Guyana’s Tier 1 placement a testimony to hard work – Home Affairs Ministry

2021 TIP Report

Hard work and dedication towards curbing Trafficking In Persons (TIP) has led to Guyana scoring high in the 2021 United States report.
This is according to the Home Affairs Ministry, which in a social media post said that Guyana’s Ministerial Task Force on Trafficking in Persons (TIP), once again, accepts the Tier 1 Placement as reported by the United States Department of State. This, the Ministry said is a testament of hard work and dedication of members of the Task Force, Guyana’s Anti-Trafficking Units, Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs), and the general public, through increased reporting and tremendous contributions made by international partners.
This placement comes with the recognition of the country’s unwavering efforts to eliminate the heinous crime of Trafficking In Persons for five consecutive years, especially in the presence of a now global pandemic.
The US Department of State 2021 Trafficking in Persons Report: Guyana states, “The Government of Guyana fully meets the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking. Despite the documented impact of the pandemic on the Government’s anti-trafficking capacity, the Government continued to demonstrate serious and sustained efforts during the reporting period; therefore, Guyana remained on Tier 1.”
The initiatives taken are said to have included increasing investigations, identifying and assisting more victims, creating the first anti-trafficking hotline in Spanish, opening an additional shelter, and creating standard operating procedures for victim identification.
The Ministerial Task Force has been working with local and international bodies namely, International Organisation for Migration (IOM), the United Nations Refugee Agency; UNHCR, United States Embassy and State Department, Caribbean Development Bank (CDB), Organisation of American States (OAS), Interpol and Pan American Development Foundation (PADF) to increase efforts of combating TIP.
The release also stated that some 250 law enforcement officers and community policing group members have been trained in the areas of victim identification and referral mechanism for signs of trafficking in persons and that “it is imperative that law enforcement officials remain vigilant in addressing new and evolving criminal patterns and adapt their responses to investigate and prosecute human traffickers from acting with impunity during a global health pandemic.”

Recommendations
Some recommendations made by the US Department of State in the continuous fight against trafficking in persons included investigating trafficking cases in remote regions of the country, increasing prosecutions and convictions in sex and labour trafficking cases and pursuing them under the 2005 TIP Act, inclusive of cases involving child victims, funding specialised victim services, reducing delays in court proceedings, holding convicted traffickers, including complicit public officials, accountable by imposing strong sentences, developing standard trauma-informed victim identification and referral procedures, and training law enforcement officials and front line responders.
The Task Force is requesting that the general public continues to report suspicious activities that appear to be Trafficking In Persons, by calling their English or Spanish TIP Hotline numbers – 227-4083/623-5030 or 624-0079 (Spanish) or calling or visiting the nearest Police station.