[CTC] U.S. upgrades Malaysia in annual human trafficking report

[Arthur Stamoulis]

Can't get much more blatant about your priorities than this...

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/wires/reuters/article-3154248/U-S-upgrades-Malaysia-annual-human-trafficking-report.html

*U.S**. upgrades Malaysia in annual human trafficking report*

By Reuters01:04 09 Jul 2015, updated 01:04 09 Jul 2015

By Jason Szep, Patricia Zengerle and Matt Spetalnick

WASHINGTON, July 8 (Reuters) - The United States is upgrading Malaysia from
the lowest tier on its list of worst human trafficking centers, U.S.
sources said on Wednesday, a move that could smooth the way for an
ambitious U.S.-led free-trade deal with the Southeast Asian nation and 11
other countries.

The upgrade to so-called "Tier 2 Watch List" status removes a potential
barrier to President Barack Obama's signature global trade deal.

A provision in a related trade bill passed by Congress last month barred
from fast-tracked trade deals Malaysia and other countries that earn the
worst U.S. human trafficking ranking in the eyes of the U.S. State
Department.

The upgrade follows international scrutiny and outcry over Malaysian
efforts to combat human trafficking after the discovery this year of scores
of graves in people-smuggling camps near its northern border with Thailand.

The State Department last year downgraded Malaysia in its annual
"Trafficking in Persons" report to Tier 3, alongside North Korea, Syria and
Zimbabwe, citing "limited efforts to improve its flawed victim protection
regime" and other problems.

But a congressional source with knowledge of the decision told Reuters the
administration had approved the upgraded status. A second source familiar
with the matter confirmed the decision.

Some U.S. lawmakers and human-rights advocates had expected Malaysia to
remain on Tier 3 this year given its slow pace of convictions in
human-trafficking cases and pervasive trafficking in industries such as
electronics and palm oil.

This year's full State Department report, including details on each
country's efforts to combat human trafficking, is expected to be released
next week.

The State Department and the White House both declined comment.

Obama visited Malaysia in April 2014 to cement economic and security ties.
Malaysia is the current chair of the 10-nation Association of Southeast
Asian Nations. It is seeking to promote unity within the bloc in the face
of China's increasingly assertive pursuits of territorial claims in the
South China Sea, an object of U.S. criticism.

In May, just as Obama's drive to win "fast-track" trade negotiating
authority for his trade deal entered its most sensitive stage in the U.S.
Congress, Malaysian police announced the discovery of 139 graves in jungle
camps used by suspected smugglers and traffickers of Rohingya Muslims from
Myanmar.

Malaysia hopes to be a signatory to Obama's legacy-defining Trans-Pacific
Partnership (TPP), would link a dozen countries, cover 40 percent of the
world economy and form a central element of his strategic shift towards
Asia.

On June 29, Obama signed into law legislation giving him "fast-track" power
to push ahead on the deal.

MALAYSIAN GRAVES

Lawmakers are working on a compromise that would let Malaysia and other
countries appearing on a U.S. black-list for human trafficking participate
in fast-tracked trade deals if the administration verified that they have
taken concrete steps to address the most important issues identified in the
annual trafficking report.

The graves were found in an area long known for the smuggling of Rohingya
and local villagers reported seeing Rohingya in the area, but Malaysia's
Deputy Home (Interior) Minister Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar has said it was
unclear whether those killed were illegal migrants. The discovery took
place after the March cut-off for the U.S. report.

The State Department would have needed to show that Malaysia had neither
fully complied with minimum anti-trafficking standards nor made significant
efforts to do so to justify keeping Malaysia on Tier 3, which can lead to
penalties such as the withholding of some assistance.

In its report last year, the State Department said Malaysia had reported 89
human-trafficking investigations in the 12 months to March, 2014, down from
190 the previous year, and nine convictions compared to 21 the previous
year.

In the latest year to March, Malaysia's conviction rate is believed to have
fallen further, according to human-rights advocates, despite a rise in the
number of investigations. That reinforced speculation Malaysia would remain
on Tier 3.

"I would be stunned if they are upgraded. They have done very little to
improve the protection from abuse that migrant workers face," said Phil
Robertston, deputy director of Human Rights Watch's Asia division.

"This would seem to be some sort of political reward from the United States
and I would urge the U.S. Congress to look long and hard at who was making
the decisions on such an upgrade."

Malaysia has an estimated 2 million illegal migrant laborers, many of whom
work in conditions of forced labor under employers and recruitment
companies in sectors ranging from electronics to palm oil to domestic
service.

Last year's report said many migrant workers are exploited and subjected to
practices associated with forced labor. Many foreign women recruited for
ostensibly legal work in Malaysian restaurants, hotels, and beauty salons
are subsequently coerced into prostitution, the report said.

An administration official told Reuters in June that the White House had
been working closely with the Malaysian government and stakeholders to
fight the problem.

Among the 12 TPP countries, Brunei has also come under attack by
human-rights groups for adopting Islamic criminal law, which includes
punishing offenses such as sodomy and adultery with death, including by
stoning. Vietnam's Communist government has been criticized for jailing
dissidents. (Additional reporting by David Brunnstrom; Writing by Jason
Szep; editing by Stuart Grudgings)

Arthur Stamoulis
Citizens Trade Campaign
(202) 494-8826
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