US wants Ja to step up fight against human trafficking, country maintains Tier 2 ranking

The United States wants Jamaica to improve its efforts against human trafficking, arguing that the country continues to fall short in critical areas such as adequate funding for victim protection services.

The US Department of State, in its 2025 Trafficking in Persons Report on Jamaica, continues to classify the country as Tier 2, which means that although Jamaica does not fully meet the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking, it is making significant efforts to do so.

These efforts, the report said, included convicting two traffickers, ordering one of the convicted traffickers to pay restitution, and, in contrast to the prior year, sentencing convicted traffickers to punishments that involved significant terms of imprisonment.

In addition, it noted that the Jamaican Government referred all potential and confirmed victims to services and that the Office of the National Rapporteur on Trafficking in Persons launched an online training for front-line officials on trafficking indicators, identifying victims, and locating resources for victims.

However, the state department said the government did not meet the minimum standards in several key areas.

“The government conducted fewer investigations and decreased funding for victim protection services. Officials did not effectively or consistently screen some groups vulnerable to trafficking and the government did not approve a draft national policy to combat trafficking to replace its expired NAP [national action plan],” the report stated.

The report outlined the government’s reported spending of $3.7 million on victim protection services, a decrease from $9.6 million dedicated to victim protection services in 2023.

The report highlighted that officials opened investigations into 39 potential trafficking cases, 38 involving sex trafficking, and one involving an unspecified form of trafficking; compared with the 61 potential cases, 48 involving sex trafficking, six involving labour trafficking, and seven involving unspecified forms of trafficking, investigated in the previous reporting period.

It further noted that authorities initiated prosecutions of five suspects, all for sex trafficking, compared to eight suspects in the previous reporting period.

Authorities also continued previously initiated prosecutions of eight defendants, six for sex trafficking and two for forced labour.

Authorities also convicted two traffickers, one for sex trafficking and one for child labour trafficking, compared to convicting three sex traffickers during the previous reporting period.

The government convicted both traffickers under the anti-trafficking law, compared to the prior year, when it did not convict any traffickers under the trafficking law.

Courts sentenced the sex trafficker to serve 11 years and six months in prison and to pay a restitution in the amount of J$2 million, and the labour trafficker to serve two years’ imprisonment.

“The slow pace at which cases moved through the courts impacted efforts to hold traffickers criminally accountable and deterred victims from serving as witnesses,” the report stated.

“The government did not report any investigations, prosecutions, or convictions of government employees complicit in trafficking crimes; however, endemic corruption and official complicity, including within law enforcement, remained significant concerns, inhibiting law enforcement action during the year,” it added.

The US state department ranks countries in four categories.

A country's placement reflects an evaluation of the government’s actions to combat trafficking assessed against specific criteria outlined in the US Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000 (TVPA).

Governments that fully comply with the TVPA’s minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking are ranked on Tier 1.

For other countries, the Secretary considers whether their governments made significant efforts to bring themselves into compliance. Countries whose governments are making significant, increasing efforts to meet the minimum standards, but do not meet them all, are ranked on Tier 2.

There is also a Tier 2 Watch List, which are countries that do not fully comply, are not making significant efforts, and have a high or increasing number of victims.

And then there is Tier 3, which are countries that do not fully comply and do not make significant efforts to do so.

- Sashana Small

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