| Field Listing :: Trafficking in persons |
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Trafficking in persons is modern-day slavery, involving victims who are forced, defrauded, or coerced into labor or sexual exploitation. The International Labor Organization (ILO), the UN agency charged with addressing labor standards, employment, and social protection issues, estimates that 12.3 million people worldwide are enslaved in forced labor, bonded labor, forced child labor, sexual servitude, and involuntary servitude at any given time. Human trafficking is a multi-dimensional threat, depriving people of their human rights and freedoms, risking global health, promoting social breakdown, inhibiting development by depriving countries of their human capital, and helping fuel the growth of organized crime. In 2000, the US Congress passed the Trafficking Victims Protection Act (TVPA), reauthorized in 2003 and 2005, which provides tools for the US to combat trafficking in persons, both domestically and abroad. One of the law's key components is the creation of the US Department of State's annual Trafficking in Persons Report, which assesses the government response (i.e., the current situation) in some 150 countries with a significant number of victims trafficked across their borders who are recruited, harbored, transported, provided, or obtained for forced labor or sexual exploitation.
Countries in the annual report are rated in three tiers, based on government efforts to combat trafficking. The countries identified in this entry are those listed in the 2010 Trafficking in Persons Report as Tier 2 Watch List or Tier 3 based on the following tier rating definitions:
Tier 2 Watch List countries do not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking but are making significant efforts to do so, and meet one of the following criteria: 1. they display high or significantly increasing number of victims, 2. they have failed to provide evidence of increasing efforts to combat trafficking in persons, or, 3. they have committed to take action over the next year. Tier 3 countries neither satisfy the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking nor demonstrate a significant effort to do so. Countries in this tier are subject to potential non-humanitarian and non-trade sanctions. |
|
Country |
Trafficking in persons |
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| Afghanistan |
current situation: Afghanistan is a source transit, and destination country for men, women, and children subjected to forced labor and sex trafficking, although domestic trafficking is more prevalent than transnational trafficking; Afghan men are subjected to forced labor and debt bondage in Iran, Pakistan, Greece, Turkey, and the Gulf states; Afghan women and girls are forced into prostitution and domestic servitude in Pakistan, Iran, and India, while women and girls from the Philippines, Pakistan, Iran, Tajikistan, and China are reportedly sexually exploited in Afghanistan; children are increasingly subjected to forced labor in carpet-making factories, domestic servitude, forced begging, and commercial sexual exploitation; some children are sold to settle debts
tier rating: Tier 2 Watch List - Afghanistan does not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking in persons; anti-trafficking law enforcement efforts have improved, though official complicity in human trafficking remains a problem; the first known convictions were made under the government's 2008 anti-trafficking law; Afghanistan has not developed or employed systematic procedures to identify trafficking victims or refer them to protective services and continues to rely on NGOs to provide the vast majority of victim assistance; the government has not made discernible progress in preventing human trafficking or protecting victims but has adopted an anti-trafficking action plan (2013) |
| Albania |
current situation: Albania is a source country for men, women, and children subjected to sex trafficking and forced labor; Albanian victims of sexual exploitation are trafficked within Albania and in Greece, Italy, Macedonia, Kosovo, Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany, Switzerland, Ireland, and the UK; some Albanian women become sex trafficking victims after accepting offers of legitimate jobs; Albanian children are forced to beg or perform other forms of forced labor; Filipino victims of labor trafficking were identified in Albania during 2012
tier rating: Tier 2 Watch List - Albania does not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking; however, it is making significant efforts to do so; the government decreased its trafficking investigations, prosecutions, and convictions over the last year and, because of inconsistent implementation of operating procedures, continues to punish victims for unlawful acts that are a direct result of being subjected to sex trafficking; the high turnover rate of law enforcement personnel prevents progress at the local level in identifying and protecting trafficking victims; removal of the national anti-trafficking coordinator hinders efforts to implement the 2011 national action plan against trafficking; the government provides limited funding to NGO shelters (2013) |
| Algeria |
current situation: Algeria is a transit and, to a lesser extent, a destination and source country for women, and, to a lesser extent, men subjected to forced labor and sex trafficking; criminal networks, which sometimes extend to sub-Saharan Africa and to Europe, are involved in both human smuggling and trafficking; sub-Saharan adults enter Algeria voluntarily but illegally, often with the aid of smugglers, for onward travel to Europe, but some of the women are forced into prostitution; some Algerian women are also forced into prostitution; some sub-Saharan men, mostly from Mali, are forced into domestic servitude
tier rating: Tier 3 - Algeria does not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking and is not making significant efforts to do so; the government has not held any perpetrators of sex trafficking or forced labor accountable with jail time; some trafficking victims are treated as illegal migrants and are subject to arrest, detention, and deportation because authorities continue to confuse human trafficking and smuggling; the government has not developed or employed systematic procedures for identifying trafficking victims and referring them for protective services; no public awareness campaigns are conducted and no plan of action was developed to complement Algeria's anti-trafficking law (2013) |
| Angola |
current situation: Angola is a source and destination country for men, women, and children subjected to sex trafficking and forced labor in agriculture, construction, domestic service, and diamond mines; some Angolan girls are forced into domestic prostitution, while some Angolan boys are taken to Namibia as forced laborers or are forced to be cross-border couriers; women and children are also forced into domestic service in South Africa, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Namibia, and European countries; Vietnamese, Brazilian, and Chinese women are trafficked to Angola for prostitution, while Chinese, Southeast Asian, Namibian, and possibly Congolese migrants are subjected to forced labor in Angola's construction industry
tier rating: Tier 2 Watch List - Angola does not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking; however, it is making significant efforts to do so; authorities opened one internal labor trafficking investigation but have not initiated the prosecution of any trafficking offenders, has never convicted a trafficking offender, and does not have a law specifically prohibiting all forms of trafficking; the government has not adopted amendments to the penal code reflecting the 2010 constitutional provision prohibiting human trafficking and has not finalized draft anti-trafficking legislation; the government has made minimal efforts to protect trafficking victims but continues to lack a systematic process for identifying trafficking victims and providing legal remedies to victims (2013) |
| Bahrain |
current situation: Bahrain is a destination country for men and women subjected to forced labor and sex trafficking; unskilled and domestic workers from India, Pakistan, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Indonesia, Thailand, the Philippines, Ethiopia, Ghana, and Eritrea migrate willingly to Bahrain, but some face conditions of forced labor through the withholding of passports, restrictions on movement, nonpayment, threats, and abuse; many Bahraini labor recruitment agencies and some employers charge foreign workers exorbitant fees that make them vulnerable to forced labor and debt bondage; domestic workers are particularly vulnerable to forced labor and sexual exploitation because they are not protected under labor laws; women from Thailand, the Philippines, Morocco, Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, China, Vietnam, Russia, Ukraine, and Eastern European countries are forced into prostitution in Bahrain
tier rating: Tier 2 Watch List - Bahrain does not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking; however, it is making significant efforts to do so; the government has made few discernible efforts to investigate, prosecute, and convict trafficking offenses; cases of unpaid or withheld wages, passport retention, and other abuses - common indicators of trafficking - are treated as labor disputes and taken to civil court rather than criminal court; the government has made no indication of taking steps to institute a formal trafficking victim identification procedure and referral mechanism, resulting in the majority of victims seeking shelter at their embassies or the NGO-operated trafficking shelter; most victims have not filed lawsuits against employers because of a distrust of the legal system or a fear of reprisals (2013) |
| Barbados |
current situation: Barbados is a source and destination country for men, women, and children subjected to sex trafficking and forced labor; legal and illegal female migrants from Jamaica, the Dominican Republic, and Guyana seem most vulnerable to forced prostitution; Barbadian and immigrant children are prostituted in exchange for material goods; in the past, foreigners are reported to have been forced to work in the domestic service, agriculture, and construction industries
tier rating: Tier 2 Watch List - Barbados does not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking; however, it is making significant efforts to do so; the country was granted a waiver of an otherwise required downgrade to Tier 3 because the government adopted a national action plan on human trafficking that specifies implementing agencies and addresses prosecution, protection, and prevention measures; the government conducted at least two sex trafficking investigations in 2012, as opposed to none in the previous year but did not report any prosecutions or convictions of trafficking offenses; Barbadian law does not appear to prohibit all forms of human trafficking and does not prescribe sufficiently stringent penalties; government efforts to prevent human trafficking included broadcasting short public awareness messages, holding town hall meetings, and funding a hotline (2013) |
| Belarus |
current situation: Belarus is a source, transit, and destination country for women, men, and children subjected to sex trafficking and forced labor; women and children are trafficked to European and Middle Eastern countries and within Belarus for sexual exploitation; Belarusian men, women, and children are found in forced labor in the construction industry and other sectors in Russia and Belarus; Belarusian men seeking work abroad are increasingly subjected to forced labor
tier rating: Tier 2 Watch List - Belarus does not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking; however, it is making significant efforts to do so; the government demonstrates decreased law enforcement efforts, conducting fewer trafficking investigations and convicting only one trafficking offender; while two new anti-trafficking laws were passed, they have not been fully implemented and government services to victims remain very limited; the government continues its efforts to prevent trafficking through public awareness campaigns and NGO-operated anti-trafficking hotlines (2013) |
