U.S. report on human trafficking warns against separating children and parents

A senior State Department official said the United States has screening standards for trafficking indicators when children cross the border unaccompanied or are separated from their parents.

Trafficking indicators can include children who eat apart from family members, travel unaccompanied by adults and children who have no time for playing, according to the United Nations.

The U.S. report downgraded Myanmar to its list of worst offenders, accusing the southeast Asian country of human trafficking and using child soldiers.

A Tier 1 ranking is for countries that meet minimum U.S. standards; Tier 2 for those making significant efforts to do so; Tier 2 Watch List for those meriting special scrutiny; and Tier 3 for countries that fail to fully comply with the minimum U.S. standards and are not making significant efforts to do so.

A Tier 3 ranking can trigger American sanctions limiting access to U.S. and international foreign assistance.

Gabon, Laos, Papua New Guinea and Bolivia were downgraded to Tier 3 from the Tier 2 Watch List in the report, which is intended to spur countries into curbing human trafficking.

“The world should know that we will not stop until human trafficking is a thing of the past,” Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said at a department event on Thursday where he and Trump’s daughter and adviser Ivanka Trump, honoured “heroes” fighting human trafficking around the world.

Meanwhile, Sudan was upgraded to the second-to-worst ranking at a time of improved relations between the U.S. and Khartoum. The U.S. lifted some sanctions against Sudan in October and is considering easing more.

While the report is not meant to be influenced by geopolitical considerations, both the Trump and Obama administrations have been accused by human rights groups of prioritising economic and security interests over human trafficking concerns.

A Reuters examination in 2015 found that U.S. diplomats pressured the office charged with grading global efforts for the report into inflating assessments of 14 strategically important countries. As a result, Malaysia, Cuba and China and countries such as India, Uzbekistan and Mexico, received better grades than the State Department’s human rights experts wanted to give them, the sources said.

Thailand and Pakistan were upgraded to Tier 2 this year, among a list of countries making significant efforts to comply. North Korea, China and Russia remained listed as some of the worst offenders. China was downgraded to Tier 3 last year.

Iran and Niger were added to the child soldiers list, while Sudan was removed. Those countries can be restricted in receiving U.S. military aid. Iraq and Myanmar were put back on the list after being removed last year.

Source: https://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-usa-trafficking-report/u-s-report-on-human-trafficking-warns-against-separating-children-and-parents-idUKKBN1JO2RR?rpc=401&