Human rights groups and some U.S. lawmakers urged the U.S. government on Thursday to reconsider plans to upgrade Malaysia from the lowest tier on its list of worst human trafficking hubs, citing a lack of evidence that Malaysia had made advances against trafficking.

The comments come a day after Reuters revealed that the U.S. State Department plans to reverse last year’s downgrade of Malaysia in its annual "Trafficking in Persons" (TIP) report, a move that could smooth the way for a major U.S.-led free-trade deal with the Southeast Asian nation and 11 other countries.