The Bahamas is still in the early stages of developing a clear idea of the extent to which human trafficking goes on within its borders, but Social Services Minister Melanie Griffin believes some Bahamians may unknowingly be participants in human trafficking.
“First of all, weﾒve been trying to establish whether or not, and to what degree, (human) trafficking would be existing in the Bahamas,” she said.
Minister Griffin said that while the issue of human trafficking is something that the Bahamas is “studying at this present moment,” the definition of that term is crucial to determining the instances of such trafficking.
“Most people feel itﾒsﾅmoving a population of certain people from one place to the next against their wishes, but the explanation and definition of what it actually means (may be different,)” she said.
“Sometimes when you look at the way we deal with illegal immigrants in this country in terms of employment, it might well mean that many of us participate in trafficking unknowingly.”
She said that her ministry, through its Bureau of Womenﾒs Affairs, along with the International Organization for Migration (IOM), the Department of Immigration and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, are addressing the question of regional human trafficking, and in particular, if it exists and to what extent it exists in the Bahamas.
In a study released by March 2005, called a “Preliminary Assessment of Trafficking in Persons in the Caribbean Region,” the IOM was able to draw conclusions related to human trafficking despite the absence of hard data specific to that subject.
The study notes that “in the case of irregular migrants in The Bahamas, many people willingly seek out smugglers to help them relocate to (The Bahamas) to fulfill aspirations of finding a better life.”
The study continues “human smuggling and irregular migration are relevant to trafficking because of the vulnerability of migrants who are smuggled.”
According to the study, which quotes figures culled from the Bahamas Immigration Department in 2004, and international studies, there are 20,000 to 50,000 Haitians living in the Bahamas as undocumented migrants.
These undocumented migrants are particularly vulnerable to human traffickers, according to the study, particularly as they reportedly often see their circumstances as preferable to the situation left behind.
Minister Griffin on Monday added that efforts at educating the general public and the governmental and non-governmental agencies that deal with this phenomenon may lead to the development of statistics “as to what level of trafficking exists here in the Bahamas.”
Other countries included in the IOM study were Suriname, Barbados, Guyana and Jamaica, among others.
By: Quincy Parker, The Bahama Journal
