Dear Editor,
Fasting from food and drink during these sacred days of the lunar month of Ramadan is a form of worship for observant Muslims in Guyana. Muslims endure with patience the hot and humid days while going about their daily business of earning a living and taking care of their families. But now they have to put up with an annoying menace – baseless and hurtful allegations being flung at them by Mark Anthony Benschop.
Benschop alleges that the PPP is in cahoots with “questionable characters in the Central Organization of Guyana (CIOG)” to traffick Bangladeshi and Pakistani nationals into Guyana and from here to the U.S.A. using fake documents. As someone who has produced a recent documentary on human trafficking for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) I can say categorically that Benchop is belching through some other orifice than his mouth. His allegation is not only ridiculous, it is borderline slander.
On account of the simple fact that Guyana does not share a border with the United States means it holds no value to international networks of human traffickers. The vast majority of human trafficking, particularly of East Asians, begins in the Indian state of Gujarat. That’s not me saying it, Indian authorities themselves have admitted as much. In the last few years two separate sets of families from Gujarat have tragically perished trying to cross illegally from Canada into the U.S. For these criminal networks, Mexico and Canada are more often used as the springboard for entry into the United States.
Human trafficking is a deadly business and Benschop should be aware that his allegations are vindictive and hideous. A simple apology would go a long way, but I am not holding my breath in anticipation. It appears that the only “questionable character” in Benschop’s fairytale is himself.
Sincerely,
Nazim Baksh