| Burma |
current situation: Burma is a source country for women, children, and men trafficked for the purpose of forced labor, and for women and children subjected to sex trafficking in other countries; poor economic conditions have led to increased legal and illegal migration of Burmese adults and children throughout East Asia and parts of the Middle East, where they are subject to forced labor and sex trafficking; men are forced to work in the fishing and construction industries, while women and girls are forced into prostitution or domestic servitude; some Burmese economic migrants seeking work in Thailand are subsequently subjected to forced labor or sexual exploitation; military personnel and insurgent militias unlawfully conscript child soldiers and continue to be the leading perpetrators of forced labor inside the country; Burmese children are also forced to work in tea shops, home industries, on plantations, and as beggars
tier rating: Tier 2 Watch List - Burma does not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking, but it is making significant efforts to do so; anti-trafficking law enforcement efforts focus on the recruitment and transport of Burmese women and girls across international boundaries for forced marriages and sex trafficking; efforts to combat trafficking within Burma remain weak; forced labor of civilians and the recruitment of child soldiers by both military and private entities remain serious problems; the government continues modest efforts to provide temporary shelter and facilitate safe passage to Burmese victims repatriated from abroad, but its overall victim protection efforts are inadequate; in 2012, the government signed a UN-backed action plan for the identification, release, and rehabilitation of children in the Burmese military; as a result, some child soldiers have been released, but the government has not taken steps to prevent recruitment (2013) |
| Burundi |
current situation: Burundi is a source country for children and possibly women subjected to forced labor and sex trafficking; business people recruit Burundian girls for prostitution domestically, as well as in Rwanda, Kenya, Uganda, and the Middle East, and recruit boys and girls for forced labor in Burundi and Tanzania; children and young adults are coerced into forced labor in farming, mining, construction, or informal commerce; some family members, friends, and neighbors are complicit in exploiting children, luring them in with offers of educational or job opportunities
tier rating: Tier 2 Watch List - Burundi does not comply fully with the minimum standards for the elimination of human trafficking; however, it is making significant efforts to do so; the government fails to prosecute trafficking offenses vigorously or increase its capacity to protect victims; most victim assistance continues to be provided by NGOs without government support; the government also fails to complete its draft anti-trafficking legislation, which is intended to rectify gaps in existing laws; a nationwide awareness-raising campaign continues (2013) |
| Cambodia |
current situation: Cambodia is a source, transit, and destination country for men, women, and children subjected to forced labor and sex trafficking; Cambodian men, women, and children migrate to countries within the region for legitimate work but are subsequently subjected to sex trafficking, domestic servitude, debt bondage, or forced labor; the inability to understand formal obligations, read contracts, or pay processing fees, and inadequate government regulatory oversight renders some Cambodian migrant workers vulnerable to such exploitation; poor Cambodian children are subject to forced labor, including forced begging in Thailand and Vietnam; Cambodian and ethnic Vietnamese women and girls are trafficked from rural areas to urban centers for sexual exploitation; Cambodian men are the main exploiters of child prostitutes, but men from other Asian countries, the US, and Europe travel to Cambodia for child sex tourism
tier rating: Tier 2 Watch List - Cambodia does not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking; however, it is making significant efforts to do so; the government has prosecuted and convicted fewer trafficking offenders and identified fewer victims than in the previous year; corruption continues to impede anti-trafficking endeavors; authorities systematically refer identified victims to NGO shelters, which provide the majority of services but lack long-term care services, making victims, particularly children, vulnerable to re-trafficking; the government has established a migration working group within its anti-trafficking committee to better address the exploitation of Cambodian workers abroad, but laws governing migrant workers abroad remain weak (2013) |
| Central African Republic |
current situation: Central African Republic (CAR) is a source and destination country for children subjected to forced labor and sex trafficking and possibly women subjected to forced prostitution; most victims appear to be CAR citizens exploited within the country, and that a smaller number are transported back and forth between the CAR and Cameroon, Chad, Nigeria, Republic of the Congo, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Sudan, and South Sudan; children are forced into domestic servitude, commercial sexual exploitation, agricultural labor, mining, and street vending; armed groups operating in the CAR, including the Lord's Resistance Army, continue to recruit and use children for military activities, while village self-defense units use children as combatants, lookouts, and porters
tier rating: Tier 3 - Central African Republic does not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking and is not making significant efforts to do so; the government does not investigate or prosecute any suspected cases of human trafficking, including the use of child soldiers; the government also fails to identify, provide protection to, or refer to service providers any trafficking victims; in collaboration with an NGO, the government has convened a working group to develop a national action plan to combat human trafficking (2013) |
| Chad |
current situation: Chad is a source, transit, and destination country for children subjected to forced labor and sex trafficking; the trafficking problem is mainly internal and frequently involves family members entrusting children to relatives or intermediaries in return for promises of education, apprenticeships, goods, or money; child trafficking victims are subjected to involuntary domestic servitude, forced cattle herding, forced begging, involuntary agricultural labor, or commercial sexual exploitation; some Chadian girls who travel to larger towns in search of work are forced into prostitution; in 2012, Chadian children were identified in some government military training centers and among rebel groups
tier rating: Tier 2 Watch List - Chad does not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking; however, it is making significant efforts to do so; the government has made a limited commitment to increased anti-trafficking law enforcement but continues to lack formal victim identification procedures; draft revisions to Chad's penal code that would prohibit child trafficking and provide protection for victims were not enacted for the third consecutive year; the government continues its nationwide campaign on human rights issues, including human trafficking, and high-ranking officials, such as the president and prime minister, are speaking out publicly against human trafficking (2013) |
| China |
current situation: China is a source, transit, and destination country for men, women, and children trafficked for the purposes of sexual exploitation and forced labor; the majority of trafficking in China occurs within the country's borders, there are many reports that Chinese men, women, and children may be subjected to conditions of sex trafficking and forced labor in numerous countries and territories worldwide; women and children are trafficked to China from Burma, Vietnam, Laos, Mongolia, Russia, North Korea, and even as far away as Europe and Africa for forced labor and prostitution; some Chinese adults and children are forced into prostitution and various forms of forced labor, including begging, stealing, and working in brick kilns, coal mines, and factories
tier rating: Tier 3 - China does not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking and was downgraded to Tier 3 after the maximum of two consecutive annual waivers; the government has not demonstrated significant efforts to comprehensively prohibit and punish all forms of trafficking and to prosecute traffickers; the government also has not reported providing comprehensive victim protection services to domestic or foreign, male or female victims of trafficking; in 2013, the government released an eight-year national action plan, which includes measures to improve interagency and other internal coordination among anti-trafficking stakeholders and victim protection (2013) |
| Comoros |
current situation: Comoros is a source country for children subjected to forced labor and reportedly sex trafficking; Comoran children are forced to labor within the country in domestic service, roadside and street vending, baking, agriculture, and sometimes criminal activities; some Comoran students at Koranic schools are exploited for forced agricultural or domestic labor, sometimes being subjected to physical and sexual abuse; Comoros may be particularly vulnerable to transnational trafficking because of inadequate border controls, government corruption, and the presence of criminal networks
tier rating: Tier 2 Watch List - Comoros does not comply fully with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking; however, it is making significant efforts to do so; although the government provided some funding to UNICEF-supported, NGO-run centers, victim protection provisions remained very modest; the government relies on donor funding and international organization partners for the majority of its anti-trafficking efforts; a new law was passed prohibiting child trafficking and the penal code was revised to include prohibitions against and penalties for human trafficking, but these modifications await parliamentary adoption (2013) |
| Congo, Democratic Republic of the |
current situation: Democratic Republic of the Congo is a source, destination, and possibly a transit country for men, women, and children subjected to forced labor and sex trafficking; the majority of this trafficking is internal, and much of it is perpetrated by armed groups and government forces outside government control within the country's unstable eastern provinces; Congolese women and children have been exploited internally as domestic servants, while others migrate to Angola, South Africa, Republic of the Congo, and South Sudan, as well as East African, Middle Eastern, and European nations where they are subjected to forced prostitution, domestic servitude, and forced labor in agriculture and diamond mines; indigenous and foreign armed groups (including the Lord's Resistance Army) abduct and forcibly recruit Congolese adults and children to serve as laborers, porters, domestics, combatants, and sex slaves; some commanders of the Congolese national army also recruit, at times through force, men and children for use as combatants, escorts, and porters
tier rating: Tier 3 - The Democratic Republic of the Congo does not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking and is not making significant efforts to do so; the government signed a UN-backed action plan to end the recruitment and use of child soldiers within its armed forces but has not applied legal sanctions against those who recruit and use child soldiers and has not reported any law enforcement efforts to combat any other forms of trafficking; besides child soldiers, the government has not reported identifying any other victims of forced labor or sex trafficking or providing protective services or referrals to NGO-operated care facilities; NGOs continue to provide the vast majority of the limited shelter, legal, medical, and psychological services available to victims (2013) |
