Inquirer carried a story yesterday about the Philippines dropping in US trafficking ranking. Some excerpts:
MANILA, Philippines—After three years in Tier 2 of the United States’ trafficking ranking, the Philippines dropped a notch lower to Tier 2 Watch List, indicating that the number of victims of severe forms of trafficking in the country has either increased significantly or is significantly increasing.
According to the report, the Philippines is a source, transit, and destination for people trafficked for commercial sex exploitation and forced labor.
“A significant number of Filipino men and women who migrate abroad for work are subjected to conditions of involuntary servitude in Bahrain, Brunei, Canada, Cote d’Ivoire, Cyprus, Hong Kong, Japan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Malaysia, Palau, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, South Africa, Taiwan, Turkey, and the United Arab Emirates,” the report said.
Sad news which must all be taken as a challenge by everyone involved in the fight against human trafficking. As the UN always says, human trafficking is a crime that shames us all.
