Powell: Human Trafficking Thrives

At least 700,000 and possibly as many as four million persons are bought, sold, transported and held against their will around the world through fraud, coercion and outright kidnapping, Secretary of State Colin Powell said Wednesday.

And even in the United States there are 50,000 so-called "trafficked" persons, Powell said.

He pledged the resolve of the U.S. government "to stop this appalling assault" on human beings worldwide.

Presenting the State Department's second annual Trafficking in Persons Report, Powell said most of the victims are women and children.

He said the report helps 'to bolster the will of the international community to combat this unconscionable crime."

Powell said the United States is ready to help countries design programs to address the problem, but starting next year will impose sanctions on countries that do not make such an effort.

Nancy Ely-Raphel, an adviser to Powell who specializes in the issue, said sanctions could include actions such as voting against loans from the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank.

She said that since the last report was issued, South Korea, Romania and Israel have significantly strengthened their anti-trafficking efforts.

"We hope that other countries will take similar steps," she said.

The report described trafficking in persons as a modern form of slavery.

"Traffickers use threats, intimidation and violence to force victims to engage in sex acts or to labor under conditions comparable to slavery for the traffickers' financial gain," the report said.

Nineteen countries are not doing enough to prevent the "horrific practice" of the forced transport of human beings across international borders, the report says.

The report, which examined 89 countries, said the number of offending countries is down from 23 a year ago.

More than a quarter of the countries are in the Persian Gulf region: Bahrain, Iran, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.

The report, issued annually, was prepared in response to legislation approved in October 2000 to highlight the problem in which thousands of victims are taken across international borders to work in sweatshops, construction sites, brothels and fields.

Apart from the Persian Gulf countries, the remaining 14 countries found not to be complying with minimum standards set forth in the legislation are Afghanistan, Armenia, Belarus, Bosnia, Cambodia, Greece, Indonesia, Kyrgyz Republic, Lebanon, Myanmar, Russia, Sudan, Tajikistan and Turkey.

All are designated as "Tier 3" countries in the report. Another 52 countries are listed in the "Tier 2" category; they are said to be not meeting the minimum standards but making "significant efforts to bring themselves into compliance."

The Tier 2 countries are Albania, Angola, Bangladesh, Benin, Brazil, Bulgaria, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, China, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Equatorial Guinea, Estonia, Ethiopia, Gabon, Georgia, Ghana, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, Hungary, India, Israel, Ivory Coast, Japan, Kazakstan, Laos, Latvia, Malaysia, Mali, Mexico, Moldova, Morocco, Nepal, Nigeria, Pakistan, Philippines, Romania, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Singapore, Slovenia, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Tanzania, Thailand, Togo, Uganda, Ukraine, Vietnam and Yugoslavia.

Eighteen "Tier 1" countries are described as complying fully with the standards. In this category are Austria, Belgium, Canada, Colombia, Czech Republic, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Italy, Lithuania, Macedonia, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, South Korea, Spain, Switzerland and Britain.