Prime Minister Gaston Browne has expressed his delight over the recent Tier 2
grading that the country received from the United States Government on the
issuing of trafficking persons and how engaged governments are in preventing this
scourge from happening.
Speaking on the Browne and Browne show on Saturday, PM Browne said this is a
good development as it marks an upgrade from the previous year’s report where
the country was placed at Tier 2 – Watch List.
The prime minister is of the view that this development is commendable especially
as it came against the backdrop of the Antigua Airways- African migrants issue
and opposition-inspired calls for a public inquiry into the matter.
“It’s a positive development that we have been upgraded. In the previous report,
we were downgraded. So we have been upgraded to Tier 2 …the top tier is Tier 1.
What is most instructive about this report is, it also captured the African migrants
who came here in December last year and January of this year. They
acknowledged the fact that we treated them with dignity, and they also wanted to
ensure that based on their vulnerability, they would not be subjected to trafficking.
So the US itself did not make any observation, remotely or otherwise, that what
transpired was any form of trafficking,” the prime minister surmised.
According to PM Browne, the American government has expressed concerns that
due to the vulnerability of the African migrants, the government had to be careful
and put systems in place to ensure that they were not trafficked and become sex
workers or placed in employment where they are exploited. Fortunately, he noted,
to date there have not been such reports.
He explained that his government had introduced several measures to legitimize
their presence in the country.
“Despite all this brouhaha, if the United States had believed there was even
remotely any evidence of human trafficking, they would have downgraded us. We
don’t have any control over what report the US government puts out,” said a proud
prime minister with a sense of vindication.
Last week, the Minister of Foreign Affairs reported that the United States
Government had issued its annual report on trafficking persons and had upgraded
Antigua and Barbuda to Tier 2. “The Trafficking In Persons Prevention Unit was
responsible for investigating trafficking cases, including four full-time staff. The
Trafficking In Persons Unit was the investigative arm of the Trafficking In Persons
Prevention Committee (TIPPC), the national coordinating body.”
Tier 2 are countries whose governments do not fully meet the TVPA’s minimum
standards but are making significant efforts to bring themselves into compliance with
those standards,” the US report explained.
