"U.S.: Don’t Let Trade Trump Human Rights", 28 July 2015

The U.S. State Department’s annual Trafficking in Persons (TIP) report fails to accurately assess Malaysia and Myanmar’s efforts to combat human trafficking, Fortify Rights said...[T]he report...upgrad[es] Malaysia from Tier-3 to Tier-2 Watch-List status and keep[s] Myanmar at Tier-2 Watch-List status, despite evidence that each country failed to adequately combat human trafficking in 2014...“The decisions regarding Malaysia and Myanmar were largely political and don’t reflect either country’s record on human trafficking,” said Matthew Smith, executive director of Fortify Rights. “This decision is a disservice to the many victims and survivors of human trafficking.”...“With elections on the horizon, D.C. has brushed aside Myanmar’s systematic use of slave labor,” Matthew Smith said. “Myanmar’s army should immediately stop using forced labor and hold perpetrators accountable, regardless of rank.”...Fortify Rights estimates that in 2014, the Myanmar Army and other state security agencies forced several thousand Rohingya men, women, and children in northern Rakhine State to engage in various forms of uncompensated and exploitative work.