With 18 reported Trafficking in Persons (TIP) cases and 131 alleged victims recorded for the first half of this year, Minister of Public Security Khemraj Ramjattan is calling for swifter action at the level of the courts. The minister made this disclosure at a TIP training session in the capital yesterday.
He noted that all of the victims are females, with most of the cases coming from Regions Two, Three, Four, and Seven. The security minister highlighted statistics that show that women and children of Indigenous descent are the most vulnerable.
While it is his wish to see higher conviction rates, Minister Ramjattan acknowledged that several factors affect the conviction rate of perpetrators. Among these, he noted, are the fact that most victims speak another language, do not wish to testify against the perpetrator(s), and witness protection is very costly since the cases are lengthy.
To counter that, Minister Ramjattan said that a request will have to be made to the courts for swift action when it comes to such cases.
“We also have to ask magistrates and trial judges to be expeditious in these cases so that we do not have them waiting and, when the lawyers for the defence ask for a long adjournment, those are not granted. It should be expeditiously done and, within a couple of months, the cases could be concluded and witnesses and victims return to their countries,” he underscored.
While Guyana has managed to maintain its Tier 1 status on the US Department of State’s TIP report, the government continues its fight against this crime. Seventeen charges along with three convictions for persons involved in Trafficking in Persons (TIP) were some of the successes yielded from the TIP Plan of Action for 2017-2018.
Anyone with information on persons involved in ‘trafficking in persons’ or is aware of person(s) being trafficked can contact the TIP Hotline on 592-227-4083. (Modified from the Department of Public Information)