This week the US State Department issued the 2017 Trafficking in Persons (TIP) Report. The report's position on Thailand and many other Asian countries is ambiguous and self-contradictory. It is readily apparent that, fundamentally, the world needs a more transparent trafficking reporting mechanism to compare countries objectively against standardised criteria.
To illustrate, consider five rankings in the report.
India, at Tier 2, is defined as a country whose government does not fully comply with minimum standards, but is making significant efforts to bring itself into compliance with those standards. Yet, it has a poor track record of prosecuting and convicting traffickers. In 2015, there were a mere 815 convictions, with 1,556 acquittals and 16 discharges, a dire performance for a population of 1.3 billion and estimated slave population of 18 million, a point conceded in the report.
Additionally, the TIP Report refers to grave official complicity, inadequate legislation, poor victim identification and protection, and instances of victim prosecution. It weakly attempts to justify India's Tier 2 status on the grounds that its performance during the reporting period of 2016, for which data is, in fact, absent, is an improvement on the previous period.
Second, Indonesia has never slipped below Tier 2 and ranks higher than Thailand. Yet the report emphasises that Indonesia has endemic official corruption that impedes anti-trafficking efforts and enables traffickers to operate with impunity. Despite a population of 260 million, it reported only 110 new investigations in 2016, down from 221 in 2015, and 46 prosecutions, down from 66 in 2015. Perplexingly, only two officials were prosecuted for trafficking offences.
Third, Malaysia was rightly downgraded to Tier 3 in 2014, but promptly upgraded to the Tier 2 Watch List in 2015, a prerequisite if it was to be part of the then US-backed Trans-Pacific Partnership. This political manipulation of the report tarnished its credibility. Now, once again, Malaysia has secured an upgrade to Tier 2. Yet, in 2016 it initiated only 175 prosecutions which, although an increase on the paltry 38 prosecutions the previous year, is no justification for promotion. Malaysia convicted 35, a slight increase from seven the previous year. Again, the report notes complicity among law enforcement officials and inadequate efforts to protect victims. This performance cannot objectively be regarded as "making significant efforts".
Next there is Myanmar, rightly downgraded to Tier 3 in 2016. Unexpectedly, it has been promoted to the Tier 2 Watch List for, paradoxically, a decrease in convictions from 168 in 2015 to 145 in 2016. Additionally, Myanmar's trafficking includes recruitment of child soldiers and an army engaging in ethnic cleansing. The report's Myanmar entry is a depressing read and devoid of any justification for this upgrade.
Finally, we come to Thailand. Although the country has some way to go before satisfying its international obligations, it is making significant attempts to do so, a point conceded in the report. Yet, Thailand has not been upgraded above the Tier 2 Watch List.
Nonetheless, Thailand's efforts outperform the above-mentioned countries when factoring in population numbers. To illustrate Thailand's greater efforts and higher detection rates, for 2016 Thailand reported investigating 333 trafficking cases (317 in 2015), prosecuting 301 cases (up from 251 in 2015), and convicting 268 traffickers (up from 205 in 2015). Furthermore, its anti-trafficking and child legislation is sound and continues to be reviewed and improved.
Yet, some commentators complain Thailand was not again downgraded to Tier 3. Such opinions are ill-informed. Thailand's ranking in the independent 2016 Global Slavery Index is actually 56th out of 167, definitely not among the worst offenders. It should also be remembered that Thailand faces significant challenges due to its porous borders and its economic strength relative to neighbouring countries, which make it a promised land for the displaced and impoverished.
There are many trusted, competent law enforcement officers working with non-government organisations and doing their best at tackling corruption and investigating and prosecuting offenders engaging in human trafficking and child exploitation. The PM's Office is monitoring the situation closely and implementing improvements to legislation, policy and enforcement performance. As the report concedes that the Thai government is "making significant efforts" to meet the minimum standards, Thailand is in principle entitled to Tier 2 status.
Ultimately, the report's methodology is profoundly misconceived. It promotes quantity, i.e., numbers of investigations, prosecutions and convictions, over quality. This paradigm only encourages law enforcement agencies to pursue low-level offenders, who are far easier to prosecute and convict, a perennial failing in the report. It is also illegitimate for one country to appoint itself a global policeman, judge and executioner, via automatic sanctions for a Tier 3 ranking.
The report favours wealthy, primarily Western, nations with virtually automatic Tier 1 rankings. Yet it takes no account of the fact that Western consumer demand for cheap goods feeds sweatshops and child labour in the developing world. Nor does it account for how the Western-controlled global economy relies heavily on exploiting the poor to maintain growth, thereby entrenching vulnerability and contributing directly to trafficking.
The US created these tier rankings and their definitions. In reality, they lack independent peer review. If the State Department cannot objectively account for the rankings in the international arena, responsibility for the report should be transferred to a neutral party, such as the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC). Working with the State Department, the UNODC should overhaul the methodology and ranking system to transform the report into a universally-admired, transparent system.
This new approach could then be used to bring pressure on all countries, both on the demand and supply sides, to improve their compliance with UN Sustainable Development Goal 8 of promoting inclusive and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment, and decent work for all.
Given the Trump administration's desire to promote decent work at home and make US goods more competitive internationally, enforcing minimum International Labour Organisation work standards globally to reduce modern slavery will benefit both the US and all other countries seriously working to eliminate slavery.
Ralph Simpson is Director of Nvader, a Chiang Mai-based non-government organisation working on anti-child trafficking. Peerasit Kamnuansilpa is a founder and former dean of the College of Local Administration, Khon Kaen University.