A Cut Above

What’s your impression of a bureaucrat? Someone who has a cushy government job? Someone who would take any political stance just to assure continued employment?

I don’t personally know anyone who works for a government agency, but let me tell you, I’m getting pretty impressed with the U.S. State Department’s Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons.

At the end of the 2007 Trafficking in Persons Report, the Drafters add a poignant note that seems to really show their hearts:

At the age of 22, Ko Maung left his home in Mon State, Burma with his new bride to find work in a neighboring country. The newlyweds dreamed of earning enough money to return to Burma and build a home for their children. Ko Maung’s wife went to work in a fish-processing factory; he took jobs aboard fishing vessels that took him to sea for two to three months. In 2003, he accepted what, he thought, was a safe offer of work on a fishing boat for two years. “You stay here,” he told his wife as he left. “I will come back with money and we can go back to Burma.” Later, his wife was told he had died during the final months of the fishing boat’s three-year voyage.

From accounts of survivors who made it back, Ko Maung and 30 other Burmese recruited to work on a fleet of six fishing boats died at sea from forced labor, starvation, and vitamin deficiencies. They had been forced to remain at sea for years, denied pay, and fed only fish and rice. Workers made repeated requests to leave the boats, but were denied. They requested medical attention but were ignored. As one after another grossly exploited man died at the end of the fishing voyage, their bodies were unceremoniously dumped overboard. They were used in forced labor until they could breathe no more. Those who survived were not paid for their work-which amounted to three years of enslavement.

This Report is dedicated to Ko Maung, who paid the ultimate price of slavery, and to his family whose dreams were crushed. Through the courage of his compatriots, and advocates who assist male victims of slavery, we have heard his voice of agony. We pledge to project his voice, breaking down the walls of indifference and corruption that protect businesses that rely on this despicable trade in disposable humans.

Thank you for your support. Thank you for joining us.

Rebecca Billings
Eleanor Kennelly Gaetan
Sally Neumann
Felecia A. Stevens
Kathleen Bresnahan
Paula R. Goode
Amy O’Neill Richard
Mark B. Taylor
Jennifer Schrock Donnelly
Megan L. Hall
Gayatri Patel
Caroline S. Tetschner
Dana Dyson
Mark P. Lagon
Catherine Pierce
Jennifer Topping
Shereen Faraj
Amy LeMar-Meredith
Solmaz Sharifi
Rachel Yousey Raba
Barbara Fleck
Carla Menares Bury
Jane Nady Sigmon
Veronica Zeitlin
Mark Forstrom
Jennie Miller
Andrea Smail

I’ve included the names of the drafters here because I think they deserve credit for a job well done. The annual report they produce is a key tool in the modern Abolitionist movement, and it seems clear that they produce it with both passion and compassion. Thanks, Drafters!