Guyana has retained its Tier 1 ranking for its efforts in combatting human trafficking for the fifth consecutive year with an anti-trafficking hotline in Spanish (the first of its kind in the country), and a total of 204 victims identified and given government assistance.
According to the US Department of State’s 2021 Trafficking in Persons Report, Guyana and The Bahamas are again, the only two Caribbean countries to attain the Tier 1 ranking, as most of the other Caribbean countries are on Tier 2. The report indicated that despite the documented impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the government’s anti-trafficking capacity, the authorities continued to demonstrate serious and sustained effort during the reporting period. These efforts included an increase in investigations, identifying and assisting more victims, creating the first anti-trafficking hotline in Spanish, opening an additional shelter, and creating standard operating procedures for victim identification. But, although the government meets the minimum standards, it did not prosecute as many traffickers or provide adequate screening and shelter for child and male victims. The report also disclosed that the country lacked capacity and training to identify and investigate trafficking cases in remote regions.
The report noted that in 2020, the Guyana Government had identified 199 victims, and NGOs had identified an additional five, with 127 being sex-trafficking victims, and 77 being labour-trafficking victims. This, it said, is a significant increase from 102 victims who were identified in 2020. It added that 127 of the victims identified were Venezuelan, 27 were Haitian, 24 Dominican, 22 Guyanese, three Jamaicans, and one Cuban. In addition there were 151 women, 53 men and ten children victims that were identified by the government.
These victims were provided with social welfare and assistance by the Ministry of Human Services and Social Security’s (MHSSS) Counter-trafficking (C-TIP) Unit. The Unit was given a budgetary allocation of $25.86 million in the fiscal year of 2020 and $37.67 million in the 2021 fiscal year. In collaboration with an international organisation and a foreign donor, the authorities developed but did not yet implement, standard operating procedures for victim identification pending an additional government review.
It was noted that during the reporting period, the government referred 100 victims to shelter or protective services, compared with 99 victims in 2019. The authorities opened a new shelter for trafficking victims in a rural district, bringing to five, the total number of government-operated shelters offering specialised care, including food, training, translation, legal services, medical services, and psychological therapy, for trafficking victims.
$62.35 million was also provided by the government in 2020 to two NGO-managed shelters providing housing for adult female victims of gender-based violence and human trafficking. This was a notable increase from $2.35 million provided in 2019. The government also provided $4.52 million in direct financial assistance to victims who chose not to stay in a shelter, an increase from $2 million last year. Counseling and other humanitarian assistance was also provide to the 125 victims who opted not to access shelter services, while a total of 226 victims were provided with some form of assistance during the reporting period.
Victim assistance remains a serious concern in areas outside of the capital and for Venezuelan child and male victims. The report noted however that much effort was made to protect victims’ identities. The authorities also offered deportation relief to 10 non-Venezuelan foreign victims, significantly fewer than the 135 foreign victims in 2019. The government also funded training for 168 MHSSS, labour, compliance, and forestry officials on victim identification and referral.
The report also acknowledged the efforts made to prevent trafficking. It highlighted that the Ministerial Taskforce on Trafficking in Persons (the Task Force), co-chaired by the Minister of Home Affairs and the MHSSS, coordinated national anti-trafficking efforts and served as the decision-making body. The government also began consultations, including with human trafficking survivors, to draft a National Action Plan (NAP) for 2021 – 2023, to replace the plan that concluded at the end of 2020.
Additionally, the government provided funding for the completion and implementation of the NAP in the 2021 budget. While a third 24/7 hotline that could accommodate Spanish speakers was created, for the first time. Then in December 2020, an international organisation called on the government to put in place simpler systems for Venezuelan asylum seekers and migrants to access work permits to avoid becoming victims of human trafficking. As a result, the government began to develop a human trafficking manual for diplomats and provided training to them.
Like the year in 2020, the report noted that no effort was made to reduce the demand for commercial sex acts even though labour officers frequently conducted impromptu visits to work sites and business premises in the mining and logging districts and capital city to investigate suspect labour practices and violations. The Ministry of Labour also promoted public messaging on the dangers of child labour.
The report noted that while Tier 1 is the highest ranking, it does not mean that a country has no human trafficking problem or that it is doing enough to address the crime. “Rather, a Tier 1 ranking indicates that a government has made efforts to address the problem that meet the TVPA’s minimum standards. To maintain a Tier 1 ranking, governments need to demonstrate appreciable progress each year in combating trafficking. Tier 1 represents a responsibility rather than a reprieve”.
