AN AMERICAN report accusing Singapore of not doing enough to
curb sex and labour trafficking has been lambasted by the Singapore
Government.
The United States State Department's annual Trafficking in
Persons (Tip) report said Singapore's performance in dealing with
'modern slavery' had worsened over the last year.
This resulted in the Republic being placed on a human
trafficking watch list for the first time, alongside countries such
as Bangladesh, China and India.
However, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) called the report
more of a 'political ritual than an objective study'.
In a blunt rebuttal, a ministry spokesman said: 'How, for
example, can the US rank itself in Tier 1 when it is well known
that it has been unable to stem a flood of illegal workers, many of
whom are trafficked by organised criminal gangs?'
The 10th annual report for the first time included a ranking of
the US, which it said was 'based on the same standards to which we
hold other countries'.
-- ST