Human Trafficking (TIP) Report - 2015
The TIP Report analyzes the efforts of 188 countries to comply with minimum standards required to eliminate human trafficking for sexual exploitation or forced labor.
Countries are ranked into three groups, or “tiers”. Tier 1 countries are doing a good job of responding to trafficking and slavery; Tier 2 countries are trying but not doing enough; and Tier 3 countries have serious trafficking problems and are not doing anything about them, or are making matters even worse. There is also a special “Tier 2 Watch List” for countries that need a warning to get their act together. Being on the Watch List means that a country is in danger of being relegated to Tier 3.
Tier 1: 31 countries are listed. These include Australia, Belgium, France, Israel, Italy, Sweden, South Korea, the United Kingdom and the United States.
“If we are going to stop slavery, we must first convince the world that human rights need even more protection than property rights”
(Kevin Bales)
Tier 2 : 89 countries are listed. These include Afghanistan, Argentina, Brazil, Cote D’Ivoire, Croatia, Greece, Hong Kong, India, Kenya, Madagascar, Nepal , Morocco, Nigeria, Serbia, Zambia.
Tier 2 Watch List: 44 countries are listed. These include China, Cuba, Democratic Rep of Congo, Ghana, Malaysia, Pakistan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Uzbekistan
Tier 3: 23 countries are listed. These are Algeria, Belarus, Belize, Burundi, Central African Republic, Comoros, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, The Gambia, Guinea-Bissau, Iran, Korea North, Kuwait, Libya, Marshall Islands, Mauritania, Russia, South Sudan, Syria, Thailand, Yemen, Venezuela, Zimbabwe.
NB Somalia is not classified. According to the US State Department, the Somalia Government “possessed minimal capacity to investigate and prosecute most crimes, including human trafficking. In addition, officials across Somalia generally lacked an understanding of trafficking crimes, which they often conflated with smuggling. Justice was primarily provided through military courts”.
The countries upgraded from Tier 3 up to the Tier 2 Watch List are Cuba, Malaysia, Papua New Guinea, Saudi Arabia and Uzbekistan..
Belarus, Comoros and the Marshall Islands were automatically downgraded to Tier 3 after being on last year's Tier 2 Watch List.
Thailand, Venezuela and Gambia were downgraded from Tier 2 to Tier 3 in last year's report and remain in the same ranking in 2015.
Whilst a Tier 3 ranking can trigger sanctions limiting access to aid from the US, the International Monetary Fund or the World Bank, such action is frequently waived. The real power is its ability to embarrass countries into action.