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alexk
Guest
There were four reports of children being trafficked in T&T for this year, according to the Counter Trafficking Unit (CTU).
The information was revealed yesterday by Director of the CTU Alana Wheeler at the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the Children’s Authority of T&T and the Ministry of National Security.
The signing took place between the ministry’s permanent secretary Vel Lewis and the Authority’s chairman Hanif Benjamin at Temple Court, Ministry of National Security, Port-of-Spain.
The MOU seeks to facilitate improved services and care for child victims of trafficking, especially among the at-risk migrant population.
Benjamin, in delivering remarks, said that the MOU will further strengthen and aid in the provision of support and services to children in need of care and protection, specifically, trafficked children.
“Child protection requires a combined and societal approach. It is critical that we all work together to find solutions to the issues faced by children in this country,” Benjamin said.
He assured that children, who are born here, came here legitimately or were trafficked here, the authority will grant them rights.
“That is what we did when we ratified the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child in 1991.
Benjamin said according to the Situation Analysis of Children in T&T, completed by Unicef 2017, they indicated that for two consecutive years T&T has been classified as Tier Two by the annual Trafficking in Persons Report, with Tier Three being the highest.
He said T&T continues to be a destination transit and a source country for adult and child victim of sex trafficking and forced labour.
Wheeler said the signing marks the achievement of specific objectives identified in its national plan of action against trafficking in people, namely to increase and strengthen coordination in Government’s anti-trafficking efforts.
In providing 2018 statistics, Wheeler said the CTU had “investigated four cases of child trafficking, involving one male minor and three female minors.”
The victims, Wheeler said, ranged from ages 15 to 17.
Following the signing, questioned by Guardian Media as to how many child victims of trafficking were reported last year, Wheeler said there was one confirmed case.
“This year it would have been four… that would be Venezuelan nationals and a Trinidad and Tobago national. To date, one person has been charged in one of the cases. And we have subsequent charges to be proffered on additional persons.”
Wheeler admitted that there has been an increase in trafficked children when compared to last year.
She said more cases were reported in 2018 as the police worked harder in their investigations.
“More cases would have been brought to our attention because we have been doing a lot of work and raising awareness among different stakeholders.”