Chief Immigration Officer Lieutenant Colonel Ivor Walker responded yesterday to UNDP reports that Antigua & Barbuda had increased levels of human trafficking and claims that immigration officers were bribed by criminal organizations to traffic women for the purpose of prostitution.
Colonel Walker said that he was not shocked at the report of an increase in human trafficking. “I don’t think it is a hidden point … This is not the first time we have been tagged as such. The government, from a policy point of view, has made a concerted effort over the last few years to address this issue.”
Walker is referring to The Migrant Smuggling and Trafficking in Persons Prevention Acts of 2010. These acts were enacted in an effort to protect the rights of migrants in and entering Antigua & Barbuda from human trafficking.
Walker also addressed the UNDP report claim that immigration officers were in collusion with criminal organizations and accepting bribes to allow trafficked individuals to enter the country.
“We have had incidences with officers and these incidence have been bought before the court … As to how the report phrased it, I don’t know if I can speak definitively,” said Walker.
Walker noted that there are currently investigations into the misconduct of immigration officers. However he declined to speak to the specific incidences or details of the investigation.
Walker wanted to make clear that he would not be lenient on officers that are found to be in violation of the acts, saying, “If someone is in breach of the immigration act that is a serious offence. I am not a person who plays around with that. If I know of immigration officers in breach of the act, I will indeed act. I am not afraid to act.”
He noted that it is the duty of law enforcement agencies to investigate instances of human trafficking and said that the Immigration Department works alongside the Police Department in these investigations.
Walker said that training the department received from the International Organization for Migration (IOM) has helped to prepare the department to recognize and address issues of trafficking.
The IOM hosted workshops to prepare immigration officers for the sensitivities that are inherent when dealing with persons who have been trafficked. “Remember sometimes these persons are victims themselves. So you don’t necessarily lob everybody into the same category. We are very careful with that,” Walker noted, referencing the fact that although some women enter the sex trade voluntarily, some have been forced into it through human trafficking.
When asked if the Immigration Department feels they are making strides, he said, “I don’t feel, I know we have been making strides and making an impact. We have been making serious, serious efforts in this matter.”
The Immigration Department has been working in concert with the IOM to assist the nation in addressing and decreasing human trafficking. Walker also stated that an IOM officer is stationed at the Immigration Office to assist with the implementation of the Acts.
(Source http://www.antiguaobserver.com/?p=71994)
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