Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Jun 26, 2020 / 10:30 am
Ireland received its lowest rating ever by the U.S. State Department for its efforts to combat human trafficking, in the agency's annual trafficking report released on Thursday.
The 2020 Trafficking-in-Persons (TIP) report listed Ireland on the "Tier 2 Watch List" of countries, just one step above the department's Tier 3 rating reserved for countries with worst records in fighting human trafficking.
Ireland, the report said, failed to meet the State Department's "minimum" standard of combating trafficking, lacking sufficient support for victims and protection for undocumented workers in the fishing industry.
"It's a very disappointing rating but telling," said Rep. Chris Smith (R-N.J.), author of the law that created the TIP report and member of the ad hoc congressional committee for Irish affairs. Smith noted that Ireland has not had any trafficking convictions since 2013.