ST.JOHN'S Antigua, June 6th, 2012 -- The Immigration Department within the Ministry of National Security & Labour in collaboration with the International Organization for Migration (IOM) held a short Opening Ceremony on Tuesday at the start of a three day workshop titled “Trainers Session: Sensitizing Peer about Human Trafficking”.
The workshop which will run until Thursday, is facilitated by IOM’s Chissey Mueller. Ms Mueller said in her overview of the workshop that it was a continuation of prior workshops held in Antigua and was aimed at advancing the number of stakeholders in country and building the local capacity to deal with human trafficking and smuggling of persons. She added that persons involved in policing this activity had to keep adjusting to the new and innovative methods that traffickers use.
Chief Immigration Officer, Lt. Col. Ivor Walker in his welcome to the participants of the workshop, said that the laws against human trafficking and smuggling of persons are only as effective as their enforcers, and that the notion of trafficking in Antigua was not a “far fetched” one.
Sen. the Hon. Dr. L. Errol Cort, Minister of National Security & Labour reiterated both Ms Mueller and Lt. Col. Walker by saying that not only did traffickers find new methods, but their actions are profit driven. He gave statistics that gave a picture of the persons being trafficked and the profits being made from the illegal activity.
Dr. Cort said that the real litmus test of the effectiveness of the enacted Legislation is how many successful prosecutions come out of the process. He said the challenge was that the work was increasing, however, participants of the workshop needed to rise to the occasion in bringing offenders to prosecution. Dr Cort also thanked Ms Mueller and the IOM for their continued assistance to the country.
The workshop will cover areas such as time management, session planning, public speaking, and press briefings. A closing ceremony will be held on Thursday afternoon, where IOM Regional Coordination Officer, Rui Oliveira Reis will make a few remarks.
Antigua and Barbuda is the first OECS country to be a member of the IOM.
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