As alluded by Joshua earlier, the State Department released Trafficking in Persons (TIP) Report for 2006.

Amb. John Miller, the head of the Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons (G/TIP) in the State Department, whose work was recently highlighted favorably by Nicholas Kristof, gave a briefing today to a group of NGO representatives. The briefing also included a lively Q&A session.

A number of State Department reading materials was handed out, including the comprehensive TIP Report 2006 and the following brochure in several languages, including Korean!

Who can spot the translation mistake?

The TIP report divides countries into four categories: tier 1, tier 2, tier 2 watch list and tier 3, in order of government efforts to combat trafficking in persons. The tier 3 countries, the worst offenders, are:

Belize, Burma, Cuba, Iran, Laos, North Korea, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Syria, Uzbekistan, Venezuela and Zimbabwe.

All except Belize and Saudi Arabia are states that are hostile to the U.S., a fact that should highlight the question of why the heck the United States is allied to Saudi Arabia.

Some tier 2 watch list countries include:

China, India, Israel, Libya, Malaysia, Mexico, Russia and Taiwan.

Now, the Korea-centric parts:

REPUBLIC OF KOREA (TIER 1)

The Republic of Korea (R.O.K.) is a source, transit, and destination country for women who are trafficked for the purpose of sexual exploitation. Women from Russia, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, the People’s Republic of China (P.R.C.), the Philippines, Thailand, and other Southeast Asian countries are trafficked for sexual exploitation to the R.O.K. Korean women are trafficked to Japan and to the United States, sometimes via Canada or Mexico, for forced prostitution.

The Government of the Republic of Korea fully complies with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking. During 2005, the government continued to provide substantial resources for victim care, and remains a pioneer and global leader on anti-trafficking education and demand reduction measures. The government sustained an aggressive law enforcement campaign aimed at curbing trafficking and exploitation of women. The government also continues to make significant progress to strengthen victim support mechanisms and improve the treatment of women in Korean society. The Ministry of Gender Equality and Family (MOGEF) and the Ministry of Justice (MOJ) play leading roles in the effort to curb trafficking and exploitation. [snip]

Finally, the government continued its cooperation with United States Forces Korea (USFK) to address sexual exploitation surrounding USFK bases in the country. As a result, sources suggest a significant decline in the number of foreign women working near U.S. bases. [snip]

NORTH KOREA (TIER 3)

The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (D.P.R.K. or North Korea) is a source country for men, women, and children trafficked for the purposes of forced labor and sexual exploitation. The D.P.R.K.’s own system of political repression includes forced labor in a network of prison camps where an estimated 150,000 to 200,000 persons are incarcerated. Many North Koreans seeking to escape the dire conditions in the country attempt to leave by crossing the border into northeast China, where an estimated tens of thousands of North Koreans may reside illegally. There are no completely reliable estimates on the number of these North Koreans, more than half of whom appear to be women victims of trafficking. The illegal status of North Koreans in China and other countries increases their vulnerability to trafficking schemes and sexual and physical abuse. In the most common form of trafficking, North Korean women and children already in China are picked up by trafficking rings and sold as brides to Korean-Chinese men or placed in forced labor. In a less common form of trafficking, some North Koreans are lured from the D.P.R.K. into China with promises of freedom and employment, only to be forced into prostitution, marriage, or exploitative labor arrangements. The scale of the problem is blurred by the operation of “professional border crossers” who help North Koreans voluntarily enter China. North Koreans forcibly returned from China may be subject to hard labor in prison camps operated by the government. [snip]

CHINA (TIER 2 WATCH LIST)

The People’s Republic of China (P.R.C.) is a source, transit, and destination country for women, men, and children trafficked for purposes of sexual exploitation and forced labor. The majority of trafficking in China is internal, but there is also international trafficking of Chinese citizens to Africa, Asia, Europe, Latin America, the Middle East, and North America. Women are lured through false promises of legitimate employment only to be forced into commercial sexual exploitation largely in Taiwan, Thailand, Malaysia, and Japan. There also are cases involving Chinese men and women smuggled into destination countries throughout the world at an enormous personal financial cost and then forced into commercial sexual exploitation or exploitative labor to repay debts to traffickers. Women and children are trafficked into China from Mongolia, Burma, North Korea, Russia, and Vietnam for forced labor, marriage, and sexual slavery. Most North Koreans seeking to leave North Korea enter northeastern China voluntarily but some are forced into sexual servitude or forced labor after arriving in China. Others reportedly are trafficked into China from North Korea. Domestic trafficking remains the most significant problem in China, with an estimated minimum of 10,000-20,000 victims trafficked internally each year; the actual number of victims could be much greater. International organizations report that 90 percent are women and children, trafficked primarily from Anhui, Henan, Hunan, Sichuan, and Yunnan and Guizhou Provinces to prosperous provinces along China’s east coast for sexual exploitation. Some experts believe that the serious and prolonged imbalance in the male-female birth ratio may now be contributing to Chinese and foreign girls and women being trafficked as potential brides.

The Government of China does not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking; however, it is making significant efforts to do so. Accessing information on China’s anti-trafficking efforts is difficult due to the closed nature of the government and the lack of many independent NGOs; however, based on the information currently available, China is placed on Tier 2 Watch List for a second consecutive year for its failure to show evidence of increasing efforts to address transnational trafficking. The Government of China provides reasonable protections to internal victims of trafficking; however, protections for Chinese and foreign victims of transnational trafficking remain inadequate and victims are sometimes punished for unlawful acts that were a direct result of their being trafficked — e.g., violations of prostitution or immigration/emigration controls. However, the government began drafting a national anti-trafficking action plan, expected to be finalized later in 2006, that will formally designate anti-trafficking responsibilities to relevant state ministries and NGOs.

Be sure to look up your favorite country. You may be surprised by the progress or lack thereof.

Germany, for example, is under a special microscope due to the upcoming World Cub championship and because of its loose prostitution laws, under which some women are victimized through trafficking and forced prostitution:

GERMANY (TIER 1)

Germany is a source, transit, and destination country for men, women, and children trafficked for the purposes of sexual and labor exploitation. Victims come primarily from Central and Eastern Europe as well as Africa (mainly Nigeria), Asia (mainly Thailand), and to a lesser extent from North and South America. The government identified 972 victims in Germany in 2004, the latest year for which statistics are available; of the 972 victims, 127 were German nationals. The Government of Germany fully complies with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking. [snip]

The upcoming World Cup Soccer championship has generated widespread concern among some NGOs and governments over the potential for increased human trafficking in Germany surrounding the games. German federal and state governments report that they have taken steps to prevent trafficking during the championship by improving victim-screening mechanisms and police safeguards, sponsoring seminars, expanding print and video outreach, and strengthening inter-agency coordination. The federal government has partnered with NGOs and the German Soccer Association to launch a number of trafficking awareness campaigns. Other NGOs, several with government funding, are also conducting prevention and demand-reduction programs. Nevertheless, due to the sheer size of the event, the potential for increased human trafficking surrounding the games remains a concern. Germany should continue to focus attention on domestic demand-reduction efforts, implement the 2005 penal code amendments, and consider releasing more detailed statistics that include the full range of charges – including non-trafficking charges – that traffickers are prosecuted for and the sentences they receive.