Republican and Democratic leaders from the Senate Foreign Relations Committee are questioning the integrity of the State Department’s annual report on human trafficking. More specifically, what’s being looked into is the decision to remove Cuba and Malaysia off the U.S. blacklist of countries that have failed to address slavery in modern times, reports The New York Times.
The annual Trafficking in Persons report was released Monday. Ranking Democrat Senator Ben Cardin and Republican committee chair Senator Bob Corker wrote a letter to Secretary of State John Kerry requesting a briefing about the report.
In the letter, Senator Cardin and Senator Corker requested the briefing in order “to better understand” the basis for the 2015 upgrade of several countries, including Cuba and Malaysia, reports Reuters.
“We recognize that U.S. policy and engagement on trafficking does not exist in a vacuum, and we appreciate the many varied and nuanced trade-offs that are necessary between competing policy issues,” the letter reads.
We recognize that U.S. policy and engagement on trafficking does not exist in a vacuum, and we appreciate the many varied and nuanced trade-offs that are necessary between competing policy issues. We also believe that it is critical that the impartial reliability of the TIP Report be safeguarded and maintained if it is to have utility on this critical issue in the future.
Malaysia was removed from the list of worst offenders in human trafficking on Monday, despite opposition from nearly 180 U.S. lawmakers and countless human rights groups.
The annual Trafficking on Persons report also upgraded Cuba from the lowest rank for the first time since the country was added to the report in 2003.
Diplomatic relations between The United States and Cuba were re-established on July 1, 2015 after more than 50 years of a Cold War. Democratic lawmakers and human rights groups have accused the department of politicizing the process, due to Malaysia being a US trading partner.
Just last week, John Kerry went before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee in defense of the Iran Nuke Deal, stating that the proposed agreement is a “good deal” for America.
