Human Trafficking has Worsened in Burma Again

 

In the 2018 Trafficking in Persons, or TIP, Report, Burma was downgraded to Tier 3 for the second time in three years. It had been on a Tier 2 Watch List in 2017.

Tier 1 is for countries that are meeting the minimum standards for the elimination¹ of trafficking in persons set forth² in the TVPA [Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000]. Tier 2 countries have not met the minimum standards but are making significant efforts to do so. Tier 2 Watch List is for countries that are making significant efforts but deserve closer scrutiny³. Finally, Tier 3 is for countries that have not met the minimum standards and are not making significant efforts to do so.

A senior State Department official said, “We have tracked the situation of trafficking in Burma for a long time and had concerns about it for a long time. In this past year, we assessed that the government does not fully⁴ meet the minimum standards and is not making significant efforts.”

The U.S. official went on to say, “Our concerns include that Burmese Armed Forces operations in Rakhine State dislocated hundreds of thousands of Rohingya and members of other ethnic⁵ groups, many of whom were exploited throughout the region as a result.”

In addition, the unlawful recruitment of child soldiers by the Burmese Armed Forces and ethnic armed groups continued. Authorities punished former child soldiers for desertion, alleged⁶ fraud, and defamation⁷, and authorities also continue to prevent the United Nations from playing a constructive⁸ role in eradicating⁹ the recruitment and use of children by ethnic armed groups.

The TIP Report found that the Burmese military continued to subject adults and children to forced labor¹⁰. And Burmese government officials were reportedly complicit in both sex and labor trafficking.

The United States urges Burma to implement¹¹ all the recommendations in the TIP Report, especially those related to ceasing all unlawful recruitment and use of children in the armed forces and allowing the UN to conduct this work with ethnic armed groups. Burma should immediately and unconditionally¹² release Aung Ko Htwe,[Ahn Koh Twey] who was arrested in August 2017 for speaking out about his experience as a child soldier.

The U.S. also calls on the Burmese government to end its officials' involvement in sex trafficking and forced labor and to hold such officials criminally accountable for these crimes.

1 elimination   

n.排除，消除，消灭

参考例句：

• Their elimination from the competition was a great surprise.他们在比赛中遭到淘汰是个很大的意外。
• I was eliminated from the 400 metres in the semi-finals.我在400米半决赛中被淘汰。

2 forth   

adv.向前；向外，往外

参考例句：

• The wind moved the trees gently back and forth.风吹得树轻轻地来回摇晃。
• He gave forth a series of works in rapid succession.他很快连续发表了一系列的作品。

3 scrutiny   

n.详细检查，仔细观察

参考例句：

• His work looks all right,but it will not bear scrutiny.他的工作似乎很好，但是经不起仔细检查。
• Few wives in their forties can weather such a scrutiny.很少年过四十的妻子经得起这么仔细的观察。

4 fully   

adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地

参考例句：

• The doctor asked me to breathe in,then to breathe out fully.医生让我先吸气，然后全部呼出。
• They soon became fully integrated into the local community.他们很快就完全融入了当地人的圈子。

5 ethnic   

adj.人种的，种族的，异教徒的

参考例句：

• This music would sound more ethnic if you played it in steel drums.如果你用钢鼓演奏，这首乐曲将更具民族特色。
• The plan is likely only to aggravate ethnic frictions.这一方案很有可能只会加剧种族冲突。

6 alleged   

a.被指控的，嫌疑的

参考例句：

• It was alleged that he had taken bribes while in office. 他被指称在任时收受贿赂。
• alleged irregularities in the election campaign 被指称竞选运动中的不正当行为

7 defamation   

n.诽谤；中伤

参考例句：

• Character defamation can be either oral or written.人格诽谤既可以是口头的也可以是书面的。
• The company sued for defamation.这个公司因受到诽谤而提起诉讼。

8 constructive   

adj.建设的，建设性的

参考例句：

• We welcome constructive criticism.我们乐意接受有建设性的批评。
• He is beginning to deal with his anger in a constructive way.他开始用建设性的方法处理自己的怒气。

9 eradicating   

摧毁，完全根除( eradicate的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• Objective: To study the acute and chronic toxicity of Ten-flavor-acne eradicating-capsule. 目的：探讨复方中药合剂十味平痤胶囊的急性及慢性毒性。
• We are on the verge of eradicating polio in the world. 我们已在世界消除小儿？痹症的边缘了。

10 labor   

n.劳动，努力，工作，劳工；分娩；vi.劳动，努力，苦干；vt.详细分析；麻烦

参考例句：

• We are never late in satisfying him for his labor.我们从不延误付给他劳动报酬。
• He was completely spent after two weeks of hard labor.艰苦劳动两周后，他已经疲惫不堪了。

11 implement   

n.(pl.)工具，器具；vt.实行，实施，执行

参考例句：

• Don't undertake a project unless you can implement it.不要承担一项计划，除非你能完成这项计划。
• The best implement for digging a garden is a spade.在花园里挖土的最好工具是铁锹。

12 unconditionally   

adv.无条件地

参考例句：

• All foreign troops must be withdrawn immediately and unconditionally. 所有外国军队必须立即无条件地撤出。
• It makes things very awkward to have your girls going back unconditionally just now! 你们现在是无条件上工，真糟糕！ 来自子夜部分