[CTC] Additional Malaysia trafficking statements

Tue Jul 28 06:11:32 PDT 2015

Following the batches sent yesterday…

Arthur Stamoulis
Citizens Trade Campaign
(202) 494-8826

DeLauro Statement on State Department’s Human Trafficking Report

NEW HAVEN, CT—Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro (D-CT) released the following statement today on the State Department’s Trafficking In Persons Report. Earlier this month, DeLauro led a bipartisan group of 160 Members of Congress in calling <http://delauro.house.gov/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1983:160-members-of-congress-call-on-state-department-to-not-upgrade-malaysia-ranking-in-2015-trafficking-in-persons-report&catid=2&Itemid=21> on U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry to not upgrade Malaysia in the report. Unfortunately that is exactly what the Department did today.

“Human trafficking is nothing less than the modern-day slave trade and one of the worst crimes there is. Human trafficking is rife in Malaysia, with the Global Slavery Index showing that 140,000 people are enslaved there. Malaysia was downgraded to Tier 3 in last year’s report because of these serious problems and because of what the State Department called its ‘limited efforts to improve its flawed victim protection regime.’

“Human trafficking advocates like United to End Genocide say that Malaysia has made little or no improvement and, if anything, has gotten worse. Malaysia is being upgraded, at least in part, to ease passage of the Trans-Pacific Partnership. I am outraged that the State Department is rewarding nations that fail to improve their human rights record.”

Rep. Lloyd Doggett on Malaysia’s Magical Upgrade
Washington, D.C.— As a senior Member of the House Ways and Means Committee, Congressman Doggett sought to address human trafficking in the committee markup of trade legislation, in direct questions to USTR Ambassador Michael Froman and Assistant Secretary of State for Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor Tom Malinowski, as well as during House floor debate. Today, he reacted to the U.S. Trafficking in Persons Report which undeservedly altered Malaysia’s status as one of the world’s worst countries for human trafficking:
“Bending the standards to reward a country that accepts trade in women, children, and forced laborers is wrong. The number of trafficking convictions during the past year actually declined. Apparently, the U.S. Ambassador to Malaysia <http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/malaysia/article/malaysia-must-do-more-to-prosecute-human-traffickers-says-top-us-diplomat> found no evidence of improvement as recently as three months ago. It is easier to lower the standard than to insist that Malaysia protect trafficking victims. This report is another indication that the Trans-Pacific Partnership is not being used to bring about meaningful change on critical issues.”
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Rep. Kaptur: Human Trafficking Decision Undermines American Workers
Malaysia reclassified, now eligible for job-outsourcing Trans-Pacific Partnership

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Congresswoman Marcy Kaptur responded today to news that Malaysia has been reclassified in the U.S. State Department2015 Trafficking in Persons <http://www.state.gov/j/tip/rls/tiprpt/2015/index.htm> (TIP) Report. This move paves the way for the country to join the Trans-Pacific Partnership, which could put its labor force into direct competition with American workers. 

“Putting a fig leaf over Malaysia’s human trafficking record and welcoming them into the job-outsourcing Trans-Pacific Partnership deal shows exactly what that deal is all about: cheap labor at any cost,” said Rep. Kaptur. “This is one of the darkest legacies of global trade: a seemingly endless race to the bottom that capitalizes on the sweat and labor of faceless workers whose suffering may be known only to God. Today’s reclassification shows that even the most basic tools for combating human trafficking can be pushed aside to keep that race running.

“The fundamental moral problem with modern trade deals, from NAFTA to the TPP, is that they largely advantage transnational corporations first. Powerful firms outsource millions of U.S. middle class jobs to foreign production platforms, abandoning their U.S. workers and indenturing legions of helpless laborers abroad. This downward spiral of exploitation relegates America's avowed principles of democracy and human rights to the ash heap. 

“This exploitation—essentially degutting the value of work itself—is directed by the wealthiest and most powerful global interests: transnational corporations, their investors, and the banks and boards that operate them. Outsourcing for private gain to serve these few creates a fundamental conflict within our Republic between the economics that benefit the few and the politics of our democracy that should benefit all.”

