VZCZCXYZ0001
OO RUEHWEB

DE RUEHC #0536 1622254
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O 112220Z JUN 09
FM SECSTATE WASHDC
TO AMEMBASSY BRIDGETOWN IMMEDIATE 0000

UNCLAS STATE 060536 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: KTIP ELAB KCRM KPAO KWMN PGOV PHUM PREL SMIG BB
SUBJECT: BARBADOS -- 2009 TIP REPORT: PRESS GUIDANCE AND 
DEMARCHE 
 
REF: (A) STATE 59732 (B) STATE 005577 
 
¶1. This is an action cable; see paras 5 through 7 and 10. 
 
¶2. On June 16, 2009, at 10:00 a.m. EDT, the Secretary will 
release the 2009 Trafficking in Persons (TIP) Report at a 
press conference in the Department's press briefing room. 
This release will receive substantial coverage in domestic 
and foreign news outlets.  Until the time of the Secretary's 
June 16 press conference, any public release of the Report or 
country narratives contained therein is prohibited. 
 
¶3. The Department is hereby providing Post with advance press 
guidance to be used on June 16 or thereafter.  Also provided 
is demarche language to be used in informing the Government 
of Barbados of its tier ranking and the TIP Report's imminent 
release.  The text of the TIP Report country narrative is 
provided, both for use in informing the Government of 
Barbados and in any local media release by Post's public 
affairs section on June 16 or thereafter.  Drawing on 
information provided below in paras 8 and 9, Post may provide 
the host government with the text of the TIP Report narrative 
no earlier than 1200 noon local time Monday June 15 for WHA, 
AF, EUR, and NEA countries and OOB local time Tuesday June 16 
for SCA and EAP posts.  Please note, however, that any public 
release of the Report's information should not/not precede 
the Secretary's release at 10:00 am EDT on June 16. 
 
¶4. The entire TIP Report will be available on-line at 
www.state.gov/g/tip shortly after the Secretary's June 16 
release.  Hard copies of the Report will be pouched to posts 
in all countries appearing on the Report.  The Secretary's 
statement at the June 16 press event, and the statement of 
and fielding of media questions by G/TIP,s Director and 
Senior Advisor to the Secretary, Ambassador-at-Large Luis 
CdeBaca, will be available on the Department's website 
shortly after the June 16 event.  Ambassador de Baca will 
also hold a general briefing for officials of foreign 
embassies in Washington DC on June 17 at 3:30 pm EDT. 
 
¶5. Action Request: No earlier than 12 noon local time on 
Monday June 15 for WHA, AF, EUR, and NEA posts and OOB local 
time on Tuesday June 16 for SCA and EAP posts, please inform 
the appropriate official in the Government of Barbados of the 
June 16 release of the 2009 TIP Report, drawing on the points 
in para 9 (at Post's discretion) and including the text of 
the country narrative provided in para 8.  For countries 
where the State Department has lowered the tier ranking, it 
is particularly important to advise governments prior to the 
Report being released in Washington on June 16. 
 
¶6. Action Request continued:  Please note that, for those 
countries which will not receive an "action plan" with 
specific recommendations for improvement, posts should draw 
host governments' attention to the areas for improvement 
identified in the 2009 Report, especially highlighted in the 
"Recommendations" section of the second paragraph of the 
narrative text.  This engagement is important to establishing 
the framework in which the government's performance will be 
judged for the 2010 Report.  If posts have questions about 
which governments will receive an action plan, or how they 
may follow up on the recommendations in the 2009 Report, 
please contact G/TIP and the appropriate regional bureau. 
 
¶7. Action Request continued: On June 16, please be prepared 
to answer media inquiries on the Report's release using the 
press guidance provided in para 11.  If Post wishes, a local 
press statement may be released on or after 10:30 am EDT June 
16, drawing on the press guidance and the text of the TIP 
Report's country narrative provided in para 8. 
 
¶8. Begin Final Text of Barbados,s country narrative in the 
2009 TIP Report: 
 
-------------------------------- 
Barbados (TIER 2) 
-------------------------------- 
 
Barbados is a destination country for women from the 
Dominican Republic, Guyana, and Jamaica trafficked for the 
purpose of sexual exploitation; it is also a destination for 
men from China, India, and Guyana trafficked for the purpose 
of labor exploitation in construction and other sectors. 
Reports from 2005 indicated that girls and women within 
Barbados and from other Caribbean countries were trafficked 
for the purpose of domestic servitude.  Sex traffickers, 
primarily pimps and brothel owners from Guyana, Trinidad and 
Tobago, and Barbados, lure women through newspaper ads for 
legitimate work in Barbados.  Trafficked women tend to enter 
the country through legal means, usually by air; traffickers 
later force victims to work in strip clubs, massage parlors, 
some private residences, and &entertainment clubs" that 
operate as brothels.  Traffickers use threats of physical 
harm or deportation, debt bondage, false contracts, 
psychological abuse, and confinement to force men, women, and 
reportedly some girls to also work in construction, the 
garment industry, agriculture, or private households. 
 
The Government of Barbados does not fully comply with the 
minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking; 
however, it is making significant efforts to do so.  During 
the reporting period, the government drafted a protocol for 
anti-trafficking actions, increased public awareness of 
trafficking, and cooperated with other Caribbean governments 
on trafficking issues.  The government, however, did not 
report any investigations of suspected cases of sex or labor 
trafficking , nor did it prosecute any trafficking cases 
during the year. 
 
 
Recommendations for Barbados:  Develop, enact, and implement 
a comprehensive anti-trafficking law; proactively investigate 
suspected human trafficking cases; prosecute and punish 
trafficking offenders, including those who subject workers to 
conditions of forced labor; implement procedures for law 
enforcement officers to proactively identify trafficking 
victims among vulnerable populations; develop a national plan 
to identify, combat, and prevent trafficking; create and 
implement a national trafficking public awareness and 
prevention program. 
 
Prosecution 
----------- 
The Barbados government made weak efforts to prosecute 
trafficking offenders during the year, while facing resource 
constraints and competing law enforcement priorities. 
Barbados has no specific law prohibiting human trafficking, 
but slavery and forced labor are constitutionally prohibited. 
 Existing statutes against sexual offenses and forced labor 
could be used to prosecute some trafficking crimes. 
Penalties for these offenses, which range from five to15 
years, imprisonment, are sufficiently stringent and 
commensurate with penalties prescribed for other serious 
crimes, such as rape.  No trafficking offenders were 
prosecuted during the year.  Most law enforcement and 
immigration officials do not have the appropriate training, 
funding, and other necessary mechanisms to monitor and 
investigate suspected cases of trafficking. 
 
Protection 
---------- 
The Government of Barbados made moderate efforts to ensure 
victims, access to protective services over the last year. 
It funded several existing programs to assist victims of 
other crimes which could be used to support trafficking 
victims, such as shelters run by a local NGO and the 
Salvation Army, and public counseling services for victims of 
rape and child abuse.  The government expressed its readiness 
to refer victims of trafficking, once identified, to the 
Bureau of Gender Affairs for support services, although no 
victims were formally identified during the year.  The 
government,s Bureau of Gender Affairs collaborated with a 
local NGO to sensitize government agencies on the difference 
between smuggling and trafficking, the importance of 
referring victims to services provided in collaboration with 
NGOs, and the importance of implementing a 
trafficking-specific protocol and legislation to better 
target their efforts.  Victims of trafficking (like victims 
of other crimes) are not, in general, encouraged to 
participate in investigations or prosecutions of trafficking 
offenders.  Trafficking victims could be prosecuted for 
unlawful acts committed as a direct result of their being 
trafficked, as no existing legislation offers legal 
protection specifically to victims of trafficking.  Police 
claim to have no option under current, relevant laws but to 
treat foreign trafficking victims without valid legal 
documentation as criminals and summarily deport them.   UNHCR 
provided suspected trafficking victims with medical 
assistance and help with repatriation.  There have been no 
reported cases of Barbadians trafficked to foreign countries, 
although the Bureau of Gender Affairs has specialized 
services in place should such a case arise. 
 
Prevention 
---------- 
The government made moderate efforts to raise the public,s 
awareness of the risks and dangers of human trafficking in 
Barbados.  During the year the government hosted educational 
workshops and ran press releases on human trafficking. 
Although there is no formal mechanism for coordinating 
government and NGO action on trafficking issues, the Bureau 
of Gender Affairs worked with regional and local NGOs, 
religious organizations, and community advocates to better 
organize their anti-trafficking efforts and outreach.  The 
Bureau of Gender Affairs also disseminated the government,s 
draft protocol for anti-trafficking action to various 
official agencies.  Expansion of the tourism industry is 
fueling an increased demand for commercial sex in Barbados, 
but the government made no noticeable efforts to reduce the 
demand for commercial sex acts.  Barbados has not ratified 
the 2000 UN TIP Protocol. 
 
