Latest update February 11th, 2025 2:15 PM
Latest News
- Govt. makes move to cancel CGX, Frontera Corentyne block license in 30 days
- ExxonMobil paying taxes in Bahamas but not a cent to Guyana
- Canadian company completes airstrip, roads to kick off 5.4M ounce gold project in Guyana
- Hamas threatens to postpone next hostage release, claiming Israel has broken terms of ceasefire deal
- Twelve-year-old girl missing for three weeks
TIP Master Plan will soon be launched – Public Security Minister
Public Security Minister, Khemraj Ramjattan
The fight against Trafficking in Persons will be strengthened with a TIP Master Plan which is expected to be launched soon by the Government of Guyana.
Yesterday, Vice-President and Minister of Public Security, Khemraj Ramjattan, said that the TIP Master Plan has been completed. He added that the document has been forwarded to the International Criminal Police Organisation (Interpol) for their input.
According to the Member of Parliament, a representative from Interpol had visited Guyana a few months ago to conduct a Needs Assessment Survey. He said that one of the issues examined was the state of TIP in rural communities. Coming out of the assessment were recommendations on how government can improve its impact within those areas to combat TIP.
The 2016 TIP report had highlighted that more assistance was needed in areas outside of the capital including mining communities. According to the report, “Resources devoted to victim protection remained inadequate; authorities did not consistently refer trafficking victims to services; and shelter and services for victims outside the capital, including in mining areas, remained non-existent.”
The Public Security Minister said that the finalized Master Plan will be presented to Cabinet. According to him its implementation will require the injection of a lot of resources and huge capital expenditure.
Ramjattan said that to procure the necessary resources, he hopes that allocations can be made by the Minister of Finance within the national budget. However, he acknowledged that the government may not be in a position at this time to spend as it would like.
Taking all this into consideration Ramjattan said that if sufficient support cannot be sourced from the government’s purse, he is prepared to approach the international community, inclusive of Britain, Canada and the European Union.
Further he said that the Master Plan will have components directed at raising greater public awareness on TIP. Additionally, emphasis will be placed on training persons on how to identify cases of TIP and to detect suspicious behaviour by TIP victims and perpetrators.
He said that it is the government’s intention to also establish safe houses for victims within vulnerable areas.
The 2016 TIP Report was recently published by the US Department of State which showed that Guyana’s TIP ranking had moved from the “Tier 2 Watch List” level to “Tier 2”. Some other countries sharing the Tier 2 ranking with Guyana are Barbados, Brazil, Jamaican and South Africa. Guyana will move to a Tier 1 country when it has fully complied with the Trafficking Victims Protection Act’s minimum standards.
Ramjattan said that he regards the improvement in Guyana’s ranking as a forward movement in combatting TIP. He said that it is something the Taskforce on Trafficking in Persons, the Ministry of Social Protection along with non-governmental organisations and other units have worked hard for.
Similar Articles
THE BLUNT OF THE DAY
Sports
Features/Columnists
Are we better off today than we were before first oil?
Peeping Tom… Kaieteur News-If you had asked me ten years ago what I wanted for Guyana, I would have said a few things:... more
OAS Secretary General Election and renewed OAS Consensus
Antiguan Barbudan Ambassador to the United States, Sir Ronald Sanders By Sir Ronald Sanders Kaieteur News- The upcoming election... more
Weekend Cartoon
