US State Dept commends passage of 2023 Combating of Trafficking in Persons Bill

– as Guyana maintains Tier 1 ranking in annual TIP Report

The provision of over $76 million in victim assistance, the conviction of a sex trafficker that was made to pay restitution to the victims, the increase in prosecutions, and the collaborations with foreign Governments to investigate trafficking cases were some of the implemented actions that contributed to Guyana maintaining its Tier One ranking in the US State Department 2025 Trafficking In Persons Report, which was released on Tuesday.
According to the TIP Report, over the past year, Guyana’s Government has identified more trafficking victims, significantly increased funding for protection and prevention efforts, and conducted extensive awareness campaigns and training.

“The Government of Guyana fully meets the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking. The Government continued to demonstrate serious and sustained efforts during the reporting period; therefore, Guyana remained on Tier One,” the report noted.
The US TIP Report is an annual assessment that ranks countries based on their efforts to combat human trafficking. The ranking is divided into four tiers: Tier One, Tier Two, Tier Two Watch List, and Tier Three.
The Tier One placement marks the ninth consecutive year that Guyana has demonstrated serious and sustained efforts to combat TIP, the Home Affairs Ministry noted.
Guyana is one of only two Caribbean countries listed in the Tier One status, the Bahamas being the other. A total of 33 countries attained Tier One status. Another 106 countries were listed in the Tier Two category; 25 were on the Tier Two Watch list; and 20 countries were on the Tier Three list, while Haiti, Libya, Somalia and Yemen are listed as “special case” countries under the listing.

Increased Govt efforts
According to the report, the Government in 2024 increased protection efforts. This included the Government identifying 416 victims and NGOs identifying two victims, an increase when compared with identifying 407 trafficking victims in 2023. Meanwhile, the Government screened 389 potential victims among individuals in commercial sex, an increase compared with 281 potential victims screened in 2023.
In 2024, the Government operated and fully funded four shelters for adults with a total capacity of 80 and one shelter for children with a capacity for eight child victims of crime, including trafficking.
The Government also operated three 24/7 hotlines to report human trafficking, which included two in English and one in Spanish. The hotlines received 87 calls, of which 22 led to the identification of victims, their referral to care, and criminal investigations of traffickers; this compares with an unknown number of calls in 2023, of which 39 led to further action.

Commendation
The report commended the passage of the 2023 Combating of Trafficking in Persons Bill before the National Assembly, which repealed the earlier Combating Trafficking in Persons Act of 2005, criminalised sex trafficking and labour trafficking and prescribed penalties of five years to life imprisonment.
“These penalties were sufficiently stringent and, with respect to sex trafficking, commensurate with those prescribed for other grave crimes, such as rape,” the report noted.
The law, which was enacted in June 2023, increased previously prescribed penalties for trafficking crimes, 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.

Recommendations
Notwithstanding the Tier One standing, the report called on Guyana to vet and screen labour agreements with the Chinese Government and Cuban regime for trafficking vulnerabilities and conduct sufficient inspections of these nationals’ worksites, oversee recruitment agencies, and eliminate worker-paid recruitment and placement fees.
The report also called on the Government to implement measures to increase labour inspections at high-risk worksites in the mining and logging districts, as well as complete a review of existing legislation on labour recruitment and increase the number of labour inspectors.
The report went on to call on the Government to continue to increase prosecutions in both sex and labour trafficking cases, placing emphasis on cases involving child victims.
It also called for the proactive screening of other vulnerable populations, including Haitian migrants, for trafficking indicators. And to also reduce reliance on victims to serve as witnesses in prosecutions.
The report also said that there is a need for the inclusion of relevant Non-Governmental Organisations (NGO) with monthly Task Force meetings that proactively seek input from NGOs for initiatives and measures aimed at preventing trafficking.
It also noted that while the Guyana Police Force (GPF) Counter-Trafficking (C-TIP) Unit exclusively investigated trafficking cases, the Unit did not have a dedicated budget. However, the Government reported the GPF C-TIP Unit and the DPP Prosecution Unit had sufficient resources.

Govt firmly committed
Minister of Home Affairs, Oneidge Walrond, described the Tier One ranking as evidence of the Government’s unwavering dedication and effective action in fighting human trafficking.
Minister Walrond stressed that the Government is firmly committed to addressing these recommendations with urgency, deploying advanced policies, rigorous monitoring, and strengthened partnerships to disrupt trafficking networks and safeguard victims.
She noted that the Ministry of Home Affairs, and by extension the Government of Guyana, remains steadfast in its commitment to eradicate human trafficking within our borders and across the wider region. This commitment, she added, is amplified by the tireless efforts of members of the Ministerial Taskforce on Trafficking in Persons, non-Governmental organisations, civil society stakeholders, and other partners.