Assistant Director of Immigration William Nottage, formerly in charge of immigration enforcement, has added his voice to the chorus of moderate concern over the issue of human trafficking in The Bahamas.
The International Organization for Migration, in a study of seven countries in the region it found susceptible to human trafficking including The Bahamas, noted that highly trained immigration officers could play a major role in curtailing the flow of human trafficking.
In Mr. Nottageﾒs opinion, human trafficking exists in The Bahamas, but not on a large scale. And, he said, training immigration officers to detect it is difficult.
"How do you train an immigration officer to look at someone coming in at the airport (and say) this person is trafficking this individual?" Mr. Nottage asked. "Itﾒs not a tangible thing."
Mr. Nottage also suggested that it is unlikely that a victim of human trafficking would be able to seek help, particularly from an immigration officer.
"If they are really being trafficked, and there is that controlling factor, how are they going to get to (an immigration officer) (if) they are scared to move? So if we find them in a situation, they may (reveal their circumstances)."
He said that while he had never personally been involved in a situation where he came across a victim of human trafficking, other officers had apprised him of "one or two cases".
In one case, he revealed that a certain employment agency, which he did not name, had been recruiting persons from another country in the region to work as domestics in The Bahamas. Once in The Bahamas, those persons found altogether different circumstances awaiting them, and when one individual told immigration officials what was happening, "that agency was quickly dissolved, as it were."
Picking up on another theme running through the commentary on human trafficking, Mr. Nottage pointed out that immigration officials also believe The Bahamas is used as a transshipment point for human cargo.
But for those victims for whom The Bahamas is a destination, Mr. Nottage elaborated on a scenario described by the IOM in its report on seven countries in the region.
"(Trafficking victims) lose their identity because they have no control over their passport. They lose their identity because in some instances these persons are actually held prisoner, they are taken from here to there, picked up from there back to here," he said.
"How do (the traffickers) control them? Several waysﾅviolence, those persons that have to become involved in prostitution to survive, (threats of harm to the) family."
"Thereﾒs a lot of work coming on stream very shortly (and) The Bahamas does not have the capacity (to do all the work) and so, yes, there is going to be importation of persons to do the work, but to what extent does that involve trafficking, because itﾒs legitimate work that is going to be offered," he said.
In fact, Mr. Nottage told the Journal that the department keeps an eye on "several agencies" in relation to human trafficking.
"So itﾒs not something easily identified; itﾒs not something you can put a finger on and say ﾑah, this is it.ﾒ You canﾒt look at a person in a profile situation and say ﾑI believe that person is being traffickedﾒ," he said.
While there does not exist a "profile situation" per se, there is one circumstance that sends up a red flag for immigration officials, according to Mr. Nottage.
"One of the blatant ones would be (an adult coming in) with a child that is no relation to (the adult); no documents that identify them with meﾅbut the adult side of it, that poses a different kettle of fish," he said.
One of the things Mr. Nottage said he would like to see is a greater degree of training particularly on the international scene.
One such training opportunity would be the training session to be hosted by the International Organization for Migration, in partnership with the US Department of State's Office to Combat Trafficking in Persons (G/TIP).
The two-week course will be training for "front-line" law enforcement and prosecutorial officials from the Caribbean. The 32 participants from The Bahamas, St. Lucia, Suriname, Guyana, and the Netherlands Antilles include: border guards, investigators, prosecutors, working-level police and immigration officials, judges, public and government attorneys and other relevant law enforcement officials from both the host country and bordering countries.
ﾠAccording to the IOM, "the in-depth training assists law enforcement and judiciary structures to act more effectively against crimes of human trafficking, and will assist victims by sensitizing law enforcement to their basic needs.ﾠ The training will also allow counterpart law enforcement officials to understand more clearly how a cooperative approach to counter trafficking will improve their ability to do their work."
The session will focus on what human trafficking is and how it happens; what is the current situation, what are the consequences, who is involved in human trafficking, profiles of traffickers and victims, the government and law enforcement response, how to identify a victim of trafficking, trafficking intelligence, the role of IOM and its partners, and networking and enhanced cooperation at the national and international level.
The training topics will be supported by statistical, evidential, and anecdotal examples and participants will be encouraged to actively participate in the exchange of experiences.ﾠ Tested investigative and partnership techniques will be discussed and analyzed.
By: Quincy Parker, The Bahama Journal