------------------------------------------- 
 
 
¶9. Post may wish to deliver the following points, which offer 
technical and legal background on the TIP Report process, to 
the host government as a non-paper with the above TIP Report 
country narrative: 
 
(begin non-paper) 
 
-- The U.S. Congress, through its passage of the 2000 
Trafficking Victims Protection Act, as amended (TVPA), 
requires the Secretary of State to submit an annual Report to 
Congress.  The goal of this Report is to stimulate action and 
create partnerships around the world in the fight against 
modern-day slavery.  The USG approach to combating human 
trafficking follows the TVPA and the standards set forth in 
the Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in 
Persons, Especially Women and Children, supplementing the 
United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized 
Crime (commonly known as the "Palermo Protocol").  The TVPA 
and the Palermo Protocol recognize that this is a crime in 
which the victims, labor or services (including in the "sex 
industry") are obtained or maintained through force, fraud, 
or coercion, whether overt or through psychological 
manipulation.  While much attention has focused on 
international flows, both the TVPA and the Palermo Protocol 
focus on the exploitation of the victim, and do not require a 
showing that the victim was moved. 
 
-- Recent amendments to the TVPA removed the requirement that 
only countries with a "significant number" of trafficking 
victims be included in the Report. Beginning with the 2009 
TIP Report, countries determined to be a country of origin, 
transit, or destination for victims of severe forms of 
trafficking are included in the Report and assigned to one of 
three tiers.  Countries assessed as meeting the "minimum 
standards for the elimination of severe forms of trafficking" 
set forth in the TVPA are classified as Tier 1.  Countries 
assessed as not fully complying with the minimum standards, 
but making significant efforts to meet those minimum 
standards are classified as Tier 2.  Countries assessed as 
neither complying with the minimum standards nor making 
significant efforts to do so are classified as Tier 3. 
 
-- The TVPA also requires the Secretary of State to provide a 
"Special Watch List" to Congress later in the year. 
Anti-trafficking efforts of the countries on this list are to 
be evaluated again in an Interim Assessment that the 
Secretary of State must provide to Congress by February 1 of 
each year.  Countries are included on the "Special Watch 
List" if they move up in "tier" rankings in the annual TIP 
Report -- from 3 to 2 or from 2 to 1 ) or if they have been 
placed on the Tier 2 Watch List. 
 
-- Tier 2 Watch List consists of Tier 2 countries determined: 
(1) not to have made "increasing efforts" to combat human 
trafficking over the past year; (2) to be making significant 
efforts based on commitments of anti-trafficking reforms over 
the next year, or (3) to have a very significant number of 
trafficking victims or a significantly increasing victim 
population.  As indicated in reftel B, the TVPRA of 2008 
contains a provision requiring that a country that has been 
included on Tier 2 Watch List for two consecutive years after 
the date of enactment of the TVPRA of 2008 be ranked as Tier 
¶3.  Thus, any automatic downgrade to Tier 3 pursuant to this 
provision would take place, at the earliest, in the 2011 TIP 
Report (i.e., a country would have to be ranked Tier 2 Watch 
List in the 2009 and 2010 Reports before being subject to 
Tier 3 in the 2011 Report).  The new law allows for a waiver 
of this provision for up to two additional years upon a 
determination by the President that the country has developed 
and devoted sufficient resources to a written plan to make 
significant efforts to bring itself into compliance with the 
minimum standards. 
 
-- Countries classified as Tier 3 may be subject to statutory 
restrictions for the subsequent fiscal year on 
non-humanitarian and non-trade-related foreign assistance 
and, in some circumstances, withholding of funding for 
participation by government officials or employees in 
educational and cultural exchange programs.   In addition, 
the President could instruct the U.S. executive directors to 
international financial institutions to oppose loans or other 
utilization of funds (other than for humanitarian, 
trade-related or certain types of development assistance) 
with respect to countries on Tier 3.  Countries classified as 
Tier 3 that take strong action within 90 days of the Report's 
release to show significant efforts against trafficking in 
persons, and thereby warrant a reassessment of their Tier 
classification, would avoid such sanctions.  Guidelines for 
such actions are in the DOS-crafted action plans to be shared 
by Posts with host governments. 
 
