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Human Trafficking
& Modern-day Slavery Lecture
Resources
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[Lecture Resources | Resources for Teachers |
Country-by-Country Reports ]
Contesting the TIP
Report
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Cuba Cuban Ambassador reacts to US human
trafficking allegations Sharefil Gaillard, Caribbean
News, 6 July 2020 www.loopslu.com/content/cuban-ambassador-reacts-human-trafficking-allegations [accessed 9 July 2020] Cuban ambassador to
Saint Lucia, Alejandro Simancas Martin, has responded to allegations that the
nation is using its medical missions programme as a
form of human trafficking. According to the US
State Department: "The Cuban government keeps most of the wages earned
by its doctors and nurses while serving on its international medical missions
and exposes them to atrocious working conditions. Cuban doctors were
sent to several countries around the world to assist in the fight against the
coronavirus. Saint Lucia was among these
countries and received 100 medical personnel from Cuba. According to the Cuban ambassador, the
accusations seem to be a political stunt by the United States. Eritrea Eritrea rejects US Country Report on Human
Trafficking Embassy of www.ethiopianreview.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=13627 [accessed 16 July 2013] The Embassy of
Eritrea finds the US State Department’s Human Trafficking Report on Due to the covert
nature of the crime, accurate statistics on the nature and prevalence of
human trafficking are difficult to calculate and many cases of human
trafficking go undiscovered and unreported. Trafficking is often associated
with organized crime; therefore, gaining access to traffickers and
information about routes, key persons involved, and practices is severely
limited, if not impossible. When such crimes are discovered and reported, the
Government of Eritrea conducts full investigations and prosecutes
perpetrators when apprehended. Guyana Guyana denounces US human trafficking lash Editor, Stabroek
News, 27 June 2012 www.stabroeknews.com/2012/news/stories/06/27/guyana-denounces-us-human-trafficking-lash/ [accessed 28 June 2012] “The Ministerial
Task Force on Trafficking in Persons finds the content of the US State
Department’s most recent assessment of the Government of Guyana’s efforts to
combat trafficking in persons, to use a local parlance, ‘a difficult pill to
swallow’. The Report fails to
establish not one single fact. The Task Force notes several inaccuracies and
misrepresentations in the Report that must be addressed. What is clear is
that the architects of this Report have not made significant progress in
improving the veracity, coherence and validity of their annual assessments. “The Ministerial
Task Force denounces the Report since it comprises unsubstantiated generalisations and repetitive uncorroborated claims. The
Task Force strongly recommends that the US State Department seek to improve
its methodology, establish proper baselines to guide comparisons,
avoid use of anecdotal claims and develop a consistent, understandable,
transparent and logical tier ranking system if countries are to benefit from
these rituals. “The plethora of
uncorroborated claims made in the Report can only result in a distorted view
of the Guyanese reality as regards the national trafficking in persons’
situation. Further the Task Force
considers the Report an affront to its members, frontline government staff
and over one hundred (100) citizens who have been trained to identify and
report trafficking in persons and have been doing so along with NGOs such as
Help Shelter, Food for the Poor (Guyana) and the Catholic Relief Services
(CRS) all of whom partnered with Government in responding to trafficking in
persons matters. “While we were
encouraged by what we felt at the time was meaningful dialogue between the
Ministerial Task Force and US Embassy Officials, this Report raises
significant concerns over the efficacy of these engagements. A perusal of the Report reveals two
inescapable inferences; one, the architects had already decided what they
wanted to put in the Report and two, the architects gave little or no
credence to the information presented
by government in partnership with NGOs.
