The U.S. State Department released the annual Report on Human Trafficking for 2011. According to the report, Belarus is included in the list of countries whose governments do not fully comply with minimum standards of the law on protection of victims of trafficking but making significant efforts to align their activities in compliance with these norms.
The U.S. analyzed the situation with anti-trafficking in 184 countries around the world and divided them into three categories. The first category includes countries that fully comply with the law on protection of victims (marked in blue on the map). This category includes the U.S., most European countries, Canada, Australia and some other countries.
The second category includes countries, not complying with the law on protecting victims of trafficking, but making significant strides in combating human trafficking (marked yellow on the map).
Within this category, the U.S. Department of State singled out certain countries for the «Watch List» (marked orange on the map), including Belarus, China and Russia. According to the U.S. experts, these countries show very high number of victims of the most serious forms of trafficking, which is significantly increasing.
The third category of countries includes the states, not complying with minimum standards of law for the protection of victims and taking no steps to improve the situation (marked in red on the map). They are the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Iran, Congo, Kenya, Kuwait, Mauritania, Myanmar, North Korea, Sudan and Eritrea.
As noted in the report of the U.S. State Department, Belarus is a source, a final destination, and a transit country for men, women and children affected by labor and sexual exploitation. According to the U.S. Department of State, women and children from Belarus are exploited in Russia, Germany, Poland, Czech Republic, Lithuania, Spain, Greece, Belgium, Turkey, Israel, Lebanon, Egypt and United Arab Emirates.
«The Government has shown much weaker efforts to protect human trafficking than last year. It has been found 50% fewer victims of trafficking, as well as the reduction of criminal prosecution and trial against criminals, compared with previous years,» the report says. The experts emphasized that it’s difficult to provide full and accurate assessment of the actions of the Belarusian authorities in this area due to a «closed government.»
