Committee on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families
List of issues prior to submission of the second periodic report of Guyana *
Section I
A.General information
1.Please provide information on the domestic legal framework regarding the Convention, including:
(a)Laws adopted or amended since the adoption of the previous concluding observations concerning the State Party regarding the protection of migrant workers and members of their families and the steps taken towards harmonizing existing laws with the Convention;
(b)Measures taken to align the State Party’s existing laws, in particular articles containing discriminatory terminology, with the Convention and other human rights treaties, so that the rights of all migrant workers and members of their families are fully guaranteed in law and in practice (para. 9);
(c)The existence and scope of bilateral and multilateral agreements concluded with other countries pertaining to the rights of migrant workers and members of their families under the Convention, including with India, China, Suriname and Cuba, as well as how these agreements protect migrant workers’ rights in transit and destination countries, in particular with respect to detention, repatriation, expulsion and family reunification procedures (para. 55).
2.Please describe measures taken to adopt a comprehensive national migration or labour migration policy or strategy that encompasses all rights enshrined in the Convention, including its current status, implementation timeline and the roles of relevant government institutions in its development, such as the Immigration Support Services within the Ministry of Home Affairs (para. 13).
3.Please provide information on the development of national asylum and refugee legislation and procedures in Guyana, including refugee status determination processes, and measures to support asylum-seekers arriving in the country, particularly those from Haiti and Venezuela (Bolivarian Republic of). Please also address obstacles to obtaining legal status and accessing basic social services, as well as barriers to employment that may increase vulnerability to sexual and labour exploitation and trafficking, particularly among migrant women and children from the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela.
4.Please inform the Committee about the technical, human, and financial resources dedicated to support services for migrants. The Committee notes that some of these responsibilities are currently borne by United Nations agencies and non-governmental organizations.
5.Please provide information on efforts to strengthen inter-institutional coordination mechanisms for migration governance, including among the Ministry of Labour and Manpower Planning, the Ministry of Home Affairs, the Immigration Support Services, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Diaspora and Remigration Unit, the Statistical Unit, and the Occupational Safety and Health Unit. Please also elaborate on how these entities coordinate with other labour administration services to develop, mainstream and implement labour migration governance, particularly at regional and hinterland levels (para. 15).
6.Please clarify the mandate, composition and outputs of the Multi-Agency Coordinating Committee, established in response to the influx of migrants from the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela into Guyana. Please also share details on efforts to establish a broader institutional coordination mechanism encompassing all migrants, including those originating from countries other than the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela.
7.Please inform the Committee of:
(a)The roles and mandates of the five constitutional rights commissions established under the Constitution on ethnic relations, women and gender equality, the rights of the child, Indigenous Peoples and human rights and whether they have an explicit mandate to address complaints submitted by migrant workers and members of their families;
(b)The status of the Human Rights Commission in becoming operational as an independent national human rights institution in accordance with the principles relating to the status of national institutions for the promotion and protection of human rights (the Paris Principles), including the reasons for the continued vacancy of the Chair position, as well as information on its budget, staffing and mandate (para. 19).
8.Please describe measures taken by the State Party to develop and promote education, training and capacity-building programmes, particularly pre-departure orientation programmes, that raise awareness and understanding of the Convention among relevant stakeholders, including officials, migrant workers and their families and the general public. Please also indicate whether civil society organizations, workers’ associations, trade unions and the media, are involved in these efforts (para. 21).
9.Please provide information on initiatives to amend the Recruitment of Workers Act (No. 9 of 1943) and the Employment Exchanges Act (No. 21 of 1944) to incorporate provisions prohibiting employers, recruiters, and labour agents from charging excessive recruitment fees to workers, altering contracts without their consent, or withholding wages in order to compel their service.
10.Please indicate what progress has been made towards:
(a)Making the declarations provided for in article 76 of the Convention recognizing the competence of the Committee to receive and consider State-to-State communications and/or the declaration under article 77 of the Convention recognizing the competence of the Committee to receive and consider individual communications (para. 10);
(b)Ratifying the following International Labour Organization (ILO) instruments that are relevant to the protection of the rights of migrant workers and members of their families:
(i)Migration for Employment Convention (Revised), 1949 (No. 97);
(ii)Migrant Workers (Supplementary Provisions) Convention, 1975 (No. 143);
(iii)Promotional Framework for Occupational Safety and Health Convention, 2006 (No. 187);
(iv)Protocol of 2014 to the Forced Labour Convention, 1930 (No. 29);
(v)Employment Policy Convention, 1964 (No. 122);
(vi)Violence and Harassment Convention, 2019 (No. 190);
(c)Ratifying the Convention on the Status of Refugees and the Protocol relating to the Status of Refugees, given the mixed migration flows affecting the State Party.
