Cruise Lines To Join Tourism-Driven Human Trafficking Boycott Of Belize

June 8, 2010 --
Every month about 1,000 women, girls and children are moved through Central American borders as victims of human trafficking, most of them thorough the Belize trafficking corridor.

For its part, the cruise ship industry brings more than 600,000 passengers a year to Belize, making it a formidable influencer within its host country. The most popular lines docking in Belize are Carnival Cruise Lines and Norwegian Cruise Line.

“There is a great need and a moral imperative to influence the Belize human trafficking status quo,” said Bond. “We are asking cruise ship companies to help persuade Prime Minister Dean Barrow to take immediate action to address human trafficking, with tightening of border controls the first step.”

There have been no trafficking convictions in Belize since they enacted new human trafficking laws in 2003. Tourists, with the help of cruise ship companies, can effectively apply economic sanction via tourism boycott until an accountable system, which definitively convicts traffickers, is in place.

Belize would do well to follow the Honduras human trafficking model, which includes a recently assigned team of prosecutors seeking convictions in human trafficking crimes.

“TCAG membership is ready to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with the cruise lines, supporting them in suspending tourism cruises to Belize until the Barrow administration demonstrates its plans to implement real and significant human trafficking reform,” said Bond.

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