US report puts Belize on watch list for human trafficking

And the ninth annual Trafficking in Persons report has been released in the United States and it is not good news for the jewel. Belize is one of three CARICOM countries placed on the U.S. Tier Two Watch List. That means the country has not been making satisfactory efforts to deter trafficking of persons for sexual exploitation or forced labour. The report was released by the State Department last week and an article in the Washington CMC Magazine notes that a common scenario of human trafficking in Belize is when “poor families push their school-aged daughters to provide sexual favors to wealthy older men in exchange for school fees, money, and gifts”. The report says that despite significant efforts, there have not been convictions and sentencing of trafficking offenders to meet U.S. standards. Guyana and St. Vincent and the Grenadines were also added to the Tier Two Watch List while Haiti has been categorized as a “Special Case” for the fourth consecutive year because its government has been unable to address the problem of human trafficking in that country.