Gov't committed to stamping out human trafficking

— says Bartlett

BY PAUL HENRY Crime/Court Co-ordinator henryp@jamaicaobserver.com

Friday, September 23, 2011

DESCRIBING human trafficking as modern-day slavery, State Minister in the Ministry of National Security Dr St Aubyn Bartlett yesterday pledged the Government's continued commitment in ridding the country of the heinous act.

"The Government of Jamaica rejects this predatory crime and continues to participate in every programme and effort to break the back of the problem," said Bartlett.

Bartlett, who was speaking at the start of a two-day workshop of the National Task Force Against Trafficking in Persons at the Jamaica Pegasus Hotel in Kingston, said that the incidence of human trafficking has been on the increase here.

Since last year April, the Jamaica Constabulary Force's Trafficking in Person (TIP) Unit conducted 14 raids and 16 suspected victims of human trafficking were rescued and arrests made, according to Bartlett. The alleged victims are from Guyana, Panama, the Dominican Republic and India and were involved in the sex trade in forced labour. A few victims are from Jamaica as well.

Trafficking in persons is defined as "the recruitment, transportation, transfer, harbouring or receipt of persons — by means of threat or use of force or other forms of coercion — of abduction of fraud, of deception, of the abuse of power or of a position of vulnerability or of the giving or receiving of payment or benefits to achieve the consent of a person having control over another person, for the purpose of exploitation".

Other efforts are being made by Jamaica to combat human trafficking, including the creation of policies, the enactment of legislation, the continued training of police officers and the establishment of a shelter for trafficking victims who are foreign nationals. Legislation already in place includes the Trafficking in Person (Prevention, Suppression and Punishment) Act of 2007.

The current efforts, it is hoped, will move Jamaica up to the rank of Tier 1 on the human trafficking index from its current ranking of Tier 2 — countries whose governments do not fully comply with the Trafficking Victims Protection Act's minimum standards.

"We will not be satisfied until we strengthen our investigative and prosecutorial capabilities, our overall capacity to protect our victims and our ability to prevent or minimise the incidence of trafficking," said Nelson. "Our Goal is Tier 1."

Still, yesterday, Samuel Blake, who heads the task force's secretariat, called for more government funding in order to effectively fight human trafficking, while outlining other critical recommendations.

The objectives of the two-day workshop are to review process and procedures, to re-evaluate the National Plan of Action for counter-trafficking, and to finalise the national Task Force Work Plan for the year 2011/2012.

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Gov't committed to stamping out human trafficking