Belize Still Tier 2: U.S. Report Highlights Human Trafficking Concerns

The Government of Belize continues to grapple with significant challenges in its efforts to combat human trafficking. As reported earlier in the year, a central element of the government’s strategy is to ensure that victims are not penalized for unlawful acts committed as a direct result of being trafficked. To achieve this, formal procedures have been implemented to consistently screen for and identify victims among vulnerable populations. However, a recent US State Department’s Trafficking in Persons report highlighted Belize remaining as a Tier 2 country as it pertains to human trafficking, emphasizing that in some instances officials in Belize were complicit in the trafficking of persons. This morning on the Morning Show, Representative from the United States Embassy, Harold Johnson, elaborated on what that means for Belize. 

Harold Johnson, Representative: “Now as you mentioned, there’s a lot of confusion on the term sometimes, and we see that often around the world, particularly when it comes to human trafficking or migrant smuggling. Those two are different things, right? Human trafficking does not require movement, and smuggling is a violation of a country’s immigration policy, whereas human trafficking is a crime against an individual, right? But individuals seeking the services of smugglers may become vulnerable to trafficking during their dangerous journey and you know accumulate debt from the smuggler and end up in debt bondage. Unfortunately as we know right human trafficking is it’s a hidden crime, it is often hard to detect but one trend that we see due to the unprecedented irregular migration in the Western Hemisphere migrant and asylum seekers are especially vulnerable to sex trafficking and forced labor. And one way that we work on, as well as we encourage other countries through our trafficking in persons annual report, is to screen these individuals. Irregular migrants are among the most vulnerable groups to these crimes. So whether it’s at a border crossing or during a raid at a place of work we encourage governments to screen by using trafficking in persons indicators.”

A major concern was the agriculture and service industry, as there is oftentimes a correlation between the industry and human trafficking and human smuggling. Kamesh Chivukula, US Embassy political officer in Belize, elaborated on the signs to pay attention to that could signal a case of human trafficking. 

Kamesh Chivuka, US Embassy Political Officer in Belize: “What happens in the agriculture industry and a very substantial part of the trafficking issues in Belize relate to the agriculture industry, in particular the coconut and banana the farming that you mentioned. And yes, it’s an area of emphasis for the United States government and the embassy actually has been coordinating and assisting the Department of Labor, for instance, in coordinating training and coordinating efforts to actually identify, you know, trafficking in those areas. And also, you know, to train their officials to actually be able to identify these instances.”

Harold Johnson, Representative: “It’s important for the government to screen foreign workers, just like they would with any other community, right?  You know, and look for indicators such as like the one you mentioned, you know, are their passports being taken away? Are they restricted in their freedom of movement? Are they able to leave their job site? Are they living? Some of these individuals live where they work. So that is an indicator too.”

It is important to note that in February of this year, the police department signed a Memorandum of Understanding followed by the drafting of an execution plan for anti-trafficking activities.  These activities are to be held in collaboration with the Human Trafficking Institute which provides specialized teams and targeted training to assist in arrests and prosecutions of human trafficking cases globally.