| Cuba |
current situation: Cuba is a source country for adults and children subjected to forced labor and sex trafficking; child prostitution and child sex tourism reportedly occurs in Cuba, and laws do not appear to penalize the prostitution of children between the ages of 16 and 18; allegations have been made of Cubans being subjected to forced labor, particularly with Cuban work missions abroad; the scope of trafficking within Cuba is particularly difficult to gauge due to the closed nature of the government and sparse non-governmental or independent reporting
tier rating: Tier 3 - Cuba does not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking and is not making significant efforts to do so; the government has not publicized information about government measures to address human trafficking through prosecution, protection, or prevention efforts but did share information about its general approach to protection for children and youth; the government has a network of shelters for victims of domestic violence and child abuse but has not verified if trafficking victims receive care in those centers (2013) |
| Djibouti |
current situation: Djibouti is a transit, source, and destination country for men, women, and children subjected to forced labor and sex trafficking; economic migrants from East Africa en route to Yemen and other Middle East locations are vulnerable to exploitation in Djibouti; some woman and girls may be forced into domestic servitude or prostitution after reaching Djibouti City, the Ethiopian-Djiboutian trucking corridor, or Obock - the main crossing point into Yemen; Djiboutian and foreign children may be forced to beg, to work as domestic servants, or to commit theft and other petty crimes
tier rating: Tier 2 Watch List - Djibouti does not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking; however, it is making significant efforts to do so; outside of child prostitution, the government fails to investigate or prosecute any other trafficking offenses, including those allegedly committed by complicit officials; it has made no attempt to implement the protection or prevention components of its anti-trafficking law, and its working group on trafficking was inactive in 2012; a draft national action plan against human trafficking remains incomplete (2013) |
| Equatorial Guinea |
current situation: Equatorial Guinea is a source and destination country for women and children subjected to forced labor and sexual exploitation; children have been trafficked from nearby countries for work as domestic servants, market laborers, ambulant vendors, and launderers; women may also be trafficked to Equatorial Guinea from Cameroon, Benin, other neighboring countries, and China for forced labor or prostitution; Equatorial Guinean girls may be encouraged by their parents to engage in the sex trade in urban centers to receive groceries, gifts, housing, and money
tier rating: Tier 3 - Equatorial Guinea does not fully comply with the minimum standards on the elimination of trafficking and is not making significant efforts to do so; the government has initiated no investigations or prosecutions of suspected trafficking offenses and demonstrated no efforts to identify victims or to provide them with necessary services, despite being required to do so under its 2004 anti-trafficking law; the government shows a slight increase in its efforts to prevent trafficking with the creation in 2012 of a working-level committee to combat human trafficking, but it has not launched any public anti-trafficking campaigns or implemented any programs to address forced child labor (2013) |
| Eritrea |
current situation: Eritrea is a source country for men, women, and children trafficked for the purposes of forced labor and, to a lesser extent, sex and labor trafficking abroad; the country's national service program is often abused to keep conscripts indefinitely and to force them to perform labor outside the scope of their duties; each year large numbers of migrants, often fleeing national service, depart Eritrea in search of work, particularly in the Gulf States, where some are likely to become victims of forced labor; Eritrean children working in various economic sectors, including domestic service, street vending, small-scale manufacturing, garages, bicycle repair shops, tea and coffee shops, metal workshops, and agriculture may be subjected to conditions of forced labor; some Eritrean refugees from Sudanese camps are extorted and tortured by traffickers as they are transported through the Sinai Peninsula
tier rating: Tier 3 - Eritrea does not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking and is not making significant efforts to do so; the Eritrean Government does not operate with transparency and has published neither data nor statistics regarding its efforts to combat human trafficking; the government did not report prosecuting or convicting any traffickers and did not identify or refer any victims to protective services in 2012; authorities largely lack an understanding of human trafficking, confusing it with all forms of transnational migration from Eritrea; the government made its first-ever efforts to prevent trafficking, warning about the hazards its citizens faced when attempting to migrate abroad (2013) |
| Gambia, The |
current situation: The Gambia is a source, transit, and destination country for women and children subjected to forced labor and sex trafficking; Gambian women, children, and, to a lesser extent, boys are exploited for prostitution and domestic servitude; women, girls, and boys from West African countries are trafficked to the Gambia for sexual exploitation, particularly catering to European tourists seeking sex with children; some Gambian trafficking victims have been identified in neighboring West African countries and the UK; boys in some Koranic schools are forced into street vending or begging
tier rating: Tier 2 Watch List - The Gambia does not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking; however, it is making significant efforts to do so; the government has sustained its modest anti-trafficking law enforcement efforts, opening some investigations but failing to initiate any prosecutions or to formally identify any victims; a government program was launched providing resources and financial support to 12 Koranic schools on the condition that their students are not forced to beg (2013) |
| Guinea |
current situation: Guinea is a source, transit, and, to a lesser extent, a destination country for men, women, and children subjected to forced labor and sex trafficking; the majority of trafficking victims are Guinean children; Guinean girls are subjected to domestic servitude and commercial sexual exploitation, while boys are forced to beg, work as street vendors or shoe shiners, or miners; some Guinean children are forced to mine in Senegal, Mali, and possibly other West African countries; Guinean women and girls are subjected to domestic servitude and sex trafficking in Nigeria, Cote d'Ivoire, Benin, Senegal, Greece, and Spain, while Chinese and Vietnamese women are reportedly forced into prostitution in Guinea
tier rating: Tier 2 Watch List - Guinea does not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking; however, it is making significant efforts to do so; a new police unit has been created to focus on human trafficking and child labor; the government has initiated five new trafficking investigations but has failed to prosecute or convict any trafficking offenders, which represents a decrease in anti-trafficking law enforcement over the previous year; the government fails to provide victims with protective services and has not supported NGOs that assist victims but continues to refer child victims to NGOs on an ad hoc basis; Guinean law does not prohibit all forms of trafficking, excluding, for example, forced prostitution of adults and debt bondage, which are not criminalized (2013) |
| Guinea-Bissau |
current situation: Guinea-Bissau is a country of origin and destination for children subjected to forced labor and sex trafficking; the scope of the problem of trafficking women or men for forced labor or forced prostitution is unknown; boys reportedly are transported to southern Senegal for forced manual and agricultural labor; girls may be subjected to forced domestic service and child prostitution in Senegal and Guinea; both boys and girls are forced to work as street vendors in cities in Guinea-Bissau and Senegal
tier rating: Tier 3 - the government of Guinea-Bissau does not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking and is not making significant efforts to do so; despite enacting an anti-trafficking law and finalizing and adopting a national action plan in 2011, authorities have not conducted any investigations or prosecutions of trafficking offenses; the government has not provided adequate protection to identified trafficking victims, conducted any tangible prevention activities in 2012, or made progress on the implementation of its national action plan (2013) |
| Guyana |
current situation: Guyana is a source and destination country for men, women, and children subjected to sex trafficking and forced labor; Guyanese and foreign women and girls are forced into prostitution in Guyana; experts are concerned that Guyanese children are subjected to exploitive labor practices in the mining, agriculture, and forestry sectors; Indonesian workers are victims of forced labor on Guyanese-flagged fishing boats
tier rating: Tier 2 Watch List - Guyana does not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking; however, it is making significant efforts to do so; despite some progress in identifying and assisting some trafficking victims, the government has failed to increase its efforts to hold trafficking offenders accountable with jail time, creating an enabling environment for human trafficking; public comments from the government downplaying the scope of Guyana's trafficking problem diminishes the potential impact of its awareness campaigns; authorities operate a hotline for trafficking victims and conduct several awareness and sensitization sessions that target vulnerable communities (2013) |
| Haiti |
current situation: Haiti is a source, transit, and destination country for men, women, and children subjected to forced labor and sex trafficking; many of Haiti's trafficking cases involve children recruited to live with families in other towns in the hope of going to school but who instead become forced domestic servants known as restaveks; restaveks are vulnerable to abuse and make up a large proportion of Haiti's population of street children, who are forced into prostitution, begging, and street crime by violent gangs; Haitians are exploited in forced labor in the Dominican Republic, elsewhere in the Caribbean, and the US, and some Dominican women are forced into prostitution in Haiti; women and children living in camps for internally displaced people are at increased risk of sex trafficking and forced labor
tier rating: Tier 2 Watch List - Haiti does not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking; however, it is making significant efforts to do so; the government has made no discernible progress in prosecuting trafficking offenders largely because Haiti does not have a law specifically prohibiting human trafficking; the government does not provide direct or specialized services for trafficking victims and refers suspected victims to donor-funded NGOs, which provide shelter, food, medical, and psychosocial support; no proactive identification or assistance for adult victims was reported; an inter-ministerial working-group on human trafficking and a national commission for the elimination of the worst forms of child labor hae been created (2013) |
| Honduras |
current situation: Honduras is a source and transit country for men, women, and children subjected to sex trafficking and forced labor; Honduran women and girls, and, to a lesser extent, women and girls from neighboring countries, are forced into prostitution in urban and tourist centers; Honduran women and girls are also exploited in sex trafficking in other countries in the region, including Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador, and the US; Honduran adults and children are subjected to forced labor in Guatemala, Mexico, and the US and domestically in agriculture and domestic service; gangs coerce some young men to transport drugs or be hit men
