Will This Be the Decade of Delivery?

"For the millions of people who toil in the shadows, unseen and unheard, all of us must make this effort a priority." Hillary Clinton

The 2011 U.S. Trafficking in Persons Report was recently released. Surprisingly, Singapore and the Philippines have been removed from the watch list and placed on the so-called Tier 2 list. The Report states, "Although the Philippines still does not fully comply with minimum standards to eliminate trafficking, Manila is making significant efforts to do so."

Upon the release of the report, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton stated that, "As many as 27 million men, women and children suffered from trafficking around the world for sexual exploitation or forced labor."

The U.S. Trafficking Report ranks ranks 184 countries including the United States of America. There are currently 23 countries on Tier 3 which is the worst of the worst for human deprivation of rights. Most unsettling was the news that 10 new nations are now added to the growing list that fail to meet minimum requirements to put an end to human trafficking. You can read the full report here.

Will 2011 be the "Decade of Delivery?" I do not believe it will be. Sadly, of the 27 million who are trafficked and live in slavery, many are debt bonded. Debt bonding is when a victim's labor is demanded as a means of repayment. It is one of the least known forms of human trafficking. Sadly, in our society, it has become one of the fastest growing forms of slavery tied to human trafficking and often affects children.

While doing this investigation on the growing trends, I came across Catch 16 -- 22 - Recruitment and retention of minors in the British Armed Forces. I further read, "Rachel Taylor, from the Coalition to Stop the Use of Child Soldiers, argues that it is time for British armed forces to join the rest of NATO and stop recruiting people as young as 16." According to the UK Daily Mall, "The UK is one of fewer than 20 countries, including Iran, North Korea and Zimbabwe, which still recruits 16-year-olds into the armed forces.

You can read the article here.

It would appear that children are being exploited everywhere these days. I wrote about "Chocolate and Children" in December of last year. You can read that here. It deals with the exploitation of child labor in the Ivory Coast.

I sincerely hope that this is the "Decade of Delivery" from human trafficking.

Sources:

http://www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/osdfs/factsheet.html

http://www.freetoshop.org/human-trafficking-true-stories/112-of-the-27-million-people-enslaved-today-20-million-are-in-debt-bondage.html

http://www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/osdfs/factsheet.html

http://www.state.gov/g/tip/