WASHINGTON, June 22, CMC – Even as Caribbean Community (CARICOM) governments, during the past year, have seemingly made efforts in addressing human trafficking, the United States says many of them have still not done enough in tackling the issue.
In this nexus, in its 2013 Trafficking in Persons (TIP) Report, the US Department of State placed six CARICOM countries – Barbados, Guyana, Haiti, St. Lucia, Suriname, and Trinidad and Tobago – on its Tier 2 Watch List.
Another four – Antigua and Barbuda, Belize, Jamaica, and St. Vincent and the Grenadines – have been listed on the Tier 2 List.
In distinguishing the two “lists” Washington defines countries on the Tier 2 Watch List as those whose governments “do not fully comply” with the minimum standards in its Trafficking Victims Protection Act (TVPA) but are making significant efforts to bring themselves into compliance with those standards, and the absolute number of victims of severe forms of trafficking is, among other things, “very significant or is significantly increasing”.
Countries on the Tier 2 List, on the other hand, are those whose governments do not fully comply with the TVPA’s minimum standards but are simply making significant efforts to bring themselves into compliance with those standards. (CMC)
