Human trafficking in Haiti

I can truly understand the desperation of the unsuspecting victims…to be promised a better life and a chance to make to money to care care of needy families. The truth is they are just victims to human sharks in to make a hefty profit at their expense.

Human trafficking is not new. It happens in the most developed of countries with various reasons for it. For the most part as in the video, it is because victims are searching for a better way of life. However there are also cases where victims don’t have a choice, and are held against their will such as the human sex trade. Human trafficking does not always happen in a boat. Whatever method is used, it almost always puts lives at risk, and results in profits for the perpetrators.

In the particular case in the video, I wonder exactly what the Haitian government is actually doing about it. Are they actually turning a blind eye? Are they attempting to make a better way of life for their people so that they would not be tempted to risk their lives in this manner, are they collaborating with the authorities in the “receiving ” island, are people educated on the risks involved, are they targeting the perpetrators for their illegal activities? This is a multifactorial problem and it is not new. It also needs an international solution.

This brings to mind trafficking of Cuban nationals to Miami. I remember Elian Gonzalez, the Cuban boy who was left motherless when his mother’s boat capsized. He was also on the boat, but survived and became the center of the tug of war between his Cuban father , Miami relatives, and the US government which ended in a raid by the state department on a home in Miami and his return to his father in Cuba.

Video on human trafficking in Haiti

Veronica