U.S. urges openness in TIP fight

By Ariana Gordon

The United States has called for deeper collaboration with the government of Guyana in the fight against Trafficking in Persons (TIP), stressing that sharing of information and openness in working together is vital to the success of both local and global efforts to combat the scourge.

The comments were made by U.S. Ambassador to Guyana, D Brent Hardt at a reception on Wednesday for the Counter Trafficking in Persons Conference held at Cara Lodge.

Hardt noted that TIP is a phenomenon that “respects no boundaries and requires a coordinated international response”. The U.S. ambassador said he is not oblivious to the fact that Guyana has rejected some of the TIP reports published by the U.S. State Department.

“As I prepared for my assignment as ambassador, I learned that there have been public differences between the U.S. and Guyana over elements of our congressionally mandated Trafficking in Persons Report. And, unfortunately, such discussions tended to focus attention away from the real goal of our international engagement on the issue, which is to build the commitment, understanding, and capacity of countries around the world to combat the scourge of TIP.”

He added that the issue for all countries, including the U.S., is not how many cases of TIP are occurring, but what is being done to combat the incidents of TIP. “This is a truly global effort. I know it is sometimes easy to look at this only from our local or national perspective, but it is important to keep in the fore front of our work the plain fact that human trafficking is not just a problem in the United States or in Guyana, but a worldwide problem.”

Hardt was at the time addressing some 70 participants at the counter TIP conference from the diplomatic corps, the disciplined forces, the government of Guyana, the judiciary, international organisations and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and the U.S. embassy.

The conference allowed officials to discuss the varying efforts currently in practice and what can be done to improve anti-TIP initiatives. Topics addressed at the four-day conference are TIP law, the identification of victims, the role of NGOs, challenges to countering TIP, and best practices in working with victims.

Amerindian Affairs Minister Pauline Sukhai said TIP is not an issue that deserves diplomacy. She noted that it is an issue that must be discussed candidly with the aim of fighting the problem. “It is important for me to state that the government of Guyana has demonstrated the political will to address the concerns of trafficking in persons here in Guyana through established procedures, measures and programmes, and even legislation.” Sukhai said several bodies have been established to deal with TIP and made mention of the Inter-Agency Task Force that comprises other sectoral ministries, NGOs and civil society groups.

Reference was also made of the government of Guyana/IDB citizen’s security and justice reform programmes as well as the establishment of the Inter Agency Task Force which comprises other sectoral ministries, NGOs and civil society.

“I believe Guyana has done much to reduce the risks and have measured up to the international responsibility which is combating TIP globally, there is also no secret that there were differences of approach by way of process in realising government’s performance in combating TIP, and that we have been sharp in rejecting,” Sukhai said.

Minister Sukhai added; “I believe our government has a very strong commitment to also defend the integrity of our country and the situations that exist within. Definitely, a country like ours should not be judged by the same yard stick as a developed country, and I strongly believe that there should be engagements when making judgement on countries, particularly poor countries.”