Tier 3, the only appropriate placement for the governments of Turkmenistan & Uzbekistan in the 2016 Trafficking in Persons Report

Today, the Cotton Campaign submitted letters to the United States government urging Tier 3 placements for the governments of Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan in the 2016 Trafficking in Persons Report (TIP). 

Each year in the TIP Report, the U.S. Department of State places each country onto one of three tiers based on the extent of their governments’ efforts to comply with the “minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking” established in the Trafficking Victims Protection Act. Tier 3 is reserved for governments that do not comply with minimum standards to combat human trafficking and fail to take adequate steps to address the problem, and it carries the possibility of sanctions. The governments of Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan not only are failing to meet the minimum standards for a higher ranking in the TIP Report, they are orchestrating and benefiting from forced labor.

Here is the Cotton Campaign coalition letter concerning the government of Turkmenistan (the letter concerning the government of Uzbekistan follow below):

Here is the Cotton Campaign coalition letter concerning the government of Uzbekistan: