The term "slave" conjures up images of a dark past history for a lot
of people. It seems as if it is a word of the past, and the idea of
selling and buying humans ancient and, rightfully, a practice left
behind in the malicious annals of time. The reality of the situation is
that human trafficking is still one of the most lucrative criminal
industries today, raking in an estimated 32 million dollars per year. It
is not only confined to developing countries, as even within the United
States there are around 15,000 people trafficked each year. The U.S.
Department of State has created a ranking system of three tiers based
off of a given country's agreement and compliance with the Trafficking
Victims Protection Act (TVPA). The TVPA was created by the U.S.
Department of State to combat and educate people and governments about
human trafficking, This act not only works within American borders, but
also across international ones as well. It is important because it
monitors human trafficking on a global scale, and the act provides more
resources to combat human trafficking at all levels, and also to
prosecute violators. The act requires the U.S. government to not engage
in any contracts with those countries which are found in significant
violation of the TVPA. The countries that are listed here are all found
in the "3rd tier" under the aforementioned act.
To be a Tier 1
country in regards to the TVPA, a country must be in compliance with the
minimum standards of the of the TVPA, with evidence of their being so.
The Second Tier includes countries that are not yet fulfilling their
obligations for the minimum TVPA standards, but are actively trying to
get there. The Second Tier also has a subsection called the "Tier 2
Watch List". This is inclusive of countries that claim they are trying
to comply with the TVPA standards, but the evidence seen within their
countries is to the contrary. Facts and data are what puts the countries
in their respective designated sections, and this is an important part
of the TVPA. It allows the U.S. Department of State to distinguish which
countries are just saying they want to change, and the countries that
actually are. This information also helps to mitigate the sharing and
use of resources to combat human trafficking, and as useful foreign
relations tools all around. The final tier, the "3rd Tier", an that
which we are focusing on in this article, is inclusive of those
countries whose governments do not, and have not, made any significant
attempts to comply with the TVPA. The human trafficking situation in
these countries, as we will explore below, is dire, and the common link
between a lot of them is poverty at the lower levels of societal
structure, and unstable and corrupt political situations at the highest.
7. What Creates Circumstances Conducive for Human Trafficking?
The countries currently on the TVPA-designated Tier 3 List are
actively not complying with the minimum standards of the TVPA, and have
high numbers of human trafficking incidences. All of the countries on
the list are considered developing countries, though this should not be
taken to mean that developed countries do not have cases of human
trafficking. It is just that in developed countries the government is
more likely to be seen actively trying to stop human trafficking, and
putting money and effort into such operations. Many of these countries
have gone threw unstable governments over the last couple years, if not
even longer. Such can be seen in the cases of South Sudan, Yemen, Syria,
and others. It is also difficult to get reliable, accessible data from
some of these countries, because they are very closed off and have a
state-run media, such as in the case of North Korea and, to a less extreme degree, in Belarus. Even when dealing with the fairly developed nation of Russia,
it is difficult to get actual data regarding the number of human
trafficking victims. Some of these countries listed on the Tier 3 have
corrupt governments who have turned a blind eye, or, even worse, the
governments themselves are directly involved in, and profiteering from,
the human trafficking trade. Tier 3 countries will be those with the
presence of one or more of the three components of human trafficking.
Looking at the primary component of human trafficking prevailing in each
country, they are typically classified as either a "source" (where
victims are taken from), "transit" (where victims are moved through), or
"destination" (where victims are ultimately sold and resettled)
country.
6. North Africa
Algeria
is a primarily a transit country because of its prime geographical
location for smugglers from Sub-Saharan Africa and the Middle East to
get into Europe. It is also a destination country for human trafficking
victims, primarily for the purpose of forced labor and prostitution. Libya
also is a major transit country. Libya has been for years going threw
civil unrest and a lot of violence, both of which are making it
relatively easy for smugglers to get through Libyan borders unhindered
because the situation is so unstable. Without a strong Libyan
Government, it is almost impossible to combat human trafficking and to
enforce anti-human trafficking laws.
5. Sub-Saharan Africa
The Sub-Saharan countries that made the list all have similar
socioeconomic commonalities. Namely, each have large impoverished
populations, weak governments, and a great deal of civil violence and
unrest. Sub-Saharan countries are major source and destination countries
alike, especially for children and women. South Sudan has corrupt
government officials that are actively involved in the prostitution of
trafficking victims and forced labor. A lot of the victims in South Sudan, apart from the South Sudanese themselves, are from Uganda, Ethiopia, Eritrea, and the Congo.
South Sudan is especially vulnerable to exploitation because of the
violence that had been occurring for years, creating large displaced and
orphaned populations in turn, both of which are groups particularly
susceptible to human trafficking. A lot of men from the Persian Gulf
countries travel to these Sub-Saharan countries for paid sex, which is
often provided using human trafficking victims. In many cases, these
operations are not carried out by wide-spread human trafficking cartels,
but instead by local, family-run businesses, and family members will at
times even be seen selling their own children. This shows how strong
the correlation between poverty and high levels of human trafficking
are, as when people have nothing but their children and themselves to
offer, they will sell their very bodies and more easily become victims.
