St Lucia on Tier 2 Watch List: 2026 Trafficking in Persons Report
Originally published by Caribbean News Global Read the original
By US Department of State
USA / ST LUCIA – Human trafficking is a direct assault on the values of freedom and dignity that define America. The 2026 Trafficking in Persons Report reveals new ways criminal organisations and repressive regimes use this abhorrent practice for financial gain. The report also calls for accountability for governments that fail to punish traffickers and protect their citizens. The Trump administration will use all available tools to fight traffickers and their enablers and bring them to justice, says a press statement attributed to Thomas ‘Tommy’ Pigott, spokesman, office of the spokesman.
The following is per the 2026 Trafficking in Persons Report: Saint Lucia – Saint Lucia (Tier 2 Watch List)
The government of Saint Lucia does not fully meet the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking. Despite making significant efforts to do so, it did not demonstrate overall increasing efforts compared to the previous reporting period. Therefore, Saint Lucia remained on Tier 2 Watch List for the second consecutive year. Significant efforts included investigating and prosecuting more trafficking cases and identifying a trafficking victim. However, the government did not report referring the victim to protection services or funding victim services. The government has never convicted a trafficker. Penalties under the Counter Trafficking Act, as amended, were not commensurate with those for other grave crimes. The government did not prohibit worker-paid recruitment fees.
Prosecution
- The government increased anti-trafficking law enforcement efforts.
The 2021 Counter-Trafficking Act, as amended, criminalised sex trafficking and labor trafficking and prescribed penalties of up to five years’ imprisonment. These penalties were sufficiently stringent but, with respect to sex trafficking, not commensurate with penalties prescribed for other grave crimes, such as rape.
The government reported investigating two trafficking cases (one for sex trafficking and one for forced labor) and prosecuting two alleged traffickers (one for sex trafficking and one for forced labor), compared with no investigations or prosecutions during the previous reporting period. The government has never convicted a trafficker. The government did not report any new investigations, prosecutions, or convictions of government employees complicit in human trafficking crimes. Courts continued to experience substantial backlogs for all crimes, including human trafficking. Human trafficking crimes were prosecuted by the Crown Prosecution Service under the direction of the Director of Public Prosecutions. The Royal Saint Lucia Police Force Major Crimes Unit was responsible for investigating human trafficking and presenting cases to the Director of Public Prosecutions.
The government reported conducting anti-trafficking training for law enforcement officials during the reporting period. The government did not cooperate with other governments on law enforcement operations.
Protection
- The government maintained protection efforts.
In 2025, the government identified one female trafficking victim, compared with no victims identified the previous year. The government did not report referring the identified victim to protection services. Authorities had SOPs for the identification, referral, and protection of victims; the SOPs included an international organization’s victim screening form. The government did not maintain a dedicated shelter for trafficking victims but could arrange and pay for trusted private sector accommodations when needed. The government in partnership NGOs could provide victims medical care, security checks, and job-seeking assistance. The government did not report funding allocated for victim services during the reporting period, compared with 180,000 Eastern Caribbean dollars (XCD) ($66,600) during the previous reporting period. The government did not have formal policies to provide foreign trafficking victims legal alternatives to their removal to countries where they might face retribution or hardship.
The anti-trafficking law contained victim protection provisions, such as privacy measures and safety measures for witnesses, to encourage victim participation in the investigation and prosecution of traffickers. The government previously reported it provided regular patrols and other security measures around victim accommodations; however, other observers reported the government did not provide security. The government reported witnesses could testify via video link. Children could also testify via video and have a guardian or social worker present during testimony and court proceedings.
The police’s Vulnerable Persons Unit allowed a social counselor to be present instead of a family member in cases of suspected familial trafficking. Judges could order convicted traffickers to pay restitution, and the government reported it could facilitate the payment of civil compensation to a victim; however, this did not occur during the reporting period. The government could provide victims with legal support. Foreign and domestic adult victims could choose whether to stay in these accommodations or leave them at will. The Division of Human Services could place child victims in one of two children’s homes.
Prevention
- The government decreased efforts to prevent trafficking.
The government maintained an interagency task force and implemented a NAP for 2023-2026. The government did not report allocating funding for prevention efforts, compared with allocating 80,000 XCD ($29,600) during the previous reporting period. The government did not conduct anti-trafficking awareness-raising activities during the reporting period. It operated an anti-trafficking hotline to assist potential trafficking victims. The government did not make efforts to reduce the demand for commercial sex acts.
The government did not effectively regulate labor recruiters and did not hold them civilly and criminally liable for fraudulent recruitment. The government did not prohibit worker-paid recruitment fees. The government required foreign nationals coming to work in the country to complete a work permit application process that included a certificate of character obtained from the Police Records Unit. A revised draft of the Labor Act, which specified the Labor Department’s authorities and was first prepared in 2020, remained pending the Attorney General’s review at the end of the reporting period.
Authorities previously reported all labor inspections examined for child labor, but inspectors did not receive child labor- or trafficking-specific training. The government did not provide anti-trafficking training to its diplomatic personnel.
Trafficking profile
This section describes the nature and scope of trafficking based on recent government and civil society reporting. Human traffickers exploit domestic and foreign victims in Saint Lucia, and traffickers exploit victims from Saint Lucia abroad.
Government officials, civil society, and educators reported Saint Lucian children, especially from economically disadvantaged families, are at risk of child sex trafficking, sometimes encouraged or forced by parents and caretakers in exchange for goods or services.
Individuals working in the adult entertainment industry are exploited in sex trafficking. Foreign women in commercial sex establishments and migrants from the Caribbean are vulnerable to trafficking. There were approximately 27 Cuban regime-affiliated workers in Saint Lucia at the end of the reporting period, including 26 medical workers and one athletic coach, whom the Cuban regime may have forced to work.
In March 2026, Saint Lucian authorities reported the bilateral health agreement with the Cuban regime for workers had expired and all Cuban medical workers remaining in the country were granted legal permanent residency in Saint Lucia and are employed under a direct contract and did not have affiliation with the Cuban regime. However, Cuban regime press releases and accounts reported that the regime-affiliated mission in Saint Lucia was active at the end of the reporting period.
Cuban regime-affiliated workers in Saint Lucia are vulnerable to forced labor, wage confiscation, and arbitrary punishments and restrictions by the Cuban regime.
In 2025, a survivor from the mission in Saint Lucia who worked in the country in 2015, reported the Cuban regime confiscated her passport, punished her with exile for leaving her employment situation, and kept approximately 75 percent of her wages.
