The Government of Guyana fully meets the minimum standards for the elimination of human trafficking, according to the 2023 US State Department report on the crime.
“The government continued to demonstrate serious and sustained efforts during the reporting period, considering the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, if any, on its anti-trafficking capacity; therefore Guyana remained on Tier 1”, the report said.
It noted that the government’s efforts included convicting three traffickers; identifying more victims and referring them to services; consistently implementing a 10-day reflection period, including shelter for victims; raising awareness in Indigenous languages; bolstering the inclusivity of the Ministerial Task Force on Trafficking in Persons (the Task Force); and initiating a programme to screen children in situations of homelessness.
Although the government meets the minimum standards, the US State Department report said that it neither increased investigations and prosecutions nor formally approved the National Action Plan (NAP). The government also did not sufficiently oversee recruitment agencies or adequately screen for trafficking victims in the interior of the country, the report said.
It listed a series of recommendations:
Increase prosecutions and convictions in sex and labour trafficking cases and pursue them to the fullest extent possible under the Combating Trafficking in Persons Act of 2005, including for cases involving child victims.
Expand the number of Spanish-speaking officials supporting anti-trafficking efforts.
Take steps to eliminate recruitment or placement fees charged to workers by labour recruiters and ensure any such fees are paid by employers.
Complete a review of existing legislation on labour recruitment and heighten the number of labour inspectors.
Hold convicted traffickers, including complicit officials, accountable by seeking adequate penalties involving significant prison terms.
Enforce restitution judgments.
Reduce the reliance on victims to serve as witnesses in prosecutions.
Ensure security for victims, especially those residing in government shelters, and their relatives.
Proactively screen vulnerable populations, including Haitian migrants and Cuban medical workers, for trafficking indicators.
Undertake systemic monitoring of anti-trafficking efforts and publish the results.
The report said that the Guyana Police Force (GPF) Counter-Trafficking Unit exclusively investigated trafficking cases and did not have a dedicated budget. The GPF Cyber Crime Unit scouted for online trafficking crimes and referred them to the GPF Counter-Trafficking Unit. The GPF prosecution unit also did not have a dedicated budget and police prosecutors from the GPF Prosecution Unit were not licensed attorneys, but some had law degrees and received specialized training in legal procedure.
The report said that traffickers exploit women and children from Guyana, Brazil, Cuba, the Dominican Republic, Haiti, Suriname, and Venezuela in sex trafficking in mining communities in the interior and urban areas. It noted that an NGO reported in 2021 an increasing number of young, Indigenous girls are being taken from Bolivar state in Venezuela to Guyana where traffickers exploit them in commercial sex. NGOs also reported trafficking networks operated by illegal armed groups known as “sindicatos” in Delta Amacuro state in Venezuela; NGOs reported these groups lead members of the Indigenous Warao community into Guyana to work long shifts in illegal mines with no medical care despite experiencing curable common health issues. Indigenous Warao women are recruited to work as cooks in the mines but are often forced into commercial sex or exploited by illegal armed groups.
