National Task Force Against Trafficking in Persons calls for Global Study

The National Task Force Against Trafficking in Persons (NATFATIP) is calling for a global and university-based study on the state of human trafficking.

“We would like academia to engage with us as a Task Force to do Jamaica’s international study on what is happening around the world,” Chairperson for NATFATIP, Mrs. Carol Palmer, said at a JIS ‘Think Tank’ on July 5.

“It is something that we would love to be done, but not coming from the Government of Jamaica, so it will enjoy its own credibility and we would not be accused of any bias,” she said.

Mrs. Palmer noted that the universities are more equipped to do such a study, and suggested that it can be a joint study with more than one university.

The Chairperson said that Jamaica did an informal assessment using the US Trafficking in Persons (TIP) report and some intelligence on other countries, with particular interest on Tier 1 countries.

She pointed out that although Jamaica is assessed by the US State Department, it is a signatory of the UN Palermo Protocol.

“There is a United Nations reporting requirement. It requires periodic reports from all countries, so while they do not publish an annual report, they put out their report at specified intervals and that reflects the situation in all member countries of the UN,” she added.

Senior Deputy Director of Public Prosecutions, Lisa Palmer Hamilton, noted that Jamaica’s TIP laws differ from those of the United States, which compiles the tier ranking report.

“We have more than satisfied the minimum core standards of the Palermo Protocol. We have not just enacted our own domestic legislation, but we have gone above and beyond that which they have regarded as the minimum standards,” she said.

Since 2003 Jamaica has been a signatory to the UN Palermo Protocol to prevent, suppress and punish trafficking in persons, especially women and children. This is supported by the UN Convention Against Transnational Organized Crime.

The Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF) responded to the protocol and created an Anti-Trafficking in Persons Unit, which has been upgraded to include vice components, such as immoral crimes, prostitution and illegal gambling.