U.S Official: Much Effort Needed to Address Human & Sex Trafficking

Two equally tough issues to deal with are those of human trafficking and sex trafficking, and the U.S. has also been attempting to manage those problems with the help of countries in the region where these offences are prevalent. Jacobstein agreed that these are areas where much work remains to be done, but assured that the U.S. continues to collaborate closely with the Belizean Government to make positive strides to control them.

 

Eric Jacobstein, Dep. Asst. Sec., Western Hemisphere Affairs, U.S State Dept.

“Just yesterday I attended the CARSI-E.S.F. ceremony with Ambassador Kwan, in which new grants were provided to individuals, and I know that there’s been really great work done in the past by organizations that focus on human trafficking. So we’ll continue to provide targeted assistance to deal with these issues and work to provide technical assistance as necessary to support the Belizean Government because we know that the will is there and we’ll look forward to finding ways to continue to collaborate in this space.”

 

Marion Ali

“I think sex trafficking falls on the human trafficking and all the challenges that pose, in itself. We have. Or tourism destinations and people tell us that tourists visiting Belize ask for certain things that pose – add to these problems that we face, that we have currently. Is there anything that the U.S. is working on to assist Belize specifically to address these kinds of problems that we face as it relates to sex trafficking?”

 

Eric Jacobstein

“This is horrendous, obviously efforts by these predators to prey on individuals is something that we condemn across the board, and as I was saying, we work closely with the government. I just met with the C.E.O. of the ministry focused on human rights and we talked about the trafficking issues and we talked about, What we do together, but what we need more we need to do together. To collaborate in this space. Again, no specific announcements today, but we continue to do all we can to support the Belizean Government and really dealing with the scourge, not only in Belize but across the hemisphere.”