tier rating: Tier 2 Watch List - Honduras does not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking; however, it is making significant efforts to do so; the government maintains limited law enforcement efforts against child sex trafficking offenders but has held no offenders accountable for the forced labor or forced prostitution of adults; most trafficking offenders are prosecuted under non-trafficking statutes that prescribe lower penalties; government efforts to identify, refer, and assist trafficking victims are inadequate, and most services for victims are provided by NGOs without government funding (2013) |
| Iran |
current situation: Iran is a presumed source, transit, and destination country for men, women, and children subjected to sex trafficking and forced labor; Iranian and Afghan boys and girls are forced into prostitution domestically; Iranian women are subjected to sex trafficking in Iran, Pakistan, the Persian Gulf, and Europe; Azerbaijani women and children are also sexually exploited in Iran; Afghan migrants and refugees and Pakistani men and women are subjected to conditions of forced labor in Iran; NGO reports indicate that criminal organizations play a significant role in human trafficking in Iran
tier rating: Tier 3 - Iran does not comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking, and is not making significant efforts to do so; the government does not share information on its anti-trafficking efforts, making it difficult to assess the country's human trafficking problem or the government's attempts to curb it; NGOs report that laws against human trafficking, forced labor, and debt bondage remain unenforced because of a lack of political will and widespread political corruption; there is no evidence that the government has a process to identify trafficking victims, refers victims to protective services, or has made efforts to prevent human trafficking (2013) |
| Kenya |
current situation: Kenya is a source, transit, and destination country for adults and children subjected to forced labor and sex trafficking; Kenyan children are forced to work in domestic service, agriculture, fishing, cattle herding, street vending, begging, and prostitution; Kenyan economic migrants to other East African countries, South Sudan, Europe, the US, and the Middle East are at times exploited in domestic servitude, massage parlors or brothels, or forced manual labor; children from Burundi, Ethiopia, Somalia, South Sudan, Tanzania, and Uganda are subjected to forced labor and prostitution in Kenya; Somali refugees living in the Dadaab complex may be forced into prostitution or work on tobacco farms
tier rating: Tier 2 Watch List - Kenya does not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking; the government enacted the Counter-Trafficking in Persons Act in October 2012 but has not launched and implemented its national plan of action, convened the Counter-Trafficking in Persons Advisory Committee, taken tangible action against trafficking complicity among law enforcement officials, provided shelter and other protective services for adult victims, monitor the work of overseas labor recruitment agencies, or provide wide-scale anti-trafficking training to its officials; efforts to assist and care for child victims remain strong; corruption among officials continue to hamper efforts to bring traffickers to justice (2013) |
| Korea, North |
current situation: North Korea is a source country for men, women, and children who are subjected to forced labor, forced marriage, and sex trafficking; in the recent past, many North Korean women and girls lured by promises of food, jobs, and freedom migrated to China illegally to escape poor social and economic conditions only to be forced into prostitution, marriage, or exploitative labor arrangements; North Koreans do not have a choice in the work the government assigns them and are not free to change jobs at will; many North Korean workers recruited to work abroad under bilateral contracts with foreign governments are subjected to forced labor and reportedly face government reprisals if they try to escape or complain to outsiders; thousands of North Koreans, including children, are subjected to forced labor in prison camps
tier rating: Tier 3 - North Korea does not fully comply with minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking and is not making significant efforts to do so; the government has conducted no known investigations, prosecutions, or convictions of trafficking offenders or officials complicit in forced labor or forced prostitution; the government also has reported no efforts to identify or assist trafficking victims and continues to deny human trafficking is a problem; authorities provide no discernible protection services to trafficking victims and does not permit NGOs to assist victims (2013) |
| Kuwait |
current situation: Kuwait is a destination country for men and women subjected to forced labor and, to a lesser degree, forced prostitution; men and women migrate from India, Egypt, Bangladesh, Syria, Pakistan, the Philippines, Sri Lanka, Indonesia, Nepal, Iran, Jordan, Ethiopia, and Iraq to work in Kuwait, most of them in the domestic service, construction, and sanitation sectors; although most of these migrants enter Kuwait voluntarily, upon arrival some are subjected to conditions of forced labor by their sponsors and labor agents, including nonpayment of wages, long working hours without rest, deprivation of food, threats, physical or sexual abuse, and restrictions on movement, such as the withholding of passports or confinement to the workplace
tier rating: Tier 3 - Kuwait does not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking and is not making sufficient efforts to do so; the government enacted comprehensive anti-trafficking legislation in 2013 but did not report any arrests, prosecutions, convictions, or sentences of traffickers for either forced labor or sex trafficking in the last year; Kuwait's victim protection measures remain weak, particularly due to its lack of proactive victim identification procedures and continued reliance on the sponsorship system, which causes victims of trafficking to be punished for immigration violations rather than protected (2013) |
| Lebanon |
current situation: Lebanon is a source, transit, and destination country for women and children subjected to forced labor and sex trafficking; Eastern European women and children are transported through Lebanon for sexual exploitation in other Middle Eastern countries; women from Sri Lanka, the Philippines, Ethiopia, Kenya, Bangladesh, Nepal, Madagascar, Congo, Togo, Cameroon, and Nigeria are recruited by agencies to work in domestic service but are often subject to conditions indicative of forced labor, including the withholding of passports, nonpayment of wages, restricted movement, threats, and abuse; Lebanon's artiste visa program enabling women to work as dancers for three months in the adult entertainment industry sustains a significant sex trade; anecdotal information indicates some Lebanese children are victims of forced labor, such as street begging and commercial sexual exploitation; Syrian refugee women and children in Lebanon are at increased risk of sex trafficking
tier rating: Tier 2 Watch List - Lebanon does not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking; however, it is making significant efforts to do so; the government conducts investigations of human trafficking and possibly some prosecutions but for another year did not report convicting any trafficking offenders or officials complicit in human trafficking; the government continues to lack a formal system for identifying victims and does not have a policy to protect victims from being punished for crimes committed as a direct result of being trafficked; NGOs, rather than the government, provide victim assistance and protection (2013) |
| Lesotho |
current situation: Lesotho is a source, transit, and destination country for women and children subjected to forced labor and sex trafficking and for men subjected to forced labor; Basotho women and children are subjected to domestic servitude and children, to a lesser extent, commercial sexual exploitation within Lesotho and South Africa; some Basotho women willingly migrate to South Africa seeking work in domestic service only to be forced into prostitution; some Basotho men who voluntarily migrate to South Africa for work become victims of forced labor in agriculture and mining or are coerced into committing crimes
tier rating: Tier 2 Watch List - Lesotho does not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking; however, it is making significant efforts to do so; the government has decreased its anti-trafficking law enforcement and victim protection efforts during 2012; authorities have initiated fewer prosecutions, ceased arresting suspected trafficking offenders due to a backlog of prosecutions, and stopped referring victims to NGO centers for care; the government has not implemented key portions of the 2011 anti-trafficking act, including failing to develop formal referral procedures, establish victim care centers, and complete a national action plan (2013) |
| Liberia |
current situation: Liberia is a source, transit, and destination country for men, women, and children subjected to forced labor and sex trafficking; most victims are Liberian and are exploited within the country, where they are forced into domestic servitude, begging, prostitution, street vending, agricultural work, and diamond mining; a small number of Liberian men, women, and children are trafficked to Cote d'Ivoire, Guinea, Sierra Leone, Nigeria, and the US, while trafficking victims are brought to Liberia from neighboring West African countries, including Sierra Leone, Guinea, Cote d'Ivoire, and Nigeria
tier rating: Tier 2 Watch List - Liberia does not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking; however, it is making significant efforts to do so; the government has increased its anti-trafficking law enforcement efforts and achieved its first conviction under its 2005 anti-trafficking law; the government has failed to make adequate efforts to identify and protect trafficking victims and has not adopted or implemented the standard operating procedures for assisting victims finalized by the anti-trafficking secretariat in 2012; the referral of victims to NGOs for protective services is inconsistent (2013) |
| Libya |
current situation: Libya is a destination and transit country for men and women from sub-Saharan Africa and Asia subjected to forced labor and forced prostitution; migrants who seek employment in Libya as laborers and domestic workers or transit Libya en route to Europe may be subject to forced labor; private employers also recruit migrants from detention centers as forced laborers on farms and construction sites; some sub-Saharan women are reportedly forced to work in Libyan brothels
tier rating: Tier 3 - the Libyan Government does not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking and is not making significant efforts to do so; the government has failed to demonstrate significant efforts to investigate and prosecute trafficking offenders or to protect trafficking victims; policies and practices with respect to undocumented migrant workers has resulted in Libyan authorities detaining and punishing trafficking victims for unlawful acts that were committed as a result of being trafficked; no public anti-trafficking awareness campaigns are conducted; officials receive no training on trafficking issues (2013) |
| Madagascar |
current situation: Madagascar is a source country for men, women, and children subjected to forced labor and women and children subjected to sex trafficking; poor Malagasy women hired as domestic workers in Lebanon and Kuwait are vulnerable to abuse by recruitment agencies and employers; an increasing number of Malagasy men were victimized by labor trafficking abroad in 2012; Malagasy children are subjected to domestic servitude, prostitution, forced begging, and forced labor within the country, often with the complicity of family members; coastal cities have child sex tourism trades, with Malagasy men being the main clients
