Guyanese authorities are working closely with their counterparts in Jamaica in a case of human trafficking involving a native of this country and will ensure that the victim receives all the help needed, Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Labour, Human Services and Social Security Trevor Thomas said yesterday.
Thomas was contacted by Stabroek News yesterday following a report in the Jamaica Gleaner which indicated that the island’s National Security minister, Senator Dwight Nelson reported that 14 human trafficking victims have been rescued by Jamaican authorities in the past six months. He listed the victims as coming from Panama, Guyana, the Dominican Republic and India.
According to Thomas, his ministry was told of the female victim in Jamaica by the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) and his ministry as well as those of Home Affairs and Foreign Affairs was addressing the matter.
He said it was arranged for the young woman’s mother to travel to Jamaica to be with her daughter and she did so in March but has since returned to Guyana. The permanent secretary said the young woman remains in Jamaica as she is a key witness in the case the authorities would have built against the alleged perpetrators. He revealed that IOM has been assisting with the “harmonization” of the human trafficking legislation in the region to facilitate this type of collaboration. The Jamaican authorities, he said, felt the need for the victim’s mother to travel to the island in an effort to put the victim at ease and also to better ascertain the circumstances under which she went to the country.
Human trafficking involves the use of force or coercion to recruit, transport or harbour people for the purpose of exploiting them.
The Gleaner report said that according to Senator Nelson, of the 14 people who were rescued, seven were females and minors.
The report said that Jamaica is considered a prime, transit and destination country for the trafficking of women and young girls.
Senator Nelson also said there has been an increase in the number young male victims.
However, he said the government has implemented laws and new programmes to address the issue of human trafficking.
