Monday, February 27, 2023

TO TRAFFIC OR NOT TO TRAFFIC - SAVING THE VICTIMS

 I confess that I am totally confused. You see, the Prime Minister said in Parliament on Friday (24th February) that there was a report that contained evidence that certain Parliamentarians were engaged in the despicable practice of trafficking in children and women. For the record, in my view trafficking in people is simply another word for slavery. The persons being used in this awful manner simply have no choice. It is exploitation at its worst! The PM went on to say that no Parliamentarian on his side was so engaged, giving the inescapable conclusion that all of the Parliamentarians so engaged in this horrible were on the UNC side.

My confusion is not from the statement that apparently (according to Dr. Rowley) there are some UNC Parliamentarians who are engaged in this god-awful practice, but that apparently (if all concerned are telling the truth) that nothing has been done about it. Nobody has been charged and if there have been any investigations, these were all on "the down-low". Nobody has ever said what investigations have taken place, nor by whom, nor when! But then a former UNC Government Minister who has been fiercely publicly critical of his former political leader has added fuel to the fire by saying that he knew about this sometime ago and he has said both that there was indeed a report when he was a Minister that was covered up because it named (UNC) people. Mr. Maharaj's intervention was widely seen as being not only supportive of the Prime Minister but as confirmation that the PM was telling the truth! But then a reasonable question would be why didn't he (Maharaj) do something about it when he was a Minister and had the power? One can be forgiven in questioning whether or not he is telling the truth. And if he says that he wasn't allowed to, that explanation simply can't hold water. He could have resigned and said why he was resigning. That would have certainly been more believable!

But if the PM is not lying, then why hasn't anything been done by his Government about this trafficking? I mean, if you know that trafficking is going on, and has been for some time, then what have you done about it and when did you do it?  And if the answer is 'nothing' then the next question is why not? Have you saved anybody? And if not, why not? And if so, who did you save and when? Do you know the names of the other victims that you haven't saved? I could go on, but hopefully you get the point.

This whole story seems to come apart when serious questions are being asked and no explanations or answers are given, Why (assuming that the American report on trafficking is true - and I do believe that it is) has nothing apparently been done? No right thinking person regardless of his/her political persuasion could ever condone (even in the slightest) this reported type of behaviour. And this is coming out now when Dr. Rowley et al have been in power for almost EIGHT years!? Why didn't they do something before?

No! Something is wrong and the rather obvious political games being played by all of the actors on both sides are not helping. This matter is too serious to be wept under the carpet. Either there is trafficking or there is not! And if there is, at the very least find the women and children being trafficked and save them.  We can look for the evidence against the perpetrators of this horrible crime AFTER WE SAVE THE VICTIMS. But the most important thing right now is to save the victims.  And if anybody knows about this let them come forward now! 

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