Minister Persaud calls on Police to assist TIP victims to “get back on their feet”

…632 victims trafficked from 2018-2020, most are foreign nationals – Top Cop

Several top-ranking officers of the Guyana Police Force (GPF) are participating in a training which would better enable them to detect trafficking in persons’ (TIP) cases and treat victims of this heinous crime.

The training, which commenced on Thursday at the Officers’ Training Centre at Eve Leary Georgetown, is being facilitated by the Human Services and Social Security Ministry’s Counter-TIP (C-TIP) Unit.
Delivering remarks at the training, Human Services and Social Security Minister Dr Vindhya Persaud urged the ranks that, apart from carrying out investigations and prosecuting perpetrators, they must work to assist TIP victims “get back on their feet”.
“Be passionate about what you do, be passionate advocates against TIP. Most importantly, be passionate custodians of the safety and security of people, so that we can stop the scourge that is called modern-day slavery,” she pleaded with the ranks.

“Trafficking will not go away unless we help to make it go away. It requires education, awareness, training, and intervention according to protocols, standard operating procedures, laws, and regulations,” said Minister Dr Vindhya Persaud. On this note, she pointed out that TIP networks must be dismantled, which will let perpetrators know that Government means “serious business”.
Addressing the participants, the Minister added, “Take every aspect of it seriously. Let it be a candid and interactive session, so that whatever is shared with you can be applied to the process of halting TIP. What you do affects the entire Force. How you act and how you respond and deal with all the situations that accompany TIP, all of those things will impact how the Force is looked at. Be the ambassador that our country needs in responding to these social issues that lead to the destruction of families, lives, and futures.”

Tier 1 ranking
Guyana has retained its Tier 1 ranking in the latest TIP Report of the United States Department of State, which was released on June 25, 2020. This is the fourth consecutive year that Guyana received a Tier 1 ranking.
Against this backdrop, the Minister pointed out that Government and the society need to work together, as Guyana seeks to maintain its ranking in the international community.
“We cannot be unaware of the impact that TIP has on our country. Our ranking, as it relates to the international community, we have managed to remain at Tier 1, and we have to maintain that and do better every successive year. TIP is not something that is always hidden; sometimes it happens in the open.”
However, she said the question remains how we ramp up reporting. According to her, this remains an issue that needs to be addressed as a nation. Minister Dr Persaud asked, “How can we get people to report? And once they report, how can we intervene effectively?”
“When we intervene, it must not be an intervention that stops at a point; it must be accompanied by a spate of collaboration with communication, with every stakeholder ensuring that at all times the preservation of dignity, especially for those who are victims of human trafficking. They must be protected at all costs.”

Foreign nationals
Meanwhile, Acting Police Commissioner Nigel Hoppie revealed that foreign nationals have predominantly found themselves in exploitative sex and labour situations in Guyana.
In analyzing statistics from 2018 to present, he said there were 632 suspected victims of human trafficking, of which foreign nationals accounted for 579. According to him, these persons are nationals of Brazil, Cuba, Jamaica, the Dominican Republic, Trinidad and Tobago, and Haiti.
This, he noted, shows that Guyana has a pull factor; that is, an attractive reason to come here. He said it also indicates that persons being exploited are diverse in nationality and demographics. For the reporting period, 84 reports were accepted, which has led to 58 court cases and only six convictions, he disclosed. There are still cases pending before the courts. Nevertheless, he said that these numbers show that a considerable amount of work is being done by local and international stakeholders to win the fight against human trafficking, which has resulted in Guyana sustaining its Tier 1 ranking.
Hoppie reminded those gathered that human trafficking “knows no face or tribe”. According to him, Guyana has passed laws that forbid all forms of human trafficking. Most importantly, he noted, the laws prescribe severe measures and penalties from three years to life imprisonment, along with the forfeiture of properties for offenders and full restitution to victims.