Citizens fleeing country due to crime, IAC says

Although the Guyana Police Force has recorded a decrease in serious crimes for the year, the Indian Action Committee (IAC) says some citizens are fleeing the country due to a continuous spate of criminal attacks around the country.

“The IAC wishes to bring to the attention of the authorities that Guyanese lives matter and every available resource must be expended forthwith to curb this crime wave,” the IAC said in a statement released yesterday, while emphasising that more has to be done.

The statement comes two weeks after the Guyana Police Force reported an 18% decrease in serious crimes for the year up to the end of August, relative to the same period last year.

It said there was a 10% reduction in reports of murder, a 7% decrease in gun-related robberies, a 17% decrease in armed robberies where other instruments were used, a 9% decrease in robberies where no instruments were used, a 19% decrease in robberies with violence, a combined 40% decrease in break and enter and larceny, and burglary, a 20% decrease in rape, and a 38% decrease in larceny from the person.

The police credited the improved relations between the public and the force as being responsible for the decreases.

However, the IAC noted that there continues to be daily multiple reports in the media of horrendous crime committed on Guyanese although it added that what is reported in the media may not accurately reflect the true situation regarding the actual number of crimes committed. “Since many go unreported, the figure could be much higher. This alarming trend which appears unstoppable cannot be allowed to continue. Guyanese will accept nothing less,” it said, while charging that criminals responsible for “unleashing and sustaining this spate of terror” have instilled untold fear into the hearts and minds of Guyanese and the citizenry is now “besieged” as fear continues to grip the country.

Members of the public and their families no longer appear to be safe in their homes, day or night, or when traversing the streets, it said, while adding that businesses continued to be targeted by bandits who do not hesitate to inflict bodily harm on the unsuspecting victims, some of whom have lost their lives.

In light of this situation, the IAC said the management of the responses to combat crime cannot escape being questioned and more has to be done. “There must be no ambiguity regarding the safety of the citizens; it is foremost.

The IAC therefore repeats its call for those in authority to immediately implement additional measures and intensify current ones to have this frightening crime situation brought under control,” it added.

The organisation further said that in addition to the “trauma” experienced by the citizens, both businesses and potential investors have also been negatively affected.

“The IAC has also been made aware that some Guyanese, who possess the means, are fleeing the country in an effort to seek safety of themselves and families,” it noted, while asserting that the situation is comparable to a “dark and oppressive period” of the country’s history when many were previously forced to escape.

Public Security Minister Khemraj Ramjattan recently said that while the statistics coming from the police have shown a drop in the serious crime rate, there have been sporadic spikes in some weeks, particularly of armed robberies, and lots more work needs to be done to reduce the crime rate.