The Biden administration designated 17 countries Thursday as not doing enough to combat human trafficking and warned them of potential US sanctions.
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A State Department report report covering 188 nations said the outbreak had put millions more people at risk and distracted some governments from combating human trafficking.
The 17 nations are Afghanistan, Algeria, Burma, China, Comoros, Cuba, Eritrea, Iran, Nicaragua, North Korea, Russia, South Sudan, Syria, Turkmenistan, Venezuela and this year's newcomers Malaysia and Guinea-Bissau.
"It's a global crisis, it's an enormous source of human suffering," Secretary of State Antony Blinken said, citing estimates that almost 25 million people, many of them women and children, are victims.
The administration also called out several US allies, including Israel, for backsliding in their efforts. That means they don't meet international standards for fighting trafficking but are making significant efforts to do so.
