Senior Reporter
kay-marie.fletcher@guardian.co.tt
The Trinidad and Tobago Police Service (TTPS) is taking a zero-tolerance approach when it comes to children being used to beg and child labour in this country.
According to head of the Special Victims Department of the TTPS, Superintendent Claire Guy-Alleyne, the police will be embarking on a joint initiative, which includes partnering with the National Security Ministry’s Immigration Division and the Children’s Authority of Trinidad and Tobago (CATT), to crack down on these activities, with a special focus on cruelty against children.
Speaking before a Joint Select Committee (JSC) yesterday, Guy-Alleyne revealed that the police will no longer be taking a “soft approach” when it comes to persons begging or hustling, especially with children, on the streets.
Guy-Alleyne said, “If persons are found begging or even if there are any violations of let’s say child labour, or even cruelty to children under the Children’s Act, persons will be arrested and charged. We may even pick up persons who are prohibited immigrants. Because this thing is becoming a nuisance.
“You are driving on the road, persons are coming to wipe your wiper. We see on the corners of the streets as well, children and adults, migrants and locals. So we are going to operate with a zero-tolerance approach.”
She said anyone found committing other offences during these joint exercises could also be arrested.
This includes people vending on the streets, such as those selling nuts or drinks, as they could be charged for obstructing the free passageway of motorists or pedestrians.
When it comes to child labour, the TTPS revealed that there are currently two matters before the court, involving a child victim under the age of 16. The employer was charged with the offence in 2020.
The TTPS said the parent was not charged and a softer policing approach was taken because of the parent’s economic situation. However, because of the employer’s tactics to get the child to work, the employer was charged instead.
Last month, the Children’s Authority reported nearly 60 cases of children found begging or in the company of adults begging. Of that figure, some 24 cases involved migrant children. The statistics were recorded between 2022 to March 2024.
With focus on migrants, the TTPS also said it has ongoing Spanish programmes to teach officers the language so they can communicate with people on the streets.
Addressing this during the JSC, Deputy Commissioner of Police, Administration, Natasha George, said, “The TTPS has understood that a number of people in Trinidad and Tobago now, English is not their first language and so we have embarked upon several programmes to strengthen our officers in different languages from Spanish to Mandarin. We actively have a Spanish course going on at the St Joseph Police Station. The oral part of that programme, the officers actually engage with people on the highway close to Grand Bazaar and educate those migrants, especially with children, as to the ills and the problems as it relates to child labour, to encourage those persons to bring those children to the youth group within the St Joseph remit, to empower those children to give them other options as opposed to being engaged in dangerous options.”
But collaborative efforts to fight against this form of child endangerment aren’t new. Last year, minister with responsibility for Gender and Child Affairs, Ayanna Webster-Roy, said there were several concerns raised by the relevant authorities on the increasing visibility of children on the street, both migrant and locals, begging for assistance.
On December 10, 2023, the ministry issued a statement advising the public that it is an offence for any person placing themselves in the street to beg or to encourage a child to beg.
It stated, “A child found to be begging, receiving alms or loitering for the purpose of begging or receiving alms is a major concern to the Children’s Authority of Trinidad and Tobago and the Trinidad and Tobago Police Service. In such instances, any member of the public believing that a child is at risk and endangered in this way, are strongly advised to bring this matter to the attention of the Authority or the Trinidad and Tobago Police Service.”