US trafficking report ‘fails to reflect truths’

THE National Committee for Counter Trafficking (NCCT) on Wednesday took issue with the US human trafficking report which gave the Kingdom low marks for not meeting minimum standards to curb the practice.

The US Department of Sate released a report on global human trafficking in June, placing Cambodia on the Tier 2 watch list.

The report claimed that while the Cambodian government had made strong efforts and continues to prosecute traffickers, it did not demonstrate an overall increase in efforts compared to the previous reporting period.

It alleged the authorities did not improve on insufficient efforts to collect or share key information, while corruption continued to impede law enforcement operations, criminal proceedings, and victim service provisions.

While commending Cambodia for establishing a fiveyear action plan to combat t ra f f ick ing using new data col lect ion tech nolog ies, it u rged t he gover n ment to v igorously i nvest igate a nd prosecute trafficking offence s, aut hor i s e t he u s e of u nderc over i nve s t i g at i v e te ch n iques a nd i nc re a se f unding.

The report recommends: “[Cambodia] increase unannounced labour inspections in high-vulnerability professions, especially at brick kilns, fisheries, and plantations, with a focus on identifying debt bondage.

“The government needs to t a k e s t e ps t o e l i mi nat e recr uit ment or placement fees charged to workers by labour recruiters and ensure t hey a re i nstead pa id by employers.”

Ministry of Interior secretary of state and NCCT vicechair Chou Bun Eng refuted the report, saying Cambodia cannot fulfil the standards as demanded overnight.

“We are making efforts to fulfil the recommendations, but the important thing is assessment. If [the US] claims we are not making any effort, then that is not right.

“We also wonder about this assessment. We wrote to tell them we have done more than before, but they replied we have done less. So, we see double standards,” she said.

She s a id t he NCCT i s e st abl i s h i ng pl a ns to do whatever it ta kes to mitigate risks and eliminate human t ra f f ick ing.