On Thursday, September 2, 2010, the Hon Brent Symonette, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs and Immigration met with Amy Rofman, Officer of the United States Department Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking of Persons, to discuss the 2010 Trafficking in Persons (TIP) Report on The Bahamas. Mr Symonette is pictured second right with officials from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. At centre left is Ms Rofman, who was accompanied by officials from the United States Embassy, Nassau. (BIS photo/Raymond Bethel)
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NASSAU, The Bahamas -- The
Bahamas Government condemns all forms of human trafficking and is making
preparations to create public awareness on such issues, the Ministry
of Foreign Affairs has confirmed.
On Thursday, September 2, 2010,
the Hon Brent Symonette, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign
Affairs and Immigration met with Amy Rofman, Officer of the United States
Department Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking of Persons, to discuss
the 2010 Trafficking in Persons (TIP) Report on The Bahamas.
Under the 2000 Trafficking
Victims Protection Act (TVPA), the United States Secretary of State
is required to submit to Congress, an annual report referred to as the
Trafficking in Persons (TIP) Report. The main objective of the Report
is to stimulate action and to create partnerships around the world in
the fight against modern day slavery.
Since the 2009 TIP Report,
countries established as a country of origin, transit or destination
for victims of severe forms of trafficking are included in the Report
and are assigned to three tiers.
The Bahamas is classified as
a Tier 2 country; the Report alleges that The Bahamas is a destination
for Caribbean nationals, particularly of Haitian and Jamaican nationality,
who are subject to forced labour and forced prostitution by trafficking
perpetrators.
Haitian trafficking victims
have been noted, as targets for forced labour in agriculture, domestic
service or forced prostitution, while Jamaican and other foreign women
are reportedly subject to forced prostitution. Based on the contents
of the Report, luring mechanisms such as offers of employment serve
as a means to facilitate acts of human trafficking, particularly in
the latter case.
“Despite the accusations,
The Bahamas condemns all forms of human trafficking and maintains that
by virtue of Article 3 of the Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish
Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children, incidences of
employer coercion cannot by itself be termed as an office of human trafficking,
nor is it evidence that persons are being trafficked,” the Ministry
said.
It added, “The Bahamas,
while noting the recommendation that it ought to take steps to identify
possible trafficking victims among migrants attempting to enter The
Bahamas illegally, queries this recommendation within the context of
illegal migration, which does not provide law enforcement with advance
notice.
“Additionally, The Bahamas
queries the critique that the Government made minimal efforts to prosecute
trafficking offenders considering that under Protocol, human trafficking
offenses are victim driven and that successful prosecutions in human
trafficking cases require the positive participation of such victims.”
Given the context of the provisions
of Bahamian legislation, which is acknowledged in the Report as affording
immunity to and protection of trafficking victims, the Ministry said
it should be noted that if victims of trafficking were to be identified,
the issue is always whether or not they will be prepared to provide
the evidence necessary to sustain a prosecution.
“The Ministry of Social Development
is already making preparation to create public awareness on the issue
of human trafficking,” the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said.
