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Obama Won’t Let Some Mass Graves Stop the TPP [View all]
Obama Won’t Let Some Mass Graves Stop the TPP
The Nation
7/10/15
It appears Malaysia will be given a free pass on human trafficking in order to protect the controversial trade deal.
When Congress finally passed fast-track trade authority last month, there was a major problem for President Obama and his trade negotiators: a provision of the bill forbid any fast-tracked trade deal from including countries on Tier 3 of the State Department’s human trafficking list.
That’s the worst classification the United States gives to countries in its Trafficking In Persons annual report, a status earned by countries like Zimbabwe, Syria, the Democratic Republic of Congo, and North Korea. Also on the list: Malaysia, one of the 12 potential signatories to the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal that is in the final round of negotiations this month.
Malaysia is home to many “outsourcing companies” that are, in reality, professional slaving operations: foreign workers, often refugees fleeing desperate situations in nearby countries like Burma, are recruited to the country with the promise of legitimate work but then subjected to forced labor and sex trafficking. The State Department and international human rights groups have routinely concluded the Malaysian government does very little to inhibit the traffickers’ operation.
...Instead, the Obama administration appears to have chosen another path that has shocked the human-rights community: It will simply reclassify Malaysia. Reuters has reported that when the Trafficking in Persons report comes out next week, Malaysia will no longer be a Tier 3 country.
There is essentially zero evidence Malaysia has done anything to earn this reclassification. Just two months ago, police found 139 mass graves along the Malaysian border that contained migrant workers that had been trafficked or held for ransom.
...Outrage also came Thursday from Representative Rosa DeLauro, a leading fast track and TPP opponent in the House. “The only reason to upgrade Malaysia to a tier two country is to bypass the ban that is currently in U.S. law,” she said in a statement. “President Obama and Secretary Kerry must do the right thing and not arbitrarily upgrade Malaysia as a means to secure the TPP. This is an irresponsible, unacceptable political game.”
....“I was shocked and I didn’t believe it. I didn’t think these things would happen,” said Human Rights Watch’s Sifton. “If it happened on House of Cards, I’d say ‘Oh, that’s not plausible.’”
http://www.thenation.com/article/obama-wont-let-some-mass-graves-stop-tpp/
The Nation
7/10/15
It appears Malaysia will be given a free pass on human trafficking in order to protect the controversial trade deal.
When Congress finally passed fast-track trade authority last month, there was a major problem for President Obama and his trade negotiators: a provision of the bill forbid any fast-tracked trade deal from including countries on Tier 3 of the State Department’s human trafficking list.
That’s the worst classification the United States gives to countries in its Trafficking In Persons annual report, a status earned by countries like Zimbabwe, Syria, the Democratic Republic of Congo, and North Korea. Also on the list: Malaysia, one of the 12 potential signatories to the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal that is in the final round of negotiations this month.
Malaysia is home to many “outsourcing companies” that are, in reality, professional slaving operations: foreign workers, often refugees fleeing desperate situations in nearby countries like Burma, are recruited to the country with the promise of legitimate work but then subjected to forced labor and sex trafficking. The State Department and international human rights groups have routinely concluded the Malaysian government does very little to inhibit the traffickers’ operation.
...Instead, the Obama administration appears to have chosen another path that has shocked the human-rights community: It will simply reclassify Malaysia. Reuters has reported that when the Trafficking in Persons report comes out next week, Malaysia will no longer be a Tier 3 country.
There is essentially zero evidence Malaysia has done anything to earn this reclassification. Just two months ago, police found 139 mass graves along the Malaysian border that contained migrant workers that had been trafficked or held for ransom.
...Outrage also came Thursday from Representative Rosa DeLauro, a leading fast track and TPP opponent in the House. “The only reason to upgrade Malaysia to a tier two country is to bypass the ban that is currently in U.S. law,” she said in a statement. “President Obama and Secretary Kerry must do the right thing and not arbitrarily upgrade Malaysia as a means to secure the TPP. This is an irresponsible, unacceptable political game.”
....“I was shocked and I didn’t believe it. I didn’t think these things would happen,” said Human Rights Watch’s Sifton. “If it happened on House of Cards, I’d say ‘Oh, that’s not plausible.’”
http://www.thenation.com/article/obama-wont-let-some-mass-graves-stop-tpp/
Here are some very disturbing photos of human trafficking & mass graves discovered in Malaysia. WARNING: Graphic images of what the US now says isn't so bad...only profits matter.
19 replies
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