Curacao Issues - 2024

Disputes - international

none identified

Refugees and internally displaced persons

refugees (country of origin): 14,200 (Venezuela) (2021)

Trafficking in persons

tier rating: Tier 3 — Curacao does not fully meet the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking and is not making significant efforts to do so, therefore, Curacao remained on Tier 3; the government took some steps to address trafficking, including providing shelter and services to two victims, prosecuting two alleged traffickers, and adopting and funding a National Action Plan (NAP) to improve law enforcement efforts to combat trafficking; however, the new NAP did not include provisions to protect victims or prevent crime; the courts did not convict any traffickers, and the government continued to condition foreign victim assistance on cooperation in cases against traffickers; lack of funding remained a primary obstacle to anti-trafficking efforts; officials demonstrated limited familiarity with human trafficking and conflated it with migrant smuggling, hindering effective prosecution, prevention, and protection efforts; government coordination with civil society organizations and internally, across agencies, was inadequate (2023)

trafficking profile: human traffickers exploit domestic and foreign victims in Curacao; undocumented migrants, especially the substantial population of Venezuelans, are vulnerable to sex and labor trafficking; traffickers exploit women and girls, particularly from Curacao, the Dominican Republic, and Venezuela, among other countries, in sex trafficking; migrants from other Caribbean countries, South America, China, and India are subject to forced labor in domestic servitude, as well as in construction, landscaping, mini markets, retail, and restaurants (2023)

Illicit drugs

northbound transshipment points for cocaine from Colombia and Venezuela; cocaine is transported to the United States, other Caribbean islands, Africa, and Europe