Press Releases

U.S. Embassy Statement on the Release of the 2008 Trafficking in Persons Report

June 5, 2008

On Wednesday, June 4, 2008, U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice released the eighth annual Trafficking in Persons (TIP) Report in the State Department’s Press Briefing Room in Washington, D.C.
 
The 170-country report is the most comprehensive worldwide report on the efforts of governments to combat severe forms of trafficking in persons, a modern-day form of slavery.  Its findings are intended to raise global awareness and spur countries to take effective actions to counter trafficking in persons.  The assessment includes reports on countries, including Mauritius, determined to have a significant number of victims of severe forms of human trafficking.  The United States estimates that each year, approximately 800,000 people are trafficked across national borders, which does not include millions trafficked within their own countries.  Human trafficking victims can be subjected to labor exploitation or sexual exploitation, or both.

This year’s report includes a particular focus on issues related to forced labor – a form of trafficking in persons – including efforts to prosecute such crimes.  Modern-day slavery, involving millions of people every year, continues to be a problem in nearly every country in the world and traffickers continue to search for new opportunities to exploit men, women, and children.

Mauritius is again rated as Tier 2 in the 2008 TIP report, which is defined as countries not fully complying with minimum standards of the 2000 Trafficking Victims Protection Act, but making significant efforts to meet these standards.  The scope of TIP in Mauritius is limited to the commercial sexual exploitation of children within the country.  According to the report, the government recognizes the presence of child prostitution in Mauritius and is actively working to curb the problem.  The government’s efforts include law enforcement training, social services, community outreach, and support for NGOs providing assistance to victims.

This year the State Department TIP report recommends that Mauritius passes and enacts legislation specifically prohibiting the trafficking of adults for purposes of both labor and sexual exploitation; completes the prosecution of suspected traffickers apprehended in 2006 and 2007; and takes greater steps to discourage child sex tourism to Mauritius, such as the issuance of warnings to arriving international travelers.

The full text of the TIP Report is available on the State Department's website, www.state.gov/g/tip.  The Mauritius country report is also available from the “Country reports” feature box on the homepage of the Embassy website.  http://mauritius.usembassy.gov.