Washington briefing: State Dept. sees improvement in Armenia’s anti-trafficking policy

by Emil Sanamyan

Published: Saturday June 20, 2009

Human trafficking ranking for Armenia from the U.S. State Dept., with Tier 1 the best, and tier 3 the worst ranking.

Washington - Armenia has been removed from the U.S. human trafficking "watch list," the State Department reported on June 16.  After spending five years on the list, Armenia was credited with "significant efforts" to meet U.S. standards on fighting trafficking in persons, although it was still short of meeting them.

The U.S. Congress passed the Trafficking Victims Protection Act in 2001, mandating that the State Department issue annual reports that rate the world's efforts to counter human trafficking for the purposes of forced labor or prostitution.

Theoretically, the most egregious offenders could see a cut in U.S. aid. But no sanctions have ever been implemented under the act. See http://www.state.gov/secretary/rm/2009a/06/124872.htm for the complete report.