This week the State Department released its second annual report on human trafficking. The requirement for the report was created by the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2001, which also created a special visa for trafficking victims in the US, as well as increased efforts by the US to combat the problem.
According to the report, at least 700,000, and as many as four million, people, mostly women and children, were victims of human trafficking. About 50,000 people were trafficked into the US. Trafficking is different than smuggling, in that most smuggled immigrants are smuggled at their own request. Those who are trafficked are kept in conditions that often amount to slavery, and are threatened, intimidated and abused. Many women and children who are trafficked are forced into prostitution.
The report puts countries into three categories. Those that comply with the Trafficking Victims Protection Act’s standard for eliminating trafficking are in Tier 1. Those counties that are not in compliance but who are making “significant efforts” to bring themselves into compliance are in Tier 2. Countries that are not attempting to comply are in Tier 3.
Tier 3 countries include Afghanistan, Armenia, Bahrain, Belarus, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Burma, Cambodia, Greece, Indonesia, Iran, Kyrgyz Republic, Lebanon, Qatar, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Tajikistan, Turkey and the United Arab Emirates. State Department officials point to the inclusion of many US allies on this list as evidence that the report is untainted by political considerations.
Tier 2 countries include Albania, Angola, Bangladesh, Benin, Brazil, Bulgaria, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, China, Costa Rica, Cote D’Ivoire, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Equatorial Guinea, Estonia, Ethiopia, Gabon, Georgia, Ghana, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, Hungary, India, Israel, Japan, Kazakhstan, Laos, Latvia, Malaysia, Mali, Mexico, Moldova, Morocco, Nepal, Nigeria, Pakistan, Philippines, Romania, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Singapore, Slovenia, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Tanzania, Thailand, Togo, Uganda, Ukraine, Vietnam and Yugoslavia. Albania, Israel, Kazakhstan, Malaysia, Pakistan, Romania, and Yugoslavia were Tier 3 countries last year.
Tier 1 countries are Austria, Belgium, Canada, Colombia, Czech Republic, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Italy, Lithuania, Macedonia, The Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, South Korea, Spain, Switzerland and the United Kingdom. South Korea was a Tier 3 country last year.
There are currently no sanctions that can be levied against countries that are not in compliance, but they will go into effect next year. The sanctions primarily include various means of withholding of foreign aid.
The report is available online at http://www.state.gov/g/tip/rls/tiprpt/2002/.
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