US state department | Region remains a source territory for human trafficking

Macau remains “a source territory for sex trafficking and forced labor” despite government efforts to fight human trafficking, according to  the latest annual report from the U.S. State Department. The report rates 188 countries on their efforts to fight modern-day slavery.
“Macau authorities do not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking; however, they are making significant efforts to do so,” it reads.
The U.S. State Department acknowledged that local authorities have convicted six traffickers, and are persisting in building judicial and prosecutorial capacity by training more officers. However, the report stated that authorities have failed to identify any labor trafficking victims, identifying only five sex trafficking victims aged over 30 in 2013.
The  MSAR  remained  on  Tier 2 –
the second-lowest ranking in the department’s annual Trafficking in Persons (TIP) Report. Regarding Macau, this year’s report echoes a similar view to that portrayed in the previous year’s.
The American government acknowledged that sex trafficking victims originate mainly from inland Chinese provinces. They travel to the Guangdong border in search of better prospects and employment. Some also come from Mongolia, Vietnam, Ukraine, Russia, and Tanzania.
“Many trafficking victims fall prey to false advertisements for jobs, including in casinos in Macau, but upon arrival are forced or coerced into prostitution,” it reads.
The report added that, “victims are sometimes confined in massage parlors and illegal brothels, where they are closely monitored, threatened with violence, forced to work long hours, and have their identity documents confiscated.”
It also stated that children have reportedly been subjected to sex trafficking on the premises of casinos.
The US State Department found that Macau authorities demonstrated “decreased efforts” to protect the victims of trafficking. “Authorities identified five victims of forced prostitution, a sharp decline from 38 in 2013, in which 24 of the victims were children,” it said.
The report added that authorities decreased their allocation of funding to MOP1.8 million from MOP3 million to establish and support protection measures for the victims of trafficking. Last year, the US annual report recalled that Macau authorities had allocated about MOP3 million in 2013 to support victim protection measures, representing an increase over the previous year.
On the other hand, the American government acknowledged that authorities have sustained their anti-trafficking law enforcement efforts over the past year. However, they stressed that, “law enforcement and judicial capacity constraints remained as the major challenges in addressing trafficking crimes.”
Regarding prevention measures, the report acknowledged Macau’s efforts in reducing demand for commercial sex acts through the law enforcement authorities’ efforts to combat prostitution-related advertisements and improve the number of inspections into illegal brothels. But those efforts were not enough, as measures failed to significantly reduce the demand for prostitution in casinos, nightclubs, and saunas.
Recommendations featured in the report are similar to those issued last year. The US government suggested that Macau increase its efforts in investigating, prosecuting and convicting sex and labor traffickers, while implementing proactive victim identification methods, in particular among vulnerable populations such as migrant workers and children working for prostitution rings.
The US government also advised that the city should conduct sex trafficking awareness campaigns to ensure that visitors understand that soliciting or engaging in prostitution with children is illegal.
Finally, they suggested for authorities to conduct a survey on the city’s migrant population, looking to assess its vulnerability to human trafficking.
The report released yesterday shows that Cuba, Kenya and Saudi Arabia are now doing better at combating human trafficking, while Ghana, Egypt and Bulgaria have downgraded their efforts in fighting trafficking.
Although US Secretary of State John Kerry stressed that the report is intended at enlightening, energizing and empowering activists fighting human trafficking across the globe, controversies have emerged as rights groups have questioned whether politics has played a role in the decision to upgrade certain countries such as Malaysia.
This year’s report ranked China on the Tier 2 Watch List, stating yet again that the country “is a source, destination, and transit for men, women, and children subjected to forced labor and sex trafficking.”
The U.S. State Department ranks countries that do the most to fight human trafficking in Tier 1, and the least in Tier 3. Tier 2 includes a Watch List for countries in danger of plunging into Tier 3.

Malaysia, Cuba taken off US human trafficking blacklist

Democratic lawmakers and rights groups accused the U.S. State Department on Monday of politicizing its annual rankings of nations based on their efforts to combat modern-day slavery, as key trading partner Malaysia was taken off the blacklist.
For years, Malaysia has been cited in the report as having cases of forced labor in factories and fields, domestic servitude, child sex trafficking, and debt bondage, in which workers are never able to repay debts they incur after contracting with traffickers to find them jobs.
Cuba was also given an upgrade; a week after the U.S. and Cuba formally restored diplomatic relations, ending a half-century of estrangement.
But Thailand, downgraded with Malaysia last year because of pervasive labor abuses in its lucrative fishing industry, remained stuck in Tier 3 — the lowest ranking in the department’s annual Trafficking in Persons Report.
Undersecretary of State Sarah Sewall denied allegations that political considerations had come into play.
Secretary of State John Kerry formally launched the annual report, stating that it was not intended to “name and shame” but to galvanize action against an illicit trade that the U.N. estimates generates USD150 billion in profits each year, in industries also including mining, construction and domestic service.
The annual report examines 188 governments for their performance during the previous year in fighting exploitation, whether for sex, domestic labor, or work —from construction and fishing to farming and mining. The State Department estimates that about 20 million children, women and men around the world are affected.
The countries that remained on the lowest level this year included Iran North Korea, Syria and Russia. MDT/Agencies