(Washington) The United States on Monday unveiled its annual report on human trafficking in the world, which emphasizes the role of technologies and sees several countries rewarded for their efforts such as South Africa but others, like Brunei, reprimanded.
“The South African government does not fully meet the minimum standards for the elimination of human trafficking, but it is making significant efforts to do so”, as do Algeria, Egypt and Vietnam, underlines this report , which slides these countries to a higher category.
In contrast, the Sultanate of Brunei, a member of ASEAN, is demoted to the category of “level 3” countries, that is to say, which do not do enough to combat human trafficking.
Sudan, plunged into a devastating war for a year between the army and paramilitaries, likewise.
“We have seen trafficking by the government of Sudan in the recruitment of child soldiers,” Cindy Dyer, the diplomat in charge of this file at the State Department, told the press.
The State Department’s annual report on human trafficking establishes a list of countries which are making efforts to combat this scourge and others which, in the eyes of Washington, are not making sufficient efforts in this direction.
This blacklisting could lead to sanctions or the withdrawal of American aid.
Among the countries on the blacklist, 13 are also accused of engaging directly in human trafficking: Afghanistan, Belarus, Burma, China, Cuba, Eritrea, North Korea, Iran, Russia, South Sudan, Sudan, Syria and Turkmenistan.
In this 2024 edition, the United States is examining in particular “the growing role of digital technology in human trafficking”, noted American Secretary of State Antony Blinken in presenting the report which covers 188 countries, including UNITED STATES.
It cites in particular traffickers who “target and recruit victims online through social networks, dating applications and gaming platforms, and carry out financial transactions in opaque cryptocurrencies”.
Mr. Blinken particularly noted the case of traffickers who use false job offers to lure people away from their homes, finding themselves for example “in Burma without freedom of movement”.
In total, some 27 million people around the world are subject to human trafficking, which generates around $236 billion in illegal income annually, according to figures from the International Labor Organization (ILO). .