After investigations in Mahdia, Region Eight, a team from the Ministerial Task Force on Trafficking in Persons has said its findings about people trafficking in that area contrasts sharply with those of the Guyana Women Miners Organisation (GWMO) featured in a recent edition of this newspaper.
The team conducted surveillance on “suspicious” establishments at Mahdia and its environs from March 27-29, 2015, in keeping with the operations of the National Action Plan for 2014-2015, a press release from the Ministry of Home Affairs said. According to the ministry, the team “made extensive efforts to obtain information from Police Officers, Mines Officers, villagers, shop owners and Toshaos in and around Mahdia” and “surveyed several night entertainment spots in the area, inclusive of those that demanded special attention as a result of information received by the Task Force.”
“While females were witnessed frequenting these locations, investigations revealed that patrons of the aforementioned business premises were above the age of eighteen,” the ministry said.
The Task Force believes that members of the GWMO may be automatically applying the term ‘“trafficking in persons’ in all instances when they encounter minors or young adult females in interior regions.” Further, the group said, it has repeatedly sought to distinguish between terms such as ‘child labour’, ‘prostitution’ and ‘trafficking in persons’ in its awareness sessions and workshops as they are respectively unique in nature.
In addition to the activity in Region Eight, the Task Force has from January 2014 to date conducted awareness activities in community and secondary schools in regions Two, Four, Six, Seven, Eight, Nine and Ten and at a number of national exhibitions including GuyExpo.
The Task Force has also deployed its ‘Surprise Inspection Framework’ in business establishments, including shops, night spots and other locations in central Georgetown, East Bank and East Coast Demerara in Region Four; Mahaicony, Rosignol and Blairmont in Region Five; Corentyne Coast in Region Six; Bartica, Tamakay Landing and Backdam, Itaballi and 14 Miles Issano in Region Seven; Lethem in Region Nine and Linden in Region Ten.
The Task Force also said while it respects the right of NGOs to operate independently it reiterates its willingness to collaborate with any such group to reduce incidences of trafficking in persons in Guyana.
