Ads a lure for human trafficking

Citizens are being warned to be wary of high paying foreign job opportunity advertisements. This is the warning being sounded by president of Soroptimists International (SI) in Port-of-Spain Darlene Smith. The organisation in conjunction with the Caribbean Umbrella Body for Restorative Behaviour yesterday held a workshop on Human Trafficking at Bishop Anstey High School, Port-of-Spain. The theme was Understanding and Responding to Trafficking in Persons: How Soroptimists Can Make a Difference. Speaking on the issue, Smith said the time had come for a proactive approach to put a stop to such crimes. Smith said SI International was moving to develop an action plan to chart the way forward to stop modern day slavery that is affecting people all over the world. 

“The time has come for action. People must be wary of newspaper advertisements offering high salaries and no work experience is required. Some of the ads are just to entice people. Many of these advertisements are being investigated to find out whether they are genuine. We recognised that human trafficking is a critical problem not only locally, but also regionally and internationally.” She added that children of Haiti were at a greater risk to such crimes due to the earthquake in 2009. According to Ministry of National Security International Affairs Adviser Antoinette Lucas-Andrews, between 2009 and 2010 there were 11 incidents of human trafficking. Lucas-Andrews said data from the International Organisation for Migration revealed that T&T is deemed as a place of transit for people to be trafficked. (AG)