4 underaged Brazilian girls smuggled into Guyana found, put in protective care

…GPF launches investigation

A joint investigation between law enforcement authorities in Guyana and Brazil was initiated following the alleged smuggling and trafficking of four underage Brazilian girls to Guyana.
Based on reports received, the girls between the ages of 14 and 17 were reportedly illegally transported across the border with the intent of exploitation.
As such, the Trafficking in Persons (TIP) and Migrant Smuggling Unit (MSU), in collaboration with local law enforcement officials and the Human Services and Social Security executed an operation to safely locate, identify, and place the alleged victims into protective care.
This operation was successfully conducted between August 4 and 7, 2024.
The Human Services Ministry’s C-TIP Unit, along with the Child Care and Protection Agency (CCPA) has initiated the provision of counseling, medical care, psychosocial support, and other essential services to the alleged victims.
The Home Affairs reaffirms its commitment to ensuring the safety and protection of all individuals, both locals and foreigners, with a special focus on vulnerable groups such as minors.
Furthermore, the Guyana Police Force (GPF) has commenced a comprehensive investigation into the circumstances surrounding the incident aimed at identifying and prosecuting the perpetrators involved.
Only recently the 2024 TIP report prepared by the US Department of State revealed that the Government of Guyana has increased its prosecution efforts against Trafficking in Persons (TIP).
During 2023, the report pointed out that 77 TIP cases were filed under the Combating Trafficking of Persons Act of 2023 resulting in ten suspects being arrested of which seven were charged. This reflected an increase from 2022 when there were 28 cases.
The prescribed penalties under the revised 2023 Act include five years to life imprisonment extended criminal liability to corporations and explicitly included the use of children for the production and distribution of narcotics within the definition of trafficking.
The law also defined trafficking broadly to include illegal adoption without the purpose of exploitation.
In addition, the report noted that the prosecutions were initiated against three alleged traffickers under other laws, including the Protection of Children Act for employing a child where liquor was sold, the Summary Jurisdiction (Offenses) Act for keeping a commercial sex establishment, and the Sexual Offense Act and the Summary Jurisdiction (Offenses Act) for sexual and bodily harm against a child younger than 16 years old. This is compared with two prosecutions under other laws in 2022.
Despite these strides in tackling this crime, the US State Department highlighted that GPF’s Counter-Trafficking (C-TIP) Unit and the GPF Prosecution Unit lack the dedicated budgetary allocations to carry out their duties. The GPF’s C-TIP Unit exclusively investigates trafficking cases while the Prosecution Unit manages preliminary hearings into felony crimes – including trafficking crimes – in the Magistrates Court.