June 18, 2009

Armenia Registers Progress In Its Efforts to Combat Human Trafficking

On June 16, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton released the U.S. Department of State's 2009 Trafficking in Persons (TIP) Report. The report, which documented the efforts of 175 countries to combat human trafficking over the period of April 2008 to March 2009, recognized Armenia as having made progress in its anti-trafficking efforts.

Based on that progress, Armenia´s ranking rose from the Tier Two Watch List, where it had remained four consecutive years from 2005 to 2008, to the Tier Two category of the U.S. Department of State's four-tier ranking system.

While the TIP Report stated that the Government of Armenia does not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking, "it is making significant efforts to do so." The Department of State positively assessed the Government's reopening in December 2008 of an investigation into a well-documented 2006 case of official trafficking corruption, as well as the Government's allocation of financial resources to protect trafficking victims and raise public awareness about the dangers of trafficking. The Department of State also recognized the November 2008 implementation of a new national referral mechanism that provides assistance to trafficking victims, but urged the Government to follow international best practices and standards.

The annual TIP report was mandated by the U.S. Congress through the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000. Its purpose is to increase global awareness of human trafficking, to highlight national and international efforts to combat it, and to encourage foreign governments to take action against all forms of modern-day slavery. The Embassy commends the constructive steps taken by the Armenian authorities to address the issue of human trafficking, and looks forward to continued cooperation in this important area.