TIP Master Plan will soon be launched – Public Security Minister

Jul 12, 2016 News

Public Security Minister, Khemraj Ramjattan

The fight against Trafficking in Persons will be strengthened with a TIP Master Plan which is expected to be launched soon by the Government of Guyana.
Yesterday, Vice-President and Minister of Public Security, Khemraj Ramjattan, said that the TIP Master Plan has been completed. He added that the document has been forwarded to the International Criminal Police Organisation (Interpol) for their input.
According to the Member of Parliament, a representative from Interpol had visited Guyana a few months ago to conduct a Needs Assessment Survey. He said that one of the issues examined was the state of TIP in rural communities. Coming out of the assessment were recommendations on how government can improve its impact within those areas to combat TIP.
The 2016 TIP report had highlighted that more assistance was needed in areas outside of the capital including mining communities. According to the report, “Resources devoted to victim protection remained inadequate; authorities did not consistently refer trafficking victims to services; and shelter and services for victims outside the capital, including in mining areas, remained non-existent.”
The Public Security Minister said that the finalized Master Plan will be presented to Cabinet. According to him its implementation will require the injection of a lot of resources and huge capital expenditure.
Ramjattan said that to procure the necessary resources, he hopes that allocations can be made by the Minister of Finance within the national budget. However, he acknowledged that the government may not be in a position at this time to spend as it would like.
Taking all this into consideration Ramjattan said that if sufficient support cannot be sourced from the government’s purse, he is prepared to approach the international community, inclusive of Britain, Canada and the European Union.
Further he said that the Master Plan will have components directed at raising greater public awareness on TIP. Additionally, emphasis will be placed on training persons on how to identify cases of TIP and to detect suspicious behaviour by TIP victims and perpetrators.
He said that it is the government’s intention to also establish safe houses for victims within vulnerable areas.
The 2016 TIP Report was recently published by the US Department of State which showed that Guyana’s TIP ranking had moved from the “Tier 2 Watch List” level to “Tier 2”. Some other countries sharing the Tier 2 ranking with Guyana are Barbados, Brazil, Jamaican and South Africa. Guyana will move to a Tier 1 country when it has fully complied with the Trafficking Victims Protection Act’s minimum standards.
Ramjattan said that he regards the improvement in Guyana’s ranking as a forward movement in combatting TIP. He said that it is something the Taskforce on Trafficking in Persons, the Ministry of Social Protection along with non-governmental organisations and other units have worked hard for.