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7
nations added to trafficking blacklist
By Matthew Lee, Associated
Press. June 12, 2007.
WASHINGTON - The Bush administration on
Tuesday added seven nations, including several
key U.S. allies in the Middle East, to its
human trafficking blacklist for failing
to halt what it called the scourge of "modern-day
slavery."
Countries on the list are subject to possible
sanctions for not doing enough to stop the
yearly flow of some 800,000 people, 80 percent
of them female and more than half of them
children, across international borders for
the sex trade and other forms of forced
and indentured labor.
Among U.S. friends getting a failing grade
were Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman and Qatar, which
along with Algeria, Equatorial Guinea and
Malaysia joined for the first time perennial
offenders like Myanmar (Burma), Cuba, Iran,
North Korea and Syria in the State Department's
annual "Trafficking in Persons Report."
Sixteen states in all - four more than
in 2006 - were given so-called "Tier
3" status in the 236-page survey of
global efforts to combat trafficking in
people, many of whom are seeking to escape
poverty in Eastern Europe, South and Southeast
Asia and are sold into the commercial sex
trade, manual labor or mistreated as domestics.
Despite the additions, Secretary of State
Condoleezza Rice said "more and more
countries are coming to see human trafficking
for what it is - a modern-day form of slavery
that devastates families and communities
around the world."
"We hope this report encourages responsible
nations across the globe to stand together,
to speak with one voice and to say that
freedom and security are nonnegotiable demands
of human dignity, and to say ... 'No one
is fit to be a master and no one deserves
to be a slave,' " she told reporters.
Countries with "Tier 3" ranking
"do not fully comply with the minimum
standards (to fight trafficking) and are
not making significant efforts to do so,"
which makes them eligible for U.S. economic
sanctions.
Three countries that had been placed on
"Tier 3" in 2006 - Belize, Laos
and Zimbabwe - were promoted to "Tier
2" this year for improving their records,
according to the report. "Tier 2"
countries are those that do not fully comply
with minimum standards but are making significant
efforts to do so.
The recognition is rare U.S. praise for
Zimbabwe, long singled out by Washington
for harsh criticism on its overall human
rights record, a point noted by Rice's pointman
on the trafficking issue, Mark Lagon.
"Our relationship with the government
is in a very critical state on other grounds
but the facts are that through our leveraging
and through our prodding, Zimbabwe has actually
taken some tangible steps," he said.
Still, such lobbying has had far from a
universal effect.
The seven newcomers to "Tier 3"
were all demoted from "Tier 2 watchlist"
status, which now covers 32 countries, including
India, Mexico and Russia, that have been
cited for poor anti-trafficking records
for numerous consecutive years.
"The 'Tier 2 watchlist' is not supposed
to become a parking lot for governments
lacking the will or interest to stop exploitation
and enslavement on their soil," Lagon
said, describing India as "the world's
largest democracy (with) the world's largest
problem."
Most of this year's additions to "Tier
3" are Muslim or predominantly Muslim
nations, many of which have the means to
enforce foreign workers' rights and anti-trafficking
laws.
"It is especially disappointing that
so many wealthy countries in the Near East
... are on 'Tier 3'," Lagon said.
Bahrain, the Persian Gulf home to the U.S.
Fifth Fleet, was cited for failing to crack
down on human traffickers who are bringing
in men, women and children for forced labor
or commercial sex work, the report says.
"Bahrain made no discernible progress
in preventing trafficking this year,"
it said, noting that laws aimed at protecting
foreign workers, largely from South and
Southeast Asia, are not enforced and that
authorities are not seriously investigating
alleged widespread abuse.
Oil-rich Kuwait "made modest progress
in preventing trafficking in persons this
year," the report said, but added that
"Kuwaiti efforts to improve its protection
of victims of human trafficking had little
effect."
Oman was cited for not applying and enforcing
existing laws against human trafficking
as well failing to distribute pamphlets
aimed at educating foreign workers about
their rights, it said.
Qatar, long accused by the United States
of ignoring the plight of child camel jockeys,
was demoted to "Tier 3" for not
enacting legislation to outlaw all forms
of human trafficking and for producing only
two convictions among numerous cases of
alleged abuse of domestic servants, according
to the report.
The complete list of "Tier 3"
countries in this year's report is: Algeria,
Bahrain, Cuba, Equatorial Guinea, Iran,
Kuwait, Malaysia, Myanmar, North Korea,
Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Syria,
Uzbekistan and Venezuela.
Cuba, Iran, Myanmar, North Korea, Sudan,
Syria, Uzbekistan and Venezuela are regularly
accused by Washington of failing to protect
human rights and are often cited in State
Department reports for their lack of respect
for press and religious freedoms.
But Malaysia made its first appearance
on "Tier 3" for its failure to
protect and identify victims of trafficking,
many of them Indonesian domestics.
"The Malaysian government needs to
demonstrate stronger political will to tackle
Malaysia's significant forced labor and
sex trafficking problems," the report
said.
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