The Ministry of Human Services and Social Security is currently engaged in expanding its Counter Trafficking in Persons (TIP) unit.
According to statistics, Venezuelans are most susceptible to human trafficking in Guyana
This was announced in response to questions that were posed by the Parliamentary Opposition A Partnership for National unity/Alliance For Change (APNU/AFC). While there are only four full time staff members at the unit, the Home Affairs Ministry supplements the work they do with its own officers.
“The Ministry is actively engaged in the process of expanding the staffing of the Unit in a bid to improve its capacity when responding to human trafficking across Guyana,” the Government has said in its response.
“The Ministry of Home Affairs has one staff assigned to the Secretariat of the Ministerial Task Force. Importantly, there are 15 members of the Task Force who are trained in the area of TIP. The Guyana Police Force has three ranks assigned to its TIP unit.”
Statistics were also provided on the number of cases of human trafficking. According to the stats, 28 reports of suspected human trafficking were investigated by the Guyana Police Force between August 2020 and April 2021. They include 12 in Region Four, three in Region Two, and three in Regions Six, Seven and 10. Of these cases, 12 were reported to involve children.
Between that period, eight cases of human trafficking were prosecuted in the Magistrates’ Courts. The Ministry explained that several factors influenced this, including the lockdown and COVID-19 restrictions, suspended Police raids due to the pandemic, and the unwillingness of suspected victims to cooperate with law enforcement.
New combat trafficking bill
The Government is, meanwhile, planning to bring to the National Assembly a new bill that would help to combat trafficking in persons and transnational smuggling. This announcement was made by Attorney General Anil Nandlall, SC.
Nandlall, who was at the time speaking on the proposed Adoption of Children (Amendment) Bill during Tuesday’s sitting of the National Assembly, said this proposed anti-TIP bill will contain clauses specifically geared towards protecting children.
“We have a new Trafficking Bill that will be brought to the Parliament that has in it several provisions that will go hand-in-hand with the provisions here against transnational smuggling,” Nandlall has said.
It was only recently that data from the Guyana Police Force’s Counter-Trafficking in Persons (TIP) Unit came to light that revealed that Venezuelan women were the most trafficked in Guyana for 2021.
There are 49 alleged human trafficking victims for this year, of which 44 are females; the remaining five are males. Of the 44 females, 34 of them are Venezuelan nationals, six of them are Guyanese, and the other four are Jamaicans.
As for the nationality of the males, two are Guyanese and another two are Jamaicans. The other victim is an Indian national. This information was revealed during a recent webinar hosted by the Guyana Association of Women Judges and the Supreme Court of Judicature – Justice Education Institute, to mark World Day Against Trafficking in Persons, which is observed on July 30 annually.
Over the years, trafficking in persons has remained one of the hidden crimes in Guyana due to the difficulties in detecting it. Nevertheless, Guyana has maintained its Tier One status for the fifth consecutive year – this was highlighted in the United States State Department 2021 TIP Report. (G3)
