Gov’t speaks on TIP achievement

DPI/GINA, Guyana, Wednesday, June 28, 2017

On Tuesday, the US State Department announced that Guyana met the minimum standards for the elimination of Trafficking In Persons(TIP) and had been moved up to a Tier Level One rating for its efforts to combat human trafficking.  TIP is one of the fastest-growing activities of trans-national criminal organisations.

Minister of Social Protection, Amna Ally.

The Department of Public Information (DPI)/ Government Information Agency (GINA), met with a few government officials who lauded this accomplishment.

Minister of Social Protection, Amna Ally told the DPI/GINA that the new rating is a major accomplishment.

Minister Ally highlighted that several strategies were implemented by the Ministry’s Countering Trafficking in Persons Unit. These include awareness sessions, trainings of frontline officers, police officers and medical practitioners, collaboration with Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) and outreaches in various hinterland communities in the interior, particularly Regions One, Two, Seven, Eight, Nine and Ten.

“We intend to continue with a number of sensitisation programmes in communities. Working with Police, training for frontline officers, a number of things, so with these recommendations coupled with our programme, we are going to be able to sustain being on Tier One and completely eliminate TIP in Guyana”, Minister Ally outlined.

Minister within the Ministry of Natural Resources, Simona Broomes, lauded as a champion herself for her efforts to fight

Mninister within the Ministry of Natural Resources, Simona Broomes.

TIP, wants the report’s recommendations to be taken on board.

Minister Broomes feels this achievement for Guyana is a major one. She told DPI/GINA that she is happy, “to be a part of a government that is not in denial of TIP but will use its political will to confront it.”

“When I was honored as TIP hero, I said I want Guyana be a country free from slavery. No Guyanese should be enslaved, likewise no foreign nationals… I agree with the section which says we need more training of those on the frontline, because when I was out there before I took a survivor to the police, based on my investigations I knew I had a suspected case of TIP victim. Based on my training and the evidence I got a clear idea and so it is important for the frontline training”, Minister Broomes emphasised.

The Minister noted that officers must be vigilant and pay attention to every small detail to identify victims of TIP. She said this accomplishment speaks to Guyana at large and shows that, “we are not a people who believe in slavery.”

Ministry of Social Protection’s Acting Coordinator, Countering Trafficking in Persons Unit, Tanisha Williams-Corbin told the DPI/GINA, that achieving Tier One in TIP was an uphill task but the unit persevered, and will continue striving for success.

Acting Coordinator, Countering Trafficking in Persons Unit, Ministry of Social Protection, Tanisha Williams-Corbin.

Williams Corbin said, “We continue to fight, the Tier One ranking is a motivation for us to continue working harder. We will continue to strive to work harder to achieve greater things, remaining in the Tier One that is definite.”

Many Non-Governmental Organisations supported the government to remove the scourge of TIP from society because combating this societal ill is costly.

This accomplishment for Guyana is reward for all the hard work, Coordinator for the TIP taskforce at the Ministry of Public Security, Oliver Profitt said.

Profitt explained that, “being considered in the US report

Coordinator, Trafficking in Persons taskforce, Ministry of Public Security, Oliver Profitt.

speaks to what partnership can achieve. The taskforce has a number of agencies that have been working together and many persons have been assisting. We feel that we have a platform now that we have to build from to improve in the future. We haven’t reached any final point here, we’re just at a point where we can celebrate some form of achievement but we understand that at the same time we have to work harder.”

Every year, thousands of men, women and children are trafficked, in their own countries and abroad. Trafficking in persons (TIP) is a serious crime and a grave violation of human rights

Anyone can be a victim of Trafficking in Persons or TIP. If you witness someone being or know someone being trafficked please contact the counter TIP Unit’s hotline on 227-4083, 6235030. Or you can email them at counter_traffickinginpersons@yahoo.com. You can also visit the Ministry of Social Protection’s Facebook page for more information.

 

By: Ranetta La Fleur

CATEGORIES
TAGS