The US State Department published its annual report on human trafficking in the world, confirming that Iran is still ranking third on this list and noting that Tehran has not done anything to curb this phenomenon.
During the Trafficking in Persons (TIP) Report 2017 launch, US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said that “thousands of women and children in different parts of the world are being trafficked, which is a form of modern slavery.” The report’s launch was attended by President Donald Trump and his daughter Ivanka.
According to ‘Agence France Presse’, the State Department report indicated the levels of human trafficking in the world, and stated that there are countries recognizing the existence of the problem on their territories and seeking to solve it, while others recognized but did not take any step to reduce or eradicate this problem.
The third group of countries includes those that neither recognize nor seek to resolve the human trafficking crisis, including Iran, Russia, Syria and Venezuela.
Iranian boats loaded with smuggled goods cruise through the Strait of Hormuz near Oman's Khasab port on July 14, 2012. (File photo: AFP)
The US report criticized Iran’s exploitation of the trafficking victims, including children, by sending them to fight in Syria and Iraq.
Iranian agencies admit that thousands of Afghans and Pakistanis have been sent to Syria under the “religious defenders” slogan, and Iran announces their death after being killed in these two countries by the Syrian armed opposition.
The report also said that “Iran must respect international laws and deploy more efforts to uncover trafficking networks and sex slavery.”
US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson revealed that there were 20 million victims of human trafficking around the world.
He criticized the Pyongyang government saying that “tens of thousands of North Korean workers are working long hours in China and their salaries go to the Pyongyang government.”
The report, which included this year 187 countries and regions, including the United States, is helping US authorities identify the risks so that authorities can deal effectively with them.
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