Lawmakers Bash State Dept. for Upgrading Malaysia in Trafficking Report
Senate Foreign Relations lawmakers lashed into a State Department official during a hearing on the recently-released Trafficking in Persons (TIP) Report, arguing State officials made a calculated decision to upgrade Malaysia to Tier 2 on the report in order to pave the way for a smoother conclusion to Trans-Pacific Partnership negotiations. Malaysia has made virtually no progress in putting in place changes to its policies and practices on human trafficking, said the lawmakers, led by Foreign Relations Chairman Bob Corker, R-Tenn., and ranking member Ben Cardin, D-Md.
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State upgraded Malaysia in the TIP based on amendments to domestic anti-trafficking law, which haven’t yet been implemented, the creation of a pilot program to help trafficking victims, and a range of other factors, said the report (here). That justification was echoed by State’s Under Secretary for Civilian Security, Democracy, And Human Rights, Sarah Sewall, at the hearing. “The tier rankings do not assess the severity of the human trafficking problem in a given country; the tier rankings assess the government’s efforts in addressing human trafficking problems over the current reporting period, compared to that government’s own efforts in the prior year,” said Sewall.
Senate lawmakers tacked language onto Trade Promotion Authority, signed into law in late June, to bar TPA expedited mechanisms for implementing free trade agreements with Tier 3 countries (see 1505260037). Sen. Bob Menendez, D-N.J., the lead sponsor of that language, railed against the State Department decision on Malaysia on Aug. 6, alongside Corker and Cardin. “Many of us are concerned that the upgrading of Malaysia had more to do with trying to make sure that TPP was entered into successfully than a care for people being trafficked,” said Corker.
Sewall defended the objectivity of the report and pointed to comments made by Secretary of State John Kerry the day before. “The Government of Malaysia, I’m pleased to say, has made significant efforts to comply with the minimum standards of the elimination of trafficking,” said Kerry in remarks in Kuala Lumpur (here). “And in my conversation with the prime minister, we talked about the ways in which we can cooperate to do more, and the prime minister welcomed that opportunity, particularly in the field of law enforcement.” Corker pledged to subpoena internal communications at State related to the TIP unless officials there hand the documents over quickly.