Authorities go to class on human trafficking

Border control and security forces have begun a week of training on human trafficking in a bid to improve the country’s rating of its efforts against modern-day slavery.

Colonel Michael Jones, the acting Executive Director of the Caribbean Community Implementation Agency for Crime and Security (CARICOM IMPACS) which organised the course, told journalists at today’s opening that while the training is a national initiative, it is an issue that the Caribbean must address collaboratively.

Jones said: “Whether you are identified as an area of transit or source or destination it then tells us essentially that we need to work on it as a collaborative issue.

“The Department of State of the United States of America which puts out the Human Trafficking Report, over the last couple of years, we [Barbados] have been ranked on tier 2. Essentially we want to do as much as best as we can to improve our rating in that regard.”

According to the US Department of State, a country listed as Tier 2 rating on efforts to combat human trafficking and modern slavery among 177 countries indicates Washington’s views that the country has not met the standards but has made efforts to do so.

Tier 3 rating means the country has not met the minimum standards and has not attempted to do so, while the highest rating, Tier 1, indicates a Government has not only recognised the problem of human trafficking but has made the efforts to address the issue, and meets the US Trafficking Victims Protection Act’s (TVPA) minimum standards.

The course is being facilitated by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, the International Criminal Police Organisation (INTERPOL), the International Organisation for Migration, and several regional organizations.

Members of the Barbados Defence Force (BDF) Coast Guard, the Royal Barbados Police Force (RBPF), Her Majesty’s Prison at Dodds, the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) and Attorney General offices, Immigration Department and Barbados Customs and Excise Department, are attending the five-day workshop.

The participants will cover a range of topics, including the international legal framework and trafficking in persons trade, typology of trafficking in persons, impact of human trafficking and the need for specialized approaches, treatment of trafficking victims, investigation techniques, and operational collaboration in the Caribbean, among others.