Myanmar downgraded in US trafficking report

Yangon: Myanmar is not doing enough to tackle human trafficking, according to a US State Department report that downgraded its ranking to the worst tier.The annual Trafficking in Persons (TIP) report said Myanmar slipped backward on its trafficked person’s index to Tier 3 for failing to protect Rohingya Muslims fleeing a military crackdown in Rakhine state. More than 700,000 Rohingyas fled to escape military retaliation following attacks by militants on police posts in August 2017. The United Nations and the United States have said the violence amounts to “ethnic cleansing”. The vast majority of the fleeing Rohingya settled in sprawling refugee camps in neighbouring Bangladesh.Many were women and children who have become prey for traffickers, the report said. The TIP report ranks 187 countries using its three-tier index. A Tier 3 ranking could lead to non-trade related sanctions. Myanmar joined China, Russia, Laos, South Sudan and North Korea in the lowest Tier 3 ranking in this year’s report.Thailand and Pakistan were upgraded to a Tier 2 from the Tier 2 Watchlist, which refers to countries who are not doing enough to protect trafficked people, but “are making significant efforts” to do so.

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