The US Department of State has once more called on the government to take action against those who are thought to be involved in human trafficking.
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The claim was made a few days after both government and opposition lawmakers accused one another of being implicated in human trafficking in light of a US investigation from 2022.
A spokesman for the US Embassy in Port of Spain stated that“The US Department of State urges the Government of Trinidad and Tobago to investigate fully and transparently any official suspected of complicity in human trafficking, and to seek a conviction and sufficiently stringent punishment of any official found to be complicit.”
The representative did not name any particular individuals under investigation.
“The Department of State urges officials to uphold the rule of law and increase victim protection efforts.”
On July 19, 2022, the US Department of State made the report public at the request of its Office to Monitor and Fight Trafficking in People, which is part of the Bureau for Civilian Security, Democracy, and Human Rights.
The office gathers information from a variety of sources, including the US Embassy, public officials, survivors of human trafficking, non-governmental and international organizations, reports that have been published, news stories, academic research, and discussions with relevant authorities.
The embassy sends TT and other nations in other parts of the world a data-call request every November. The request outlines the annual reporting requirements for child soldiering and human trafficking, along with a thorough questionnaire that host countries might respond to. At the conclusion of the reporting period on March 31, the TT ministries must offer information and input regarding their efforts to combat trafficking through the Minister of National Security.
The official explained, “The 2022 Trafficking in Persons (TIP) Report covered government efforts undertaken during the reporting period from April 1, 2021, through March 31, 2022.”
The US Embassy and Department of State are coordinating counter-trafficking in TT through three key programs, according to the embassy spokesperson.
The programs that were specifically designed to combat human trafficking in TT cost roughly US$5.2 million. The USAID Heal-Empower-Rise Anti Trafficking in Person Initiative, one of the three initiatives, cost $950,000.
In order to develop and improve support services for trafficking victims, the embassy collaborates on that initiative with the Ministry of Social Development and Family Services, the Office of the Prime Minister’s Women and Child Affairs Ministry, and other government agencies.
The initiative renovates a few state-run or state-supported residential properties that house trafficking victims by adding infrastructure improvements, furnishings, and supplies to make rooms for medical care, counseling, and academic and vocational training for trafficking victims. In order for the employees and volunteers at those houses to properly care for the victims, the organization also offers specialized training to them.
The spokesman added, “This approach focuses on the needs, healing, and empowerment of victims,”
It is anticipated that the project would last 24 months.
A total of US$13 million is required for the second initiative, USAID CariSECURE 2.0, of which US$1.2 million would be used to combat human trafficking in TT, Barbados, Antigua & Barbuda, and St. Lucia.
The embassy will cooperate with the Ministry of National Security, the police Counter Trafficking Unit, and other law enforcement organizations to enhance the detection, investigation, arrest, and prosecution of instances involving trafficking.
The embassy will offer consultancy services as part of that program to help TT law enforcement better combat human trafficking.
It will also offer resources and technical assistance to strengthen the collection of evidence needed to make compelling arguments. Moreover, it will boost data collecting, analysis, and reporting related to human trafficking as well as build or enhance national referral mechanisms.
The third initiative, called J/TIP Track4TIP, partners the UN Office of Drugs and Crime with organizations in Aruba, Brazil, Colombia, Curacao, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Peru, and Trinidad and Tobago in an effort to improve each country’s criminal justice system’s response to human trafficking along Venezuelan migrants’ migratory routes. This project began in 2019 and will expire at the end of March this year.
“Over three years, the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) is building capacity to improve victim identification and national referral mechanisms, sharing information with judicial authorities about criminal networks and individuals associated with human trafficking, and strengthening international co-ordination and cooperation by promoting new investigations and prosecutions through establishing liaisons between national coordination mechanisms and judicial authorities focused on human trafficking,” the spokesman noted.
The 2022 TIP report observed that TT had not obtained a single conviction under the 2011 human trafficking regulations, despite the initiatives and millions of dollars the US had invested in TT and the area to combat human trafficking. The Department of State decided to keep TT on the tier 2 watch list for a second year as a result.
According to the research, there are other individuals involved in human trafficking in TT besides corrupt government employees. The large network of people traffickers in TT also includes police personnel, immigration authorities, customs officers, and coast guard officers.
“Observers report that law enforcement and security officials are implicated in trafficking, including Coast Guard officials who facilitate the transit of women and girls from Venezuela to the country, immigration and customs officers who ensure that women and girls arrive and receive entry and the members of the police who accept bribes to facilitate transport to houses across the country and work with brothel owners to protect their establishments from police raids,” the report noted.
Authorities allegedly kept looking into two dozen police officers who were allegedly implicated in human trafficking, but none of these investigations led to criminal charges.
Three police officers were charged with trafficking offenses, while a customs official was charged in April 2021 under the Immigration Act for encouraging the admission of a Venezuelan immigrant without authorization. Nevertheless, the investigation, which looked into whether human trafficking was involved in the case, is still ongoing.
Two police officers were accused in December 2021 of their involvement in the unauthorized entrance of a Venezuelan immigrant who was later shown.
According to the study, law enforcement efforts were hampered in 2021 by government corruption and involvement in crimes including human trafficking.
The Anti-Trafficking Unit, which is in charge of looking into incidents of human trafficking, was also cited as having major difficulties.
The report noted, “Evidence collection for trafficking investigations remained a significant problem.” the report said. “The CTU also reported challenges in obtaining, preserving and authenticating other evidence such as using cell phones, or financial data to corroborate trafficking network affiliations to add charges under existing and money-laundering laws.”
A backlog in the courts, despite system improvements in 2019, results in cases requiring, on average, five to 10 years to be resolved, according to the study, which also observed that authorities did not pursue a prosecution if the victims were unwilling to testify against a suspected trafficker.
“Observers noted the judiciary’s broad discretion and inconsistency in granting bail, as well as reports of fraud and corruption within the bail process, engendered concomitant recidivism (repeat offenses), victim re-traumatization, and a perception of impunity.”
According to the study, there were no jury trials at the High Court, which hears cases involving human trafficking, as a result of COVID-19. The Ministry of Health periodically confined victim-witnesses, which impeded the work of the investigators.
Last Friday, when the Prime Minister was asked in Parliament why TT couldn’t be taken off the watch list, the report came to light.
Dr. Rowley said that although TT was still actively collaborating with the US to raise the grade, one of the main factors impacting it was the paucity of convictions for violating human trafficking legislation. He emphasized that it was not within the purview of the government to prosecute criminal activities.
