It's been bubbling below the surface, but the bust of 39 Central Americans - adults and children - without documents in March - has raised many red flags about human trafficking and child labour in Belize. It's a problem all on its own - but made more so for the government of Belize e- which is being watched closely by its American counterparts. Belize is a tier two country for trafficking in persons vigilance and enfacement and could easily slip to tier three with an event such as this - if it is not properly managed.
That's why government is making every effort to show that it's taking the matter seriously. Yesterday, what is called a "high level meeting on Migrant Labour and Trafficking in Persons" was held in Belmopan between the ministries of Immigration, Human Development, Home Affairs, Labour, Tourism, and Agriculture along with the Director of Public Prosecutions. was held in Belmopan on April 11, 2022.
A release says they discussed the topics of migrant labour for agroindustry in Belize, and conducted a review of the recent migrant incident in March. The release concludes that they, quote, "focused on striking a balance between the need for migrant labour, the demands of the industries and the protection of individuals, especially children from child labour and other forms of exploitation."
And in a release scripted mostly for the Washington Watchdogs, concludes, "Participants pledged revitalized efforts to strengthen inter-agency collaboration and decided on the development of a national migration policy, which will work in tandem with anti-trafficking efforts thus fulfilling the government's mandate of combatting all forms of exploitation." End quote.
