Regional task force rescues children from human trafficking in Trinidad and Tobago

Trinidad and Tobago was one of the Caribbean and Latin American countries where nine minors were rescued from human trafficking during a joint task force that took place over five days at the end of May.

The joint exercise was conducted by the Caribbean Implementation Agency for Crime and Security (Impacs), and the Central American Integration System (Sistema de la Integración Centroamericana (SICA)) between May 22 to 26.

In a statement on Wednesday, the Imapcs secretariat said the exercise took place in 25 countries in the region and Latin America. The anti-human trafficking and migrant smuggling operation, funded by Spain through a joint fund for Caricom-Spain Specific and Technical Co-operation, saw the arrest of 170 people. The operation also saw officials rescuing over 60 victims of human trafficking and over 400 migrants in vulnerable situations.

“Nine minors were reported among the rescued victims, one as young as nine months old. The rescued minors were taken from locations in Trinidad and Tobago, Belize and Honduras. Two minors were among 14 other female human trafficking victims from Latin America who were being prostituted.

“The remaining minors were rescued from various exercises conducted in bars, hotels and business places. All victims were predominantly female, about 25 years and mainly from Latin American countries, but also included Chinese and Jamaican nationals and one national from Guinea, Africa.”

The release did not identify how many of the victims were rescued from TT or how many traffickers were held in the country.

In April, National Security Minister Fitzgerald Hinds said former director of international affairs at the ministry Antoinette Lucas-Andrews was contracted for six months to address this country’s prosecution of human traffickers.

Lucas-Andrews was hired through the US and is expected to review and assess the recommendations of the US State Department TIPS report and advise the government on steps to improve its efforts to combat human trafficking.

The 2022 US State Department Trafficking In Persons report said the government did not fully meet the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking but is making significant efforts to do so.

The report said the government never convicted a trafficker under its 2011 anti-trafficking law. It added that there was corruption and official complicity in trafficking crimes as well as a failure by the state to act on senior government officials allegedly involved in human trafficking.

The report said the country remained on Tier 2 Watch List for the second consecutive year. Police, immigration, customs and members of the Coast Guard officers were accused of being part of the human trafficking network in TT.

The Impacs statement said the Bahamas reported the largest number of victims rescued of all states. The Bahamas was host to the Heads of Government conference in early June which saw the US pledging US$100 million to tackle crime and climate change.

Those rescued there were identified after law enforcement monitored an apartment complex and a night club. Most of the victims were either from Colombia or Venezuela with a few from Jamaica and one Panamanian victim.