Abdul Khalik, Jakarta – The US has praised Indonesia for making significant efforts to combat human trafficking, but in its latest report says the country still does not fully comply with the minimum standards in eliminating trafficking.

Indonesia has been classified in Tier 2 in the 2007 US Department of State Trafficking in Persons Report, released in Washington on Tuesday, marking an improvement over its Tier 2 Watch List position in 2006.

According to the report, countries with a significant number of trafficking victims are assessed into one of three tiers.

Tier 2 countries are those that do not fully comply with the minimum standards for eliminating human trafficking, but which have made significant efforts in attempting to meet these minimum standards.

Countries classed in the Tier 2 Watch List are those that have avoided a Tier 3 status, but which have yet to make significant efforts to eliminate trafficking.

Countries that meet the minimum standards are classified into Tier 1, while those assessed as neither complying with the minimum standards nor making significant efforts to do so are included in Tier 3.

"The report credits Indonesia for passing a strong anti-trafficking law, for improving law enforcement and for continued efforts to raise public awareness of the issue," charge d'affaires at the US Embassy in Jakarta, John Heffern, said in a statement sent to The Jakarta Post.

"However, the report also notes the great magnitude of the trafficking problem in Indonesia and some difficult issues which still need to be overcome, including trafficking-related complicity by public officials and the need to provide greater protection to migrant workers at risk of trafficking."

Heffern said the US government will continue to support Indonesia by funding programs to help the country combat trafficking, rescue victims and improve law enforcement efforts.

The US government, he said, has provided more than US$20 million over the past four years to assist Indonesia in the fight against human trafficking.

Executive director of the Journal Perempuan Foundation, Adriana Venny, agreed the government had made improvements in the fight against human trafficking, but complained that a lack of funding had hampered efforts.

"Although we already have a law on human trafficking, there is difficulty in setting more practical regulations in place due to a lack of funding. No funding has been made available to build centers to treat human trafficking victims," she told the Post.

Globally, the report – which analyzes more than 160 countries' efforts in combating human trafficking for the purpose of forced labor, prostitution, military service and other purposes – assessed US Middle East allies Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman and Qatar, as well as key trading partner Malaysia, as Tier 3 countries. Algeria and Guinea were also included in the Tier 3 classification.

The seven countries, all of which were included on a special watch list last year, joined Myanmar, Cuba, Iran, North Korea, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Syria, Uzbekistan and Venezuela on the list of countries with the worst human trafficking records.

Countries on the list face sanctions, including the withholding of US non-humanitarian and non-trade related foreign aid.