Trinidad and Tobago Issues - 2024

GEOGRAPHICAL NAMES 

Disputes - international

none identified

Refugees and internally displaced persons

refugees (country of origin): 28,500 (Venezuela) (economic and political crisis; includes Venezuelans who have claimed asylum, are recognized as refugees, or have received alternative legal stay) (2021)

Trafficking in persons

tier rating: Tier 2 Watch List — Trinidad and Tobago does not fully meet the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking but is making significant efforts to do so; officials implemented new standard operating procedures for victim referral and care, opened a government-funded and operated shelter for female child victims, provided the first government shelters for adult victims; and increased the size of the Counter-Trafficking Unit; officials took steps to prevent trafficking among vulnerable populations, including migrants, Cuban medical workers, and Venezuelan refugees and migrants; however, the government did not demonstrate overall increasing efforts, compared to the previous year, to expand its anti-trafficking capacity; courts have never convicted a trafficker under the 2011 anti-trafficking law, and corruption and complicity among officials, including at senior levels, inhibited law enforcement action; victim identification, referral, and services remained weak, and interagency coordination was poor; because the government has devoted significant resources to a written plan that, if implemented, would constitute significant efforts to meet the minimum standards, Trinidad and Tobago was granted a waiver per the Trafficking Victims Protection Act from an otherwise required downgrade to Tier 3; therefore, Trinidad and Tobago remained on Tier 2 Watch List for the third consecutive year (2023)

trafficking profile: human traffickers exploit domestic and foreign victims in Trinidad and Tobago, and also exploit victims from Trinidad and Tobago abroad; the country serves as a transit point for Venezuelan refugees and migrants en route to Europe, North Africa, and elsewhere in the Caribbean who are at high risk for trafficking; sex trafficking is the most prevalent form of trafficking in the country, victimizing women and girls primarily from Colombia, the Dominican Republic, Guyana, and Venezuela; however, the government reported an increase in male Venezuelan labor trafficking victims and domestic child sex trafficking victims; unaccompanied Venezuelan children are at risk for sex trafficking; Trinidad remains the primary hub for most sexual exploitation, but traffickers move some victims to Tobago during the tourist season; migrants from the Caribbean region and from Asia are at risk for forced labor in domestic service and the retail sector; traffickers also exploit victims from China, India, Kenya, Nepal, the Philippines, Puerto Rico, and St. Vincent and the Grenadines; migrants from the Caribbean region and Asia are at risk for forced labor in domestic service and the retail sector; LGBTQI+ persons are at risk for sex trafficking; Cuban medical professionals may have been forced to work in Trinidad and Tobago by the Cuban government; corruption by police, immigration and customs, and coast guard officials has been associated with facilitating labor and sex trafficking; transnational organized crime may increasingly be involved in trafficking; Trinidad and Tobago is a sex tourism destination, according to NGOs, and most sex tourists come from Canada, China, the US, and Western Europe (2023)

Illicit drugs

a transit point for drugs destined for Europe, North America, and the rest of the Caribbean;  drug trafficking organizations use  the country’s proximity to Venezuela, its porous borders, vulnerabilities at ports of entry, a limited law enforcement capacity and resources, and corruption

NOTE: The information regarding Trinidad and Tobago on this page is re-published from the 2024 World Fact Book of the United States Central Intelligence Agency and other sources. No claims are made regarding the accuracy of Trinidad and Tobago 2024 information contained here. All suggestions for corrections of any errors about Trinidad and Tobago 2024 should be addressed to the CIA or the source cited on each page.