September 2, 2015
Today an article written by Humanity United’s Vice President for Policy & Government Relations, David Abramowitz, was published in Foreign Affairs. In it he discusses the State Department’s decision to prioritize politics over human rights in this year’s Trafficking in Persons Report.
In short, the TIP Report has resulted in real change. Yet its impact can only be as great as its accuracy. And on that score, after this year’s report, many analysts have serious questions. Several organizations, including Humanity United (with which I work), are incredulous about the decision to move China, India, Malaysia, and Uzbekistan from Tier 3 to the Tier 2 Watch List, or maintain their same ranking, despite their deterioration in actions. These organizations suspect the State Department of letting other political and foreign policy interests trump human rights concerns: better rankings have been proffered for the sake of better trade and commerce.