[From the introductory text accompanying this report on the U.S. Department of State website: "In most cases, the Interim Assessment is intended to serve as a tool by which to gauge the anti-trafficking progress of countries that may be in danger of slipping a tier in the upcoming June 2010 TIP Report and to give them guidance on how to avoid a Tier 3 ranking. It is a tightly focused progress report, assessing the concrete actions a government has taken to address the key deficiencies highlighted in the June 2009 TIP Report. The Interim Assessment covers actions undertaken between the beginning of May – the cutoff for data covered in the June TIP Report – and November. Readers are requested to refer to the annual TIP Report for an analysis of large-scale efforts and a description of the trafficking problem in each particular country or territory."]

The Government of Belize has made limited progress in combating trafficking in persons since the release of the 2009 Report. The government is working to increase its official capacity to address human trafficking, but there have been few concrete results to date. The Anti-Trafficking in Persons Committee met regularly but has not yet launched any new or additional anti-trafficking activities. Authorities have arrested no suspected trafficking offenders, nor have they opened any trafficking-related investigations or initiated any trafficking prosecutions, despite reports that potential cases have been brought to the attention of the Committee. There were no known efforts to investigate cases of alleged official complicity of law enforcement personnel in human trafficking.

Officials demonstrated efforts to identify trafficking victims in likely trafficking areas but have not yet identified any victims. The government began using an intelligence-driven approach to anti-trafficking law enforcement operations, rather than broad investigation sweeps to discover and evaluate potential trafficking situations. The Government of Belize reports that its routine spot checks of employment sites has started to include examinations of various company documents for evidence of forced labor and other illegal activity.

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