Human trafficking crisis creates new hurdles for Trans-Pacific Partnership deal

Fast track negotiations of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), an expansive trade agreement that encompasses everything from internet policy to financial services, slowed to a crawl late last month when authorities from one of its key players, Malaysia, announced the discovery of 28 suspected human trafficking campsites on its soil. The announcement came days after the discovery of 139 gravesites, many apparently filled with the bodies of dead migrants smuggled out of Myanmar.

Malaysia was on the State Department’s Tier 2 Watch List for its Trafficking in Persons (TIP) report until 2014, when failure to take corrective action against human trafficking earned the country TIP’s lowest rating, Tier 3. This places Malaysia alongside Iran, Syria, and North Korea. Countries with Tier 3 ratings can be subject to sanctions on non-trade and non-humanitarian aid.

Some of Malaysia’s human trafficking woes include migrant women recruited to work in Malaysia from countries like Cambodia and Thailand who often find themselves forced into prostitution. Entire industries in Malaysia depend on forced labor. Twenty-eight percent of workers in electronics production are there against their will, according to a 2014 report commissioned by the U.S. Department of Labor. Both the Thai and Malaysian governments are complicit in the exploitation of countless women and children in East Asia’s brothels, the report concluded.

Malaysia’s Tier 3 rating highlights the challenge U.S. President Barack Obama faces in balancing the promotion of human rights with his plan to secure a trade agreement he claims would protect U.S interests in the Pacific Rim. The debate has created eyebrow-raising alliances: Obama and key Republicans on one side, Democratic lawmakers on the other.

At the geographic center of the trade deal is the Strait of Malacca, whichlies between the Indonesian island of Sumatra and the Malay Peninsula, and channels 60 percent of international commerce. Last year, 85 percent of China’s imported oil passed through its waters, according to the latest U.S. Department of Defense estimates. As China’s energy demand grows, the strait’s untapped oil and gas deposits will become more important, according to a Pentagon report.

Concerned about China’s looming presence in the region, Malaysia offered to expand the American military footprint in the region by hosting U.S. Navy aircraft. U.S. Navy warships, based in Singapore, already patrol the area. TPP supporters say it would secure U.S. interest in disputed waters.

Obama has been working on the TPP for most of his presidency. Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wis., chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, stepped in to broker a compromise over the human trafficking hiccup, committing to a legislative maneuver that would allow Malaysia to remain part of the pact, as long as the secretary of state certifies the country is taking “concrete steps” to combat trafficking.

Human rights groups are divided on the question of whether Malaysia should be part of a trade deal and under what circumstances. The Alliance to End Slavery and Trafficking, a U.S.-based coalition of organizations that work on migrant rights issues, supports the compromise. But John Sifton, Asia advocacy director with Human Rights Watch, does not.

“I don’t care about plans,” he said of Malaysia’s intentions. “Everybody should have plans, but plans don’t mean you’re fighting trafficking.”