US adds Vietnam, Cambodia, Macau to trafficking blacklist
AFP - 1h ago

The United States on Tuesday added Vietnam, Cambodia, Brunei and Macau to a human trafficking blacklist that already counts Malaysia, alleging weak efforts to stop forced sex work or assist migrant laborers.

In an annual report, the United States also added authoritarian-ruled Belarus to the blacklist and, in a rare criticism of a Western ally, put Bulgaria on a watchlist over concerns it is not taking trafficking seriously.

"If you look at the report, you're going to see a mixed picture of progress," Secretary of State Antony Blinken said as he presented it.

Blinken said that corruption was a "top tool" of traffickers who count on a blind eye from governments.

"As we tackle issues like climate and corruption throughout our diplomacy, we also have to address how they intersect with trafficking in persons," he said.

The State Department's annual trafficking report has historically not spared close allies, often causing friction, although US officials say the unflattering headlines have led governments to act.

Nations that are put on the blacklist -- "Tier 3" -- are subject to US sanctions, although the administration routinely waives punishment for friendly nations that promise improvements.

Vietnam, which has a warming relationship with Washington due to shared concerns over a rising China, was downgraded to Tier 3 with the State Department saying that the Hanoi government decreased prosecutions in 2021.

The report especially found fault with Hanoi taking no action against a Vietnamese diplomat and embassy staff member posted in Saudi Arabia who were accused of complicity in trafficking several of their citizens.

In Cambodia, the State Department said that "endemic corruption" has impeded efforts to help thousands including children trafficked to entertainment establishments, brick kilns and online scam operations.

"Authorities often overlooked, denied or downplayed labor abuses -- including forced child labor -- in factories and at brick kilns and colluded with brick manufacturers to arrest, jail and return indentured laborers who had attempted to escape," the report said.

https://www.msn.com/en-sg/news/world/us ... ar-AAZKGmM

Belarus … western ally … right

Apollo, Please read the article. It refers to Bulgaria as a Western ally, not Belarus. So many people make comments without reading or understanding what has been said. It is quite clear in this case.

Does that mean they were removed at some point? Human trafficking is also widespread in the United States, originating primarily from Central and South America, but also from Asia and the Baltic countries. Even Africa, still.

I for one would like the US government to clamp down on all the human trafficking INTO THE UNITED STATES AT THE SOUTHERN BORDER!!!!!

How freaking hypocritical can we be? We knowingly allow millions to walk across the southern border. The majority of those people paying traffickers to either get them to the border or to allow safe passage to the border. Yet, we turn a blind eye to it and then wonder why other countries do the SAME.

As long as there are no sanctions, these countries on the list simply don't care what some career bureaucrats in the State Department have to say about anything.

Skimming through the responses I'm finding it necessary to state that the United States government has not engaged in human trafficking now or in the relative past as some here are seemingly stating.

John Bingham wrote: ↑Wed Jul 20, 2022 10:20 pm

hairdo wrote: ↑Wed Jul 20, 2022 12:43 pm Does that mean they were removed at some point? Human trafficking is also widespread in the United States, originating primarily from Central and South America, but also from Asia and the Baltic countries. Even Africa, still.

There's also a huge amount of human trafficking within the US of underage victims for prostitution. For such a moralistic country there's a huge lack of morals.

@JB. Ok, if you are going to take a swipe like that then please footnote or quote something in regards to the trafficking of underage victims of prostitution. Your second statement about moralizing I am just going to ignore for now.