*EPF516 06/13/2003
U.S. Calls for Expansion of Alliances with NGOs Against Human Trafficking
(State's John Miller speaks with NGO leaders) (550)

By Anthony Kujawa
Washington File Staff Writer

Washington -- The United States needs to expand alliances and information sharing with non-governmental organizations (NGO) in the fight to end trafficking in persons, according to John Miller, Director of the State Department's Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons.

Speaking June 12 to a group of NGO leaders at the department the day after his office released the third annual Trafficking in Persons (TIP) Report, Miller called human trafficking the most important human rights issue of the century and urged greater cooperation between NGOs and governments to end the practice. Miller praised NGOs as "the pillars" in the fight against human trafficking.

and said the fact that slavery still exists is "abominable."

Compilation of the trafficking in persons (TIP) report is required by the Trafficking Victims Protection Act passed by Congress in 2000. It outlines a three-tier system for classifying nations depending on how aggressively they are acting to prevent trafficking in persons, to prosecute those associated with this form of organized criminal activity, and to protect victims.

Those nations found to be unresponsive to international calls for specific actions to control human trafficking are placed in Tier 3. Now reaching its third year of implementation, the law calls for the possible imposition of certain sanctions against nations found to be in that category.

"It is not just about the courts, the documents, laws and sanctions, this is about individuals who have lost their freedom," said Miller.

Recently passed anti-trafficking laws in Haiti and the Philippines, arrests of human traffickers in Cambodia and Serbia, and U.S. embassy reports of an increase in anti-trafficking activities by many governments in the months leading up to the report's release, Miller said, demonstrate "how powerful a tool this report can be."

"This shows that the U.S. legislation with its combination of carrots and sticks is having some effect," said Miller.

"It shows how much more effort there can be in the next four months [by October 1, 2003]," he said, before President Bush, as required by the law, decides whether sanctions will be applied or waived for nations in the "Tier-3" category.

The nations placed in "Tier-3" that could be subject to sanctions, according to the 2003 TIP report, are Belize, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Burma, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Georgia, Greece, Haiti, Kazakhstan, Liberia, North Korea, Sudan, Suriname, Turkey, and Uzbekistan.

But Miller emphasized that the goal of the report is "not to punish, but to bring about progress" and to gain "more significant efforts by countries to abolish modern-day slavery."

One of our priorities in the coming year, added Miller, is to examine the demand side of trafficking. The Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons, he said, plans to create a program that developed nations can implement to reduce demand for sex tourism, such as working with airlines to enforce criminal laws.

"Don't think that this is just the end of the dialogue," said Miller, who urged NGOs to continue to make suggestions on how to make the report more effective, better pool resources and reach the common goal of ending human trafficking.

(The Washington File is a product of the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)

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