US issues sanctions warning to 17 nations ‘not doing enough’ to combat human trafficking
- China, North Korea and Russia are among 17 nations classed as ‘Tier 3’ for failing to meet minimal standards to stop human trafficking
- The State Department’s annual ‘Trafficking in Persons’ report cited the coronavirus pandemic as a cause for a surge in human slavery between 2020 and 2021
The designations came in the State Department’s annual “Trafficking in Persons” report, which cited the coronavirus pandemic as a cause for a surge in human slavery between 2020 and 2021.
The report covering 188 nations and territories said the outbreak had put millions more people at risk for exploitation and distracted some governments from efforts to stem human trafficking.
The report classified the 17 mostly authoritarian nations as “Tier 3” for failing to meet minimal standards to stop what Secretary of State Antony Blinken called an “inhumane cycle of discrimination and injustices.”
The designation means that without a presidential waiver those countries could lose some US help, although decisions on such penalties will not be made until later this year.
Newcomers to the Tier 3 category are Malaysia and Guinea-Bissau, both of which had been on a watch list for a downgrade for three years and were ineligible to avoid the designation because they had failed to take steps to improve their anti-human trafficking efforts.