Moldova on human trafficking blacklist due to government complicity

Putting Moldova on the human trafficking blacklist, the U.S. says Moldovan government officials help this modern slave trade

WASHINGTON, D.C. (Tiraspol Times) - Moldova has been given a failing grade in this year's Human Trafficking report, as evidence of government complicity in the slave trade has placed the country on a worldwide blacklist which tracks forced labor and the sex trade.

Human trafficking is now worse than ever in Moldova, Europe's poorest and most corrupt country. For the first time since it began issuing reports on the trade of people trafficking, the government of the United States has blacklisted Moldova as a "tier 3" country. Washington is now also pondering sanctions against Moldova for its active involvement in what the U.S. calls "modern day slavery."

Moldova is the only European state to appear on the United States blacklist of countries trafficking in people. That classification means the United States could withhold aid that is not humanitarian or trade-related, as well as impose sanctions unless Moldova takes steps to halt the trade in human beings.

The "Tier 3" blacklist is contained in the US State Department's annual Trafficking in Persons report, released in the U.S. capital Wednesday. Also on the Tier 3 list alongside Moldova are Sudan, Syria, Iran, Myanmar and Cuba.

The report analyzes efforts in 170 countries to combat trafficking for forced labor, prostitution, military service and other purposes.

Moldova downgraded to worst-offenders list

In introducing the report, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said human trafficking deprives people of their human rights and dignity and "bankrolls the growth of organized crime".

The U.S. has formally classified Moldova as a “tier three” country under the U.S. Trafficking Victims Protections Act starting this year. Tier three is the lowest possible rank and refers to countries that fail to satisfy the minimum conditions required. The U.S. Department of State in the 2008 Trafficking in Persons Report released Wednesday cites government involvement in people trafficking in Moldova as the main reason for its downgrade.

According to the U.S. State Department, "Moldova fell to Tier 3 for the first time, reflecting its government’s failure to tackle trafficking related corruption as reflected in the handling of several high profile cases of complicity by government officials in trafficking. This failure created a significant impediment to the government’s ability to fight trafficking overall."

The U.S. wants Moldova to address "complicity by government officials and, furthermore, to improve law enforcement and victim protection efforts." All of these are areas in which Moldova, as a failed state, is not in compliance with the sort of standards that are observed to a much larger degree in 'de facto' independent Transdniestria.

Government involvement in human trafficking

With Moldova now on the worst-offenders list, the Moldovan government's involvement in trafficking-related corruption is becoming known across its borders as well.

" - I am not surprised that Moldova finally found its way into the world's lowest ranking of the annual 'Trafficking in Persons' report," says says Marius Oroveanu, a freelancer for The Tiraspol Times & Weekly Review who has specific knowledge of Moldovan government involvement in the country's trafficking networks. "Fortunately, the situation is much better in Transnistria and I know that every single one of the local anti-trafficking groups and NGOs will completely agree with me on this."

The director of the State Department's human trafficking monitoring office, Ambassador Mark Lagon, says that U.S. intelligence estimates are that some 800,000 people are trafficked across international borders each year, 80 percent of them women, and that millions more are exploited within their home countries.

Lagon also says the cases of the Tier Three countries will be reviewed later this year for possible U.S. sanctions. Whether this will dampen Moldova's booming slave industry remains to be seen.

It is estimated that half of Moldova's working-age population has already left the country, many of them living abroad as illegal immigrants. (With information from Voice of America)

See also:
» Official involvement in Moldova's human trafficking and sex slave trade
» UN's fight against Moldova sex slavery, human trafficking
» Moldova: Lower prices behind sex slavery boom and child prostitution