– on TIP best practices

MINISTER of Public Security Khemraj Ramjattan said Thursday that Guyana has begun working with INTERPOL on putting a spanner in the wheel of Trafficking in Persons (TIP).
The announcement comes in the wake of a series of INTERPOL-led operations in several Caribbean countries which saw the break-up of a well-organised Trafficking in Persons (TIP) ring in the region.

The minister told the Guyana Chronicle on Thursday that Guyana has received a number of recommendations from INTERPOL on how best to strengthen this country’s investigative capacity, as it was noted that in many instances, victims of this crime are reluctant to provide statements, hence prosecution of those committing the crime are able to walk scotch free.

One such recommendation, he intimated, is that “not every agency” has to be informed when raids are being planned on nightclubs and bars.
As Ramjattan explained, the leaking of information has been one of the major issues affecting successful TIP operations.

“Among the key recommendations,” he said, “is that when you are planning the operations, this and that ministry official does not have to know, because, as much as I am ashamed to say this, you are going to be sold out, because we sell and we leak information.
“So, we would need to do some vetting of the officers who go on these operations.”
He said, too, that there are cases when teams show up at specific nightclubs and bars, the girls are moved away before the team arrives because either the owners or their handlers had been tipped off.

He said steps will be taken to break the neck of this illegal activity, and that in doing so, it may lead in some cases to the revocation of the licenses of some establishments, since the very owners of these entities are in on the game and moving the girls away from the scene when operations are conducted.

Minister Ramjattan confirmed that the INTERPOL operations took place a few weeks ago, where lots of nightclubs and bars were found to have women working there under questionable conditions.

Many of the women were found to be Spanish-speaking, and according to the minister, one of the other challenges the authorities have with addressing this issue is the fact that it’s expensive to keep these girls here, as they have to be fed and accommodated. So, in most instances, the only option available is to send them back home. Another challenge is the reluctance of the women themselves to volunteer any useful information.
The INTERPOL operations reportedly saw the rescue of more than 300 persons and the detention of 22. Among those rescued were children, and adults working in nightclubs, mines, factories and open-air markets, and in some instances even on farms, according to the Associated Press.

Reports are that some of those rescued when interviewed revealed that they were working without pay, and in some instances small confinements as workspace.
Brazil, Venezuela, Jamaica, Guyana and St. Vincent and the Grenadines were among the countries in which the operations were conducted.