Post Conference Prayer Day 14

Find Your Voice. . .Break the Chain

Singapore, Thailand Backslide in Trafficking Fight

From Bloomsberg Business Week

Information: 

June 15 (Bloomberg) -- Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam all regressed last year in their efforts to battle trafficking of men, women and children for labor or commercial sex, according to the U.S. State Department.  The three Southeast Asian countries were placed on a watch list of middle-tier countries, putting them one level above the worst offenders such as North Korea, Myanmar and Saudi Arabia, the report said. Malaysia was upgraded from the worst ranking, while Cambodia and Pakistan were removed from the watch list.  The department’s 10th annual report grades 175 nations on their efforts to fight this modern form of slavery. The U.S. is listed for the first time, placed among those countries that are doing their best to comply with the Trafficking Victims Protection Act, the American law against human trade.  Singapore’s government showed an “inadequate response” to sex trafficking in the city-state with only two convictions last year, the report said. Thailand and Vietnam similarly made little progress in prosecuting trafficking offenders, it said.

‘Certainly Not Weakened’

“The Singapore government is committed to tackling the trafficking in persons issue and our efforts in dealing with this issue have certainly not weakened since last year,” the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in an e-mailed statement. “It is rather puzzling because the U.S. has not satisfactorily explained how it had arrived at its conclusions.”

Thailand “has expressed its disappointment” with the report, foreign ministry spokesman Thani Thongphakdi said by telephone. “We believe that the report did not give due recognition to Thailand’s efforts to address the trafficking problem,” he said. “Be that as it may, we will continue with our efforts to prevent and suppress the trafficking problem.”

Malaysia moved out of the worst tier with increased criminal charges against offenders, according to the report. Cambodian authorities made a “significant increase” in convictions over the past year, including a public official, and Pakistan boosted efforts to combat bonded labor, the U.S. said.

The U.S. is a source as well as a transit and destination country for people forced into labor, debt bondage and prostitution, according to the report. The work is predominantly in manufacturing, janitorial services, agriculture, hotel services, construction, nail salons, elder care, strip-club dancing and domestic servitude, the U.S. said.

‘Tears of Families’
“Behind these statistics on the pages are the struggles of real human beings, the tears of families who may never see their children, the despair and indignity of those suffering under the worst forms of exploitation,” Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said at a State Department event to mark the release of the report yesterday in Washington.

The International Labor Organization estimated there were 12.3 million victims of forced labor, sex trafficking, debt bondage and recruitment of child soldiers worldwide in 2009. In the same year, there were 4,166 successful prosecutions for trafficking, the State Department report said.

The U.S. report lists three tiers of nations. Among those in the bottom section -- nations that don’t comply with the law and make no effort to do so -- are Zimbabwe, Cuba, Mauritania and Sudan.  Japan, Israel and Oman are listed in the middle tier -- nations that don’t fully meet the law’s minimum standards yet are making “significant” efforts to do so. Oil-rich Qatar is listed in between the middle and lowest tier on a watch list of countries that don’t meet minimum standards and whose progress is less certain.

The trafficking report calls for better law enforcement, improved laws and more prosecutions for trafficking. The report changes each year and countries can move from tier one, where the U.S. and others are, to the bottom tier.

Prayer Focus:

Ask God to bring conviction to America about this country being a source as well as a transit and destination country for women and children forced into labor, debt bondage and prostitution. Ask the Lord to stop these atrocities from happening in manufacturing, janitorial services, agriculture, hotel services, construction, nail salons, elder care, strip-club dancing and domestic servitude in the US.  Ask the Lord to call all countries to accountability through the efforts of the US State Department.  Praise God that these issues are being brought into the light and that countries are getting upset if they believe that they are placed on the wrong tier in an annual report for the US State Department.  Praise Him for the reported progress that has been made in Malaysia and Cambodia and ask Him that all countries move to tier one through better changes in law enforcement, improved laws and more presecutions for trafficking.