The Native Iowan

Not sure how many people follow reports like these but the annual “Trafficking in Persons” report is just out.

The results are not good…

Solomons has been down graded to tier 2 after for only one short year showing progress of improving the situation. The report may be found online… http://www.state.gov/j/tip/rls/tiprpt/2013/

This report classes countries into 3 tiers… 1 is basically compliant, 2 is not compliant but not good, and 3 is not good. There is a tier 2 watch list (which is what the Solos are, that basically says get yer shit together before we give you a t3 rating).

Some interesting comments per the Solomons…

SOLOMON ISLANDS
(Tier 2 Watch List)
The Solomon Islands is a source and destination country
for local and Southeast Asian men and women subjected to
forced labor and forced prostitution. Women from China,
Indonesia, Malaysia, and the Philippines are recruited from
their home countries for legitimate work, often paying large
sums of money in recruitment fees, and upon arrival are
forced into prostitution. Men from Indonesia and Malaysia
are recruited to work in the Solomon Islands’ logging and
mining industries, and may be subsequently subjected to
forced labor in industrial camps. Local children, many under
the age of 15, are subjected to prostitution, sometimes in
exchange for money or fish, particularly near foreign logging
camps, on foreign and local commercial fishing vessels, and
at hotels and entertainment establishments. Children are sold
by their parents for marriage to foreign workers at logging
and mining companies; some of these girls are later forced
into domestic servitude and prostitution in the logging and
fishing areas, or in their foreign husbands’ home countries.
Local boys and girls are put up for “informal adoption” by
their family members in order to pay off debts, and some are
subsequently subjected to sexual servitude and forced labor
as domestic servants. Traffickers are known to gain access to
their victims through taxi drivers, local contacts, and pimps.
The Solomon Islands is a destination country for foreign
tourists who engage in child sex tourism.
The Government of the Solomon Islands does not fully
comply with the minimum standards for the elimination
of trafficking; however, it is making significant efforts to do
so. The government undertook modest measures, such as
establishing an ad-hoc Solomon Islands Trafficking-in-Persons
Advisory Committee (TIPAC), supporting committee members’
study trip to the Philippines, and establishing an informal
victim assistance referral procedure for law enforcement. It
did not, however, pass necessary implementing regulations for
the newly enacted anti-trafficking legislation, the absence of
which prevented prosecution of trafficking offenders. Therefore,
Solomon Islands is placed on Tier 2 Watch List.

Very importantly for the Solomons is that it lies in a region where trafficking is common. I note that Papua Niu Guinea has been a tier 3 rated country for the past 6 years…

PAPUA NEW GUINEA (Tier 3)
Papua New Guinea is a source, destination, and transit country
for men, women, and children subjected to sex trafficking
and forced labor. Women and children are subjected to sex
trafficking and domestic servitude, and men are subjected
to forced labor in logging and mining camps. Child labor is
outlawed in Papua New Guinea, but it is estimated that 19
percent of the labor market is composed of child workers.
Teenagers, particularly underage girls, are employed in night
clubs as hostesses, dancers, and bartenders. The vulnerability
to human trafficking of “Mosko Girls”—young girls who are
employed in bars to provide companionship to male patrons
and sell an alcoholic drink called mosko—emerged as a new
trend around major cities in Papua New Guinea in 2012. There
are reports of internal trafficking involving children, including
girls from tribal areas as young as five, being subjected to
commercial sexual exploitation or forced labor by members
of their immediate family or tribe. Tribal leaders sometimes
trade with each other the exploitative labor and service of
girls and women for guns and political advantage. Traditional
customs in Papua New Guinea permit parents to sell their
daughters into forced marriages—often to wealthy men and
politicians—to settle debts, leaving them vulnerable to forced
domestic service. Polygamy in Papua New Guinea is also a
serious concern, as it affirms patriarchal attitudes that men
own women and perpetuates discrimination against women
and girls. Young girls sold into polygamous marriages are often
forced into domestic service for their husbands’ extended
families. In more urban areas, some children from poorer
families are prostituted by their parents or sold to brothels.
Young boys, as young as 12, are exploited by “market taxis”
in urban areas, carrying extremely heavy loads for low pay

I note Fiji is doing OK but still T2…

FIJI (Tier 2)
Fiji is a source country for children subjected to sex trafficking
and forced labor, and a destination country for Asian men
and women subjected to forced labor and forced prostitution.
Fiji’s role as a regional transportation hub makes it a potential
transit area for human trafficking. Victims in Fiji are allegedly
exploited in illegal brothels, local hotels, private homes, and
other rural and urban locations. Victims are recruited in
their home countries or deceptively recruited while visiting
Fiji, sometimes by Chinese criminal organizations. Family
members, other Fijian citizens, foreign tourists, and crew on
foreign fishing vessels have been alleged to participate in the
prostitution of Fijian children. Some Fijian children are at
risk of human trafficking if their families follow a traditional
practice of sending them to live with relatives or families in
larger cities. These children may be subjected to domestic
servitude or may be coerced to engage in sexual activity in
exchange for food, clothing, shelter, or school fees. Fijian
children are also subjected to labor in agriculture, begging,
and industrial sectors.
The Government of Fiji does not fully comply with the
minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking; however,
it is making significant efforts to do so. During the reporting
year, the Fijian government continued its anti-trafficking
efforts, particularly through investigations that led to its
first prosecution of an internal sex trafficking case, as well
as another prosecution involving Thai nationals. Despite its
limited resources, the Fijian government provided a range of
victim protection services throughout the reporting period.
Nevertheless, the government made insufficient progress in
combating the serious problem of sex and labor trafficking,
including of children, within the country. Authorities did not
widely implement formal procedures to proactively identify
victims of trafficking among vulnerable populations during
the year.

Interesting to note Vanuatu is not in the report that I can see…