The annual report monitoring global efforts to combat human trafficking was released by the U.S. State Department, assessing 188 countries and territories. Thirteen countries were identified as the worst at protecting against human trafficking in the 2024 Trafficking in Persons Report. Secretary of State Antony Blinken highlighted the importance of the report in documenting trends, progress, setbacks, and effective initiatives in combating human trafficking over the past two decades.
Countries are scored based on their compliance with the standards set out in the Trafficking Victims Protection Act (TVPA), with Tier 1 being those fully meeting the standards, Tier 2 making significant efforts to comply, and Tier 3 falling short of minimum standards. The report identified emerging trends such as online schemes targeting victims and highlighted specific examples of trafficking activities. The report also noted improvements in some countries previously on the Tier 3 list, while others remained on it for consecutive years.
The report singled out countries like China for forced labor programs targeting specific populations and Russia for exacerbating human trafficking concerns through its military actions in Ukraine. Allegations of forced organ harvesting in China and recruitment schemes in Russia were also highlighted in the report. Overall, the report serves as a comprehensive assessment of global anti-trafficking efforts and identifies areas for improvement in combating human trafficking. Dyer mentioned that 17 other countries were moved from Tier 2 to the Tier 2 Watch List in this year’s report.
Vietnam’s recent upgrade in the Trafficking in Persons report has raised questions. The country moved from Tier 3 to the Tier 2 Watch List in the 2023 report, and now to Tier 2 in the latest report.
The upgrade faced scrutiny from the press, particularly from a human rights advocacy group called Project 88. They claimed to have shared new trafficking allegations about Vietnam with the U.S. State Department, including allegations of government officials being involved in a human trafficking ring in Saudi Arabia.
When asked about Project 88’s claims, Ms. Dyer acknowledged them but stated that Vietnam had to be either upgraded or downgraded from the Tier 2 Watch List based on the TVPA mandate. She mentioned that an upgrade seemed more appropriate despite the new allegations.
Ms. Dyer explained that the State Department considers various factors when ranking countries on TVPA compliance. For Vietnam, the decision to move to Tier 2 was based on increasing investigations, prosecutions, and convictions for trafficking crimes, as well as an increased number of identifications and assistance provided to victims.
Source link
