The US State Department's annual report on modern-day slavery cites greater determination worldwide to stamp it out. But 13 nations are on the list of sluggards neglecting the issue.
The United States is hailing growing determination in most corners of the globe to combat modern-day slavery through stepped-up law enforcement and legislative action. That’s the good news.
But the State Department’s annual report on human trafficking nevertheless brands 13 countries as standouts for failure to address rampant cases of sex trading, indentured domestic work, forced field labor, and other varieties of slavery within their borders.
The global scofflaws range from Kuwait and Saudi Arabia to North Korea and Cuba. The bright spots include Pakistan, Malaysia, Syria, Egypt, and Bosnia-Herzegovina – countries that don’t always shine in annual human-rights ratings but that the State Department found have acted to address human-trafficking issues over the past year.
“We saw overall improvement,” with 116 countries enacting legislation of some form in 2009 to combat human trafficking, says Luis CdeBaca, senior adviser on modern slavery issues to Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton.