Trafficking In Persons Report

DEAR READER:

Human trafficking is one of the most tragic human rights issues of
our time. It splinters families, distorts global markets, undermines
the rule of law, and spurs other transnational criminal activity. It
threatens public safety and national security.
But worst of all, the crime robs human beings of their freedom and
their dignity. That’s why we must pursue an end to the scourge of
human trafficking.
Today we take another key step towards that goal. The 2017
Trafficking in Persons Report highlights the successes achieved
and the remaining challenges before us on this important global
issue.
In particular, the introduction of this year’s Report focuses on the
responsibility of governments to criminalize human trafficking and
hold offenders accountable. To that end, this Report is intended to
assist governments in identifying threats so law enforcement agencies around the world can respond
effectively and gain insight into where human trafficking remains most severe. The Report will also equip
local and sub-national law enforcement agencies to better assist in efforts to target and prosecute those
who commit these terrible crimes.
Because human trafficking is global in scope, international partners are essential to success. That’s why
the State Department will continue to establish positive partnerships with governments, civil society, law
enforcement groups, and survivors to provide help for those who need our support.
The United States is a leader in the fight against human trafficking. We seek justice for victims and
accountability for offenders. This Report is instrumental to our strategy to end human trafficking. I am
proud of the work and dedication of the Department towards that end, and remain committed to the
elimination of human trafficking here and abroad.

Sincerely,

Rex W. Tillerson
Secretary of State

Three Nigerian sex trafficking
survivors gaze out over the
Mediterranean after leaving
Italy, where they were exploited.
In 2016, more than 11,000
Nigerian women and girls
arrived in Italy by sea.

DEAR READER:

This year, the theme of the Trafficking in Persons Report is increasing criminal
accountability of human traffickers and addressing challenges in prosecution—an essential
component of the 3P paradigm of prosecution, protection, and prevention. As a former
federal prosecutor in the United States and now as Ambassador-at-Large to Monitor and
Combat Trafficking in Persons, this topic is deeply personal to me.
I am particularly and acutely aware of the lives destroyed by human trafficking. I will never
forget a young woman in a case I prosecuted, a survivor who I’ll call Teresa. She was raised
in Central America by her grandmother, and as a young woman, was deceived by a man she
thought cared for her with promises of love and a better life. That man brought Teresa to
the United States and, instead of building a new life with her, forced her into commercial
sex, took all the money she was paid, and intimidated her with threats of deportation and
humiliation before her family. His threats not only instilled fear in Teresa and coerced her into exploitation; they also
convinced her she was a criminal for violating federal immigration and local anti-prostitution laws.
There are people like Teresa trapped in compelled service all over the world who fear that justice systems will punish
them, rather than convict and incarcerate their traffickers—and in reality their fears are often justified. Teresa ultimately
stood before a judge in a case against her trafficker and shared her experience in a court of law. What’s more, she saw her
trafficker convicted and sentenced to jail, and she received an award of restitution for the money he made by exploiting
her. When the case was over, I was able to return to Teresa a picture she had carried with her to the United States of her
grandmother, who had since passed away—a memory of her prior life. While governments can never fully reverse the
trauma of human trafficking, they can help survivors pursue the justice they deserve and return to a life of their choosing,
a life with dignity and free will.
When I engage with representatives of foreign governments, I often speak with police, investigators, prosecutors, and
judges. I commend those who are fearless in the fight against human trafficking—those who courageously take on the
tough cases, those who argue for stringent sentences for criminals and restitution for victims, and those who do so
while ensuring that victims are treated with dignity. A victim-centered and trauma-informed approach requires, first and
foremost, that the criminal justice system not penalize victims of human trafficking when they are forced to commit crimes
as a direct result of their exploitation. When forced criminality takes place as part of the scheme, victims should not be
further punished by the very system meant to protect them; and when they are, their convictions should be expunged
and they should receive support and the comprehensive services to which they are entitled.
In my time serving as Ambassador-at-Large, I have had the incredible honor of meeting inspiring individuals who fight
each day to end modern slavery. I have seen first-hand how those on the ground in countries around the world implement
effective strategies to combat human trafficking. Having the benefit and honor of these experiences, I am confident that
we are closer than ever to creating strong communities where justice and freedom prevail.

Sincerely,

Susan Coppedge
Ambassador-at-Large to Monitor
and Combat Trafficking in Persons

4

CONTENTS
ENHANCING CRIMINAL ACCOUNTABILIT Y AND
ADDRESSING CHALLENGES IN PROSECUTION EFFORTS
Scope and Efficacy of National Anti-Trafficking Laws

1
2

Criminal Accountability and Strong Deterrence 4
Common Challenges in the Pursuit of Justice 6

TOPICS OF SPECIAL INTEREST
Paying to Work: The High Cost of Recruitment Fees
Human Trafficking: A Public Health Perspective
Assisting Male Survivors of Human Trafficking
Engaging Survivors of Human Trafficking
Online Sexual Exploitation of Children: An Alarming Trend
Media Reporting on Human Trafficking

WHAT IS TRAFFICKING IN PERSONS?
The Face of Modern Slavery

14
18
22
30
32
33

17
17

CHILD SOLDIERS PRE VENTION ACT LIST

20

ME THODOLOGY 25
Tier Placement
Government Accountability Office Report
A Guide to the Tiers
Funding Restrictions for Tier 3 Countries

25
27
28
29

GLOBAL L AW ENFORCEMENT DATA

34

T VPA MINIMUM STANDARDS

38

2017 TIP REPORT HEROES

40

TIER PL ACEMENTS AND REGIONAL MAPS

45

HOW TO RE AD A COUNTRY NARRATIVE

54

COUNTRY NARRATIVES

55

RELE VANT INTERNATIONAL CONVENTIONS

438

STOPPING HUMAN TRAFFICKING, SE XUAL E XPLOITATION, AND
ABUSE BY INTERNATIONAL PE ACEKEEPERS & CIVILIAN PERSONNEL 439
INTERNATIONAL , REGIONAL , AND SUB-REGIONAL ORGANIZ ATIONS
COMBATING TRAFFICKING IN PERSONS 440
GLOSSARY OF ABBRE VIATIONS

4 42

PHOTO CREDITS

443

CLOSING NOTE

444

This Report is available at www.state.gov/j/tip

A police officer keeps watch
over a brothel in Peru. When law
enforcement officers moonlight as
security for brothels, they are often
complicit in sex trafficking and
other illicit activities.

The scale of human trafficking is atrocious. The silence that
conceals this crime is disgraceful. We have to speak out because
the victims are living in fear for their lives. We have to raise our
voices for them. That means confronting the social and economic
conditions that abet this crime. It means arresting the traffickers.
And above all, it means protecting the victims.”
– Former United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon
6

2017 TRAFFICKING IN PERSONS REPORT

ENHANCING CRIMINAL ACCOUNTABILITY
AND ADDRESSING CHALLENGES IN
PROSECUTION EFFORTS

T

he modern anti-trafficking movement commenced in earnest with the adoption of the Palermo Protocol in 2000, and since
then has grown substantially. Governments have made progress and continue to work to pass and implement legislation
criminalizing all forms of human trafficking, collaborate with civil society and human trafficking survivors to strengthen victim
protections at the policy and grassroots levels, and take prevention measures and raise public awareness about the dangers
and indicators of modern slavery.

While this progress is encouraging, traffickers around the world continue to exploit millions of victims in forced labor and sex trafficking.
This multi-billion dollar industry destroys families and communities, weakens the rule of law, strengthens criminal networks, and
offends universal concepts of human decency.

Although support from civil society and international organizations has led to more holistic and effective anti-trafficking solutions,
governments bear primary responsibility for addressing human trafficking. That is why the Trafficking in Persons (TIP) Report annually
measures government efforts across the 3P paradigm of prosecuting traffickers, protecting victims, and preventing the crime.
In the last five years, the Introduction to this Report has examined the protection and prevention elements of this paradigm to enhance
understanding of the crime and highlight global trends and achievements in combating it. For instance, the Report has explained the
importance of using a victim-centered approach to identify and protect victims, and also to effectively prosecute trafficking cases. It
has taken a hard look at the journey from victim to survivor and at the support survivors need to reclaim their lives. And it has profiled
a wide range of effective strategies to prevent human trafficking, including by examining vulnerabilities in global supply chains.
This year’s Introduction focuses on prosecution efforts—the distinct responsibility governments bear under the Palermo Protocol to
criminalize human trafficking in all its forms and to prosecute and hold offenders accountable for their crimes.
Human trafficking is not analogous to migrant smuggling (a crime against a state by which an individual voluntarily enters into an
agreement with another party to gain illegal entry into a foreign country) or employment-related wage and hour abuses (administrative
violations of labor law). Under the minimum standards for the elimination of human trafficking under the Trafficking Victims Protection
Act (TVPA), an effective criminal justice response to human trafficking should treat the prosecution of cases as seriously as other grave
crimes, such as kidnapping or rape, and impose consequences that are severe enough to be a deterrent.

V IC TI M
S T OR I E S

The victims’ testimonies included in this Report are meant to
be illustrative and to characterize the many forms of trafficking
and the wide variety of places in which they occur. They do not
reflect all forms of human trafficking and could take place almost
anywhere in the world. Many of the victims’ names have been
changed in this Report. Most photographs are not images of
confirmed trafficking victims. They illustrate the myriad forms
of exploitation that comprise human trafficking and the variety
of situations in which trafficking victims are found.
1

I N DI A | U N ITED
K I NGDOM

Vihaan, a maritime machinist, accepted a job in the oil industry on
a boat off the coast of the United Kingdom, thinking the sacrifice of
leaving his family would be worth the money he could send home to
support them. Once he arrived, the job was not as promised. Vihaan
was not paid and had to work long hours under difficult conditions.
When the Indian owner of the vessel abandoned the ship due to unpaid
debts, he left the crew stranded with their wages unpaid. Vihaan and
his crewmates decided they would not desert the ship until they had
been paid, and waited seven months before the Indian bank that
owned the ship agreed to settle the unpaid wages.

Effective anti-trafficking law enforcement efforts are challenging. Human trafficking often unfolds in various stages and over extended
periods of time, typically involving multiple actors. Human trafficking is a hidden crime, in which perpetrators take advantage of
power imbalances and coerce and intimidate their victims into silence. Victims of trafficking may not know they are entitled to
legal protection and may fear being prosecuted or punished for crimes or immigration violations committed as a direct result of the
trafficking scheme. Even if a victim initially consents to enter into a situation in which exploitation later occurs, or to participate in
criminal acts during such exploitation, such consent is legally irrelevant under the Palermo Protocol once that person is subjected
to compelled service through force, fraud, or coercion. In all of these scenarios, law enforcement must collect evidence to enable
prosecutors to prove suspects intended to exploit someone, often with few, if any, corroborating witnesses. Where the crime takes
place across multiple countries, governments may face additional challenges securing international cooperation, as well as jurisdiction,
to effectively investigate and prosecute trafficking crimes.
The pages that follow examine the importance of a comprehensive anti-trafficking law, the need for criminal accountability with
strong deterrent effects, and some of the challenges governments face in investigating and prosecuting human trafficking crimes.

Scope and Efficacy of National Anti-Trafficking Laws

The primary tool needed for effective prosecution of trafficking cases is a comprehensive anti-trafficking law that clearly defines the
crime consistent with international law—specifying the acts, means, and ends. Such laws set the framework for all national antitrafficking efforts. They give authority to law enforcement initiatives and provide clarity to justice sector officials so they can use the
provisions during the investigation and prosecution of suspected trafficking crimes.
As it relates to prosecution and law enforcement, a strong anti-trafficking law includes:
§§

The criminalization of all forms of trafficking in persons.

§§ A
 clear definition of human trafficking that describes the acts, means, and ends, as distinct from related crimes—such as
migrant smuggling, prostitution, kidnapping, organ trafficking, or illegal adoption.
§§

 enalties of imprisonment for the commission of trafficking crimes that are commensurate with those for other serious
P
crimes, such as rape or kidnapping.

§§ A
 mandate setting forth clear roles and responsibilities for relevant government agencies or ministries, including with
respect to inter-ministerial coordination of anti-trafficking policies.
Strong, comprehensive anti-trafficking laws signal governments’ commitment not to tolerate human trafficking and give law
enforcement and prosecutors the tools needed to secure convictions and justice for victims.

2

HUMAN TRAFFICKING
DEFINED
The TVPA defines “severe forms of trafficking in persons”
as:
nn

s ex trafficking in which a commercial sex act is induced by
force, fraud, or coercion, or in which the person induced to
perform such an act has not attained 18 years of age; or

nn

t he recruitment, harboring, transportation, provision, or
obtaining of a person for labor or services, through the use
of force, fraud, or coercion for the purpose of subjection to
involuntary servitude, peonage, debt bondage, or slavery.

A Burmese teenage girl who
worked in a shrimp-peeling
shed receives support services
at a shelter in Thailand. Children
are exploited in forced labor
around the world.

A victim need not be physically transported from one
location to another for the crime to fall within this definition.

It’s an issue that cuts across
class, race, and even gender.
Both boys and girls are
exploited in this way.”
– Kansas sex trafficking victim

3

Criminal Accountability and Strong Deterrence

In addition to protecting victims from retribution or re-victimization, an effective criminal justice response brings traffickers to justice
both to punish them for their crimes and to deter others. Yet, in many countries, governments struggle to hold perpetrators of human
trafficking criminally accountable and, even when convictions are obtained, they sometimes impose suspended sentences, fines, or
administrative penalties in place of prison sentences.
As noted above, a strong anti-trafficking response should recognize the serious nature of trafficking in persons and impose punishments
commensurate with those prescribed for other serious crimes in a given country, such as rape and kidnapping. For example, in 2015,
courts in Lithuania convicted 17 traffickers and sentenced all of them to time in prison, with terms ranging from three to eight years’
imprisonment, which are commensurate with penalties for other serious crimes. Lithuania also amended its criminal code in 2014
to ensure child sex traffickers tried on prostitution charges could not benefit from lighter sentences. That amendment increased
the prescribed penalties for profiting from prostitution and removed a provision permitting judges to consider whether a child had
consented, better reflecting the requirements of international law that children cannot consent to sex trafficking. In addition to offering
justice to victims of exploitation, strict penalties can serve as a stronger deterrent for would-be traffickers.
Yet many governments do not impose sentences that include adequate jail time. Judicial officials in many countries frequently impose
suspended sentences, fines, or administrative penalties on human traffickers. These less severe punishments can result from broader
sentencing guidelines, lack of understanding regarding the crime of human trafficking, systemic inefficiencies in criminal justice
systems, or socio-cultural considerations, among other reasons. In other countries, human trafficking laws allow judges to impose
a fine in lieu of incarceration, a practice that can limit the potential for a true deterrent effect for the defendant and other traffickers.
Traffickers who have exploited others for profit often have the means to pay fines, which become a mere cost of doing business.
While cultural perceptions of criminal justice may create disparities in the way countries assess and penalize suspected criminals,
the Palermo Protocol, to which 170 States are party, does not allow for cultural variations. For example, access to justice should
be extended to all victims regardless of age or gender, and to vulnerable populations that may typically experience discrimination.
Similarly, the prosecution of trafficking cases should move forward regardless of the gender of the trafficker. The judicial system
should prioritize both sex trafficking and labor trafficking cases, and adult and male victims as well as women and children.
For example, in recent years, the Government of Bahrain began to criminally prosecute potential labor law violations that rose to
the level of human trafficking. In 2014, Bahrain’s Ministry of Labor referred 63 such cases for prosecution out of 427 pending labor
violations. Previously, none of these types of cases were investigated under the criminal law but were treated administratively. This
improvement in sanctioning labor traffickers is significant and provides a greater deterrent effect.
Ideally, and consistent with the Palermo Protocol, a victim-centered legal framework should also authorize court-ordered restitution
or compensation to victims in conjunction with the successful conviction of traffickers. Several governments have gone further to
make restitution mandatory to provide victims with monetary support for damages suffered. In 2015, a judge in Guyana sentenced
a convicted trafficker to a three-year prison sentence and required her to pay the victim restitution—the first time a court ordered
restitution by a trafficker in that country. In Switzerland, 28 victims received restitution payments from their traffickers following

SY R I A |
LEBA NON

Maya was 22 when she fled her home country of
Syria due to conflict in the region. She was promised
a job working in a factory in Lebanon, but when
she arrived she was forced into commercial sex
along with more than 70 other Syrian women.
They endured severe physical and psychological
violence. Eventually, police raided the apartment
units the women lived in and arrested 10 men
and eight women who had been part of the sex
trafficking scheme.

4

An aluminum sorter in
Bangladesh works with
only a scarf to protect
himself from dangerous
fumes and aluminum
dust. Many workers
in dangerous sectors
do not receive proper
safety equipment,
which puts them at risk
for workplace injuries
and long-term health
problems.

5

I N DI A | N E W
ZE A L A N D

An internally displaced person picks cotton in
Syria with her child on her back. Traffickers often
prey on those without security or opportunities,
coerce and deceive them, and then profit from
their compelled service.

Rajiv arrived in New Zealand on a student visa to enroll in
a business management program. Before courses started,
he travelled to the Bay of Plenty, where he knew there was
agricultural work, to earn extra money for school expenses.
He soon found himself in a situation he could not leave. His
employers forced him to use fake identification documents so
he could work 80-hour weeks illegally in kiwi fruit orchards.
Rajiv and other migrant workers lived in fear of being deported
or kidnapped if they complained about the grueling work.
Rajiv’s employer refused to give him his promised wages.
After several months, Rajiv escaped the orchards and sought
assistance from the New Zealand authorities.

their 2015 convictions. In March 2015, a court in Australia ordered a convicted trafficker to pay the equivalent of $134,000 in back
wages and interest to the Indian national he had subjected to forced labor. In many other instances, however, even in countries with
well-developed justice systems, courts do not award restitution during criminal sentencing and, in some cases, prosecutors fail to
request restitution on behalf of victims.

Common Challenges in the Pursuit of Justice

Effective anti-trafficking law enforcement efforts are inherently challenging and even the most effective governments struggle to
address the crime comprehensively. Worldwide convictions of human traffickers listed in this year’s Report were fewer than 10,000,
while estimates of the number of victims of human trafficking remain in the tens of millions. Even with the low numbers of convictions,
however, many criminal justice systems around the world are faced with cases that exceed their processing capacity. Limited funding
and poor training for personnel impede the investigation of many types of crimes, including human trafficking. Often, the time and
resources that do exist are stretched across competing priorities. These challenges must be addressed head on.

Barriers to Building a Strong Case

Building a strong human trafficking case can be complex and unwieldy. In many instances, police officials begin an investigation with
a single victim who often may be the only witness who can describe the force, fraud, or coercion experienced in the course of his or
her victimization. Officials must then gather evidence to corroborate that testimony, which is often a challenging and time-consuming
process. It is vital that law enforcement is sufficiently trained on how to corroborate the victim’s testimony and how to gather evidence
to prove a suspect’s intent to exploit a person in forced labor or sex trafficking. In addition, investigators and prosecutors should work
together during the investigation stage to ensure the necessary evidence is collected and any weaknesses in the case are addressed
as early as possible. Inadequate or incomplete evidence is often to blame for the lack of successful trafficking cases around the world.
In response to certain issues in evidence collection, governments in some countries have increased coordination between police and
prosecutors. In South Africa, the National Prosecuting Authority leads national anti-trafficking efforts, with prosecutors overseeing
provincial anti-trafficking taskforces—allowing them to lead provincial law enforcement efforts and trainings for respective police
and community personnel country-wide, further building the expertise and network of trained professionals.
Law enforcement and judicial officials need advanced training to develop appropriate investigation and evidence-processing techniques.
In Ukraine, the Prosecutor General issued a directive in 2017 to give human trafficking investigations priority access to surveillance
resources. In Cambodia, local organizations and even some officials acknowledge an urgent need for the law to authorize sophisticated
evidence-collection techniques, including undercover investigations, wiretaps, and the ability to seek search warrants. These
techniques can help law enforcement decrease reliance on witness testimony and adapt to the increasingly clandestine nature of
human trafficking in Cambodia. Without such authority, law enforcement is limited in its ability to investigate these cases and is

6

2017 TRAFFICKING IN PERSONS REPORT
An Iraqi girl cleans the window
of a car stopped at a traffic light.
Children are vulnerable to forced
labor, such as in street begging,
throughout the world.

I never thought there was
human trafficking [in Ohio].
The problem was in front of
my eyes. I just did not pay
attention.”
– Imam Talal Eid, Islamic Center of Greater Toledo

forced to close them when evidence cannot be obtained. In many other countries, the challenge lies in collecting and processing
forensic evidence that can be lawfully admitted in court proceedings.

Delays in Prosecution

In many countries, backlogs in the courts or with over-burdened law enforcement personnel delay prosecutions and slow the delivery
of justice. Many governments lack adequate personnel to handle time-intensive trafficking cases or face high personnel turnover of
those officials with experience to prosecute them. Significant delays in prosecution can discourage victims from testifying or pursuing
a case, or may have the practical result that the individual is no longer in the country or available to assist law enforcement or testify
at trial. Worse, these delays can allow traffickers to continue exploiting, threatening, or intimidating victims, including survivors
whose testimony is necessary to achieve a conviction.

With limited resources and staff, some governments have made efforts to designate specialized prosecutors to manage anti-trafficking
caseloads, a step that facilitates the development of expertise on the investigation and prosecution of complex trafficking cases and
allows for continued attention to combating this crime. For example, a specialized prosecutor would understand why a trafficking
victim may initially lie to law enforcement about the facts of the crime or even describe a willing involvement in the trafficking scheme.
An inexperienced prosecutor may see a reluctant or untruthful witness as an impediment to prosecution, instead of seeing evidence
of the trafficker’s success in controlling the victim such that he or she does not feel safe confiding in law enforcement. Specialized
prosecutors better understand how to navigate these challenges.
In Botswana, after the passage of the 2014 Anti-Human Trafficking Act, the Directorate of Public Prosecutions designated a prosecutor
to specialize in building trafficking prosecutions. Such specialized staff understand the intricacies and issues that routinely arise
in a trafficking case and can share this information with other judicial sector officials through routine trainings and case work.
Specialized prosecutors also gain an understanding of the needs and demands on victim-witnesses and can develop specialized
mechanisms to assist them.
Supreme Court of the Philippines instituted the continuous trial system pilot project in 2014 to significantly expedite human
trafficking prosecutions. During its first year, the court completed seven trafficking cases in less than one year and it continued to
expedite trafficking prosecutions in subsequent years, even though some cases remain pending prosecution. By comparison, in 2013,
trafficking cases prosecuted in the Philippines took an average of three-and-a-half to five years to complete.
In some countries with a civil law system, trafficking is treated as a high crime, requiring trials at the high court level, which may not
convene regularly or address trafficking matters given other critical caseloads and limited resources. To address this, governments
should encourage high courts to hold routine sessions, fund special sessions to prevent or reduce case backlogs, or prioritize human
trafficking cases when setting court dates.

7

In our day...wars and conflicts have become the prime driver of trafficking in persons.
They provide an enabling environment for traffickers to operate, as persons fleeing
persecutions and conflicts are particularly vulnerable to being trafficked. Conflicts
have created conditions for terrorists, armed groups and transnational organized
crime networks to thrive in exploiting individuals and populations reduced to extreme
vulnerability by persecution and multiple forms of violence.”
– Archbishop Bernardito Auza, Permanent Observer of the Holy See to the United Nations

A refugee family arrives
in France. Refugees are
particularly vulnerable to
exploitation by traffickers.

8

2017 TRAFFICKING IN PERSONS REPORT
Mediation procedures, however, fall short of the Palermo
Protocol’s standards, which defines trafficking in persons as
a crime to be prosecuted, not a civil wrong to be remedied by
damages. In addition, terms of imprisonment commensurate
with the heinous nature of the crime are expected to serve as
a more effective deterrent than monetary damages or penalties
alone. Even in countries in which legal systems allow for both
civil and criminal cases to be brought against alleged traffickers,
the civil claim ideally occurs in addition to a criminal case, not
as an alternative. Governments must work to instill confidence
in criminal justice systems and hold perpetrators of human
trafficking accountable. Without prison sentences, human
traffickers will likely not be deterred effectively.

