The United States State Department 2021 report on Trafficking in Persons has noted Saint Lucia’s significant efforts to eliminate the practice.
“The Government of Saint Lucia does not fully meet the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking but is making significant efforts to do so,” the report notes.
“The government demonstrated overall increasing efforts compared to the previous reporting period, considering the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on its anti-trafficking capacity; therefore Saint Lucia remained on Tier 2,” according to the document.
Tier Two is assigned to countries and territories whose governments do not fully comply with the minimum standards of the Trafficking Victims Protection Act (TVPA), but are making significant efforts to bring themselves into compliance with those standards.
According to the State Department 2021 Trafficking In Persons report, the efforts of the government of Saint Lucia against trafficking included updating standard operating procedures for victim identification and referral to protective services.
It also noted that Saint Lucia hired an additional judge and two prosecutors to address criminal case backlog, including trafficking cases; funded an NGO for victim assistance; granted citizenship to a foreign trafficking victim; and received Cabinet approval for an amendment to make the penalties for trafficking commensurate with penalties for other serious crimes.
However, the report asserted that the government did not meet the minimum standards in several key areas.
It said the administration did not conduct any trafficking investigations using the Counter-Trafficking Act; has not initiated a prosecution since 2015; and has never convicted a trafficker.
In addition, the publishers of the document disclosed that the government here did not enact or fund a new national action plan.