As per the Trafficking in Persons (TIP) Report by the US, the&nbsp;Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and the state-owned companies are making their employees work in&nbsp;&nbsp;"horrendous conditions" on Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) projects.

On Thursday, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, revealed that, according to the report, China is in Tier-3 category (lowest ranking).

"Our Trafficking in Persons Report calls out a group of nations with a state-sponsored pattern of forced labour. Among them is China, where the CCP and its state-owned enterprises often forcing citizens to work in horrendous conditions on Belt and Road project," he said.

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However, this is not the first time that China has been retained to Tier-3 category. China has been placed in Tier-3 category since 2017, as the US report believes that China&nbsp;"does not fully meet the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking and is not making significant efforts to do so".

"Despite the lack of significant efforts, the government took some steps to address trafficking, including by prosecuting and convicting some traffickers and by continuing to cooperate with international authorities to address forced and fraudulent marriages in the PRC, a key trafficking vulnerability for foreign women and girls," the report said.

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The report claims that despite these efforts, what is more troublesome is the forced labour that has been undergoing, especially with the help of the mass detention camps where reportedly millions of&nbsp;Uyghurs, ethnic Kazakhs, ethnic Kyrgyz and other Muslims have been detained in Xinjiang.

The report has urged China to put an end to the forced labour.&nbsp;"Cease the use of harassment, threats and illegal discriminatory immigration policies as measures to coerce the return to Xinjiang and subsequent forced labor of ethnic and religious minorities living abroad," it stated.

The TIP report is divided into Tier-1, Tier-2, Tier-2 watchlist, and Tier-3. Countries whose governments fully meet the TVPA`s (Trafficking Victims Protection Act) minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking are categorised as Tier-1.

Countries categorised under Tier-3 get access to only limited resources from the US.

(With inputs from agencies)

As per the Trafficking in Persons (TIP) Report by the US, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and the state-owned companies are making their employees work in "horrendous conditions" on Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) projects.

As per the Trafficking in Persons (TIP) Report by the US, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and the state-owned companies are making their employees work in "horrendous conditions" on Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) projects. On Thursday, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, revealed that, according to the report, China is in Tier-3 category (lowest ranking). "Our Trafficking in Persons Report calls out a group of nations with a state-sponsored pattern of forced labour. Among them is China, where the CCP and its state-owned enterprises often forcing citizens to work in horrendous conditions on Belt and Road project," he said. Also read| US plans to shift army to face Chinese threat to India and Southeast Asia: Mike Pompeo However, this is not the first time that China has been retained to Tier-3 category. China has been placed in Tier-3 category since 2017, as the US report believes that China "does not fully meet the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking and is not making significant efforts to do so". "Despite the lack of significant efforts, the government took some steps to address trafficking, including by prosecuting and convicting some traffickers and by continuing to cooperate with international authorities to address forced and fraudulent marriages in the PRC, a key trafficking vulnerability for foreign women and girls," the report said. Also read| Book trouble: Trump's niece ready to release tell-all book about Trump family The report claims that despite these efforts, what is more troublesome is the forced labour that has been undergoing, especially with the help of the mass detention camps where reportedly millions of Uyghurs, ethnic Kazakhs, ethnic Kyrgyz and other Muslims have been detained in Xinjiang. The report has urged China to put an end to the forced labour. "Cease the use of harassment, threats and illegal discriminatory immigration policies as measures to coerce the return to Xinjiang and subsequent forced labor of ethnic and religious minorities living abroad," it stated. The TIP report is divided into Tier-1, Tier-2, Tier-2 watchlist, and Tier-3. Countries whose governments fully meet the TVPA`s (Trafficking Victims Protection Act) minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking are categorised as Tier-1. Countries categorised under Tier-3 get access to only limited resources from the US. (With inputs from agencies)

China guilty of forced labour under 'horrendous conditions' on BRI project: US Report

The United States has decided to place Myanmar on its global list of worst offenders in human trafficking, officials said, a move aimed at prodding the country&rsquo;s new democratically elected government and its still-powerful military to do more to curb the use of child soldiers and forced labour. 
 
The reprimand of Myanmar comes despite US efforts to court the strategically important country to help counteract China&rsquo;s rise in the region and build a Southeast Asian bulwark against Beijing&rsquo;s territorial assertiveness in the South China Sea. 
 
Myanmar&rsquo;s demotion, part of the State Department&rsquo;s closely watched annual Trafficking in Persons (TIP) report due to be released on Thursday, also appears intended to send a message of US concern about continued widespread persecution of the Rohingya Muslim minority in the Buddhist-majority nation. 
 
The country&rsquo;s new leader, democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi, has been criticised internationally for neglecting the Rohingya issue since her administration took office this year. 
 
