I thought I would create thread for links related to the release of the 2005 TIP report.

So the first one is of course the report itself.
2005 Trafficking in Persons Report

I have been going through VOA's coverage of human trafficking. There is a lot of downloadable audio pieces.

Main page of VOA coverage of trafficking

VOA's article specifically on the release of the TIP report

I would like to study the history of how we have viewed the use of sanctions when associated with the Trafficking in Persons report. One thing that stood out to me in the release of this report was John Miller's comments:

"The goal of the report is not to punish, but to stimulate government action to end modern-day slavery,�

"...the purpose of the law is not to sanction, it is to get progress in freeing the victims and throwing the traffickers in jail."

-John Miller is the head of the State Department's Office for the Combat and Monitoring of Human Trafficking. His official title is Ambassador-at-large on international slavery.

It will be interesting to compare the end result of the four Middle Eastern countries placed into the tier 3 rating to that of the placement of Venezuela in a tier 3 rating. Venezuela was sanctioned last year due to its tier 3 rating.

BBC's report on the release of the TIP report

Reuter's report after the report was released

Saudi response
Qatar's response

This link is a worthwhile read, particularly some for the question and answers:

Some excerpts of Ambassador Miller's responses and statements from the above link:
"The goal of the report is not to punish, but to stimulate government action to end modern-day slavery,�

I thought this was an interesting question & response. This question alone could fill up a good hour long interview:
QUESTION: Advocacy organizations around the world are saying that poverty and lack of job opportunities is one of the causes of women or families being vulnerable to slavery. To what extent is the United States prepared to relieve debt to World Bank or IMF loans and other forms to substantially improve the quality of life and services in nations around the world vulnerable?

AMBASSADOR MILLER: Sure. Well, as Ambassador-at-large on international slavery, I'm not the U.S. expert or authority on international debt, but I want to comment on the premise of your question. You identified poverty as a major cause of slavery and slave trade and I would agree it is a major cause. There are a lot of studies that have been done in the last couple of years -- I won’t cite them all -- that show, however, that it is one of several major causes. Poverty is a push factor. There is the pull factor of the attraction of the better life in the wealthier country. There is the factor of gender attitudes. Believe me, when you look at sex slavery and parts of domestic servitude slavery, gender attitudes play a big role.

I hope one day tradio21 can have an audio interview with Ambassador Miller

There are many countries in the report that I find intriguing.

The first few that struck me are Equatorial Guinea, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan.

Equatorial Guinea was a tier 3 country last year and somehow made it into a tier 2, not even a tier 2 watch list. From the report, there was "significant" progress made in its efforts to address human trafficking.

It is also interesting to note, that in the previously mentioned presidential determination Equatorial Guinea was also cited as a country to be sanctioned for its tier 3 rating. To move from a sanctioned tier 3 country to a tier 2 in less than 9 months is an impressive turn-around.

Equatorial Guinea received a rating of "not free" in Freedom House's 2005 report on World's worst regimes

Uzbekistan was put into the tier 2 watch list. Uzbekistan is a known source country as well as has a large forced labor issue for its cotton harvests.

In all five years of the publication of the Trafficking in Persons report, Turkmenistan has never been in the report. 2005 remains the same. This hits me as odd for a country that the US has a large military base in.

Also, Bolivia was in a tier 3. I know nothing about Bolivia except what has recently been in the news. A tier three rating is strong, and it would be interesting to learn the story behind this.

Hopefully more to come on tradio21.