{"id":5248,"date":"2015-07-10T09:23:29","date_gmt":"2015-07-10T13:23:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.citizenstrade.org\/ctc\/?p=5248"},"modified":"2015-07-28T09:21:50","modified_gmt":"2015-07-28T13:21:50","slug":"ignoring-modern-day-slavery-to-advance-the-tpp","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.citizenstrade.org\/ctc\/blog\/2015\/07\/10\/ignoring-modern-day-slavery-to-advance-the-tpp\/","title":{"rendered":"Ignoring Modern Day Slavery to Advance the TPP"},"content":{"rendered":"

The\u00a0Obama administration has\u00a0upgraded Malaysia\u2019s status in the State Department’s “Trafficking in Persons”\u00a0report in order to ease the country’s\u00a0entry into the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), according to human rights groups\u00a0and others<\/a>.<\/p>\n

“[Malaysia’s] record on stopping trafficking is far from sufficient to justify this upgrade,” said Phil Robertson, deputy director of Human Rights Watch’s Asia Division. “This upgrade is more about the TPP and US trade politics than anything Malaysia did to combat human trafficking over the past year.”<\/p>\n

This\u00a0is a new low for those trying to rush the TPP to approval. \u00a0In 2014, the U.S. State Department listed Malaysia among the world\u2019s worst countries when it comes to human trafficking.\u00a0 While exact counts are impossible to come by,\u00a0we\u2019re likely talking about millions of people affected.\u00a0 Many of these modern-day slaves end up not only as prostitutes and domestic servants, but working in Malaysia\u2019s export-oriented electronics, seafood and palm oil sectors.\u00a0\u00a0One-third of all electronics workers in Malaysia<\/a> are estimated to be trafficking victims.<\/p>\n

Less you think this is anything less awful and barbaric than it really is,\u00a0just this spring, dozens of trafficking camps<\/a> with guard posts, barbed wire and their own mass graves were uncovered in the country\u2019s jungles.\u00a0\u00a0A human rights campaigner said at the time, \u201cThe only way these kinds of camps could operate was with the support of military, police and politicians who were either directly involved or were paid to look the other way.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Fast Track legislation recently passed by Congress \u2014 as awful as it was \u2014 at least included a provision against fast tracking trade deals with the worst human trafficking abusers.\u00a0 Rather than requiring the Malaysian to clean up its act before it joins the TPP, the Obama administration has chosen to just write the problem away with a new trafficking report that says the country is no longer that big of a concern.<\/p>\n

According to the\u00a0International Trade Union Confederation<\/a>, “The unwarranted upgrade is presumed to be result of political interference by the administration to ensure that Malaysia remains eligible to participate in the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement.”<\/p>\n

Rep. Sandy Levin, ranking member of the Ways & Means Committee which oversees trade policy, said that the\u00a0\u201cadministration\u2019s upgrade of Malaysia in the human trafficking report \u2014 without evidence of significant changes on the ground \u2014 is extremely concerning.\u201d<\/p>\n

An Amnesty International representative further argued that \u201cMalaysia\u2019s anti-trafficking efforts have been severely wanting,\u201d and that \u201cthe U.S.\u2019s willingness to sidestep one of the world\u2019s worst rights crises\u201d was instead motivated by \u201cthe value of trade this would bring.\u201d<\/p>\n

The administration’s alleged willingness to turn a blind-eye to trafficking abuses in Malaysia in order to get the TPP done also\u00a0does not bode well for the hope of any enforcement of labor and environmental provisions were the TPP actually enacted. \u00a0If the administration were serious about using the TPP to enforce basic rights, they would make such enforcement a prerequisite to joining.<\/p>\n

TAKE ACTION NOW:<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0Tell your Congress members\u00a0to speak out against trade policy that puts corporate profits ahead of human rights.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The\u00a0Obama administration has\u00a0upgraded Malaysia\u2019s status in the State Department’s “Trafficking in Persons”\u00a0report in order to ease the country’s\u00a0entry into the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), according to human rights groups\u00a0and others. “[Malaysia’s] […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4861,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[94,83],"yoast_head":"\nIgnoring Modern Day Slavery to Advance the TPP - Citizens Trade Campaign<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The Obama administration is planning to upgrade Malaysia\u2019s status in a forthcoming human trafficking report in order to ease its entry into the TPP\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.citizenstrade.org\/ctc\/blog\/2015\/07\/10\/ignoring-modern-day-slavery-to-advance-the-tpp\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Ignoring Modern Day Slavery to Advance the TPP - 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