tier rating: Tier 2 Watch List - Madagascar does not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking; however, it is making significant efforts to do so; law enforcement authorities have made a significant increase in efforts in 2012, resulting in 30 trafficking-related prosecutions and two convictions; public officials complicity in human trafficking, however, remains a significant problem; the government has failed to identify and refer victims to protective services and has not supported NGO-run care facilities; the government also has not engaged any Middle Eastern governments regarding the protection of and legal remedies for Malagasy workers exploited abroad (2013) |
| Malaysia |
current situation: Malaysia is a destination and, to a lesser extent, a source and transit country for women and children subjected to conditions of forced labor and women and children subjected to sex trafficking; Malaysia is mainly a destination country for foreign workers who migrate willingly from countries including Indonesia, Nepal, India, Thailand, China, the Philippines, Burma, Cambodia, Laos, Bangladesh, Pakistan, and Vietnam but subsequently encounter forced labor or debt bondage at the hands of their employers in the domestic, agricultural, construction, plantation, and industrial sectors; a small number of Malaysian citizens were reportedly trafficked internally and abroad to Singapore, China, and Japan for commercial sexual exploitation; refugees are also vulnerable to trafficking; some officials are reportedly complicit in facilitating trafficking
tier rating: Tier 2 Watch List - Malaysia does not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking; however, it is making significant efforts to do so; the government has made no tangible improvements to its inadequate system for identifying and protecting trafficking victims, such as amending its laws to allow victims to reside in NGO shelters; trafficking victims identified by Malaysian authorities are forcibly detained in government facilities, where they are provided with limited, if any, access to legal or psychological assistance by the government or NGOs; increasing efforts are being made to investigate and prosecute trafficking offenders, notably in the area of labor trafficking, though convictions of sex trafficking offenders has decreased; many front-line officials continue to lack the ability to recognize indicators of human trafficking, hindering the investigation of cases and the identification of victims; although the confiscation of passports by employers is illegal, the government has not prosecuted any employers who confiscated migrants' passports or travel documents or confined them to the workplace (2013) |
| Maldives |
current situation: Maldives is a destination country for men, women, and children subjected to forced labor and sex trafficking and a source country for Maldivian children subjected to human trafficking within the country; Bangladeshi and Indian migrants working both legally and illegally in the construction and service sectors face conditions of forced labor, including fraudulent recruitment, confiscation of identity and travel documents, nonpayment of wages, and debt bondage; a small number of women from Sri Lanka, Thailand, India, China, the Philippines, Bangladesh, Eastern Europe, and former Soviet states are trafficked to Maldives for sexual exploitation; some Maldivian children are transported to the capital for forced domestic service, where they may also be sexually abused
tier rating: Tier 2 Watch List - Maldives does not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking; the government does not have laws prohibiting all human trafficking offenses but introduced an anti-trafficking law to the legislature in December 2012, approved an anti-trafficking plan for 2012-13, and formed an anti-trafficking steering committee in May 2012; the government reported that it prosecuted some sex trafficking cases but did not take concrete actions to protect trafficking victims and prevent trafficking; the government continues to lack systematic procedures for identifying trafficking victims among vulnerable populations and referring them to protective services; officials continue to confuse human trafficking with human smuggling and the presence of undocumented migrants (2013) |
| Mali |
current situation: Mali is a source, transit, and destination country for men, women, and children subjected to forced labor and sex trafficking; women and girls are forced into domestic servitude, agricultural labor, and support roles in gold mines, as well as subjected to sex trafficking; Malian boys are found in conditions of forced labor in agricultural settings, gold mines, and the informal commercial sector, as well as forced begging both within Mali and neighboring countries; Malians and other Africans who travel through Mali to Mauritania, Algeria, or Libya in hopes of reaching Europe are particularly at risk of becoming victims of human trafficking; men and boys, primarily of Songhai ethnicity, are subjected to the longstanding practice of debt bondage in the salt mines of Taoudenni in northern Mali; some members of Mali's black Tamachek community are subjected to traditional slavery-related practices, and this involuntary servitude reportedly has extended to their children; reports indicate that non-governmental armed groups operating in northern Mali recruited children as combatants, cooks, porters, guards, spies, and sex slaves
tier rating: Tier 2 Watch List - Mali does not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking; however, it is making significant efforts to do so; although the government enacted a comprehensive anti-trafficking law in 2012, it did not demonstrate evidence of overall increasing efforts to address human trafficking over the previous year; the government has failed to prosecute or convict any trafficking offenders, has not provided any direct services to victims, and has not made any tangible prevention efforts; the government continues to cite a lack of personnel and resources as reasons for its inability to adequately identify and rescue child victims of forced labor in the mining industry (2013) |
| Marshall Islands |
current situation: The Marshall Islands are a destination country for women from East Asia subjected to sex trafficking; foreign women are reportedly forced into prostitution in bars frequented by crew members of fishing vessels; some Chinese women are recruited to the Marshall Islands with promises of legitimate work and are subsequently forced into prostitution
tier rating: Tier 2 Watch List - The Marshall Islands do not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking; however, it is making significant efforts to do so; the government has not identified any victims, investigated any trafficking cases, or prosecuted any offenders under the country's 2011 anti-trafficking law; the government also has no mechanism in place to ensure that trafficking victims receive access to legal, medical, or psychological services; no public awareness campaigns on the dangers of human trafficking have been undertaken (2013) |
| Mauritania |
current situation: Mauritania is a source, transit, and destination country for men, women, and children subjected to conditions of forced labor and sex trafficking; adults and children from traditional slave castes are subjected to slavery-related practices rooted in ancestral master-slave relationships; Mauritanian boys called talibe are trafficked within the country by religious teachers for forced begging; Mauritanian girls, as well as girls from Mali, Senegal, The Gambia, and other West African countries are forced into domestic servitude; Mauritanian women and girls are forced into prostitution in the country or transported to countries in the Middle East for the same purpose
tier rating: Tier 3 - Mauritania does not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking and is not making significant efforts to do so; after the previous year's unprecedented progress in prosecuting and convicting trafficking offenders, the government has not convicted any traffickers; the government has not provided adequate protective services to victims or ensure their referral to NGOs, which provide the majority of care to trafficking victims and generally do not receive government financial support; the absence of measures in place to identify trafficking victims among vulnerable populations may have led to victims being punished for acts committed as a result of being trafficked; the effectiveness of the 2007 anti-slavery law remains impaired because the slaves, many of whom are illiterate, are first required to file a legal complaint, and the government provides no programs to assist victims in lodging slavery complaints (2013) |
| Micronesia, Federated States of |
current situation: Micronesia is a source, and to a limited extent, destination country for women subjected to sex trafficking; Micronesian women are fraudulently recruited for jobs in the US and its territories only to be forced into prostitution or labor upon arrival; Micronesian and foreign women and children are also reportedly prostituted on fishing vessels in Micronesia or its territorial waters, as well as restaurants and clubs frequented by fishermen; complaints of nonpayment and inhuman treatment on fishing boats has led to investigations of labor trafficking
tier rating: Tier 2 Watch List - Micronesia does not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking; however, it is making significant efforts to do so; despite passage of implementing regulations for Micronesia's 2012 trafficking law, the government has not reported any investigations, prosecutions, or convictions for sex or labor trafficking; the government also makes no efforts to identify trafficking victims and refer them to protective services; no NGOs provide services to victims; limited efforts are made to increase the public's awareness of human trafficking (2013) |
| Morocco |
current situation: Morocco is a source, destination, and transit country for men, women, and children who are subjected to forced labor and sex trafficking; Moroccan adults and children are exploited for forced labor and forced prostitution in the Middle East and Europe; some Moroccan girls recruited to work as maids experience conditions of forced labor, while some Moroccan boys are forced to work as apprentices in the artisan and construction industries and in mechanic shops; women and children from sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia who voluntarily enter Morocco are subsequently coerced into prostitution or, less frequently, domestic service; women and children from Cote d'Ivoire, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Nigeria are also vulnerable to sex trafficking and, to a lesser extent, forced labor in Morocco
tier rating: Tier 2 Watch List - Morocco does not comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking; however, it is making significant efforts to do so; the government does not demonstrate progress in investigating, prosecuting, convicting, and adequately punishing trafficking offenders and has failed to provide law enforcement data; it has not developed or employed systematic procedures to proactively identify trafficking victims among vulnerable groups, particularly the sub-Saharan migrant community, but has made some efforts to offer protective services to Moroccan women and child trafficking victims; Morocco continues to lack a single comprehensive anti-trafficking law (2013) |
| Namibia |
current situation: Namibia is predominantly a country of origin and destination for children and, to a lesser extent, women subjected to forced labor and sex trafficking; victims lured by promises of legitimate jobs are forced to work in hazardous condition in urban centers and on commercial farms; traffickers exploit Namibian children, as well as children from Angola, Zambia, and Zimbabwe, for forced labor in agriculture, cattle herding, domestic service, and criminal activities; children are also forced into prostitution, often catering to tourists from southern Africa and Europe; girls of the San tribe are particularly vulnerable
tier rating: Tier 2 Watch List - Namibia does not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking; however, it is making significant efforts to do so; in 2012, the government launched a National Plan of Action on Gender-Based Violence, which included addressing human trafficking but did not complete its draft comprehensive anti-trafficking legislation or obtain parliamentary passage of the Child Care and Protection Bill, which would criminalize child trafficking; a process has been developed for referring trafficking victims for assistance but a system for screening potential victims and providing official designation of trafficking victim status is lacking (2013) |
| Papua New Guinea |
current situation: Papua New Guinea is a source, destination, and transit country for men, women, and children subjected to sex trafficking and forced labor; women and children are subjected to sex trafficking and domestic servitude; families may sell girls into forced marriages to settle debts, leaving them vulnerable to forced domestic service; local and Chinese men are forced to labor in logging and mining camps; migrant women from Malaysia, Thailand, China, and the Philippines are subjected to sex trafficking and domestic servitude at logging and mining camps, fisheries, and entertainment sites
tier rating: Tier 3 - Papua New Guinea does not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking and is not making significant efforts to do so; despite acknowledging trafficking as a problem, the government has not enacted legislation to criminalize all forms of trafficking, investigated any suspected trafficking offenses, prosecuted or convicted any trafficking offenders under existing laws, addressed allegations of officials being complicit in human trafficking crimes, or identified or assisted any trafficking victims; Papua New Guinea is not a party to the 2000 UN TIP Protocol |
| Russia |
current situation: Russia is a source, transit, and destination country for men, women, and children who are subjected to forced labor and sex trafficking, although labor trafficking is the predominant problem; people from Russia and other countries in Europe, Central Asia, and Asia, including Vietnam and North Korea, are subjected to conditions of forced labor in Russia's construction, manufacturing, agriculture, repair shop, and domestic services industries, as well as forced begging and narcotics cultivation; North Koreans contracted under bilateral government arrangements to work in the timber industry in the Russian Far East reportedly are subjected to forced labor; Russian women and children were reported to be victims of sex trafficking in Russia, Northeast Asia, Europe, Central Asia, and the Middle East, while women from European, African, and Central Asian countries were reportedly forced into prostitution in Russia
tier rating: Tier 3 - Russia does not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking and because it is not deemed to be making significant efforts to do so was downgraded to Tier 3 after the maximum of two consecutive annual waivers; the number of prosecutions remains low compared to estimates of Russia's trafficking problem; the government did not develop or deploy a formal system for the identification of trafficking victims or their referral to protective services, although some victims were reportedly cared for through ad hoc efforts; the government has reported minimal efforts to identify or care for the large number of migrant workers vulnerable to labor exploitation and has not investigated allegations of slave-like conditions in North Korean-operated timber camps (2013) |
| Rwanda |
current situation: Rwanda is a source and, to a lesser extent, transit and destination country for women and children subjected to forced labor and sex trafficking; Rwandan girls and, to a lesser extent, boys are exploited in domestic servitude within the country; Rwandan girls are also forced into prostitution by older girls, women, and loosely organized prostitution networks; Rwandan women and children are subjected to forced agricultural and industrial labor, domestic servitude, and prostitution in Kenya, Uganda, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Tanzania, Burundi, Zambia, South Africa, France, the Netherlands, Malaysia, China, and the US; children in Rwanda-based refugee camps are brought to Kigali, Uganda, Kenya, Sudan, and South Sudan for use in the sex trade; a limited number of foreign nationals are moved through Rwanda to be exploited in third countries
tier rating: Tier 2 Watch List - Rwanda does not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking; however, it is making significant efforts to do so; the government maintains strong efforts to investigate and prosecute some trafficking crimes but fails to stop M23 (an armed group in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo) from recruiting within Rwanda, which is at times reportedly supported by government officials, amounting to complicity in human trafficking; although the revised penal code covers almost all forms of human trafficking, its narrow definition may result in the confusion of trafficking with other crimes; other obstacles include a lack of awareness of human trafficking among officials and an inadequate number of investigators (2013) |
| Saint Lucia |
current situation: St. Lucia is a destination country for persons subjected to forced prostitution and forced labor; legal and illegal immigrants from Haiti, Jamaica, the Dominican Republic, Guyana, and South Asia, especially those working in domestic service, are vulnerable to human trafficking; some children under 18 are coerced to work in St. Lucia's commercial sex industry
tier rating: Tier 2 Watch List - St. Lucia does not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking; however, it is making significant efforts to do so; the government did not report any investigations, prosecutions, or convictions of trafficking offenders or public officials complicit in human trafficking in 2012 or 2011, although a counter-trafficking act was passed in 2010; the government helps protect trafficking victims by funding an NGO and running a system of informal shelters but lacks formal procedures for identifying victims and referring them to available protection and assistance services; St. Lucia is not a party to the 2000 UN TIP Protocol (2013) |
| Saudi Arabia |
current situation: Saudi Arabia is a destination country for men and women subjected to forced labor and, to a lesser extent, forced prostitution; men and women from Bangladesh, India, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Pakistan, the Philippines, Indonesia, Sudan, Ethiopia, Kenya, and many other countries voluntarily travel to Saudi Arabia as domestic servants or other low-skilled laborers, but some subsequently face conditions indicative of involuntary servitude (many are forced to work months or years beyond their contract term because employers withhold passports and required exit visas); women, primarily from Asian and African countries, are believed to be forced into prostitution in Saudi Arabia; others were reportedly kidnapped and forced into prostitution after running away from abusive employers; Yemeni, Nigerian, Pakistani, Afghan, Chadian, and Sudanese children were subjected to forced labor as beggars and street vendors in Saudi Arabia, facilitated by criminal gangs
tier rating: Tier 3 - Saudi Arabia does not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking and is not making significant efforts to do so; fewer victims were identified and referred to protection services than in the previous reporting period; the sponsorship system, including the exit visa requirement, continues to restrict the freedom of movement of migrant workers and hamper the ability of victims to pursue legal cases against their employers; however, the government has implemented regulations mandating the formation of unified recruitment companies to replace the sponsorship model; no specialized shelter was available to victims of sex trafficking or male victims of trafficking (2013) |
| Seychelles |
current situation: Seychelles is a source and destination country for Seychellois children and foreign women subjected to sex trafficking; Seychellois girls and, to a lesser extent, boys are forced into prostitution in nightclubs, bars, guest houses, hotels, brothels, private homes, and on the streets by peers, family members, and pimps; foreign tourists, sailors, and migrant workers contribute to the demand for commercial sex acts in Seychelles; some of the large population of foreign migrant workers reportedly experience the underpayment of wages and substandard housing
tier rating: Tier 2 Watch List - Seychelles does not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking; however, it is making significant efforts to do so; the government has failed to report any investigations, prosecutions, or convictions of trafficking offenses; the government also has not identified or provided protective services to any trafficking victims and punished victims for crimes committed as a result of being trafficked, although it has acknowledged the need for specialized training of officials in recognizing, investigating, and prosecuting trafficking offenses, it did not provide any such training during the reporting period (2013) |
| Solomon Islands |
current situation: The Solomon Islands is a source and destination country for local and Southeast Asian men and women subjected to forced labor and forced prostitution; women from China, Indonesia, Malaysia, and the Philippines are recruited for legitimate work and upon arrival are forced into prostitution; men from Indonesia and Malaysia recruited to work in the Solomon Islands' mining and logging industries may be subjected to forced labor; local children are forced into prostitution near foreign logging camps, on fishing vessels, and at hotel and other entertainment venues; some local children are also sold by their parents for marriage to foreign workers or put up for "informal adoption" and then find themselves forced into domestic servitude or forced prostitution
tier rating: Tier 2 Watch List - The Solomon Islands does not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking; however, it is making significant efforts to do so; the government has formed an ad hoc Solomon Islands Trafficking-in-Persons Advisory Committee and established an informal victim assistance referral procedure for law enforcement; the government did not pass the necessary implementing regulations for anti-trafficking legislation enacted in 2012, preventing authorities from using the new law to prosecute alleged traffickers; the government continues to rely on civil society or religious organizations to provide limited services to victims; the Solomon Islands is not a party to the 2000 UN TIP Protocol (2013) |
| South Sudan |
current situation: South Sudan is a source and destination country for men, women, and children subjected to forced labor and sex trafficking; South Sudanese women and girls, particularly those who are internally displaced or from rural areas, are vulnerable to forced labor and sexual exploitation in urban centers; the rising number of street children and child laborers are also exploited for forced labor and prostitution; women and girls from Uganda, Kenya, Ethiopia, and Democratic Republic of the Congo are trafficked to South Sudan with promises of legitimate jobs and are forced into the sex trade; inter-ethnic abductions continue in some communities in South Sudan
tier rating: Tier 2 Watch List - South Sudan does not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking; however, it is making significant efforts to do so; the government has made progress in implementing its UN-backed action plan to eliminate the use of child soldiers in its armed forces, but it has not demonstrated evidence of increasing efforts to address other forms of trafficking; the government has not taken steps to proactively identify trafficking victims among vulnerable populations and has not deployed a system to transfer victims to organizations to receive care; the government continues to indiscriminately arrest individuals in prostitution, including child sex trafficking victims, and sentence them to prison (2013) |
