The Ministry of Home Affairs is taking a proactive approach to deal with Trafficking in Persons (TIP) in order to root out incidents before they become a major issue.
The ministry recently organized a workshop for Police Investigators and Prosecutors aimed at increasing the participants’ awareness of their role in the fight to tackle this problem. It also aims to explore opportunities for cooperation among stakeholders while improving the capacity of the ranks to investigate and prosecute reports.
In explaining the threats this crime poses to society Permanent Secretary Angela Johnson said, “Trafficking in Persons, which some refer to as the new slave trade is a hideous crime that denies victims their basic human rights. It is a breach to the integrity of a country’s borders, a threat to the security of our people and an affront to human dignity. Every country in the world is affected by this phenomenon, whether as a country of origin, transit or destination for victims.”
She told the participants that both males and females are involved in moving men, women and children from one place to another, placing them in conditions of sexual exploitation or forced labour. “Victims are lured with false promises of better lives but ultimately are made to work under brutal conditions,” she said. These conditions includes forced prostitution, domestic servitude, unsafe agricultural labour, construction or restaurant work and other forms of modern slavery with the traffickers using various methods to keep victims enslaved.
Regarding vulnerable groups that often are entrapped and exploited Johnson said they are predominantly the unemployed, street children, migrant workers, sex workers and the rural population. They are easy prey as they are often impoverished, illiterate, and ‘ignorant of the world’ and are susceptible to the lure of wealth and opportunity. She said too traffickers use strategies including isolation from family and the public, confiscation of passports and other important documents, threats of violence and making victims believe that they will be imprisoned or deported for immigration violations if they contact the authorities, to keep them enslaved. Traffickers also make use of advances in communication and transportation links to move their victims without encumbrances.
Johnson said the establishment of a National Task Force on Combating Trafficking in Persons to monitor the implementation of policies that address trafficking; the enactment of legislation (the Combating Trafficking in Persons Act 2005) are some of the measures government had instituted to combat this scourge.
Meanwhile, Commissioner of Police Henry Greene said though TIP is not prevalent in Guyana every effort must be made to ensure that wherever it exists it is rooted out. He said too the police often face challenges in prosecuting offenders as when the victims are reunited with their families they are often reluctant to return to the jurisdiction to give evidence at trial. He said too the crime is simple to prosecute but the investigator must be able to distinguish between the ‘recruiter’ from the ‘keeper’ and as there is not much money involved, the incidence of corrupting the investigators is small.
Greene also urged the ranks to be informed about the threat since often the victims’ only way out is through the intervention of the authorities.