B.Information relating to the articles of the Convention
1.General principles
11.Please provide information on:
(a)Reporting channels and redress mechanisms available to migrant workers, including the respective roles and mandates of the Office of the Ombudsman, the Ministry of Labour and Manpower Planning, the constitutional rights commissions, the Police Complaints Authority and the national courts;
(b)Measures taken to strengthen the investigative capacity of the Office of the Ombudsman;
(c)Steps taken to ensure effective access to justice for all migrant workers, including measures to remove legal, practical and administrative barriers that may prevent them from reporting abuses and violations;
(d)Availability of interpretation and translation services within these mechanisms (para. 29).
12.Please inform the Committee of measures to allocate sufficient resources to improve access to justice for migrant workers, in particular migrant women, including addressing the shortage of legal aid clinics in rural regions, the long distances to courts in hinterland areas and limited awareness of laws and available procedures.
2.Part II of the Convention
Article 7
13.Please describe the measures taken, including legislative measures, to ensure that all migrant workers and members of their families in the State Party or subject to its jurisdiction, whether or not they are in a regular situation, enjoy the rights provided for in the Convention without distinction of any kind and whether all prohibited grounds of discrimination enumerated in the Convention (arts. 1 (1) and 7), including sex, language, national, ethnic or social origin, nationality, age, economic position, disability, property, marital status, birth or other status, are covered. Please also provide information on all steps taken by the State Party to ensure protection of labour rights in all matters relating to migration policy, both in law and in practice (para. 27).
14.Please provide information on steps taken to review and amend the Prevention of Discrimination Act (No. 26 of 1997) to prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity in employment.
3.Part III of the Convention
Articles 8–15
15.Please provide information on any cases identified in the State Party of exploitation of migrant workers and members of their families, in both regular and irregular situations, in particular those working in mining, agriculture, domestic services, construction and forestry. Please also provide information specifically on cases identified in the State Party of domestic servitude, forced labour and sexual exploitation, including commercial sexual exploitation, involving migrant workers, in particular women and children, and on measures to prevent and combat these phenomena. Please indicate measures taken to bring national legislation into compliance with the Forced Labour Convention, 1930 (No. 29), and the Abolition of Forced Labour Convention, 1957 (No. 105) (para. 33).
16.Please inform the Committee of:
(a)Measures taken to ensure the protection of the rights of migrant children, particularly those who are unaccompanied, in an irregular situation or in transit, including protection from all forms of exploitation, as well as legislative and other measures to implement the Worst Forms of Child Labour Convention, 1999 (No. 182), and to strengthen the labour inspection system in accordance with the Labour Inspection Convention, 1947 (No. 81) (para. 53);
(b)Measures to amend national legislation to prohibit hazardous work for children, particularly article 2 of Part 1 of the Employment of Young Persons and Children Act (No. 14 of 1933), which set the minimum age for hazardous work at 16 and allow night work in industrial activities, and to fully prohibit sexual exploitation of children, including exploitation of children for prostitution, in law;
(c)The number of migrant children in street situations who are at heightened risk of violence and sexual exploitation, as well as information on measures to develop programmes addressing the root causes and ensuring access to appropriate support services;
(d)Measures taken to amend the Immigration Act (No. 42 of 1947) to ensure that children who are dependents of a prohibited immigrant are not discriminated against.
17.Please provide information on reported cases of migrant women and children, particularly from Venezuela (Bolivarian Republic of), Haiti, Suriname, the Dominican Republic, Cuba and Brazil, of being forced into sex exploitation, particularly in mining communities due to limited economic opportunities, and on measures taken to prevent gender-based violence and exploitation, as well as the protection measures available in informal and remote employment settings.
18.Please clarify how the Sexual Offences and Domestic Violence Policy Unit within the Ministry of Human Services and Social Security addresses gender-based violence against migrant women and children. In particular, describe how the Unit coordinates with the National Domestic Violence Oversight Committee, the National Task Force for the Prevention of Sexual Violence and the Gender Affairs Bureau in this regard. Please also include details on the human, technical and financial resources allocated to these bodies to ensure effective coordination and implementation of the Domestic Violence Act (No. 18 of 1996) and the Sexual Offences Act (No. 7 of 2010) with respect to migrant women and children.
