…in 67 reported TIP cases so far
…the majority are Venezuelans

DURING the first three months of 2019, local police questioned sixty-seven victims of Trafficking in Persons (TIP), the highest number being Venezuelans with a high concentration of the alleged victims being from the Demerara-Mahaica Region.
According to a report from the Ministerial Task Force on Trafficking in Persons, while there are Guyanese and nationals of the Dominican Republic included in the reported cases, none were Haitians and the task force said it received no reports of the French-speaking nationals being trafficked.

In a statement issued by the task force on Friday, the body said that from January-March, 2019, local police conducted a number of operations resulting in the investigations of the 67 alleged cases. It said that 53 of the alleged victims were Venezuelans, 10 Guyanese and four were from the Dominican Republic.

The task force said that with the non- nationals, Venezuelans, accounted for the majority of alleged victims in Guyana for 2018 and the early parts of 2019. “The task force would also like to note that Region Four was the main area where trafficking humans was frequently perpetrated. This is the region which saw the highest incidence of alleged exploitation of Venezuelan Nationals and other foreigners,” the body said. The task force said it wishes the general public to be aware of the purported risk of a resultant spike in the incidence of TIP here as a result of an increased influx of foreigners, be they Haitian, Cubans, Americans, Canadians or other non-nationals.

While giving a comparative analysis on the matter, the task force reminded that in 2018, the reported number of alleged victims of trafficking in persons’ occurrences in Guyana was 245. Of this total, 21 were from Guyana, 162 were from Venezuela, 10 from the Dominican Republic and 49 from Cuba. The remaining alleged victims were from Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica and Brazil.

The body said that, in collaboration with the Guyana Police Forces’ Central Immigration and Passport Office, it has conducted a number of trainings in victim identification and referral with immigration officers, who manage and operate at various ports of entry and other locations in Guyana.

“It is important to note that the Government of Guyana is committed to ensuring, Venezuelans, Haitians, Cubans and other non- nationals utilising various ports-of-entry, will, upon entry, continue to be treated with the respect afforded to citizens and other visitors in accordance with our laws,” the task force said. It added that there will not be any tolerance for attempts to perpetrate the “dreadful crime.”

The body called on persons with information to communicate reports of alleged activities related to trafficking or suspected trafficking to task force members so that the perpetrators can be dealt with.

The government has been making efforts to combat the instances of human trafficking here. The efforts of the APNU+AFC administration to increase funding for TIP victims, as well as its ability to identify and assist more victims for the third consecutive year, are among the reasons the State Department of the United States cited Guyana for demonstrating “serious and sustained efforts” in combating the issue.

The State Department of the United States in its 2019 report which was released in June this year pointed out that the Government of Guyana fully meets the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking in persons.

“The government continued to demonstrate serious and sustained efforts during the reporting period; therefore Guyana remained on Tier One,” the report stated. According to the report, the APNU+AFC government maintained law enforcement efforts during the reporting period and to this end, the report reminded that Combating Trafficking of Persons Act of 2005 criminalised sex trafficking and labor trafficking and prescribed penalties of three years to life imprisonment.

In terms of the prevention of trafficking, the report said that government increased its efforts in this regard. As economic fortunes in neighbouring Venezuela hit rock bottom, large numbers of migrants from that country continue to cross over the border into Guyana seeking greener pastures. According to the 2019 TIP report, the Government of Guyana here acknowledged a large increase in the number of trafficking victims from Venezuela.
It said that traffickers exploit victims in forced labor in the mining, agriculture, and forestry sectors, as well as in domestic service at shops. While both sex trafficking and forced labor occur in interior mining communities, limited government presence in the country’s interior renders the full extent of trafficking unknown, the report said. Recent articles in sections of the private media have suggested that Haitians are being trafficked here. However, government, through the Department of Citizenship of the Ministry of the Presidency, have refuted such reports, deeming them inaccurate.