But more work needs to be done on Govt level – US report

Significant strides made in TIP

While the Guyana Government continues to make “significant” efforts to meet the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking, there is much more to be done especially in the area of specialising officers to detect Trafficking In Persons (TIP) victims.
This is according to the US Department of State Trafficking in Person 2016 Report, which was published on Thursday and which placed Guyana at Teir 2 on their Watch List.
According to the report, “The Government did not provide anti-trafficking training for its diplomatic personnel.”
Moreover, it was noted that while the Government significantly increased its number of labour inspections, the number of labour trafficking investigations did not significantly increase. The report disclosed that some 15 trafficking cases involving 56 victims, including 16 children, were investigated and resulted in seven prosecutions and one sex trafficking conviction. This is compared to seven investigations, four prosecutions and one conviction for the previous reporting period.
In the one conviction case, the defendant was sentenced in 2015 to three years’ imprisonment and unlike defendants convicted in previous years, was denied post-conviction bail. Also for the first time, she was required to pay restitution to the victim.
At least one of the defendants in an ongoing prosecution was released on bail pending the outcome of her trial. In response to calls received by the trafficking hotline, Government officials conducted raids on mining and logging areas outside of the capital. It is unclear if authorities removed any victims from exploitative situations or initiated any trafficking investigations as a result of these raids.
Moreover, it outlined that Government further increased collaboration with anti-trafficking Non-Governmenal Organisations (NGO) by instituting procedures to refer victims to the shelter and including a leading anti-trafficking NGO on its inter-ministerial anti-trafficking taskforce.
However, the US State Department report pointed out that Government maintained efforts to prevent trafficking. Guyana’s newly elected Government reformed the anti-trafficking inter-ministerial taskforce in January 2016, before the reformation; however, the taskforce was inactive for eight months and did not make efforts to implement the 2014-2015 national action plan.
“The Government did not allocate additional personnel to the severely understaffed anti-trafficking unit to facilitate trafficking investigations, nor did it increase protection and services for victims outside the capital or participating in investigations against their traffickers,” the report mentioned.
It was further observed that while Government drafted, it did not finalise an action plan to combat trafficking. It conducted a variety of awareness-raising activities, including campaigns to sensitise civilians and law enforcement in the mining and logging sectors outside the capital. The Government operated a trafficking hotline but did not report how many calls it received. The Government did not make efforts to reduce the demand for commercial sex acts or forced labour the report noted.
Meanwhile, Social Protection Minister Volda Lawrence, in commenting on the improved status on the TIP Watch List, told the Government Information Agency (GINA) that TIP is “slavery as part of economic ventures and this Government, through its various arms, will fight vigorously such attempts and will join forces with like-minded persons, organisations and governments to stop vulnerable persons from falling into the hands of such perpetrators.
On the other hand, Coordinator of the Counter-Trafficking Department at the Ministry, Tanisha Williams-Corbin, also remarked to GINA that “the improved status is encouraging. Being off the Watch List is a vindication of our efforts to counter Trafficking in Persons, especially those efforts to bring greater awareness about TIP and to have increased prosecution of TIP cases.”