Guyana and Jamaica trafficking in persons
- US State Dept. report
Kaieteur News
June 16, 2004
GUYANA and Jamaica have been listed as the only two countries in the Caribbean that are involved in trafficking children primarily for sexual exploitation, according to the U.S. State Department’s ‘Trafficking In Persons Report’ for 2004.
The fourth annual report, unveiled Monday by Secretary of State Colin Powell, lists the two countries where this crime occurs.
In Guyana, which made the list for the first year, State Department officials claim young women and children are trafficked mostly in the interior of the country and often forced to engage in prostitution. While the Guyanese victims are mainly Amerindians, some foreign persons are also involved from northern Brazil and Venezuela.
The report also said Guyana is a transit country for the trafficking of persons to Suriname. It also criticised the Guyana government for not fully complying with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking in persons. The State Department blamed a lack of understanding of the problem as well as resources for the failure and it recommended that the government cooperate with the international community and its neighbours to develop a comprehensive anti-trafficking policy.
“National laws should be modernised to keep minors out of prostitution and sanction their traffickers. Victims should be rescued. Resources should be dedicated to protecting victims and prevention,” the report recommended.
In the case of Jamaica, the report stated that children from rural areas travel to urban and tourist centres where they are trafficked into prostitution. The State Department officials also claimed child pornography involving trafficking victims remains an area of concern and criticised the Jamaican government for having no formal policy to protect child trafficking victims.
Jamaica was also cited in the report as a transit country for illegal migrants - believed to be trafficking victims - moving to the U.S. and Canada, and placed on ‘tier two’ watch list.
- The report, according to Powell, “reflects the growing concern of President Bush, members of Congress and the public, over the serious human rights, health, and security implications of human trafficking around the world.”