Vietnam, Guatemala, Jordan Cited by US For Using Forced Labour

Economy

Vietnam, Guatemala, Jordan Cited by US For Using Forced Labour

The US State Department, in its recent report shined the spotlight on five countries - Vietnam, Guatemala, Russia, Chile and Jordan - for using forced labour in garment manufacturing, while it singled out Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and others for using forced labour in cotton production.

The countries were identified in the department's "2016 Trafficking in Persons Report," which places countries on different tiers based on government's actions to combat human trafficking, which the State Department equates to "modern-day slavery." Being downgraded to Tier 3 can trigger economic and military sanctions against a country.

Forced labour in garment factories in Jordan, which has a free-trade agreement with the US, was detailed extensively as was the case in last year's report. "Men and women from throughout Asia migrate to work in factories in Jordan's garment industry, where some workers experience withholding of passports, unsafe living conditions, verbal abuse and restricted movement; in addition, workers in 47% of the factories in this industry pay unauthorised fees to recruitment agents in their country of origin, making them vulnerable to debt bondage," the report said.

The State Department said the Jordanian government continued to take proactive steps to identify trafficking victims and made progress in offering protection