The U.S. State Department released its 2010 Annual Report on Human Trafficking today.  Haiti remains a source, transit, and destination country for human trafficking.  The most significant trafficking issue concerns restaveks – forced domestic servitude of young children given to (mostly) urban families by parents (mostly) from rural areas with larger families.  An estimated 225,000 children were enslaved as restaveks prior to the 2010 earthquake.  Even more children are vulnerable to exploitation in the earthquake’s aftermath.  Below is the Haiti section of the report, which includes recommendations for the Haitian government and the international community. Read more »

Each year, the U.S. State Department Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor is mandated to release country specific human rights reports that address individual, civil, political, and worker rights, as set forth in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. As this report pertains strictly to 2009, it does not address human rights issues in post earthquake Haiti. Still, it is highly relevant as long term recovery and reconstruction will depend in part upon creating a culture that respects human rights and a government that can enforce them.  Read more »

Human trafficking is a global problem that affects every country in the world.  Last week, the U.S. State Department released its 2009 annual report on how well partner governments are preventing and responding to human trafficking. Understanding trafficking in Haiti requires understanding the situation in the Dominican Republic.  Neither country complies with minimum standards for eliminating trafficking, although both governments acknowledge the need to do more. This is an issue that clearly requires cross-border collaboration. Read more »