4. Middle East
The Middle East has a big problem with human trafficking, and
traffickers here target men, women, and children alike. Both source and
destination countries are found here, and in some cases transit
countries as well, as is the case with Kuwait.
Trafficking victims are subjected to forced labor or sexual
exploitation in the Middle East. In many cases in the Middle East,
citizens from poorer, nearby countries willingly go to Kuwait or Yemen
for normal work under misleading pretenses, but then see their rights
stripped away and are forced into servitude. Kuwait, for instance, does
not even have laws on the books against Human Trafficking. Iran also has people willingly coming from Afghanistan
and Pakistan to work who are then are forced into unpaid labor. Yemen
is a big source country, especially of young boys, who are forced into
street vending, begging, and forced labor for the benefit of others, and
many of these are sexually exploited as well. Yemen is a major
destination country for girls coming from Sub-Saharan Africa. Most of
Yemeni human trafficking victims come across the border with Saudi Arabia. Syria is a large destination country for traffickers coming from Iraq,
and these are mostly children used for the purposes of sexual
exploitation. The political and civil unrest in Syria, and the fact that
is still lacks a strong central government, makes it a prime country
for smugglers to work within, often going unimpeded and undetected.
3. Asia
Thailand
is one of the worst countries in the world for human trafficking. It is
primarily a destination country, though it is also a source and transit
one as well. A reason why it is so well entrenched in practice in
Thailand, and even seemingly unstoppable there, is that the government
there is plagued with corruption, and some officials are even actively
involved in the trade. One excuse is that cops are paid so poorly that
they are easily bribed. Human trafficking victims in Thailand are
inclusive of men, women, and children alike, all of which are used for
forced labor and sexual exploitation. The Marshall Islands is also a
large destination portal for victims because so many fishing vessels
dock there, and many of their crews are bringing with them a demand for
sex and forced labor upon their boats. The Marshall Islands, in
particular, has put little to no effort into providing useful data about
victims to anti-human trafficking organizations, and do not contribute
anything significant to the international dialogue surrounding Human
Trafficking. It is difficult to battle something you do not have a clear
picture of, which is the case with many of the countries in Tier 3.
This is especially true of North Korea, a so-called "hermit kingdom".
North Korea is almost exclusively a source country for Human
Trafficking. People are so vulnerable and desperate because of poverty
and hunger that they easily fall prey to human traffickers. There is
also evidence that the government is involved in trafficking their own
people. The government sends workers to China or Siberia for forced
manual labor, and all of this money goes to the government, essentially
making them slaves to benefit the state.
2. Europe and Eurasia
Belarus
is often called the last dictatorship in Europe. It is a source and
transit country, with estimates being that Belarussians are trafficked
to around 30 countries. There are also people who willingly go to work
in Russia, but then their passports are taken away and physical violence
is used if there is any resistance to the work given. This is a problem
occurring in many countries across all continents, a practice of
abusing people without regard for their desperation for a better life
and a little economic security. Russia is also a big transit country,
being a bridge between Europe and Asia, as well as a source and
destination country. Human trafficking victims in Russia seem to be
primarily used for forced labor, including construction trades and
begging for others. Women and children are also sexually exploited all
over Russia. There is a lot of trafficking within Russia of their own
citizens, with girls from rural areas going to the city for sales jobs
and ending up in forced prostitution. As in Belarus and other countries,
it is very difficult to get clear data from the Russian government
surrounding human trafficking therein. There is also proof that the
Russian government is aware of, and possibly even promotes, human
trafficking by making deals with neighboring North Korea and Belarus to
acquire cheap labor.
1. Can We Stop Human Trafficking?
The major commonality among these countries is poverty and violence.
These socioeconomic factors create situations where people are willing
to be illegally trafficked because they are desperate for a better life,
and thusly are easily taken advantage of. It is easy to blame and call
human traffickers evil, but the poverty and desperation also applies to
them. There would be fewer people willing to do such malicious jobs if
the countries they lived in had more economic opportunities to offer, as
well as better monitoring and law enforcement practices that made their
arrest, prosecution, and punishment for trafficking more probable.
Violence and civil unrest creates vulnerable populations of people, and
these also contribute to the large-scale problems seen in many of the
countries on the Tier 3 list. The lack of transparency from governments
in getting data is also a major problem, as without proper data it is
difficult to gauge and address the situation appropriately. In many of
these countries as well, racism is unfortunately very strong, and many
citizens, and even the government, do not see anything wrong with
certain ethnicities being exploited. This is particularly true with
Middle Eastern countries, whose citizens often view Africans as being
lesser than themselves, and in Thailand, where Cambodians and Burmese
may be viewed as being below them as well. A strong government,
education, and economic and social security seems to be the most
effective way to combat human trafficking for both the victims and the
perpetrators. There needs to be enough opportunities for people so that
they will not be so desperate as to willingly place themselves, or even
more concerningly, their children, in situations where they are likely
to end up being trafficked.
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