Today’s rating change for Malaysia has drawn criticism from other members of the House and Senate as well as leading human rights groups, as it comes just a few months <http://www.bloombergview.com/articles/2015-05-07/malaysian-trafficking-may-doom-pacific-trade-deal> after an amendment to the President’s “Fast Track” trade authority prohibiting any trade agreement with a nation classified as a Tier 3 violator on human trafficking. Malaysia had been classified as Tier 3, the category for the worst offenders.

Earlier this year, Malaysian authorities announced <http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/wp/2015/06/01/malaysia-is-a-hotbed-of-human-trafficking-the-white-house-thinks-a-huge-trade-deal-is-the-best-way-to-fix-it/> that they had discovered 28 sites suspected to have been human trafficking camps, as well as more than 100 mass grave sites of dead migrants smuggled from Burma. One survivor recounted <http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/malaysia/article/i-just-wanted-to-die-says-human-trafficking-victim>, “I was locked up in a cage like the goats and chickens, and all the time, I was surrounded by death. Each day, five or six of us would die, either from illness or were beaten up and shot."

Earlier this month, 160 Members of Congress sent a letter <http://democrats.waysandmeans.house.gov/sites/democrats.waysandmeans.house.gov/files/documents/Malaysia%20Letter%20to%20Secretary%20Kerry.pdf> to Secretary of State John Kerry expressing concern over reports that the State Department was planning to upgrade Malaysia’s status in its TIP report. 

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REP. PASCRELL SOCIAL MEDIA STATEMENT

The Administration made a wrong, baseless decision by upgrading Malaysia in the State Department’s Trafficking in Persons Report. Earlier this month, I joined 160 Members of Congress in calling on Secretary Kerry not to upgrade Malaysia’s status. As a party to the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade negotiations, Malaysia is obligated to meet basic standards on worker rights as outlined by the International Labor Organization. There is no evidence that Malaysia has made significant changes to improve working conditions and eliminate forced labor on the ground. It is disconcerting that we would reward them by welcoming them as a partner in a free trade agreement without significant changes being made.

With a link to this article http://time.com/3973022/cuba-malaysia-human-trafficking/ <http://time.com/3973022/cuba-malaysia-human-trafficking/>

======
http://www.ituc-csi.org/us-decision-on-people-trafficking <http://www.ituc-csi.org/us-decision-on-people-trafficking>

US Decision on People Trafficking in Malaysia “Manipulated”
 27 July 2015

·         Child labour/Forced labour <http://www.ituc-csi.org/forcedlabour>
 , 
·         Migration <http://www.ituc-csi.org/migration>
 , 
·         Trade & labour standards <http://www.ituc-csi.org/trade-labour-standards>
 , 
·         Malaysia <http://www.ituc-csi.org/malaysia>
The ITUC is deeply concerned that the US State Department today upgraded Malaysia from “Tier 3” to “Tier 2 Watch” in its annual Trafficking in Persons Report.

The unwarranted upgrade is presumed to be result of political interference by the administration to ensure that Malaysia remains eligible to participate in the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPP), which has been under negotiation since 2008. The recently adopted Trade Promotion Authority (TPA) provides that Tier 3 countries cannot be parties to trade agreements with the United States.

The status upgrade comes just two months after the discovery in Malaysia of mass graves containing 139 bodies of migrant workers. Human rights organisations, such as Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, have recently documented widespread trafficking in Malaysia. And, a recent report published by Verite – at the request of the US Department of Labor – found that workers in the Malaysian electronics sector were trafficked for forced labour. These goods are exported to the United States. In 2015, the ILO also “strongly encouraged” Malaysia “to take measures to ensure that migrant workers, including migrant domestic workers, are fully protected from abusive practices and conditions that amount to forced labour.”

The Malaysia Trade Union Congress (MTUC) Secretary-General, Gopal Kishnam, said that “should the US State of Department upgraded Malaysia to Tier 2 Status in the upcoming Trafficking in Persons Report to give way to the Trans- Pacific Partnership, it would only raise the questions of credibility as it has failed to mirror the actual realities faced by victims of trafficking.” The MTUC reports that “many employers are still wrongly holding on to passports and work passes/visas/permits… When workers claim their rights through existing legal avenues, many employers simply terminate their workers, and for migrant workers this also mean the loss of ability to stay in Malaysia which is a requirement in law if they want to pursue their claims for justice.”

