Malta objects to US report on human trafficking

The government is objecting to a report on human trafficking by the US State Department and is drafting a reply, a spokesman for the Home Affairs Ministry said.

The Trafficking In Persons Report 2007 listed Malta as a destination country for people trafficked for the purpose of commercial sexual exploitation and a source country for minors trafficked internally for commercial sexual exploitation.

The report also stated that there was anecdotal evidence that women from Serbia, Russia, Ukraine, Romania and other Eastern European countries could be trafficked to Malta for forced prostitution.

It said that between 1,500 to 1,800 African illegal immigrants arrived in Malta each year and it was unclear whether any were trafficked to or through Malta for labour or sexual exploitation.

The spokesman said: "There are strong objections to the contents of the report, particularly to the fact that the arrival of illegal immigrants is being confused with the trafficking of persons for prostitution purposes."

He said that the arrival of unseaworthy vessels full of economic migrants was totally unrelated to the trafficking of persons for sexual exploitation.

The spokesman insisted that the isolated incidents relating to trafficking for prostitution did not justify the comment that Malta was a destination country for such purposes.

"The report betrays a biased view of facts. Moreover, charges such as that Malta made "modest efforts to prosecute trafficking in persons' is unfair, unjust and not supported by any evidence."

The spokesman said that repeated efforts to explain the Maltese situation to the State Department were ignored.

He said the Police Commissioner and the Foreign Affairs Ministry would be taking up the matter again with the US Embassy in Malta for clarification and to prevent further misinterpretation in the future.

In its report, the department put Malta in the list of countries "making significant efforts" to bring themselves into compliance with the minimum standards of the US Trafficking Victims Protection Act for the elimination of trafficking.

The report covers the period April last year to March this year. The Department of State prepared the report using information from US embassies, foreign government officials, non-governmental and international organisations, published reports, research trips to every region, and information submitted to the department.