A representative of the Geneva-based International Organisation for Migration (IOM) has said that the Caribbean, including Guyana, is one of the regions in the world with the least understanding of the issues of trafficking in persons (TIP).
The IOM is committed to providing funds for direct individual assistance to victims in countries that do not have specific programmes in place to deal with TIP. Guyana qualifies for this assistance.
Ashley Garrett, the IOM representative who was a facilitator at a seminar for trafficking in persons at the Hotel Tower, earlier this week, told Stabroek News, that one of the major findings of a global survey conducted on the issue was that the Caribbean region least understood the concept of TIP and Caribbean countries were requesting the IOM's assistance to develop their capabilities in this area.
Resulting from the global research, she said the IOM is now hosting a series of national events in seven Caribbean countries, including Guyana, which requested assistance. The other six countries are the Bahamas (not named in the US State Department 2004 report on TIP), Jamaica (Tier 2 watch list), the Netherlands Antilles (not named in the report), St Lucia (not named in the report), Suriname (Tier 2 watch list) and the Dominican Republic (Tier 2 watch list). Guyana and Cuba were among the countries in the region placed on the Tier 3 list. The seminar was the first in a series of activities to help Guyana understand the concept of TIP and how to deal with the problem.
Garrett said the IOM was working closely with the Ministry of Labour, Human Services and Social Security to identify ways to disseminate information on how TIP relates to Guyana and other countries. Another seminar will be held during the last quarter of the year with the aim of providing assistance on a more technical level.
Garrett said the holding of seminars, raising levels of awareness and developing a national plan of action will certainly be considered in the reassessment by the US State Department, of Guyana's performance in taking action on the issue of TIP in the next 60 days.
Noting that the IOM and the Inter-American Commission of Women/Organisation of American States have been working closely with the Guyana Government on the issue over the past couple of months, she said, "We will make every effort to write to the US government on the work we have been doing with the Ministry of Labour, Human Services and Social Security.
"The Guyana government has been receptive to our efforts."
At the Caribbean level, she said, the IOM would be meeting the representatives of the countries involved to ensure the problem was not being looked at, at the national levels only but providing assistance and linkages regionally and internationally.
Garrett said Red Thread Member, Karen De Souza who has been appointed the local researcher to work along with the Ministry of Labour, Human Services and Social Security would be making an exploratory assessment to understand, in much more depth, the situation in Guyana. The assessment would be put together in a final Caribbean regional research report to be released during the final quarter of this year.
Garrett said the IOM was committed to providing whatever funding from a global fund, and technical assistance it could provide.
The global fund to fight TIP was established by the IOM to provide direct individual assistance to victims in countries that do not have a specific programme to deal with TIP.
The IOM works closely with the donor - the US government, which provided the initial funding. While the US is one member, the IOM now has a membership of 105 countries. Assistance for funding is sought from member countries.
Countries that can provide the assistance to victims of TIP, such as protection and reintegration into society, are not eligible for funding.
All seven Caribbean countries and others not involved in the current project in the region involving the IOM, have access to the fund either through the Caribbean's regional office located in Washington DC or the headquarters in Geneva.
Meanwhile Australia, which was listed in Tier 1 in the US State Department report on TIP plans to introduce new human trafficking laws that set penalties of up to 20 years in jail for trafficking a child or 12 years for trafficking an adult using threat, force and deception.
A Reuters report said the new piece of legislation is also designed to protect women recruited to work in the sex industry, who find themselves subjected to exploitation when they arrive.
The report said that Australian police are currently investigating 20 cases of human trafficking and is set to prosecute ten people for people trafficking.
The US State Department annual report cited Australia as a destination for Chinese and Southeast Asian women trafficked into the sex trade. Australia was placed on the same level as France, Germany, Morocco and Colombia.
The report quoted the Australian government as saying that it was unable to quantify the problem of TIP but supports a group, which represents women brought to Australia as sex slaves. The group, Project Respect believes that there could be up to 1,000 women involved in the country at any one time.
The Australian government unveiled a four-year plan in October to stamp out the trade in sex slaves. This A$14 million initiative included a 23-member mobile strike team and a new migration officer based in Thailand to focus on the trade. Brothel sources have said that sex slave or `contract girls' are most often Thai, Chinese, Filipino, Korean or Indonesian. (Miranda La Rose)