Exploitation of foreigners highest in Region 4 – Task Force

…Venezuelans, Cubans identified as top TIP victims

Human trafficking continues to rear its ugly head in Guyana, with Region Four (Demerara-Mahaica) being identified as the main area in the country where this scourge occurs with the highest incidences of alleged exploitation of foreign nationals.
This is according to the Ministerial Task Force on Trafficking In Persons (TIP), which recently stated that between the period of January last and March 2019, various operations by ranks of the Guyana Police Force (GPF) resulted in the discovery of 215 alleged TIP Venezuelan victims, 49 Cuban TIP victims and 14 Dominican victims.
Venezuelans ranked the highest out of the lot of foreigners who allegedly suffered from exploitation in Region Four.
The Ministerial Task Force on TIP also pointed out that as a result of the influx of non-nationals during last year, large numbers of Venezuelans flocked the shores of Guyana to seek refuge from the crisis their country was and is still battling with.
Guyana Times understands that in light of Venezuelans accounting for the largest population of foreigners coming to Guyana and trying to sustain their livelihoods, this resulted in them being the highest numbers on the TIP scale in Guyana.
According to the Task Force’s release, last year alleged victims of TIP totalled 245.
Of this total, 162 were from Venezuela, 49 from Cuba, 21 were from Guyana and 10 were from the Dominican Republic. The remaining alleged victims were from Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica and Brazil.
Meanwhile, from January to March of this year, the operations conducted by the GPF, countrywide, unearthed 67 alleged victims of TIP.
Fifty-three were Venezuelans, 10 were Guyanese and four were Dominicans.
However, despite public concerns about the influx of Haitians into Guyana, the Task Force noted that no reports have surfaced about those nationals that are in Guyana being involved in TIP.
“While it is understood that Trafficking In Persons is a crime that can be perpetrated by anyone and that anyone can be a victim, the Task Force is also cognisant of the risk factors associated with this crime. However, the Ministerial Task Force on Trafficking In Persons has not received any recent reports or discovered any incidents where Haitians coming to Guyana are victims or perpetrators of Trafficking In Persons. With the aforementioned influx of non-nationals, Venezuelans accounted for the majority of alleged victims in Guyana for 2018 and the early parts of 2019,” the Task Force stated.
The TIP Task Force further stated that training exercises in Victim Identification and Referral with immigration officers who manage and operate at various ports-of-entry and other locations in Guyana have also been conducted to ensure that the fight against TIP is intensified.
Additionally, the Task Force in collaboration with the individual efforts of Task Force Member Agencies is appealing to the public that if anyone has information on alleged activities related to trafficking or suspected trafficking to report it to any law enforcement agency so that perpetrators can be apprehended.