Persons engaged in TIP will be prosecuted –
Government continues to work to ensure that Trafficking in Persons (TIP) does not become acceptable in Guyana’s society and Minister of Human Services and Social Security, Priya Manickchand, who has the responsibility to ensure that it does not , is determined that any one found guilty of the act will be prosecuted.

Minister Manickchand addresses regional and sub-regional officials. She is flanked by Regional Chairman, Senor Bell, at left, and Permanent Secretary of the Ministry, Trevor Thomas.

“If we (Ministry of Human Services) find any person, business person or otherwise, employing persons who are under the age of 18 years and/or exposing them to any form of prostitution or entertainment… we are going to move against you,” Minister Manickchand warned.

Minister Manickchand issued the warning during interactions with Mahdia, Region Eight residents Wednesday.. The Minister visited the region along with a team comprising officials of the TIP Unit and the Probation and Social Services Department.

The United States has given Guyana a tier 2 rank where TIP is concerned, and according to Minister Manickchand, “we have no evidence nor has the US provided any evidence that we have a significant number of TIP, that is not to say that we do not have it; however… we don’t have the significant numbers that bring us under the radar of the US that requires them to judge us in the way they have been doing.”

Government has undertaken a series of measures to combat this crime.
These include:
* the TIP Unit, established shortly after the enactment of the TIP Act in 2005, has held several seminars to heighten public awareness of the issue and ways of recognizing and preventing it

* the Ministerial Task Force on TIP conducts reports and presents them to the Home Affairs Minister Clement Rohee, and these are used to review the work that Guyana has been doing in relation to this crime.

* the Task Force also operates as an oversight to the TIP unit and comprises representatives of the Ministries of Foreign Affairs, Human Services and Social Security, and Home Affairs, the Guyana Police Force, Food for the Poor, Help and Shelter and other non-governmental organizations.

Minister Manickchand said that it is the aim of the Ministry to sensitize Mahdia and, to a larger extent, the entire country to the issue of trafficking.

She called on the residents to be responsible, and said , “If you are encouraging this (TIP) you are actually helping to destroy the fabric of Mahdia and Guyana, and you are really being bad examples to our young children.”

Residents are being urged to make reports if they know of this crime. It must be noted that the reports can be anonymous.

The Human Services Ministry is further looking to establish small networks with groups of people in the region to collaborate with the Ministry on the issue of TIP.

Similar networks have already been established in Regions Two, Three, Six, Nine and 10.(GINA)