Govt, TIP Taskforce to provide victims with legal aid, psychological care

The Government and the Home Affairs Ministry’s Taskforce on Trafficking in Persons (TIP) remain committed to ensuring victims and survivors of human trafficking as well as vulnerable migrants receive necessary legal and medical assistance along with physical and psychological care, and social support to rebuild their lives.
The Ministerial Taskforce, supporting agencies, and the Organisation of American States (OAS) on Monday participated in a roundtable discussion on issues related to human trafficking and migrant smuggling at the Ministry’s office in Brickdam, Georgetown.

This initiative falls under the “Supporting OAS Member States’ efforts to prevent, investigate, and counter criminal activity linked to the exploitation of Venezuelan refugees and migrants” project, which benefits Guyana alongside fellow OAS member states Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Panama, Peru and Trinidad and Tobago.
This project emerged from a need to address concerns of human trafficking, arising from the Venezuelan refugee crisis in which more than 6 million people shifted from their home country of Venezuela to Latin America and the Caribbean largely due to political and socio-economic instability.
This project thereby aims to strengthen the OAS member states’ abilities to prevent and investigate human trafficking and migrant smuggling linked to the exploitation of Venezuelan refugees and migrants and to increase understanding of the particular security risks they face, especially for women and girls.
Monday’s discussion served to reinforce the capacity of participating member states, combat human trafficking and migrant smuggling, prevent and investigate organised crime linked to the exploitation of Venezuelan refugees and migrants, and increase awareness by security, migration, and local authorities on the risks, vulnerabilities, and rights of migrants, refugees, and victims of human trafficking.
It further sought to increase the OAS countries’ capacities in applying updated standard operating procedures (SOPs) to detect irregular migration in the cargo stream, considering human rights and the needs of female and gender-diverse persons.
During the discussion’s opening ceremony, Permanent Secretary Andre Ally explained that the fight against human trafficking and migrant smuggling is not a solo endeavour, but a collaborative one.
He noted that collaboration is key between governments, law enforcement agencies, civil society organisations and international bodies, as these entities must work together to enhance data sharing, intelligence sharing, and cross-border cooperation to dismantle criminal networks and prosecute perpetrators.
As such, he reaffirmed the Government and the Ministerial Taskforce’s consistent provision of protection and support to survivors.
This OAS project reportedly received over US$2 million in funding to achieve its objectives within the March 2022 to December 2023 period.
It further seeks to improve border control in the recipient nations to allow them to better detect unauthorised trade in both commodities and persons and to encourage the social integration of both victims and survivors.
The OAS works with Guyana on a number of other projects, including a Youth Forum on Drug Use Prevention and a project to improve terrorism prevention policies and international cooperation for the protection of crowded spaces and other vulnerable targets.
In attendance at Monday’s discussion were representatives from the Home Affairs, Amerindian Affairs, Foreign Affairs and International Trade, Labour, Legal Affairs, Natural Resources, Health, Local Government and Regional Development and Education Ministries.
Also present were officials from the Guyana Police Force (GPF), Guyana Defence Force (GDF), Chambers of the Director of Public Prosecution, Food for the Poor Guyana, Help and Shelter and Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA).