By RICARDO WELLS

Tribune Staff Reporter

rwells@tribunemedia.net

US State Department officials have listed the Bahamas among its "tier-one"' list of countries yesterday, for its continued effort to combat the trafficking in persons.

In the annual Trafficking in Persons (TIP) Report, released globally Tuesday by US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, the Bahamas was praised for its "serious and sustained efforts" over the last year.

US officials specifically regarded what it termed as The Bahamas' strong collaboration across multiple government agencies, facilitating the prosecution of traffickers and protection of victims.

The report noted: "The government increased prevention efforts, taking steps to inform the public and potential victims about trafficking. The government's inter-ministerial committee to coordinate anti-trafficking policy met regularly, as did the government's anti-trafficking taskforce, which was charged with ensuring operational coordination on trafficking cases.

"The government continued to conduct a nationwide public awareness campaign to educate students, vulnerable populations, faith communities, the public, and government officials about human trafficking through the use of pamphlets in English and Creole to inform potential victims of their rights and available resources, public service announcements on television and radio throughout the country, and a museum exhibit.

"The government partnered with non-governmental organisations to implement its 2014-2018 national anti-trafficking strategy and detailed action plan that outlined efforts related to government infrastructure, prevention, victim and witness protection, investigation and prosecution, and partnerships."

It continued: "The government dedicated resources to implement the plan, but noted that the officials responsible for trafficking matters also have other areas of responsibilities and are, therefore, not solely dedicated to trafficking cases.

"The government formalised its policy in the Department of Labour's 2017-2019 strategic plan to raise awareness and advise foreign nationals of their labour rights, limits on recruitment fees, and prohibition against document retention, in addition to the current practice of sending letters to foreign nationals with work permits, which explain the definition of trafficking and advise employers of the prohibition against document retention.

"The Department of Labour raised awareness in the business community, distributed pamphlets about labour trafficking and workers' rights, advised potential job seekers about potential fraud in the cruise ship industry, screened for indicators of trafficking when inspecting work sites, and identified a foreign national as a labour trafficking victim during the reporting period."

The TIP Report also credited the Bahamian government with providing anti-trafficking training for immigration and labour officials, and its diplomatic personnel, including a rotation in the legal affairs office of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Immigration where officials participate in inter-ministerial anti-trafficking committee meetings.

The government was also noted for its efforts to initiate 11 new labour and sex trafficking investigations, screen 37 potential trafficking victims, identify five victims, and initiate one new prosecution.

The Bahamian government is also credited with increasing funding for victim assistance and expanding procedures to include identification and interviewing guidelines to cover labour trafficking victims.

The Bahamas has earned the 'tier-one' classification for the third consecutive year.

Despite the positives, however, US officials also made a list of recommendations to further improve efforts in The Bahamas, which it referred to as source, destination, and transit country.

The TIP Report called for increased efforts to prosecute, convict, and appropriately punish traffickers and continued implementation of victim identification and referral protocol to identify victims of sex and labour trafficking, especially among vulnerable groups.

Additionally, the report called for local officials to continue to offer all identified victims with adequate protection and help; increase grassroots outreach to potential trafficking victims among vulnerable groups, in partnerships with non-governmental organisations and strengthened engagement with officials involved in anti-trafficking activities in other countries in the region.

There were also calls for the continued implementation of a nationwide public awareness campaign to educate the public and officials about human trafficking and its manifestations across the country, including the distinction between trafficking and smuggling.

Following the report's release yesterday, US Chargé d'Affaires Lisa Johnson offered congratulations to the government of the Bahamas on its ranking.

The TIP Report is the US government's principal diplomatic tool to engage foreign governments on human trafficking.

According to officials, the report is also the world's most comprehensive resource of governmental anti-human trafficking efforts and reflects the US government's commitment to global leadership on this key human rights and law enforcement issue.

The US government uses the TIP Report to engage foreign governments in dialogues to advance anti-trafficking reforms and to combat trafficking and to target resources on prevention, protection and prosecution programmes.

In 2008, The Bahamas signed onto the 2000 United Nations Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons Especially Women and Children - UN Protocol - supplementing the United Nations Convention on Transitional Crime.

Shortly after, The Bahamas enacted the Trafficking in Persons - Prevention and Suppression - Act. The Act adopts the definition of trafficking in persons provided in the United Nations Protocol.