Minister of National Security Dr Errol Cort is hoping the recent arrest and charging of an alleged human trafficker will put victims more at ease in coming forward as the country tries to curb the growing scourge.
He said that for several years there have been “numerous complaints” but the aggrieved “got scared” and backed off once law enforcement authorities became involved.
“They get very scared and decide not to give evidence against the perpetrators. They fear reprisal if they step forward and give information,” the minister noted.
The charge of human trafficking slapped on promoter Cheryl Thompson last week was unprecedented and came months after the US State Department chastised the Antigua & Barbuda government for not doing sufficient to prevent it.
Dr Cort told The Daily OBSERVER the advancement of the case, aided by the recently passed Trafficking in Persons Prevention Act of 2010, signals government’s commitment to the international fight.
The penalties for the “serious offence” on conviction are a maximum of 0,000 and or a maximum of 20 years imprisonment.
He acknowledged that the victims are usually here illegally since their travel documents are “taken from them once they arrive on the island.”
But Dr Cort stressed that in accordance with the legislation and international organisations, it cannot be a cut and dry case of simply repatriating as you would “persons who have breached immigration laws.
“So the state has a responsibility to treat them from a counselling standpoint, re-housing. But we would ideally want to send them back to their country of birth,” he said.
According to the national security minister, International Organisation for Migration (IOM) has indicated a “willingness to assist in defraying the costs” incurred with sending back home the victims.
The relatively new piece of legislation also calls for the establishment of a task force to monitor the country’s efforts to stamp out human trafficking.
The minister told this newspaper that the body of about “eight or 10 members should be in place by January, “following which the IOM would help “formulate the terms of reference, the duties and also act as an advisory body.”
Last Friday, Thompson was remanded to prison after appearing in court charged with two counts of human trafficking. Police said they found 17 passports, belonging to Jamaicans, at her Paradise View home.
(Source http://www.antiguaobserver.com/?p=67247)
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