Cambodia anti-trafficking efforts criticised in US report
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Phnom Penh - The US Department of State downgraded Cambodiain its annual report on human trafficking Wednesday, and said Phnom Penh's reported efforts to combat trafficking had slowed from the previous year.
Corruption among law enforcement officials and a lack of adequate protection for women, men, and children who were trafficked for sex or forced labour contributed to a "climate of impunity" for traffickers and a denial of justice to victims, the report said.
"Cambodia is moving in a downward direction," Luis CdeBaca, the coordinator of US trafficking policy, told Radio Free Asia.
The report downgraded Cambodia from Tier 2 to the Tier 2 Watch List. A further decline would put Cambodia on the blacklist for countries that do not meet minimum standards and are not making significant efforts to do so.
A spokesman for the Council of Ministers, Phay Siphan, insisted that the authorities were training judges and informing the general public more about human trafficking.
"However, our current priority is the country's economic growth," he said.//DPA
