US Trafficking in Persons report… Despite strides, Govt. admits more needs to be done

Jun 30, 2018 News

Government has admitted that more needs to be done by way of convictions when it comes to trafficking in persons (TIP) cases.
On Thursday, the US Department of State released its annual report which details what each of 187 countries was doing in the fight against TIP.
With activities in the hinterlands, at the mining landings, and in the city with the nightclubs, there have been increasing reports of cases involving persons being trafficked.
Mostly women, the victims were said to be from around the Caribbean, and neighbouring Venezuela.
Poor pay, prostitution, forced labour and withholding of passports are but some of the reports coming in.
Guyana was placed on a Tier 2 ratings a few years ago but took steps to correct the situation, to improve to Tier 1, which meant it is meeting the minimum requirements with regards to where the US is demanding.
Yesterday, Minister of Public Security, Khemraj Ramjattan, who is the Chairman of the Ministerial Task Force on Trafficking in Persons, noted that in the previous report, covering 2016, Guyana was elevated to Tier 1 for the first time.
“At this point, it was recognized that this did not mean that Guyana had conquered the crime of TIP by any stretch of the imagination, rather, each anti-TIP agent in Guyana was urged to treat the promotion as motivation to maintain a high level of effort and efficiency in their work in areas where success was achieved and to strive for improvement where necessary.”
According to Ramjattan, having overseen the work of the Task Force in 2017, he was able to watch the Task Force members and other anti-TIP stakeholders work “diligently” to assemble a 2017-2018 National TIP Action Plan and to commence its implementation.
In 2017, the Task Force was led by the Ministry of Public Security and also comprised representation from the Ministry of Social Protection, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Indigenous Peoples’ Affairs, Ministry of Communities, Ministry of Education, Guyana Geology and Mines Commission, Guyana Police Force, Criminal Investigation Department, Guyana Police Force, Central Immigration and Passport Office, Chambers of the Director of Public Prosecutions, The Indigenous Peoples’ Commission, Food for the Poor, Help and Shelter, Guyana Women Miners Organization and ‘Burn the Price Tag’.
Collaboration

Minister Khemraj Ramjattan

The Task Force, however, did not work alone as member agencies including the Guyana Police Force, Ministry of Social Protection and Guyana Women Miners’ Organization operated through specialized Trafficking in Persons units.
According to Minister Ramjattan, there were valuable contributions from organizations not represented on the Task Force including the Judiciary, Sisters of Mercy and Community Policing locally, and the United State Department of State, International Organization for Migration and INTERPOL, from outside Guyana’s borders.
“The combined efforts of these anti-TIP agents saw to it that in 2017 Guyana was able to increase its efforts to prevent the crime and to protect those victimized through it. Training was provided for police investigators, police prosecutors and Immigration Officers, media personnel, Community Policing members, Toshaos, Village Councillors and other frontline officials.”
The Minister also disclosed that awareness sessions were held in schools, communities throughout Guyana’s regions.
“Subventions to shelters were increased and shelter was extended outside the capital. Collaborations were started with international organizations that will eventually see to it that current procedures and information sharing mechanisms are strengthened and that training is standardised.
The Police also strove manfully to investigate TIP Reports despite challenges. The Government of Guyana sustained its efforts to ensure that anti-TIP interventions were well funded, primarily through the Task Force, the Ministry of Social Protection, Guyana Police Force and Guyana Geology and Mines Commission.”
Ramjattan noted that while Government and stakeholders are happy that Guyana has maintained its Tier 1 ranking, the recommendations included in the report did not go unnoticed.
“In some of the mentioned areas, such as those pertaining to training, identification procedures and victim services outside the capital, improvement has already started. In others, such as with regard to an increase in the rate of conviction, there is much more to be done.”
He urged the public to encourage the general public to support the Task Force and the specialized TIP units in reporting the crime to the TIP Hotline – 227-4083/623-5030 – and in their public campaigns.
Positive but…
US Trafficking in Person report 2018, released on Thursday, was largely positive on the strides of Guyana.
However, it called on Government to provide more protection and shelter outside of its capital city for children and men. Last year, the number of trafficking investigations and new prosecutions decreased, while the number of successful convictions remained low.
A poor ratings, at Tier 3, or failure to address weaknesses could result in US sanctions, with Guyana being placed on a watch list a few years ago; it was later removed, after steps were taken to correct the weaknesses.
In its recommendations, the report said that, “there should be a fund for specialized victim services outside the capital and for child victims and adult male victims.
Authorities should also vigorously investigate and prosecute sex and labour trafficking cases and hold convicted traffickers, including complicit public officials, accountable by imposing strong sentences. There should also be a speedy introduction of written identification procedures to better guide law enforcement officials as well as more training.
Standard procedures should also be developed for protecting foreign victims, provide additional protection for victims to testify against traffickers in a way that minimizes re-traumatization; monitoring of the number of cases reported to the trafficking hotline or by labour inspectors to promote a rapid investigative and victim assistance response; and the provision of training for diplomatic personnel on trafficking.”
In 2017, the government reported four new trafficking investigations (two for sex trafficking and two for labour trafficking), 17 prosecutions (12 of which were initiated in previous reporting periods), and two convictions; compared to 19 investigations, 19 prosecutions, and two convictions in 2016.
“The court sentenced both convicted traffickers to three years imprisonment and required one trafficker to pay restitution to one victim. A case from the previous reporting period in which the government required the trafficker only to pay restitution, a penalty inconsistent with the law and one that the task force appealed, remained pending.”
However, the TIP report noted, the government did not report any investigations, prosecutions, or convictions of government employees complicit in trafficking offenses.
“Authorities confirmed the police officer who was convicted of sex trafficking in 2015 was terminated from his position in the police force; however, his appeal was still pending at the end of the reporting period. The government did not provide any support for trainings hosted by an international organization on combating complicity.”
The report noted that while the government increased efforts to identify and protect trafficking victims, the assistance to these remained insufficient, especially in areas outside the capital and for child and male victims.
Last year also, the report said, the government referred 115 victims to shelter and psycho-social services, compared with 40 in 2016.
“The government trained 156 village leaders and 96 government officials from the interior regions on victim identification and assistance. The government also trained members of the business community and civil society on victim identification.”
The government, in the report, disclosed multiple cases of delivering foreign victims to their respective embassies at the request of the foreign missions before the conclusion of prosecutions.
“The government granted one victim temporary residence and legal employment in Guyana. The government, with the assistance of an international organization, repatriated 21 suspected trafficking victims. The government did not report whether it facilitated or funded the repatriation of Guyanese nationals victimized abroad; however, it offered shelter, medical care, and psycho-social assistance to victims upon their return.”
“Authorities reportedly conducted approximately 1,000 unannounced labour inspections in the capital and the interior, last year.