The exceedingly lengthy U.S. 2023 Trafficking in Persons Report was released on January 15, 2024. It set the stage by stating that in 2019 the U.S. amended its Trafficking Victims Protection Act to define a “State Sponsor or Trafficking in Persons” as a government “with a documented ‘policy or pattern’ of human trafficking, trafficking in government-funded programs, forced labor in government-affiliated medical services or other sectors, sexual slavery in government camps, or the employment or recruitment of child soldiers.”[i]
The report then identified Cuba and 10 other governments as being such State Sponsors (Tier 3), which has the following definition: “Countries whose governments do not fully meet the TVPA’s minimum standards and are not making significant efforts to do so.” Here is what this report said about Cuba:
- “The Government of Cuba does not fully meet the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking and, even considering the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, if any, on its anti-trafficking capacity, is not making significant efforts to do so; therefore Cuba remained on Tier 3. Despite the lack of significant efforts, the government took some steps to address trafficking, including amending the penal code to include the criminalization of labor trafficking, and the requirement of force, fraud, and coercion as essential elements of an adult trafficking offense. However, during the reporting period, there was a government policy or pattern to profit from labor export programs with strong indications of forced labor, particularly in the foreign medical missions’ program. The government continued to deploy Cuban workers to foreign countries using deceptive and coercive tactics. It failed to address trafficking crimes despite an increasing number of allegations from credible NGOs, former participants, and foreign governments of Cuban officials’ involvement in abuses. The government did not consistently inform participants of the terms of their contracts, which varied from country to country; it confiscated their passports and professional credentials; and kept a significant amount of workers’ wages. The government used its legal framework to threaten, coerce, and punish workers and their family members if participants left the program.’
The report also provided the following summary of its “Trafficking Profile” of Cuba:
- “As reported over the past five years, human traffickers exploit domestic and foreign victims in Cuba, and traffickers exploit victims from Cuba abroad. Sex trafficking and sex tourism, including of child victims, occur within Cuba. Traffickers exploit Cuban citizens in sex trafficking and forced labor in Africa, Asia, the Caribbean, the Mediterranean, Latin America, and the United States. Traffickers exploit foreign nationals from Africa and Asia in sex trafficking and forced labor in Cuba to pay off travel debts. The government identified children, young women, elderly, and disabled persons as the most vulnerable to trafficking. LGBTQI+ individuals and economic migrants are vulnerable to sex trafficking. Professional baseball players are vulnerable to labor trafficking. The government uses some high school students in rural areas to harvest crops without paying them for their work but claims this work is voluntary. Government officials may be forcibly recruiting children to join community military brigades charged with repressing citizens who gathered in protest against the regime.”
- “International observers and former participants reported government officials force or coerce individuals to participate and remain in the Cuban government’s labor export programs, particularly the foreign medical missions program, managed by the Unidad Central de Cooperación Médica, the Ministry of Health, and the Ministry of Foreign Trade and Investment. Government-affiliated Cuban workers serving abroad were subjected to labor trafficking by inherently coercive laws and regulations that authorities used to manipulate workers to remain in the program. The Ministry of Interior labeled workers that did not return to the island upon the completion of their assignment as ‘deserters,’ a category that under Cuban immigration law deemed them as ‘undesirable.’ The government banned workers labeled as deserters and undesirables from returning to Cuba for eight years. In addition, the government categorized Cuban nationals that did not return to the country within 24 months as having ‘emigrated.’ Individuals who emigrated lost all their citizen protections, rights, and any property left behind, and – if they also defected from a civilian mission – were not allowed to visit their families remaining in Cuba. These government provisions coerced workers and punished those that sought to exercise freedom of movement and will. A report on the rights of the child – published by an international organization – noted concern over Cuba’s policy to prohibit parents who terminated a civilian contract abroad from reuniting with their children. According to an international NGO, by 2021, the Cuban government had sanctioned 40,000 professionals under these provisions, and in 2022, there were approximately 5,000 children forcibly separated from their parents due to the government’s provisions for the program. The government promoted the program as altruistic, seeking new countries to partner with, and increasing its profit at the expense of desperately vulnerable and disempowered workers. Authorities did not respond to the allegations presented by thousands of former participants who reported exploitation and trafficking. According to a government report, by the end of 2021, there were 41 brigades of the “Henry Reeve” contingent in 59 countries, compared with 56 Henry Reeve brigades in 40 countries with 4,941 medical workers in 2020.. . . There were roughly 28,000 workers in over 60 countries by the end of 2021. Authorities employ workers through contracts with foreign governments and, in some countries, international organizations serve as intermediaries or provide funds for their work. According to the government, medical professionals comprise 75 percent of its exported workforce. Experts estimate the Cuban government collects $6 billion to $8 billion annually from its export of services, namely the foreign medical missions program. Workers reportedly receive only a portion of their salary, ranging from five to 25 percent, and their salary is retained in Cuban bank accounts – often in Cuban pesos rather than the currency the government is paid for their services; the government seizes the workers’ accumulated salaries if they leave the program. The conditions of each brigade vary from country to country. . . “
- “In 2021, and with the support of an international NGO, 1,111 alleged trafficking victims filed a complaint with the International Criminal Court and the UN, claiming the Cuban government exploited them and forced them to work in the labor export programs. The complaint stated that 75 percent of participants did not volunteer for the program, 33 percent never saw a contract, 69 percent did not know their final destination, 38 percent had their passport confiscated by Cuban officials once they arrived at their destination, 76 percent had “minders,” 76 percent could not freely associate with locals, 79 percent had restrictions on their movement, 91 percent were told they could not return to Cuba if they defected, 75 percent suffered threats or witnessed coworkers being threatened, and 40 percent were separated from their children as punishment for defecting. The Cuban government acknowledges it withholds passports of overseas medical personnel in Venezuela; the government provided identification cards to such personnel. Many Cuban medical personnel claim they work long hours without rest and face substandard and dangerous working and living conditions in some countries, including a lack of hygienic conditions and privacy, and are forced to falsify medical records. Many medical professionals reported being sexually abused by their supervisors. While the medical missions remain the most prevalent, the government profited from other similarly coercive labor export programs, including teachers, artists, athletes, sports coaches, engineers, forestry technicians, and nearly 7,000 merchant mariners across the world.”
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[i] U.S. State Dep’t, 2023 Trafficking in Persons Report (Jan. 15, 2024).
