FUTILITY OF US GOVERNMENT'S TRAFFICKING IN PERSONS’ REPORT

As a focused and determined anti trafficking advocate, I have been a staunch admirer of the Government of United States for many years for the simple reason that this country has been a global leader and has rightly invested in its commitment to fight the global menace of human trafficking.  Individuals like me were recognized by the US Government as TIP Heroes way back in 2009 giving us the much-needed back-up and moral strength to continue our mission. 

The Trafficking Victim Protection Act (TVPA), 2000 is perhaps one of the earliest comprehensive legislation to address trafficking in persons with a three-pronged approach of prevention, protection and prosecution.  Over the years several praiseworthy measures were taken by US both domestically and internationally including engaging with survivor advocates. 

Having said this, I also have been a consistent critic of the utility and relevance of the Trafficking in Persons (TIP) Report that the US Government releases every year end June. This report is something like a Global ‘Report Card’ for over 187 countries on their efforts to end human trafficking. Based on certain indicators countries are placed in different Tiers. The countries placed in the lowest tier, Tier III face imposed with certain non-humanitarian and non-trade related sanctions by the United States Government. 

The intentions are noble, making Governments accountable to act and take proactive efforts to end human trafficking. But does it really have the same impact in all countries? 

I seriously doubt! Here are my reasons.

Firstly, no economically stable country including USA will like to have another country playing ‘headmaster’ to them. Some poorer countries have no voice whatsoever due to their economic conditions.

Secondly, now coming to the quality of the content.  By its own admission the report is prepared from information received from US Embassies, government officials, non-governmental and international organizations, published reports, news articles, academic studies and research trips to every region of the world. It is certainly not being impugned that the contents are false, but what I would definitely point out is that there are far too many ‘hearsay’ in the Report, without any substantial empirical evidence being quoted therein. 

For example, let us take the India report 2020.  It states that as per NGO estimates there are 8 million bonded labor in India. Is there a substantiated document that can validate how this figure was arrived? Not that I agree to the Government figures and all of us definitely know the numbers are always higher than what is quoted officially; but to give it a numerical value one definitely needs to have more evidence. Similarly, several anecdotal incidences are broadly generalized to reflect the country’s situation. For a large country like India which is more like a sub-continent in itself, this approach is grossly unjust. The reports for all the countries have a generous dose of inputs from well-intentioned NGOs, who perhaps genuinely want to change the situation. However, if the concerned Government does not even give the report a basic weightage largely due to its unsubstantiated claims -  Where do you expect the change to happen - in USA??? 

Thirdly, every sovereign, democratic country has their own domestic laws which defines how they will treat their adult or child victims. It is grossly unfair for one country to judge another country by their domestic standards and value systems.  

Fourthly the US Government decided to include United States with 186 countries almost 10 years after it first brought the TIP Report. Fair to say, this might be because of the large-scale vocal criticism from many including people like me who questioned whether US has the moral authority to comment about other countries when they have not done an evaluation of TIP about their own country!

But finally seeing the US country report - it was like, ‘you prepare the question paper, you give your own scores, and irrespective of the scores given, you place yourself on top of the class!!!’ Well US Government very happily places itself on Tier I! 

I can modestly say a few hundred anti-trafficking advocates working in US will have serious reservations regarding this assessment!   

Yesterday after I read the TIP Report I had tweeted and expressed my reservations. A friend asked me ‘how can you write like this, you work so closely with them’. All that I wanted to say in response was ‘this is how any Government might feel about the NGOs who work closely with them and also contribute information to US-TIP Report. 

Anti-trafficking work is done in collaboration and in partnership with civil society stakeholders. None of the stakeholders cannot work in silos. Imagine what one stakeholder will feel about the other if they have to deal with the fact that the other is reporting to some foreign country, of course, with the virtuous intention of correcting the former. 

Personally, I will feel very uncomfortable and would be wary of such partnership!

While the intentions are noble, definitely the impact is absolutely undesirable. If a report ends creating hostile environment for proactive work to happen then such reports are more a headache than a weapon one can use for advocacy. 

If one has to consider some impactful reports that has positively contributed to proactive action by the Governments of several countries including India, I would say the United Nations Office for Drugs & Crime (UNODC) Global Report on Trafficking in Persons has been a powerful report. The strength of the report comes from its neutral status, the way the contents are structured and the quality and authenticity of the information. While it does report about all countries, there are no sanctions imposed, no gradings done, the concerned stakeholder gets a clearer picture of the trends in their country, the gaps in intervention and possible solutions. Due to its unique position, UNODC is able to engage with the Government and influence them to look at the report proactively and thereafter also becomes a part of the solution. There is a sense of partnership at every level. Many civil society organizations will comfortably raise issues on the UNODC platform with 100% confidence that the concerns stated will reach the right authority and will be taken in the correct perspective. 

While I applaud the efforts of the US Government for their commitment and actions to end this modern slavery consistently for the last 20 years…but I do think after two decades it is a good time to reflect and evaluate whether this approach of bringing a Global TIP Report is having the desired impact.

Change will come when each country will have the courage to look inwards at themselves and recognize the magnitude and extent of the problem within their territories….change will come when each country will constitute independent bodies to bring out their own TIP Reports…change will come when each country will value all its citizens as precious human beings who should not come to any harm…change will come when the inner awakening compels you to pledge zero tolerance to any form of slavery or exploitation.