19.Please provide information on measures to strengthen the institutional framework to combat corruption, including high-level corruption and corruption in the police force, as pertaining to migrant workers, particularly in the management of natural resources, and the work carried out by the Special Organized Crime Unit of the Guyana Police Force, which has primary responsibility for investigating financial crimes (para. 25).
20.Please describe steps taken to investigate complaints from migrant workers and members of their families of harassment, corruption and abuse of authority by law enforcement officials, including allegations of extortion and arbitrary detention, with regard to migrant workers and members of their families. Please indicate the number of complaints received and investigated since the adoption of the previous concluding observations, as well as the number of law enforcement officials who have been investigated, prosecuted and convicted in this regard, specifying the nature of the charges made and sentences imposed.
21.Please inform the Committee on measures to mitigate the human rights impacts of the ongoing expansion of oil and gas extraction on migrants working in these industries. Please also outline efforts to advance climate justice and to address gaps in the disaster management framework, including the Disaster Risk Management Policy (2016), in order to ensure that migrant workers and members of their families can enjoy the right to a healthy environment without discrimination.
Articles 16–22
22.Please provide information on reported cases of abuse of authority, detention and sexual exploitation of migrants by border officials, including police and defence forces, as well as on any investigations, prosecutions or disciplinary measures taken. Please also describe due process safeguards at borders, including access to information, legal assistance and remedies, and outline the establishment, mandate and training of the Border Patrol Unit launched in 2026, particularly with regard to the rights enshrined in the Convention. In addition, please indicate measures taken to ensure that migration-related security measures, such as screening, registration, documentation and increased border patrols, fully respect the human rights of migrant workers and members of their families (para. 31).
23.Please provide disaggregated data on migrant workers and members of their families that are detained for immigration-related reasons, as well as the length and conditions of detention, in accordance with the revised United Nations Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners (the Nelson Mandela Rules), as well as expulsion and removal decisions. Please explain how migrant workers subject to expulsion are informed of and able to exercise their right to appeal and what judicial or administrative remedies are available.
24.Please indicate measures taken to adopt legal provisions recognizing the principle of non-refoulement.
Article 23
25.Please clarify the legal, institutional and practical measures in place to ensure that Guyanese migrant workers and members of their families abroad are informed of and able to effectively exercise their right to recourse to consular protection, in particular in cases of arrest, detention, expulsion or removal proceedings, labour exploitation, trafficking in persons or other serious abuses, including information on the mandates, resources, training and protocols of consular services, data collected on requests for assistance and outcomes, and cooperation mechanisms with receiving States (para. 39).
Articles 25–30
26.Please inform the Committee of the following:
(a)Measures taken to expedite work permit procedures, particularly in hinterland regions, and measures to address reports of recruitment firms charging application costs;
(b)Measures to facilitate the regularization of migrant workers’ status, including addressing language barriers and complex procedures, particularly in hinterland areas (para. 33);
(c)The coordination between the Ministry of Labour and Manpower Planning and the Ministry of Home Affairs, which oversee work permits and security matters relating to migrant workers.
27.The Committee notes that the State Party grants three-month stay permits to migrants displaced from neighbouring countries; however, these permits do not authorize legal employment. Please provide information on measures taken to amend this framework to grant migrants access to the regular labour market.
28.Please inform the Committee of:
(a)Inspections and sanctions related to the labour exploitation of migrant workers, particularly in mining, construction, agriculture and domestic work, as well as across the informal sector, and measures to increase inspections in high-risk worksites for trafficking, including in the mining and logging industries (para. 33);
(b)The role of the Ministry of Labour and Manpower Planning in enforcing laws on wages, working hours and occupational safety and health for migrant workers, including efforts to increase the number of labour inspectors and their authority to impose sanctions, as well as measures to address reported wage and working hour violations and ensure that penalties are proportionate and deterrent.
29.Please clarify the progress in establishing a national labour committee and whether its mandate would include the rights of migrant workers and members of their families.
30.Please provide information on the registration of births and the issuance of identification documents for migrant workers and members of their families, as well as on efforts to increase the human, technical and financial resources allocated to civil registration and citizenship services, including the General Registrar’s Office and mobile units, particularly in hinterland and border areas (para. 43).
