Philippines improves in human-trafficking rankings but aid agencies are unconvinced
US report raises questions amid Hong Kong being downgraded to Tier 2 ‘watch list’ alongside Afghanistan and Democratic Republic of Congo
When the US government last week raised the Philippines to its highest ranking in a report that assesses how much countries are battling human-trafficking, putting it alongside the likes of Britain, Switzerland and Australia, the decision was questioned by aid workers in the Asian nation.
They said they weren’t convinced it was justified given that the Philippines has a huge sex industry spreading online, and many of the 10 million Filipinos working overseas – often as domestic workers – remain at risk of slavery as they attempt to flee poverty at home.
“In a nutshell, the fight to end human-trafficking and modern slavery is far from over,” said Maria Cecilia Flores-Oebanda, executive director of the Visayan Forum Foundation, a non-government organisation helping victims of human-trafficking in the Philippines. “The thing is, when you are hungry or when your child is sick, you tend to make uninformed decisions. This, coupled by a culture of migration, poses risks of exploitation and abuse.”
The US State Department’s 2016 Trafficking in Persons (TIP) report said the Philippines government “fully met” minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking, although it noted that forced labour and sex trafficking “remains a significant problem”.
The Philippines is one of Washington’s key allies in Asia.