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 The State Department's annual Trafficking in Persons (TIP) report,
issued in July, upgraded Malaysia from the lowest tier, potentially
smoothing the way for a landmark free-trade deal with the Southeast
Asian nation and 11 other countries.
Six members of the House of Representatives, including outspoken
trade critics Rosa DeLauro and Louise Slaughter, wrote to State
Department Inspector General Steve Linick requesting a probe into
why Malaysia was moved up a rung.
They cited reports that Malaysia was not doing enough to tackle
human trafficking as well as a Reuters examination, published in
August, that said the State Department office set up to
independently rate countries' efforts was repeatedly overruled by
senior U.S. diplomats.
"We are concerned about the role that possible political influence
may have played in the development and content of the TIP Report,
particularly as it relates to Malaysia’s status," the letter said.
 The State Department did not immediately respond to a request for
comment. State Department officials have denied any political
interference in the report. Secretary of State John Kerry said last
month that he had "zero conversation" within the administration
about the Asia-Pacific trade talks relative to the decision on
Malaysia's upgrade.
The Reuters report said that over the objections of the State
Department's own experts, Malaysia, Cuba and other strategically
important countries were among those upgraded.
In total, analysts in the anti-trafficking office disagreed with
U.S. diplomatic bureaus on ratings for 17 countries during the
decision-making process, according to the Reuters report. The
analysts, specialists in assessing efforts to combat modern slavery,
prevailed in only three of those disputes, the worst ratio in the
15-year history of the unit.
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Malaysia stands out because U.S. lawmakers earlier this year passed
a trade bill that would have barred it and other countries that earn
the worst U.S. human trafficking ranking from an expedited process
to ensure trade deals have a fast track through Congress.
Removing Malaysia from the lowest ranking, known as "Tier 3," takes
away that hurdle as Washington seeks to complete negotiations on the
Trans-Pacific Partnership, President Barack Obama's signature trade
pact.
Malaysia’s upgrade followed international scrutiny and outcry over
the country’s efforts to combat human trafficking after the
discovery this year of scores of graves in people-smuggling camps
near its northern border with Thailand.
The Senate Foreign Relations committee has conducted hearings into
whether this year's human trafficking report was watered down for
political reasons.
(Reporting by Krista Hughes and Matt Spetalnick; Editing by Tom
Brown)
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