4 Underage Brazilian Girls Smuggled to Guyana Found and Placed in Protective Care

…GPF starts investigation

A joint investigation has been launched by law enforcement authorities in Guyana and Brazil into the alleged smuggling and trafficking of four underage Brazilian girls to Guyana.
According to reports received, the girls between the ages of 14 and 17 were illegally transported across the border for the purpose of exploitation.
Therefore, the Trafficking in Persons (TIP) and Migrant Smuggling Unit (MSU), in partnership with local law enforcement officials and Human Services and Social Security, conducted an operation to safely locate, identify and place the alleged victims into protective care.
This operation was successfully performed between August 4 and 7, 2024.
The Department of Human Services’ C-TIP unit, in partnership with the Child Care and Protection Agency (CCPA), has begun providing counseling, medical care, psychosocial support and other essential services to the alleged victims.
The Ministry of the Interior reaffirms its commitment to the safety and protection of all persons, both locals and foreigners, with special attention to vulnerable groups such as minors.
In addition, the Guyana Police Force (GPF) has launched an extensive investigation into the circumstances surrounding the incident, with the aim of identifying and prosecuting the perpetrators involved.
Only recently, the U.S. State Department’s 2024 TIP Report revealed that the Government of Guyana has stepped up its anti-trafficking (TIP) prosecution efforts.
In 2023, the report noted that 77 TIP cases were filed under the Combating Trafficking of Persons Act of 2023, resulting in the arrest of ten suspects, seven of whom were charged. This reflected an increase from 2022, when there were 28 cases.
The prescribed penalties under the revised 2023 law include five years to life imprisonment, expanded criminal liability for corporations, and explicitly includes the use of children for the production and distribution of narcotics within the definition of drug trafficking.
The law also defines human trafficking broadly to include illegal adoption without the purpose of exploitation.
In addition, the report noted that prosecutions against three alleged traffickers were initiated under other laws, including the Protection of Children Act for employing a child where alcohol was sold, the Summary Jurisdiction (Offences) Act for keeping a commercial sex establishment, and the Sexual Offence Act and Summary Jurisdiction (Offences Act) for sexual and bodily harm to a child under 16. This compares with two prosecutions under other laws in 2022.
Despite these steps in tackling this crime, the U.S. Department of State stressed that the GPF Counter-Trafficking (C-TIP) Unit and the GPF Prosecution Unit do not have the appropriate budgetary allocations to carry out their duties. The GPF C-TIP Unit investigates only human trafficking cases, while the Prosecution Unit manages preliminary hearings for crimes – including human trafficking – in the Magistrates Court.