Complicity and Corruption

Non-Criminal Resolutions

A criminal investigation and trial may be time- and resourceintensive, with no guarantee of a conviction or financial
restitution. Lengthy judicial processes in turn can cause victims
to become frustrated and discouraged with the legal system;
victims who are traumatized and seek to move on with their lives
may simply stop participating if the investigation or prosecution
drags on too long. It is also often expensive for victims to travel
to and stay in cities where trials are located. Defendants may
seek to postpone or draw out a trial as a tactic, knowing that
victims may be unable economically or emotionally to continue
to participate and press their claims. Often the same realities
that make individuals vulnerable to human trafficking, including
economic pressures, discrimination, and a lack of agency,
persist when the trafficking scheme ends. Support services
and access to work authorization often allow victims to continue
participating in long trials.
Given all of these challenges, human trafficking victims
sometimes choose to mediate or settle their cases out-ofcourt, rather than participate in criminal proceedings. These
alternative venues are seen as speedier and more likely to
secure a positive result—in the form of financial compensation,
including monetary payments for back wages or labor law
violations. NGOs may even advise victims in some countries
to seek mediation over criminal investigations to avoid the
financial and emotional drain that may result where criminal
proceedings are not likely to result in a conviction. In other
instances, victims may prefer agreements on back wages or
damages through an out-of-court settlement rather than risk
the exposure and uncertainty of a criminal trial that, even if
successful, will fail to compensate the victim financially.
For example, in Laos, the government has encouraged victims
to cooperate with prosecutors, and the Lao Women’s Union has
made efforts to familiarize individual victims with the criminal
court process; however, in previous years, an overall lack of
incentives, resources, and lawyers made it difficult for victims
to fully participate in formal legal proceedings, which could be
lengthy and unlikely to include restitution awards. Rather than
support prosecution efforts in the courts, this situation led some
victims to choose traditional out-of-court mediation for faster
closure and financial redress.

Those who enforce the law are not above the law. Official
complicity is a problem that plagues many criminal justice
systems. In some countries, law enforcement personnel ignore
clear signs of exploitation or actively participate in or facilitate
human trafficking. Some police officials work when they are
off-duty as security guards at brothels or other establishments
where sex trafficking victims are exploited, making them
potentially complicit with traffickers and reducing the likelihood
victims would trust police enough to report such crimes. At
borders, some officials take bribes to allow illegal crossings of
trafficking victims or smuggled migrants who are vulnerable to
trafficking and may later face exploitation; others may produce
fraudulent documents for traffickers or their associates. Still
other government officials are culpable for using their positions
to facilitate or commit trafficking crimes for their own financial
gain or even exploit victims themselves, such as by subjecting
their household workers to domestic servitude or knowingly
purchasing commercial sex from trafficking victims.

Because of law enforcement officials’ unique position in
government, they are also able to obstruct investigations.
At times prompted by bribes or pressure from suspected
traffickers or complicit officials, some law enforcement officials
intentionally delay investigative efforts by slowing down
evidence processing and requesting adjournments, among
other practices. This can lengthen or delay the process and
the commencement of a trial. As noted earlier, delays increase
the burden on victims, including the financial burden, and may
discourage their continued participation in criminal trials.
These delays also allow traffickers and complicit officials more
time to intimidate witnesses and their families.
It is vital that governments investigate vigorously any signs
of official complicity and prosecute government and law
enforcement officials both for any involvement in the crime and
for related corrupt acts. Complicit government officials should
face criminal accountability and stringent sentences, not merely
reassignment or other administrative measures. Accountability
creates a strong deterrent for any other potentially complicit
officials. Publicly prosecuting corruption also builds trust
in government in general and law enforcement in particular,
and it can encourage victims and witnesses to report human
trafficking cases.
Many governments are taking locally appropriate measures
to respond to corruption and complicity. For example, in 2015,
Antigua and Barbuda’s Royal Police Force passed a new
standing order prohibiting police officers from engaging in
secondary employment at night clubs and strip clubs. This type
of secondary employment is common practice in the region,

9

but the government passed this order to avoid the appearance of police protection for these establishments. In 2013, Nepal’s anticorruption commission indicted 46 officials from the Departments of Foreign Employment and Immigration for issuing fraudulent
documents, a deterrent to others who might be tempted to facilitate human trafficking.
Governments can also encourage transparency as a means to uncover or deter official complicity and corruption, and empower
independent officials to investigate or report cases of official complicity in trafficking, as with anti-discrimination ombudsmen in
Finland and France. Dedicated anti-trafficking police units not only encourage the development of specialized skills among law
enforcement but can also serve to inoculate against broader corruption and complicity. Such units have been established in Chile,
Cyprus, Ukraine, Thailand, and South Africa, to name a few. Vetting members of such units through background checks and
security clearances provides additional safeguards against corruption and complicity.

Prosecution of All Criminally Culpable Parties

Given the far-reaching nature of many human trafficking schemes, cases often involve multiple actors—intermediaries and recruitment
agencies who entice people to leave their homes with promises of employment; truck or taxi drivers who transport potential victims;
smugglers who help people cross borders; enforcers who monitor and control victims; those who financially benefit from the
exploitation; and those who oversee the exploitation itself—the club, brothel or hotel owner, factory or farm manager, mine operator
or ship captain, among others.

All such persons, if knowingly involved, are criminally culpable. Human traffickers are not only the individuals overseeing the
exploitation of victims or the chief conspirators orchestrating the scheme. Any intermediary involved in the recruitment or
transportation process, if aware of the intended exploitation of victims of sex or labor trafficking, is responsible and should be held
criminally liable. Similarly, those who knowingly purchase or procure a commercial sex act from a victim of sex trafficking are also
human traffickers.
For example, intermediaries in some areas recruit women with offers of ostensibly legitimate work abroad, only to later force them
into labor or sex trafficking. These recruiters, however, often act in concert with traffickers in destination cities or countries and know
what conditions await the women. When the exploitation is uncovered—usually in the destination country—victims can only identify
the recruiter who originally deceived them and not the main trafficker and organizer. Worse yet, victims who are repatriated from
exploitation abroad often return to the same places where they were recruited and may experience intimidation by intermediaries
who were directly involved in their trafficking but were not held accountable. The lack of investigation and prosecution leaves the
victim susceptible to retaliation, and also inhibits some victims from reporting their exploitation to authorities and participating in
trials against their traffickers.
Governments should improve efforts to detect and prosecute all who are knowingly involved in perpetrating trafficking crimes and
exploiting victims, including through robust investigations that reveal the tactics of the scheme, track the individuals in the criminal
organization, and follow the monetary payments.
In many instances, officials may assume that intermediaries are not conspirators or are unaware of what will happen to the workers
they recruit or transport, and thus that the intermediaries are not liable for prosecution. Careful investigation of all those in the
trafficking network is essential to ensure perpetrators at all levels are held accountable for their involvement in trafficking crimes
and as a deterrent measure to discourage others from assuming these roles.

These are people living in some of the most horrifying conditions imaginable.
We see children forced to make bricks in Peru, disentangle fishing nets in
Ghana, or sold into prostitution in Southeast Asia. We see men held captive on
fishing boats off the coast of Thailand, or women trapped as domestic workers
in the Persian Gulf. No country is immune from this crisis.”
– Nikki Haley, U.S. Permanent Representative to the United Nations

10

2017 TRAFFICKING IN PERSONS REPORT
Regardless of whether law enforcement officials can establish an intermediary had knowledge of the intended exploitation, they
should question such intermediaries as part of an investigation to understand the larger scheme, and to ensure justice and security
for victims. In a case in the United States, New York state authorities charged several defendants with sex trafficking and money
laundering in 2012; they also charged six cab drivers for their role in transporting the victims and finding new customers, pursuing
every intermediary responsible for supporting the sex trafficking operation, as well as the purchasers.
Authorities can also raise awareness in communities where recruiters frequently operate, by alerting those likely to be targets of the
false promises that can lead to their victimization. Being active in vulnerable communities may also help law enforcement identify
victims who can help establish a pattern of behavior by recruiters and prove the requisite intent to support a criminal conviction. The
Philippine Overseas Employment Administration undertakes robust awareness-raising efforts so Filipino overseas workers can
identify warning signs of illegal or unscrupulous recruitment practices. Well-informed overseas workers, in turn, provide information
to the Agency that enables it to identify and investigate proactively suspicious recruitment activities. In 2015, the Agency investigated
98 cases of illegal recruitment involving 231 complainants. This resulted in the closure of 12 non-licensed establishments and the
referral of 84 cases for criminal investigation.
Undertaking robust efforts to investigate and prosecute all intermediaries and actors knowingly involved in the perpetration of
trafficking crimes is essential to deterring trafficking crimes from taking place and holding all perpetrators accountable. Many
countries’ trafficking laws have provisions penalizing collaborators and accomplices, specifically outlining different punishments for
those involved to varying degrees in the separate portions of the crime. Thus, governments should look to use anti-trafficking laws
to prosecute all those knowingly engaged in the full range of offenses covered by these laws.

Need for Bilateral and Multilateral Cooperation

Human trafficking occurs in virtually every country in the world and often crosses borders. While the crime of human trafficking
does not require movement either within or across borders, cases often involve movement between source, transit, and destination
countries. This is especially true in an increasingly interconnected global economy, with migration on the rise. People seeking
opportunity or fleeing conflict frequently transit several countries and face vulnerabilities to human trafficking along the way. Others,
recruited from their homes, are moved by intermediaries and exploiters, sometimes including migrant smugglers, en route to third
countries where they face exploitation. Traffickers often capitalize on the lack of cooperation between governments to hide the full
scope of their criminal enterprise. The transnational nature of many trafficking crimes requires increased efforts by governments
to cooperate with each other. Governments must adhere to their obligations under Articles 2 and 10 of the Palermo Protocol, which
require cooperation and information-sharing among governments’ law enforcement, immigration, and other relevant authorities to
investigate and prosecute trafficking.
Source-country governments report challenges in investigating and prosecuting trafficking crimes in which victims encounter
exploitation on the other side of the border. Destination- and transit-country governments report an inability to collect evidence
proving fraud or coercion in the initial recruitment scheme. In addition, jurisdictional questions often pose significant challenges to
law enforcement efforts. However, there are promising efforts to cooperate internationally. In 2016, with support from Sri Lanka,
Nepal sent a team of police and other officials from the ministries of labor, foreign affairs, and social welfare to Sri Lanka’s capital
city Colombo to investigate allegations that human traffickers and migrant smugglers were increasingly using Sri Lanka as a transit
point for Nepali women to be exploited in other countries. In collaboration with the Sri Lankan police, the Nepali team found and
helped send home 19 stranded migrant workers.

K U WA IT

Nicole left her impoverished family to work as a maid in
Kuwait with the intention of sending her earnings back
home. For nine months she worked constantly, suffered
physical and verbal abuse, and received no pay. When
her work visa expired, her employer took Nicole to the
police and falsely accused her of a petty crime. Nicole
tried to explain her innocence and reported that she
had not been paid and had been abused over the past
nine months. The police did not listen and instead jailed
Nicole for six months. After her time in jail, Nicole was
deported and returned home without any compensation.

11

I had no holidays or rest days …
We had to prepare gear, fix
cables, stitch the nets. It was
constant, constant.”
– Omol, Irish fishing industry trafficking victim

The government of Kazakhstan jointly investigated 17 cases related to trafficking in cooperation with several foreign governments,
including the Kyrgyz Republic, Uzbekistan, Russia, and Tajikistan during the 2016 reporting period. In St. Lucia, police investigators
cooperated with the United States, Bangladesh, and the United Kingdom in the course of investigating three men from India and
one from Bangladesh who were charged with subjecting nine individuals to forced labor in the hospitality industry. The government
recently initiated prosecution of all four defendants. In a sex tourism case involving the United Kingdom and India, a state-level law
enforcement agency in India cooperated with law enforcement in the United Kingdom to prosecute a British defendant. Similarly,
law enforcement authorities from the United States and Mexico conduct coordinated, bilateral law enforcement actions under the
U.S.-Mexico Bilateral Human Trafficking Enforcement Initiative to dismantle human trafficking networks operating across their
shared border. In 2015, the two governments simultaneously apprehended eight defendants in both countries and charged them with
operating a sex trafficking enterprise. The governments then collaborated to secure the extradition to the United States in 2016 of
the five defendants apprehended in Mexico.
Many trafficking laws also include provisions allowing for extra-territorial jurisdiction, allowing governments to investigate their
citizens responsible for trafficking crimes abroad. For instance, in the United States, Portugal, Qatar, and Sweden, laws prohibiting
sexual crimes against children have extra-territorial reach allowing for the prosecution of suspected child sex tourists who are those
countries' nationals for offenses committed while abroad.
In addition to leveraging member state expertise and resources, multilateral organizations generate momentum to develop global,
regional, and domestic strategies to help dismantle trafficking networks and empower vulnerable populations. INTERPOL publishes
notices requesting cooperation or issuing alerts to member countries that allow national police to share critical crime-related
information. For instance, a green notice provides warnings and intelligence about persons who have committed criminal offenses
and are likely to repeat these crimes in other countries. UNODC, charged with promoting implementation of the Palermo Protocol,
convenes government experts to collaborate on emerging human trafficking issues, and provides technical assistance to governments
upon request. Additionally, UNODC maintains a public case law database with more than 1,400 human trafficking cases from around
the world as well as a case digest to assist criminal law and other practitioners interested in how evidentiary issues are addressed
in other jurisdictions.
Multilateral and regional organizations also work to foster consensus among their member states on common goals, commitments, and
norms; and they can help standardize research and data collection methods at the regional and sub-regional levels. The Association
of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) is one example of multilateral leadership where consensus-building led to the development and
adoption of a new legally-binding regional instrument. The ASEAN Convention against Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and
Children, which entered into force on March 8, 2017, provides a framework for Member States to enter into direct law enforcement
cooperation on human trafficking cases. Multilateral fora also frequently provide a venue for member states, civil society, academia,
the private sector, and survivors to exchange information on experiences and challenges, including identifying new and emerging
issues related to human trafficking.
As with every aspect of combating human trafficking, collaboration can leverage expertise, resources, and capacity, which lead to
better overall outcomes in law enforcement and victim protection.

Conclusion

Human trafficking is an assault on human dignity and should be penalized accordingly. No government can hold human traffickers
accountable or address the needs of victims without stringent and comprehensive human trafficking laws, strong law enforcement
and prosecutorial capacity funded with adequate resources, and an informed judiciary. Victims of human trafficking deserve timely
and meaningful access to justice through a system that respects rule of law and due process rights. Without these measures, human
trafficking will continue to flourish.
While governments cannot undo the pain and indignity victims face, they can seek to right those wrongs through official
acknowledgment of injustice and by prosecuting, convicting, and sentencing traffickers and those complicit in human trafficking. In
taking these measures, governments provide justice for victims, create more stable societies to keep the vulnerable safe, and work
towards a world free from modern slavery.

12

2017 TRAFFICKING IN PERSONS REPORT

Countries in the 2017 TIP Report that are not States Parties to the Protocol to Prevent,
Suppress and Punish Trafficking In Persons, Especially Women and Children,
supplementing the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime
Bangladesh
Bhutan
Brunei
Comoros
Congo, Republic of
Fiji
Iran

Japan
Korea (DPRK)
Marshall Islands
Nepal
Pakistan
Palau

Papua New Guinea
Solomon Islands
Somalia
South Sudan
Tonga
Uganda
Yemen

Between April 2016 and March 2017, the Maldives became party to the Protocol.

V ENEZUELA |
TR INIDA D A ND
TOBAGO

Working with a recruiter in Venezuela, Sarah accepted a job in
a nursing home in Trinidad and Tobago. She was thrilled by the
chance to earn more money, yet nervous that she had to leave
her home and did not have enough experience in elder care.
When Maria arrived in Trinidad and Tobago, she realized she had
been deceived. The recruiter informed her she owed a large debt,
and instead of working at a nursing home, she was forced into
prostitution at a local hotel bar. Her recruiter confiscated most of
her earnings each night.

13

PAYING TO WORK: THE HIGH COST OF RECRUITMENT FEES
Each year, millions of workers turn to or are approached by labor intermediaries—recruiters, agents, or brokers—who facilitate the movement of labor
to satisfy global demand. As globalization increasingly drives markets toward temporary or seasonal contract work that depends on labor mobility
and flexibility, the importance of the recruitment industry grows.
Labor intermediaries function as a bridge between workers and employers and, at their best, can provide helpful guidance and assist in matching
workers with jobs and in arranging visas and documentation, medical checkups, pre-departure orientation, training, and travel. These intermediaries
can range from licensed and legitimate to informal and unregulated, and increasingly, to criminal.

The International Labor Organization recognizes the important function of recruitment in a globalized world, but
cautions against its use in ways that harm workers:
Recruitment should respond to established labor market needs, and not serve as a means to displace or
diminish an existing workforce, to lower labor standards, wages, or working conditions, or to otherwise
undermine decent work.
Around the world, workers and advocates report that unscrupulous recruiters often use misleading and fraudulent practices to take advantage of
workers, especially those who do not have access to information about job opportunities and their rights. In many cases, workers also lack access
to remedies when they experience exploitation.
Dishonest recruiters employ a variety of practices that ultimately undermine decent working conditions: they mislead workers about the conditions and
nature of a job, engage in contract switching, and confiscate or destroy workers’ identity documents to prevent them from leaving. Another common
practice—charging workers fees to access job opportunities or cover the costs of recruitment—is a dominant model of recruitment in much of the
world that contributes to the facilitation of crimes such as corruption and bribery and puts workers at risk of exploitation, including human trafficking.

WORKER-PAID RECRUITMENT FEES
In many cases, low-wage workers borrow large sums of money to cover the cost of recruitment fees, which can amount to anywhere from several
hundreds to tens of thousands of dollars. Misled by promises of high wages, workers may borrow money from family or predatory lenders, or mortgage
their homes or land, believing that they can easily repay their debts upon employment. These fees, which may also be combined with unfair and
excessive interest rates, mean workers spend a period of time—sometimes years—working exclusively to repay what they owe.
When workers are charged recruitment fees, they become vulnerable to a variety of abuses, including debt bondage, a form of human trafficking in
which individuals are forced to give up most or all of their salary until their debts are repaid. Individuals who carry debts that must be repaid with
their wages are reluctant to complain to an employer or law enforcement, or leave the job. Workers may endure abusive conditions for fear of losing
their job and defaulting on their debts. In many cases, unpaid debt results in threats to family members or loss of family property, adding further
pressure for workers to stay in exploitative conditions.

ENFORCING GOVERNMENT REGULATION AND PRIVATE SECTOR POLICIES
Currently, the loosely defined “recruitment industry” is ripe for creating conditions of exploitation. Existing laws often fail to assign any responsibility
to recruitment agents to protect workers, and governments do not actively monitor recruiters or require remediation when recruiters use fraudulent
practices to exploit workers. In those countries where recruitment fees are prohibited, governments often do not robustly enforce such prohibitions.
In many cases, it can be difficult to prove that recruiters or recruitment agencies were aware of the exploitative circumstances in which the worker
eventually ended up—and, even if they do not knowingly contribute to a human trafficking scheme, their actions can significantly contribute to the
vulnerability of the worker. Because holding recruiters criminally accountable is challenging, the enforcement of regulations on abusive recruitment
practices is all the more important.
For many businesses, the use of recruiters is a necessity and therefore should be treated as any operating cost, but using recruitment methods that
ultimately pass these costs on to workers is both unfair and unsustainable. All employers, including those who contract with governments, should
bear the cost and responsibility of using recruiters and should support and work closely with licensed recruitment agents to prohibit unscrupulous
recruitment practices. Employers should be willing to pay higher costs for agencies that effectively implement measures to prevent exploitation
and governments should promote policies that protect workers, enforce labor regulations, and prosecute criminals who knowingly exploit the
vulnerability of workers.

14

A boy processes animal hide inside
a factory in Dhaka, Bangladesh.
Working in tanneries is often
hazardous due to dangerous
machinery and toxic chemicals.

In recent years, there has been growing consensus that, throughout their supply chains, both governments and the private sector should prohibit
the practice of charging recruitment fees to workers:
§§

I n 2016, worker, employer, and government representatives to the ILO negotiated and adopted non-binding general principles and
operational guidelines for fair recruitment. The ILO identified governments as having the ultimate responsibility for advancing fair
recruitment, and included the principle that “No recruitment fees or related costs should be charged to, or otherwise borne by,
workers or jobseekers.”

§§

I n 2011, the Dhaka Principles for migration with dignity included as its first principle that no fees should be charged to migrant
workers.

§§

T he United States’ 2015 Federal Acquisition Regulation, Ending Trafficking in Persons, prohibits federal contractors from charging
workers recruitment fees, among other misleading and fraudulent recruitment practices.

§§

T he International Organization for Migration is developing the International Recruitment Integrity System (IRIS) to provide a platform
for addressing unfair recruitment. Accreditation to the program will be based on recruiters’ adherence to certain principles, one of
which includes a prohibition on charging fees to job seekers.

§§

T he Consumer Goods Forum, a global network of more than 400 retailers, manufacturers, and service providers representing some
$3.5 trillion in sales, adopted a policy in 2016 stating the employer should bear the cost of recruitment, not the worker.

§§

T he Leadership Group for Responsible Recruitment, convened by the Institute for Human Rights and Business, is a group of major
companies working together with experts to address the payment of recruitment fees by workers. Launched in 2016, the initiative
is based around the Employer Pays Principle, which states that “No worker should pay for a job. The costs of recruitment should be
borne not by the worker but by the employer.” The aim of the Group is the eradication of worker-paid fees over the coming decade.

Access to fair economic opportunity is critical not only to the livelihood of workers but also to preventing human trafficking. Labor intermediaries
can help connect workers and employers and should be compensated for this work. Too often, however, workers are forced to shoulder the cost of
their own recruitment, which makes them increasingly vulnerable to exploitation. Governments and the private sector can take actions to eliminate
this practice and help to create supply chains free from human trafficking.

15

16

2017 TRAFFICKING IN PERSONS REPORT

THE FACE OF MODERN SLAVERY
Sex Trafficking

When an adult engages in a commercial sex act, such as prostitution,
as the result of force, threats of force, fraud, coercion or any
combination of such means, that person is a victim of trafficking.
Under such circumstances, perpetrators involved in recruiting,
harboring, enticing, transporting, providing, obtaining, patronizing,
soliciting, or maintaining a person for that purpose are guilty of
sex trafficking of an adult. Sex trafficking also may occur through
a specific form of coercion whereby individuals are compelled
to continue in prostitution through the use of unlawful “debt,”
purportedly incurred through their transportation, recruitment, or
even their “sale”—which exploiters insist they must pay off before
they can be free. Even if an adult initially consents to participate
in prostitution it is irrelevant: if an adult, after consenting, is
subsequently held in service through psychological manipulation
or physical force, he or she is a trafficking victim and should receive
benefits outlined in the Palermo Protocol and applicable domestic
laws.

Child Sex Trafficking

When a child (under 18 years of age) is recruited, enticed, harbored,
transported, provided, obtained, patronized, solicited, or maintained
to perform a commercial sex act, proving force, fraud, or coercion is
not necessary for the offense to be prosecuted as human trafficking.
There are no exceptions to this rule: no cultural or socioeconomic
rationalizations alter the fact that children who are exploited in
prostitution are trafficking victims. The use of children in commercial
sex is prohibited under U.S. law and by statute in most countries
around the world. Sex trafficking has devastating consequences for
children, including long-lasting physical and psychological trauma,
disease (including HIV/AIDS), drug addiction, unwanted pregnancy,
malnutrition, social ostracism, and even death.

Forced Labor

Forced labor, sometimes also referred to as labor trafficking,
encompasses the range of activities—recruiting, harboring,
transporting, providing, or obtaining—involved when a person
uses force or physical threats, psychological coercion, abuse of
the legal process, deception, or other coercive means to compel
someone to work. Once a person’s labor is exploited by such
means, the person’s prior consent to work for an employer is legally
irrelevant: the employer is a trafficker and the employee a trafficking
victim. Migrants are particularly vulnerable to this form of human
trafficking, but individuals also may be forced into labor in their
own countries. Female victims of forced or bonded labor, especially
women and girls in domestic servitude, are often sexually abused
or exploited as well.

Bonded Labor or Debt Bondage

One form of coercion used by traffickers in both sex trafficking
and forced labor is the imposition of a bond or debt. Some workers
inherit debt; for example, in South Asia it is estimated that there
are millions of trafficking victims working to pay off their ancestors’
debts. Others fall victim to traffickers or recruiters who unlawfully
exploit an initial debt assumed, wittingly or unwittingly, as a term of
employment. Traffickers, labor agencies, recruiters, and employers in
both the country of origin and the destination country can contribute

to debt bondage by charging workers recruitment fees and exorbitant
interest rates, making it difficult, if not impossible, to pay off the
debt. Such circumstances may occur in the context of employmentbased temporary work programs in which a worker’s legal status
in the destination country is tied to the employer so workers fear
seeking redress.

Domestic Servitude

Involuntary domestic servitude is a form of human trafficking found
in distinct circumstances—work in a private residence—that create
unique vulnerabilities for victims. It is a crime in which a domestic
worker is not free to leave his or her employment and is abused and
underpaid, if paid at all. Many domestic workers do not receive the
basic benefits and protections commonly extended to other groups
of workers—things as simple as a day off. Moreover, their ability
to move freely is often limited, and employment in private homes
increases their isolation and vulnerability. Labor officials generally
do not have the authority to inspect employment conditions in private
homes. Domestic workers, especially women, confront various forms
of abuse, harassment, and exploitation, including sexual and genderbased violence. These issues, taken together, may be symptoms of
a situation of domestic servitude. When the employer of a domestic
worker has diplomatic status and enjoys immunity from civil and/
or criminal jurisdiction, the vulnerability to domestic servitude is
enhanced.

