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Trafficking in Persons Report 2016… Govt. partnership in rescuing TIP victims inadequate – GWMO …insufficient State financing remains a challenge

Jul 05, 2016 News

The Guyana Women Miners’ Organisation has said that it remains willing to assist any administration or agency to combat Trafficking in Persons. However, President of GWMO, Urica Primus, has said that there continues to be a lack of collaboration between her entity and the Ministry of Social Protection.
Yesterday, when Primus was contacted to comment on Guyana’s improved TIP ranking, she said that partnering with the Ministry of Social Protection has proven to be a major challenge in the area of victim rescue.
She said, “There has not been a change in atmosphere when it comes to partnership. We have written to the Minister of Social Protection, to partner on rescues; to this we haven’t received any response.”
The 2016 TIP report had noted that women and children in Guyana are still subjected to sex trafficking in mining communities in the interior and urban areas.
The report stated, “While both sex trafficking and forced labour occur in interior mining communities, limited Government presence in the country’s interior renders the full extent of trafficking unknown.”
Despite this setback, Primus assured that her organisation will continue to utilize all of its resources to continue to fight against Trafficking in Persons.
“With the strength and experience of our Trafficking Unit and the support of agencies with similar objectives, we will continue to push for what’s in the best interest of the victims and to create a safer world for women.”
The GWMO is of the belief that women’s issues continue to receive a cold shoulder. Despite these shortcomings, Primus said that her organisation will not be hindered from continuing to push for what is in the best interest of the victims and to create a safer world for women.
The TIP Safe Home was established through collaboration with a religious group and support from the Canada Fund for Local Initiatives, among numerous other local and international agencies and companies and members of staff. The Home provides a safe place for victims. There they can improve their skills and pursue academic ambitions.
Funding
Following this publication’s exchange with Primus, the GWMO issued a statement to the press which went further to highlight its dismay with the Ministry’s attitude towards offering funding.
The statement disclosed that the Ministry seems not to have the money to fight trafficking and as a result, there is an unfortunate deficit of funds to carry out emergency response exercises.
It was stated in the 2016 report that the government had given $600,000 to an NGO-run shelter for trafficking victims. GWMO clarified that this is not completely true. It noted that the money was received from the government but was not allocated for a specific purpose.
The organisation added that the government did not add to the shelter’s services in any way. In fact, the amount though appreciated would not be sufficient to cover one month of the facility’s expenses.
The GWMO criticized the government for ignoring the recommendations made by the US Department of State to increase funding to NGOs that are combatting TIP.
A subvention was sought by the organisation prior to the last budget and according to the organisation, it has not received a response to date. As it relates to acquiring information on the correct procedure when applying for a subvention, the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry has not responded.
The organisation noted that the lack of funding had prevented it from acting on a report it received last Friday. A citizen had pleaded for the group to return to the mining area to rescue victims and arrest the alleged trafficker.
It had attempted to partner with a government agency to provide transportation which is expensive to the area, but received no response either.

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