July 6, 2010 --
The Kolbe Foundation, which runs Hattieville, receives from the Belize government $1,080 (Belize) for each victim incarcerated on 90-day remand.
Most of these human trafficking prisoners on Hattieville remand are young women who have been deliberately sought and swept up by immigration officials and police. Found without passports or other documentation they are determined to be illegals and sent before a judge, who then remands them to Hattieville to await trial. There is never a trail.
These women are without identification because they are trafficking victims. They have been abducted from their homes, processed through the Belize human trafficking corridor, with most forced into prostitution in ficha bars. They cannot escape the life that has been forced on them. One of the main reasons they stay trapped is they have no identification. Without identification they face arrest and deportation.“Corrupt immigration officials are paid off to deliberately seek trafficking victims for processing to Hattieville,” said Trill. “At no time are these women considered trafficking victims by immigration officials, police or magistrates.”
The ORT Campaign has made a number of recommendations for action on human trafficking. For one, it has recommended that immigration officials be responsible and accountable for the identification of human trafficking victims. For another, it recommends that they be properly trained to identify trafficking victims and that exercise of duty be monitored and evaluated.“ORT is urging Belize to avert Tier 3 status as a worst-list human trafficker and avoid the economic sanctions that can be applied to that designation,” said Trill. “Making the immigration department accountable and responsible for the identification of human trafficking victims should be part of their negotiated commitment with the U.S. starting immediately.
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