in 1986, was a popular option among Chinese migrants in the 1990s. In response to the demand, the price rose from US$25,000 to US$50,000 in 1997. Hong Kong migrants, who lacked real British citizenship but only had British National (Overseas) status, sought to obtain Belizean passports as an insurance policy in case conditions in their homeland went downhill after the 1997 resumption of sovereignty by China.

The East Asians and Arabs are an overwhelmingly urban population, with five-sixths living in cities, the highest proportion out of all tabulated ethnic groups. This is a slightly higher proportion than Garifuna people and Creoles, but contrasted sharply with East Indians, of whom roughly half live in rural areas. East Asians are big on the retail industry and fast food restaurant chains in Belize so are Arabs.Belizean Arabs are mostly found at Belize City and the towns in the islands and cayes. Belizean Arabs although a minority have contributed to politics and education throughout the history of Belize. Some influential Arab families are the Musas, Espat, Shoman, Chebat among others. Their influence on the People's United Party has made Belize an advocate to Palestine's right to self-determination.
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