Forced Child Labor

Although children may legally engage in certain forms of work,
children can also be found in slavery or slavery-like situations.
Some indicators of forced labor of a child include situations in which
the child appears to be in the custody of a non-family member who
requires the child to perform work that financially benefits someone
outside the child’s family and does not offer the child the option of
leaving, such as forced begging. Anti-trafficking responses should
supplement, not replace, traditional actions against child labor, such
as remediation and education. When children are enslaved, their
exploiters should not escape criminal punishment—something that
occurs when governments use administrative responses to address
cases of forced child labor.

Unlawful Recruitment and Use of
Child Soldiers

Child soldiering is a manifestation of human trafficking when it
involves the unlawful recruitment or use of children—through force,
fraud, or coercion—by armed forces as combatants or other forms of
labor. Perpetrators may be government armed forces, paramilitary
organizations, or rebel groups. Many children are forcibly abducted
to be used as combatants. Others are made to work as porters, cooks,
guards, servants, messengers, or spies. Young girls may be forced
to “marry” or be raped by commanders and male combatants. Both
male and female child soldiers are often sexually abused or exploited
by armed groups and such children are subject to the same types
of devastating physical and psychological consequences associated
with child sex trafficking.

17

HUMAN TRAFFICKING: A PUBLIC HEALTH PERSPECTIVE
Human trafficking is a crime increasingly associated with other government priorities such as national security, economic stability, migration, and
environmental sustainability. It is reported that human trafficking fuels transnational criminal organizations, exacerbates irregular migratory flows,
disrupts labor markets, and sustains other harmful, illicit activities through the forced criminality of its victims. Human trafficking can subvert
legitimate economic and labor markets and cause a loss of productivity and economic stability for countries. And certain industries known for the
use of forced labor also feature practices that wreak significant environmental damage.
In the public health arena, the consequences of human trafficking are even more evident. The circumstances that victims of human trafficking endure
often include unsanitary and dangerous work environments, poor living conditions, substandard nutrition, exposure to sexually transmitted and
other communicable diseases, and the denial of access to any health care. Victims of trafficking also frequently suffer physical and mental abuse
resulting in physical, sexual, and psychological trauma.
For both children and adults, unsanitary and crowded living conditions, coupled with poor nutrition, foster a host of adverse health conditions. In
forced labor cases, long hours and hazardous working conditions including poor training, proximity to dangerous chemicals, lack of personal protective
equipment, and financial or physical punishment, including sexual assault, can cause or contribute injuries and illnesses. Sex trafficking victims are
exposed to pelvic inflammatory disease, HIV/AIDS, and other sexually transmitted infections. Human traffickers may force pregnant victims to undergo
abortions, usually in unsafe conditions, posing further trauma and health risks. In addition to physical harm suffered, the range of recurrent emotional
and psychological abuse victims often experience can lead to a host of disorders, such as anxiety, depression, and panic attacks.
The myriad health conditions victims of human trafficking face are often not treated properly or promptly, if at all. Victims may be barred entirely
from seeking medical attention for health issues and from seeking preventive services, such as dental cleanings, annual health screenings, or
vaccinations, either by their trafficker or due to a lack of health insurance or money. Unaddressed health issues, which may have been treatable if
detected early, can become more aggressive and severely degenerate the individual’s health. Even after leaving a trafficking situation, survivors
face health risks and consequences that last for many years. These often chronic health conditions are compounded for survivors of trafficking by
unique barriers to accessing adequate health care and medical treatment. Untreated conditions, especially contagious illnesses, can threaten the
health of the individual victims, as well as the collective health condition of their communities.
In responding to the consequences detailed above, several U.S. public health experts in the 2017 compilation of essays titled Human Trafficking Is a
Public Health Issue make the case that using a public health perspective that moves beyond a criminal justice response has the advantage of enlisting
a broader set of stakeholders and leads to more effective strategies to support victims and prevent human trafficking. For example, licensed health
care practitioners, first responders, and other service providers can be trained to better identify victims seeking medical attention and help them to
come forward. Likewise, professional curricula on domestic violence, child abuse, and elder abuse can integrate human trafficking elements. Such
enhanced understanding and expanded training among a wide range of community stakeholders also aids in the prevention of human trafficking, as
individuals with certain histories—such as abuse, violence, homelessness, substance abuse, or untreated mental health disorders—are considered
at increased risk for human trafficking. In this way, employing a public health perspective can help inform the development of more effective antitrafficking interventions and prevention strategies.

A man subjected to forced labor
loads a truck in a charcoal
camp in Brazil. Conditions in the
charcoal sector are hazardous
and workers are often isolated,
making them more vulnerable
to human trafficking.

18

2017 TRAFFICKING IN PERSONS REPORT

Sex trafficking victims in a
shelter in Sarajevo, Bosnia
and Herzegovina. Service
providers assist victims
by facilitating access to
medical and mental health
care, shelter, and legal
support.

M E X ICO

Lilly lived in a small town in Mexico and needed
a job. After she inquired at a local dry cleaning
establishment, the owners offered her a position
and a place to stay, which she happily accepted.
Soon after beginning, the owners accused her of
stealing and began to force her to work without
pay. For almost two years, the owners confined
Lilly to an ironing station in the shop and physically
abused her if she stopped working. She was
allowed only one small meal a day and little access
to water. Lilly finally managed to escape the shop
and alert the police, who raided the establishment.

19

CHILD SOLDIERS PREVENTION ACT LIST
The Child Soldiers Prevention Act of 2008 (CSPA) was signed into law on December 23, 2008 (Title IV of Pub. L.
110-457), and took effect on June 21, 2009. The CSPA requires publication in the annual Trafficking in Persons
Report of a list of foreign governments identified during the previous year as having governmental armed forces or
government-supported armed groups that recruit and use child soldiers, as defined in the act. These determinations
cover the reporting period beginning April 1, 2016, and ending March 31, 2017.
For the purpose of the CSPA, and generally consistent with the provisions of the Optional Protocol to the Convention
on the Rights of the Child on the involvement of children in armed conflict, the term “child soldier” means:
(i) any person under 18 years of age who takes a direct part in hostilities as a member of governmental armed forces;
(ii) any person under 18 years of age who has been compulsorily recruited into governmental armed forces;
(iii) any person under 15 years of age who has been voluntarily recruited into governmental armed forces; or
(iv) any person under 18 years of age who has been recruited or used in hostilities by armed forces distinct from the
armed forces of a state.
The term “child soldier” includes any person described in clauses (ii), (iii), or (iv) who is serving in any capacity,
including in a support role, such as a “cook, porter, messenger, medic, guard, or sex slave.”
Governments identified on the list are subject to restrictions, in the following fiscal year, on certain security assistance
and commercial licensing of military equipment. The CSPA, as amended, prohibits assistance to governments that
are identified in the list under the following authorities: International Military Education and Training, Foreign
Military Financing, Excess Defense Articles, and Peacekeeping Operations, with exceptions for some programs
undertaken pursuant to the Peacekeeping Operations authority. The CSPA also prohibits the issuance of licenses
for direct commercial sales of military equipment to such governments. Beginning October 1, 2017, and effective
throughout Fiscal Year 2018, these restrictions will apply to the listed countries, absent a presidential national interest
waiver, applicable exception, or reinstatement of assistance pursuant to the terms of the CSPA. The determination
to include a government in the CSPA list is informed by a range of sources, including first-hand observation by U.S.
government personnel and research and credible reporting from various UN entities, international organizations,
local and international NGOs, and international media outlets.
The 2017 CSPA List includes
governments in the following countries:
1. Democratic Republic of Congo
2. Mali
3. Nigeria
4. Somalia
5. South Sudan
6. Sudan
7. Syria
8. Yemen

Former anti-Balaka child soldiers wait to be released as part
of a UN-negotiated deal in the Central African Republic. Some
governments and government-supported militias in African, Asian,
and Middle Eastern countries force children to serve as front-line
soldiers or servants, and to guard checkpoints.

20

A child soldier trains in a Syrian training
camp. Recruitment and use of children
in combat in Syria continues to increase.
Syrian government forces, pro-regime
militias, and armed groups, including
ISIS, continue to recruit and use boys and
girls as soldiers, human shields, suicide
bombers, and executioners, as well as
to fill supporting roles.

N IGER I A
Boko Haram attacked Abdul’s village and kidnapped him when he
was 14 years old. They trained him to handle assault weapons such
as machine guns, anti-aircraft guns, and rocket-propelled grenades.
The group kept him and forced him to carry out various operations
during which he was forced to kill 18 civilians. They also forced Abdul
to gather intelligence on government forces, where he risked being
recognized and prosecuted as a Boko Haram member. After being
forced to fight for three years, Abdul decided to flee while on a spying
mission, but was recognized as Boko Haram and arrested when he
entered an internally displaced persons camp to look for his parents.

I was forced literally to kill my
best friend as an initiation
process into the army. That’s
something I will never forget,
and I still fight with every
single day.”
– Michel Chikwanine, former child soldier, DRC

21

ASSISTING MALE SURVIVORS OF HUMAN TRAFFICKING
The most frequently cited global statistics on human trafficking indicate that men and boys represent nearly half of the total number of human
trafficking victims; yet the identification and proper care of male victims remains an enormous challenge to governments and care providers around
the world. Too often, men and boys go unidentified and remain in perilous situations, deprived of their freedom. When they do escape their trafficking
situations, they are likely to be neglected by governments and service providers whose programs were established to shelter and assist women
and girls. Instead of being treated as exploited individuals, they are at greater risk of being penalized or fined for offenses, such as crossing a border
illegally, or of facing charges and imprisonment for crimes committed as a result of being subjected to trafficking.
Male victims of forced labor have been found in nearly all work sectors, including mining, forestry, construction, health care, factories, hospitality,
and agriculture. Recent investigative reports have documented the severe abuse of men on fishing boats in Southeast Asia for years at a time and
the exploitation of boys in forced labor on fishing vessels on Ghana’s Lake Volta. In addition, there have been recent reports of men forced to work in
construction in Qatar as it prepares for the 2022 World Cup and in agriculture in the United Kingdom and the United States. Around the world, the sex
trafficking of boys and men continues to be hidden and underreported, and there is a severe shortage of programs to meet their needs. For example,
reports have documented boys sold into sex trafficking in Afghanistan, including for bacha baazi, where men use young boys for social and sexual
entertainment. In the United States, men and boys are exploited in commercial sex.
Recent research has documented the physical and mental health impact of human trafficking on men and boys who may have experienced physical
and sexual abuse and threats of violence, deprivation of basic nutrition and sanitation, and loss of freedom of movement. Despite experiencing such
conditions, male survivors often do not initially see themselves as having been the victim of the crime of forced labor. Instead they are likely to view
their labor trafficking situation as bad luck, their own “gullibility,” or a “normal” consequence of labor migration. This is reinforced by commonly
accepted or traditional gender roles or stereotypes in which men are expected to stand up for themselves and provide for their families. In addition,
authorities, such as immigration officers, labor inspectors, and police, often do not recognize male victims due to biases or the tendency to perceive
males as less vulnerable to human trafficking or erroneously view human trafficking as exclusively the sex trafficking of girls and women.
Most programs established to assist trafficking victims do not focus on meeting male survivors’ needs. In many countries, even when authorities
identify a male trafficking victim, there are few anti-trafficking programs able to provide men or boys specialized assistance, especially safe housing.
Male survivors of trafficking need access to comprehensive and culturally appropriate assistance to meet their needs, such as housing, medical
care, mental health services, legal support, and employment assistance, offered through centers that tailor services to individuals, for example:
§§

 ousing. Access to housing that is safe and has resources to meet their unique needs. The use of homeless shelters is often
H
inadequate for traumatized male survivors.

§§

Health. Access to a wide range of trauma-informed physical and mental health services, including alternatives to traditional care
such as peer-to-peer counseling.

§§

L egal Support. Access to legal support to ensure male survivors are aware of their rights, have access to legal proceedings, and are
assisted in contacting consular services from their home country and seeking compensation for lost wages and injuries and other
forms of restitution.

§§

Employment Assistance. Access to employment assistance that includes education, skills training, and job placement.

While some governments have made progress to improve the anti-trafficking response for male victims, much work remains to ensure men and boys
are not overlooked or under-served. Governments should ensure services are sensitive to the needs of all victims, regardless of gender, and adapt
methodologies as needed. All trafficking victims should be offered high quality individualized assistance, supported in regaining control of their lives,
and empowered to make informed decisions about the options available to them.

22

2017 TRAFFICKING IN PERSONS REPORT

While docked in
San Francisco, an
Indonesian man points
out a finger injury he
sustained while working
on a U.S. fishing vessel.

U N ITED
K I NGDOM

Tim lost his job in 2009 and was on the edge of
destitution when a couple recruited him to work in
their construction business, offering him housing
and three meals a day. When he arrived at the
couple’s property, however, he found workers were
living in a crowded and dirty trailer. The couple
shaved his head, took his clothes, and confiscated
his phone and identification. They held him captive,
physically and verbally abused him, and forced him
to work laying cement driveways. Eventually, the
traffickers were arrested and Tim was released.

23

A child sex trafficking victim
eats her lunch in her room at a
brothel in Bangladesh. Traffickers
subject adults and children to
sex trafficking in brothels, bars,
massage parlors, and private
apartments.

There are situations where you
have to force girls by using rape,
abuse or torture. When she begins
to fear for her life, she stops
resisting and starts working.”
– South African brothel owner and human trafficker

24

2017 TRAFFICKING IN PERSONS REPORT

METHODOLOGY

T

he Department of State prepared this Report using information from U.S. embassies, government officials, nongovernmental
and international organizations, published reports, news articles, academic studies, research trips to every region of the world,
and information submitted to tipreport@state.gov. This email address provides a means by which organizations and individuals
can share information with the Department of State on government progress in addressing trafficking.

U.S. diplomatic posts and domestic agencies reported on the trafficking situation and governmental action to fight trafficking based
on thorough research that included meetings with a wide variety of government officials, local and international NGO representatives,
officials of international organizations, journalists, academics, and survivors. U.S. missions overseas are dedicated to covering human
trafficking issues year-round. The 2017 Trafficking in Persons Report covers government efforts undertaken from April 1, 2016 through
March 31, 2017.

Tier Placement

The Department places each country in this Report onto one of four tiers, as mandated by the TVPA. This placement is based not on
the size of the country’s problem but on the extent of governments’ efforts to meet the TVPA’s minimum standards for the elimination
of human trafficking (see page 38), which are generally consistent with the Palermo Protocol.
While Tier 1 is the highest ranking, it does not mean that a country has no human trafficking problem or that it is doing enough to
address the problem. Rather, a Tier 1 ranking indicates that a government has acknowledged the existence of human trafficking,
has made efforts to address the problem, and meets the TVPA’s minimum standards. Each year, governments need to demonstrate
appreciable progress in combating trafficking to maintain a Tier 1 ranking. Indeed, Tier 1 represents a responsibility rather than a
reprieve. A country is never finished with the job of fighting trafficking.

Tier rankings and narratives in the 2017 Trafficking in Persons Report reflect an assessment of the following:
§§

 nactment of laws prohibiting severe forms of trafficking in persons, as defined by the TVPA, and provision of criminal
e
punishments for trafficking offenses;

§§

c riminal penalties prescribed for human trafficking offenses with a maximum of at least four years’ deprivation of liberty, or
a more severe penalty;

CA M BODI A

After Lai’s family fell into debt to loan sharks, her
mother asked her to help the family earn more
money. Lai, just 12 years old, was examined by
a doctor and issued a certificate of virginity.
Her mother then delivered her to a hotel where
a man raped her repeatedly. For nearly two
years, Lai’s mother continued to sell her to make
money to pay off their debts. After learning
her mother was planning to sell her again, this
time for a six-month stretch, Lai fled her home
and found sanctuary in a residence for sex
trafficking victims.

A Burmese victim of
trafficking in Indonesia
awaits repatriation.
Traffickers use debts,
physical abuse, and
document confiscation,
among other tactics, to
trap victims in involuntary
servitude.

25

§§

implementation of human trafficking laws through vigorous prosecution of the prevalent forms of trafficking in the
country and sentencing of offenders;

§§

 roactive victim identification measures with systematic procedures to guide law enforcement and other governmentp
supported front-line responders in the process of victim identification;

§§

government funding and partnerships with NGOs to provide victims with access to primary health care, counseling,
and shelter, allowing them to recount their trafficking experiences to trained social workers and law enforcement in an
environment of minimal pressure;

§§

v ictim protection efforts that include access to services and shelter without detention and with legal alternatives to
removal to countries in which victims would face retribution or hardship;

§§

t he extent to which a government ensures victims are provided with legal and other assistance and that, consistent with
domestic law, proceedings are not prejudicial to victims’ rights, dignity, or psychological well-being;

§§

t he extent to which a government ensures the safe, humane, and to the extent possible, voluntary repatriation and
reintegration of victims;

§§

 overnmental measures to prevent human trafficking, including efforts to curb practices identified as contributing factors
g
to human trafficking, such as employers’ confiscation of foreign workers’ passports and allowing labor recruiters to
charge prospective migrants recruitment fees; and

§§

governmental efforts to reduce the demand for commercial sex acts and international sex tourism.

Tier rankings and narratives are NOT affected by the following:
§§

efforts, however laudable, undertaken exclusively by nongovernmental actors in the country;

§§

 eneral public awareness events—government-sponsored or otherwise—lacking concrete ties to the prosecution of
g
traffickers, protection of victims, or prevention of trafficking; and

§§

broad-based law enforcement or developmental initiatives.

N IGER I A |
ITA LY

Paula was walking home from the market in her hometown in
Nigeria when a man approached her and offered her a job in
Italy that included good pay and housing. The man told Paula
she would have to pay a substantial recruitment fee for the
job, but she did not have enough money. Paula reasoned that
a job in Europe was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, and the
proposed salary would be enough to pay back the debt easily,
so she borrowed the money and eagerly accepted. Paula and a
group of other Nigerian women traveled with the recruiters to
Italy. Upon arrival, the women realized they had been deceived;
the recruiters forced them into prostitution to repay their travel
debts. Paula and the other women were discovered during a
police raid.

26

GOVERNMENT ACCOUNTABILITY OFFICE REPORT:
“STATE HAS MADE IMPROVEMENTS IN ITS ANNUAL REPORT BUT DOES NOT
EXPLICITLY EXPLAIN CERTAIN TIER RANKINGS OR CHANGES”
On December 5, 2016, the Government Accountability Office released a report evaluating the
Department of State’s annual Trafficking in Persons (TIP) Report and making several recommendations
to the Secretary of State to improve the clarity and usefulness of the TIP Report. Among these was
the recommendation that the TIP Report should more clearly explain the factual basis for country
tier rankings. To that end, the tier ranking justification for each country in the 2017 TIP Report is
now contained in the first paragraph of each country narrative and includes new language that more
explicitly highlights the factors that support a given tier ranking. These changes are intended to provide
clear linkages between statements in each country narrative and the respective tier ranking, especially
in the case of tier upgrades and downgrades.

LEFT: Sex trafficking survivors watch a
presentation at a shelter in New Delhi, India.
Experts estimate millions of people are
victims of sex trafficking in India. Some are
exploited in brothels on Delhi’s notorious
Garstin Bastion Road.
TOP: A talibé takes a break from begging
in a market in Dakar, Senegal. The Quranic
students rise before dawn to study, and then
spend hours begging for money and food
to bring back to their religious teacher,
or marabout.
RIGHT: In Afghanistan, boys are sold
as dancers, and are often subjected
to sex trafficking, in a practice known
as bacha baazi.

27

A Guide to the Tiers
Tier 1

The governments of countries that fully meet the TVPA’s minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking.

Tier 2

The governments of countries that do not fully meet the TVPA’s minimum standards but are making significant efforts to bring
themselves into compliance with those standards.

Tier 2 Watch List

The government of countries that do not fully meet the TVPA’s minimum standards, but are making significant efforts to bring
themselves into compliance with those standards, and for which:
a. the absolute number of victims of severe forms of trafficking is very significant or is significantly increasing;
b. there is a failure to provide evidence of increasing efforts to combat severe forms of trafficking in persons from the previous
year, including increased investigations, prosecution, and convictions of trafficking crimes, increased assistance to victims,
and decreasing evidence of complicity in severe forms of trafficking by government officials; or
c. the determination that a country is making significant efforts to bring itself into compliance with minimum standards was based
on commitments by the country to take additional steps over the next year.

Tier 3

The governments of countries that do not fully meet the TVPA’s minimum standards and are not making significant efforts to do so.
The TVPA lists additional factors to determine whether a country should be on Tier 2 (or Tier 2 Watch List) versus Tier 3: first, the
extent to which the country is a country of origin, transit, or destination for severe forms of trafficking; second, the extent to which the
country’s government does not meet the TVPA’s minimum standards and, in particular, the extent to which officials or government
employees have been complicit in severe forms of trafficking; and third, reasonable measures that the government would need to
undertake to be in compliance with the minimum standards in light of the government’s resources and capabilities to address and
eliminate severe forms of trafficking in persons.

A 2008 amendment to the TVPA provides that any country that has been ranked Tier 2 Watch List for two consecutive years and
that would otherwise be ranked Tier 2 Watch List for the next year will instead be ranked Tier 3 in that third year. This automatic
downgrade provision came into effect for the first time in the 2013 Report. The Secretary of State is authorized to waive the automatic

UKR AINE |
RUSSI A

Sofia traveled from her small town in central
Ukraine to Moscow with a friend on the promise
of a job working in a market. When they arrived,
the man who had offered them the job confiscated
their passports and drove them to an old factory
surrounded by barbed wire outside the city.
Guards carrying guns ensured they could not
escape. For almost two months Sofia worked 18hour days, bottling, packing, and loading vodka
from the plant’s illegal stills. Sofia was finally able
to escape when police raided the factory.

28

2017 TRAFFICKING IN PERSONS REPORT
downgrade based on credible evidence that a waiver is justified because the government has a written plan that, if implemented,
would constitute making significant efforts to meet the TVPA’s minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking and is devoting
sufficient resources to implement the plan. The Secretary can only issue this waiver for two consecutive years. After the third year,
a country must either go up to Tier 1 or 2 or down to Tier 3. Governments subject to the automatic downgrade provision are noted
as such in the country narratives.

Funding Restrictions for Tier 3 Countries

Pursuant to the TVPA, governments of countries on Tier 3 may be subject to certain restrictions on assistance, whereby the President
may determine not to provide U.S. government nonhumanitarian, nontrade-related foreign assistance. In addition, the President
may determine to withhold funding for government official or employee participation in educational and cultural exchange programs
for certain Tier 3 countries. Consistent with the TVPA, the President may also determine to instruct the U.S. Executive Director
of each multilateral development bank and the International Monetary Fund to vote against and use his or her best efforts to deny
any loans or other uses of the institutions’ funds to a designated Tier 3 country for most purpose (except for humanitarian, traderelated, and certain development-related assistance). Alternatively, the President may waive application of the foregoing restrictions
upon a determination that the provision to a Tier 3 country
of such assistance would promote the purposes of the TVPA
or is otherwise in the national interest of the United States.
The TVPA also authorizes the President to waive funding
restrictions if necessary to avoid significant adverse effects
on vulnerable populations, including women and children.

UNITED STATES

Applicable funding restrictions apply for the next Fiscal Year,
which begins October 1, 2017.
No tier ranking is permanent. Every country, including the
United States, can do more. All countries must maintain and
continually increase efforts to combat trafficking.

Nigerian migrants cross the Mediterranean Sea to Sicily from Libya. Migrants
smuggled to Italy via Libya are especially susceptible to exploitation on their
journey and when they arrive at their destination.

Amy was 12 when her father, an alcoholic and drug addict,
began abusing her physically and sexually. When she was 17,
Amy began staying with her friend, Lisa, to escape her father’s
abuse. Lisa told Amy that she knew an agent who could help
her become a model—something Amy had always dreamed
of. Instead, the man forced Amy into prostitution and kept all
the money she made, locking her in a hotel room for weeks,
giving her very little food. He threatened to kill her if she ever
left. Amy was finally able to escape and now hopes to train to
become a certified nursing assistant so she can help others.

Why should I slap them when I can just use words to destroy them mentally?”
– Romanian trafficker in the United Kingdom, speaking on why he doesn’t need to use violence
against the women he forces into commercial sex.

