Labour, Police, OSH officers engaged in advanced training to spot TIP
The Ministry of Human Services and Social Security, in collaboration with the Ministry of Labour, has embarked on three days of advanced training for law enforcement, labour, and occupational safety and health (OSH) officers combatting Trafficking in Persons (TIP).
The course is being held at the Police Officers’ Training Centre, Eve Leary.
Coordinator of the Counter-Trafficking in Persons (C-TIP) Unit, Tanisha Williams- Corbin said the initiative was in keeping with Guyana’s collaboration with the United States (US) State Department on reducing the incidence of this crime.
“Over the next three days, participants will be exposed to various aspects of the uniqueness of TIP in Guyana. The advance training course serves as a follow-up [to] the basic level course held in January 2019. All participants… here today, have successfully completed the previous course,” she noted.
The course is designed to boost the capacity of frontline officers, particularly labour officers, to identify trafficking. It will also provide practical experience in identifying and screening victims of human trafficking Williams-Corbin added.
Chief Labour Officer Charles Ogle said collaboration between ministries and government agencies was necessary to curb this crime.
“Inspectors must be equipped with the technical skills to ensure they can identify where the traffickers are located so that those persons involved can be prosecuted,” Ogle said.
He pointed out that human trafficking is not just a violation of the rights of victims; it is a crime against humanity and must be eliminated at all costs.
Since 2017, Guyana and The Bahamas have ranked Tier 1 in the US State Department’s TIP Report.
This does not mean that the countries have no incidence of human trafficking, but that they fully meet the minimum standards to eliminate TIP, in keeping with the US Trafficking Victims Protection Act.