The U.S. State Department has taken Malaysia and Cuba off its list of worst human trafficking offenders — which many human rights advocates and U.S. lawmakers say has more to do with politics than facts on the ground...
...Moving Malaysia off the list of Tier 3 countries eliminates a potential roadblock to finalizing the Trans-Pacific Partnership, the massive trade agreement involving 12 Pacific Rim nations, including Malaysia.
Democratic Sen. Bob Menendez from New Jersey has led the charge to ban any Tier 3 countries from the TPP. According to Reuters, more than 160 members of Congress wrote to Secretary of State John Kerry to urge him to keep Malaysia on Tier 3, according to Reuters.
In a statement, Menendez said he was disappointed in the latest State Department report. "The Administration has turned its back on the victims of trafficking, turned a blind eye to the facts, and ignored the calls from Congress," he said.
Menendez also lashed out at the decision to elevate Cuba's ranking, saying the government there continues "perpetrating the abusive practices of forced labor."
Cuba was stuck on the lowest rung on the State Department's human trafficking list for several years. Its upgrade comes just one week after diplomatic relations between the two nations were normalized after more than 50 years.
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