Bartica residents last Thursday broke their silence on human trafficking, saying it has been encouraged for years in Region Seven’s mining districts and urging more prosecutions and the set up of a safe house for victims to begin to address the situation.
Despite government’s denials about the scale of Trafficking in Persons (TIP) here, roundtable discussions on the situation at the Region Seven Administration Office saw residents give personal testimonials saying there is little response to the problem, including a mother who said her son was “being used like a slave” by miners.
At the time, officials of the US embassy, non-governmental organisations Red Thread and Help and Shelter, along with the vocal Guyana Women Miners Association (GWMA) visited the community to interact with residents and stakeholders on the issue. US embassy representatives Michael Fraser and Tabatha Fairclough also interacted with other non-governmental organisations such as the Guyana Red Cross at Bartica and the Hope Foundation as they sought information and a dialogue on the subject.
Residents made a call on the United States authorities to ensure funding to address the problem goes directly to the people, while urging the government to admit that the issue is real and to take steps to prevent human trafficking and protect the victims.
Barticians also issued a call for the government agencies which are trained to address the issue to be de-centralised and for a “safe house” to be placed in the region to shelter victims while the police and related agencies carry out its work.
Like others, Region Seven Chairman Gordon Bradford said at the roundtable discussions that human trafficking has been on-going in the region for years. He noted that he had been a witness to cases where young women, the main targets of traffickers, were taken into the remote areas of the region under the pretext that they would work in shops or as cooks, among other jobs. However, on arrival in the backdam areas, he said, they were then exposed to a brutal world where they would have no choice but to comply with the demands made of them.
A delicate issue
The issue is delicate, Bradford said, noting that in some instances economic circumstances force persons to venture into the hinterland areas in search of money. ”One has to even understand why even parents encourage their children to go out and earn an income,” he added. In such cases, he said many things can happen, including the prosecution of parents, which would lead to the removal of children from their environment, but also creating the problem of finding somewhere to place them. Nonetheless, he was adamant that the welfare of the children is the most important issue. ”To rescue children, to have them live a good life, that’s what’s important,” Bradford said.
Currently, according to Bradford, the region lacks the funding in its budget needed to investigate trafficking cases. But the region believes that the responsible agencies involved need to be decentralised, he added. “…To be in the region to be monitoring from here,” he emphasised. “We got to start thinking how to get in there, how to get the persons, then the headache would be how to get them to Georgetown,” he added, while noting that the police’s involvement may be limited solely to police work. As a result, he said that the situation makes the case for the establishment of a safe house in the region.
“We are not going to be successful every time but at least if we start people will know that yes, they are being looked at,” Bradford said. “It takes so much to do physically, to do financially, it’s so difficult to go into far flung areas,” he also observed.
Like a slave
A community care giver, Bartician Mary Jones also noted during the discussion that when one comes into contact with a case, there is no place, including at the hospital, where one can leave the victim.
“Its heart rending to be in a situation and [you] cannot take them to a home where they can have comfort, so that the personnel who is working with them, can really assist the situation and the person,” Jones said.
She chronicled a case where an educator in the region was placed before the courts for human trafficking.
”Nothing happened. The matter went before the court, some case jacket or files never returned. But what we do know is that the person’s husband was, at the time, a member of the police force… so she can continue to do what she wants,” Jones lamented.
“This is a woman that was really in a situation, she hadn’t any excuse, because all around was a case and she is walking the streets,” she added, saying that all the agencies involved in fighting human trafficking should team up and address the matter in a more realistic manner.
Another resident, a mother, revealed that her son was taken out of the area and taken to Mahdia to work in a shop. She explained that a man coerced her son into travelling to work at a shop in Region Eight and he later told her that her son could not return home until a year after.
“Do you know what he getting out of my child? They would have to work hard. He use to ride from Mahdia to a place called Kangaruma for three days and with the lil strength in he body. They using him like a slave,” she said, while adding that attention has to be paid to young men where trafficking in persons is concerned.
She said that she would have been a little more at ease if an organisation such as the GWMA was around at the time. She took comfort in the fact that her son would feel ill and then return to Bartica.
