Panama Objects to Human Trafficking Ranking

The United States released its 2010 Trafficking in Persons Report this week and Panama objects.

The report lists Panama as a Tier 2 Watch List country, or a country whose government does not fully comply with the Trafficking Victims Protection Act’s minimum standards, but are making significant efforts to bring themselves into compliance with those standards.

“We don’t consider it correct because at the moment we have been one of the leading countries in bringing the topic to the foreign ministries of the region to find a type of procedure or protocol for all,” said Vice President and Minister of Foreign Affairs Juan Carlos Varela.

Panama, however, is not alone in its category which also includes Afghanistan, Algeria, Azerbaijan, Bangladesh, Barbados, Belize, Brunei, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, China (PRC), Congo (ROC), Cote d’Ivoire, Equatorial Guinea, Fiji, Gabon, Guatemala, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Guyana, India, Iraq, Kazakhstan, Kiribati, Laos, Lebanon, Lesotho, Libya, Madagascar, Malaysia, Maldives, Mali, Malta, Micronesia, Moldova, Mozambique, Nicaragua, Niger, Philippines, Qatar, Russia, St. Vincent & The Grenadines, Senegal, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Swaziland, Syria, Tajikistan, Tanzania, Thailand, Trinidad & Tobago, Tunisia, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Venezuela, Vietnam and Yemen.

This group is one step above the Tier 3 countries including Burma, Congo (DRC), Cuba and Dominican Republic, Eritrea, Iran, North Korea, Kuwait, Mauritania, Papua New Guinea, Saudi Arabia, Sudan and Zimbabwe  which the U.S. Department of State classifies as the worst offenders.