New Policy to BAN Permits for suspected ‘Sex Workers’ says TCIG

By Dana Malcolm

Staff Writer

#TurksandCaicos, August 4, 2022 – Government and Police are finally cracking down on suspected ‘sex workers’ in the Turks and Caicos following a report from the Labour Department expressing concern about the unrelenting abuse of temporary work permits to facilitate these illegal careers.

Recurring misuse, especially in crimes of a sexual nature has driven Cabinet to ban indefinitely the issue of temporary work permits to certain categories under a  new policy to regulate them.

The policy reform hints at a serious underground network of abuse against vulnerable workers that the police have apparently been investigating for months. The information was shared in a detailed press release regarding the new changes.

In response, the Commissioner of Labour is now banned indefinitely from issuing temporary permits in categories including barmaids, waiters/hostesses, domestic workers, laborers, barbers, cosmetologists, beauticians and related workers. Persons entering the TCI under these means will have to apply for a normal work permit which includes supplying detailed background information.

The government says the process began when they received complaints from the Ministry of Labour about many local businesses abusing temporary work permits in various, nefarious ways including ‘facilitating the recruitment of young ladies to serve as ‘sex workers’ and using the temporary permit process to get around the normal work permit process.

They say this is so because of the ease with which these permits are approved. The temporary work permit does not have the same stringent scrutiny as does a regular work permit. The government describes the approval as ‘almost automatic’ once basic criteria have been met, and they can be issued in under a week.

The complaint paper from the Ministry of Labour noted that “It is believed that many restaurants and in particular bar/pub establishments use the temporary work permit product to bring young ladies into the country under the pretense of using them on a trial basis. Once on the island it is suspected that many of these young ladies or gentlemen are exploited as part of an underground sex service business.”

Ten percent or 187 of all work permits approved between January 2021 and February 2022 were for barmaids, 95 percent of the temp permits were for females and the majority of these barmaids (175) were young Dominican women between 17 – 30 years old.

Several local businesses have been fingered as suspected to be partaking in this trade and are now under investigation.

Cabinet revealed that this was the reason for the moratorium on various positions on the work permits for various positions including barmaids domestic workers laborers barbers cosmetologists that took effect February 10 and ended on May 1st

Especially concerning, government’s acknowledgement that the national strategy is not up-to-date with human trafficking data and there is no defined coordinated approach between agencies to mitigate the threat of human trafficking. In addition the Turks and Caicos was fingered by the US in a 2013 report for its lax approach to human trafficking and law-enforcement reported complicity by local government officials, had made their jobs of enforcement ‘difficult.’

Now, all work permits applications for temporary work permit must include proof justifying the recruited individual is qualified and experienced for the work.

The measure also introduces a new standard for barmaid work permits; no longer will 17-year olds will be approved for barmaid work permits. The minimum age to be considered as a barmaid, hostess or a waitress in Turks and Caicos has been raised to 21.

The press release did not make mention of any arrest in relation to the charges and active investigation despite there being several businesses under suspicion.

The measure under the Ministry of Education, Labour, Employment and Customer Services was decided at a July 8 Cabinet meeting.