St. Kitts – Nevis PM Douglas Speaks In National Assembly
Photo By Erasmus Williams
Basseterre, St. Kitts – Nevis
August 25, 2008 (CUOPM)
Parliament in St. Kitts and Nevis takes measures Tuesday to comply with its international responsibilities to prevent, punish and suppress trafficking in persons.
While St. Kitts and Nevis has not traditionally known to be a destination for trafficked victims, there has been some evidence that attempts have been made to use the twin-island Federation as a transit point for that type of offence.
The Bill, which stands in the name of Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs, Hon. Dr. Denzil L. Douglas points out that the act of human trafficking has been seen as fundamentally linked to drug trafficking, money laundering and possible terrorist activity.
Part 1 of the Bill deals with the usual preliminary matters. Interpretation plays a key role in that it is important to present a harmonised position in terms of interpretation of commonly used terms for the purpose of combating trafficking.
Across the region and within the international arena, most countries should have similar terms describing the process of exploitation on a wide basis to not just cover the sexual aspects but those who are enslaved for various other reasons and who lack basic human freedoms. As such, the Bill gives meat to the constitutional framework that provides that no person in Saint Christopher and Nevis should be treated with such degradation that it is tantamount to slavery.
