— Lawrence says Gov’t will hunt down human traffickers

By Svetlana Marshall

THE Government will spare no effort in its quest to bring human traffickers to justice, Social Protection Minister Volda Lawrence said as she opened an anti-human trafficking forum on Thursday at the Ocean View Hotel.Since its ascension to office, the A Partnership for National Unity + Alliance For Change (APNU+AFC) Government has been taking critical steps to combat Trafficking in Persons (TIP), but more needs to be done to bring perpetrators of this heinous crime to justice.

“We have to ensure that we find these perpetrators, irrespective of who they are, rich or poor, high or low, we have to and we must bring them to justice,” the Social Protection Minister stated as she addressed representatives from local and international, non-governmental and governmental organisations.
Describing human-trafficking as “appalling,” she opined that it signals a moral decline and insensitivity on the part of perpetrators at every level who from all appearances operate without human warmth or emotion.
“Those who prey on the victims’ rights will feel the weight of the court and ultimately the prison,” the Social Protection Minister warned, stating clearly that the Government of the day will not stand idly by and allow the nation’s children, men and women to be subjected to modern-day slavery.
“This underground business cannot be allowed to thrive and every effort will be made by this Government to protect potential victims,” she added.
The two-day Anti-trafficking in Person Forum which took the form of a “Capacity Building Training (to) Counter Human Trafficking,” was organised by the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) in conjunction with the US Embassy and the Social Protection Ministry.
While expressing gratitude to IOM and the US Embassy for the timely hosting of the seminar, the minister noted that it would equip community leaders to better serve their people in this regard.
“The ministry is highly appreciative of the timely initiative targeting training in all aspects of trafficking, since the outcome will provide us with trainees who will be more knowledgeable and better equipped to deal effectively with the inherited issues of human-trafficking,” Minister Lawrence explained.
COLLECTIVE FIGHT
D James Bjorkman, the US Embassy Political and Economic Section Chief, in no uncertain terms said that “the world has a human-trafficking problem, the United States has a human-trafficking problem, Guyana has a human-trafficking problem,” and it needs to be addressed through a collective fight.

He said it must be noted that trafficking in persons is not just limited to sex trafficking, but labour trafficking, which also brings into question under-aged issues. As Guyana registers progress in this regard, Bjorkman said the US stands committed to the continued fight to eliminate this form of modern-day slavery.
Though the country is making progress in its fight to combat human-trafficking, it remains a source and destination for men, women, and children subjected to sex trafficking and forced labour.
“Women and children from Guyana, Brazil, The Dominican Republic, Suriname, and Venezuela are subjected to sex trafficking in mining communities in the interior and urban areas. Victims are subjected to forced labour in the mining, agriculture, and forestry sectors, as well as in domestic service and shops. While both sex-trafficking and forced labour occur in interior mining communities, limited Government presence in the country’s interior renders the full extent of trafficking unknown,” the US State Department Trafficking in Person 2016 report stated.
In that report, it was also pointed out that children are particularly vulnerable to sex and labour-trafficking, while noting too that “Guyanese nationals are also subjected to sex and labour-trafficking in Jamaica, Suriname, and other Caribbean countries.”
According to the report, there are police officers who are complicit in trafficking crimes and corruption that impede anti-trafficking efforts.
Though the Government does not fully meet the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking, it efforts have been recognised by the US.
“The Government convicted one trafficker, imposed a three-year prison sentence, and required her to pay the victim restitution—the first time restitution has been ordered for a trafficking offender in Guyana. The Government also provided 600,000 Guyanese dollars to an NGO-run shelter dedicated to trafficking victims—the first shelter of its kind in Guyana—to enhance the shelter’s psycho-social services for victims,” the report pointed out.
Additionally, the Government has been applauded for steps taken to increase its collaboration with anti-trafficking Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs). Due to the progress made, and the commitment to do better to protect the vulnerable, Guyana has been removed from the Human Trafficking Watch list to Tier Two.