By JADE RUSSELL

jrussell@tribunemedia.net

NATIONAL Security Minister Wayne Munroe says “we accept all criticism” in response to the latest US Trafficking in Persons Report’s concerns of the country’s prosecution efforts.

According to the 2022 State Department Report on Trafficking In Persons (TIP), The Bahamas maintained Tier 1 Status.

This was in spite of the government falling short to initiate any new prosecutions, identifying fewer victims and not having a comprehensive implementation of the country’s victim identification protocol, especially among at risk groups, including Haitian migrants.

“The government of The Bahamas fully meets the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking,” the report said. “The government continued to demonstrate serious and sustained efforts during the reporting period considering the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on its anti-trafficking capacity; therefore, The Bahamas remained on Tier 1.”

“These efforts included convicting a trafficker, providing support for victims repatriated abroad, making efforts to provide compensation to a victim, increasing funding for victim services, and coordinating with governments in the region on a virtual forum to share challenges and best practices on prosecuting trafficking and improving inter-agency collaboration."

Mr Munroe said: “Nowhere in the world has there been prosecutions over the last two years, including the US. The restrictions imposed by the COVID-19 pandemic has affected that.

“So, while we are mindful of the observation. I am quite sure that the US state department of government will be mindful that we’re all confronted with what they are confronted with and that is delays in the trail process, and everything from murder, which is the most serious matter on our calendar, right down to matters of trafficking in persons and sexual offences.

“We are trying to get through the system as well,” Mr Munroe underscored.

He stressed that due to the COVID- 19 pandemic there has been issues in tracking all crime across the board not just limited to human trafficking.

The Minister of National Security added that they accept all criticism and are giving their best efforts to address the backlog in the criminal system. He noted that he has spoken to the incoming Chief Justice about the system’s challenges along with ways to address the issue.