“The US State Department Trafficking in Persons Report was a well-documented, authoritative and often-cited report on forced labour. But now we have valid reasons to believe that the Report is being openly manipulated to create results that fit the purposes of the US trade agenda. This move calls into question both the credibly of the report and the administration’s commitment to uphold labour standards through trade,” said Sharan Burrow, ITUC General Secretary.

For more information, please contact the ITUC Press Department on: +32 2 224 02 10

http://www.foe.org/news/news-releases/2015-07-obama-administration-manipulates-human-rights-report-2#sthash.SZfIky7z.dpuf <http://www.foe.org/news/news-releases/2015-07-obama-administration-manipulates-human-rights-report-2#sthash.SZfIky7z.dpuf>
Friends of the Earth, US news release

Obama administration manipulates human rights report to “fast track” Malaysia’s participation in TPP trade deal

Posted Jul. 27, 2015 / Posted by: Kolin Kearns 

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Obama administration has removed Malaysia from the State Department’s list of flagrant violators of human rights related to human trafficking, in order for Congress to give expedited “fast track” consideration to Malaysia, as part of a Trans Pacific Partnership trade deal. A provision in recently-passed Trade Promotion Authority legislation denies consideration by Congress on a quick up-or-down vote of trade agreements with so-called “Tier 3” countries identified in the State Department’s Trafficking of Human Persons Report as having the worst records in combating human trafficking. Malaysia was listed as a Tier 3” country when TPA was enacted. Now, it has been reclassified for transparently political reasons.

An important economic driver of human trafficking in Malaysia is the rapid expansion of   industrial scale palm oil plantations that use the forced labor of migrants to meet high demand by multi-national buyers like Cargill and Proctor & Gamble for this cheap vegetable oil used in thousands of food and industrial products. Corporate palm oil plantations in Malaysia are cut from vast acreages of rain forest, thus threatening endangered species and exacerbating global warming.

Ben Schreiber, climate and energy program director a Friends of the Earth U.S. had this statement:

Manipulating the State Department’s report on human trafficking in order to ‘fast track’ Malaysia’s participation in the Pacific trade deal is heartless. There is no basis for upgrading Malaysia’s human rights status. The recent discovery of mass graves with victims of human smuggling in Malaysia makes it clear that this problem has not gone away. This ugly episode highlights the Obama Administration’s willingness to sacrifice the rights of Malaysia’s migrant workers on the altar of corporate profits. Palm oil plantations and the multinational buyers of their cheap and environmentally destructive product continue the devastation of Malaysia’s rain forests.

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For Immediate Release July 27, 2015
Contact: Omar Martínez, 202-721-8158

Upgrading Malaysia’s Status: Bad for Human Rights and American Workers

“It’s a shame President Obama and his administration will go to such lengths to impose another free trade agreement on American workers.”

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Marc Perrone, International President of the United Food and Commercial Workers International Union (UFCW), today released the following statement in response to the Obama administration’s decision to upgrade Malaysia’s position in its annual Trafficking in Persons report.

“We are greatly disappointed by the State Department’s decision to upgrade Malaysia in its annual human trafficking report. Removing Malaysia from its tier 3 status is a clear and premeditated political decision by the Obama Administration to eliminate any possible stumbling block for the passage of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) Free Trade Agreement.

“At a time when American workers are grappling with increasing uncertainty, income inequality and stagnating wages, this administration and this Congress have shown they would rather protect corporate interests over the concerns of everyday American workers. Hard-working men and women will now lose their jobs or struggle to earn a good income because of a trade deal negotiated in secret by for-hire special interest henchmen.

“Labor and human rights cannot, and should not, be negotiated to appease the economic interests of a few. The workers of Malaysia and of America deserve better. Shame on you for prioritizing a trade agreement over the well-being of America’s hardworking families.”

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Join the United Food and Commercial Workers International Union <http://www.ufcw.org/> (UFCW) online at www.ufcw.org <http://www.ufcw.org/>
We are 1.3 million families standing together to build an economy that every hard-working family deserves.

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