…eyes stronger legislation, to repeal current ACT
…SOPs being developed to respond to scourge in Guyana

THE government will be repealing the Combating of Trafficking in Persons Act 2005 to pave way for a new legislation that would help the country better fight Trafficking in Persons (TIP).

Coordinator of the Counter Trafficking in Persons (C-TIP) Unit, Ministry of Social Protection, Tanisha Williams-Corbin, in making the announcement on Tuesday, said the draft Combatting of Trafficking in Persons Bill has been completed, and would be submitted to the National Assembly shortly for consideration.

Noting that the current legislation is deficient, Williams-Corbin said the proposed legislation was drafted following extensive consultation.
“The initiative falls under a TIP project funded by the United States, Department of States, and is implemented by International Organisation for Migration (IOM). In collaboration with the IOM and the Ministerial Task Force for TIP, consultations were held with stakeholders and the new Act was drafted by consultant Rosemary Benjamin-Noble,” Williams-Corbin said in a statement.

The Counter Trafficking in Persons (C-TIP) Unit has been collaborating with the IOM for almost three years. They are currently working on Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) for responding to TIP in Guyana. The unit’s coordinator said the SOPs will help with more effective ways of responding to investigations and prosecutions of TIP cases, as well as protection and reintegration of TIP victims.

“The Ministry of Social Protection has received the final draft of the investigation and prosecution SOPs and we have since submitted our final comments to the consultant Ms. Diana Shaw. Once the document is returned to the ministry, we will sign on to the SOPs along with our partners,” Williams- Corbin explained.
It is expected that Shaw will review the protection and reintegration SOP soon, which deals with the provision of psychosocial support to victims of TIP. Subsequent to the review, bilateral meetings and validation workshops will be held. The final document is expected by the end of this year.

According to the C-TIP coordinator, her unit has participated in the recently-concluded Regional Thematic Meeting on Trafficking in Human Beings and Smuggling of Migrants. This meeting, which was funded by the United States Embassy along with other partners, and organised by IOM, was held among CARICOM countries at the Ramada Princess Hotel.

Williams-Corbin said that some salient initiatives which her Unit can implement to better respond and prosecute cases of TIP were noted from the meeting. These include strengthening of regional collaboration in combatting TIP, joint surprise inspection frameworks across the Region and improving data sharing across the Region.

Also, coming out of the meeting, a smaller working group which will be looking specifically at responding to the Venezuelan migrant situation, with specific focus on exploitation of workers, is expected to be formed.

“The ministry has already upped its game for responding to TIP cases involving the influx of Venezuelans. However, through the regional collaboration, we will be able to see what the other countries are doing and adapt similar measures. We will also be able to identify any gaps in our system that we can strengthen and we can also share our best practices with the other countries,” the C-TIP Coordinator expounded. The C-TIP Unit has been and continues to provide support for TIP victims and is also providing assistance for them to return home and be reintegrated into their respective communities.

In its 2018 report on human trafficking, the United States said Guyana has fully met the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking in persons. According to the report, “the government has continued to demonstrate serious and sustained efforts during the reporting period; therefore Guyana remained on Tier 1”. “The government demonstrated serious and sustained efforts by increasing funding for victim assistance, identifying and assisting more victims for the third consecutive year, and opening and operating a trafficking shelter outside of the capital area,” the report stated.

It recommended that Guyana trains more law enforcement, judiciary officials, and front-line responders – especially those working outside the capital – on victim identification and referral procedures; develop standard procedures for protecting foreign victims; provide additional protection for victims to testify against traffickers in a way that minimises re-traumatisation; monitor the number of cases reported to the trafficking hotline or by labour inspectors to promote a rapid investigative and victim assistance response; and provide training for diplomatic personnel on trafficking.

In the area of prosecution, the report noted that the government has maintained law enforcement efforts and pointed to the Combating Trafficking of Persons Act of 2005, which criminalised sex and labour trafficking and prescribed sufficiently stringent penalties ranging from three years to life imprisonment.

“These penalties, with respect to sex trafficking, were commensurate with those prescribed for other serious crimes, such as rape,” the report stated, while noting that the law defined trafficking broadly to include the illegal sale of organs without the use of force, fraud, or coercion.