| Sri Lanka |
current situation: Sri Lanka is primarily a source and, to a much lesser extent, a destination country for men, women, and children subjected to forced labor and sex trafficking; some Sri Lankan adults and children who migrate willingly to Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Jordan, Bahrain, Lebanon, Iraq, Afghanistan, Malaysia, and Singapore to work as domestic servants, construction workers, or garment factory workers face conditions indicative of forced labor; some Sri Lankan women are forced into prostitution in Jordan, Singapore, Maldives, and other countries; within Sri Lanka, women and children are subjected to sex trafficking in brothels, while other children are forced to work in the agriculture, fireworks, and fish-drying industries
tier rating: Tier 2 Watch List - Sri Lanka does not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking; however, it is making significant efforts to do so; law enforcement efforts and victim protection, particularly identification, are very weak, with no reported prosecutions or convictions under the country's penal code article prohibiting human trafficking; government employees' complicity in trafficking offenses remains a problem; the government has not approved its draft standard operating procedures for identifying trafficking victims and referring them to protective services, consequently, victims may have been punished for crimes committed as a direct result of being trafficked; the government adopted an anti-trafficking action plan in 2012 (2013) |
| Sudan |
current situation: Sudan is a source, transit, and destination country for men, women, and children who are subjected to forced labor and sex trafficking; Sudanese women and girls, particularly those from rural areas or who are internally displaced, are vulnerable to forced labor as domestic workers in homes throughout the country; some of these women and girls are subsequently sexually abused by male occupants of the household or forced to engage in commercial sex acts; Sudanese women and girls are subjected to domestic servitude in Middle Eastern countries and to forced sex trafficking in European countries; some Sudanese men who voluntarily migrate to the Middle East as low-skilled laborers face conditions indicative of forced labor; Sudanese children in Saudi Arabia are used in forced begging and street vending; Sudan is a transit and destination country for Ethiopian and Eritrean women subjected to domestic servitude in Sudan and Middle Eastern countries; Sudan is a destination for Ethiopian, Somali, and possibly Thai women subjected to forced prostitution; Sudanese children in Darfur are forcibly conscripted, at times through abduction, and used by armed groups and government security forces
tier rating: Tier 3 - Sudan does not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking and is not making significant efforts to do so; while the government has taken some initial steps to draft anti-trafficking legislation, prosecute suspected traffickers, demobilize and reintegrate child soldiers, and has convened its first workshop to discuss human trafficking, its efforts to combat human trafficking through law enforcement, protection, or prevention measures are undertaken in an ad hoc fashion, rather than as the result of strategic planning; the government has not employed a system for proactively identifying trafficking victims among vulnerable populations or a referral process for transferring victims to organizations providing care; its proxy militias reportedly unlawfully recruited and used child soldiers during the reporting period; the government has not taken action to conclude a proposed action plan with the UN to address the problem (2013) |
| Suriname |
current situation: Suriname is a source, destination, and transit country for women, men, and children who are subjected to sex trafficking and forced labor; women and girls from Suriname, Guyana, Brazil, and the Dominican Republic are subjected to sex trafficking in the country, sometimes around mining camps; debt bondage and sex trafficking are reported to occur within the Chinese migrant community; migrant workers in agriculture and on fishing boats and children working in informal urban sectors and gold mines are vulnerable to forced labor
tier rating: Tier 2 Watch List - Suriname does not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking; however, it is making significant efforts to do so; the government has prosecuted an increased number of sex trafficking cases and identified an increased number of child sex trafficking victims; accountability for trafficking offenses continues to be a problem as no offenders have been convicted and the complicity of local officials remains a concern; authorities do not have a formal system for referring victims to NGOs that provide services but reported doing so on an ad hoc basis; the government's interagency anti-trafficking working group drafted an anti-trafficking policy in 2012 (2013) |
| Syria |
current situation: due to Syria's political uprising and violent unrest, hundreds of thousands of Syrians, foreign migrant workers, and refugees have fled the country and are vulnerable to human trafficking; the lack of security and inaccessibility of the majority of the country makes it impossible to conduct a thorough analysis of the ongoing conflict and the scope and magnitude of Syria's human trafficking situation; prior to the uprising, Syria was principally a destination country for women and children subjected to forced labor or sex trafficking; thousands of women - the majority from Indonesia, the Philippines, Somalia, and Ethiopia - were recruited to work as domestic servants but were subsequently subjected to forced labor; Filipina domestic workers continue to be sent to Syria and are vulnerable to forced labor; the Syrian armed forces and opposition forces are using Syrian children in combat and support roles and as human shields; Iraqi women and girls continue to be sexually exploited, and Syrian children still face conditions of forced labor
tier rating: Tier 3 - the government does not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking and is not making significant efforts to do so; the government does not demonstrate evidence of increasing efforts to investigate and punish trafficking offenses, provide protective services to victims, inform the public about human trafficking, or provide much-needed anti-trafficking training to law enforcement and social welfare officials; the government does not refer any victims to NGO-operated shelters and has failed to institute procedures for the identification, interview, and referral of trafficking victims; the status of the national plan of action against trafficking is unknown (2013) |
| Tanzania |
current situation: Tanzania is a source, transit, and destination country for men, women, and children subjected to forced labor and sex trafficking; the exploitation of young girls in domestic servitude continues to be Tanzania's largest human trafficking problem; Tanzanian boys are subject to forced labor mainly on farms but also in mines, in the commercial service sector, in the sex trade, and possibly on small fishing boats; internal trafficking is more prevalent than transnational trafficking and is usually facilitated by friends, family members, or intermediaries offering education or legitimate job opportunities; trafficking victims from Burundi, Kenya, Bangladesh, Nepal, Yemen, and India are to work in Tanzania's agricultural, mining, and domestic service sectors or may be sex trafficked
tier rating: Tier 2 Watch List - Tanzania does not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking; however, it is making significant efforts to do so; law enforcement made modest anti-trafficking efforts but imposed punishments on offenders that were inadequate for the seriousness of the crimes committed; key victim protection provisions of the 2008 anti-trafficking act remain unimplemented; the government continues to refer child trafficking victims to NGOs for care but has no procedure for the referral of adult victims; the national anti-trafficking action plan has not been implemented; no public awareness campaigns about the dangers of trafficking are conducted (2013) |
| Thailand |
current situation: Thailand is a source, transit, and destination country for men, women, and children subjected to forced labor and sex trafficking; victims, who are most often from neighboring countries, especially Burma, and also China, Vietnam, Russia, Uzbekistan, and Fiji, migrate to Thailand in search of economic opportunities but are forced, coerced, or defrauded into labor or commercial sexual exploitation; forced laborers are exploited in fishing, low-end garment production, domestic service, and some are forced to beg; some men forced to work on fishing boats have reportedly been kept at sea for years; sex trafficking of Thai and migrant children and sex tourism remain significant problems; Thailand is a transit country for victims from North Korea, China, Vietnam, Pakistan, and Burma destined for exploitation in third countries, including Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore, Russia, the Republic of Korea, the US, and Western European countries
tier rating: Tier 2 Watch List - Thailand does not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking; the government investigated more trafficking-related cases but prosecuted and convicted fewer trafficking offender in 2012 than it did in the previous year; widespread corruption among law enforcement personnel creates an enabling environment for human trafficking; local authorities lack an awareness of the elements of trafficking and are deficient at identifying and protecting victims; weak law enforcement, inadequate human and financial resources, and fragmented coordination among regulatory agencies in the fishing industry contributes to overall impunity for exploitive labor practices in this sector; no labor recruitment companies have been punished for forced labor or trafficking allegations (2013) |
| Trinidad and Tobago |
current situation: Trinidad and Tobago is a destination and transit country for adults and children subjected to sex trafficking and adults subjected to forced labor; local victims have been trafficked to the US and the UK for sexual exploitation, while women and girls from South America and the Dominican Republic have been subjected to sex trafficking in Trinidad and Tobago's brothels and clubs; some economic migrants from the Caribbean region and Asia have had their passports held and experienced forced labor conditions; children are vulnerable to forced labor, including scavenging trash; the country is a potential transit point for human trafficking to Caribbean and South American destinations
tier rating: Tier 2 Watch List - Trinidad and Tobago does not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking; however, it is making significant efforts to do so; in 2013, the government proclaimed its anti-trafficking law and established a counter-trafficking unit, but authorities did not use the law to its full effect; despite victim protections in the new law, the government has failed to properly screen and protect hundreds of potential trafficking victims; the reported complicity of public officials in trafficking offenses is also an obstacle (2013) |
| Tunisia |
current situation: Tunisia is a source, destination, and possible transit country for men, women, and children subjected to forced labor and sex trafficking; Tunisia's increased number of street children, children working to support their families, and migrants who have fled unrest in neighboring countries are vulnerable to human trafficking; Tunisian women recruited into Lebanon's entertainment industry are forced into prostitution on arrival and other Tunisian women are forced into prostitution in Jordan; some Tunisian girls employed in domestic work are held in conditions of forced labor
