Listed among other countries of mention as Iraq, Haiti, Somalia, the Bahamas was grouped in the department’s “Special Cases” category. Stating that the Bahamas’ government pays little attention to the issue, the report claims that human trafficking in the Bahamas goes “unmonitored and undocumented.”
The report reads as follows: ‘The lack of reliable data at the present time makes it unclear whether a significant number of trafficking victims enter transit; or depart from the Bahamas. Little government attention to the issue and the presence of large numbers of illegal migrants in the country raise concerns that there may be a significant number of trafficking victims in need of assistance.
“The Bahamas may be a country of destination for men and women trafficked from other countries for the purpose of labour exploitation. Approximately 25 per cent of the country’s population consists of Haitian nationals, most of them in the country illegally. Haitian nationals are commonly employed as domestic workers, gardeners, construction workers, and agricultural labourers.”
According to the report, undocumented Haitian nationals continue to arrive in the Bahamas and can number as high as 50,000 However, the report states that of that number only 5,000 are registered as migrant workers with an estimated 13,000 dependent family members.
The report continued “Some local sources have stated that labour exploitation of Haitians may be widespread, with employers coercing undocumented migrants to work long hours for no pay or significantly below the minimum wage by withholding documents and threatening workers with arrest and deportation. Such workers could be subjected to conditions of involuntary servitude, a severe form of trafficking in persons. Some commercial sexual exploitation of minors has been identified in the country.
“The government has formed a Trafficking in Persons Commission and participates in public fora on trafficking issues, but does not recognize trafficking in persons as a serious problem in the country and has not made significant efforts to investigate trafficking of adults. The difference between alien smuggling and trafficking in persons is not widely appreciated in the Bahamas, including among government officials.”
The report also highlighted flaws in the Baharnas’ legislation emphasizing exactly how ridiculous it would be for an illegal immigrant who theoretically was being exploited to complain to the same authorities that are charged with stopping illegal migration.
“While the Bahamas has a well-developed labour law, it contains no specific provisions addressing trafficking in persons and Bahamian law does not criminalize forced labour practices. Bahamian government officials recommend that any adult victims needing assistance contact the Department of Immigration. It is unlikely that illegal migrants, in the
absence of any legal protections for adult victims, would report their exploitation to the same officials who are responsible for taking action against illegal migration.
“On the other hand, the government has taken significant steps to protect children and raise public awareness to prevent abuse of children in child labour and commercial sexual exploitation. It has conducted multiple outreach campaigns, established a hotline for reporting child abuse, and improved efforts to enforce chiid labour prohibitions of the Employment Act of 2001.
The government has also established a special police unit for missing and exploited children, developed a protocol for dealing with suspected child exploitation, and created a child abuse team to intervene in suspected exploitation or abuse cases.”
The Minister of Labour and Immigration; Shane Gibson could not be contacted yesterday for comment on this report as he is attending the 95th annual session of the International Labour Conference in Geneva, Switzerland. Mr Gibson is expected to return to the Bahamas on June 10.
By PAUL TURNQUEST Tribune Staff Reporter
