Bajan immigration officer charged with trafficking of Guyanese

An immigration officer charged in wake of allegations of human trafficking was released on bail when he appeared in the District A Magistrates’ Court on Tuesday.
Ryan Rudolph Jordan, of St James, Barbados, was not required to plead to the charge that, being a public officer on February 20 this year, he provided information to a Guyanese woman he knew to be false and which he knew would be used to obtain an extension to her stay.

There was no objection to bail and Magistrate Deborah Holder released Jordan with a surety of Bds$5000. The accused, who was represented by Vonda Pile and Samuel Legay, returns to court on September 9.
Earlier this month, Barbadian police had confirmed that five Guyanese women who were allegedly caught in a Trafficking in Persons (TIP) situation in the country were in protective custody, as the investigation into the matter continues. Speaking with Guyana Times International, Royal Barbados Police Force Public Relations Officer, Inspector David Welch said then that so far three persons were charged and remanded to prison, but the investigation into the alleged trafficking is still ongoing.
Amelia Joseph, Keenon Chase, and Joan Fernandez had appeared in court and were slapped with 30 charges of suspected involvement with the trafficking of the five Guyanese women in Barbados. The girls were between the ages 17 and 21.
In addition, a 76-year-old woman has also been charged in connection with the suspected trafficking of the five Guyanese women. The five women were reportedly arrested in bathing suits after a raid on a Nelson Street bar by law enforcement, headed by the Barbados Sex Crimes and Trafficking Unit.
Relatives of the women in Guyana are not convinced that the young women are telling the truth as to what really occurred.
Following the arrest of the girls, the Home Affairs Ministry in Guyana said it has taken note of the incident and the Foreign Affairs Ministry had advised that through its consul general in Barbados, lawmen of the sister Caricom nations have been cooperating on the matter. The ministry said TIP is a transnational crime and as such, the Ministerial Task Force, through the ministries of foreign affairs and home affairs and the Guyana Police Force, has in place appropriate regional and international cooperation mechanisms to facilitate swift responses to this crime. Further, the task force stands ready to support any effort to prosecute the perpetrators.