Myanmar decries demotion on US human trafficking blacklist

Non-government organisation Environmental Justice Foundation (EJF) has expressed concern about the US Department of State’s final decision to upgrade Thailand to Tier 2 Watch List in the 2016 Trafficking in Persons (TIP) Report after the US Government considered the improvements made in the seafood industry.

Taiwan has been ranked among top-tier nations committed to fighting human trafficking, but a report by the US Department of State said that Taipei could do more.

Also anticipating the upgrade, Sirinart Chaimun, director general of the Thai Trade Negotiations Department, a unit of the commerce ministry, said it would have “a positive psychological impact on consumers, importers as well as retailers in the United States and European markets, who are expected to buy more Thai products”. In an email, the State Department replied that it evaluates human trafficking “efforts based on criteria established under us law, independent of political developments”.

Welcoming the improved status, Minister of Social Protection, Volda Lawrence said TIP is “slavery as part of economic ventures and this Government, through its various arms, will fight vigorously such attempts and will join forces with like-minded persons, organisations and governments to stop vulnerable persons from falling into the hands of such perpetrators”.

It also recommends that Taipei crack down on brokers who exploit migrant workers – mostly from the Philippines and Thailand – forcing household caregivers and domestic workers to work in near-slavery conditions. “NGOs noted the availability of children for commercial sex through classified ads and that children are subjected to trafficking for commercial sex by Trinbagonians and foreign sex tourists”.

Other countries placed on the bottom rung of the USA ranking system include: Djibouti and Sudan in Africa; Papua New Guinea, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan in the Asia-Pacific; Haiti and Suriname in the Americas.

“We believe easing pressure on the Thai Government to fulfill its anti-trafficking obligations with only legislative reforms and policy commitments could delay it from making the actual changes…to really address the problem of human trafficking”, the letter reads.

In the space of a year, St. Maarten has reached tier one, meaning it meets the minimum standards in combating human trafficking according to the UN Protocol and US Trafficking Victims Protection Act.

The 2016 Trafficking in Persons report, in full. He said human trafficking remains a major problem in some areas of the world.

Human rights watchdogs, however, mentioned that Thailand and Malaysia were not being held to account.

Trinidad and Tobago continues to fail to aggressively investigate and prosecute human traffickers, with some law enforcement and immigration officers being implicated in trafficking, and the exploitation of sex trafficking victims.

“Our country’s goal is to remain in Tier 1 to ensure to that the estimated 10 million Filipino workers overseas are protected from unscrupulous practices”, Cuisia added.

Seven countries made the leap from Tier 2 to Tier 1, including Colombia, Cyprus, Lithuania and the Philippines, where human trafficking has historically been a critical issue.

The downgrade for Myanmar appeared aimed at sending a message to the country’s new democratically elected government, headed by Nobel Peace Prize victor Aung San Suu Kyi, and its still-powerful military to curb use of forced labor, sex trafficking and the recruitment of children as soldiers into the armed forces.