Editing Belize (section)

====East Asian and Arabs====
{{Main|Ethnic Chinese in Belize}}
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 (region)|Palestine]], was the [[Prime Minister of Belize]] from 1998 to 2008.

The importation of Chinese workers to British Honduras was a response to economic shifts in the mid-19th century. As [[Haematoxylum campechianum|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.<ref name="Robinson108">{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xrGShVU6VrgC&pg=PA108 |page=108 |title=The Chinese in Latin America and the Caribbean |editor-first1=Chee |editor-last1=Beng Tan |editor-first2=Walton |editor-last2=Look Lai |first1=St John |last1=Robinson|date=2010 |publisher=BRILL |isbn=978-90-04-18213-4 }}</ref> 474 Chinese workers thus arrived in British Honduras in 1865.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Sell |first=Zach |date=April 2017 |title=Asian Indentured Labor in the Age of African American Emancipation |url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/international-labor-and-working-class-history/article/asian-indentured-labor-in-the-age-of-african-american-emancipation/48C74291A23F4EB8C0D09AC7A128A7A7#fn85 |journal=International Labor and Working-Class History |language=en |volume=91 |pages=8–27 |doi=10.1017/S0147547916000375 |issn=0147-5479}}</ref> 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.<ref name="Robinson108"/> 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 for those of East Asian and Arab descent, and many have integrated into Belizean society. Belize's [[Immigrant investor programs|citizenship-by-investment]] programme, which began in 1986, was a popular option among Chinese migrants in the 1990s.<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=50aL41XGlQAC&pg=PA27 |first1=Anne |last1=Sutherland |title=The Making of Belize: Globalization in the Margins |publisher=Bloomsbury Academic |date=1998 |isbn=9780897895798 |page=27}}</ref> 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 passport]]s as an insurance policy in case conditions in their homeland went downhill after the [[Transfer of sovereignty over Hong Kong|1997 resumption of sovereignty by China]].

The East Asian and Arab Belizeans 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 the Garifuna people and Creoles, but contrasting sharply with East Indians, of whom roughly half live in rural areas. East Asian and Arab Belizeans have a significant presence in the retail industry and fast food restaurant chains in Belize. Belizean Arabs mostly reside in Belize City and the towns in the islands and cayes. Belizean Arabs, although a minority, have contributed significantly to politics and education throughout the history of Belize. Some influential Arab families are the Musas, Espat, Shoman, and Chebat among others. Their influence on the People's United Party has made Belize an advocate for Palestine's right to self-determination.