The Government, through the Ministry of Labour, is in talks with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) about a possible training programme that would see Venezuelan migrants here undergoing skills training and certification.

Minister of Labour, Joseph Hamilton, made the disclosure in the National Assembly on Thursday as he responded to a question posed by Opposition MP, Tabitha Sarabo-Halley about the conduct of a skills audit of Venezuelan Migrants in Guyana. 

“We are having conversations with the UNHCR for an intervention by the Board of Industrial Training, paid for by UNHCR to train Venezuelan migrants, and for those who might have a skill to work with them to ensure that they can be accredited and certified. So, all of these things are work in progress,” the Labour Minister disclosed. 

Minister Hamilton said since taking office in August 2020, the Government has engaged a number of regional and international partners including the UNHCR, the International Organization for Migration (IOM), and the International Labour Organisation (ILO) on the presence of migrants here, with the aim of acquiring the requisite data and support.  

It was noted that while the IOM has compiled a number of reports, the Labour Ministry is still in the process of collecting data to determine with “definitiveness” the number of migrants present in the country, their sex, and skill sets.

Minister Hamilton said by the third quarter of this year, the Labour Ministry should a preliminary report in its possession that addresses the skill sets of migrants in Guyana. 

But the Opposition MP pressed the Labour Minister for greater information, telling the House that the Ministry of Labour should be in a position to provide a proper progress report.

“So, at what particular stage is this process, at this particular point because, as far as I am aware, based on questions I have asked before, we have a sense, based on the numbers given, of how many migrants are in Guyana, so, that should be dealt with. The IOM reports have been done, and I have read them, and they don’t really speak to the skills of the Venezuelan migrants in Guyana,” MP Sarabo-Halley told the House. 

But Minister Hamilton maintained that while the IOM and other global partners have provided reports on Venezuelan migrants here, the skills audit report sought by the Opposition MP is still a work in progress. 

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