The United States estimates that some 27 million people worldwide are victims of trafficking.
Photo: PAUL J. RICHARDS/AFP/Getty Images
The State Department announced Thursday that The United States will keep Cuba, Venezuela and Nicaragua on its annual “black list” of countries that do not do enough to stop human traffickingwhich also includes Russia, China, Iran and North Korea.
Compared to last year, Washington added Algeria, Chad, Djibouti, Equatorial Guinea and Papua New Guinea to the list.while it withdrew Brunei, Malaysia and Vietnam.
“The United States is committed to the fight against human trafficking because it represents an attack on human rights and freedoms,” warned Secretary of State Antony Blinken, presenting the 2023 Trafficking in Persons Report.
Cuba, Venezuela and Nicaragua are the three Latin American countries that the United States points out for another year in its report for not meeting the minimum standards in the fight against trafficking.
The report admits that the Government of Havana “took some steps to address trafficking”such as reforming the Penal Code, but considers that the missions of Cuban doctors abroad are an obvious case of forced labor.
Of the Executive of Nicolás Maduro in Venezuela affirms that “he is not making any effort” against trafficking and accuses him of supporting armed groups that recruit children for forced labor and sex trafficking.
The list, made up this year by 24 countries, it also includes Russia, Belarus, China, North Korea, Iran, Syria and Afghanistan, among others.
The report alleges that Moscow has trafficked Ukrainian citizens and forced people to fight in the Ukrainian war.
Regarding China, he once again pointed out the practices of forced labor and arbitrary arrests against the Uyghur ethnic minority in the Xinjiang region.
The United States estimates that some 27 million people worldwide are victims of human trafficking and forced labor.a phenomenon that especially impacts women, people from the LGBT community and ethnic and religious minorities.
In his appearance, Blinken denounced that the covid-19 pandemic has facilitated labor exploitation due to the interruption of value chains in various industries.
He also warned that human traffickers are increasingly using the internet to recruit their victims, who are getting younger and younger.
However, the leader of US diplomacy also highlighted positive cases such as the opening of a hotline in Hong Kong to help victims or an increase in the Danish budget to combat trafficking.
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