Consequently, those two factors begs the
question of the usefulness of such engagements in future. “The danger of
these unfounded claims and anecdotes that are replete in the US Report is
that even though they are not the product of systematic research nor critical analysis they have never-the-less
been published in the local media thus influencing public opinion. The US
Report’s misrepresentation and scaremongering must be refuted because of its
impact on the country’s image and the perpetuation of stereotypes and
fears. Worst yet, it can lead to a
waste of resources and energy, and a reduction in traditional opportunities
for personal economic development and educational advancement.” India India rejects U. S. criticism for inability
to control human trafficking Media Release, Jun. 6, 2006 At one time this article had been archived
and may possibly still be accessible [here] [accessed 6 September 2011] The Indian ministry
statement said Rep. Christopher
Smith, a Republican author of the 2000 law that established the annual
trafficking reports, said in Washington that the Bush administration went too
easy on India by placing it on the watch list instead of among the dozen
worst offenders. Kuwait Xinhua www.twocircles.net/2007jun27/kuwait_lashes_u_s_human_rights_report.html [accessed 17 February 2011] Rejecting the
accusation made by the U.S. report saying Kuwaitis running human trafficking
in an excuse of reducing global joblessness, the committee said in the statement
that "The State of Kuwait opens its arms to those incoming workers and
even provides them with all available job opportunities, unlike many other
countries which combat and deport them on the grounds of fighting illegal
immigration." "By doing so,
Kuwait ought to be commended, appreciated and even placed on an honors
list," it added. Malawi www.dailytimes.bppmw.com/article.asp?ArticleID=7543 [access date unavailable] Malawi’s rating as Tier
1 in this year’s Trafficking in Persons (TIP) report is misleading and does
not reflect the reality on the ground, officials from the Centre for Social
Concern (CFSC) have said. However, officials
from CFSC briefing the press in Myanmar Xinhua News Agency, June 20, 2006 english.people.com.cn/200606/20/eng20060620_275589.html [accessed 25 January 2011] Noting that Myanmar
passed an anti-trafficking in persons law in September 2005 that covers
sexual exploitation, forced labor, slavery, servitude and debt bondage, the
release said during the year, the government prosecuted 426 traffickers in
203 cases under the new law and identified 844 victims. New
Zealand US report on NZ challenged ECPAT News, 17 June 2004 www.ecpat.net/eng/ECPAT_news/US+report+on+NZ+challenged+.htm [accessed 9 September 2011] ECPAT spokeswoman Denise Ritchie says the Russia Russia charges U.S. report on human
trafficking is biased Emily Alpert, Los Angeles Times, 25 June
2012 [accessed 26 June 2012] Russia fired back
Monday after the United States put it on a watch list for human trafficking
for the ninth year in a row, saying the American government's report was
biased and driven by politics. The Russian Foreign
Ministry said the report is soft on the U.S. and its allies, painting them as
"straight-A students" while vilifying its opponents, RIA Novosti reported. Lukashevich singled out the
anecdotal claim of forced labor at the Sochi construction sites, saying it
“confirms this document’s generally biased and politicized nature,” according
to the Interfax news agency. Sinapore Singapore slams US report on human
trafficking, maid abuse Agence www.singapore-window.org/sw04/040830af.htm [accessed 22 December 2010] www.straitstimes.com/singapore/courts-crime/singapore-disputes-us-human-trafficking-report [accessed 15 January 2020] Singapore on
Monday, Aug 30, strongly rejected a US government report alleging that an illicit
trade in Asian prostitutes and the "involuntary servitude" of some
foreign maids exists in the city-state.
