The recent US State Department report on Trafficking in Persons (TIP) with respect to Guyana is indeed surprising as it ranks this country in the Tier-2 category. Certainly there are instances of TIP in this country (and for that matter which country does not have such instances) it is not a widespread problem and definitely a Tier-2 rank is out of the question.
It would have been interesting to know by what means and methods the State Department gathered its information because clearly it is not a reflection of the reality in Guyana as regards TIP.
What is mind boggling about this whole affair is why would the State Department deliberately paint an inaccurate picture of the TIP situation? Is there any sinister political motive behind this damaging report because this is not the first time that the State Department has done so.
Or is it a case where officials at the US Embassy here are feeding inaccurate reports to the State Department?
This report is also strange against the backdrop of the US stating that it was encouraged by the anti-TIP steps being taken by the government as far back as 2004 and in the same year cleared this country from likely TIP sanctions.US officials Ms. Rachel Owen and Mr. Eric Falls who were here in 2004 to assess Guyana’s campaign against TIP were encouraged by their findings. TIP coordinator at the embassy at that time Mr. Timothy Berner said the State Department officials were encouraged by what they saw.
As regards the removal of Guyana from the list of countries that faced possible sanctions for TIP a release from the White House in September 2004 stated: “Because of the significant steps their governments have taken to fight trafficking in persons-Bangladesh, Ecuador, Guyana and Sierra Leone deserve recognition for their quick action to address problems noted in the Department of State‘s June 2004 Trafficking in Persons Report.”
The fifth Annual TIP report of the State Department said, “the government made appreciable progress over the last year, particularly through the enactment of anti-trafficking legislation, improvement in government coordination and aggressive public awareness campaigns.”
So our government’s sharp and condemnatory reaction to the report is not surprising. In fact it is justified.
Minister of Human Services and Social security Ms. Priya Manickchand was firm that the U.S. should withdraw its report on Guyana and apologise to this country.
She asked whether the U.S. will be forthcoming with an apology for including Guyana in a report in which the country should have never been included in the first place. “After all, that would be the decent and friendly thing to do,” she said.
She added: “There is no justification for Guyana’s placement on the Tier 2 watch list. The United States and Guyana are friends and have enjoyed very good relations over the years. This inaccurate report hurts this friendship. This report is crap.”
“Guyana has not prosecuted and/or convicted large numbers of persons for trafficking. And for this Guyana should make no apology. Every citizen is guaranteed the right to be presumed innocent until found guilty by a court of competent jurisdiction. We hold this presumption and its constitutional guarantee very dear to us. It must be protected at all times,” the minister said.
One would hope that this matter will be amicably resolved as our countries have enjoyed a friendship over a long period. But our government has correctly made it clear that the report is unacceptable and has done so in unambiguous and undiplomatic language which is a clear reflection of how deeply it is offended by it.