Holly's News From Washington - The TIP Report Is Released!

June 2013

On Wednesday, the State Department released its annual “Trafficking in Persons” Report, which includes tier rankings of 188 countries based on their efforts (or lack of effort) to meet minimum anti-trafficking standards. I am happy to share that the 2013 TIP Report represents a major victory in the U.S. commitment to leadership on the issue of modern-day slavery.

Here’s why:

Tier rankings are generally based on an honest assessment of the facts, but in some cases diplomats are reluctant to complicate U.S. relations with powerful foreign governments. In recent years, anti-slavery advocates have worried about “grade inflation” for certain countries whose anti-slavery records did not justify their positive tier rankings.

To make matters more complicated, Congress enacted legislation in 2008 that set a limit of two years (plus an additional two years with a Presidential waiver) that countries could stay on the Tier II Watch List—a designation for countries that have not met minimum standards to eradicate slavery and trafficking and are not doing enough to improve. Perceiving that the Watch List had become a “parking lot” for countries that really belonged on the lowest Tier III, Congress enacted this “up or out” provision.

In theory, it made sense. In practice, however, some countries were moved up to Tier II at the insistence of powerful State Department regional bureaus—when they should have been demoted to Tier III based on the facts.

This year was a particular test of the integrity and independence of the TIP Report. A number of powerful countries, including Russia and China, had exhausted their time on the Tier II Watch List, and it was “up our out” time. We at IJM watched this process anxiously: If either Russia or China—which have appalling records on slavery—were promoted to Tier II, the integrity of the whole TIP Report was at risk.

We are thus very happy to share the news that Secretary of State John Kerry made the decision to relegate both China and Russia to Tier III—exactly where they belong. It was a no-brainer based on the facts. But given the political and diplomatic interests the U.S. has with each, it was a distinct possibility that the decision could have gone the other way.

We’re grateful that the recommendation of our government’s anti-slavery experts at the Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons carried the day. We are grateful for Secretary Kerry’s strong support of honest reporting and robust anti-slavery diplomacy. And we’re grateful to all of you who raised this important issue with your Members of Congress this year.

U.S. leadership in the fight against slavery starts with telling the truth about the problem. This week, the State Department did just that.

Read more about the TIP report release in the Washington Post.