Washington has faced a complex balancing act over Myanmar, a former military dictatorship that has emerged from decades of international isolation since launching sweeping political changes in 2011. 
 
President Barack Obama&rsquo;s diplomatic opening to Myanmar is widely seen as a key foreign policy achievement as he enters his final seven months in office, but even as he has eased some sanctions he has kept others in place to maintain leverage for further reforms. 
 
At the same time, Washington wants to keep Myanmar from slipping back into China&rsquo;s orbit at a time when US officials are trying to forge a unified regional front. 
 
The US decision to drop Myanmar to &ldquo;Tier 3,&rdquo; the lowest grade, putting it alongside countries like Iran, North Korea and Syria, was confirmed by a US official in Washington and a Bangkok-based official from an international organisation informed of the move. Another person familiar with the matter said: &ldquo;I&rsquo;m not going to turn you away from this conclusion.&rdquo; All spoke on condition of anonymity. 
 
A Tier 3 rating can trigger sanctions limiting access to US and international aid. But US presidents frequently waive such action. 
 
The decision on Myanmar, formerly known as Burma, was one of the most hotly contested in this year&rsquo;s report, and followed concerns that some assessments in last year&rsquo;s human trafficking report were watered down for political reasons. 
 
There was intense internal debate between senior US diplomats who wanted to reward Myanmar for progress on political reforms and US human rights experts who argued that not enough was being done to curb human trafficking, the US official said. 
 
A Reuters investigation published last August found that senior diplomats repeatedly overruled the State Department&rsquo;s anti-trafficking unit and inflated the grades of 14 strategically important countries. The State Department denied any political considerations but US lawmakers called for reforms in the decision-making process. 
 
This year&rsquo;s decision on Myanmar marked a win for the State Department&rsquo;s Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons, which was set up to independently grade countries&rsquo; efforts to prevent modern slavery, such as the illegal trade in humans for forced labour or prostitution. 
 
Because Myanmar had been on the so-called &ldquo;Tier 2 Watch List&rdquo; for the maximum four years permitted by law, the State Department either had to justify an upgrade or else automatically downgrade it. A Tier 3 ranking means that anti-trafficking efforts do not meet &ldquo;minimum standards&rdquo; and it is &ldquo;not making significant efforts to do so.&rdquo; 
 
State Department spokesman John Kirby said: &ldquo;We will not comment on the contents of this year&rsquo;s report until after the report is released.&rdquo; 
 
 
Child soldiers 
 
Deliberations on Myanmar&rsquo;s record focused heavily on efforts to halt the military&#39;s recruitment and use of child soldiers as well as forced labour, especially the coercion of local villagers to perform some work. Such practices have been documented by international human rights groups and are also outlined in last year&#39;s State Department report. 
 
A key issue that the U.S. administration considered before Myanmar&rsquo;s downgrade was alleged government complicity in human trafficking, including its failure to prosecute any civilian officials for their involvement in it, according to the person familiar with the situation. While the Myanmar military is credited with significant progress toward curbing the use of child soldiers, such as allowing international inspections of military bases, there was no indication the problem had been completely eradicated as the U.S. anti-trafficking office had urged, the source said.Human rights groups had lobbied U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry against upgrading Myanmar, saying it would be unearned. 
 
The diplomatic blow to Myanmar&rsquo;s government could be softened by the fact that the TIP report covered efforts during the year ending in March, under the previous administration of former junta general Thein Sein. 
 
Suu Kyi, a Nobel Peace laureate, assumed her government role in April, after her party won the country&rsquo;s first democratic elections in five decades. 
 
But with the generals still controlling three security ministries and holding a lock on 25 percent of seats in parliament, U.S. officials grappled with whether a downgrade could undermine cooperation from the military against human trafficking. 
 
For her part, Suu Kyi has recently unsettled U.S. officials by calling on them not to use the term &ldquo;Rohingya&rdquo; to refer to the Muslim minority in the country&rsquo;s north. Many in Myanmar refer to them as &quot;Bengalis,&quot; insinuating that they are stateless illegal immigrants. 
 
The United States has urged Myanmar to treat them as citizens. 
 
The 2015 TIP report highlighted that the government&#39;s denial of citizenship to an estimated 800,000 men, women and children in Burma -- the majority of them ethnic Rohingya -- &quot;significantly increased this population&#39;s vulnerability to trafficking&quot;. 
 
&ldquo;The chronic, chronic abuse of the Rohingya has not been dealt with at all,&rdquo; a U.S. congressional aide said, suggesting support on Capitol Hill for a downgrade this year. 
 
