PARAMARIBO, Suriname, CMC – Suriname police say two foreign nationals, including a 37-year-old Cuban woman, are assisting their investigations into suspected human trafficking in the Dutch-speaking Caribbean Community (Caicom) country.

The police said that the woman and a 40- year-old Dutch national had been detained on suspicion of luring foreign nationals into prostitution.

The authorities said that they launched the investigation after three foreign women filed a report that they were brought to Suriname under false pretences to perform as dancers at various nightclubs.

However, they claimed they were forced into prostitution and also forced to hand over the money received from customers to the two suspects.

The authorities said that the three unidentified women have since returned to their homeland and that the investigations continued in collaboration with the Directorate of National Security (DNV).

The police said that following the arrest of the Cuban and Dutch nationals, law enforcement authorities, including members of the Trafficking In Persons Unit (TIP), raided their homes where three women were found and are assisting in the investigation’s.

In its 2022 Trafficking in Persons report, the United States noted that Suriname did not fully meet the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking even as it made significant efforts to do so.

According to the report, the government demonstrated overall increasing efforts compared with the previous reporting period, considering the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on its anti-trafficking capacity.

Washington gave the Caricom country a tier two rating and recommended that Suriname increase efforts to convict traffickers, following due process.