U.S. castigates Belize for ?trafficking in persons?

Belize is in bad books with the United States tonight following the State Department’s annual investigation into worldwide human trafficking. According to a press release posted on the State Department’s website, Belize, Iran, Syria, Zimbabwe, Uzbekistan and Laos are “not meeting minimum standards to fight trafficking in persons, a criminal practice”. As a result, all three countries have been placed on a “Tier 3 list”. That category is apparently “based more on the extent of the government’s action or inaction to combat trafficking rather than the size of the problem, important though it is”. The release goes on to say that specifically, “Belize failed to show evidence of significant law enforcement or victim protection efforts in 2005 and that the country’s laws against trafficking remained weak and largely un-enforced”. The annual report on Belize claimed that women and girls from Central America are the main victims and are either forced into prostitution or exploited as labour. Since the programme was launched three years ago, Belize was consistently listed as a tier two country, but on a special watch list for violations. According to Brian DaRin, spokesperson for the U.S. Embassy in Belize, the tier three placements is not something that happened overnight; rather Belize has simply failed to show evidence of significant progress in the three years since the launch of the initiative. DaRin says while there have been a few positive highlights, such as the missing persons website and at least two convictions for human trafficking, there have not been enough investigations, interviews with victims, arrests, prosecutions or even awareness efforts on the issue. The U.S. report highlights that “the anti-trafficking committee completed a first draft of a National Plan of Action and submitted the plan to the Cabinet in December 2005. The government cites lack of resources as a primary factor in its failure to do more”. We understand tonight that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs was formally notified of the report on Monday and today, U.S. officials held a briefing with Ambassador for Women and Children, Dolores Balderamos Garcia. Other countries listed under the tier three category are Venezuela, Saudi Arabia, North Korea, Sudan and Cuba.