- Title: USA-TRAFFICKING U.S. upgrades Malaysia, Cuba in human trafficking report
- Date: 27th July 2015
- Summary: HAVANA, CUBA (FILE - 2015) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF HAVANA'S FAMED MALECON (PIER) VARIOUS OF STREETS AND ANTIQUE CARS CUBANS WALKING AROUND
- Embargoed: 11th August 2015 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: Cuba
- Country: Cuba
- Topics: General
- Reuters ID: LVA4SDHZ0SGYWPNE59HX2X27ZZSO
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: The United States upgraded Malaysia in an annual report on human trafficking on Monday (July 27), despite calls by human rights groups and nearly 180 U.S. lawmakers to keep the Southeast Asian country on a list of worst offenders for failing to suppress trafficking.
U.S. Under Secretary of State for Civilian Security, Democracy, and Human Rights Sarah Sewall rejected the notion that any political considerations had influenced Malaysia's ranking.
"No, no, no," she told a news briefing when asked whether the upgrade was connected to a desire to maintain Malaysia's TPP eligibility. She said the decision was based on standards for how well it was dealing with the trafficking problem.
Sewall said Malaysia had made efforts to reform its victim-protection regime and its legal framework, and had increased the number of investigations and prosecutions compared to 2013.
Even so, she said: "We remain concerned that low numbers of trafficking convictions in Malaysia is disproportionate to the scale of Malaysia's human trafficking problem."
The report also described conditions under which migrants were still forced into labor, and women and children coerced into the sex trade.
The U.S. State Department's annual Trafficking in Persons report also upgraded Cuba from its lowest rank for the first time since it was included in the annual report in 2003.
Sewall said Cuba was upgraded due to progress it had made in addressing sex trafficking, although Washington remained concerned about its failure to combat forced labor.
"The government reported significant efforts to address sex trafficking including the conviction of sex traffickers, the provision of services to sex trafficking victims and continued efforts of the Ministry of Tourism to address sex tourism and the demand for commercial sex," Sewall said.
South Sudan, Burundi, Belize, Belarus and Comoros were downgraded to the lowest rank, Tier 3, where Thailand remained for a second year, alongside countries with some of the world's worst trafficking records, including Iran, North Korea and Zimbabwe.
At a ceremony to honor individuals for their anti-trafficking work, Kerry said the fight against human trafficking must be won.
"It is a modern-day human rights challenge of enormous proportions," Kerry said.
Malaysia's expected upgrade to the so-called "Tier 2 Watch List" status from Tier 3 removes a potential barrier to President Barack Obama's signature 12-nation Trans Pacific Partnership trade agreement, or TPP.
Congress approved legislation in June, giving Obama expanded trade negotiating powers but prohibiting deals with Tier 3 countries such as Malaysia.
After a July 8 Reuters report on plans to upgrade Malaysia, 160 members of the U.S. House of Representatives and 18 U.S. senators wrote to Secretary of State John Kerry, urging him to keep Malaysia on Tier 3. They said there was no justification for an upgrade and questioned whether the plan was motivated by a desire to keep the country in the TPP. - Copyright Holder: FILE REUTERS (CAN SELL)
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