Gov’t ready to confront human trafficking, says Broomes

- focus to be placed on more prosecutions, assistance for victims

Government will be moving to mount a comprehensive response to human trafficking through more prosecutions and improved assistance for victims, according to Junior Social Protection Minister Simona Broomes.

For a third consecutive year, the US State Department’s annual trafficking report has placed Guyana on the Tier 2 Watch List, which is for countries where governments do not fully comply with the Victims of Trafficking and Violence Protection Act’s minimum standards, but are making significant efforts to bring themselves into. The latest report indicated that Guyana was granted a waiver from an otherwise required downgrade to Tier 3 because government has a written plan that, if implemented, would constitute making significant efforts to bring itself into compliance with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking, and it has committed to devoting sufficient resources to implement that plan.

Broomes told Stabroek News that the new government could have inherited a worse situation, although the current position is not a good one and Guyana should not have been there. “We cannot change the past but definitely what we can do is to change the path and course for the future,” she added.

For years, the then PPP/C government had strenuously objected to the US report on Guyana. As recent as last year, then minister of human services and social security Jennifer Webster had said that once more the scope of the problem in Guyana was being misrepresented in the report. She had said that Guyana had not been fairly reviewed.

In the latest report, Guyana is once more described as a source and destination country for men, women, and children subjected to sex trafficking and forced labour and it noted that some police officers were found to be complicit in trafficking crimes and that corruption impedes anti-trafficking efforts

Broomes said she is confident that President David Granger would take on the fight against human trafficking. She recalled that when he was leader of the opposition he had introduced and piloted a motion in the National Assembly to set up a commission of inquiry (CoI) into trafficking.

She pointed out that the 2005 Combating Trafficking in Persons Act gives the President the authority to establish an inter-agency task force to develop and implement a national plan that would encompass all aspects of trafficking in persons, including sexual trafficking and labour trafficking.

In the area of prosecutions, which the recent US report found are lacking in Guyana, Broomes said President Granger would “stick by his word” to have an inquiry into human trafficking which would identify aspects of prosecution that may have been missed in the past and cases can be prosecuted. The minister also emphasised that the inquiry will make recommendations for the way forward.

“So the government, I can say boldly, is ready and is prepared to confront and deal with human trafficking and I am excited about that,” said Broomes, who was a miner turned antitrafficking activist prior to her ministerial appointment.

Enforcement

Broomes pointed out that the reporting period for the next US report would have already started since April and so the new administration does not have a lot of time on its hands but she was confident that efforts would get underway after the president sets up the task force to deal with the scourge.

“As soon as that [the task force] is rolled out, all would fall into line because we have the Act and even before looking at amending the Act, if we could only implement some of these things in the Act, I think it would be really, really useful,” she also said.

The minister strongly believes that the provision in the Act for compensation for victims should be implemented since even after perpetrators are charged and convicted the victims are left to get their lives back together and should be assisted as provided for in the Act. She also suggested that ordering perpetrators to pay large sums of monies to victims may work as a deterrent.

Broomes said another aspect of the Act that should be enforced is the prosecution of pimps, who recruit the prospective victims and those who transport them.

“It is not like you are going out there and targeting persons or you are going out there and targeting a brothel… I know what is trafficking and Guyana should know that I understand what is trafficking,” she said.

Meanwhile, she added that the new government is not going to be propelled to act because of a report but rather because it sees human trafficking as a crime.

“We see it for what it is and that is our approach. Our approach is not just from the aspect of the report. The report is good… but who is a victim of human trafficking? It is not a piece of paper or legislation, it is a human being and it is slavery and this government would not condone it. We don’t believe in slavery,” she said.

The recent report highlights the absence of a home that caters specifically to the needs of the victims, which had been an issue that Broomes would have also raised repeatedly during her time as GWMO president. She would have fought for a home and with the help of the Catholic Church and the Sisters of Mercy a building was made available and the GWMO is now in the process of opening a home for victims. It is hoped that the home will cater to the needs of the victims by providing counselling sessions and training.

Broomes, who expressed gratitude to the Canadian government for providing the funding to furnish the home through its High Commission, was optimistic that it will remain a home and not a shelter and serve the purpose it was originally set up for since there are victims out there who are still hurting and in need.

Labour trafficking

Broomes pointed out that the Act also speaks about labour trafficking and as result more labour staff would be trained in that area so that more investigations could be done.

Labour falls under her ministerial portfolio.

Since becoming minister she said she has gone through countless reports of men visiting the labour department and making complaints that could be cases of labour trafficking. “It worries my mind… There is a need to train staff in labour trafficking because that is the grey area, it is a situation that has never been touched,” she said, while noting that a man could be trafficked and not know.

Broomes in the past had called for a specially trained unit in the police force to deal with trafficking but when asked about this she said it is a decision for the president. She pointed out that just over in Trinidad, a special unit in the force was set up to respond to trafficking. “I would agree that with what is happening in Guyana you will need to have that specialised unit with welltrained members… so I still hold on that note which I did mention in the past,” she added.

While she has a “wide vision” for Guyana in the fight against human trafficking, Broomes said she prefers to await President Granger taking charge. She also noted that it was he who recognised her ability, hence her appointment.

She believes that she will be a part of the plan to roll out and execute the fight against trafficking and she is confident that she would deliver.

“I am not a person who talks and runs around the place. Give me the task and the mandate and I am going to deliver, especially when it comes to people,” she added.