Exploratory research on human trafficking has exposed an intricate network, involving key players in the Bahamas, newspaper advertisements abroad and unscrupulous persons willing to exploit desperate citizens from Haiti, Jamaica, Cuba and the Dominican Republic.
The study has concluded that people throughout the Caribbean are lured into multiple forms of exploitation including forced labour, domestic servitude and sexual exploitation. According to the International Organization for Migrationﾴs preliminary assessment on The Bahamas, attempting to delineate legitimate opportunities from those that are not is an extremely daunting task.
ﾓHaitian migration to The Bahamas and Guyanese migration to Barbados is believed to be perpetrated by advertisements from agencies promising opportunities for employment. Some Jamaican newspapers carry telephone numbers that a person can call to arrange a trip out of country,ﾒ said the report, discussed at a pivotal Organization of American States meeting.
A part of the study was based on interviews that researchers conducted with 40 key informants in The Bahamas, but they were quick to point out that the data collected in this way does not provide the grounds for assessing the full scale of the problem.
According to the information that was gleaned from interviewees in Abaco, which has one of the largest immigrant populations in The Bahamas, the captains of boats and planes go to places like Haiti and the Dominican Republic advertising jobs in The Bahamas including the opening of large farms needing workers. They also advertise free health care, the study reported, as a way of getting people to make the journey.
ﾓIt was generally felt that Bahamians play a lead role in the trafficking in persons, although many Bahamian/Haitian networks established to facilitate these movements; many Haitians also own boats and offer their countrymen the opportunity to go to The Bahamas for a fee; word of mouth in these circles also facilitate the journeys. Most felt that both Bahamians and Haitians benefit,ﾒ noted the report.
Haitian Ambassador to The Bahamas Louis Harrold Joseph repeatedly referred to the fact that Haitians who flee their country do so for economic reasons. He urged officials to properly define who is referred to as a Haitian, estimating in a recent interview with the Bahama Journal that those who bear Haitian passports in The Bahamas, both legal and illegal, may be as many as 25,000.
The ambassador sought to discourage the view that his countrymen are invading The Bahamas in large numbers.
ﾓJust by looking at the data I have here, I donﾴt have that [view]. I am not condoning illegal immigration here but I think here in the Bahamas you need some foreigners some legal people coming here to assist, to help,ﾒ he said.
Information mentioned in the IOM study from Eleuthera sources indicated that boat owners who are complicit in the illegal migration trade generally make large sums of money; as much as $5,000 per trip.
Immigration officers were suspected as being involved with either facilitating or ignoring possible cases of human trafficking.
The OAS has a vested interest in exploring the extent of the problem of trafficking in persons. Itﾴs an evaluation that was also conducted in six other countries. The OAS, along with the IOM and the Inter American Commission of Women conducted national seminars last year on the dilemma.
The project is on its last leg here finalising a regional information campaign which, in partnership with the governments, will be used in countries to raise awareness on the issue of human trafficking.
The Bahamas, Barbados, Jamaica and the Netherland Antilles were also classified as transit countries for regular and irregular migrants looking to the United States, the United Kingdom and Canada as their final destination points.
Persons are often delayed in a transit country until they can earn money or find a means of passage to a third destination country. During this time, these people are said to be very vulnerable because they are open to any opportunities to earn money in order to complete their journey. This is just the fertile environment that can facilitate human trafficking within a transit country.
ﾓWe are working very closely with the IOM,ﾒ said Labour and Immigration Minister Vincent Peet. ﾓWe are presently with them and getting their advice on how we deal with that particular matter and other matters including illegal immigration and how to deal with trafficking and also how to get to the counting of illegal immigrants in this country.ﾒ
Researchers had estimated that between 20,000 and 50,000 undocumented Haitians are living in The Bahamas.
Tameka Lundy, The Bahama Journal
