Angola, Brazil, Cape Verde and Portugal are on the annual list of countries in North America that do not fully comply with the standards of the Victims of Trafficking in Persons Protection Act but are making significant efforts to adapt to those standards.
The findings are contained in the Trafficking in Persons Report 2023, released this Thursday by the US Department of State, which divides countries into three categories and one subcategory based on the Trafficking in Persons Protection Act (TVPA) of the United States of America. (USA).
No country from the Community of Portuguese-speaking Countries (CPLP) has managed to enter the category of “first level”, that is, countries whose governments fully comply with the TVPA minimum standards for the elimination of human trafficking, including the United States, Canada, France, Germany, Great Britain, Spain , Luxembourg, Guyana and others.
“While ‘Tier One’ is the highest ranking, it does not mean that the country has no problems with human trafficking or that it is doing enough to fight crime. Rather, a Tier One rating indicates that the government has made an effort to meet the minimum TVPA standards to address this issue,” the State Department explained.
In the “second tier” are Angola, Brazil, Cape Verde, Portugal and Timor-Leste, considered by the US authorities to be “countries whose governments do not fully comply with the minimum TVPA standards, but make significant efforts to meet these standards.”
At the same level are such countries as the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRCongo), Burkina Faso, the Central African Republic, Israel, Italy, Mali, Switzerland, Rwanda, Sudan, Qatar and others.
This is followed by a “second level watch list” sub-category for states that are making anti-trafficking efforts but have a “very significant” number of victims of serious forms of trafficking or do not provide evidence of their growing efforts. .
In this subcategory, Mozambique is the only Portuguese-speaking country.
Finally, Guinea-Bissau and Equatorial Guinea are on the “black list” of countries with insufficient anti-trafficking measures (“tier three”), joined by countries such as Cuba, Venezuela, Nicaragua, Russia, China, Iran and North Korea . .
Sao Tome and Principe was the only CPLP country not included in this U.S. report, which contributed information from U.S. embassies, government officials, non-governmental and international organizations, reports, news, academic research, and consultations with authorities and organizations in all countries . regions of the world.
“The United States is committed to combating human trafficking because it is an attack on human rights and freedoms,” Secretary of State Anthony Blinken said as he launched the Trafficking in Persons Report 2023.
The US estimates that around 27 million people worldwide are victims of human trafficking and forced labor, a phenomenon that primarily affects women, members of the LGBT community (short for lesbian, “gay”, bisexual, and transgender), and ethnic and religious minorities . .
Blinken also believes that the covid-19 pandemic has contributed to labor exploitation due to the disruption of production chains in several industries.
He also warned that traffickers are increasingly using the Internet to recruit their victims, who are getting younger.
The US Secretary of State also highlighted positive examples, such as the opening of a hotline in Hong Kong to help victims, or an increase in Denmark’s anti-trafficking budget.
Author: Portuguese
Source: CM Jornal
I’m Dave Martin, and I’m an experienced journalist working in the news industry. As a part of my work, I write for 24 News Reporters, covering mostly sports-related topics. With more than 5 years of experience as a journalist, I have written numerous articles on various topics to provide accurate information to readers.