Sri Lanka taken off US human trafficking watch list

An annual US State Department Report on Trafficking in Persons that grades each country, elevated Sri Lanka’s status in 2011, noting increased prosecutions of human traffickers and more aggressive efforts by the government to protect trafficking victims.

The Report was unveiled by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

“The Sri Lankan government increased law enforcement efforts in addressing human trafficking cases over the reporting period.

Sri Lanka prohibits all forms of trafficking through an April 2006 Amendment to its Penal Code, which prescribes punishment of up to 20 years’ imprisonment,” the report said. “These penalties are sufficiently stringent and commensurate with those prescribed for other serious offences, such as rape.”

The State Department report grades countries in four categories: Tiers 1, 2, Tier 2 “Watch List” and Tier 3. It ranks more than 180 countries including the United States.

In 2011, the State Department took Sri Lanka off the watch list and graded it at the same level as a large number of countries, including Japan, Iceland and Switzerland.

The report lists more than 75 Tier 2 countries, which are making “significant efforts” to comply with international trafficking in persons standards.

“This is positive recognition of Sri Lanka’s progress on our efforts to prevent human trafficking and the abuse of those who travel abroad seeking employment,” said Sri Lanka’s ambassador to the United States Jaliya Wickramasuriya. The report said, “The Sri Lankan government made some progress in its efforts to prevent trafficking during the past year. The government formed an inter-ministerial anti-trafficking Task Force in October 2010, led by a coordinator from the Ministry of Justice, and developed a terms of reference on how government agencies will work together to combat trafficking.”

“The government convicted three traffickers, in the first case under its anti-trafficking legislation, and rejuvenated its inter-agency task force,” the Report said.

The Report called upon the Sri Lankan authorities to vigorously investigate and prosecute suspected trafficking offences, and convict and punish trafficking offenders, particularly those responsible for recruiting victims with fraudulent offers of employment and excessive commission fees for the purpose of subjecting them to forced labour.

It also noted that the Sri Lankan government has reported that all former Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) child soldiers completed rehabilitation and were released in May 2010.