Counter-trafficking Strategies in the Caribbean

(As prepared for delivery)

Thank you, Fran. When officials gather to discuss trafficking in persons at meetings such as this, you can usually count on listening to an hour or two of condemnations of trafficking and promises of vigorous action. I would like to skip that part in my remarks, because U.S. officials from President Bush to Secretary Rice to Members of Congress have in recent years made it abundantly clear that we in the United States, our government and our people, do find trafficking abhorrent and we are acting to stop it. Let me remind us all of why we do this. One of my colleagues was in the Dominican Republic recently. She met a trafficking victim, a girl who at the age of 16 went to a South American nation with the promise of work as a domestic helper. Once there, she was locked into an apartment with two other girls, and forced into prostitution. There was no telephone, no television, no contact with anyone expect the enslavers and the customers. She had no money. She feared she would be there forever. She was able to save herself by attracting the attention of a policeman who helped her flee and put her in contact with IOM and with her Consulate. IOM coordinated her return with both governments, brought her home and provided medical and reintegration assistance. She now has to pick up the pieces of her shattered life, and she’s not even 18 years old. She has a hard road ahead: she hasn’t finished elementary school; she lives with her parents and an extended family of 12, and no one in the family has a job.

We are here for people like this girl. We are here to help prevent anyone from falling prey to traffickers. The Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration of the U.S. Department of State has joined with the Ministry of Justice of the Netherlands to support this program and open the discussion of counter-trafficking strategies in the Caribbean so that we can stop this crime and end the victimization.

Regional cooperation is essential if we are to put an end to trafficking in persons. The Inter-American Commission of Women of the Organization of American States, a key partner in this project, brings a depth of regional government experience and expertise. The Caribbean countries engaged in this effort are leading the way for a broader engagement within the OAS at the hemispheric level. IOM of course has a long and excellent track record in all regions of the world for technical capacity building and for regional cooperation.

What are our objectives? My Bureau at the Department of State has funded this project in order to raise awareness about trafficking in the Caribbean, build capacity in the public sectors to help combat this crime and provide for its victims, and strengthen regional cooperation and information sharing. To achieve these objectives, IOM has carried out a number of activities.

• First, we wanted to help Caribbean governments understand the nature of the problem and the vulnerabilities. In a few minutes we will hear and discuss the results of the regional research report that IOM has conducted.
  
• Second, several workshops were held in collaboration with CIM in participating countries to raise awareness on the issue of trafficking, to help government officials and civil society representatives identify potential victims, and to help develop a national network of concerned government and service providers. Nearly 500 persons have participated to date in the various Caribbean workshops.
  
• Third, we took advantage of a separately funded IOM program that trained government and civil society representatives to carry out anti-trafficking activities. For that project, IOM developed four practical training modules on information campaigns, capacity building, return and reintegration assistance, and networking cooperation. The training modules have a field-driven, bottom-up approach, and are based on IOM’s extensive experience in this field. Our funding has allowed IOM to offer these modules in the context of the Caribbean program.
  
• Fourth, IOM has provided technical tools, such as guidelines for dealing with victims and other practical materials to officials and others who are dealing with this issue and with its victims.
  
• Finally, the program will in the future provide for some small grants and preventive information campaigns to alert vulnerable persons to the possibility that they could become victims of a crime they might not even know exists.

The Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration (PRM) views combating trafficking as one of our essential missions. Over the past seven years, the Bureau has provided over $16 million in support of IOM programs for the prevention of trafficking in persons, and for return and reintegration assistance for victims. I hope, as I know you do, for the day when we have become so successful at preventing trafficking that there is no need for return and reintegration assistance. Until that day comes, we will be with you in this fight.