Head of State, President Donald Ramotar has lashed out at the United States for painting Guyana in a bad light, following the revelation of the Trafficking in Persons [TIP] report.
The US has come in for heavy criticism from the Guyana government every time it releases its TIP Report for the country.
According to Ramotar, Guyana is unjustly judged and ranked in several key areas by the United States government, notably in its ability to combat TIP.
The President made the remarks yesterday at the inaugural Guyana Investment Conference at the Guyana International Conference Center.
The Head of State said that he has looked at the annual US State Department Report and found that it cited that developed nations have similar issues.
“According to the report, the United States has far worse versions of the same challenges that we face”. This was expected due to the fact that the US was much bigger, he noted.
He said that US was cited for having some of its officials being found complicit, in their involvement in human trafficking and child prostitution.
“Can you imagine if this were to happen in Guyana, what would be said about us? Yet the US is ranked at Tier 1 and Guyana at Tier 2”.
The “Tier” ranking refers to how countries are graded for their efforts to combat various issues.
The latest report again placed Guyana on the Tier 2 Watch List. The report states that the Government does not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking; however, it is making significant efforts to do so.
The Head of State said that he does not believe that a lot of the information contained in the report is true as information that is passed seems not to be used, but other sources may be utilised.