‘Lawless’
Simona Broomes, the President of the GWMA, said that foreign immigrants, mainly the Brazilians, are allowed to enter the mining areas with young women to carry out human trafficking. The situation is as a result of corrupt lawmen and a disregard for the law, she said. “It’s sad to know that in Bartica it’s visible and how it’s allowed,” she declared, adding, “It’s lawless and well-encouraged, [and] well-known to persons in the area.”
Nonetheless, a hopeful Broomes remained determined to address the issue along with the members of the mining organisation and she urged prosecutions of all involved in trafficking cases to serve as a deterrent. “You got to charge from the cruiser driver to the truck driver. Because, you know what, a next cruiser driver, after this man get jail after taking another to the backdam, would not want to try that,” she said.
In one case, in which she played a major role in rescuing the young female victim, Broomes noted that the persons involved were identified, but according to her, the last report was that investigations were still ongoing.
Meanwhile, Broomes said there was meeting held recently with the relevant stakeholders which examined protection of victims, which included a plan for a five-bedroom home built at Bartica for victims, including children, taking into consideration that they would be struck with no food, no clothing or anything. The police would assist and try to do their best, she said, but there was no home or person to look after the victims.
As part of its efforts to curb the situation, the GWMA, the police and the Guyana Geology and Mines Commission (GGMC) are ensuring that miners or anyone who is transporting a child younger than 18 years old is required to have a letter of approval from those agencies while entering the Itabali Backdam in the region.
Limitations
A detective said the police has its own limitations. He admitted that there was no trained personnel among the ranks at Bartica to deal with human trafficking. As a result, he said, when such cases arise a call would be made to an organisation that has the resources for help.
According to him, usually the victim would be interviewed, the perpetrator would be arrested and as the police carry out their investigations the victim will be assisted by an organisation, such as Help and Shelter.
However, he added that while the cases would be place before the courts to be dealt with by a magistrate, the prosecution’s case is only as strong as its witnesses and their actions would on occasions result in a case going nowhere. “We are getting there now, more of our ranks are educated and know how to deal with these matters,” he, however, added.
He was supportive of the idea of a safe house, noting that it would aid the work of the police, by allowing them more time to do a proper investigation as opposed to having the police in Georgetown follow the matter.
On Thursday, the visiting US representatives presented a copy of the US State Department 2012 report on Human Trafficking to Bradford, who said that it would be available for any member of the public to peruse.
Human trafficking is termed modern day slavery. It is the recruitment, transportation, harbouring or receipt of human beings by means of fraud, force or coercion for the purpose of sexual or labour exploitation.
In its annual report issued on June 19 this year, the US State Department contended that Guyana has made no discernible progress in holding human trafficking offenders accountable. It added that limited progress was made in preventing human trafficking during the reporting period.
Like in 2011, Guyana remains on Tier 2 in the latest report, which says that government does not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking but is making significant efforts to do so.
“Guyana is a source and destination country for men, women, and children subjected to sex trafficking and forced labour. Guyanese nationals have been subjected to human trafficking in other countries in the Caribbean region. Cases of human trafficking reported in the media generally involved women and girls in forced prostitution,” the report had said, echoing previous editions. But the government, in response, described the US report as a “difficult pill to swallow,” saying it was not factual.
The government’s response, which came through its Ministerial Task Force on Trafficking in Persons, challenged the US Embassy here to substantiate the findings of the report with quantitative data, since none was provided.
“The report provides no evidence of forced labour; in fact, in a surprisingly strange twist in its analysis, the report accuses government of not doing enough to generate the data to back the ‘claim’ made in the US Report!,” the release said.
According to the government, even though child labour and trafficking in persons can overlap, there are institutional arrangements in Guyana to address each of these issues. In addressing child labour and human smuggling, it said, the authorities would usually seek to establish where trafficking exists and vice versa.
The Task Force said the government has gone about attacking trafficking in persons through the criminal justice system as well as social prevention measures. It listed programmes such as the Hinterland Scholarship Programme, which has expanded over the years, the School Uniform Programme, economic assistance to single mothers, and skills training for youths all are aimed at tackling vulnerabilities and achieving human security.
The release accused those behind Guyana’s report of ignoring all the information provided through meaningful dialogue.
