Latin America
Related: About this forumThe United States blacklists Venezuela in human trafficking
http://www.eluniversal.com/nacional-y-politica/140620/the-united-states-blacklists-venezuela-in-human-traffickingThe US government has included Venezuela in "the black list" of countries not complying with minimum standards to tackle human trafficking, and claimed the country is making no effort to meet such standards, which open the doors to sanctions.
The "black list", disclosed as part of the annual report on human trafficking of the US Department of State on Friday includes 23 countries, including Cuba, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Thailand, and Malaysia, AFP reported.
Possible sanctions include the freeze of non-humanitarian aid or non-commercial assistance, or the lawful rejection of the United States to the granting of loans by multilateral institutions such as the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank.
For his part, US Special Ambassador Luis CdeBaca lamented the fact Venezuela is sparing no efforts to fight human trafficking. He regretted that the country does not rely on a mechanism able to identify victims or find them a shelter.
Judi Lynn
(160,554 posts)June 20th, 2014
09:21 AM ET
Opinion: U.S. must practice what it preaches as it judges others on human trafficking
By Melysa Sperber
Editors Note: Melysa Sperber is Director of the Alliance to End Slavery and Trafficking (ATEST), a U.S. based coalition that advocates for solutions to prevent and end all forms of human trafficking and modern slavery around the world. The opinions expressed in this article are solely that of the author.
~snip~
The U.S. State Department estimates that as many as 17,500 men, women and children are trafficked into the United States each year.
Each year, thousands of men, women and children pay foreign labor recruiters for the promise of a good job in the United States, only to be trafficked into the sex trade or forced to work for little or no wages in farm fields, as domestic servants or childcare providers, in hotels, restaurants and other businesses.
Despite knowledge of this trafficking, Congress has failed to pass legislation that would oversee foreign labor contractors and ban recruitment fees that often force workers into conditions of debt bondage or modern slavery.
We dont know how many children are trapped in modern slavery in the U.S. Collecting and reporting accurate data is a challenge the government must address if we are truly serious about tackling this scourge.
What we do know is that too many child trafficking victims end up arrested and jailed or sent to juvenile detention instead of receiving necessary and deserved support services.
More:
http://thecnnfreedomproject.blogs.cnn.com/2014/06/20/opinion-u-s-must-practice-what-it-preaches-as-it-judges-others-on-human-trafficking/