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Foreigners said involved in human trafficking
By Kimone Thompson and Rhoma Tomlinson
Monday, May 05, 2008
Jamaican and Haitian authorities confirmed last week that a number of Haitians who end up on Jamaica's shores are victims of human trafficking.
"We know that when persons go up to Haiti to smuggle drugs, they bring back Haitians with them and use them to do odd jobs here but as far as a number, we don't have that," Operation Kingfish spokesman inspector Steve Brown told the Observer.
"Recently we heard that in Portland people were paying them $250 per day to do work, which is pathetic. They give them food then pay them $250 a day to do construction work and all those things," said Brown.
"We had an operation in St Thomas last year with some Jamaicans and among the people were two Haitians. We arrested and charged them for human trafficking, illegal possession of firearm. Once they have those people in their possession they are going to get the full book, we are leaving no stone unturned," he said.
And Deputy Director of Public Prosecutions Lisa Palmer, also charged that a number of foreign nationals now living or working in Jamaica have been engaging in human trafficking and have been taking persons into the country to work as virtual slaves.
Palmer said the victims were usually brought into the country through coercion or trickery and were often locked away by the traffickers to work in deplorable conditions.
Palmer, who was addressing a Chamber of Commerce luncheon in Mandeville on Thursday last week, said five such cases were now before the courts. She said forced labour was often accompanied by sexual exploitation, and was one of the worst forms of human rights violations in the country today.
"The kind of servitude and forced labour has a lot to do with the circumstances under which they have to work, the hours, where they have to reside, what they're given to eat. Also they are paid a lot less than the minimum wage," she said.
Though these persons are normally brought into the island on legitimate travel documents, she said these were often withheld by the traffickers, who operate under the guise of so-called employers.
The Deputy DPP said it was often difficult to detect such victims as they were rarely brought into the public domain.
"They operate under a cloak of fear, so they may not necessarily cry out to anyone," she said.
See full story in tomorrow's Observer
By Kimone Thompson and Rhoma Tomlinson
Monday, May 05, 2008
Jamaican and Haitian authorities confirmed last week that a number of Haitians who end up on Jamaica's shores are victims of human trafficking.
"We know that when persons go up to Haiti to smuggle drugs, they bring back Haitians with them and use them to do odd jobs here but as far as a number, we don't have that," Operation Kingfish spokesman inspector Steve Brown told the Observer.
"Recently we heard that in Portland people were paying them $250 per day to do work, which is pathetic. They give them food then pay them $250 a day to do construction work and all those things," said Brown.
"We had an operation in St Thomas last year with some Jamaicans and among the people were two Haitians. We arrested and charged them for human trafficking, illegal possession of firearm. Once they have those people in their possession they are going to get the full book, we are leaving no stone unturned," he said.
And Deputy Director of Public Prosecutions Lisa Palmer, also charged that a number of foreign nationals now living or working in Jamaica have been engaging in human trafficking and have been taking persons into the country to work as virtual slaves.
Palmer said the victims were usually brought into the country through coercion or trickery and were often locked away by the traffickers to work in deplorable conditions.
Palmer, who was addressing a Chamber of Commerce luncheon in Mandeville on Thursday last week, said five such cases were now before the courts. She said forced labour was often accompanied by sexual exploitation, and was one of the worst forms of human rights violations in the country today.
"The kind of servitude and forced labour has a lot to do with the circumstances under which they have to work, the hours, where they have to reside, what they're given to eat. Also they are paid a lot less than the minimum wage," she said.
Though these persons are normally brought into the island on legitimate travel documents, she said these were often withheld by the traffickers, who operate under the guise of so-called employers.
The Deputy DPP said it was often difficult to detect such victims as they were rarely brought into the public domain.
"They operate under a cloak of fear, so they may not necessarily cry out to anyone," she said.
See full story in tomorrow's Observer
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