Saint Lucia Issues - 2023

GEOGRAPHICAL NAMES 

Disputes - international

Saint Lucia-Venezuela: joins other Caribbean states to counter Venezuela's claim that Aves Island sustains human habitation, a criterion under UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, which permits Venezuela to extend its EEZ/continental shelf over a large portion of the eastern Caribbean Sea

Trafficking in persons

tier rating: Tier 2 Watch List — Saint Lucia does not fully meet the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking but is making significant efforts to do so; the government passed an amendment to remove the option for a fine in lieu of imprisonment, increased public awareness of a hotline to report trafficking, and worked with an international partner to investigate a potential child sex trafficking case; however, the government did not demonstrate overall increasing efforts compared with the previous year to expand its anti-trafficking capacity; officials have not initiated a prosecution since 2015 and have never convicted a trafficker; the government did not identify any victims for the second consecutive year or report providing any services to victims, and it did not enact or fund a new national action plan; therefore, Saint Lucia was downgraded to Tier 2 Watch List (2022)

trafficking profile: human traffickers exploit domestic and foreign victims in Saint Lucia, as well as victims from Saint Lucia abroad; children from economically disadvantaged families are at risk of sex trafficking, often forced by parents or caretakers in exchange for goods or services; disadvantaged young women from rural areas are vulnerable to sex trafficking, and children from poor communities are vulnerable to sexual exploitation; documented and undocumented migrants from the Caribbean and South Asia, including domestic workers, are vulnerable to trafficking; foreign women working in strip clubs and in commercial sex are at risk of sex trafficking; the government reports business owners from Saint Lucia, India, China, Cuba, and Russia are the most likely traffickers in the country; Cuban medical professionals working in Saint Lucia may have been forced to work by the Cuban Government (2022)

Illicit drugs

a transit point for cocaine and marijuana destined for North America, Europe, and elsewhere in the Caribbean; some local demand for cocaine and some use of synthetic drugs

NOTE: The information regarding Saint Lucia on this page is re-published from the 2023 World Fact Book of the United States Central Intelligence Agency and other sources. No claims are made regarding the accuracy of Saint Lucia 2023 information contained here. All suggestions for corrections of any errors about Saint Lucia 2023 should be addressed to the CIA or the source cited on each page.