Guyana retains Tier 1 trafficking status but gaps remain in labour oversight
Guyana kept its Tier 1 ranking in the 2025 U.S. Trafficking in Persons Report, with one sex trafficker convicted and prosecutions rising, but oversight of Chinese and Cuban labour agreements fell short.
Guyana maintains top anti-trafficking tier despite labour-screening failures
According to state.gov's 2025 Trafficking in Persons Report, the Government of Guyana fully meets the minimum standards for the elimination of human trafficking and has retained its Tier 1 ranking for the current reporting period.
The report credits the government with convicting one sex trafficker, increasing prosecutions, and working alongside foreign governments to investigate trafficking cases. Authorities also identified more victims than in the previous cycle, significantly raised funding for protection and prevention, and conducted extensive awareness campaigns and training.
Prosecution activity rises, convictions remain limited
Investigators opened 31 new cases during the reporting period — 19 for sex trafficking and 12 for labour trafficking — involving 28 suspects. That compares with 77 cases involving 10 suspects in 2023. Ten investigations were carried over from prior periods, up from two the year before.
Of the 28 suspects, three were charged under the Combating Trafficking of Persons Act of 2023; the remaining 25 were not charged due to insufficient evidence. Authorities initiated prosecutions of three alleged traffickers — two men and one woman — for sex trafficking across six cases under the 2023 law.
One male defendant faced one count of child sex trafficking, as well as charges under the Sexual Offences Act and the Summary Jurisdiction (Offences) Act for harm against a child younger than 16. A second male defendant was charged with two counts of complicity in sex trafficking. The female defendant faced three counts of sex trafficking, one involving a child. A fourth suspect was charged under the Sexual Offences Act, a non-trafficking statute.
Courts convicted one female sex trafficker under the 2023 anti-trafficking law — the same number as in 2023 — sentencing her to four years' imprisonment and ordering her to pay 1.5 million Guyanese dollars (approximately $6,977) in restitution. A labour trafficker convicted in the previous period received a two-month sentence under a non-trafficking law. One suspected sex trafficker was acquitted; charges against one suspected labour trafficker were dismissed.
The government cooperated with two foreign governments on trafficking investigations, resulting in the arrest of two suspects and the identification of five victims.
The 2023 anti-trafficking law and its scope
The Combating Trafficking of Persons Act of 2023 repealed the earlier 2005 legislation. It criminalises both sex and labour trafficking, prescribes penalties ranging from five years to life imprisonment, extends criminal liability to corporations, and explicitly includes the use of children in the production and distribution of narcotics within the definition of trafficking. The law also broadened the definition of trafficking to encompass illegal adoption even where no exploitation is intended. Enacted in June 2023, it raised penalties above those set by the earlier statute.
Gaps in labour agreement oversight
Despite the Tier 1 designation, state.gov identified several areas of concern. The government did not vet labour agreements with the Chinese government for trafficking vulnerabilities and had not yet begun vetting labour agreements with the Cuban regime. Authorities also did not adequately screen Chinese nationals or Cuban regime-affiliated workers for trafficking indicators, nor conduct sufficient inspections of their worksites.
Additional shortcomings noted in the report include inadequate oversight of recruitment agencies, the persistence of worker-paid recruitment and placement fees, insufficient screening for trafficking victims in the country's interior, and weak enforcement of court-ordered restitution payments to victims.
Police unit under scrutiny
The report states that no new investigations, prosecutions, or convictions of government officials for complicity in trafficking were recorded. While observers reported no direct cases of police involvement in trafficking, they noted that low-level corruption within the force affected some victims.
Authorities investigated officers in the Guyana Police Force (GPF) Counter-Trafficking Unit — known as the C-TIP Unit — after a confidential victim statement was published on social media. The officer responsible was identified, demoted, and removed from the unit.
The GPF C-TIP Unit handles all trafficking investigations exclusively but operates without a dedicated budget. The GPF Cyber Crime Unit monitors for online trafficking offences and refers cases to the C-TIP Unit. The Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) prosecutes felony-level trafficking cases at High Court, while the GPF Prosecution Unit manages preliminary hearings in the Magistrates Court.
Police prosecutors in the GPF Prosecution Unit are not licensed attorneys, though some hold law degrees and have received specialised training. The government advises GPF prosecutors to consult the DPP before initiating proceedings to strengthen cases, but state.gov notes this guidance was not consistently followed.
The anti-trafficking act requires victim testimony in prosecutions. The DPP, the Ministry of Human Services and Social Security, and NGOs have noted that some victims choose not to participate in proceedings — a factor that, according to the report, continues to affect the government's ability to secure convictions.
Source: Google News GY — Crime