WASHINGTON (NEXSTAR) – Secretary of State Antony Blinken focused on human trafficking using digital tools in a yearly report the department released on Monday.
“Digital tools have amplified the reach, scale, and speed of trafficking,” Blinken wrote in the 2024 Trafficking in Persons Report. “They use online platforms to sell illicit sexual content. They leverage encrypted messaging and digital currencies to evade detection.”
Blinken said the use of online tools has made it possible for traffickers to expand their reach.
“Trafficking is the very definition of a problem that no one nation can solve alone,” Blinken said.
The International Labour Organization estimated in 2021 27.6 million people were in forced labor, an increase of 2.7 million from 2016. Of those 27.6 million, the ILO estimated 6.3 million were in forced commercial sexual exploitation and 3.9 million in forced labor imposed by a state.
“Unfortunately, some governments are part of the problem,” said Ambassador at-Large Cindy Dyer.
The State Department identified 13 countries as “Tier 3” countries, meaning the governments had a documented “policy or pattern” of human trafficking. That included trafficking in government-funded programs, forced labor in government-affiliated medical services, sexual slavery in government camps, or the employment or recruitment of child soldiers, the report said.
In 2024, the 13 countries identified as “Tier 3” were Afghanistan, Belarus, Burma, China, Cuba, Eritrea, Iran, North Korea, Russia, South Sudan, Sudan, Syria and Turkmenistan.
As the migrant crisis intensifies across the world, Dyer said countries are more likely to see an increase in human trafficking.
“We encourage governments to prevent trafficking and prioritize screening among migrants, who often assume debts to pay migrant smugglers and are then vulnerable to trafficking when they are unable to repay the money,” Dyer said.
Dyer said the United States follows the “3P” paradigm – prosecution, protection and prevention, to combat human trafficking.