29

ENGAGING SURVIVORS OF HUMAN TRAFFICKING

I see this council really as a shining light for survivors across the country as a
way to really empower survivors, that they can be anything that they want to be
and they can overcome just about anything that they’re dealing with, that they’re
struggling with, and that there is hope.”
– Sheila White, sex trafficking survivor, on behalf of the U.S. Advisory Council on Human Trafficking

Survivors play a vital role in combating human trafficking. Survivors should not be seen only as recipients of services; they run organizations,
advocate before legislatures, train law enforcement officers, conduct public outreach, and work with government officials. The survivor voice is vital in
establishing effective anti-trafficking strategies that address prosecution, protection, and prevention. The appointment of the United States Advisory
Council on Human Trafficking in December 2015 established a formal platform for human trafficking survivors to advise and make recommendations
to the federal government on anti-trafficking policies and programs. This marked a significant milestone in the anti-trafficking movement, as it
demonstrates both to survivors and governments around the world the importance of survivor engagement in all efforts to combat this crime.
Governments, civil society, and businesses should understand how to engage with survivors appropriately and responsibly, whether within the
criminal justice system, through the provision of services, in the adoption and implementation of corporate policies, or in efforts to advocate for social
change. The following list, although not exhaustive, delineates several guidelines for meaningful engagement with survivors:

DO:

§§

P romote survivor empowerment and self-sufficiency. Survivors of human trafficking should have access to services that are
comprehensive, victim-centered, and culturally appropriate, including long-term care, to promote autonomy. Additionally, survivors
should have access to vocational training, skill development courses, financial counseling, and educational scholarships.

§§

 se a victim-centered and trauma-informed approach. All engagement with survivors, as well as all anti-trafficking work, should
U
incorporate a victim-centered and trauma-informed approach to minimize re-traumatization and ensure an understanding of the
impact of trauma on the individual.

The victim-centered approach seeks to minimize re-traumatization associated with involvement in the criminal justice process by
providing the support of victim service providers, empowering survivors as engaged participants in the process, and providing
survivors an opportunity to play a role in seeing their traffickers brought to justice.
A trauma-informed approach includes an understanding of the physical, social, and emotional impact of trauma on the individual,
as well as on the professionals who help them.

30

§§

 ire and compensate. Survivors know firsthand how to improve anti-trafficking efforts and should be hired and compensated
H
for their expertise. It is important for agencies and organizations to create opportunities to employ survivors as staff members,
consultants, or trainers. Survivors, like any other employee or consultant, deserve financial compensation for their time and
expertise.

§§

Incorporate input. Government agencies, victim service providers, law enforcement agencies, non-profit organizations,
and businesses should listen carefully to survivor recommendations and incorporate survivor input in both the design and
implementation of anti-trafficking policies, programs, trainings, and advocacy efforts.

§§

Protect confidentiality. Agencies and organizations interacting with survivors should protect survivors’ identities and privacy
appropriately and establish policies and procedures on confidentiality.

DON’T:
§§

R equire participation. Requiring a survivor to participate in a program deprives him or her of autonomy and the right to selfdetermination. Survivors should be empowered to make their own decisions about the care they would like to receive.

§§

 verpromise. Law enforcement officials, victim service providers, and government agencies should avoid making promises and
O
commitments they cannot keep. In particular, they should not promise services to gain a survivor’s cooperation.

§§

R e-traumatize. When engaging with survivors, do not push them to recount their personal story unnecessarily. Similarly, don’t share
the details of a survivor’s story without gaining permission and providing context for how the information will be used.

§§

Sensationalize the individual’s experience. The use of graphic language or shocking imagery to depict human trafficking promotes
myths and misconceptions about this crime and can re-traumatize survivors.

§§

Photograph or publish information without consent. It is a survivor’s decision to participate in any outreach, marketing, social
media, or publicity efforts. Publishing a survivor’s name or story without their informed consent could compromise the survivor’s
safety and well-being. If a survivor is willing, always ask how they would like to be described (e.g., survivor, advocate, etc.) and allow
the survivor to review any material for accuracy before publication.

I didn’t know I was a victim of anything
except circumstance.”
– Caitlin Kelly Lawrence, sex trafficking survivor

PH I LI PPI N E S

When Mariel approached Jasmine and promised her a job
in an internet café in Manila, Jasmine readily accepted.
Mariel recruited Jasmine and more than a dozen other
girls from their small village and arranged for the group to
travel to Manila together. At the port, however, a security
guard became suspicious of the girls traveling with Mariel
and asked to see their identification and work documents.
Mariel failed to present proper documentation and was
arrested. Officials later learned that there had never been
any internet café jobs, but rather Mariel had planned to
force the girls to work in commercial sex by advertising
them online.

31

ONLINE SEXUAL EXPLOITATION OF CHILDREN:
AN ALARMING TREND
That could be anybody’s daughter…That could be your neighbor. That could
be your daughter’s or your son’s friend at school.”
– FBI Agent Bob Parker, on a victim lured into child sex trafficking via Facebook

New technologies are facilitating the online sexual exploitation of children, including the live-streaming of sexual abuse of children using web cameras
or cellphones, often for profit. Mobile devices also provide new and evolving means by which offenders sexually abuse children as apps are being
used to target, recruit, and coerce children to engage in sexual activity. Experts believe tens of thousands of children globally are sexually exploited
online, and the number appears to be growing. The victims may be boys or girls, ranging from very young children to adolescents, and hailing from
all ethnic and socio-economic backgrounds.
The process often begins when an offender gains access to a potential child victim and, through psychological manipulation and coercion, grooms
the child for sexual exploitation. The offender then connects via the internet with a paying client who often specifically requests a child. The child is
further victimized through commercial sexual exploitation and abuse and the live-streaming of commercial sex acts. Perpetrators can pay to direct
the sexual abuse of children from anywhere in the world while the abuse takes place in private homes, Internet cafes, or “cyber dens” in or near
the child’s community. Disturbingly, closed and highly protected online communities dedicated to the sexual abuse of children have proliferated.
Children have been reported to be victims of this crime in Colombia, India, Mexico, the Philippines, Thailand, and the United States. Many countries,
including Australia, Britain, Canada, the Netherlands, the Philippines, and the United States, have prosecuted perpetrators—both paying clients and
offenders who facilitate the exploitation of the child.
In the Philippines, where many are impoverished and nearly half of the population is connected to the internet, numerous individuals in poor
communities reportedly earn income from this type of child exploitation. Online sessions can be conducted at low cost using a cellphone or a computer
with a webcam. Connections to prospective clients are made easily; clients remain anonymous and make payments by wire transfer. Children, often
naked, have been exploited on camera—including by family members or neighbors—and coerced into exhibiting themselves and performing sex acts
for the viewing of individuals watching online. In many cases, family members justify facilitating the online sexual exploitation by asserting that it
is not harmful to the child, especially in cases where there is no direct physical contact with the child. This lack of understanding of the detrimental
psychological, developmental, and physical impact of this crime on children, the complicity of relatives, and the easy flow of money have contributed
to the practice becoming more prevalent.
Another growing threat to children is sextortion, which is a form of online sexual exploitation of children where offenders hack, coerce, deceive or
otherwise obtain incriminating photos or information from a child and then threaten exposure if that child does not perform sex acts via web cameras.
The online sexual exploitation of children presents new challenges for law enforcement, prosecutors, judges, and victim service providers. Law
enforcement and prosecutors in most countries have little training or experience in detecting this crime, conducting online investigations, obtaining
evidence from internet service providers, and presenting relevant evidence in court. Enhanced mechanisms of encryption by the offenders, such
as networks of technologies and platforms that obfuscate traditional IP addresses, have also delayed or complicated investigations. In addition,
difficulties in obtaining the cooperation of family members and others who facilitate the crime is a widespread challenge in these cases, as is the
lack of specialized trauma-informed care and services for the child victims, especially boys.
Despite such challenges, governments, international organizations, and NGOs are working together to address the online sexual exploitation of children.
Successful detection and prosecution of perpetrators requires advanced cybercrime investigative skills, criminal laws and procedures that secure
cyber evidence and allow for prosecution of crimes committed online, specialized training for prosecutors and judges, cross-border law enforcement
cooperation, and specialized care for child victims. The low financial cost of this criminal enterprise (an internet connection and a mobile device or
computer-linked webcam), coupled with its low risk nature (as seen by the relatively small number of convictions globally) and high profitability are
driving the rapid growth of online sexual exploitation of children. To reverse this trend, governments must rally significant political will and resources
to hold perpetrators accountable, provide comprehensive services to child victims, and prevent the crime from occurring.

32

MEDIA REPORTING ON HUMAN TRAFFICKING
From traditional news outlets to social media, a growing movement is exposing human trafficking as a concern both from a human rights and a
national security perspective.
Just 15 years ago, human trafficking was an under-reported and often misrepresented issue and some reporting sensationalized the problem or
even misinformed the public. In the last few years, a significant shift has occurred in the media’s reporting of human trafficking, from dramatic
exposés to in-depth original research and agenda-setting public-interest reporting. These media reports have helped change the way the public
looks at human trafficking—from a crime that happens to “others” to one that has an impact on people’s everyday lives, in nearly every community
and region of the world.
Some of the highlights and exemplary reporting in the last few years include:
§§

2 009, Des Moines Register. A Register investigation in 2009 led to the release of dozens of men with intellectual disabilities, who
were living in squalor, abused, and forced to work for as little as 41 cents per hour processing turkeys in a plant in Atalissa, Iowa.
After four years of court battles with the company, the men won a $240 million jury verdict, which was subsequently reduced to
$50,000 per person.

§§

2 010, CNN Freedom Project. The network originally committed to a one-year project dedicated to raising awareness about modern
slavery around the world. This year, the network celebrates seven years of the “Freedom Project,” which has covered more than 600
investigative stories on human trafficking to date.

§§

2 011, Al Jazeera English. The network started a ground-breaking series, “Slavery: A 21st Century Evil,” highlighting modern slavery
around the world.

§§

2 012, National Public Radio. A two-part series on Morning Edition exposed forced labor in the seafood sector and its link to American
dinner tables.

§§

2 014, the Guardian. A six-month investigative series, “Modern-day Slavery in Focus,” revealed direct links between the men forced to
labor on fishing boats and in the production of seafood sold by major retailers throughout the world.

§§

2014, Los Angeles Times. The four-part investigative series, “Product of Mexico,” revealed the harsh living conditions and exploitative
situations endured by migrant farmworkers in Mexico who supplied significant amounts of agricultural produce to the United States.

§§

2015, New York Times. A seven-part series, “The Outlaw Ocean,” which took two years to investigate, provided a comprehensive look
at the overall lawlessness at sea and chronicled a diversity of crimes, including forced labor on fishing boats.

§§

2 015, Capital News Service. Students from the Philip Merrill College of Journalism at the University of Maryland produced a six-part
investigative series, “The Brothel Next Door: Human Trafficking in Maryland,” that examined more than three-dozen state and federal
human trafficking cases from 2005 to 2015, and submitted 70 public records requests for reports on forced labor and sex trafficking
cases.

§§

2 016 Associated Press. The 18-month investigative story, “Seafood from Slaves,” led to the release of more than 2,000 trafficking
victims, traced the seafood they caught to supermarkets and pet food providers across the United States, and led to the jailing of
perpetrators, congressional hearings, and the introduction of new laws.

Media play an enormous role in shaping perceptions and guiding the public conversation about human trafficking. Human trafficking schemes are
constantly evolving, and the media’s vigilance helps keep the public informed and engaged. As media pursues more research and investigative work
on the issue, the public will better understand how the crime works, how to identify and help trafficking victims, and ultimately, what can be done
to prevent the crime from happening.

33

A FGH A N IS TA N

When Pasha was 10 years old, his family pulled him out of school
so he could help out by earning money working in a brick kiln.
Pasha’s family had borrowed money from the kiln owner to help
take care of Pasha’s ailing father, and the interest charged on
the loan made the debt insurmountable. For three years, Pasha
has worked 12-hour days hauling a handcart full of dirt alongside
his father and siblings. If Pasha’s family cannot pay off the debt,
he and his siblings will inherit it and possibly pass it on to their
own children.

GLOBAL LAW ENFORCEMENT DATA
The Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act (TVPRA) of 2003 added to the original law a new requirement that foreign
governments provide the Department of State with data on trafficking investigations, prosecutions, convictions, and sentences in
order to fully meet the TVPA’s minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking (Tier 1). The 2004 TIP Report collected this
data for the first time. The 2007 TIP Report showed for the first time a breakout of the number of total prosecutions and convictions
that related to labor trafficking, placed in parentheses.

YEAR

PROSECUTIONS

CONVICTIONS

VICTIMS IDENTIFIED

NEW OR AMENDED LEGISLATION

2009

5,606 (432)

4,166 (335)

49,105

33

2010

6,017 (607)

3,619 (237)

33,113

17

2011

7,909 (456)

3,969 (278)

42,291 (15,205)

15

2012

7,705 (1,153)

4,746 (518)

46,570 (17,368)

21

2013

9,460 (1,199)

5,776 (470)

44,758 (10,603)

58

2014

10,051 (418)

4,443 (216)

44,462 (11,438)

20

2015

19,127 (857)

6,615 (456)

77,823 (14,262)

30

2016

14,897 (1,038)

9,071 (717)

66,520 (17,465)

25

The above statistics are estimates derived from data provided by foreign governments and other sources and reviewed by the Department of State. Aggregate data
fluctuates from one year to the next due to the hidden nature of trafficking crimes, dynamic global events, shifts in government efforts, and a lack of uniformity in
national reporting structures. The numbers in parentheses are those of labor trafficking prosecutions, convictions, and victims identified.

34

Victims will only find freedom if we cultivate a radically new, global and
co-ordinated approach to defeat this vile crime. Together we must work
tirelessly to preserve the freedoms and values that have defined our United
Nations from its inception. Together we must work tirelessly to restore these
freedoms and values to the lives of the men, women and children who are
exploited for profit and held captive with little or no chance of escape.”
– Theresa May, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom

Miners dig in an open pit mine.
Forced labor is common in the
mining industry. Exposure to toxic
chemicals and mine collapses
jeopardize the health and safety of
those who work in these mines.

35

UGA N DA

Mary dreamed of being an electrician in Uganda.
When she was 16 years old, her parents could no
longer support her or pay her school fees; they
sent her to live with an aunt in a village outside of
Kampala. After her aunt had an accident, Mary was
soon struggling for money. A neighbor helped Mary
get a job in a nearby bar, where her boss forced
her to have sex with some of the bar’s patrons. One
day, a social worker came to the bar and told Mary
about an organization that could help her escape
the bar. With the support of the NGO, Mary was
able to leave, return to school, and get her degree
in electronics.

36

2017 TRAFFICKING IN PERSONS REPORT

Children bought by fishermen from
their parents work long hours on
Lake Volta in Ghana and receive no
pay or schooling.

37

TRAFFICKING VICTIMS PROTECTION ACT: MINIMUM STANDARDS FOR THE
ELIMINATION OF TRAFFICKING IN PERSONS
Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000, Div. A of Pub. L. No. 106-386, § 108, as amended.
(1) The government of the country should prohibit severe forms of trafficking in persons and punish acts of such trafficking.
(2) For the knowing commission of any act of sex trafficking involving force, fraud, coercion, or in which the victim of
sex trafficking is a child incapable of giving meaningful consent, or of trafficking which includes rape or kidnapping
or which causes a death, the government of the country should prescribe punishment commensurate with that for
grave crimes, such as forcible sexual assault.
(3) For the knowing commission of any act of a severe form of trafficking in persons, the government of the country
should prescribe punishment that is sufficiently stringent to deter and that adequately reflects the heinous nature of
the offense.
(4) The government of the country should make serious and sustained efforts to eliminate severe forms of trafficking in
persons.

INDICIA OF “SERIOUS AND SUSTAINED EFFORTS”
(1) W hether the government of the country vigorously investigates and prosecutes acts of severe forms of trafficking in persons,
and convicts and sentences persons responsible for such acts, that take place wholly or partly within the territory of the country,
including, as appropriate, requiring incarceration of individuals convicted of such acts. For purposes of the preceding sentence,
suspended or significantly reduced sentences for convictions of principal actors in cases of severe forms of trafficking in persons
shall be considered, on a case-by-case basis, whether to be considered as an indicator of serious and sustained efforts to eliminate
severe forms of trafficking in persons. After reasonable requests from the Department of State for data regarding investigations,
prosecutions, convictions, and sentences, a government which does not provide such data, consistent with the capacity of such
government to obtain such data, shall be presumed not to have vigorously investigated, prosecuted, convicted, or sentenced such
acts. During the periods prior to the annual report submitted on June 1, 2004, and on June 1, 2005, and the periods afterwards
until September 30 of each such year, the Secretary of State may disregard the presumption contained in the preceding sentence
if the government has provided some data to the Department of State regarding such acts and the Secretary has determined that
the government is making a good faith effort to collect such data.
(2) W hether the government of the country protects victims of severe forms of trafficking in persons and encourages their assistance
in the investigation and prosecution of such trafficking, including provisions for legal alternatives to their removal to countries in
which they would face retribution or hardship, and ensures that victims are not inappropriately incarcerated, fined, or otherwise
penalized solely for unlawful acts as a direct result of being trafficked, including by providing training to law enforcement and
immigration officials regarding the identification and treatment of trafficking victims using approaches that focus on the needs
of the victims.
(3) W hether the government of the country has adopted measures to prevent severe forms of trafficking in persons, such as measures
to inform and educate the public, including potential victims, about the causes and consequences of severe forms of trafficking in
persons, measures to establish the identity of local populations, including birth registration, citizenship, and nationality, measures
to ensure that its nationals who are deployed abroad as part of a diplomatic, peacekeeping, or other similar mission do not engage
in or facilitate severe forms of trafficking in persons or exploit victims of such trafficking, a transparent system for remediating or
punishing such public officials as a deterrent, measures to prevent the use of forced labor or child labor in violation of international
standards, effective bilateral, multilateral, or regional information sharing and cooperation arrangements with other countries, and
effective policies or laws regulating foreign labor recruiters and holding them civilly and criminally liable for fraudulent recruiting.
(4) W hether the government of the country cooperates with other governments in the investigation and prosecution of severe forms
of trafficking in persons and has entered into bilateral, multilateral, or regional law enforcement cooperation and coordination
arrangements with other countries.
(5) W hether the government of the country extradites persons charged with acts of severe forms of trafficking in persons on
substantially the same terms and to substantially the same extent as persons charged with other serious crimes (or, to the extent
such extradition would be inconsistent with the laws of such country or with international agreements to which the country is
a party, whether the government is taking all appropriate measures to modify or replace such laws and treaties so as to permit
such extradition).

38

2017 TRAFFICKING IN PERSONS REPORT

(6) W hether the government of the country monitors immigration and emigration patterns for evidence of severe forms of trafficking
in persons and whether law enforcement agencies of the country respond to any such evidence in a manner that is consistent with
the vigorous investigation and prosecution of acts of such trafficking, as well as with the protection of human rights of victims
and the internationally recognized human right to leave any country, including one’s own, and to return to one’s own country.
(7) W hether the government of the country vigorously investigates, prosecutes, convicts, and sentences public officials, including
diplomats and soldiers, who participate in or facilitate severe forms of trafficking in persons, including nationals of the country
who are deployed abroad as part of a diplomatic, peacekeeping, or other similar mission who engage in or facilitate severe forms
of trafficking in persons or exploit victims of such trafficking, and takes all appropriate measures against officials who condone
such trafficking. A government’s failure to appropriately address public allegations against such public officials, especially once
such officials have returned to their home countries, shall be considered inaction under these criteria. After reasonable requests
from the Department of State for data regarding such investigations, prosecutions, convictions, and sentences, a government
which does not provide such data consistent with its resources shall be presumed not to have vigorously investigated, prosecuted,
convicted, or sentenced such acts. During the periods prior to the annual report submitted on June 1, 2004, and June 1, 2005, and
the periods afterwards until September 30 of each such year, the Secretary of State may disregard the presumption contained
in the preceding sentence if the government has provided some data to the Department of State regarding such acts and the
Secretary has determined that the government is making a good faith effort to collect such data.
(8) Whether the percentage of victims of severe forms of trafficking in the country that are non-citizens of such countries is insignificant.
(9) W hether the government has entered into effective, transparent partnerships, cooperative arrangements, or agreements that
have resulted in concrete and measurable outcomes with
(A) domestic civil society organizations, private sector entities, or international nongovernmental organizations, or into multilateral
or regional arrangements or agreements, to assist the government’s efforts to prevent trafficking, protect victims, and punish
traffickers; or
(B) the United States toward agreed goals and objectives in the collective fight against trafficking.
(10) W hether the government of the country, consistent with the capacity of such government, systematically monitors its efforts to
satisfy the criteria described in paragraphs (1) through (8) and makes available publicly a periodic assessment of such efforts.
(11) W hether the government of the country achieves appreciable progress in eliminating severe forms of trafficking when compared
to the assessment in the previous year.
(12) Whether the government of the country has made serious and sustained efforts to reduce the demand for
(A) commercial sex acts; and
(B) participation in international sex tourism by nationals of the country.

39

2017 TIP REPORT HEROES

Each year, the Department of State honors individuals around the world who have devoted their lives to the fight against human trafficking.
These individuals are NGO workers, lawmakers, police officers, and concerned citizens who are committed to ending modern slavery. They are
recognized for their tireless efforts—despite resistance, opposition, and threats to their lives—to protect victims, punish offenders, and raise
awareness of ongoing criminal practices in their countries and abroad. For more information about current and past Trafficking in Persons Report
Heroes, including how to connect with them, please visit the Trafficking in Persons Report Heroes Global Network at www.tipheroes.org.

ALIKA KINAN / ARGENTINA
Alika Kinan is the first survivor of human trafficking in Argentina to win an award for
damages in a civil sex trafficking case. In November 2016, she helped secure a criminal
conviction of her traffickers and won the civil judgment and award; this was the first
time in the country’s history that a local government was ordered to pay a civil award
to a victim of human trafficking.
Since escaping from her trafficking situation in 2012, Ms. Kinan has advocated tirelessly
for the rights of women at both the national and provincial levels. She has partnered with
the Argentine government to enhance its response to human trafficking and continues
to fight on behalf of trafficking victims for greater access to essential services such as
medical treatment, housing, job training, and education. Ms. Kinan frequently works
with the Argentine Prosecutor General’s Office, the Public Defenders’ Office, and the
Ministry of Justice to improve the prosecution of human trafficking cases at the national
and provincial levels. She also participates in training efforts and advises provincial
governments, NGOs, and local universities on programs to prevent trafficking in persons
across the country.
Ms. Kinan is working to establish an NGO to help raise awareness and improve
assistance to human trafficking victims in Argentina.

LEONARDO SAKAMOTO / BRAZIL
Leonardo Sakamoto is a Brazilian journalist with an unwavering commitment to the
protection of fundamental freedoms in Brazil. In 2001, he established Repórter Brasil,
an NGO dedicated to monitoring and combating forced labor in Brazil. Repórter Brasil’s
pioneering investigative journalism has helped leaders in the public and private sectors,
as well as in civil society, use research and educational programs as tools to combat
human trafficking, especially forced labor.
Repórter Brasil runs Escravo, Nem Pensar!, the first educational program operating
at the national level to help raise awareness about and prevent forced labor in Brazil
by providing technical and financial support for vulnerable communities. Under Mr.
Sakamoto’s leadership, the program has already reached more than 140 municipalities
in eight Brazilian states, benefiting more than 200,000 people.
With Mr. Sakamoto at the helm, Repórter Brasil was also an active participant in the
creation of the National Pact for the Eradication of Slave Labor, an agreement that brings
together 400 companies committed to combating forced labor. His devotion to the issue
is exemplified by his role in the production of the Lista Suja, or the dirty list, a public
list of individuals and private companies found to be using forced labor in their supply
chains, which has mobilized the Brazilian government to increase its efforts to prevent
forced labor in supply chains.

40

VANAJA JASPHINE / CAMEROON
Vanaja Jasphine is the driving force behind and coordinator of the Kumbo Diocesan
Commission for Justice and Peace in the Northwest Region of Cameroon. In this role,
she has placed her organization at the forefront of the fight against human trafficking
in Cameroon and has contributed to a renewed government commitment to combat
human trafficking.
Sister Jasphine has worked tirelessly to inform authorities and civil society leaders,
including those in the religious community and media partners, about human trafficking,
especially on patterns of movement that create vulnerabilities. She played a key role
in recognizing the trend of Cameroonians traveling to the Middle East and being
forced into domestic servitude or sex trafficking, and then spurred the government to
take action, including drafting migrant worker agreements and enhancing screening
measures at airports. Sister Jasphine and her organization have identified more than
200 Cameroonian trafficking victims in the Middle East during the past few years. In
2016 alone, she helped facilitate the return of at least 14 victims from the Middle East,
including raising funds to sponsor return air travel for four of them.
Through her organization, Sister Jasphine has helped provide reintegration assistance
to survivors, initiate a number of trafficking-related court proceedings, and offer legal
assistance to victims.

VIKTORIA SEBHELYI / HUNGARY
Viktoria Sebhelyi is a Hungarian sociologist and human rights activist whose
groundbreaking research has been instrumental in increasing awareness and
understanding of human trafficking among policymakers and NGO service providers
in Hungary. Known as both an academic expert on the issue and a dedicated advocate,
Ms. Sebhelyi has galvanized government and NGO actors to collaborate on enhancing
protections for victims.
She worked as a researcher and legal analyst between 2013 and 2015 at the Central
European University’s Center for Policy Studies, writing a report on the prevalence and
characteristics of child sex trafficking in Hungary—the first of its kind.
In addition to her academic work, Ms. Sebhelyi collaborates with Hungarian initiatives to
improve the country’s referral system. She has successfully brought together government
officials and civil society actors to address structural challenges affecting vulnerable
populations and increase the effectiveness of identifying and providing services for
victims of trafficking and abuse, especially women and children. She regularly dedicates
her time volunteering for women’s and human rights NGOs (NANE Women’s Rights
Association, Sex Education Foundation, and Hungarian Women’s Lobby) and domestic
violence shelters, as well as in state institutions to increase the effectiveness of the antitrafficking referral system.

41

MAHESH BHAGWAT / INDIA
Mahesh Muralidhar Bhagwat, who currently serves as the first Commissioner of Police
of Rachakonda, a police commissionerate in India’s Telangana state that covers more
than four million residents, has demonstrated remarkable commitment to the fight
against human trafficking for the last 13 years. He has participated in anti-trafficking
operations that have removed hundreds of victims from situations of trafficking and, with
the help of other government departments and civil society organizations, has ensured
their placement in support programs.
Mr. Bhagwat’s dedication to the fight against human trafficking is exemplified by his
innovative and highly effective approach to investigating cases and his success in
dismantling trafficking operations within his command areas. He has pioneered the
use of legal provisions to close sites where human trafficking is known to occur. Under
his command, Rachakonda police closed 25 brothels—five hotels and 20 residential
apartments—in less than a year and participated in one of the largest crackdowns on
labor trafficking in the country, which led to the identification and removal of more than
350 children forced to work in brick kilns.
In addition to being a central figure in trafficking deterrence efforts, Mr. Bhagwat also
constantly pushes for human trafficking to be a top priority for the Telangana state of
India.

AMINA OUFROUKHI / MOROCCO
Amina Oufroukhi is a judge within the Moroccan Ministry of Justice’s Directorate of
Criminal Affairs and Pardons, which is responsible for women’s and children’s issues,
vulnerable populations, and trafficking in persons. She played a critical role in drafting
and encouraging the passage of Morocco’s anti-trafficking law in 2016 and has been a
driving force within the government to develop an implementation plan to ensure the
protection of victims and the appropriate punishment of perpetrators.
As the head of the central unit coordinating the care of women and children in the courts,
Judge Oufroukhi established special protection units in Moroccan courts for women
and children and later drafted new legal procedures to extend these protections to all
trafficking victims. She helped establish a group of expert judges to train judicial and law
enforcement personnel and prepared detailed legal guidance clarifying the provisions
of the law for all Moroccan courts.
In addition, Judge Oufroukhi has managed several international cooperative projects on
combating trafficking in persons, assisted in the drafting of studies on human trafficking
in Morocco, and worked to raise awareness and organize training for government officials,
prosecutors, judges, social workers, and security service officers on protecting trafficking
victims.

42

ALLISON LEE / TAIWAN
Allison Lee is a co-founder and the Secretary General of the Yilan Migrant Fishermen
Union, Taiwan’s first labor union composed of and led by foreign workers, and is a leading
voice in demanding stronger protections for fishing crew members and accountability for
human traffickers. Ms. Lee spearheaded the establishment of the union after working for
16 years for Taiwanese NGOs focused on labor rights issues and handling labor disputes
for four years at the municipal level as an employee of Taipei’s Labor Affairs Bureau.
Since founding the Yilan Migrant Fishermen Union in 2013, Ms. Lee has advocated
for the rights of foreign fishermen working on Taiwan-flagged vessels and documented
hundreds of accounts of exploitation, abuse, and underpayment. By serving as a voice
for these often unseen and unheard foreign fishing crew members, Ms. Lee has raised
international and domestic awareness of exploitative working conditions, including
instances of forced labor. In one case, she successfully pushed to reopen an investigation
into the death of an Indonesian fisherman on a Taiwan-flagged vessel.
Ms. Lee and her advocacy partners drive change from the grassroots level through
sustained pressure on officials and direct engagement with under-represented
communities, including victims of human trafficking. She continues to engage local labor
bureaus, fisheries associations, and law enforcement to seek justice and compensation
for crew members who are exploited at the hands of their employers and labor brokers.

BOOM MOSBY / THAILAND
Boom Mosby, the founder and director of the HUG Project, is a passionate advocate for
child victims of sexual abuse in Thailand and has been instrumental in the advancement
of a victim-centered approach in Thai anti-trafficking efforts.
Ms. Mosby’s early work with the HUG Project included a partnership with the Royal
Thai Police to provide educational and support services for at-risk children in the city of
Chiang Mai. As Ms. Mosby’s involvement with child trafficking investigations deepened,
she developed key relationships with law enforcement, government officials, and NGO
partners, establishing a network of resources and support for child victims.
In 2015, she played a fundamental role in opening the Advocacy Center for Children
Thailand (ACT House) in Chiang Mai—the first child advocacy center in all of Southeast
Asia. Under Ms. Mosby’s leadership, the ACT House has supported more than 81
investigations and the arrest of more than 20 perpetrators. In 2016, she joined the
Thailand Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force and continues to work tirelessly
to develop standard operating procedures for investigating and prosecuting cybercrimes
against children using a victim-centered approach. As the use of the internet to facilitate
child trafficking grows, Ms. Mosby is battling technology with technology by implementing
IT forensics and other systematic strategies.
Ms. Mosby continues to promote prevention, recovery, and reintegration programs for
survivors and those vulnerable to trafficking.

43

Global supply chains have
transformed many lives for
the better—but not always
without costs. Clothes, food,
smartphones, jewelry and other
consumer goods may bear,
wittingly or unwittingly, the
traces of exploitation. Gleaming
new skyscrapers may owe some
of their shine to the sweat of
bonded laborers.”
– Antonio Guterres,
United Nations Secretary General

44

Workers labor on a
building in Kazakhstan.
Construction is a sector
vulnerable to forced labor..

THE
TIERS
TIER 1

Countries whose governments fully meet the Trafficking Victims
Protection Act’s (TVPA) minimum standards.

TIER 2

Countries whose governments do not fully meet the TVPA’s
minimum standards, but are making significant efforts to bring
themselves into compliance with those standards.

TIER 2 WATCH LIST

Countries whose governments do not fully meet the TVPA’s
minimum standards, but are making significant efforts to bring
themselves into compliance with those standards AND:
a) The absolute number of victims of severe forms of trafficking is
very significant or is significantly increasing;
b) There is a failure to provide evidence of increasing efforts to
combat severe forms of trafficking in persons from the previous
year; or
c) T
 he determination that a country is making significant efforts
to bring itself into compliance with minimum standards was
based on commitments by the country to take additional future
steps over the next year.

TIER 3

Countries whose governments do not fully meet the minimum
standards and are not making significant efforts to do so.

45

TIER PLACEMENTS
TIER 1
ARMENIA
AUSTRALIA
AUSTRIA
THE BAHAMAS
BELGIUM
CANADA
CHILE
COLOMBIA
CZECHIA

DENMARK
FINLAND
FRANCE
GEORGIA
GERMANY
GUYANA
IRELAND
ISRAEL
ITALY

KOREA, SOUTH
LITHUANIA
LUXEMBOURG
NETHERLANDS
NEW ZEALAND
NORWAY
PHILIPPINES
POLAND
PORTUGAL

ST. MAARTEN
SLOVAKIA
SLOVENIA
SPAIN
SWEDEN
SWITZERLAND
TAIWAN
UNITED KINGDOM
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

ECUADOR
EGYPT
EL SALVADOR
ESTONIA
ETHIOPIA
FIJI
GREECE
HONDURAS
ICELAND
INDIA
INDONESIA
JAMAICA
JAPAN
JORDAN
KAZAKHSTAN
KENYA
KOSOVO
KYRGYZ REPUBLIC
LATVIA
LEBANON

LESOTHO
MACEDONIA
MALAWI
MALAYSIA
MALDIVES
MALTA
MAURITIUS
MEXICO
MICRONESIA
MONGOLIA
MOROCCO
NAMIBIA
NEPAL
PALAU
PANAMA
PARAGUAY
PERU
QATAR
ROMANIA
ST. LUCIA

ST. VINCENT & THE GRENADINES
SEYCHELLES
SIERRA LEONE
SINGAPORE
SOLOMON ISLANDS
SOUTH AFRICA
SRI LANKA
TAJIKISTAN
TANZANIA
TIMOR-LESTE
TOGO
TONGA
TRINIDAD & TOBAGO
TUNISIA
TURKEY
UGANDA
UKRAINE
UNITED ARAB EMIRATES
URUGUAY
VIETNAM

DJIBOUTI
GABON
THE GAMBIA
GHANA
GUATEMALA
HAITI
HONG KONG
HUNGARY
IRAQ
KUWAIT
LAOS
LIBERIA

MACAU
MADAGASCAR
MARSHALL ISLANDS
MOLDOVA
MONTENEGRO
MOZAMBIQUE
NICARAGUA
NIGER
NIGERIA
OMAN
PAKISTAN
PAPUA NEW GUINEA

RWANDA
SAUDI ARABIA
SENEGAL
SERBIA
SURINAME
SWAZILAND
THAILAND
ZAMBIA
ZIMBABWE

CONGO, DEMOCRATIC REP. OF
CONGO, REPUBLIC OF
EQUATORIAL GUINEA
ERITREA
GUINEA
GUINEA-BISSAU

IRAN
KOREA, NORTH
MALI
MAURITANIA
RUSSIA
SOUTH SUDAN

SUDAN
SYRIA
TURKMENISTAN
UZBEKISTAN
VENEZUELA

SOMALIA

YEMEN

TIER 2
AFGHANISTAN
ALBANIA
ANGOLA
ARGENTINA
ARUBA
AZERBAIJAN
BAHRAIN
BARBADOS
BHUTAN
BOSNIA & HERZEGOVINA
BOTSWANA
BRAZIL
BRUNEI
CAMBODIA
COSTA RICA
COTE D’IVOIRE
CROATIA
CURAÇAO
CYPRUS
DOMINICAN REPUBLIC

TIER 2 WATCH LIST
ALGERIA
ANTIGUA & BARBUDA
BANGLADESH
BENIN
BOLIVIA
BULGARIA
BURKINA FASO
BURMA
CABO VERDE
CAMEROON
CHAD
CUBA

TIER 3
BELARUS
BELIZE
BURUNDI
CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC
CHINA (PRC)
COMOROS

SPECIAL CASE
LIBYA

46

MAURITANIA

CABO VERDE

THE GAMBIA

MALI

NIGER

CHAD

SUDAN

SENEGAL

GUINEA-BISSAU

BURKINA
FASO
BENIN

GUINEA

SIERRA LEONE
LIBERIA

COTE
D’IVOIRE GHANA

ERITREA
DJIBOUTI

NIGERIA

TOGO

CAMEROON

EQUATORIAL GUINEA
GABON

REP.
OF
CONGO

ETHIOPIA

SOUTH
SUDAN

CENTRAL
AFRICAN
REPUBLIC

DEMOCRATIC
UGANDA
REPUBLIC
OF THE RWANDA
CONGO BURUNDI

SOMALIA

KENYA

TANZANIA

SEYCHELLES

COMOROS

ANGOLA

ZAMBIA
ZIMBABWE

NAMIBIA

MALAWI
MOZAMBIQUE

MADAGASCAR

MAURITIUS

BOTSWANA

africa

SWAZILAND

SOUTH AFRICA

LESOTHO

Boundary representation is not authoritative.

TIER PLACEMENTS
TIER 1

TIER 2

TIER 3

TIER 2 WATCH LIST

SPECIAL CASE

YEAR

PROSECUTIONS

CONVICTIONS

VICTIMS
IDENTIFIED

NEW OR AMENDED
LEGISLATION

2010

272 (168)

163 (113)

9,626

5

2011

340 (45)

217 (113)

8,900 (5,098)

2

2012

493 (273)

252 (177)

10,043 (6,544)

4

2013

572 (245)

341 (192)

10,096 (2,250)

7

2014

811 (49)

317 (33)

9,523 (1,308)

4

2015

1,517 (53)

719 (8)

12,125 (3,531)

6

2016

1,251 (54)

1,119 (21)

18,296 (13,205)

4

The above statistics are estimates derived from data provided by foreign governments and other sources and reviewed by the Department of State. Aggregate data fluctuates
from one year to the next due to the hidden nature of trafficking crimes, dynamic global events, shifts in government efforts, and a lack of uniformity in national reporting
structures. The numbers in parentheses are those of labor trafficking prosecutions, convictions, and victims identified.

47

MONGOLIA

DPRK
SOUTH KOREA
JAPAN

CHINA

Macau
BURMA

Hong Kong

LAOS
THAILAND

TAIWAN

VIETNAM

CAMBODIA

PHILIPPINES

PALAU

BRUNEI

FEDERATED STATES
OF MICRONESIA

MARSHALL ISLANDS

MALAYSIA
SINGAPORE

I N D O N E S I A

PAPUA NEW GUINEA

TIMOR-LESTE

SOLOMON
ISLANDS

FIJI

east asia
& pacific

TONGA

AUSTRALIA

NEW ZEALAND

Boundary representation is not authoritative.

TIER PLACEMENTS
TIER 1

TIER 2

TIER 3

TIER 2 WATCH LIST

YEAR

PROSECUTIONS

CONVICTIONS

VICTIMS
IDENTIFIED

NEW OR AMENDED
LEGISLATION

2010

427 (53)

177 (9)

2,597

0

2011

2,127 (55)

978 (55)

8,454 (3,140)

4

2012

1,682 (115)

1,251 (103)

8,521 (1,804)

4

2013

2,460 (188)

1,271 (39)

7,886 (1,077)

3

2014

1,938 (88)

969 (16)

6,349 (1,084)

3

2015

3,414 (193)

1,730 (130)

13,990 (3,533)

10

2016

2,137 (51)

1,953 (31)

9,989 (310)

7

The above statistics are estimates derived from data provided by foreign governments and other sources and reviewed by the Department of State. Aggregate data fluctuates
from one year to the next due to the hidden nature of trafficking crimes, dynamic global events, shifts in government efforts, and a lack of uniformity in national reporting
structures. The numbers in parentheses are those of labor trafficking prosecutions, convictions, and victims identified.

48

ICELAND
FINLAND

SWEDEN
NORWAY

ESTONIA

R U S S I A

LATVIA

DENMARK

LITHUANIA

IRELAND

NETHERLANDS

UNITED
KINGDOM

GERMANY

BELGIUM

POLAND

BELARUS

CZECHIA

LUX.

UKRAINE

SLOVAKIA

AUSTRIA HUNGARY

SWITZERLAND

FRANCE

SLOVENIA

ITA LY CROATIA

SPAIN

ROMANIA

SERBIA

BOS.&
HER.

MONTENEGRO

PORTUGAL

MOLDOVA

KOSOVO

BULGARIA

ARMENIA

GREECE
ALBANIA

europe

GEORGIA

MACEDONIA

MALTA

TURKEY

AZERBAIJAN

CYPRUS

ARUBA*
CURAÇAO*
ST. MAARTEN*
Aruba

St. Maarten

Curaçao

Boundary representation is not authoritative.

Islands not shown to scale or
relative position.

* Islands in the Caribbean Sea—although part of the Kingdom of
the Netherlands, Aruba, Curaçao and St. Maarten are covered
by the State Department’s Bureau of Western Hemisphere
Affairs.

TIER PLACEMENTS
TIER 1

TIER 2

TIER 3

TIER 2 WATCH LIST

YEAR

PROSECUTIONS

CONVICTIONS

VICTIMS
IDENTIFIED

NEW OR AMENDED
LEGISLATION

2010

2,803 (47)

1,850 (38)

8,548

4

2011

3,188 (298)

1,601 (81)

10,185 (1,796)

2

2012

3,161 (361)

1,818 (112)

11,905 (2,306)

3

2013

3,223 (275)

2,684 (127)

10,374 (1,863)

35

2014

4,199 (197)

1,585 (69)

11,910 (3,531)

5

2015

4,990 (272)

1,692 (245)

11,112 (3,733)

8

2016

2,703 (201)

1,673 (40)

11,416 (3,192)

3

The above statistics are estimates derived from data provided by foreign governments and other sources and reviewed by the Department of State. Aggregate data fluctuates
from one year to the next due to the hidden nature of trafficking crimes, dynamic global events, shifts in government efforts, and a lack of uniformity in national reporting
structures. The numbers in parentheses are those of labor trafficking prosecutions, convictions, and victims identified.

49

SYRIA

TUNISIA

LEBANON

MOROCCO

IRAQ

ISRAEL

IRAN

JORDAN

ALGERIA

LIBYA

KUWAIT
BAHRAIN

EGYPT
SAUDI ARABIA

QATAR
U.A.E.
OMAN

YEMEN

near east
Boundary representation is not authoritative.

TIER PLACEMENTS
TIER 1

TIER 2

TIER 3

TIER 2 WATCH LIST

SPECIAL CASE

YEAR

PROSECUTIONS

CONVICTIONS

VICTIMS
IDENTIFIED

NEW OR AMENDED
LEGISLATION

2010

323 (63)

68 (10)

1,304

1

2011

209 (17)

60 (5)

1,831 (1,132)

2

2012

249 (29)

149 (15)

4,047 (1,063)

1

2013

119 (25)

60 (4)

1,460 (172)

4

2014

320 (5)

144 (25)

3,388 (2,460)

0

2015

480 (31)

343 (31)

6,068 (156)

0

2016

996 (591)

1,187 (582)

3,292 (185)

4

The above statistics are estimates derived from data provided by foreign governments and other sources and reviewed by the Department of State. Aggregate data fluctuates
from one year to the next due to the hidden nature of trafficking crimes, dynamic global events, shifts in government efforts, and a lack of uniformity in national reporting
structures. The numbers in parentheses are those of labor trafficking prosecutions, convictions, and victims identified.

50

KAZAKHSTAN

UZBEKISTAN

TURKMENISTAN

KYRGYZ
REPUBLIC
TAJIKISTAN

AFGHANISTAN
BHUTAN

PAKISTAN

NEPAL

INDIA
BANGLADESH

south &
central asia
Boundary representation is not authoritative.

SRI LANKA

MALDIVES

TIER PLACEMENTS
TIER 1

TIER 2

TIER 3

TIER 2 WATCH LIST

YEAR

PROSECUTIONS

CONVICTIONS

VICTIMS
IDENTIFIED

NEW OR AMENDED
LEGISLATION

2010

1,460 (196)

1,068 (11)

4,357

1

2011

974 (24)

829 (11)

3,907 (1,089)

2

2012

1,043 (6)

874 (4)

4,415 (2,150)

1

2013

1,904 (259)

974 (58)

7,124 (1,290)

5

2014

1,839 (12)

958 (10)

4,878 (1,041)

3

2015

6,930 (225)

1,468 (16)

24,867 (1,191)

0

2016

6,297 (72)

2,193 (19)

14,706 (464)

5

The above statistics are estimates derived from data provided by foreign governments and other sources and reviewed by the Department of State. Aggregate data fluctuates
from one year to the next due to the hidden nature of trafficking crimes, dynamic global events, shifts in government efforts, and a lack of uniformity in national reporting
structures. The numbers in parentheses are those of labor trafficking prosecutions, convictions, and victims identified.

SWAZILAND

LESOTHO

51

CANADA

UNITED STATES

THE BAHAMAS

MEXICO
CUBA

DOMINICAN
REPUBLIC

JAMAICA

GUATEMALA

BELIZE
HONDURAS

Puerto
Rico
ST. LUCIA

HAITI

NICARAGUA

EL SALVADOR
COSTA RICA

PANAMA

ANTIGUA AND BARBUDA
BARBADOS
ST. VINCENT AND GRENADINES
TRINIDAD
AND TOBAGO

VENEZUELA

GUYANA

SURINAME

COLOMBIA
ECUADOR

PERU

BRAZIL

western
hemisphere

BOLIVIA

CHILE

PARAGUAY

ARGENTINA

Boundary representation is not authoritative.

URUGUAY

TIER PLACEMENTS
TIER 1

TIER 2

TIER 3

TIER 2 WATCH LIST

YEAR

PROSECUTIONS

CONVICTIONS

VICTIMS
IDENTIFIED

NEW OR AMENDED
LEGISLATION

2010

732 (80)

293 (65)

6,681

6

2011

624 (17)

279 (14)

9,014 (2,490)

3

2012

1,077 (369)

402 (107)

7,639 (3,501)

8

2013

1,182 (207)

446 (50)

7,818 (3,951)

4

2014

944 (67)

470 (63)

8,414 (2,014)

5

2015

1,796 (83)

663 (26)

9,661 (2,118)

6

2016

1,513 (69)

946 (24)

8,821 (109)

2

The above statistics are estimates derived from data provided by foreign governments and other sources and reviewed by the Department of State. Aggregate data fluctuates
from one year to the next due to the hidden nature of trafficking crimes, dynamic global events, shifts in government efforts, and a lack of uniformity in national reporting
structures. The numbers in parentheses are those of labor trafficking prosecutions, convictions, and victims identified.

52

A refugee girl begs for money
in traffic in Beirut, Lebanon.
Children, especially refugees
and migrant children, are
vulnerable to forced begging.

I would feel terrified. He would tell
me I had to stay out until I came up
with the money. It grossed me out...
I didn’t want them to look at me,
I didn’t want them to touch me.”
– Teenage sex trafficking victim, California

53

HOW TO READ A COUNTRY NARRATIVE
This page shows a sample country narrative. The tier ranking justification for each country in this year’s Report now appears in the first
paragraph of each country narrative and includes new language that more explicitly highlights the factors supporting a given tier ranking.
The Prosecution, Protection, and Prevention sections of each country narrative describe how a government has or has not addressed the
relevant TVPA minimum standards (see page 38), during the reporting period. This truncated narrative gives a few examples.

TVPA Minimum
Standard 4(10) –
whether the government
shows evidence of overall
increasing efforts.

Synopsis of key
developments
that support the
country’s tier
ranking.

Prioritized
recommendations
for how the
government can
better meet the
TVPA minimum
standards.

The country’s tier ranking is based on the
government’s efforts to combat trafficking
as measured against the TVPA minimum
standards and compared to its efforts in
the preceding year.

COUNTRY X: TIER 2 WATCH LIST
The Government of X does not fully meet the minimum standards
for the elimination of trafficking; however, it is making significant
efforts to do so. The government demonstrated significant efforts
during the reporting period by undertaking awareness raising efforts
and reaffirming its commitment to enact anti-trafficking legislation.
However, the government did not demonstrate increasing efforts
compared to the previous reporting period. The government did
not show evidence of overall progress in prosecuting and punishing
trafficking offenders and identifying victims of trafficking. Therefore
X remained on Tier 2 Watch List for the second consecutive year.

RECOMMENDATIONS FOR COUNTRY X:

Enact the draft comprehensive anti-trafficking legislation;
significantly increase efforts to investigate andTVPA
prosecute
trafficking
Minimum
offenses, and convict and punish trafficking offenders;
institute
Standards
1-3 – and
consistently apply formal procedures to identify victims of trafficking
whether the government
among vulnerable groups, such as those arrested for immigration
prohibits allanalyze
forms of
violations or prostitution: and collect, disaggregate,
and
traffickingdata.
and prescribes
disseminate counter-trafficking law enforcement

PROSECUTION

Summary
of the
government’s
anti-trafficking
laws and law
enforcement
efforts.
TVPA Minimum
Standard 4(1) –
whether the government
vigorously investigates and
prosecutes trafficking offenses;
convicts and punishes
trafficking offenders; and
provides data on these
actions.

Summary of the
government’s
efforts to ensure
trafficking victims
are identified and
provided adequate
protection.

adequate criminal
punishments.

The Government of Country X decreased efforts to investigate and
prosecute trafficking offenses during the reporting period. Country
X does not prohibit all forms of trafficking, but it criminalizes
slavery under Section 321 and forced labor under Section 322 of
its criminal law. The prescribed penalty for forced labor—up to six
months’ imprisonment—is not sufficiently stringent. Article 297
prohibits forced or coerced prostitution, and the prostitution of
a child below age 15 even if there was no compulsion or redress;
the prescribed penalty is up to 15 years’ imprisonment, which is
commensurate with penalties prescribed for other serious crimes,
such as rape. Draft revisions to the penal code have not yet been
enacted. An unconfirmed report indicates that four traffickers were
charged with fraudulently issuing visas to workers who they then
exploited. Two were reportedly deported, and two were reportedly
convicted. The government did not confirm nor deny the existence
of this case. The government did not report any investigations,
prosecutions, or convictions of government employees complicit
in human trafficking offenses.

PROTECTION

Country X maintained minimal efforts to protect victims of trafficking
during the reporting period. Although health care facilities reportedly
refer suspected abuse cases to the government anti-trafficking shelter
for investigation, the government continues to lack a systematic
procedure for law enforcement to identify victims of trafficking
among vulnerable populations, such as foreign workers awaiting
deportation and women arrested for prostitution; as a result, victims
may be punished and automatically deported without being identified
as victims or offered protection. The government reported that the
Ministry of the Interior has a process by which it refers victims to
the trafficking shelter; however, this process is underutilized in
practice. The trafficking shelter assisted 24 individuals during the
reporting period and provided them with a wide range of services,
including full medical treatment and legal and job assistance.

TVPA Minimum
Standard 4(2) –
whether the government
adequately protects victims
of trafficking by identifying
them and ensuring they have
access to necessary
services.

54

TVPA Minimum
Standard 4(2) –
whether the government
adequately protects victims
of trafficking by identifying
them and ensuring they have
Country X commonly fines and detains potential trafficking victims
access to necessary
for unlawful acts committed as a direct result of being subjected to
services.
trafficking, such as immigration violations and running away from
their sponsors, without determining whether the individuals are
victims of trafficking.

Country X sometimes offers temporary relief from deportation
so that victims can testify as witnesses against their employers.
However, victims were generally not permitted to leave the country if
there is a pending case. The government did not routinely encourage
victims to assist in trafficking investigations or consistently offer
victims alternatives to removal to countries where they may face
retribution or hardship.

TVPA Minimum
Standard 4(3) – whether
the government is making
adequate efforts to prevent human
PREVENTION
trafficking, including measures
Country X increased efforts to prevent trafficking in persons during
to ensure its diplomats or
the reporting period. While the government made no apparent effort
peacekeepers assigned
to amend provisions of Country X’s sponsorship law to help prevent
abroad do not engage in
the forced labor of migrant workers, the government did start to
enforce other parts of the law to the benefit of migrant workers. One
trafficking.
provision in the sponsorship law continues to require foreign workers
to request exit permits from their sponsors in order to leave Country
X. Although this may increase migrant workers’ vulnerability to
forced labor, the law created a new process through which a laborer
who was not granted an exit permit due to a sponsor’s refusal or
other circumstances can seek one by other means. The Ministry
of Labor sponsored media campaigns and organized informational
workshops for officials, NGOs, and labor recruitment agencies.
However, the government did not provide anti-trafficking training
or guidance to its diplomatic personnel during the reporting period.
The government has a national plan of action to address trafficking
in persons, but did not publicly disseminate the plan or take steps
to implement it during the reporting period. The government did
not take any public awareness campaigns aimed at reducing the
demand for commercial sex acts in Country X, but it government
convicted two of its nationals for soliciting children for sex in other
countries and sentenced them to 10 years’ imprisonment.

TRAFFICKING PROFILE

As reported over the past five years, Country X is a transit and
destination country for men and women subjected to forced labor
and, to a much lesser extent, forced prostitution. Men and women
from South and Southeast Asia, East Africa, and the Middle East
voluntarily
travel
to Country X as laborers and domestic servants,
TVPA
Minimum
but Standard
some subsequently
face conditions indicative of involuntary
4(7) – whether
servitude. These conditions include threats of serious harm,
the government has made
including threats of legal action and deportation; withholding of
adequate
efforts
to address
pay;
restrictions
on freedom
of movement, including the confiscation
the
involvement
in or documents
facilitation and physical, mental, and sexual
of passports
and travel
abuse.
In some trafficking
cases, arriving
of human
by migrant workers have found that the
terms
of employment
in Country X are wholly different from those
government
employees.
they agreed to in their home countries. Individuals employed as
domestic servants are particularly vulnerable to trafficking since
they are not covered under the provisions of the labor law. A small
number of foreign workers transit Country X and are forced to work
on farms in Country Y. Country X is also a destination for women
who migrate and become involved in prostitution, but the extent to
which these women are subjected to forced prostitution is unknown.

Summary of the
government’s
efforts to
prevent human
trafficking.

TVPA Minimum
Standard 4(11) –
whether the government
has made efforts to reduce
the demand for commercial
sex acts, and, if applicable,
participation in international
sex tourism by its
nationals.

Overview of
human trafficking
in the country and
factors affecting
vulnerability to
trafficking of the
country’s nationals
abroad.

COUNTRY NARRATIVES

COUNTRY
NARRATIVES

A child rakes coal in a charcoal
camp in Brazil. Children around
the world are subjected to forced
labor in rural areas, including
in ranching, agriculture, and
charcoal production.

55

AFGHANISTAN

AFGHANISTAN: TIER 2
The Government of Afghanistan does not fully meet the
minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking; however,
it is making significant efforts to do so. The government
demonstrated increasing efforts compared to the previous
reporting period; therefore, Afghanistan was upgraded to Tier 2.
The government demonstrated increasing efforts by enacting a
new law on human trafficking in January 2017 that attempts to
reduce conflation of smuggling and trafficking, and criminalizes
bacha baazi, a practice in which men exploit boys for social and
sexual entertainment. The government investigated, prosecuted,
and convicted traffickers, including through the arrest and
punishment of complicit officials for bacha baazi. With funding
and staff from an international organization, the government
reopened a short-term shelter in Kabul for trafficking victims.
The government also opened 15 child protection units that
prevented the recruitment of more than 300 children into
the security forces in 2016. However, the government did not
meet the minimum standards in several key areas. Official
complicity remained a serious problem, especially in the
sexual exploitation and recruitment of children by Afghan
security forces. Victim protection efforts remained inadequate;
all but one government-run shelter for trafficking victims
remained closed during the reporting period. The government
did not develop or employ standard operating procedures for
victim identification or for referral of victims to rehabilitation
services, which at times resulted in the government’s arrest and
prosecution of trafficking victims as criminals.

RECOMMENDATIONS FOR AFGHANISTAN

56

Cease the recruitment and use of children by Afghan security
forces, and ensure adequate protection and reintegration
support for demobilized children; use the 2017 trafficking
law to investigate and prosecute alleged traffickers, including
law enforcement and members of the military suspected of
being complicit in trafficking, and convict and appropriately
sentence the perpetrators, while respecting due process; cease the
penalization of victims for offenses committed as a direct result
of being subjected to trafficking, including stopping prosecutions
for moral crimes and the placement of child trafficking victims
in juvenile rehabilitation centers; develop standard operating
procedures for victim identification and referral to rehabilitation
services and train officials on their use; strengthen the capacity
of the Ministry of Interior (MOI)’s anti-trafficking/smuggling
units, including increasing the number of staff in each region
and ensuring their ability to differentiate between smuggling
and trafficking; continue to increase the capacity of the High
Commission for Combating Crimes of Abduction and Human
Trafficking/Smuggling (high commission) to coordinate and
report on the government’s anti-trafficking efforts, and oversee
implementation of the anti-trafficking national action plan; as
the security situation and access to rural areas allow, continue
to educate officials at national, provincial, and local levels on
the definition of human trafficking, as well as identification,

protection, and law enforcement strategies; improve efforts to
collect, analyze, and accurately report counter-trafficking data;
dedicate resources to support long-term victim rehabilitation
programs; continue to educate government officials and the
public on the criminal nature of bacha baazi and debt bondage
of children; and proactively inform government officials,
especially at the MOI and Ministry of Defense (MOD), of the
law prohibiting the recruitment and enlistment of minors, and
enforce these provisions with criminal prosecutions.

PROSECUTION

The government increased its law enforcement efforts. In January
2017, the government enacted the Law to Combat Crimes
of Trafficking in Persons and Smuggling of Migrants, which
prohibits all forms of human trafficking. The law criminalizes
the use of threat or force or other types of coercion or deceit for
the purpose of exploitation. It includes forms of exploitation
that go beyond those in the 2000 UN TIP Protocol, such as
medical experiments and forcing a person to commit “other
illegal activities,” and includes armed fighting and bacha baazi,
a practice, in which men exploit boys for social and sexual
entertainment—effectively criminalizing this practice for the
first time. The law prescribes maximum penalties of eight years
imprisonment; aggravating factors increase the maximum
sentence to between 10 and 15 years and the imposition of
the death penalty if exploitation for armed fighting resulted
in the victim’s death. Such penalties are sufficiently stringent
and commensurate with those for other serious crimes. The
government used the 2008 Law Countering Abduction and
Human Trafficking/Smuggling, article 516 of the penal code,
and the 2009 Law on the Elimination of Violence Against
Women, which together prohibited many, but not all, forms
of human trafficking to prosecute and convict traffickers until
the enactment of the 2017 law repealed the 2008 law. These
penalties were sufficiently stringent and commensurate with
those prescribed for other serious crimes, such as rape.
The government reported the investigation of 103 alleged
traffickers and the prosecution of 63 during the reporting
period, compared with the investigation of 108 alleged
traffickers and the prosecution of 56 in the previous reporting
period. The government reported primary courts convicted
33 traffickers during the reporting period, compared with 39
traffickers convicted in the previous reporting period. Of the
33 convictions, sentences ranged from three months to 10
years imprisonment; 30 required imprisonment of one year
or more. Three sentences resulted in inadequate penalties
of three months imprisonment. The government’s law
enforcement response to forced and bonded labor in particular
is unknown as case details or types were not provided. Law
enforcement and judicial officials continued to have a limited
understanding of trafficking. Dari, the language spoken most
widely in Afghanistan, historically used the same word for
both human trafficking and human smuggling, compounding
the confusion. Authorities attempted to address this issue by
including separate terms and definitions for trafficking and
smuggling in the new law; however, international observers
expressed concern the government would not effectively train
provincial police and prosecutors on the new terminology.
MOI had a central anti-trafficking/smuggling unit staffed with
16 officers, with an additional two officers in each of the 34
provinces; however, officers were not solely dedicated to antitrafficking, and officials noted two officers per province was
insufficient. The Attorney General’s Office reported it trained
officials from the National Directorate of Security intelligence
agency on combating trafficking during the reporting period.

Official complicity in trafficking remained a serious and pervasive
problem. Some government and security officials reportedly
engaged in the practice of bacha baazi. In July 2016, the President
ordered an investigation into institutionalized sexual abuse
of children by police officials and stated perpetrators would
be prosecuted. The Afghanistan Independent Human Rights
Commission’s (AIHRC) 2014 report assessed that most who
engage in bacha baazi paid bribes to, or had relationships with,
law enforcement, prosecutors, or judges that effectively exempted
them from prosecution. In October 2016, five Afghan National
Army (ANA) soldiers were accused of sexually abusing a boy,
possibly in bacha baazi. All five were arrested and transferred
to an ANA court, where one soldier was convicted of unlawful
use of lethal force and sentenced to two years imprisonment;
another soldier was convicted of battery and sentenced to one
year imprisonment. Three of the soldiers were released due
to lack of evidence against them. In February 2017, a district
chief of police and six members of the security forces were
arrested for allegedly participating in a bacha baazi gathering;
the district chief of police was fired from his position. However,
observers reported the police also arrested the four victims
involved in the case. In 2016, the government established the
Department of Gender and Human Rights Research on Child
Abuse within the MOI to protect women and children from
abuses of law enforcement officials and police. The UN verified
the continued use of children in combat and non-combat roles
by the government in 2016, including five cases of recruitment
by the Afghan National Police, two by the Afghan Local Police,
and one by the ANA. The UN also verified in 2016 one case
of child recruitment and use by the People’s Uprising Group
of Baghlan, a government-supported armed group. Observers
reported some officials accepted bribes to produce identity
documents for boys stating their age was above 18 years old.

PROTECTION

The government maintained inadequate efforts to protect
victims. The government did not compile comprehensive
victim identification and assistance statistics; however, the
Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs, Martyrs, and the Disabled
(MOLSAMD) reported identifying 23 victims. Separately, an
NGO reported identifying and assisting 93 victims, including 55
boys and 38 girls. The government did not develop or employ
systematic procedures for the identification of victims and their
subsequent referral to protective services; however, NGOs and
international organizations noted the government, including
multiple ministries and the police, actively referred victims to
protective services. In 2016, government referrals accounted
for 96 percent of two NGO-run trafficking shelter’s caseloads.
MOLSAMD reported it created a referral system for forced labor
cases for the border police; it was unknown if the system was
disseminated and used during the reporting period. Police lacked
formal guidelines and funding to provide basic care (including
water and food) to victims during investigations. In some
instances, police officers paid out-of-pocket for basic victim
care. MOLSAMD, with funding and staff from an international
organization, reopened a government-owned short-term shelter
in Kabul for trafficking victims that had closed several years ago.
MOLSAMD provided registration, referral, and social services
for trafficking victims, including receiving victims repatriated to
Afghanistan from other countries. NGOs operated 29 women’s
protection shelters in 21 provinces that provided protection,
legal, and social services to female victims of violence, which
were available to trafficking victims. The Ministry of Women’s

Affairs monitored and regulated all women’s protective shelters
through site visits to ensure compliance with women’s centers
regulations and guidelines and hosted national and provincial
coordination committees to discuss the findings of visits and
to address challenges. Family guidance centers provided nonresidential legal and social services for victims of all crimes in
17 provinces, and provided shelter for victims in 14 provinces.
The Child Protection Action Network, a conglomerate of
NGOs, civil society, and government entities overseen by
MOLSAMD, provided shelter to some child victims. NGOs
operated two shelters for victims of labor and sex trafficking
in Kabul, including one specifically dedicated to serving boys
under age 18. At times, the government placed child victims
in orphanages, although some children in orphanages were
subjected to trafficking. There continued to be no shelters for
adult male victims.
Authorities sometimes treated male and female victims as
criminals simply for being unchaperoned or for having
committed moral crimes; officials continued to arrest, imprison,
or otherwise punish victims for prostitution or adultery,
without regard to whether they had been subjected to forced
prostitution, or for escaping from husbands who forced them
into prostitution. Authorities sometimes prosecuted victims
for possessing forged identity documents. Article 20 of the
2017 Law to Combat Crimes of Trafficking in Persons and
Smuggling of Migrants provides that a trafficking victim shall
not be prosecuted for crimes committed while being subjected
to trafficking or for the possession or use of fraudulent travel
documents. Officials sometimes placed in prisons male and
female victims who could not be accommodated in shelters.
NGOs reported placement of child trafficking victims in juvenile
detention centers, sometimes for several years. Male child sex
trafficking victims, including those subjected to bacha baazi,
were in some cases referred to juvenile rehabilitation centers
on criminal charges. The government did not demobilize child
soldiers associated with governmental or nongovernmental
armed groups or provide or refer such children for protection
services or for reintegration support.

AFGHANISTAN

International organizations and NGOs continued to provide
most training opportunities to government officials.

The government did not encourage victims to participate in
investigations; it did not provide adequate support, security,
or protective services for victims to safely do so without
supplemental trauma. NGOs reported child trafficking victims
are at times forced to testify in front of their alleged traffickers.
Afghan law allows foreign victims to remain temporarily in
Afghanistan for at least six months. There was no information
the government forcibly deported any foreign trafficking victims
in 2016.

PREVENTION

The government increased its trafficking prevention efforts.
The government continued to coordinate its anti-trafficking
activities through its high commission, which met three times
during the reporting period and separately held nine working
level meetings. Provincial anti-trafficking commissions in 33
provinces coordinated activities to implement policy established
by the high commission. The high commission did not receive
money from the government for its operating or program
expenses; the international community fully funded its activities.
The government continued to implement its 2015-2017 national
action plan to combat human trafficking. The high commission
developed an action plan for public awareness of human
trafficking and conducted 22 training programs in 10 provinces.
The government continued to raise trafficking awareness through
radio, television, and print media, and encouraged mullahs

57

ALBANIA

to raise awareness through their weekly sermons. The AIHRC
conducted 60 educational training programs on preventing
and combating human trafficking for MOD officials, university
lecturers, mullahs, and civil society activists; the programs
reached 2,091 individuals.
During the reporting period, the government opened 15
child protection units (CPUs) to prevent the recruitment of
children into the security forces. According to an international
organization, the CPUs prevented the recruitment of 315
boys and three girls from January through November 2016.
Separately, MOI reported it prevented the recruitment of
63 children into the police forces in 2016. The government
continued to develop plans for its long-delayed electronic
national identification card. During the reporting period, the
government finalized a policy and drafted an action plan for
the reintegration of Afghan returnees and internally displaced
persons in partnership with the UN; however, government
ability to assist vulnerable persons, including over one million
documented and undocumented returnees from Pakistan and
Iran in 2016, remained limited, and it continued to rely on the
international community for assistance. The government did
not take steps to reduce the demand for commercial sex acts or
forced labor. The government did not provide anti-trafficking
training for its diplomatic personnel.

TRAFFICKING PROFILE

As reported over the past five years, Afghanistan is a source,
transit, and destination country for men, women, and children
subjected to forced labor and sex trafficking. Internal trafficking
is more prevalent than transnational trafficking. Men, women,
and children are exploited in bonded labor in Afghanistan,
where an initial debt assumed by a worker as part of the terms
of employment is exploited,ultimately entrapping other family
members, sometimes for multiple generations. Some entire
Afghan families are trapped in debt bondage in the brick-making
industry in eastern Afghanistan. Most Afghan trafficking victims
are children exploited in carpet making and brick factories,
domestic servitude, commercial sex, begging, poppy cultivation,
transnational drug smuggling, and assistant truck driving
within Afghanistan. Some Afghan families knowingly sell their
children into sex trafficking, including for bacha baazi—where
men, including some government officials and security forces,
use boys for social and sexual entertainment. There are reports
that some law enforcement officials, prosecutors, and judges
accept bribes from or use their relationships with perpetrators
of bacha baazi to allow them to escape punishment. Opiumfarming families sometimes sell their children to settle debts
with opium traffickers. Children in orphanages overseen by the
government, but run by NGOs, were sometimes subjected to
trafficking. Members of the Shia Hazara minority group were
victims of forced labor. Afghan returnees from Pakistan and
Iran and internally displaced Afghans are vulnerable to forced
and bonded labor.

58

Men, women, and children in Afghanistan often pay
intermediaries to assist them in finding employment, primarily
in Iran, Pakistan, India, Europe, or North America; some of
these intermediaries force Afghans into labor or prostitution.
Afghan women and girls are subjected to sex trafficking and
domestic servitude primarily in Pakistan, Iran, and India. The
majority of Afghan victims in Pakistan are women and girls
subjected to trafficking for the purpose of commercial sexual
exploitation, including through forced marriages. Afghan boys
and men are subjected to forced labor and debt bondage in
agriculture and construction, primarily in Iran, Pakistan, Greece,

Turkey, and the Gulf states. Boys, especially those traveling
unaccompanied, are particularly vulnerable to trafficking. Some
Afghan boys are subjected to sex trafficking in Greece after
paying high fees to be smuggled into the country. Reportedly,
the Iranian government and the Islamic Revolutionary Guards
Corps (IRGC) coerce male Afghan migrants and registered
refugees, including boys as young as 12, to fight in Syria in
IRGC-organized and commanded militias, by threatening them
with arrest and deportation to Afghanistan.
The government and armed non-state groups in Afghanistan
recruit and use children in combat and non-combat roles. Armed
non-state groups, mostly the Taliban, but also including other
non-state groups like the Islamic State in Khorasan Province,
account for most child recruitment and use. Insurgent groups
forcibly recruit and use children as suicide bombers. The
Taliban indoctrinate children using religious and military
education and teach children to use small arms and deploy
improvised explosive devices. Some families receive cash
payments or protection in exchange for sending their children to
the Taliban-run schools. Children from impoverished and rural
areas, particularly those under Taliban control, are especially
vulnerable to recruitment. The Afghan Local and National Police
use children in combat and non-combat roles, including as
personal servants, support staff, and body guards. The ANA also
recruits children, although to a lesser extent. There were reports
that some members of the Afghan security forces, including
members of the ANA, and other groups of non-state actors
sexually abuse and exploit young girls and boys.
There were reports of women and girls from the Philippines,
Pakistan, Iran, Tajikistan, Sri Lanka, and China subjected to sex
trafficking in Afghanistan. Under the pretense of high-paying
employment opportunities, some labor recruiting agencies
lure foreign workers to Afghanistan, including from Sri Lanka,
Nepal, India, Iran, Pakistan, and Tajikistan; the recruiters subject
these migrants to forced labor after arrival.

ALBANIA: TIER 2
The Government of Albania does not fully meet the minimum
standards for the elimination of trafficking; however, it is making
significant efforts to do so. The government demonstrated
increasing efforts compared to the previous reporting period;
therefore, Albania remained on Tier 2. The government
demonstrated increasing efforts by prosecuting and convicting
more traffickers and using for the first time its “special fund”
towards victim protection from assets seized from traffickers.
The government increased funding to the Office of the National
Anti-Trafficking Coordinator (ONAC) and regularly convened
stakeholders of the national referral mechanism and national
anti-trafficking committee. However, the government did
not meet minimum standards in several key areas. Police
continued to illustrate a limited understanding of human
trafficking and failed in some cases to identify trafficking
victims among individuals involved in forced prostitution or
domestic servitude. The government investigated two victims
and punished one victim for unlawful acts committed as a result
of being subjected to trafficking, although the law exempts
victims from punishment for crimes committed as a result of
their exploitation.

PROTECTION

RECOMMENDATIONS FOR ALBANIA

Implement the law that exempts victims from penalties for
unlawful acts committed as a direct result of being subjected
to trafficking, particularly sex trafficking victims exploited in
prostitution; train police, labor inspectors, and other frontline officials on proactive identification of victims; continue
to vigorously investigate, prosecute, and convict traffickers
under article 110(a) and 128 (b); establish sustainable funding
mechanisms for mobile units operated by law enforcement and
civil society groups to identify victims; increase protection for
victims from threats and intimidation during court proceedings
by facilitating participation in the witness protection program
and expanding training for prosecutors dealing with victim
witnesses; increase funding to NGO-run shelters for trafficking
victims and provide funding on a regular basis; improve the
capacity of border and migration police to screen irregular
migrants for trafficking indicators; and increase efforts to screen
street children for signs of trafficking.

PROSECUTION

The government maintained anti-trafficking law enforcement
efforts. Articles 110(a) and 128(b) of the criminal code prohibit
sex and labor trafficking and prescribe penalties of eight to 15
years imprisonment; these are sufficiently stringent and exceed
those prescribed for other serious crimes, such as rape. The state
police investigated 69 cases with 69 suspected traffickers in 2016,
compared to 80 cases with 90 suspects in 2015. The government
did not disaggregate law enforcement data to demonstrate efforts
against sex trafficking and forced labor, but did track whether
the victims were adults or children. Twenty-one of these suspects
in 2016 were investigated for child trafficking and 48 for adult
trafficking. The Serious Crimes Prosecutor’s Office prosecuted
18 suspected traffickers, compared to15 in 2015. Nine of these
suspects were prosecuted for child trafficking, compared to two
suspects in 2015. Courts convicted 24 traffickers, compared to
11 in 2015. Eleven of these traffickers were convicted for child
trafficking, and 13 for adult trafficking. All convicted traffickers
received prison sentences, which ranged from two to 25 years.
Authorities continued to prosecute some traffickers for the
lesser crime of exploitation of prostitution. Authorities reported
the confusion between overlapping elements of exploitation
of prostitution and trafficking and at times applied the lesser
charge because it required less specialization and time or due to
the false belief that trafficking crimes required a transnational
element. Traffickers charged with exploitation of prostitution
could receive lighter penalties than those charged with sex
trafficking.
In 2016, the government trained 75 judges and 20 police officers
on investigation and prosecution of traffickers and victim
protection. The government did not report any investigations,
prosecutions, or convictions of government employees complicit
in trafficking offenses. Transnational law enforcement efforts
increased. The government cooperated in two joint investigations
with Italian and Spanish law enforcement. In 2016, eight
Albanians were arrested in the Netherlands, Germany, Greece,

The government maintained victim protection efforts. The
government and NGOs identified 95 trafficking victims and
potential trafficking victims, compared to 109 in 2015. Of these,
55 were adults and 44 were children (61 adults and 48 children
in 2015), 11 were male and 84 were female (22 male victims
and 87 female victims in 2015), and eight were foreigners (four
foreign victims in 2015). Sixty-two were identified as potential
victims and 33 officially identified as victims, a status provided
after a joint interview held by representatives from both law
enforcement and state social services. The law guaranteed equal
services for both potential victims and officially recognized
victims.

ALBANIA

and Italy for suspected involvement in trafficking; three of these
suspects were extradited to Albania. Albania extradited eight
suspected foreign traffickers to Italy, Macedonia, and Moldova.

Three specialized NGO-run shelters and one state-run shelter
provided assistance to trafficking victims, including food,
counseling, legal assistance, medical care, educational services,
employment services, assistance to victims’ children, financial
support, long-term accommodation, social activities, vocational
training, and post-reintegration follow-up. NGO-run shelters
supported 75 trafficking victims and potential victims and the
state-run shelter supported 30, of which 10 were from 2015.
The government provided 21.7 million leks ($169,231) to the
state-run shelter, a decrease from 23,970,000 leks ($186,900) in
2015. The government provided 15.3 million leks ($119,093)
to NGO-run shelters to support 24 staff salaries, an increase
from 10 million leks ($77,972) to support 12 staff salaries in
2015. For the first time, the government added 4.7 million leks
($36,647) to the budget from seized criminal assets to fund
reintegration and support services. Food support for NGOrun shelters decreased to 1.8 million leks ($14,035) from 3
million leks ($23,392) in 2015. NGO-run shelters continued
to operate under financial constraints and relied on outside
sources for operating costs. Financial mechanisms used to
fund these shelters annually remained complicated and open
to manipulation by local governments. Government funding
for the three NGO-run shelters was delayed by two months and
one shelter never received funding for food. NGO-run shelters
allowed adult victims to leave the shelter voluntarily, but the
state-run shelter required victims to seek approval from the
director of the shelter. The government provided free vocational
training, textbooks for child victims, and health cards that
provided free access to health care. Only one NGO-run shelter
provided specialized services for child victims under the age
of 16. Male victims were provided with rented apartments,
where they received assistance from NGOs. Foreign victims
had access to the same services as domestic victims, including
legal assistance.
First responders followed a standard operating procedure
for identifying and referring victims to services; however, the
government deactivated mobile identification units because
international donors no longer provided support and the
government lacked the funds to continue the units. NGOs
reported law enforcement jailed victims for unlawful acts
committed as a direct result of being subjected to human
trafficking. For example, a female trafficking victim was convicted
of prostitution and sentenced to 16 months imprisonment, of
which she served nine months. Another victim was sentenced
to 18 months probation but won her case on appeal. NGOs
reported police often associated trafficking with movement
and were unlikely to identify victims recruited and exploited

59

ALGERIA

in the same region of the country. Observers reported cases
of border guards and immigration officials not carrying out
standard screening procedures. The government, in cooperation
with an international organization, trained 388 officials in 12
regions on victim identification, referral, and assistance. The
law provided foreign victims a three-month reflection period
with temporary residency status and authorization to work for
up to two years, although the government had yet to grant this
status to a victim. Victims could obtain restitution from the
government or file civil suits against traffickers; three victims
filed for compensation but their cases were still pending during
the reporting period. Observers reported threats were made to
victims and their families during court proceedings. Courts
allowed testimony via video conferences and victims who
testified against traffickers had access to the witness protection
program, but no trafficking victims participated in the program.

PREVENTION

The government increased efforts to prevent trafficking. The
government increased funding for the ONAC to 5.7 million
leks ($44,444) from 5.2 million leks ($40,546) in 2015. The
government adopted a revised national action plan after an
assessment by ONAC in cooperation with an international
organization. ONAC continued to publish regular activity
reports on its website and convened stakeholders involved in
the national referral mechanism. Twelve regional anti-trafficking
committees (RATC) comprised of local officials and NGOs
worked on prevention and victim assistance. The prime minister
issued an order to strengthen the RATC by formalizing reporting,
establishing deadlines, and increasing local awareness-raising
efforts. ONAC and national anti-trafficking coordinators from
Montenegro and Kosovo signed a joint declaration ensuring
the application of a unified standard operating procedure for
victim protection and assisted voluntary repatriation. The
government sponsored awareness campaigns on exploitative
labor practices; an international organization reported only 28
of 47 private employment agencies were operating legally. ONAC
trained over 1,000 government workers, judges, prosecutors,
and civil society partners on trafficking issues. The government
did not make efforts to reduce the demand for commercial
sex. The government provided anti-trafficking guidance for its
diplomatic personnel, and the national coordinator briefed
Albanian diplomats stationed in nine cities on human trafficking
regulations.

TRAFFICKING PROFILE

60

As reported over the past five years, Albania is a source, transit,
and destination country for men, women, and children
subjected to sex trafficking and forced labor. Albanian women
and children are subjected to sex trafficking and forced labor
within the country, especially during tourist season. Traffickers
use false promises such as marriage or employment offers to
force victims into sex trafficking. Traffickers increasingly use
social media to recruit victims. Children are commonly forced
to beg or perform other types of compelled labor such as selling
small items. Albanian children, mainly from the Romani
community, are exploited in Turkey for seasonal work. There
were also instances of children forced to work in cannabis
fields in Albania and some traffickers are likely involved in drug
trafficking. Albanian victims are subjected to sex trafficking in
countries across Europe, particularly Kosovo, Greece, Italy, and
the United Kingdom. NGOs report an increase in the number
of Albanian children subjected to forced labor in Kosovo and
the United Kingdom. Foreign victims from European countries,

Philippines, and Nigeria were subjected to sex trafficking
and forced labor in Albania. Irregular migrants from Asia are
increasingly employed as domestic workers by wealthy families
where they are vulnerable to domestic servitude. Middle Eastern,
Central Asian, and African migrants transit Albania to reach
Western Europe and are vulnerable to trafficking.

ALGERIA: TIER 2 WATCH LIST
The Government of Algeria does not fully meet the minimum
standards for the elimination of trafficking; however, it is
making significant efforts to do so. The government made key
achievements during the reporting period; therefore, Algeria
was upgraded to Tier 2 Watch List. These achievements include
the investigation and prosecution of 16 alleged traffickers
and the identification of 65 potential forced labor victims,
both significant increases from the previous reporting
period. Despite the identified victims’ illegal immigration
status, the government provided them temporary housing,
medical aid, and other basic services at a migrant transit
center. The government’s newly demonstrated political will
to address trafficking included the issuance of a September
2016 presidential decree formally institutionalizing the
inter-ministerial anti-trafficking committee and assigning it
a dedicated budget to implement its mandate. Despite these
achievements, the government did not systematically identify
trafficking victims among vulnerable populations, nor did
it provide adequate protection services for all trafficking
victims. It did not have a standardized mechanism to refer
potential victims to government- or NGO-run protection
services. Furthermore, due to a lack of identification efforts,
authorities continued to punish potential trafficking victims
for acts committed as a direct result of being subjected to
trafficking, such as immigration violations and prostitution.

RECOMMENDATIONS FOR ALGERIA

Vigorously investigate, prosecute, and convict sex and labor
trafficking offenders and punish them with sufficiently stringent
penalties; establish formal procedures for victim identification
and referral to care, and train law enforcement, judicial, and
healthcare officials and social workers on these procedures;
develop formal mechanisms to provide appropriate protection
services, either directly or through support and partnership
with NGOs and international organizations, including
adequate shelter, medical and psycho-social care, legal aid, and
repatriation assistance, to all trafficking victims; ensure victims
do not face arrest, deportation, or other punishment for acts
committed as a direct result of being subjected to trafficking;
ensure the safe and voluntary repatriation of foreign victims,
including through collaboration with relevant organizations
and source-country embassies, raise public awareness of the
indicators and risks of trafficking, including on the difference
between human trafficking and smuggling; and implement
the national anti-trafficking action plan.

The government increased efforts to investigate and prosecute
trafficking offenders. Algeria prohibits all forms of trafficking
under section 5 of its penal code. Prescribed penalties under this
statute range from three to 20 years imprisonment, which are
sufficiently stringent and commensurate with those prescribed
for other serious crimes, such as rape. Law No.14-01, which
criminalizes the buying and selling of children younger
than the age of 18, provides for prison terms of three to 20
years imprisonment for individuals and groups convicted of
committing or attempting to commit this crime; however, this
law could be interpreted to include non-trafficking crimes such
as human smuggling or illegal adoption.
The government remained without an effective system to collect
and report nationwide anti-trafficking law enforcement data.
However, the government reported it investigated six individuals
in September 2016—including three Nigeriens, two Algerians,
and one Malian—allegedly involved in a trafficking network,
who forced undocumented adult and child migrants from Niger
to beg in cities in northern Algeria. The government arrested
and charged these alleged offenders with human trafficking
offenses, among other crimes. The case was transferred from
a court in Tamanrasset to a specialized court in Ouargla and
remained pending at the end of the reporting period. Police
continued to search for four members of this alleged trafficking
network who remained at large at the end of the reporting
period. The government also investigated two other human
trafficking cases involving a total of 10 alleged perpetrators and
33 victims. These 16 prosecutions represent an increase from
zero prosecutions in the previous reporting period. However,
for another consecutive year, the government did not report
convicting any trafficking offenders. The government did
not report any investigations, prosecutions, or convictions
of government officials complicit in trafficking offenses. The
General Directorate for National Security maintained six police
brigades to monitor illegal immigration and human trafficking
and provided staff specialized training. It also maintained 50
brigades specializing in combating crimes against children,
including trafficking crimes. The government partnered with
an international organization to hold two anti-trafficking
training workshops for law enforcement officers, members of
the national anti-trafficking committee, and Algerian journalists
in May and September 2016. In March 2017, the government
provided in-kind support for an anti-trafficking workshop led
by an international organization, which trained more than 25
judges and prosecutors from several regions of the country. The
government also sent two representatives from its national antitrafficking committee to an international workshop on human
trafficking in Oman in December 2016. As of the end of the
reporting period, the Ministry of Interior was in the process of
planning training sessions on human trafficking for provincial
and local government officials.

PROTECTION

The government increased efforts to identify and provide
protection services to trafficking victims. In September 2016
as part of its investigation of an alleged forced begging ring in
Tamanrasset, the government identified 32 potential trafficking
victims, including 17 children. The government also identified
33 additional potential victims in two other investigations of
alleged trafficking. This compares to zero victims identified
in 2015. The government did not have a formal mechanism
to refer potential victims to protection services, but officials
referred potential victims to basic services on an ad hoc basis.
After authorities broke up the trafficking ring, police, local

officials, and a governmental aid organization in Tamanrasset
partnered to provide the victims with temporary housing,
food, clothing, and medical services at a migrant transit
center. Authorities recognized that the victims—although
undocumented migrants—were entitled to protection services
and freedom of movement rather than criminal punishment,
which represented a significant step towards providing victimcentered protection.
Despite the various protection services provided to trafficking
victims, the government did not systematically identify
victims and provide necessary services, such as appropriate
shelter, rehabilitation, psycho-social care and legal assistance,
or repatriation support for victims who chose to return to
their home countries. The government did not have formal
standardized identification procedures for officials to screen
for and identify victims among vulnerable groups. Government
officials admitted difficulty distinguishing trafficking victims
from irregular migrants and identifying trafficking victims
among ethnically cohesive migrant communities. Officials
continued to rely on victims to report abuses to authorities;
however, trafficking victims among the migrant populations
typically did not report potential trafficking crimes to the police
for fear of arrest and deportation. Police officers reportedly
used a worksheet to identify potential victims among those
detained at police stations, while gendarmerie brigades were
under instructions to refer potential trafficking cases to a
representative in the national anti-trafficking commission for
review. However, it was unknown whether officials used these
procedures regularly or throughout the country during the
reporting period. Thus, potential trafficking victims among
migrant populations continued to face punishment, such
as arrest and deportation, for crimes committed as a direct
result of being subjected to human trafficking, such as illegal
migration. For example, authorities in the migrant transit center
in Tamanrasset, where 5,000 migrants transited in 2016 before
being repatriated, made no effort to identify potential trafficking
victims proactively among those in the center, nor did officials
distinguish or separate potential trafficking victims from alleged
traffickers. Additionally, during a government operation to
repatriate to Niger an estimated 1,000 undocumented subSaharan migrants from Mali, Guinea, and other West African
countries in December 2016, authorities did not proactively
screen for or identify trafficking victims among deportees.

ALGERIA

PROSECUTION

The anti-trafficking law encourages victims to participate in
investigations or prosecutions of offenders through the provision
of financial assistance, housing, and medical care, but there
were no reports that victims participated in investigations in
2016. Additionally, trafficking victims were legally entitled to
file civil suits against their offenders, but the government did
not report cases in which victims did so during the reporting
period. The government did not provide foreign victims with
legal alternatives to their removal to countries where they faced
retribution or hardship.

PREVENTION

The government made some efforts to prevent human trafficking,
which it increasingly acknowledged as a problem in Algeria, and
developed institutional frameworks to respond to the crime. In
September 2016, a presidential decree formally institutionalized
the inter-ministerial anti-trafficking committee—placing it
under the auspices of the prime minister’s office—and provided
it a dedicated budget. The committee was composed of 20
members from various government ministries and institutions
to coordinate the government’s anti-trafficking activities,

61

ANGOLA

including implementation of the government’s 2015 national
anti-trafficking action plan. This committee met nine times
during the reporting period. Although the presidential decree
instructed the national committee to organize awareness
activities, the government did not do so during the reporting
period. The government took actions to reduce the demand for
commercial sex acts. The government took limited measures to
reduce the demand for forced labor. The government provided
anti-trafficking training as a part of its broader human rights
training for its diplomatic personnel.

TRAFFICKING PROFILE

As reported over the past five years, Algeria is a transit and
destination country and, in very isolated cases, a source country
for children subjected to sex trafficking and men subjected to
forced labor. Undocumented sub-Saharan migrants, primarily
from Mali, Niger, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Guinea, Liberia,
and Nigeria, are most vulnerable to labor and sex trafficking
in Algeria, mainly due to their irregular migration status,
poverty, and language barriers. Unaccompanied women and
women traveling with children are also particularly vulnerable
to exploitation. Sub-Saharan African men and women, often
en route to neighboring countries or Europe, enter Algeria
voluntarily but illegally, frequently with the assistance of
smugglers or criminal networks. Many migrants, impeded
in their initial attempts to reach Europe, remain in Algeria
until they can continue their journey. While facing limited
opportunities in Algeria, many migrants illegally work in
construction or engage in prostitution to earn money to pay
for their onward journey to Europe, which puts them at high
risk of exploitation. Some migrants become indebted to
smugglers, who subsequently exploit them in forced labor
and sex trafficking upon arrival in Algeria. For example, female
migrants in the southern city of Tamanrasset—the main entry
point into Algeria for migrants and for the majority of foreign
trafficking victims—are subjected to debt bondage as they
work to repay smuggling debts through domestic servitude,
forced begging, and forced prostitution. Some migrants also
fall into debt to fellow nationals who control segregated
ethnic neighborhoods in Tamanrasset; these individuals pay
migrants’ debts to smugglers and then force the migrants into
bonded labor or prostitution. Tuareg and Maure smugglers
and traffickers in northern Mali and southern Algeria force or
coerce men to work as masons or mechanics; women to wash
dishes, clothes, and cars; and children to draw water from
wells in southern Algeria. Victims also report experiencing
physical and sexual abuse at the hands of smugglers and
traffickers. Many sub-Saharan migrant women in southern
Algeria willingly enter into relationships with migrant men to
provide basic shelter, food, income, and safety, in return for sex,
cooking, and cleaning. While many of these relationships are
purportedly consensual, these women are at risk of trafficking,
and migrants in Tamanrasset reported instances of women
prevented from leaving the home and raped by their “partner.”
Foreign women and children, primarily sub-Saharan African
migrants, are exploited in sex trafficking in bars and informal
brothels, typically by members of their own communities, in
Tamanrasset and Algiers.

62

Nigerien female migrants begging in Algeria, who often carry
children—sometimes rented from their mothers in Niger—may
be forced labor victims. Nigerien children, ranging from 4
to 8 years old, are brought to Algeria by trafficking networks
with the consent of their parents and forced to beg for several
months in Algeria before being returned to their families in
Niger. Media and civil society organizations reported in 2015

that some sub-Saharan African migrant women working in
domestic service for Algerian families experience physical abuse,
confiscation of passports, and withheld pay. In 2014, the media
and an international NGO reported Vietnamese migrants were
forced to work on construction sites for Chinese contractors in
Algeria. In 2015, civil society organizations reported isolated
instances of foreign and Algerian children in sex trafficking
and in forced labor on construction sites.

ANGOLA: TIER 2
The Government of Angola does not fully meet the minimum
standards for the elimination of trafficking; however, it is making
significant efforts to do so. The government demonstrated
increasing efforts compared to the previous reporting period;
therefore, Angola remained on Tier 2. The government
demonstrated increasing efforts by issuing its first convictions
with stringent sentences for three sex traffickers. It identified an
increased number of trafficking victims for the third consecutive
year, and referred the majority of victims to protective services.
The government cooperated with three foreign governments
on investigations of Angolans exploited abroad and with
international organizations to provide protective services
and facilitate repatriation for foreign victims. The interministerial commission met periodically throughout the year,
undertook robust prevention efforts, and worked to identify
best practices to improve its efforts to combat trafficking.
However, the government did not meet the minimum standards
in several key areas. The government did not adequately fund
protection mechanisms, including shelters, legal, medical, and
psychological services. It did not conduct any investigations
of allegations of official complicity despite credible reports
of some law enforcement officers’ involvement in trafficking.
Border security guards forcibly detained and deported illegal
migrants without adequate screening procedures to identify
potential trafficking victims.

RECOMMENDATIONS FOR ANGOLA

Increase investigations and prosecution of forced labor and
sex trafficking offenses, including those involving allegedly
complicit officials; train law enforcement officials on the 2014
money laundering law’s anti-trafficking provisions; implement
procedures for identifying trafficking victims, and train officials
on such procedures; investigate labor trafficking in the Angolan
construction sector; develop uniform and systematic referral
procedures for all provinces; increase efforts to provide shelter,
counseling, and medical care for adult victims, including men,
either directly or in partnership with NGOs; collect and analyze
anti-trafficking law enforcement data; and tailor nationwide
anti-trafficking public awareness campaigns to vulnerable
populations.

The government increased law enforcement efforts. The 2014
money laundering law criminalizes all forms of trafficking
in persons and prescribes penalties of one to 15 years
imprisonment, depending on the specific offense; which are
sufficiently stringent and commensurate with those prescribed
for other serious crimes. Trafficking is criminalized in chapter
III, articles 18, through 23. Article 18 criminalizes slavery and
servitude as well as the buying and selling of a child under 14
years of age for adoption or for slavery. Article 19 criminalizes
the trafficking of adults and children for the purpose of sexual
exploitation, forced labor or trafficking in organs by means
of force, fraud or coercion, with a penalty of three to 12 years
imprisonment. Article 19 makes it a crime to receive services
or organs that are provided by those means, subject to a lesser
penalty. Article 20 makes it a crime to entice or force a person to
practice prostitution in a foreign country. Article 21 also appears
to make sex trafficking a crime; entitled “pimping,” it makes it
a crime to use violence, threats or fraud to promote the exercise
of prostitution, subject to a prison sentence of one to 6 years.
Article 22 makes it a crime to pimp children under the age of
18, without regard to means of force, fraud or coercion—which
is the definition of sex trafficking of children in international
law—with a penalty of two to 10 years imprisonment; for the
use of force, fraud or coercion with a child less than 14 years old,
the term of imprisonment is 5 to 12 years. Article 22 makes it a
crime to entice children to engage in prostitution in a foreign
country, with sentences of three to 12 years imprisonment;
with force, fraud or coercion, the sentence is three to 15 years
imprisonment. These sentences are generally commensurate
with the penalties for other serious crimes, such as rape.
The government investigated two potential child sex trafficking
cases, compared with 12 potential trafficking cases in the
previous reporting period. The government initiated one
prosecution of a suspected trafficker and continued the
prosecution of three suspects initiated during the previous
reporting period, which led to the government’s first conviction
and sentencing of traffickers. The Luanda Provincial Court
sentenced three Vietnamese citizens, two women and one man,
to eight, nine, and 10 years imprisonment, respectively, for the
sex trafficking of five Vietnamese women and for the indentured
servitude of three Vietnamese and one Chinese man—the
first trafficking convictions in Angola under the 2014 money
laundering law. The government initiated prosecution of one
Congolese woman for trafficking of four Congolese children,
ages 11 to 14, in Zaire province. The government did not report
any investigations, prosecutions, or convictions of government
officials complicit in human trafficking offenses despite credible
reports of some law enforcement officers owning brothels in
Luanda suspected of involvement in trafficking. Some law
enforcement officials were also accused of trying to undermine
anti-trafficking efforts by harassing anti-trafficking activists.
There were allegations that corruption may have hindered law
enforcement anti-trafficking efforts.
The government, at times in partnership with international
organizations, trained 119 magistrates and local level officials
from the justice, interior, and labor ministries on identifying
and processing trafficking cases. The government trained
labor inspectors on child labor laws. National police academy
training continued to include human trafficking provisions.
The government cooperated with French, Portuguese, and
Brazilian authorities in the investigation of potential trafficking
crimes involving Angolan citizens abroad; these investigations
remained ongoing at the close of the reporting period. The
government cooperated with the Vietnamese authorities in the

investigation that led to the conviction of three Vietnamese
citizens on trafficking charges in Angola, involving Vietnamese
and Chinese victims. The government maintained a labor
agreement with the Government of China, which requires
Chinese companies to follow Angolan labor laws; and Angolan
authorities investigated construction companies and employers,
including Chinese-run operations, for alleged forced labor
abuses during the reporting period.

PROTECTION

ANGOLA

PROSECUTION

The government increased its efforts to identify and protect
victims. The government identified 91 trafficking victims,
including 77 children, five women, and 15 men; this represents
an increase for the third consecutive year compared to 55
in 2015 and 17 in 2014. The government referred all 77
children to either government shelters or private shelters
recognized by the government for care. The government did
not provide information regarding the care of nine adult
sex trafficking victims, whose case resulted in Angola’s first
trafficking convictions. In two recent cases involving victims
from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Kenya, the
government partnered with an international NGO to provide
protective services and facilitate repatriation. The government
did not adequately fund protection mechanisms, including
shelters and legal, medical, and psychological services; however,
the government drastically reduced its spending across all
sectors, particularly the health and social services sector, due
to an economic downturn.
The National Institute of Children (INAC) received referrals
of child victims and managed child support centers in all 18
provinces, which provided food, shelter, basic education, and
family reunification for crime victims younger than age 18;
however, it was unclear how many children such centers assisted
during the year. The Ministry of Social Assistance and Reinsertion
(MINARS) and the Ministry of Family and Women’s Affairs
(MINFAMU), which managed a national network of safe houses
for women, received referrals of female victims. Both networks
of shelters provided legal and psychological assistance to victims.
MINARS, MINFAMU, and the Organization of Angolan Women
operated 30 counseling centers, seven multipurpose shelters,
and 52 children’s shelters, which trafficking victims could
access. The inter-ministerial commission developed guidelines
for referring potential trafficking victims to the provincial
attorney general’s office and representative for the Directorate
for Human Rights, and for liaising with INAC and MINFAMU.
Law enforcement and social services officials lacked a mechanism
for screening vulnerable populations, including foreign workers
and persons in prostitution. The government may have arrested
and deported individuals for unlawful acts committed as a result
of having been subjected to trafficking, including immigration
and employment violations. To stem the flow of illegal migrants
crossing into Angola, particularly from the DRC, border security
forces detained and deported individuals without screening
to identify any potential trafficking victims. Furthermore, a
UN official expressed concern over allegations that Angolan
security forces harassed, detained, and denied legal services
to irregular migrants. Authorities who found workers without
work permits during labor inspections fined the employers
and arrested and deported the workers. On previous occasions
when authorities identified trafficking victims among foreign
laborers, the Angolan government routinely repatriated them
to the source countries without providing care or ensuring
proper treatment upon their arrival. Angolan law does not
provide foreign trafficking victims with legal alternatives to

63

ANTIGUA AND BARBUDA

their removal to a country where they may face hardship or
retribution. The national police, with the assistance of social
workers and psychologists as appropriate, used victim testimony
for investigation and prosecution of traffickers.

PREVENTION

The government maintained its efforts to prevent human
trafficking. The inter-ministerial commission—established in
2014 under the direction of the Ministry of Justice and Human
Rights and the Ministry of Social Assistance and Reintegration—
was instrumental in encouraging increased collaboration
between national police and provincial government officials.
The commission was comprised of provincial commissions
to combat trafficking in Benguela, Huila, Namibe, Uige,
and Zaire, which informed national level efforts by sharing
information with the national commission in order to identify
trafficking cases. Resistance from the national police to share
information in their national crime database has slowed the
inter-ministerial commission’s analysis of trafficking in Angola.
During the reporting period, it produced and distributed 1,000
copies of a manual entitled “Trafficking in Persons: Prevention,
Protection, and Assistance to Victims” and continued to meet
periodically. In August 2016, the government issued Presidential
Decree No. 155/16, the New Legal Framework on Domestic
Work and Domestic Services Employees’ Social Protection,
which entitles domestic workers to paid leave, eight-hour
work days, the right to retirement, holidays and maternity
leave. Decree 155/16 complements article 3 of the General
Labor Law, Law No. 7/15, which prohibits minors to serve as
domestic workers; however, government did not widely enforce
the decree. The Office of the Attorney General organized a
meeting with the Association of African Attorneys to discuss
best practices to combat trafficking. The government-funded
two public information radio campaigns to raise awareness of
trafficking. The government sought technical assistance from two
international organizations to review Angola’s anti-trafficking
legislation, identify state and non-state actors that work on
counter trafficking, and to provide recommendations to help
develop a new national anti-trafficking policy. In November,
the inter-ministerial commission started a bilateral working
group with Mozambique’s national coordinating body to
discuss regional trafficking concerns and share best practices.
The commission continued to draft a formal national action
plan; however, it did not finalize or adopt it for the second
consecutive year. The government did not report any efforts
to reduce the demand for commercial sex or forced labor. The
government did not provide anti-trafficking training for its
diplomatic personnel.

