Myanmar says US report fails to reflect significant steps in combating human trafficking

Vendors sell food on a ship at the Yangon jetty in Myanmar on July 8, 2020. Myanmar is unhappy with its placing on the Tier 3 List which is for countries whose governments are not making significant attempts to combat human trafficking. - AFP

YANGON (Xinhua): Myanmar's Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Wednesday (July 8) issued a statement, saying that the 2020 Trafficking in Persons (TIP) Report recently released by the US State Department failed to reflect Myanmar's significant steps taken in combating human trafficking.

In the US report, Myanmar was placed on Tier 3 List which is for countries whose governments are not making significant efforts to comply with the minimum standards.

The ministry's statement recounted the events which proved that Myanmar has made much progress in efforts to prevent human trafficking crimes, prosecuting perpetrators and protecting victims over the past few years.

The statement also underlined that during the reported period, the number of reported human trafficking cases passing through Myanmar as a transit country showed a significant decrease compared to the previous years, saying that most of the recent cases of trafficked boat people do not originate from Myanmar.

Meanwhile, Myanmar's military has been recently delisted by the United Nations from recruitment and use of children, in recognition of the progress made in addressing the issue of underage soldiers.

"Myanmar hopes that future TIP rankings will be based more on objectivity, impartiality and independence," said the statement.