Grisly Human Trafficking Discoveries May Doom Obama's Troubled Trade Strategy

[cali]

(Personally, I very much doubt that anything will derail the TPP)

Americans of all political persuasions abhor human trafficking. So why is the Obama administration pushing a highly controversial trade pact that would reward
nations with some of the world’s worst human trafficking records? It is a good question, and one that has been brought into sharp focus by reports overnight of the discovery of mass graves of trafficking victims on the Malaysian-Thai border. The grisly finds underline the extent to which both Malaysia and Thailand remain hot-beds of one of the world’s most despicable industries. Some human trafficking victims — typically adult males — are abducted to work as slaves in, for instance, the Thai fishing industry. Meanwhile, both the Thai and Malaysian governments are heavily complicit in the exploitation of countless women and children in East Asia’s brothels. Yet, almost unbelievably, the Obama administration is pushing for Thailand and Malaysia to enjoy specially
privileged access to the U.S. market under the proposed Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP).


<snip>

Perhaps most ominously for the administration, the State Department is due to publish its 2015 global review of human trafficking in the next few weeks. In previous years its condemnations of both Malaysia and Thailand have been slashing. As the London Guardian pointed out, although these nations promote themselves as modern fast-developing countries, their ranking in the State Department’s annual survey “puts them among the world’s most lawless, oppressive and dysfunctional.”

In its 2014 survey, for instance, the State Department explicitly accused the Malaysian government of conniving with people smugglers to worsen the predicament of victims: “Victims were not allowed to leave the country pending trial proceedings. The government’s policy of forcing trafficking victims into facilities discouraged victims from bringing cases to the government’s attention or cooperating with authorities…..Some foreign embassies sheltered victims directly to expedite their repatriation and protect them from detention in Malaysian facilities during lengthy criminal proceedings. Some NGOs reported that they did not refer victims to the police, as they believed doing so was detrimental to the welfare of the victims.

<snip>

http://www.forbes.com/sites/eamonnfingleton/2015/05/25/grisly-human-trafficking-discoveries-may-doom-obamas-troubled-trade-strategy/

[billhicks76]

1. Yay!!!

[Spitfire of ATJ]

2. I keep hoping some big time CEO gets busted in a Thailand brothel.

[merrily]

3. Rec only for visibility not to indicate approval of human trafficking.

No matter what anyone think of the TPP, human trafficking is obviously a horrible practice.

It happens in the US as well, but, obviously, not legally.

What people do to each other!

[cantbeserious]

4. The Tragedy Is Bad Enough - The TPP Adds Insult To Injury

eom

[pampango]

5. Thailand is not a party to the TPP, AFAIK, but Malaysia is. Human rights should be a part of any

agreement.

Enforcement vs national sovereignty would be an issue but that is true with many important concerns. Human rights is more important than questions of sovereignty. The more comprehensive the agreement the better as long as standards are high and enforcement is effective.

[cali]

6. I think we all know that Thailand is not a partner nation in the TPP.

Right. Human rights in any agreement are meaningless unless they are enforceable. And that, my friend is a Sisyphean task. If the past is prologue- or at least worthy of consideration- modern trade agreements have been a failure on that front, and have, in some cases, led to degradation of rights rather than enhancement of those rights. Until, the ramifications for human rights abuse are raised to the importance of corporate rights, it's difficult to see the potential for real progress.

[pampango]

9. You threw me off with "the Obama administration is pushing for Thailand and Malaysia to enjoy

specially privileged access to the U.S. market under the proposed Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP)." That implied, to me anyway, that Thailand was thought to be a part of the TPP.

Human rights in any agreement are meaningless unless they are enforceable.

Agreed. All parts of an agreement are meaningless unless they are enforceable but human rights is more important than others.

... modern trade agreements have been a failure on that front ...

Agreed, also. Unfortunately other types of international agreements have not been successful either. Some of them have nice words in them about human rights, but enforcement has not been effective.

As you have said, the TPP is about much more than trade. In some ways, trade is the 'carrot/stick' to reward/punish countries for (non)compliance with other provisions. Referring to it as a 'trade agreement' may be a mischaracterization.

[Erich Bloodaxe BSN]

11. That was 'Eamonn Fingleton' at Forbes 'throwing you off', not cali.

That section was part of the Forbes article.

[magical thyme]

7. if the financial msm turns against TPP, that could be its undoing

If this was from "Democracy Now" or other independent liberal media, I'd agree. But when a mainstream financial rag publishes it, I'm not so sure.

Not that I intend to let up pressure.

[Vattel]

8. Is the suggestion that the US should cut off all economic relations with Malaysia

until it improves its appalling human trafficking record? Or is the problem supposed to be that TPP would be so economically beneficial to Malaysia that it would constitute an economic benefit that should not be extended to a nation with such an appalling human trafficking record? Or is it that TPP would somehow facilitate human trafficking in Malaysia? Or is the problem something else?

[cali]

10. I think the suggestion is that Malaysia shouldn't be granted the additional benefits

proffered by the TPP as you suggested, but there may be other reasons.

[Vattel]

13. I see.

That makes sense to me. Denying new economic benefits to, or imposing economic sanctions on, nations in the hopes that this will cause them to improve their human rights record is, of course, a familiar strategy. Sometimes it works and sometimes (e.g., in Iraq in the 1990s) it is a disaster in terms of causing ordinary citizens to suffer. I guess if this argument about TPP is going to be made, I would like to see a more nuanced version of it, one that explains exactly why denying the benefit of TPP to Malaysia is a good way to fight human trafficking.

[Buzz Clik]

12. You finally found something you dislike about this agreement!

[randome]

14. The grisly remains were discovered due to Malaysia and Thailand cracking down on trafficking.

Leaving them out of the TPP would do nothing towards ending human trafficking. You know what those who reap the economic benefits of human trafficking would say? "Fine. We don't need the TPP. Get out of our country."

But including Malaysia -or so I'm theorizing- would result in greater overall economic activity, which makes it harder to hide such practices.

In the previous thread on this subject, comparisons were made to South Africa. But SA was entrenched in apartheid whereas Malaysia and Thailand are stepping up to the plate to try to change things.

Different countries, different 'carrots'.
[hr][font color="blue"][center]Everything is a satellite to some other thing.[/center][/font][hr]

[NaturalHigh]

15. (Personally, I very much doubt that anything will derail the TPP)

I think you hit that one out of the park right there.

[AzDar]

16. K & R

[KoKo]

17. Recommend.