(Reuters)

The move is intended to send a message of US concern about continued widespread persecution of the Rohingya Muslim minority

The United States has decided to place Myanmar on its global list of worst offenders in human trafficking, officials said, a move aimed at prodding the country’s new democratically elected government and its still-powerful military to do more to curb the use of child soldiers and forced labour. The reprimand of Myanmar comes despite US efforts to court the strategically important country to help counteract China’s rise in the region and build a Southeast Asian bulwark against Beijing’s territorial assertiveness in the South China Sea. Myanmar’s demotion, part of the State Department’s closely watched annual Trafficking in Persons (TIP) report due to be released on Thursday, also appears intended to send a message of US concern about continued widespread persecution of the Rohingya Muslim minority in the Buddhist-majority nation. The country’s new leader, democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi, has been criticised internationally for neglecting the Rohingya issue since her administration took office this year. Washington has faced a complex balancing act over Myanmar, a former military dictatorship that has emerged from decades of international isolation since launching sweeping political changes in 2011. President Barack Obama’s diplomatic opening to Myanmar is widely seen as a key foreign policy achievement as he enters his final seven months in office, but even as he has eased some sanctions he has kept others in place to maintain leverage for further reforms. At the same time, Washington wants to keep Myanmar from slipping back into China’s orbit at a time when US officials are trying to forge a unified regional front. The US decision to drop Myanmar to “Tier 3,” the lowest grade, putting it alongside countries like Iran, North Korea and Syria, was confirmed by a US official in Washington and a Bangkok-based official from an international organisation informed of the move. Another person familiar with the matter said: “I’m not going to turn you away from this conclusion.” All spoke on condition of anonymity. A Tier 3 rating can trigger sanctions limiting access to US and international aid. But US presidents frequently waive such action. The decision on Myanmar, formerly known as Burma, was one of the most hotly contested in this year’s report, and followed concerns that some assessments in last year’s human trafficking report were watered down for political reasons. There was intense internal debate between senior US diplomats who wanted to reward Myanmar for progress on political reforms and US human rights experts who argued that not enough was being done to curb human trafficking, the US official said. A Reuters investigation published last August found that senior diplomats repeatedly overruled the State Department’s anti-trafficking unit and inflated the grades of 14 strategically important countries. The State Department denied any political considerations but US lawmakers called for reforms in the decision-making process. This year’s decision on Myanmar marked a win for the State Department’s Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons, which was set up to independently grade countries’ efforts to prevent modern slavery, such as the illegal trade in humans for forced labour or prostitution. Because Myanmar had been on the so-called “Tier 2 Watch List” for the maximum four years permitted by law, the State Department either had to justify an upgrade or else automatically downgrade it. A Tier 3 ranking means that anti-trafficking efforts do not meet “minimum standards” and it is “not making significant efforts to do so.” State Department spokesman John Kirby said: “We will not comment on the contents of this year’s report until after the report is released.” Child soldiers Deliberations on Myanmar’s record focused heavily on efforts to halt the military's recruitment and use of child soldiers as well as forced labour, especially the coercion of local villagers to perform some work. Such practices have been documented by international human rights groups and are also outlined in last year's State Department report. A key issue that the U.S. administration considered before Myanmar’s downgrade was alleged government complicity in human trafficking, including its failure to prosecute any civilian officials for their involvement in it, according to the person familiar with the situation. While the Myanmar military is credited with significant progress toward curbing the use of child soldiers, such as allowing international inspections of military bases, there was no indication the problem had been completely eradicated as the U.S. anti-trafficking office had urged, the source said.Human rights groups had lobbied U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry against upgrading Myanmar, saying it would be unearned. The diplomatic blow to Myanmar’s government could be softened by the fact that the TIP report covered efforts during the year ending in March, under the previous administration of former junta general Thein Sein. Suu Kyi, a Nobel Peace laureate, assumed her government role in April, after her party won the country’s first democratic elections in five decades. But with the generals still controlling three security ministries and holding a lock on 25 percent of seats in parliament, U.S. officials grappled with whether a downgrade could undermine cooperation from the military against human trafficking. For her part, Suu Kyi has recently unsettled U.S. officials by calling on them not to use the term “Rohingya” to refer to the Muslim minority in the country’s north. Many in Myanmar refer to them as "Bengalis," insinuating that they are stateless illegal immigrants. The United States has urged Myanmar to treat them as citizens. The 2015 TIP report highlighted that the government's denial of citizenship to an estimated 800,000 men, women and children in Burma -- the majority of them ethnic Rohingya -- "significantly increased this population's vulnerability to trafficking". “The chronic, chronic abuse of the Rohingya has not been dealt with at all,” a U.S. congressional aide said, suggesting support on Capitol Hill for a downgrade this year. (Reuters)

US to place Myanmar on global list of worst offenders in human trafficking

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China guilty of forced labour under 'horrendous conditions' on BRI project: US Report

US to place Myanmar on global list of worst offenders in human trafficking