"While Singapore is not spared from vice activities, forced
prostitution is very rare here," the Ministry of Home Affairs said. "A small minority
of foreign domestic workers face seriously abusive labor conditions," it
said, adding that "in a few such cases, these circumstances may amount
to involuntary servitude." St
Vincent & the Grenadines Guyana, St Vincent object to human
trafficking report Caribbean360 News, CAUTION: VIRUS WARNING -
www.caribbean360.com/news/guyana-st-vincent-object-to-human-trafficking-report [accessed 10 September 2014] Vincentian Prime
Minister Ralph Gonsalves told Parliament yesterday
that he was so upset by the country being placed in the second tier watch
list in the department's 2009 Trafficking in Persons (TIP) report, that he
had written to US Secretary of State Hilary Clinton expressing the
government's displeasure and had also held discussions with the Chargé d'Affaires of the United States Embassy to Barbados and
the Eastern Caribbean, Brent Hardt. "There is no
evidential basis for the placement of St Vincent and the Grenadines on any
such watch list," he said, adding that the State Department had acted
unfairly and arbitrarily and that whoever prepared the report did so based on
"hearsay, unreliable information and some mischief making possibly by
some busy-bodies". "St
Vincent does not have trafficking of persons," Gonsalves
insisted. Saudi
Arabia U.S. human trafficking report misses
progress: Saudi Reuters, www.reuters.com/article/idUSL0814554520070708 [accessed 21 December 2010] "Examining the
American report on human trafficking, we felt that it was misleading ... It
contains descriptions, opinions and understandings that are not necessarily
true," Turky Al Sudairy,
head of the government's Human Rights Commission said in a statement
published in Saudi newspapers. "While we
accept that there are some who mistreat (domestic) workers, and this is not
acceptable, there are laws that stipulate punishment and the Commission will
not hesitate to reveal practices and violations." Around a third of Saudi Arabia's 24 million
population are foreign residents, mostly blue-collar
workers from Asian countries. Over a million work as housemaids, and reports
of abuse are common. Saudi employers often retain their passports. Sudairy said the
authorities had taken stringent measures to regulate the labor market, which
he said was subject to abuse by recruitment agencies. He said Saudi Arabia
has laws to prevent child labor.
"The efforts being exerted have not finished yet and we cannot
claim such a thing," Sudairy said. Singapore Agence www.singapore-window.org/sw04/040830af.htm [accessed 22 December 2010] www.straitstimes.com/singapore/courts-crime/singapore-disputes-us-human-trafficking-report [accessed 15 January 2020] Singapore on
Monday, Aug 30, strongly rejected a "A small
minority of foreign domestic workers face seriously abusive labor
conditions," it said, adding that "in a few such cases, these
circumstances may amount to involuntary servitude." United Arab Emirates UAE US Report on Human Trafficking in UAE a Lie Khaleej Times, Abu Dhabi, 6
May 2009 www.thefreelibrary.com/US+Report+on+Human+Trafficking+in+UAE+a+Lie.-a0199157394 [accessed 6 January 2011] [scroll down] Dr Mohammed Anwar Gargash, Minister of State for Foreign Affairs and
Chairman of the National Committee to Combat Human Trafficking, has dismissed
a US State Department report that the UAE has around 10,000 victims of human
trafficking as a mere lie. Speaking
at the Federal National Council (FNC) session on Tuesday, the minister said
the report has political motivation and is a reflection of the political
philosophy of the US State Department. USA U.S. criticized over top anti-trafficking
ranking despite failings Christine Murray, Thomson Reuters
Foundation, 29 June 2020 [accessed 9 July 2020] The United States
was again ranked Tier 1 this year and the report highlighted a rise in investigations,
more funding for victims services, and blocking
imports made by forced labor. Yet the country
also secured fewer prosecutions, issued fewer visas for victims, and had not
done enough to evaluate vulnerable groups for trafficking red flags, the
report said. Several
anti-trafficking organizations questioned how the United States could
maintain the top ranking despite having acknowledged a decline in
prosecutions and victim protection - two of three key factors upon which
countries are assessed. VenInfo.org, 2006 www.libertadlatina.org/LL_EN_News_06_2010.htm [accessed 16 January 2011] [scroll down] IS All material used herein
reproduced under the fair use exception of 17 USC § 107 for noncommercial,
nonprofit, and educational use. PLEASE
RESPECT COPYRIGHTS OF COMPONENT ARTICLES.
Cite this webpage as: Patt, Prof. Martin, "Human Trafficking
& Modern-day Slavery – Lecture Resources - Contesting the TIP Report
", http://gvnet.com/humantrafficking/111-ContestingTIP-report.htm [accessed <date>] |