The US State Department has assigned the Dominican Republic the lowest rating in their annual report on human trafficking. The DR is classified as a third-tier country in this category, for “not complying with the minimum requisites for halting human trafficking, nor making any efforts to do so”. Previously, the DR had held a second-tier classification, but now joins the ignominious ranks of Haiti, Belize and Cuba in this regard. “Dominicans are victims in their own country, especially children, who work in domestic service. Some Dominican women and girls who enter Europe, the US and other western countries end up as victims,” reads an extract from the report that goes on to describe the plight of Haitian workers brought illegally to work in the DR. The Dominican government?s lack of action in this area is categorically slammed, where it is alleged that “there has not been a single case where the government has successfully pursued and punished a trafficker.” In a clear reference to cases such as that of former consul in the northern Haitian city of Cap Haitien, Radham?s Ramos Garc?a, who was accused of selling visas to illegal Chinese immigrants, the report mentions cases of Dominican diplomats and immigration officials involved in human trafficking. It also cites the example of Dominican women sent to Argentina to engage in prostitution ? cases in which several Dominican public officials and diplomats have been implicated. The country has no specific laws against human trafficking, but has employed extant laws against contraband and domestic violence in those cases that have come to light. Although there have been some declarations on the subject by high-ranking public officials and diplomats, their words are rarely translated into action, and when there has been any action it is rarely implemented, says the report.