Disputes - international:
Barbados and Trinidad and Tobago abide by the April 2006 Permanent Court of Arbitration decision delimiting a maritime boundary and limiting catches of flying fish in Trinidad and Tobago's exclusive economic zone; joins other Caribbean states to counter Venezuela's claim that Aves Island sustains human habitation, a criterion under the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), which permits Venezuela to extend its EEZ/continental shelf over a large portion of the eastern Caribbean Sea
Trafficking in persons:
current situation: Barbados is a source and destination country for men, women, and children subjected to sex trafficking and forced labor
tier rating: Tier 2 Watch List - the Government of Barbados does not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking; the main obstacles to anti-trafficking progress in Barbados were the new legislation's failure to criminalize all forms of trafficking in persons, the government's absence of formal procedures to guide officials in victim identification and assistance, and the absence of a formal mechanism to coordinate government and NGO actions on trafficking issues (2011)
Illicit drugs:
one of many Caribbean transshipment points for narcotics bound for Europe and the US; offshore financial center