Women Trafficking: Nigeria On US Watch List
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This Day (Lagos)
June 17, 2004
Posted to the web June 17, 2004
Nneoma Ukeje-Eloagu
Washington DC
The United States has listed Nigeria on Tier 2 Watch List for women and children
trafficking.
The fourth annual trafficking in Persons Report released by US Department of state
yesterday classified Nigeria as "a source, transit, and destination country for
trafficked women and children".
Furthermore, the Depart-ment's evaluation of government's compliance with the US
Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000 (TVPA) stated that Nigeria does not comply
with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking despite making
significant efforts to so do.
Nigeria is placed on the Tier 2 Watch List because of the continued significant
complicity of Nigerian security personnel in trafficking and the noticeable failure to
address this complicity.
According to the report, the Nigerian Government does not face severe resource
constraints, faced by other countries in the region yet it commits inadequate funding
and personnel to the fight against serious trafficking in women and children.
The Nigerian Government is, however, "commended for its new anti-trafficking law and
the new central government anti-trafficking in persons law enforcement unit created by
that law."
The government is however urged to "move quickly to implement the new law through
vigorous high court prosecutions of corrupt officials and traffickers; it should also
give adequate support to the new anti-trafficking agency and improve protection
facilities or funding for NGO protection activities."
Some state governments were also mentioned for their efforts in combating trafficking
crimes. These include Imo State for the repatriation of 29 victims from Gabon during
the year. Edo and Abia States for running skills acquisition centers for victims, and
Akwa Ibom State for working with Cameroon to effect the repatriation of Nigerian
children trafficked to that country.
John Miller, Director of the Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons, at
the presentation of the report, described Tier 2 watch list countries as "weak Tier 2
countries that are in danger, the coming year, of falling to Tier 3." Tier three
countries or governments include those that are not making significant efforts and may
be subject to certain U.S. sanctions.
Miller, however, stressed that sanctions are not the preferred way to go. "Let me make
clear that while Tier 3, under the law, brings with it the possibility of losses of
certain kinds of U.S. aid, the purpose of this report is not sanctions, it is to get
progress. And as the law provides, last year, many countries that were named in Tier
3, over the succeeding three months before the presidential decision on sanctions,
made tremendous progress. And we hope that all countries, particularly those on Tier
3, in the next three months, will make similar progress."
This placement in tiers is based on the extent of a government's actions to combat
trafficking. The Department first evaluates whether the government fully complies with
the TVPA's minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking.
The minimum standards include the prohibition of severe forms of trafficking in
persons and prescription of punishment commensurate with that for grave crimes, such
as forcible sexual assault for the knowing commission of any act of sex trafficking
involving force, fraud, coercion, or in which the victim of sex trafficking is a child
incapable of giving meaningful consent, or of trafficking which includes rape or
kidnapping or which causes death.
The government of a country is also expected to prescribe punishment that is
sufficiently stringent to deter and that adequately reflects the heinous nature of the
offence for the knowing commission of any act of a severe form of trafficking in
persons, as well as make serious and sustained efforts to eliminate severe forms of
trafficking in persons.
In addition to the above criteria, the minimum standard also considers:
- whether the percentage of victims of severe forms of trafficking in the country that
are non-citizens of such countries is insignificant;
- whether the government of the country, consistent with the capacity of such
government, systematically monitors its efforts to satisfy the criteria described in
paragraphs above and makes available publicly a periodic assessment of such efforts;
and,
- whether the government of the country achieves appreciable progress in eliminating
severe forms of trafficking when compared to the assessment in the previous year.
As required by the TVPA, in making tier determinations between Tiers 2 and 3, the
Department considers the overall extent of human trafficking in the country; the
extent of governmental non compliance with the minimum standards, particularly the
extent to which government officials have participated in, facilitated, condoned, or
are otherwise complicit in trafficking; and, what measures are reasonable to bring the
government into compliance with the minimum standards in light of the government's
resources and capabilities.
Governments of countries in Tier 3 may be subject to certain sanctions including the
withholding by US government of non-humanitarian, non-trade-related assistance.
Countries that receive no such assistance would be subject to withholding of funding
for participation in educational and cultural exchange programmes.
Consistent with the TVPA, such governments would also face U.S. opposition to
assistance (except for humanitarian, trade-related, and certain development-related
assistance) from international financial institutions such as the International
Monetary Fund (IMF) and multilateral development banks such as the World Bank.
Relevant Links
West Africa
Children and Youth
Women and Gender
Nigeria
Crime and Corruption
United States, Canada and Africa
These potential consequences would take effect at the beginning of the next fiscal
year, October 1, 2004. All or part of the TVPA's sanctions can be waived upon a
determination by the President that the provision of such assistance to the government
would promote the purposes of the statute or is otherwise in the national interest of
the United States.
The TVPA also provides that sanctions shall be waived if necessary to avoid
significant adverse effects on vulnerable populations, including women and children.
Sanctions also would not apply if the President finds that, after this report is
issued but before the imposition of sanctions, a government has come into compliance
with the minimum standards or is making significant efforts to bring itself into
compliance.
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