US to upgrade Cuba's status in annual human trafficking study, claim reports

Reuters
Thursday 16 July 2015 15.00 BST

The US is set to remove Cuba from the bottom tier on its list of worst human trafficking centres, US sources said, in what will be another step in the historic rapprochement between the former cold war foes.

The upgrade would lift Cuba to the so-called tier 2 watch list from tier 3, where it has languished since 2003 due to allegations of sex trafficking and what US authorities have previously described as “coerced labour with Cuban government work missions abroad”.

The upgrade was contained in a draft report that could be modified by the time of publication, expected this month, a Congressional aide with knowledge of the report told Reuters. A second source confirmed the improved rating. The sources requested anonymity.

They attributed the upgrade to better cooperation between Washington and Havana on human trafficking issues and better treatment of victims, but they declined to provide specifics before the State Department publishes the annual Trafficking in Persons report.

[font size=1]-snip-[/font]