U.S. adds 7 nations to list of human traffickers

Bahrain, the Persian Gulf home to the U.S. Fifth Fleet, was cited for failing to crack down on human traffickers who are bringing in men, women and children for forced labor or commercial sex work, the report says.

"Bahrain made no discernible progress in preventing trafficking this year," it said, noting that laws aimed at protecting foreign workers, largely from South and Southeast Asia, are not enforced and that authorities are not seriously investigating alleged widespread abuse.

Oil-rich Kuwait "made modest progress in preventing trafficking in persons this year," the report said, but added that "Kuwaiti efforts to improve its protection of victims of human trafficking had little effect."

Oman was cited for not applying and enforcing existing laws against human trafficking as well failing to distribute pamphlets aimed at educating foreign workers about their rights, it said.

Qatar, long accused by the United States of ignoring the plight of child camel jockeys, was demoted to "Tier 3" for not enacting legislation to outlaw all forms of human trafficking and for producing only two convictions among numerous cases of alleged abuse of domestic servants, according to the report.

The complete list of "Tier 3" countries in this year's report is: Algeria, Bahrain, Cuba, Equatorial Guinea, Iran, Kuwait, Malaysia, Myanmar, North Korea, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Syria, Uzbekistan and Venezuela.

Cuba, Iran, Myanmar, North Korea, Sudan, Syria, Uzbekistan and Venezuela are regularly accused by Washington of failing to protect human rights and are often cited in State Department reports for their lack of respect for press and religious freedoms.

But Malaysia made its first appearance on "Tier 3" for its failure to protect and identify victims of trafficking, many of them Indonesian domestics.

"The Malaysian government needs to demonstrate stronger political will to tackle Malaysia's significant forced labor and sex trafficking problems," the report said.

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