Demande directe (CEACR) - adoptée 2024, publiée 113ème session CIT (2025)

Convention (n° 29) sur le travail forcé, 1930 - Guyana (Ratification: 1966)

Articles 1(1), 2(1) and 25 of the Convention. 1. Trafficking in persons. (a) National Action Plan. Referring to its previous comments, the Committee welcomes the measures taken by the Government to continue strengthening the legal and institutional framework to combat trafficking in persons. The Committee notes in particular: (1) the adoption of the Combating and Trafficking in Persons Act No. 7 of 2023, repealing the Combating Trafficking in Persons Act of 2005, which among other things increases the penalties applicable to trafficking offences, extends the criminal liability of corporate bodies and provides for victim immunity from prosecution for migration related offences, prostitution or any other criminal offence that was a direct result of being trafficked; and (2) the adoption of the National Action Plan (NAP) for 2021-2025 which covers and sets objectives in the following areas: (i) awareness raising; (ii) prevention; (iii) appropriate assistance to victims, (iv) detection, investigation, and prosecution; (v) cooperation; and (vi) strengthening public-private partnerships.

The Committee also notes the Government’s indication in its report that between 2017 and 2022, the Secretariat of the Ministerial Task Force on Trafficking in Persons and the Ministry of Home Affairs conducted a series of training and awareness-raising activities, including: (i) training activities for immigration officers, police groups, wardens, and other officials; (ii) the development of a standard operating procedure for trafficking in persons investigations; and (iii) the development of a gender responsive training manual. The Committee encourages the Government to pursue its efforts to prevent and combat trafficking in persons, including within the framework of the National Action Plan for 2021–25. In this regard, it requests the Government to provide information on the monitoring of the implementation of the National Action Plan undertaken by the Ministerial Task Force, indicating the results achieved, the challenges identified, and the measures envisaged to overcome them.

(b) Identification and protection of victims. The Committee notes that Act No. 7 of 2023 provides for the creation of a counter-trafficking in persons unit within the Ministry of Human Services and Social Security, which is tasked with the protection and assistance of victims of trafficking. Furthermore, the Act provides that the court shall order the perpetrator to pay restitution to the victim (section 7.1); that victims and their dependent children shall be granted visas to permit them to remain in Guyana (section 27.1) as well as appropriate services (including housing, medical assistance, training opportunities, legal assistance), and any other support as required. It also stipulates that the competent Ministries and authorities shall collaborate to develop measures for the safe return of victims to their countries of citizenship or residence (section art. 30). The Committee requests the Government to continue taking measures to ensure the proper identification and protection of victims of trafficking in persons, and to specify the activities undertaken by the counter-trafficking in persons unit in this regard. It also requests the Government to provide statistical data on the number, gender, age and characteristics of persons identified as victims and the type of assistance provided in accordance with Act No. 7 of 2023.

(c) Prosecution and application of penal sanctions. The Committee takes note of the Government’s information that from 2017 to March 2022, a total of 148 reports were made to the Police Force, 81 charges were filed, of which 48 were trafficking in persons charges and there were six convictions. In 2019, an offender was sentenced to 15 years’ imprisonment and in 2020 another offender was sentenced to five years’ imprisonment and ordered to pay restitution of GY 1.5 million to the victim. The Government states that it has carried out investigations in 38 cases in 2020, involving 57 suspects, 46 for sex trafficking and 11 for labour trafficking. In 2022 the police prosecuted three suspected traffickers, one for sex trafficking and two for labour trafficking. The Committee requests the Government to continue providing information on the cases in which the law enforcement bodies have detected situations of trafficking in persons, the investigations carried out, and the manner in which collaboration is ensured among law enforcement bodies (police authorities, labour inspection and judiciary). The Committee also requests the Government to continue to provide information on the number of judicial proceedings initiated and convictions handed down under Act No. 7 of 2023.

2. Vulnerable situation of migrant workers with regard to the exaction of forced labour. In relation to the measures taken to ensure that migrant workers are fully protected from abusive practices and conditions that amount to forced labour, the Government states that it has adopted and implemented a humanitarian approach to migrants coming from Venezuela. The Government has created a Multi-Agency Coordination Committee to address the influx of migrants from Venezuela and provide them with the necessary assistance and access to health and education service without discrimination. The Committee notes that according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs website, the Government has established registration and regularization services for migrants from Venezuela. According to the website, the registration process will facilitate easier access to some services that the Government of Guyana provides to the migrants from Venezuela. The Committee also notes that, according to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime’s (UNODC) Global Report on Trafficking in Persons of 2022, there has been an increase in trafficking for forced labour with Venezuelan citizens representing 56 per cent of the victims. Moreover, according to the UNHCR factsheets (January-March 2024 and April-June 2024) Guyana hosts 22,677 forcibly displaced Venezuelans. The Minister of Labour announced the development of an initiative to ensure Venezuelans living in the country receive training and certification to join the local labour force.

The Committee takes due note of the measures taken and encourages the Government to pursue its efforts to assist migrant workers and to ensure that they are provided with information on their rights, on the risks of becoming victims of abusive practices and practices amounting to forced labour, and on the mechanisms available to ascertain their rights. It requests the Government to indicate the specific measures taken to strengthen the monitoring of the conditions of work in the sectors in which migrant workers are most employed, with a view to proactively identifying any situation of forced labour, and to provide statistical data on the results of the inspections carried out. The Committee also refers to its comments under the Migration for Employment Convention, 1949 (No. 97).