countries trafficking in people

Iran, Syria, Zimbabwe, Uzbekistan, Laos

USA (AFP), WASHINGTON: Belize has been added to a US blacklist of countries trafficking in people, a State Department report said Monday.

Iran, Syria, Zimbabwe, Uzbekistan, Laos and were also on the blacklist for the State Department's annual "Trafficking in Persons Report" which analyzed efforts in about 150 countries to combat trafficking for forced labour, prostitution, military service and other purposes.

The six countries join Venezuela, Saudi Arabia, North Korea, Sudan, Cuba and Myanmar among the "Tier 3" worst offenders of human trafficking who could face sanctions if they do not take immediate measures within 90 days.

"By calling to account any nation, friend or foe, that can and should do more to confront human trafficking, we are pressing countries into action," Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said in the presentation of the 290-page report.

"The harsh reality of human trafficking stuns even the hardest of hearts," she said.

The United States estimates that up to 800,000 people -- primarily women and children -- fall victims each year to trafficking, Rice said.

A key criteria of US law, which is used as a basis for the rankings, is protection of human trafficking victims.

"The law specifically says victims should not be punished for acts they commit after they've been trafficked, whether it's prostitution or anything else," said John Miller, a State Department advisor on efforts to stem the problem.

"We hope this situation will change in the next year," he said.

Nations deemed to be complying with US and international efforts to fight trafficking are placed in "Tier 1."

The United States itself came under scrutiny in the report, which cited abuses, "some of them considered widespread," committed by Pentagon contractors or subcontractors of third country workers in Iraq.

They include illegal confiscation of passports, deceptive hiring practices and substandard living conditions of largely low-skilled workers from Nepal, India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and the Philippines.