Human Trafficking in [Belize Street Children in [Belize] [other countries]Child Prostitution in [Belize] [other countries] |
Human Trafficking & Modern-day Slavery Belize [ Country-by-Country
Reports ] Belize is a
source, transit, and destination country for women and children trafficked
for the purposes of forced labor and commercial sexual exploitation. Central
American women and children are trafficked to Belize for exploitation in
prostitution. Girls are trafficked within the country for sexual
exploitation, sometimes with the consent of close relatives. - U.S. State Dept
Trafficking in Persons Report, June, 2007 [full country
report] |
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CAUTION: The following links have been
culled from the web to illuminate the situation in ***
FEATURED ARTICLE *** Belize
joins anti human trafficking network SAID MUSA, PRIME MINISTER - “Belize though a small multi-cultural Central American and Caribbean nation has already been shown to demonstrate various vulnerabilities, such as: easily accessible border crossings, a long coastline for maritime access and other institutional considerations. It is therefore incumbent on us to take preventative action to ensure that we do not become a haven for those who are intent on exploiting others.” ***
ARCHIVES *** Quick Search for Missing Children
- Select Gender, Country (Belize), and Years Missing U.S.
Dept of Labor Bureau of International Labor Affairs INCIDENCE
AND NATURE OF CHILD LABOR - Bur of Democracy,
Human Rights & Labor - Country
Reports on Human Rights Practices - 2005 TRAFFICKING
IN PERSONS – During the
year the government's efforts to identify trafficking victims were weakened
by inadequate investigation and inspection by authorities. There were no
reliable estimates of the extent of trafficking. There were reports that
women were trafficked to the country from neighboring countries primarily for
prostitution and nude dancing. Victims generally lived in squalid conditions
in the bars where they worked. Some bar owners reportedly confiscated
victims' passports. Agents of the bars and brothels lured women and girls to
the country, and they or taxi drivers along the border delivered women to
brothels. There were reports of persons
trafficked for labor purposes, including instances of Chinese immigrants
being forced to work in local Chinese-owned sweatshops and of children
working in activities such as shining shoes or selling newspapers at kiosks.
Members of the East Indian community also trafficked persons from Concluding
Observations of the Committee on the Rights of the Child (CRC) - 2005 [67] The Committee welcomes the
adoption in 2003 of the Trafficking in Persons (Prohibition) Act, which
provides special protection for children, and the subsequent establishment of
a special Task Force to give greater effect to the implementation of the Act,
and notes the State party’s efforts to combat sexual exploitation of
children, for instance, through the “Stamp Out Child Abuse” campaign.
Notwithstanding these positive steps taken by the State party, the Committee
is concerned about the sexual exploitation of children, child pornography and
trafficking of children in Belize finally taken off Tier 3 human trafficking list [Sept 2006] The Musa administration is tonight breathing a sigh of relief following an
announcement by the United States government that Belize has been removed
from the list of Tier Three countries with regard to Human Trafficking. In June Belize was one
of six countries placed on a Tier Three list by the Organization
team up to fight trafficking in persons Several organizations have teamed
up to fight trafficking in persons or human trafficking in Belize. Today
those agencies began a two-day workshop to look closer at the problem. We
spoke with Director of Immigration and Nationality, Carmen Zetina, says he
does not see human trafficking as a grave problem in Belize. O.A.S. trains officials to fight human trafficking The training of trainers session
will arm the participants--mainly law enforcement officials--with the
information to help them be able to identify victims and perpetrators of the
crime. The police, customs and immigration officers are then expected to
include the training in their work place. This latest initiative—aside from
being the right thing to do--is also one more effort to get Belize off the
tier three list established by the U.S. Department of State in its annual
investigation into worldwide human trafficking. Is progress being made?
Police Commissioner Gerald Westby believes the answer is yes. BELIZE - In Belize City, in conjunction
with the International Organization for Migration (IOM), the OAS/CIM
organized a two-day training seminar on combating trafficking in persons on
April 14-15, 2005. The seminar was attended by 60 representatives of Immigration director’s cousin arrested for trafficking Esquivel's story is that her
employer, Zetina, had initially hired her to work in a restaurant. But
shortly after her arrival in Corozal, she was repeatedly asked to sexually
satisfy male patrons at the Caracol Bar. Esquivel claims she said no to the
requests, but that Zetina refused to pay her for her work. When she went to a
friend to get help, Esquivel says she was ambushed and beaten by persons
believed to be acting on her boss's behalf. Extra
House businessman busted on alleged human trafficking A Belize City businessman of Extra
House supermarket was on Monday arraigned on charges of trafficking in human
cargo, namely six counts of illegally holding the travel documents of six
individuals of indian decent. There have been widespread reports
of several Indian and Chinese businesses operating across the country known
to bring these individuals in to work while witholding their travel
documents. P.M. rebuts U.S. criticism on human trafficking SAID MUSA, PRIME MINISTER - “That Belize is now lumped and almost
put in a box so to speak with, Belize, Venezuela and Cuba; I don’t think its
pure coincidence. Because, when you analyze the issue of human trafficking,
we have done a lot in this country to address this issue. Police, the
immigration, people have raided constantly in addressing this issue of
prostitution for instance and the whole question of human trafficking we’ve
done a lot. But those who seek to judge us should perhaps examine their own
decadent societies before they come and pass judgment on us.” Belize
joins anti human trafficking network SAID MUSA, PRIME MINISTER - “Belize though a small
multi-cultural Central American and Caribbean nation has already been shown to
demonstrate various vulnerabilities, such as: easily accessible border
crossings, a long coastline for maritime access and other institutional
considerations. It is therefore incumbent on us to take preventative action
to ensure that we do not become a haven for those who are intent on
exploiting others.” Salvadoran child may be victim of human trafficking But what would a small Salvadoran
be doing in Belize unaccompanied? That's the scary question police are now
trying to answer. If you have any information that may assist authorities,
please contact the nearest police station or call 0-800-922-TIPS. Freedom
House Country Report - Political Rights: 1 Civil Liberties: 2 Status: Free Human Rights Overview by Human
Rights Watch – Defending Human Rights Worldwide U.S. Library of Congress
- Country Study All material used herein
reproduced under the fair use exception of 17 USC § 107 for noncommercial,
nonprofit, and educational use |
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Human Trafficking in [Belize Street Children in [Belize] [other countries]Child Prostitution in [Belize] [other countries]