June 13, 2007

U.S. Embassy News Release

 

 

Philippines Noted for Efforts to Assist Migrant Workers;

Remains on Tier 2 in U.S. State Department’s 2007 Trafficking in Persons Report

 

On June 12, 2007, U.S. Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice released the sixth annual “Trafficking in Persons (TIP) Report” in a public event at the State Department’s Press Briefing Room in Washington, D.C.  This 150-country report is the most comprehensive worldwide report on the efforts of governments to combat severe forms of trafficking in persons.

 

Secretary Rice said that in her travels around the world, she has noticed “a greater desire by our partners to fight this crime and protect its victims.”  The United States, she said, is helping to lead a global movement “not just to confront this crime, but to abolish it.  More and more countries are coming to see human trafficking for what it is – a modern-day form of slavery that devastates families and communities around the world.”

 

In the 2007 TIP Report, the Republic of the Philippines remained on the Tier 2 list, which includes countries whose governments do not fully comply with the Trafficking Victims Protection Act (TVPA) of 2000’s minimum standards but are making significant efforts do so.  The report congratulated the Philippine Government for its “exemplary efforts to prevent the trafficking of migrant workers and to protect those who were exploited abroad.”

 

However, the Report noted that the Philippines remains a source, transit, and destination country for men, women, and children trafficked for the purposes of sexual exploitation and forced labor.  “The Philippines government should make greater efforts to combat internal trafficking by increasing public awareness activities and vigorously prosecuting those exploiting victims as well as making greater efforts to prosecute and convict public officials who profit from or are involved in trafficking,” said the Report.

 

The U.S. urges continued progress in the Philippines in these areas, and we look forward to working with the Government of the Philippines to support its ongoing anti-trafficking efforts. Working in cooperation with governments and its citizens around the world, the United States and the American people look forward to the day when all people may be free from these contemporary forms of human servitude and exploitation.

 

The entire TIP Report is available via the following Internet URL: http://www.state.gov/g/tip/rls/tiprpt/2007/.  Additional information is available at http://usinfo.state.gov/gi/global_issues/human_trafficking/traffick_report.html or on the U.S. Embassy’s web site at http://philippines.usembassy.gov.

 

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