tier rating: Tier 2 Watch List - Tunisia does not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking; however, it is making significant efforts to do so; the government continues to maintain that human trafficking is not a widespread problem in Tunisia, which undermines awareness campaigns and does not differentiate human trafficking from migrant smuggling; prior commitments to enact draft anti-trafficking legislation were not fulfilled, and the government has not developed or implemented procedures to identify proactively trafficking victims; the government has assisted an unidentified number of trafficking victims in its shelters for vulnerable groups (2013) |
| Turkmenistan |
current situation: Turkmenistan is a source, and to a much lesser degree, destination country for men, women, and children subjected to forced labor and sex trafficking; Turkmen in search of work in other countries are forced to work in textile sweatshops, construction, and domestic service; some Turkmen women and girls are sex trafficked abroad; Turkey is the primary trafficking destination, followed by Russia, the United Arab Emirates, and, to a lesser extent, the UK, Kazakhstan, and Cyprus; labor trafficking occurs within Turkmenistan, particularly in the construction industry, with victims identified from Uzbekistan, Ukraine, and Azerbaijan
tier rating: Tier 2 Watch List - Turkmenistan does not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking; however, it is making significant efforts to do so; the government continues to convict trafficking offenders under its anti-trafficking statute; it employs no formal victim identification procedures and does not provide services or fund NGOs to provide services to victims; authorities punish some victims for crimes committed as a result of being trafficked; there continues to be no governmental coordinating body for anti-trafficking efforts or a national anti-trafficking action plan (2013) |
| Ukraine |
current situation: Ukraine is a source, transit, and, increasingly, destination country for men, women, and children subjected to forced labor and sex trafficking; Ukrainian victims are sex trafficked within Ukraine as well as in Russia, Poland, Iraq, Spain, Turkey, Cyprus, Seychelles, Portugal, the Czech Republic, Israel, Italy, the United Arab Emirates, Montenegro, UK, and Tunisia; foreigners from Moldova, Uzbekistan, Pakistan, Cameroon, and Azerbaijan are victims of labor trafficking in Ukraine; Ukrainian recruiters most often target Ukrainians from rural areas with limited job prospects by using fraud, coercion, and debt bondage
tier rating: Tier 2 Watch List - Ukraine does not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking; however, it is making significant efforts to do so; the government reduced its anti-trafficking law enforcement efforts in 2012; as a result of the dismantling of the specialized anti-trafficking police unit in 2011, the number of trafficking investigations, prosecutions, and convictions have decreased; fewer victims are identified and the national referral mechanism does not function effectively in many regions, resulting in few victims being granted victim status by the government; the government did not fund any anti-trafficking protection activities in 2012 and continues to rely on international donors to assist victims (2013) |
| Uruguay |
current situation: Uruguay is a source country for women and children subjected to sex trafficking and, to a lesser extent, a destination country for men, women, and children exploited in forced labor; most victims are women and girls exploited in sex trafficking; some Uruguayan women lured by fraudulent employment offers in Spain, Italy, and Argentina are forced into prostitution; foreign workers in domestic service and agriculture are vulnerable to forced labor in Uruguay; some human trafficking cases are reportedly linked to crime rings
tier rating: Tier 2 Watch List - Uruguay does not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking; however, it is making significant efforts to do so; the government investigated and prosecuted several trafficking cases during 2012 but reported no convictions; authorities have increased funding and staffing for the national women's institute unit that is focused on sex trafficking and domestic violence, but specialized services remain inadequate and victim care services outside the capital are uneven; officials lack formal procedures for identifying trafficking victims (2013) |
| Uzbekistan |
current situation: Uzbekistan is a source country for men, women, and children subjected to forced labor and women and children subjected to sex trafficking; adults and children are victims of government-organized forced labor during Uzbekistan's annual cotton harvest; some Uzbekistani adults are subjected to forced labor in Kazakhstan, Russia, and, to a much lesser extent, Ukraine in domestic service, agriculture, and the construction and oil industries; Uzbekistani women and children, lured with fraudulent job offers, are sex trafficked to countries in Central Asia, the Middle East, Europe, and Asia; small numbers of Tajikistani and Kyrgyzstani victims have been identified in Uzbekistan
tier rating: Tier 3 - Uzbekistan does not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking and because it is not deemed to be making significant efforts to do so, it was downgraded to Tier 3 after the maximum of two consecutive annual waivers; the government has identified an increased number of sex and transnational labor trafficking victims; for the first time a decree was implemented banning the forced labor of children under the age of 15 in the annual cotton harvest, but government-organized forced labor of adults and older children contines in the cotton and reportedly other sectors; Uzbekistan does not have a systematic process to proactively identify trafficking victims and refer them to protective services (2013) |
| Venezuela |
current situation: Venezuela is a source, transit, and destination country for men, women, and children subjected to sex trafficking and forced labor; Venezuelan women and girls are trafficked within the country for sexual exploitation, lured from the nation's interior to urban and tourist areas; women from Colombia, Peru, Haiti, China, and South Africa are also reported to have been sexually exploited in Venezuela; some Venezuelan women are transported to Caribbean islands, particularly Aruba, Curacao, and Trinidad & Tobago, where they are subjected to forced prostitution; some Venezuelan children are forced to beg on the streets or work as domestic servants, while Ecuadorian children, who are often from indigenous communities, are subjected to forced labor
tier rating: Tier 2 Watch List - Venezuela does not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking; however, it is making significant efforts to do so; the government has increased the investigation of forced labor crimes but has not publicly document progress on prosecutions and convictions of trafficking offenders or on victim identification or assistance; the government also does not report on the existence of formal procedures for identifying trafficking victims and referring them to victim services; authorities provide limited funding to some NGOs providing victim services; public service announcements and an awareness campaign on human trafficking have continued (2013) |
| World |
current situation: approximately 800,000 people, mostly women and children, are trafficked annually across national borders, not including the millions who are trafficked within their own countries; at least 80% of the victims are female and up to 50% are minors; 75% of all victims are trafficked into commercial sexual exploitation; almost two-thirds of the global victims are trafficked intra-regionally within East Asia and the Pacific (260,000 to 280,000 people) and Europe and Eurasia (170,000 to 210,000 people) (2012)
Tier 2 Watch List: (44 countries) Afghanistan, Albania, Angola, Bahrain, Barbados, Belarus, Burma, Burundi, Cambodia, Chad, Comoros, Djibouti, Federated States of Micronesia, The Gambia, Guinea, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, Kenya, Lebanon, Lesotho, Liberia, Madagascar, Malaysia, Maldives, Mali, Marshall Islands, Morocco, Namibia, Rwanda, Saint Lucia, Seychelles, Solomon Islands, South Sudan, Sri Lanka, Suriname, Tanzania, Thailand, Trinidad and Tobago, Tunisia, Turkmenistan, Ukraine, Uruguay, Venezuela Tier 3: (21 countries) Algeria, Central African Republic, China, Democratic Republic of Congo, Cuba, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Guinea-Bissau, Iran, North Korea, Kuwait, Libya, Mauritania, Papua New Guinea, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Syria, Uzbekistan, Yemen, Zimbabwe (2013) |
| Yemen |
current situation: Yemen is a source and, to a much lesser extent, transit and destination country for men, women, and children subjected to forced labor and sex trafficking; some Yemeni children, mostly boys, migrate to Yemeni cities or across the border to Saudi Arabia and, less frequently Oman, where they end up as forced laborers in domestic service or small shops, beggars, or prostitutes; some of the large number of child workers in Yemen also face conditions of forced labor; other Yemeni children are conscripted into the government's armed forces or tribal or rebel militias; to a lesser degree, Yemen is a country of origin for girls trafficked within country or to Saudi Arabia to work as prostitutes in hotels and clubs; additionally, Yemen is a destination and transit country for women and children from the Horn of Africa who are looking for work or have received false job offers in the Gulf states but are subjected to sexual exploitation or forced labor upon arrival; reports indicate that adults and children are still sold or inherited as slaves in Yemen
tier rating: Tier 3 - Yemen does not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking and is not making significant efforts to do so; prolonged political, economic, and security crises impeded the government's modest anti-trafficking efforts; the government has not instituted formal procedures to identify and protect victims of trafficking or investigate or prosecute officials complicit in trafficking-related crimes; no known efforts have been made to investigate or punish the practice of chattel slavery; the government has taken some steps to prevent the recruitment of children in the armed forces, but it is unclear if efforts have been made to remove child soldiers from the military and provide them with protective or rehabilitative services; no progress has been made in implementing Yemen's 2008 national action plan on trafficking (2013) |
| Zimbabwe |
current situation: Zimbabwe is a source, transit, and destination country for men, women, and children subjected to forced labor and sex trafficking; Zimbabwean women and girls from towns bordering South Africa, Mozambique, and Zambia are subjected to prostitution, sometimes being sold by their parents; Zimbabwean men, women, and children are subjected to forced labor in agriculture and domestic service in rural areas, as well as domestic servitude and sex trafficking in cities and towns; Zimbabwean women and men are lured into exploitative labor situations in Angola, Botswana, Mozambique, the United Arab Emirates, Malaysia, Nigeria, and South Africa with false job offers, while women and girls are lured to China, Egypt, the UK, and Canada and forced into prostitution; adults and children from Bangladesh, Somalia, India, Pakistan, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Malawi, Mozambique, and Zambia are trafficked through Zimbabwe en route to South Africa
tier rating: Tier 3 - Zimbabwe does not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking and is not making significant efforts to do so; tangible efforts to investigate and prosecute trafficking offenses, including those allegedly involving government officials, and to protect victims remain minimal; the government continues to rely on an international organization to provide law enforcement training and on NGOs to identify and assist victims without government support for such work; a national trafficking awareness campaign was launched in November 2012 (2013) |