BANGKOK -- The annual Trafficking in Persons (TIP) Report by the U.S. State Department downgraded Myanmar to the worst rating possible, citing the government's failure to provide legal status to the Rohingya Muslim ethnic minority, resulting in their increased vulnerability to human trafficking and forced labor.
Myanmar was placed back in Tier 3, the lowest of the four levels provided by the report, after a brief upgrade to the Tier 2 Watch List in 2017. Laos was also pushed down into Tier 3 this year. The government's "lack of significant effort" to address trafficking resulted in an automatic downgrade as the country had been on the Tier 2 Watch List for four straight years.
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