Guyana dismissed human trafficking report

A Guyana government official has dismissed the just released US government report on human trafficking.



The report gives Guyana a Tier Two ranking, which means the nation has been deemed as not increasing efforts to combat human trafficking over the past year.



The document also suggests there are a significant number of trafficking victims.



Minister of Labour and Social Security, Priya Manikchand, said in its 2009 report the US State Department acknowledged that Guyana was making significant efforts to combat human trafficking.



She also said there are ongoing public awareness programmes on human trafficking as well as training for officers to deal with the crime.



The minister denied that there was any evidence of a significant number of victims, adding that Guyana’s ranking was therefore unjustified.