Algeria to Respond on the US’ Human Trafficking Report, Belaiz

Minister of Justice Tayeb Belaiz said on Sunday that Algeria will officially respond to US recent report, which put the North African country on the list of human trafficking violators.

Mr Belaiz told reporters at the sidelines of a plenary session of the People’s National Assembly that “the Foreign Ministry is due to hold a meeting to examine aspects conveyed in the report on human trafficking in order to formulate an official response on it.”

He further specified that the meeting will gather ministers of Foreign Affairs, Justice, and Interior, in addition to some other departments.”

To recall, a report conducted by the US Department of State has ranked Algeria, for the first time, in the list of human trafficking violators.

The US report said the government failed to meet minimum international standards in the fight against human trafficking.  

 “Algeria is a transit and, to a lesser extent, a destination and source country for men, women, and children subjected to forced labor and sex trafficking,” reads the report.

The US report further said that “the Government of Algeria does not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking and is not making significant efforts to do so,” adding that “the government made no discernible effort to enforce its 2009 anti-trafficking law. It also failed to identify and protect trafficking victims and continued to lack adequate measures to protect victims and prevent trafficking.”