The U.S. State Department allocated funds to three Israeli programs aimed at stemming trafficking in humans.
The funding was announced Thursday as part of the annual package targeting international trafficking in workers and prostitutes.
Kav La Oved, an Israeli hotline for abused immigrant workers, will receive $154,000 to cooperate with the Center for Migrant Advocacy in South East Asia in distributing information on Israeli labor laws and rights in Thailand and the Philippines. The Israel branch of Amnesty International will get $105,000 to create an educational program for Israeli schools, the army and police aimed at creating awareness about human trafficking. The group Isha L’Isha – Woman to Woman – will receive $100,000 to promote cooperation between authorities and non-governmental groups in Russia, Uzbekistan and Israel aimed at stemming trafficking in women.
Additionally, in Jordan, the International Labor Organization will get $300,000 to create capacity for authorities to stop forced labor in Qualified Industrial Zones – areas jointly run by Israeli and Jordan businesses that benefit from free trade with the United States.
The State Department this year removed Israel from its Tier Two watchlist in human trafficking but kept it designated as a Tier Two nation – one with identifiable problems in human trafficking but making strides toward addressing them.
Placement on the Tier Two watchlist is meant to warn nations they are in danger of dropping to “Tier Three,” where they could lose non-humanitarian U.S. assistance.
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