31.Please provide details on:
(a)The development of a comprehensive strategic framework for social protection and the inclusion of migrant workers and members of their families;
(b)Migrant workers’ access to social security schemes, including the Old Age Pension and the National Insurance Scheme, including for returning Guyanese, as well as the availability and accessibility of application procedures, including in languages applicable for migrant workers.
32.Please outline measures taken to facilitate migrant workers and members of their families’ access to healthcare and education, including access to information, particularly in hinterland and mining regions. Please also describe measures to address language barriers across public services pertaining to migrant workers, including the provision of interpretation and translation in the health, education and justice sectors.
33.Please provide disaggregated data on the number of migrant children enrolled in public education, as well as information on initiatives carried out by the Migrant Education Support Unit for migrant children (para. 45).
34.Please describe measures taken to prevent situations of statelessness by ensuring that all individuals have access to a nationality. Please also clarify whether the State Party envisage acceding to the Convention relating to the Status of Stateless Persons and the Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness (para. 43).
35.Please provide information on amending section 2 (3) of the Equal Rights Act (No. 19 of 1990) to bring it into conformity with the principle of equal remuneration for work of equal value set out in the Equal Remuneration Convention, 1951 (No. 100) and with the Prevention of Discrimination Act (No. 26 of 1997) (para. 41).
4.Part IV of the Convention
Article 37
36.Please indicate measures taken to fully inform migrant workers and members of their families prior to departure of all conditions applicable to their admission, stay and the remunerated activities in which they may engage, as well as applicable laws and legislation of the State of origin and of employment. Please specify which government institutions are responsible for providing such information and if any coordinated policies, programmes or legislation have been developed to ensure transparency and accountability in the process (para. 47).
Article 40
37.Please provide information on steps taken to guarantee to migrant workers and members of their families the right to form, and be part of the executive bodies of, associations and trade unions, in accordance with article 40 of the Convention and parts I and II of the ILO Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organise Convention, 1948 (No. 87).
Article 41
38.Please provide updated information on the measures taken by the State Party to make it easier for its nationals residing and working abroad, including dual nationals, to exercise the right to vote and to be elected to public office in the State Party (para. 49).
Articles 46–48
39.Please inform the Committee of the development of policies and regulations to establish fair fees and rates for the transfer of migrants’ earnings and savings, as well as measures taken to reduce the high transaction costs of remittances to Guyana, in line with target 10.c of the Sustainable Development Goals (para. 51).
Articles 49–52
40.Please clarify whether migrant workers are permitted to freely choose and change their remunerated activity and whether there are any restrictions placed on the categories of employment, functions, services or activities that migrant workers can undertake, including the reasons for such restrictions.
5.Part VI of the Convention
Article 64
41.Please indicate the measures taken, including consultations and cooperation with other States, to promote sound, equitable and humane conditions in connection with the international migration of migrant workers and members of their families, including through multilateral and bilateral agreements, and policies and programmes. Please include information on how such measures have been mainstreamed in overall migration policies and programmes and whether there has been a reduction in the number of violations of the rights of migrant workers and members of their families as a result of such measures (para. 55).
42.Please inform the Committee of initiatives to conclude bilateral or multilateral labour agreements for the recruitment of international workers, in particular in key sectors such as oil and gas, healthcare and infrastructure.
43.Please provide information on agreements under consideration with other States for the return or reception of third-country nationals subject to deportation, including from the United States of America, as well as refugees.
Article 67
44.Please clarify the technical, human, and financial resources allocated to the Diaspora and Remigration Unit for the reintegration of Guyanese nationals residing abroad, including any studies conducted and data collected on returning Guyanese.
45.Please describe the measures taken to support the resettlement and reintegration of returning migrant workers and their families into the economic, social and cultural life of the State Party, including efforts to address discrimination and negative stereotypes, particularly those linking returnees to increased crime (para. 57).