-- The 2009 TIP Report, issuing as it does in the midst of 
the global financial crisis, highlights high levels of 
trafficking for forced labor in many parts of the world and 
systemic contributing factors to this phenomenon:  fraudulent 
recruitment practices and excessive recruiting fees in 
workers, home countries; the lack of adequate labor 
protections in both sending and receiving countries; and the 
flawed design of some destination countries, "sponsorship 
systems" that do not give foreign workers adequate legal 
recourse when faced with conditions of forced labor.  As the 
May 2009 ILO Global Report on Forced Labor concluded, forced 
labor victims suffer approximately $20 billion in losses, and 
traffickers, profits are estimated at $31 billion.  The 
current global financial crisis threatens to increase the 
number of victims of forced labor and increase the associated 
"cost of coercion." 
 
-- The text of the TVPA and amendments can be found on 
website www.state.gov/g/tip. 
 
-- On June 16, 2009, the Secretary of State will release the 
ninth annual TIP Report in a public event at the State 
Department.  We are providing you an advance copy of your 
country's narrative in that report.  Please keep this 
information embargoed until 10:00 am Washington DC time June 
¶16.  The State Department will also hold a general briefing 
for officials of foreign embassies in Washington DC on June 
17 at 3:30 pm EDT. 
 
(end non-paper) 
 
¶10. Posts should make sure that the relevant country 
narrative is readily available on or though the Mission's web 
page in English and appropriate local language(s) as soon as 
possible after the TIP Report is released.  Funding for 
translation costs will be handled as it was for the Human 
Rights Report.  Posts needing financial assistance for 
translation costs should contact their regional bureau,s EX 
office. 
 
¶11. The following is press guidance provided for Post to use 
with local media. 
 
Q1.  Why was Barbados included in the Report this year?  Why 
was it given a ranking of Tier 2? 
 
¶A.  Barbados was placed on the TIP Report because there is 
evidence that it is a country of origin, transit, or 
destination for victims of severe forms of trafficking.  The 
Government of Barbados does not fully comply with the minimum 
standards for the elimination of trafficking; however, it is 
making significant efforts to do so.  During the reporting 
period, the government drafted a protocol for anti-TIP 
actions, increased public awareness of trafficking, and 
cooperated with other Caribbean governments on trafficking 
issues.  The government, however, did not report any 
investigations of suspected cases of sex or labor trafficking 
, nor did it prosecute any trafficking cases during the year. 
 
Q2.  What is the nature of the trafficking problem in 
Barbados? 
 
¶A.  Barbados is a destination country for women from the 
Dominican Republic, Guyana, and Jamaica trafficked for the 
purpose of sexual exploitation; it is also a destination for 
men from China, India, and Guyana trafficked for the purpose 
of labor exploitation in construction and other sectors. 
Reports from 2005 indicate that girls and women within 
Barbados and from other Caribbean countries were trafficked 
for the purpose of domestic servitude.  Sex traffickers, 
primarily pimps and brothel owners from Guyana, Trinidad and 
Tobago, and Barbados, lure women through newspaper ads for 
legitimate work in Barbados.  Trafficked women tend to enter 
the country through legal means, usually by air; traffickers 
later force victims to work in strip clubs, massage parlors, 
some private residences and &entertainment clubs" which 
operate as brothels.  Traffickers use threats of physical 
harm or deportation, debt bondage, false contracts, 
psychological abuse, and confinement to force men, women, and 
reportedly some girls to also work in construction, the 
garment industry, agriculture, or private households. 
 
Q3.  How can Barbados show it is making progress in its 
anti-trafficking efforts during the coming year? 
 
¶A.  The government could:  develop, enact, and implement a 
comprehensive anti-trafficking law; proactively investigate 
suspected human trafficking cases; prosecute and punish 
trafficking offenders, including those who subject workers to 
conditions of forced labor; implement procedures for law 
enforcement officers to proactively identify trafficking 
victims among vulnerable populations; develop a national plan 
to identify, combat, and prevent trafficking; create and 
implement a national trafficking public awareness and 
prevention program. 
 
¶12. The Department appreciates posts, assistance with the 
preceding action requests. 
CLINTON