New US envoy promises action as

MORE VENE SEX SLAVES IN T&T 

MORE Venezuelan refugees are becoming sex slaves and exploited domestic workers in Trinidad and Tobago. 

And while the United States authorities say that T&T does not meet “minimum standards” for the elimination of human trafficking, incoming ambassador Candace Bond has promised to make the issue a priority. 

Recent local and international reports indicate that illegal migrants – mainly from strife-torn Venezuela – are still entering through porous borders and are becoming victims of flesh peddlers. 

The sex trade and exploitation for menial domestic jobs remain rampant, especially in south Trinidad, despite the government’s assurances of specific counter-actions. 

In spite of a few arrests, crooked police, customs, and immigration officers are involved, according to various reports. 

The most recent US Trafficking in Persons Report said T&T has been downgraded to Tier 2 watch list because it “does not fully meet minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking”. 

The report stated: “Corruption and official complicity in trafficking crimes remained significant concerns. 

“Victim identification and services remained weak.” 

According to the report, the authorities did not take action against certain senior government officials who were allegedly involved in trafficking in 2020. 

Ms. Bond, who has been named by US President Joe Biden as the next ambassador to T&T, told her country’s Senate Foreign Relations Committee she is aiming to “support… vulnerable … victims of human trafficking, as well as Venezuelan migrants and refugees”.     

The diplomat said she would also work with the T&T authorities “to prevent gang violence, reduce violent crime, and strengthen Trinidad and Tobago’s judicial system”. 

Ms. Bond, who has held executive positions in several private sector organisations, would be the first US ambassador to T&T since the departure of Joseph Mondello in January 2021. 

Mondello, an appointee of the previous Donald Trump administration, recently died at age 84. 

The US trafficking report stated that T&T has decreased prosecution efforts. 

That report indicated that the government has provided insufficient funding and personnel for comprehensive victim care, including appropriate shelters. 

The US report confirmed other studies about law enforcement and security officials being involved in or turning a blind eye to human trafficking. 

Corrupt police officers facilitate labour and sex trafficking, and customs officials permit the transit of women and girls from Venezuela, the American agency reported. 

Certain lawmen accept bribes to allow transportation to homes and brothels and to protect illegal operators from police raids, according to the report. 

“Transnational organised crime… may increasingly be involved in human trafficking,” it was revealed. 

The report told of victims arriving through illegal points of entry. 

A report by an international group called Borgen Project said that cultural and language barriers “make finding employment or housing incredibly difficult for refugees.” 

This, in turn, makes them “prime victims for human trafficking schemes.” 

The United Nations agency International Organisation for Migrants has asked the government to boost its efforts at curbing human trafficking. 

The US State Department has made a number of recommendations for law reform and other measures. 

The Borgen Project said: “Human trafficking in Trinidad and Tobago is a serious issue. 

“Vulnerable refugees from Venezuelan continue to arrive in the country in large numbers and traffickers continue to prey on them.” 

National Security Minister Fitzgerald Hinds has said the government was hoping to move up the ranking but is working “to satisfy” the US “because they are the assessors”. 

The government has been urged by various agencies and individuals to close the illegal points of entry into the country. 

There are persistent reports of unlawful landings of Venezuelan fishing boats in secluded southern coastal areas.