Minister Shadick spearheads Mahdia TIP campaign
Warns residents about the repercussions of TIP
Guyana Chronicle
July 18, 2004
HUMAN Services and Social Security Minister, Bibi Shadick took the Trafficking in Persons (TIP) sensitisation campaign to Mahdia last week and warned residents there about the repercussion of the phenomenon.
During a three-day visit to Mahdia and others areas in Region Eight (Potaro/Siparuni), Minister Shadick and team which included Chief Mines Officer, Mr. Jack Morgan, met with miners, other members of the business community and residents and stressed that anyone found guilty of the offence could be prosecuted according to the law.
The team also visited Princeville, Micobie, Tumatumari and Campbelltown, where the Minister explained her Ministry's mandate, which is to eliminate, as much as possible, the incidents of TIP in all parts of the country.
The US report on TIP had indicated that the activity is conducted primarily in the interior of Guyana and involves victims from mainly Amerindian communities. The victims are trafficked for sexual exploitation.
Last week, a Corentyne liquor restaurant proprietor and four females were arrested as government stepped up efforts to curb TIP. The females - one a mere 13 year-old - were all from the Essequibo and interior locations. According to the Police, the business premises were being used as a breeding ground for unsuspecting females who were induced to migrate to neighbouring Suriname and Brazil.
The Ministry's campaign is aimed at sensitising persons on TIP, how to identify cases in their communities and to report them as soon as possible.
She cited the meaning of TIP as defined by the International Organisation on Migration, which states "the recruitment, transportation, transfer, harbouring, or receipt of persons, by means of the threat or use of force or other forms of coercion, of abduction, of fraud, of deception, of the abuse of power or of a position of vulnerability, or of the giving or receiving of payments or benefits to achieve the consent of a person having control over another person for the purpose of exploitation."
Many residents aired their concerns on various matters, including the high rate of prostitution in the area. But the Minister explained that though prostitution is illegal in Guyana, it couldn't be considered a form of TIP if persons are voluntarily prostituting themselves, and as long as others are not benefiting from the proceeds of a prostitute.
However, she urged businesspersons, especially one proprietrix who admitted to knowingly renting her business to prostitutes, and harbouring them on a daily basis, to desist from doing so or they would be prosecuted if caught. Many residents in Mahdia had raised concerns about the matter and added that the proprietrix usually discontinues renting her property to prostitutes who cannot earn enough money to pay her.
Minister Shadick said that this could be an example of TIP if the proprietrix was knowingly benefiting from the prostitution of others and exploiting them.
During the Minister's meeting with the mining community, several miners and parents cited their concerns about activities for youths in the area, and the Minister said that she would look into this seriously, as she noted that the Mahdia Secondary School did not have a Caribbean Examinations Council's (CXC's) programme.
Residents were urged to ensure they report any incidence of child abuse, TIP and other forms of exploitation of persons so that her ministry could assist the victims and see that the guilty individuals are prosecuted.
Government will continue to intensify efforts to reach the deadline set by the United States Government to comply with the minimum standards set out in the US Protocol on TIP and Minister Shadick noted that her Ministry has been addressing several issues contained in the TIP definition, even before the US State Department issued its 2003 TIP report in June.
Guyana is currently ranked as a Tier 3 country which indicates that the government does not fully comply with the minimum standards and is not making significant efforts to prevent victimisation, ensure the protection of victims and prosecute perpetrators or traffickers.
Tier 3 countries also face sanctions by the United States government, including the withholding of non-humanitarian, non-trade related assistance. (GINA)