Shelter given to 32 during trafficking in persons probes

Jan 15, 2018 News

…$12M in direct Govt. funding provided

The Guyana Government through the Ministry of Social Protection provided approximately $12 million in direct financial assistance to victims and survivors of trafficking in persons.
This is according to the Annual Report of the Ministerial Task Force on Trafficking in Persons (TIP) 2016 which found that the profiles of suspected perpetrators of TIP were predominantly middle-aged persons who provided entertainment for the public.
Some 32 survivors and alleged victims of trafficking in persons received shelter during 2016. According to the report, shelter was provided from five homes – two are state-supervised homes facilitated by non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and three are state-operated children’s homes.
The report noted that $2 million was provided in direct assistance to victims while one of the NGO- managed shelters received $10 million through the Ministry of Social Protection.
Data show that in 2016 most alleged victims of the crime were females, which accounted for 86.7 percent of the 98 victims. Females dominated TIP reports from 2014 to 2016 with 89.3 percent, while alleged male victims accounted for 10.7 percent.
For the period 2014-2016, each year saw an increase in the number of alleged victims of TIP in Guyana. It is the Task Force’s contention that this increase can be attributed to increased awareness among the general populace.
Statistics for 2014-2016 shows that the 12-18 age group was the most vulnerable in Guyana with 36 percent, closely followed by the 19-25 age group with 34 percent.
It was also stated that family members of the alleged victims were often involved in the perpetration of the crime.
The majority of victims were of Mixed-Race with 52.3 percent falling into this ethnic group. This group, as recorded by the Police statistics, comprised largely of individuals from Latin American countries such as the Dominican Republic, Brazil, and Venezuela.
The report was laid in the National Assembly on Wednesday by Minister of Public Security and Chairman of the Task Force, Khemraj Ramjattan. It also revealed that there were 98 alleged victims of TIP stemming from 38 reported cases in 2016.
Of the 38 reported cases for 2016, 30 were sent for legal advice and 19 TIP charges laid. In contrast, there were 18 reported cases in 2015 and 18 in 2014. These cases involved 55 alleged perpetrators, up from 32 in 2015 and 26 in 2014.
According to the report, there was one conviction for a case initiated in 2016 and one from 2015. In the first matter, the perpetrator was not sentenced but was ordered to pay $884,000 in restitution to the survivor and fined $50,000. This verdict was appealed by both the state and the perpetrator, Joyce Lawrence.
In the second case, Sharlene Oxley was sentenced to three years in jail and ordered to pay $2M in restitution to the survivor. The verdict was appealed by the perpetrator. In both matters, the perpetrators were related to the survivor.

Discover more from Kaieteur News

Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.

Latest News