Human Trafficking 3

US downgrades RP efforts to fight human trafficking By Jose Katigbak (The Philippine Star) Updated June 18, 2009 12:00 AM

WASHINGTON – The US State Department has downgraded the Philippines from a list of nations making significant efforts to combat human trafficking to a watch list of problem nations.

After three years of being ranked in a “tier 2” category of countries making significant efforts to fully comply with minimum standards to fight trafficking, the Philippines was dropped to the “tier 2 watch list” because it did not show evidence of progress in convicting trafficking offenders, particularly those responsible for labor trafficking.

The State Department said countries on the “tier 2 watch list” for two consecutive years, beginning with the 2009 Trafficking in Persons report, would be demoted to the “tier 3“ category and could be barred from receiving non-humanitarian, non-trade-related foreign assistance unless the US President waives application of this provision.

A significant number of Filipinos who migrate abroad for work are subjected to conditions of involuntary servitude in Bahrain, Brunei, Canada, Cote d’Ivoire, Cyprus, Hong Kong, Japan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Malaysia, Palau, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, South Africa, Taiwan, Turkey, and the United Arab Emirates, the State Department report released on Tuesday said.

Filipinas are also trafficked abroad for commercial sexual exploitation, primarily to Hong Kong, Japan, Malaysia, Singapore, South Korea, and countries in Africa, the Middle East, and Western Europe, the report added.

The Philippines is one of the world’s biggest labor exporters. Last year about 11 million overseas Filipinos worldwide sent home more than $16 billion in remittances.

The State Department report covering 175 countries over a one-year period from April 2008 to March 2009 is the most comprehensive worldwide report on efforts of governments to combat human trafficking. Its findings are aimed at spurring countries to take effective action to defeat the scourge.

The report noted an increase in the number of trafficking cases filed in courts in the Philippines but said only 12 people have been convicted of trafficking – all for sex trafficking offenses – since the passage of the country’s 2003 anti-trafficking law which criminally prohibits trafficking for both sexual and labor exploitation.

The number of convictions for sex trafficking offenders is low given the significant scope and magnitude of sex trafficking within the country and to destinations abroad, the report said.

It said only four trafficking convictions were obtained during the latest reporting period and there were no reported labor trafficking convictions, despite widespread reports of Filipinos trafficked for forced labor within the country and abroad.

Of the four individuals in three cases of sex trafficking convicted, one was sentenced to life imprisonment and the remaining three were sentenced to 20 years’ imprisonment, in addition to fines and damages.

Philippine law enforcement agencies reported 168 alleged trafficking cases to the Department of Justice in 2008, the report said, and prosecutors initiated prosecutions in 97 of the cases, an increase of more than 60 percent over the previous year.

The remaining cases remain under preliminary investigation or were dismissed for lack of evidence or witnesses, or on other grounds.

If the Philippines is to make more progress towards compliance with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking, it has to achieve more tangible results in convicting trafficking offenders and in investigating and prosecuting officials complicit in trafficking, the report said.

In the new listing, 28 countries whose governments fully comply with international efforts to fight human trafficking are classified under “tier 1.” They include Britain, Australia and New Zealand.

Seventy-six countries are listed in “tier 2” including ASEAN members Brunei, Indonesia, Laos, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.

With the Philippines in the “tier 2 watch list” category are 51 other countries, including Cambodia.

In “tier 3” are 17 countries whose governments do not make any significant attempts to fight human trafficking, including the remaining ASEAN members Malaysia and Myanmar.

Palace reaction

Palace deputy spokesperson Lorelei Fajardo said steps have been taken by the government to address the problem.

“The Philippine government recognizes that human trafficking is a problem that befalls developing countries the most,” she said.

“It is with this belief that the government created the Inter-Agency Council Against Trafficking (IACAT) to coordinate and monitor the implementation of Republic Act 9208, otherwise known as the Anti-Trafficking on Persons Act of 2003,” she said.

“We reiterate that our government is prepared to work with the international community to address the human trafficking problem,” Fajardo stressed. “We will do all that needs to be done to make sure that no Filipino falls victim to this most terrible fate.”