United States keeps St. Maarten on Tier 3 human trafficking, citing lack of progress

WASHINGTON--The United States has once again ranked Sint Maarten at Tier 3 in its annual Trafficking in Persons (TIP) Report, the lowest possible category, noting that the government has failed to demonstrate progress since first being placed there in 2024. According to the report, the Government of Sint Maarten does not fully meet the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking and is not making significant efforts to do so.

While authorities held informal interagency meetings, allocated limited funding, and hired a consultant to design a public awareness strategy, these steps were deemed insufficient. For the fifth consecutive year, the government did not prosecute or convict a single trafficker, nor did it identify a single victim of trafficking. It also lacked shelters, formal referral mechanisms, and a victim protection system. The absence of a national action plan and the continued conflation of human trafficking with migrant smuggling further undermined efforts to combat the crime.

The report stresses that St. Maarten has now gone seven years without providing any meaningful services to trafficking victims. The US State department said that local officials failed to establish a dedicated task force or adopt protocols for victim identification, and no temporary residency protections were granted to potential victims. The government’s victim support agency operated with limited resources, and the National Reporting Center on Human Trafficking (NRC) remained underfunded and without full legal status.

The State Department outlined prioritized recommendations for St. Maarten, including: significantly increasing investigations and prosecutions, proactively identifying and protecting victims, establishing an anti-trafficking task force, formally adopting and implementing the draft national action plan, expanding shelter and protection services, funding the NRC, and training officials to distinguish trafficking from migrant smuggling.

Trafficking continues to affect Sint Maarten in both sex and labor sectors. Women from the Dominican Republic, Colombia and Venezuela remain highly vulnerable to exploitation in commercial sex, while migrant workers in construction, housekeeping, and service industries face risks of forced labor. The report warns that recent visa restrictions in certain labor sectors may have further increased vulnerability to exploitation.

By keeping Sint Maarten on Tier 3, the United States underscores its concern that without urgent reforms and sustained political will, the island remains unable to adequately prevent trafficking, prosecute offenders, or protect victims.

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