Crackdown on “human trafficking” leads to arrests
You don’t have to be a member of the clergy to be concerned about the proliferation of nightspots that call themselves bars but are in fact nothing more than brothels. But you do have to be a little bit suspicious of government’s sudden concern with protecting the nation’s morals, especially when it appears that their latest initiative was stamped “made in the U.S.A.”
Janelle Chanona, Reporting
Tonight, ten Belizean businessmen are charged with numerous counts of a newly created crime called human trafficking. It’s the result of a crackdown on establishments suspected of employing young women from abroad at strip clubs and brothels.
G. Michael Reid, Police Press Officer
“Over the weekend police had an operation along with the Immigration Department and Human Services Department geared toward enforcing the Human Trafficking Act as recently passed. We visited several establishments, we visited suspected brothels, we visited places where nude dancing in known to occur and various clubs. This was a countrywide operation and there were places visited all across the country actually.”
On Saturday night, the authorities raided forty-two businesses including three close to Belize City: Almond Hill on the Western Highway, Raul’s Rose Garden on the Northern Highway and Touch of Class on Euphrates Avenue. More than a hundred and fifty women were detained.
G. Michael Reid
“As far as we know, there was only one person who was in fact a minor, one sixteen year old, but for the most part these were young women yes.”
Janelle Chanona
“And they were working against their will, had they come across into Belize freely or do you believe they are part of a larger ring where they are actually bringing in people, taking away their travel documents and forcing them into this kind of work?”
G. Michael Reid
“All of that is still being looked at the moment. We know that some came over illegally. We believe that some were here under false pretence, where they were made to believe they would be doing some other type of work, but were in fact then requested to do this sort of work that they were doing. So there are quite a few areas that we looked at, this will be a sustained effort and we expect to be visiting other areas also, other establishments that employ people that we believe might fit the profile of human trafficking victims.”
While News 5 was unable to make contact with proprietors of Almond Hill or Raul’s Rose Garden, off camera, thirty-five year old Errol Mossiah of Touch of Class denies he is a human trafficker. Mossiah says everyone taken from his club were patrons, not prostitutes, and it would be impossible for authorities to expect him to screen customers for proper travel documents.
G. Michael Reid
“There are certain basic rights that these individuals have and we believe that it is incumbent upon the department and the other agencies to ensure that the rights of these individuals are protected. The message is that we are not going to allow any individual to be taken advantage of.”
Janelle Chanona
“There is little doubt as to what happens at the rooms in Raul’s Rose Garden or the stage at Almond Hill; this has been going on for quite some time. Is this operation a knee jerk reaction to hurriedly passed law because of the United States putting Belize on a list that says we are human traffickers?”
G. Michael Reid
“I don’t think so. I think it’s a matter of doing the right thing and a matter of the result of a long look at things that have been going on that should not be going on.”
Janelle Chanona
“But does anybody really know what’s going on? According to officials at the department for women, there has never been any documentation or study done to reveal the realities of women working in the sex trade in Belize.”
According to officials at the Department of Human Services, none of the women detained over the weekend have asked for protection but several have been deemed victims. Today those women were issued this document, allowing them to stay in Belize legally, to testify at trials and we understand if they so desire, the Immigration Department will consider allowing them to stay permanently.
Authorities tell News 5 that women detained from at least one establishment raided over the weekend in Orange Walk reported that they were being held against their will by the proprietors. The Immigration Department has charged at least twenty-six women for illegal entry and other immigration offences. And lest anyone get the impression that the importation of foreign prostitutes is some shocking new development in our once pristine society, just ask your favourite senior citizen about the good old days of the Continental, La Vida Allegre and White Swan.
