Belize Human Trafficking Victims Numbers Are Staggering

Posted on July 18, 2010 at 11:05 AM

We’ve pointed out to the American and Belize governments that 30 percent of US-b
ound
Human trafficking victims get to the US via the Belize trafficking superhighway.

We arrived at these numbers using recently released United Nations information a

nd US Justice Department data. The most recent Justice Department numbers availa
ble are from 2003. The Attorney General’s annual report to congress on human tr
afficking no longer offers estimates of annual incoming victims to the US. Six
years ago, they estimated as many as 17, 5000 foreign nationals are trafficked i
nto the US yearly. It’s pretty safe to conclude the numbers have not gone down.

If you do the math and apply the new UN information, you conclude that upward of
5,500human trafficking victims wind up in the US because of Belize’s immigratio
n policies and practices. Specifically, its corrupt and porous borders provide a
n efficient corridor in which traffickers easily transport their victims.
It’s how a17-year-old village girl from Guatemala winds up in a California or Ne
w York massage parlor, where she’s put on offer for commercial sexual exploitati
on and never seen by her family again. This life would not be forced on her if t
he traffickers were blocked at the Belize borders.

Clearly it’s in America’s interest to block one-third of its human trafficking i

ntake by helping to staunch Belize border corruption. Equally clear, is the adv
antage to Belize since it’s poised to negotiate averting Tier 3 status as a wors
t-list human trafficking nation.It’s in both their interests to modernize, stand
ardize and monitor Belize’s borders.

We’ve recommended the US offer its advice and expertise to Belize to overhaul it
s borders. Neighboring countries like El Salvador and Nicaragua have benefited f
rom American guidance in improving and strengthening their borders in a Central
American context. We have further recommended the US government negotiate overha
ul of borders in an effort to avert Tier 3 status for Belize.

As well, were commend the US government, as a complement to offering immigration

advice and expertise, allocate funding to Belize for state-of-the art equipment
and infrastructure. There is currently some $54 million left in the US’s anti-
trafficking in persons project funding coffers. Some of the funding, if earmark
ed for Belize border improvement, would go a long way toward avoiding a hell is
hexistence for so many victims.

It is also clear that better borderswould do much to contribute to US efforts i

n their fight against CentralAmerican drug trafficking.
 We have urged the Dean Barrow government can take this win: win opportunity and
work with the US government to address the tide of human trafficking. And, most
important, both countries have an opportunity to seriously block traffickers fr
om destroying the lives of thousands of human trafficking victims.