The exploitation of our children by
foreign forestry workers
Kaieteur News, 14 April 2007
In a letter in the Kaieteur News (13th Jan, 2007, Titled: ‘Protect the
children of Guyana from Predators'), 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 in Guyana .
Dr. Gail Whiteman in her book (Chapter 11, pages 180 to 204) titled:
“Forestry, Gold Mining and Amerindians: The Troubling Example of
Samling in Guyana ” (in “International businesses and the challenges of
poverty in the developing world,” wrote (page 190): ‘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 One 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 overnight 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 One, the focus of this study, 95 per cent of local
Amerindians live in extreme poverty (IMF, 2000). The majority of the
Amerindians is illiterate and has limited access to higher education
(Government of Guyana, 1996).
“Amerindian women are particularly susceptible to the impacts of
poverty. A report commissioned by the National Commission on Women in
Guyana identified Amerindian women as one of the most economically,
socially, politically and culturally marginalized groups in Guyana
(National Commission on Women, 2001).”
In addition, The Guyana Human Rights Association's (GHRA) reports
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 One (with the most reported cases). (That
is, sexual violence highest against girls 12 to 16 years - GHRA study
finds – is about three-fold higher in Amerindian Girls of Region One.
(Thursday, March 8th 2007, SN)
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 are going on 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.
How do the abuse and sexual exploitation of local Guyanese children,
build community relations? Is this not the beginning of a most
destructive cycle of our children?
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 – leaving the devastating social and
health consequences, personal tragedies, etc. for this impoverished
nation to correct.
What kind of a nation is Guyana that allows this to happen in this day
and age? Have we sunk so low that we cannot even protect our children
from predators?
I remember reading (during my childhood days) some work of Dr (Cheddi)
Jagan, where he mentioned that the “Indian women/indentured servants”
were good enough to be used to warm the beds/bodies of the plantation
overseers, but were not good enough to be made wives or given legal
standings.
The situation is worse here. These are children being used, abused, and
discarded. How can this be right? I cannot see how the late Dr Jagan,
Ms. Janet Jagan, and the PPP of yesteryear would condone these current
violations of our children, especially when they stood up so valiantly
on the side of the victims of abuse in the aftermath of the Rupununi
Uprising.
In my humble opinion, that was one of their finest hours of the PPP of
yesteryear. They always stood up for the underprivileged and the
downtrodden. Where is the PPP of today, and why does it fail to address
these issues?
The allowing of this disgraceful exploitation of children will probably
be recorded as one of the current PPP Govt.'s most shameful acts.
Similarly, previously the female slaves were called in to gratify the
sexual lusts and pleasures of their owners, and then discarded. Today,
we rightly condemned these heinous acts of yesteryear. Why are our
voices silent now on the current acts of evil? Should our voices not be
raised in protest?
We proudly claim our ancestry to those who fought the battles of
yesteryear, but are silent and/or ignore the battles against the
injustices of our own time. Where are the voices of protest by the
current PNC? Where are the young vibrant voices of the GYSM? Are the
exploited children (Amerindian) not youths and students? Or is that
they are now being viewed as Children of a lesser god like our own
ancestral mothers?
Dr Gail Whiteman's work continues to document the abuse, exploitation,
degradation, and impoverishment of Guyanese women and children with
impunity (by foresters and miners) in their own country. Her work
supports and extends the findings of Dr Marcus Colchester. It is a must
read for all Guyanese who should know what is going on in their home
country.
I can quote more of this work, but the readings are so depressing that
it may not be suitable for a family newspaper. We might be too
embarrassed to hear the questions of our children – e.g. Daddy/Mommy,
how can we allow this to happen here?
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 that all the various groups that speak for children to take up
this challenge and speak out. We can no longer be silent. I also expect
all those (local and foreign) organizations and individuals who support
SN in its struggles to also do the same for even more vulnerable
victims - children. Our leaders are busy fighting for power, and in the
mean time our resources and children are being plundered and ravaged!
This is a human rights issue - the abuse and exploitation of Children.
The officials who should be aware of this and have done nothing should
also be charged with negligence or dereliction of duty. The sign must
be up that no one is allowed to exploit any of our children anywhere in
this country!
Seelochan Beharry
Editor's note :
Efforts to secure a comment for Barama failed. However, Kaieteur News
is prepared to accept a reaction from the timber company
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