Canada weak on human trafficking enforcement, U.S. State Dept. reports."Canada is primarily a destination and transit country for women trafficked for the purposes of labor and sexual exploitation," the U.S. State A U.S. state is any one of the fifty subnational entities of the United States, although four states use the official title "commonwealth". The separate state governments and the federal government share sovereignty, in that an American is a citizen both of the federal entity and Department says in its annual review, Trafficking In Persons Report 2006. The report finds weaknesses in Canada's prevention and enforcement activities, especially in British Columbia British Columbia, province (2001 pop. 3,907,738), 366,255 sq mi (948,600 sq km), including 6,976 sq mi (18,068 sq km) of water surface, W Canada. Geography where the problem is most acute. The Canadian section of the report is based largely on anecdotal anecdotal /an·ec·do·tal/ (an?ek-do´t'l) based on case histories rather than on controlled clinical trials. anecdotal adjective Unsubstantiated; occurring as single or isolated event. reports that the people trafficking includes: * women and children from Central and South America South America, fourth largest continent (1991 est. pop. 299,150,000), c.6,880,000 sq mi (17,819,000 sq km), the southern of the two continents of the Western Hemisphere. , Eastern Europe Eastern Europe The countries of eastern Europe, especially those that were allied with the USSR in the Warsaw Pact, which was established in 1955 and dissolved in 1991. and Asia, mainly for sexual exploitation, * some men, women and children for forced labour, * internal trafficking of Canadians for the sex trade, * the majority transiting Canada bound for the United States United States, officially United States of America, republic (2005 est. pop. 295,734,000), 3,539,227 sq mi (9,166,598 sq km), North America. The United States is the world's third largest country in population and the fourth largest country in area. . The RCMP estimated the number of persons trafficked into Canada annually at 800. An additional 1,500-2,200 persons are trafficked through Canada into the United States. Some estimate that this number is much higher. Despite increased efforts to act against people trafficking, the report claims that a significant number of Korean and other female victims were trafficked to the United States in 2004. South Koreans and others may be abusing the lack of a visa requirement to enter Canada to facilitate the trafficking of men and women, mainly to the United States. The report calls for a vigorous increase in Canada's anti-trafficking investigations, arrests, prosecutions and convictions of traffickers, especially those who may be abusing visa waivers and entertainment visas. The U.S. and Canada have agreed to do a joint assessment on trafficking. www.state.gov/g/tip/rls/tiprpt/2006 |
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