WASHINGTON — The United States on Monday put allies Singapore
and Thailand as well as Vietnam on a human trafficking watch list,
accusing them of failing to prevent women from being forced into
prostitution.
The move opens the way for the United States to cut off some
civilian assistance, although it usually functions as a symbolic
means to pressure countries to take action.
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who has made women's and
children's rights a signature issue, called human trafficking a
"terrible crime" as she presented the State Department's annual
report.
"All of us have a responsibility to bring this practice to an end,"
she said.
The report estimated that 12.3 million people were the victims of
trafficking in 2009-2010, although it said there has been progress
in the past decade.
The State Department added a number of Asian nations to its watch
list -- Afghanistan, Brunei, Laos, Maldives, Singapore, Thailand
and Vietnam.
Bangladesh, China, India, Micronesia, the Philippines and Sri Lanka
remained on the list, unchanged from a year earlier.
North Korea, Myanmar and Papua New Guinea remained at the bottom
level of countries that do not even meet the minimum standards on
human trafficking.
Explaining the downgrade for Singapore, the report said that some
women from China, the Philippines and Thailand are tricked into
coming to the city-state with promises of legitimate employment and
coerced into the sex trade.
The report said that while Singapore launched "some significant new
steps" against trafficking, there were no "quantifiable indicators"
that the government was identifying more victims or prosecuting
more culprits.
The State Department said that Thailand was a source, destination
and transit point for trafficking, with ethnic minorities and
citizens of neighboring countries at particular risk of sexual
abuse or forced labor.
Senator Jim Webb, who heads the Foreign Relations subcommittee on
East Asia, had made an unusually open appeal not to place Thailand
on the watch list.
Webb visited Bangkok this month and said US embassy staff disagreed
with the intended downgrade as it could curb assistance for
democracy and human rights programs in the wake of the kingdom's
political violence.
The downgrade occurs "at a time when this type of aide is
desperately needed to bolster political reforms in Thailand and to
promote political stability," Webb said last week in a letter to
Clinton.
The State Department recognized improvements in Pakistan, which was
taken off the watch list, and Malaysia, which was on the list but
removed from the lowest category of countries that do not meet
minimum standards.
Pakistan "has dramatically increased the number of convictions and
prosecutions for human trafficking, undertaking creative efforts to
prevent bonded labor," Luis CdeBaca, the US envoy on human
trafficking, told reporters.
Malaysian authorities "have acknowledged and begun to tackle their
serious human trafficking problem, including intensified engagement
with foreign governments," CdeBaca said.
From other regions, Cuba, Iran and Saudi Arabia remained in the
rock-bottom category and the Dominican Republic was newly
added.
Representative Christopher Smith, a Republican who authored the law
that requires the human trafficking report, said that more
countries should have been assigned the lowest rank.
"If we are willing to hold the Dominican Republic to account, as we
should, it's outrageous that China, Vietnam and India get a free
pass," Smith said.
Taiwan was upgraded and listed as fully compliant in efforts
against human trafficking after starting new services for victims,
CdeBaca said.
Australia, New Zealand and South Korea were also listed as fully
compliant.
For the first time, the United States included itself in the
report. It ranked itself in compliance
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