Security Minister Peter Phillips and officials of the United States embassy in Kingston yesterday discussed the recent US State Department report, which cited Jamaica as a transit point for illegal migrants moving to the US and Canada.

The report also claimed that children were being trafficked internally for the purpose of sexual exploitation, and the country was threatened with sanctions if steps were not taken by September to address the problem.

Phillips, at the meeting held at his ministry in Kingston, updated the Americans, whose team was led by Cliff Tighe, charge d’ affaires in the embassy, on the steps that were being taken by Jamaica, including legislation that are currently applicable, to combat any incident of trafficking, the security ministry said in a statement following the meeting.

The ministry said the parties also:

. held preliminary discussion on a planned visit to Jamaica by a team from the US State Department on Transport in Persons; and

. agreed to have close dialogue and collaboration between the US task force and the Jamaican working group on trafficking in persons.

However, the ministry statement said Jamaica sought specific information from the United States on the allegations, particularly those related to the trafficking of children.

A day after the release of the US report on June 3, government officials described it as “highly prejudicial”, and asked the US to provide additional details of alleged cases as a first step that could possibly lead to both countries working together to investigate any verifiable cases.

The US government, a week later, announced that it would work with Jamaica to undertake the “action plan” during the three-month grace period and have the island’s rating elevated from the bottom of the pile and removed from the American watch list.

US Ambassador John Miller, who heads the TIP office, said Jamaica was demoted based on the country’s failure to follow through on previous commitments it made in that order.

Jamaica’s challenges, he said, rested on trafficking of persons from rural to urban areas and tourist areas for prostitution.

The report, he said, was compiled using data from the International Labour Organisation, UNICEF, and stories carried in local newspapers.

The US, he said, did not see any prosecutions or convictions taking place in the last year in Jamaica relating to the trafficking of people.

The setting up of a special police unit to focus primarily on the sexual exploitation of children was among the “action plans” agreed by the government and the US.

The Trafficking in Persons Report for 2004 lumped Jamaica with Kuwait, Cambodia, Bolivia, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Togo and the United Arab Emirates as not doing enough to combat people trafficking