Churches, human rights groups must speak out against the exploitation
of children
Stabroek News,
Monday, April 2nd 2007
Dear Editor,
In a recent letter captioned 'Protect the children of Guyana from
predators' (KN 07.01.13) I had written: "The children of any nation are
its most prized possessions/assets. It is therefore every
citizen/parent's responsibility to do everything possible to protect
our children from danger." That letter was written in the hope that
Guyana would take precautions to avoid one of the most undesirable
evils of the tourist traffic, that is, the sexual exploitation of our
children. Little did I realize that my warning was already too late for
some of our most vulnerable children.
Dr Gail Whiteman in Chapter 11 titled: "Forestry, Gold Mining and
Amerindians: The Troubling Example of Samling in Guyana" of her book
"International businesses and the challenges of poverty in the
developing world," wrote:
"Direct impacts of Barama (Samling is the parent Company of Barama).
Interviews indicate that the economic benefits for local Amerindians
from large-scale forestry were not significant…Moreover, despite
community expectations of improved health care, as reported in the
Edinburgh Centre for Tropical Forests (ECTF) study, the health
situation for Amerindians in Region 1 has remained problematic.
Amerindians also continue to lack proper education facilities. While
Port Kaituma did have a school and Amerindian teachers, they were
poorly paid and under-utilized. Social problems related to the alleged
sexual exploitation of young Amerindian girls by Barama employees also
were reported in interviews: 'It happened in this community, not with
mining but with the Barama Company. They take the young girls and stay
over night and bring them back to school.' 'I heard that they take rude
pictures…''It's true. It's the Malaysians [from Barama] that do these
things…The young girls are kicked out of school…These Malaysians
take these young Amerindian girls and leave them pregnant.'"
These actions make a bad situation even worse: Dr. G. Whiteman wrote: -
"Extreme poverty follows ethnic heritage, Amerindians being by far the
poorest; 88 per cent of Guyana's Amerindians live below the poverty
line. In Region 1, the focus of this study, 95 per cent of local
Amerindians live in extreme poverty (IMF, 2000).
In addition, The Guyana Human Rights Association's (GHRA) report called
'Without Conviction,' and its most recent study titled: 'Getting
Serious: Detecting and Protecting Against crimes of sexual violence in
Guyana' revealed that sexual violence against girls is most prevalent
among girls under 16 years, and that young Amerindian girls between
ages 12 and 16 years are the most vulnerable in the country, especially
in Region 1 (with the most reported cases).
In the Western hemisphere, if an employee is sexually harassed at the
work place, the employer can be held legally responsible. How can
Barama not know that children were being exploited by its imported
foreign workers? If the company's executives do not know that their
employees are breaking the laws of Guyana, then is it not fair to ask
what other illegalities they do not know about in their business
operations? If they do know what is going on at their company's
premises, then why were/are these legal, ethical, and internationally
abhorrent and illegal practices not stopped? Why are the Barama Company
and its executives not being held responsible for violations by their
employees of Guyanese law? Why are Barama's employees allowed to
violate the most sacred laws of any modern country - the sexual and
physical abuse of its children?
In addition, these are clear violations of the Forestry Stewardship
Council (FSC) principles: For example - Principle #1: Compliance with
Laws and FSC principles: Forest management shall respect all applicable
laws of the country in which they occur, and international treaties and
agreements to which the country is a signatory, and comply with all FSC
Principles and Criteria. (Guyana is a signatory to the Convention of
the Rights of the Child (CRC), and therefore, Guyana also has an
international obligation to take preventative action in regard to
preventing the abuse and exploitation of its children.)
Secondly, FSC Principle #4: Community relations and workers' rights.
Forest management operations shall maintain or enhance the long-term
social and economic well being of forest workers and local communities.
From the abovementioned research of Dr Gail Whiteman and recent
revelations in the local press, not only does Barama Company Ltd
exploit the forests, but its employees exploit our children for their
gratification and entertainment.
If we cannot find common ground and speak up for vulnerable children,
then we are not worthy of being a nation and deserve the disrespect we
get from our own Caricom community brethren and also from the
international community. I expect all the various groups that speak for
children to take up this challenge and speak out. We can no longer be
silent.
Yours faithfully,
Seelochan Beharry
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