Human trafficking knows no borders - and that's why Belize is joining with its Central American neighbors to for the Fifth Regular Meeting of the Central American Coalition against Human Trafficking.
The idea is to share knowledge on common experiences and come up with best practices to combat human trafficking.
But, to combat trafficking in persons effectively, you'd first have to figure out what drives people into situation where they are trafficked.
One regional expert says poverty drives this social phenomenon.
Abdel Armengor - Panama
"It's a social phenomenon that has to be deal with at international level. Organize crime doesn't know borders. That's the main importance of this event - that we as a coalition of Central American region could work together and understand our realities and identifies our strength and put them together so we can work as unit coalition to fight against organized crime and this horrible phenomenon that affects all our nations."
Jules Vasquez
"Why do people eventually become human traffic?"
Abdel Armengor - Panama
"Mostly because they are in an absolute state of necessity and also they have been cheated and deception and they are offered some jobs and some perspective of a better life but then when they come to reality they are kidnapped and then they are exploited against their will."
The Regional conference ran for one day.
According to U.S. State Department figures, worldwide, approximately 800,000 people are trafficked across borders every year.
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