Article 68
46.Please provide information on the implementation by Guyana of the Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children, supplementing the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime, and the United Nations Global Plan of Action to Combat Trafficking in Persons. In particular, please provide details on:
(a)The status of the New Action Plan for the Prevention and Response to Trafficking in Persons in Guyana, as well as the national standard operating procedures on trafficking in persons;
(b)Measures taken, including through the implementation of the Combating of Trafficking in Persons Act (No. 7 of 2023), and bilateral, regional and multilateral cooperation with countries of origin, transit and destination, in particular Brazil, the Dominican Republic, Haiti, Suriname and Venezuela (Bolivarian Republic of), to effectively prevent, combat and sanction trafficking in persons, in particular women and children;
(c)Efforts made to effectively and impartially investigate, prosecute and punish all acts of trafficking in persons and the number of judgments issued in connection with this crime, including information on the number of convictions, type of sentences and reparations provided to the victims;
(d)Developing national referral mechanisms adjusted to the vulnerabilities of migrants, and measures to increase the number of shelters for migrant victims of gender‑based violence and their children, as well as availability of medical care and other support in multiple languages, particularly in rural and hinterland areas;
(e)The inclusion of indigenous community bodies in shaping community approaches to address family violence, sexual abuse, exploitation and violence of migrant workers and members of their families.
47.Please provide information on:
(a)Budget allocation to the Counter‑Trafficking in Persons Unit of the Ministry of Human Services and Social Security, which investigates cases of trafficking and coordinates victim care services;
(b)The work carried out by the Ministerial Task Force on Trafficking in Persons, co-chaired by the Ministry of Home Affairs and the Ministry of Human Services and Social Security, that coordinates national interagency anti-trafficking efforts.
48.Please describe the reporting channels available to victims of trafficking, including telephone hotlines, and measures taken to improve accessibility to these channels in remote mining communities, where geographic isolation may limit access.
49.Please indicate the measures taken, including through international, regional and bilateral cooperation with countries of origin, transit and destination, and the corresponding human and financial resources allocated by the State Party to prevent and combat trafficking in persons, particularly women and children. Please also indicate measures to assess bilateral labour agreements for risks of trafficking and forced labour and efforts to identify trafficking indicators among at-risk migrant populations, as well as inspections of their workplaces.
Section II
50.The Committee invites the State Party to provide information regarding the protection of migrant workers and members of their families since the adoption of the previous concluding observations concerning the State Party, with respect to the following:
(a)Bills or laws and their implementing regulations;
(b)Institutions and their mandates or institutional reforms;
(c)Policies, strategies, programmes and action plans covering migration governance and labour mobility, including their scope, implementation, financing, monitoring mechanisms, and outcomes of implementation;
(d)Ratifications of human rights instruments and other relevant instruments and information on how these instruments are being integrated into national law and policy;
(e)Studies, assessments or surveys on the situation of migrant workers and members of their families in Guyana or among Guyanese working abroad, including any reports commissioned in collaboration with international partners such as the International Organization for Migration, and regional mechanisms.
Section III
Data, official estimates, statistics and other information, if available
51.Please provide available qualitative and quantitative statistical data or, if precise data are not available, studies or estimates since the adoption of the previous concluding observations concerning the State Party disaggregated by sex, age, nationality, disability, migration status and field of occupation, where applicable, on the following:
(a)The volume and nature of migratory movements to, from and through Guyana, including regular and irregular migration, the number of Guyanese migrant workers working abroad, including under the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Single Market and Economy agreement;
(b)The number of migrant workers and members of their families who have been expelled or deported from Guyana during the reporting period, including the legal basis and procedural safeguards applied;
(c)The number of unaccompanied and separated migrant children currently residing in Guyana and children who remain in Guyana while one or both parents migrate for work abroad, including any available information on their protection status, access to basic services and care arrangements;
(d)The total value of remittances received from Guyanese nationals working abroad, disaggregated by destination country and the purpose for which remittances are used (e.g. household income, education, investment), if available;
(e)The number of reported cases of trafficking in persons and smuggling of migrants, including the number of investigations launched, prosecutions conducted, convictions secured and sentences imposed on perpetrators, disaggregated by sex, age, nationality of both the victims and the perpetrators, and the purpose of trafficking;
(f)Legal aid and assistance services provided, including through legal aid clinics, to migrant workers and members of their families residing in Guyana and to Guyanese nationals working abroad or in transit through third States, particularly those facing detention, expulsion, deportation, abuse or irregular status.
52.Please provide any additional information on any important developments and measures taken in the implementation of the Convention relating to the protection of the rights of migrant workers and members of their families that are considered a priority.
53.Please submit an updated common core document in line with the harmonized guidelines on reporting. In accordance with General Assembly resolution 68/268, paragraph16, the common core document should not exceed 42,400 words.