Guyana maintains Tier 1 ranking in U.S. State Department annual TIP Report – INews Guyana

The provision of over $76 million in victim assistance, the conviction of a sex trafficker that was made to pay restitution to the victims, increase in prosecutions, and collaborations with foreign governments to investigate trafficking cases, were some of the implemented actions that contributed to Guyana maintaining it’s Tier 1 ranking in U.S. State Department 2025 Trafficking In Persons Report which was released on Tuesday.

According to the Report, over the past year Guyana’s government has identified more trafficking victims, significantly increased funding for protection and prevention efforts, and conducted extensive awareness campaigns and training.

“The Government of Guyana fully meets the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking. The government continued to demonstrate serious and sustained efforts during the reporting period; therefore, Guyana remained on Tier 1,” the report noted.

The US TIP Report is an annual assessment that ranks countries based on their efforts to combat human trafficking. The ranking is divided into four tiers: Tier 1, Tier 2, Tier 2 Watch List, and Tier 3.

Guyana is one of only two Caribbean Countries listed in the Tier 1 status, The Bahamas being the other. A total of 33 countries attained Tier 1 status. Another 106 countries were listed in the Tier 2 category, 25 were on the Tier 2 Watch list, and 20 countries on the Tier 3 list, while Haiti, Libya, Somali and Yemen are listed as “special case” countries under the listing.

According to the report, in 2024 the government increased protection efforts. This included the government identifying 416 victims and NGOs identifying two victims, an increase when compared with the government identifying 407 trafficking victims in 2023. Meanwhile, the government screened 389 potential victims among individuals in commercial sex, an increase compared with 281 potential victims screened in 2023.

Of the identified victims, 302 women and eight girls were exploited in sex trafficking; 104 men and one boy were exploited in labor trafficking; and one boy was exploited in unspecified trafficking. The victims included 87 Guyanese nationals and 329 foreign nationals from Brazil, Cameroon, Colombia, Cuba, the Dominican Republic, India, Jamaica, and Venezuela.

In 2024, the government operated and fully funded four shelters for adults with a total capacity of 80 and one shelter for children with a capacity for eight child victims of crime, including trafficking.

“The Authorities also evaluated and placed child trafficking victims in foster care. The shelters provided services to both male and female victims. The government also continued to subsidize two NGO-run shelters; one for male and female victims with space for 28 that was used during the 10-day reflection period and the other for up to 40 adult female victims of trafficking and other crimes that provided victims the same services as the government-operated shelters,” the Report noted.

The government also operated three 24/7 hotlines to report human trafficking, which included two in English and one in Spanish. The hotlines received 87 calls, of which 22 led to the identification of victims, their referral to care, and criminal investigations of traffickers; this compared with an unknown number of calls in 2023, of which 39 led to further action.

The report commended the passage of the 2023 Combating of Trafficking in Persons Bill before the National Assembly, which repealed the earlier Combating Trafficking in Persons Act of 2005, criminalized sex trafficking and labor trafficking and prescribed penalties of five years to life imprisonment.

“These penalties were sufficiently stringent and, with respect to sex trafficking, commensurate with those prescribed for other grave crimes, such as rape,” the report noted.

The law, which was enacted in June 2023, increased previously prescribed penalties for trafficking crimes, extended criminal liability to corporations, and explicitly included the use of children for the production and distribution of narcotics within the definition of trafficking. The law also defined trafficking broadly to include illegal adoption without the purpose of exploitation.

Notwithstanding the Tier 1 standing, the report called on Guyana to vet and screen labor agreements with the Chinese government and Cuban regime for trafficking vulnerabilities, and conduct sufficient inspections of these nationals’ worksites, oversee recruitment agencies, and eliminate worker-paid recruitment and placement fees.

The report also called on the government to implement measures to increase labor inspections at high-risk worksites in the mining and logging districts, as well as

complete a review of existing legislation on labor recruitment and increase the number of labor inspectors.

The report went on the call on the government to continue to increase prosecutions in both sex and labour trafficking cases placing emphasis on cases involving child victims

The report also called for the proactively screening of other vulnerable populations, including Haitian migrants, for trafficking indicators. And to also reduce reliance on victims to serve as witnesses in prosecutions.

“Refer them to services; and ensure potential victims are not deported without screening. Hold convicted traffickers, including complicit officials, accountable by seeking adequate penalties, which should involve significant prison terms. Ensure security for victims, especially those residing in government shelters, and their relatives,” the report said.

The report also said that there is need for the inclusion of relevant Non-Governmental Organisations (NGO) with monthly Task Force meetings that proactively seek input from NGOs for initiatives and measures aimed at preventing trafficking.

The report also noted that while the Guyana Police Force (GPF) Counter-Trafficking (C-TIP) Unit exclusively investigated trafficking cases, the Unit did not have a dedicated budget. However the government reported the GPF C-TIP Unit and the DPP Prosecution Unit had sufficient resources.

The report also called on the government to reduce reliance on victims to serve as witnesses in prosecutions.

“The anti-trafficking act required witness testimony of victims in order to prosecute trafficking cases… some victims’ choice to decline to participate in prosecutions was influenced by their receiving a pay-off from the trafficker, familiarity and trust built with the trafficker, or income received through commercial sex,” the Report said.

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