Trafficking in Persons
Minister dubs U.S. State Dept. report unfair
Kaieteur News
June 17, 2004
MINISTER of Labour, Human Services and Social Security, Bibi Shadick, has slammed the US State Department report on trafficking in persons (TIP) in Guyana, stating that Guyana has been working to tackle the phenomenon ever since the first real indication of it becoming pervasive.
Minister Shadick said that she first heard of the US State Department report on Tuesday.
She reported to the TIP workshop held at Hotel Tower, yesterday, that her initial reaction was one of anger at the report which she said contended the phenomenon existed in Guyana but that nothing was being done about it.
“The report disrespects us, given all the work we have been doing,” she declared.
The report stated that there was evidence that more than 100 persons were victimised by human traffickers in 2003.
TIP Coordinator in the US Embassy in Georgetown, Timothy Birner, said that the investigation of TIP is Guyana resulted in a fair and balanced analysis of human trafficking in 2003.
Guyana was placed in the Tier 3 category which indicates that Guyana does not meet the minimum requirements of the US Trafficking Victims Protection Act.
The Minister pointed out that her Ministry has been involved in various aspects of work and incorporated several divisions including the Welfare Department, Probation Department and the Women’s Affairs Bureau.
She described the findings of the US State Department as “an unfair report on Guyana.”
The Minister urged the participants of the workshop to commit themselves to take Guyana off the 3rd tier rating given by the US State Department within the 60-day deadline.
She stated that Guyana would now document all the work being done by the government to tackle TIP and forward them to the US State Department.
She pointed out that some aspects of the work there were treated with confidentially in the past, given the nature of the issues.
“I want to make it clear that the action being taken by the Government, the President and Ministry is not as a result of the report,” she emphasised. “We have been working since we became aware of the activities.
“The government has been accused for too long of being reactive instead of proactive…We are not doing it because we want to satisfy the US State Department. We are doing it out of concern for our people.”
The Minister said that a person has already been identified in the Ministry of Legal Affairs to work on legislation to deal with TIP.
A sample of the relevant legislation was taken from the US and others are being sourced from various countries.
Minister Shadick recalled that in the past, studies on TIP were being done in Latin American countries but the Caribbean was not being addressed.
She stated that she raised this point at the first international meeting on TIP she attended in 2003, as Guyana’s representative.
As a result, eight countries, including Guyana, were identified for assistance in tackling the phenomenon. One country has since dropped out.
President Bharrat Jagdeo had summoned a meeting on the issue in April this year which included US Ambassador Roland Bullen, relevant Ministries and stakeholder non-governmental organisations. The President tasked Shadick’s Ministry to be the lead agency in a collaborative approach to formulate a national action plan for TIP.
President Jagdeo has committed funds for the programme and USAID pledged financial and technical assistance.
USAID will be providing an expert on public awareness programming to assist in dissemination of information, particularly in the hard to reach far-flung areas in Guyana’s interior.
Minister Shadick said that 300 persons will be trained to identify activities which come under TIP and a network will be established to provide for the smooth flow of reports.
“There are situations where some people do not recognise they are being exploited. People must become more aware of the issue,” she stated.
Minister Shadick said that TIP is not what she understood it to be just a few years ago. TIP has now expanded to include many activities not typically associated with the phenomenon such as statutory rape and sexual exploitation, she noted. The Minister stressed that focus must also be placed on assistance to the victims of TIP so that the activity could be quelled.
The Minister said she detected at the forum held at the National Library on May 12 that the Guyanese people are upbeat about taking action to deal with TIP.
Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Local Government, Pulandar Kandhi, who chaired the opening session of the workshop, stated that the forum on May 12 saw the majority acknowledging that TIP existed in Guyana, even though some were in denial.
He reiterated that the problem cannot be tackled successfully without a multi-agency approach.
In her remarks to the gathering, Ashley Garrett of the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) stated that TIP is a significant problem facing countries around the world.
She stated that the government, private sector and civil society must work together to strengthen the response to TIP to identify, prosecute and convict the perpetrators and provide assistance for the victims.
Ms Garrett said IOM will be conducting a series of national events in the seven countries identified in the Caribbean.
The workshop yesterday is the first for Guyana. There will also be a regional gathering comprising representatives from the seven Caribbean countries.
She pointed out that TIP involves internal and transnational criminal activity and therefore linkages have to be created to combat it.
Chief Probation and Welfare Officer, Ann Greene, stated that TIP is regarded as modern day slavery involving victims who are forced, deceived or coerced into sexual or labour exploitation.
“Trafficking in persons is more than just an issue of crime and migration; it is an issue of human rights; an issue of gender inequality and the subordinate status of women and victimisation of children,” she said.
Greene said the authorities in Guyana are particularly concerned with: girls and young women being falsely lured into accepting certain jobs and later ensnared into prostitution; exploitation of children by parents through having them engaging in illicit sexual activities for money or begging which leads to other problems; children being lured out of school to engage in menial tasks for meager sums of money while employers and parents capitalise on the situation.
Uneducated, innocent and unexposed young people from remote, poor communities are being encouraged to leave home and are exploited through forced involvement in commercial sex trade.
“Girls are deemed the meal ticket for the family. In other cases young women have been abducted and held against their will by men they referred to as their boyfriend,” Greene said.
The official noted that children do not enter the commercial sex industry on their own but with the persuasion or deceptions or acts of violence from adults seeking advantage.
“To involve children in the sex trade is grossly inhuman. It hurts the child, the family and the society. The physical, intellectual and emotional damage is irreparable. Despite their adult-like sexualised behaviour, these are children who need protection, stability and care.”
Some 60 persons attended the workshop, many coming from as far as the Rupununi region. The forum was organised by IOM and the Inter-American Commission of Women /Organisation of American States in collaboration with the Ministry of Labour, Human Services and Social Security.