TRAFFICKING PROFILE

64

As reported over the past five years, Angola is a source and
destination country for men, women, and children subjected
to sex trafficking and forced labor. Angolans, including minors,
endure forced labor in the brick-making, domestic service,
construction, agricultural, and artisanal diamond mining
sectors within the country. Angolan girls as young as 13 years
old are victims of sex trafficking. Angolan adults use children
younger than age 12 for forced criminal activity, because children
cannot be criminally prosecuted. The provinces of Luanda,
Benguela, and the border provinces of Cunene, Namibe, Zaire,
and Uige are the most high threat areas for trafficking activities.
Some Angolan boys are taken to Namibia for forced labor in
cattle herding, while others are forced to serve as couriers to
transport illicit goods, as part of a scheme to skirt import fees
in cross-border trade with Namibia. Angolan women and

children are subjected to domestic servitude and sex trafficking
in South Africa, Namibia, and European countries, including
the Netherlands and Portugal.
Women from Namibia, the DRC, Vietnam, and Brazil engaged
in prostitution in Angola may be victims of sex trafficking.
Some Chinese women are recruited by Chinese gangs and
construction companies with promises of work, but later
are deprived of their passports, kept in walled compounds
with armed guards, and forced into prostitution to pay back
the costs of their travel. Chinese, Southeast Asian, Brazilian,
Namibian, Kenyan, and possibly Congolese migrants are
subjected to forced labor in Angola’s construction industry;
they may be subject to withholding of passports, threats of
violence, denial of food, and confinement. At times, workers
are coerced to continue work in unsafe conditions, which
at times reportedly resulted in death. Chinese workers are
brought to Angola by Chinese companies that have large
construction or mining contracts; some companies do not
disclose the terms and conditions of the work at the time of
recruitment. Undocumented Congolese migrants, including
children, enter Angola for work in diamond-mining districts,
where some endure forced labor or sex trafficking in mining
camps. Trafficking networks recruit and transport Congolese
girls as young as 12 years old from Kasai Occidental in the
DRC to Angola for labor and sex trafficking.

ANTIGUA AND BARBUDA:
TIER 2 WATCH LIST
The Government of Antigua and Barbuda does not fully meet
the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking;
however, it is making significant efforts to do so. The government
demonstrated significant efforts during the reporting period
by initiating the prosecution of a trafficking case, revising its
national action plan, training relevant government personnel,
increasing funding for anti-trafficking efforts, and providing
some assistance to victims. However, the government did
not demonstrate increasing efforts compared to the previous
reporting period. The government did not report significant
law enforcement efforts, reported fewer victims identified and
fewer investigations of suspected cases, and continued to issue
administrative penalties for suspected complicit police officers
rather than charging them with crimes. The government has
never reported any trafficking convictions. The government did
not allocate sufficient funding, services, and human resources
for victim needs, law enforcement and prosecutions, and public
awareness campaigns. The government also suffered from a
lack of coordination and cohesion in its efforts to combat
trafficking due to personnel rotations at the working and
ministerial levels and the lack of a dedicated office or personnel
for anti-trafficking efforts. Because the government has devoted
sufficient resources to a written plan that, if implemented, would
constitute significant efforts to meet the minimum standards,
Antigua and Barbuda was granted a waiver per the Trafficking
Victims Protection Act from an otherwise required downgrade
to Tier 3. Therefore, Antigua and Barbuda remained on Tier 2
Watch List for the fourth consecutive year.

PROTECTION

RECOMMENDATIONS FOR ANTIGUA AND BARBUDA

Provide increased prioritization, coordination, robust funding,
and human resources across all agencies to adequately combat
human trafficking; vigorously prosecute trafficking offenses and
convict and punish traffickers, including complicit officials;
improve the capacity of investigators and prosecutors to
expeditiously process trafficking cases; train law enforcement
and prosecutors in the relevant legislation and proactively
identifying, obtaining, preserving, and corroborating evidence
using victim-centered approaches with a special emphasis on
identifying trafficking victims in establishments selling sex;
consider creating a dedicated trafficking unit with seconded
personnel from relevant agencies; develop joint and agency
specific standard operating procedures (SOPs) for all government
agencies and relevant NGOs; increase training for relevant
immigration, labor, medical personnel, and NGOs; improve data
collection on prosecutions, convictions, and victim identification
and care; and increase public awareness campaigns.

PROSECUTION

The government increased prosecution efforts. The Trafficking in
Persons (Prevention) Act, 2010, which was amended in 2015 to
vest jurisdiction for trafficking cases to the High Court of Justice,
prohibits all forms of trafficking and prescribes punishments of
20 to 30 years imprisonment and fines of 400,000 to 600,000
Eastern Caribbean dollars ($148,148 to $222,222). These
penalties are sufficiently stringent and commensurate with
those prescribed for other serious crimes, such as rape.
Authorities reportedly investigated three cases of trafficking;
however, conflicting government accounts made it difficult
to determine the number of cases, nature of the crimes, and
the nationalities of the victims. The government reported
investigating 10 cases of trafficking in 2015 and two cases in
2014. The 2016 cases remained open at the close of the reporting
period. The government initiated its first prosecution since 2011
for a case of sex trafficking that occurred in December 2015.
The government has never reported any trafficking convictions.
Experts noted the prosecutor’s office had limited staff and
resources and were concerned the police were not undertaking
proactive raids to uncover sex trafficking cases. Experts noted
investigations of suspected trafficking cases were slow due to
overburdened investigators. The police worked closely with
Interpol and police from victims’ countries, which included
Jamaica and Guyana. The police incorporated anti-trafficking
training into the standard curriculum for all new officers. The
immigration department also conducted training for officials
in coordination with an international organization.
The government did not report any new investigations,
prosecutions, or convictions of government employees complicit
in human trafficking offenses. Authorities continued to review
the case of three police officers suspected of involvement in
trafficking crimes; the police standards committee is reviewing
the case for disciplinary action, but did not prosecute the officers.
Over the past two years, the police force has administered
administrative sanctions for officers suspected or implicated

The government maintained protection efforts, although there
was not sufficient funding to adequately provide for victim
needs. There was no standardized database available to track
trafficking cases across all departments, although the government
continued to develop a shared database. The government
completed drafting SOPs for referral procedures in trafficking
cases, including for law enforcement, healthcare, and gender
offices. With the assistance of an international organization,
the government held a four-day, multi-agency training session
in October 2016.
Conflicting government accounts made it difficult to determine
the number of victims identified and circumstances of their
victimization. The government reported identifying four foreign
female trafficking victims: two of the victims were reportedly
subjected to labor trafficking and two other cases were under
investigation; one of the victims was a minor. In 2015, the
government reported identifying 10 victims. The gender affairs
department was responsible for providing care to victims, such as
counseling, health care, shelter, food and clothing, assistance to
communicate with families, travel arrangements, and assistance
with employment, work permits, and immigration relief,
through a referral process. The gender affairs department
obtained in-kind contributions for victim care donated from
businesses, including hotel stays and groceries. For the reporting
period, one victim received shelter, food, and personal items.
The other three victims requested repatriation assistance but
declined other victim services.

ANTIGUA AND BARBUDA

in trafficking, rather than charge them with a crime under the
country’s trafficking laws.

Experts noted problems in how the government identified and
provided suitable shelter for victims and payment for medical
services involving foreign nationals. Medical providers were
trained during the reporting period on trafficking indicators
to understand the type of psychological care and sensitivity
required for victims. Experts were concerned that the government
was unable to keep information on victims confidential due
to the paperwork circulated among several public offices. The
government did not issue residency benefits or provide longterm shelter during the reporting period. The government
assisted with repatriation of three victims. The gender affairs
department and police encouraged victim participation in
investigations and prosecutions; all victims cooperated with
police. The 2010 anti-trafficking act protects identified victims
from punishment for unlawful acts committed as a direct result
of having been subjected to trafficking. There were no reports
of trafficking victims being detained or fined for illegal acts
committed as a result of trafficking. Per the anti-trafficking act,
a victim can file a civil suit for restitution from a government
official complicit in trafficking; however, the government
reported no civil suits during the reporting period.

PREVENTION

The government maintained modest prevention efforts,
which were hampered by a lack of leadership, funding, and
coordination. According to the Ministry of National Security,
the 2016 budget for anti-trafficking efforts was 109,405 Eastern
Caribbean dollars ($40,520), an increase from 66,000 Eastern
Caribbean dollars in 2015 ($24,444). It was unclear how this
funding was allocated. All government agencies reported a
lack of funding for anti-trafficking efforts and victim care.
Experts noted a shortage of funding and human resources for

65

ARGENTINA

public awareness campaigns. The government conducted an
eight-day awareness-raising campaign, including radio and
television interviews, two school presentations, and a street
fair and awareness march. The anti-trafficking committee
met 10 times during the reporting period and continued to
oversee implementation of the three-year national action plan,
which expires in 2018. There was no full-time working-level
staff member within the Ministry of National Security to lead
anti-trafficking efforts, and frequent personnel rotations among
the working and leadership levels, contributed to problems
in leadership, coordination, knowledge, and training among
government agencies. The government released a 2015 annual
report on the efforts of the anti-trafficking committee during the
reporting period. The government revised its 2016-2018 action
plan to include more specificity of tasks and assessment plans
for government agencies and NGOs. The government included
diplomatic staff in its anti-trafficking training sessions. The
government did not make efforts to reduce the demand for
commercial sex acts or forced labor.

TRAFFICKING PROFILE

As reported over the past five years, Antigua and Barbuda is a
destination and transit country for men, women, and children
subjected to sex trafficking and forced labor. Documented and
undocumented immigrants from the Caribbean region, notably
from Jamaica, Guyana, Haiti, and the Dominican Republic, as
well as from Southeast Asia, are most vulnerable to trafficking.
Sex trafficking has been reported in bars, taverns, and brothels.
Recruitment of victims has often involved the promise of
opportunities, such as a job offer to work as a dancer in a
club. There are anecdotal reports of children subjected to sex
trafficking, including by parents and caregivers. Forced labor
occurs in domestic service and the retail sector. There have been
concerns about trafficking-related complicity by police officers.

ARGENTINA: TIER 2
The Government of Argentina does not fully meet the minimum
standards for the elimination of trafficking; however, it is making
significant efforts to do so. The government demonstrated
increasing efforts compared to the previous reporting period;
therefore, Argentina remained on Tier 2. The government
demonstrated increasing efforts by identifying and assisting
more victims, opening two regional anti-trafficking offices,
increasing the number of investigations, and providing more
training and outreach to improve protection and awarenessraising efforts. However, the government did not meet the
minimum standards in several key areas. Despite the increase
in investigations and convictions, the number of prosecutions
declined. In addition, the government did not confirm how
many convicted traffickers served time in prison or how many
victims it identified or assisted. Official complicity continued
to be a significant concern, inhibiting law enforcement efforts.

66

RECOMMENDATIONS FOR ARGENTINA

Strengthen efforts to investigate, prosecute, convict, and punish
traffickers with dissuasive sentences, including complicit
officials; continue funding specialized shelters, provide services
for male victims, and increase legal, medical, and employment
services for victims; provide victim identification training to law
enforcement officials and labor inspectors focused on specific
vulnerable populations, such as domestic workers; draft and
implement the anti-trafficking plan with an adequate budget;
strengthen coordination among the federal and provincial
governments and NGOs; improve efforts to collect data on
victim protection efforts and assistance; and increase awareness
campaigns targeting vulnerable populations.

PROSECUTION

The government maintained law enforcement efforts. Law
26842 of 2012 prohibits all forms of human trafficking and
prescribes punishments of four to 10 years imprisonment. These
penalties are sufficiently stringent and commensurate with those
prescribed for other serious crimes, such as rape. Inconsistent
with international standards law 26842 establishes the use of
force, fraud, and coercion as aggravating factors rather than
essential elements of the crime. The law also includes as the
crime of trafficking, facilitating or profiting from the prostitution
of others and the illegal sale of organs without regard to the
use of force, fraud, or coercion. Some provincial authorities
investigated and prosecuted trafficking cases under different
statutes related to exploitation and pimping, making it difficult
to collect comprehensive data. Authorities did not report the
total number of trafficking cases investigated by police in 2016.
The government decreased prosecutions, but investigated
and convicted more traffickers than in 2015, although it was
unclear how many of the reported cases were for trafficking as
defined by international law. The anti-trafficking prosecutor’s
office (PROTEX) opened 1,089 preliminary investigations
in 2016, compared with 358 in 2015 and 200 in 2014. The
government prosecuted 54 suspected traffickers (32 for sex
trafficking and 22 for labor trafficking), compared with 98 (47
for sex trafficking and 51 for labor trafficking) in 2015, and 92
for sex and labor trafficking in 2014. Despite the three-fold
increase of investigations, prosecutions dropped nearly half.
The government obtained convictions of 46 traffickers in 2016,
compared with 35 in 2015 and 67 in 2014. Fifty-four percent
of sentences ranged from two to five years imprisonment;
however, under Argentine law, defendants sentenced to
less than three years for any crime automatically have their
sentences suspended; it was unclear how many sentences were
suspended. Corruption and official complicity in trafficking
crimes remained significant concerns, although the government
continued to investigate and prosecute cases involving public
officials. During the reporting period, PROTEX successfully
appealed a case leading to the reopening of an investigation
after allegations surfaced that one of three judges assigned
to the case was involved in covering up trafficking crimes. In
another case, investigations revealed members of the security
forces and the judiciary were believed to be involved with three
human trafficking networks; authorities indicted 26 individuals
accused of sexual exploitation, and the case was pending at
the end of the reporting period. In addition, the government
indicted a provincial mayor and superintendent for allegedly
protecting a sex trafficking organization. Despite several ongoing
investigations and formal indictments, including cases from the
previous year, there were no convictions of complicit officials.
The government provided numerous anti-trafficking trainings
to law enforcement, prosecutors, and judicial officials, among
others, including virtual training courses.

The government increased protection efforts. The Program for
Rescue is the government office responsible for coordinating
emergency victim services nationwide; in 2016, it reported
identifying 666 potential trafficking victims, compared with
424 in 2015. This includes all individuals discovered during
anti-trafficking law enforcement raids, some of whom were
likely in exploitative labor situations that may not rise to the
level of forced labor. Federal officials had formal procedures for
victim identification and assistance; however, in practice, the
procedures to identify victims among vulnerable populations
varied by province. Some front-line responders had limited
understanding of trafficking; the government did not make
efforts to identify victims of domestic servitude. Regional
governments in the provinces of Chaco, Santa Fe, La Pampa,
Mendoza, and La Rioja operated anti-trafficking centers, which
provided psychological, social, medical, and judicial assistance
to trafficking victims. In 2016, the government opened two
more centers, in the provinces of Chubut and Rio Negro. A
government-funded NGO operated two shelters that assisted
trafficking victims, one in Buenos Aires, and one in Tucuman.
The Secretariat for Children, Adolescents, and Families also
operated two shelters, one for children and one for women.
There were no specialized shelters for male victims; therefore,
the government often placed male victims in other governmentfunded shelters or in hotels for temporary housing, while
others returned to their country or province of origin. The
Program for Rescue reported all identified victims could receive
emergency assistance during the early stages of the investigation
and during the initial testimony for the courts; the Ministry
of Social Development provided mid-term and long-term care
assistance. NGOs reported a need for long-term housing, skills
training and employment, childcare and legal assistance. Foreign
victims had the same access to care as Argentine nationals;
however, victims were sometimes unaware of services available.
Authorities did not report how many received assistance during
the reporting period. The government did not report the number
of victims who received repatriation assistance. There were no
reports of identified victims jailed or penalized for unlawful
acts committed as a direct result of their being subjected
to trafficking. Authorities organized 50 training courses on
victim identification and assistance, reaching 2,257 individuals,
including officials, members of civil society, students, teachers,
and health professionals.
The government encouraged the participation of victims in trials
of their traffickers by assisting victims throughout the initial
testimony and during any subsequent appearances. The Program
for Rescue provided tribunals with reports on the psychological
state of victims and what requirements they might have to
assist in the prosecution of their traffickers. Other support for
victim testimony included the possibility of video testimony
and the use of recorded testimony. It was unclear how many
victims received such assistance during the reporting period.
In 2016, a victim of sex trafficking filed and won a civil suit
against her traffickers and the municipality where the abuse
occurred, marking the first time that a trafficking victim was
awarded restitution from her traffickers and the state.

PREVENTION

The government maintained prevention efforts. In June 2016,
the federal council on human trafficking, which included
federal government entities, provincial officials, and a smaller
executive council that implemented the initiatives of the federal
council, met for the first time. During the reporting period, the
government held sessions to draft a national action plan and

identify NGOs to include on the federal council. Despite these
efforts, NGOs advocated for improved interagency coordination.
Some provincial governments undertook prevention efforts, such
as awareness campaigns focused on students and teachers. NGOs
and municipal authorities continued to express concern about
child sex tourism, though there were no reported investigations
or prosecutions related to this crime. The government continued
proactive efforts to register informal workers and employers in
rural areas and investigate non-compliance with labor laws.
The government launched a new campaign to increase public
awareness of trafficking indicators and to encourage the public to
report cases of potential trafficking. The government made efforts
to reduce the demand for commercial sex. The government did
not make efforts to reduce the demand for forced labor. The
government provided anti-trafficking training for its diplomatic
personnel. Argentine troops received anti-trafficking training
prior to their deployment abroad on international peacekeeping
operations.

ARMENIA

PROTECTION

TRAFFICKING PROFILE

As reported over the past five years, Argentina is a source,
transit, and destination country for men, women, and children
subjected to sex trafficking and forced labor. Argentine women
and children are subjected to sex trafficking within the country,
as are women and children from other Latin American countries.
To a more limited extent, Argentine men, women, and children
are subjected to sex and labor trafficking in other countries,
mostly in Europe. Men, women, and children from Argentina,
Bolivia, Paraguay, Peru, and other countries are subjected to
forced labor in a variety of sectors, including sweatshops,
agriculture, street vending, charcoal and brick production,
domestic work, and small businesses. Chinese citizens working
in supermarkets are vulnerable to debt bondage. Argentine
officials report isolated cases of foreign victims recruited in
Argentina and subjected to trafficking in third countries.
Vulnerable women and girls who live in extreme poverty, a
violent family environment, or suffer from addiction are among
those most vulnerable to trafficking; a significant number of
them, originally from Bolivia and Paraguay, and to a lesser
extent from the Dominican Republic, Uruguay, and Brazil,
are subjected to sex trafficking in Argentina, as are Argentine
women and girls from rural areas and the northern provinces.
Traffickers from across Argentina bypass regulations that ban
brothels by establishing “mobile brothels” in vans and trucks
where sexual exploitation occurs, making raids more difficult;
this practice is particularly prevalent in the northern area of the
country. Street vendors may subject migrants from neighboring
or African countries to forced labor. Transgender Argentines
are exploited in sex trafficking within the country and in
Western Europe. Official complicity, mainly at the sub-national
levels, continues to hinder the government’s efforts to combat
trafficking. In 2016, the Municipality of Ushuaia was ordered
to pay restitution to a victim after being found complicit of
facilitating trafficking by failing to adequately regulate brothels.

ARMENIA: TIER 1
The Government of Armenia fully meets the minimum standards
for the elimination of trafficking. The government continued to
demonstrate serious and sustained efforts during the reporting
period; therefore, Armenia remained on Tier 1. The government
demonstrated serious and sustained efforts by identifying more

67

ARMENIA

victims, adopting a national action plan, and establishing and
allocating funds for a compensation fund for trafficking victims.
Although the government meets the minimum standards,
it did not have established procedures to repatriate victims
to Armenia, decreased funding to NGO-run shelters, and
continued to lack a formal victim-witness protection program.
The government continued to suspend the majority of Labor
Inspectorate functions, hindering regular inspections that had
the potential to identify indications of forced labor.

criminal complaints filed by victims that specifically alleged
trafficking and did not proactively investigate criminal activity
that potentially involved trafficking. The government trained
334 investigators from the Investigative Committee and 83
police officers on trafficking issues. The Border Control Training
Center trained staff working at border checkpoints on issues
of labor trafficking, child trafficking, and victim identification.
The government, in cooperation with INTERPOL, coordinated
investigations with four foreign governments. The government
did not report any investigations, prosecutions, or convictions
of government employees complicit in human trafficking.

PROTECTION

RECOMMENDATIONS FOR ARMENIA

Vigorously investigate, prosecute, and convict traffickers under
articles 132 and 132-2; proactively investigate all potential
trafficking offenses, even those complaints filed by victims
that do not specifically mention trafficking; improve efforts
to identify victims of forced labor, including by strengthening
victim identification training for officials; allow labor
inspectors to conduct regular inspections and identify victims
through unannounced visits; establish formal procedures
for repatriating trafficking victims from abroad, including
measures to cover logistical costs; maintain adequate funding
for NGO-run shelters; train rural police officers on protection
and assistance available to victims and local investigators on
proper interviewing techniques, especially for children; work
with Russian authorities to identify Armenian forced labor
victims and prosecute labor traffickers; work with NGOs to
find ways to identify and assist Armenian victims in Turkey
and reintegrate victims; provide sensitivity training to judges
and lawyers to improve treatment of victims; license, regulate,
and educate local employment agencies and agents so they can
help prevent the forced labor of Armenians abroad; approve
legislation to establish victim-witness protection measures;
and conduct awareness-raising campaigns to rural and border
communities and to children leaving child care institutions.

PROSECUTION

The government maintained law enforcement efforts. Articles
132 and 132-2 of the criminal code prohibit both sex and
labor trafficking and prescribe penalties of five to 15 years
imprisonment; these are sufficiently stringent and commensurate
with those prescribed for other serious crimes, such as rape.
The government investigated 16 trafficking cases, compared
to 14 in 2015; of these, five cases were sex trafficking, 10 cases
were labor trafficking, and one case was both sex and labor
trafficking, compared to four labor trafficking cases and 10 sex
trafficking cases investigated in 2015. Authorities prosecuted one
defendant, compared to two in 2015. Courts convicted three
sex traffickers, the same as in 2015. Two traffickers received
sentences of eight years imprisonment and one received five
years imprisonment. Prosecution of labor trafficking remained
a challenge as many cases occurred in Russia, where Armenian
investigators continued to face difficulties collaborating with
law enforcement. Similarly, the absence of diplomatic relations
with Turkey continued to hinder law enforcement and victim
protection efforts for cases involving that country.

68

Observers reported law enforcement investigated only formal

The government maintained protection efforts. The government
identified 22 victims, compared to nine in 2015. Nineteen
were subjected to forced labor and three to sex trafficking.
Authorities notified all victims of their right to services and
19 victims accepted NGO-run shelter assistance, compared
to five in 2015. The government allocated 18.8 million drams
($39,260) for victim protection efforts, including operational
costs for an NGO-run shelter, compared to 18.3 million
drams ($38,100) in 2015. The government established and
allocated 1.8 million drams ($3,650) to a compensation fund
through which a one-time monetary compensation of 250,000
drams ($520) is provided to trafficking victims. The Law on
Identification and Assistance to Victims of Human Trafficking
and Exploitation establishes a national referral mechanism
and outlines actions for the Victim Identification Commission
consisting of national and local government bodies, NGOs,
international organizations, and civil society to identify and
support trafficking victims. The law also ensures victim assistance
is not linked to their cooperation with law enforcement and
affords foreign trafficking victims the same rights and services
as Armenian citizens.
The government and local NGOs jointly provided victims
legal, medical, and psychological assistance; housing; and
access to social, educational, and employment projects. The
government offered free health care; one victim received this
service in the reporting period. The government maintained
cooperation agreements with two specialized NGO-run shelters
to provide services to victims; however, one NGO-run shelter
closed at the end of February 2017 due to the completion of
their donor-funded project. NGO-run shelters required adult
victims to notify staff when they left shelters unescorted, but
victims were free to leave if they no longer wanted assistance.
Services were available to female and male victims. Shelters did
not provide specialized services for child victims, who could
be housed in an adult trafficking shelter or referred to a child
care institution. NGOs reported law enforcement officers in
remote areas lacked information and training to inform victims
of their rights to protection or assistance. As a result of a legal
change suspending most Labor Inspectorate functions in July
2015, inspectors were unable to conduct regular inspections
and identify indications of forced labor.
The law designates the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to coordinate
repatriation of Armenian trafficking victims from abroad;
however, observers reported difficulties in such repatriations due
to a lack of established procedures and funds to cover logistical
costs. The government, in cooperation with NGOs, repatriated 11
labor trafficking victims from Russia through ad hoc procedures
and funds from different sources including government, NGOs,
and churches. During the last several years, victims reported
greater trust in law enforcement when assisting investigations
and prosecutions; however, observers reported that for various

PREVENTION

The government increased trafficking prevention efforts. The
government developed and adopted the 2016-2018 national
action plan (NAP), in cooperation with all major government
agencies, NGOs, and international organizations. The NAP
prioritizes the implementation of measures that prevent
trafficking of children and labor trafficking. The Inter-Agency
Working Group against Trafficking in Persons met regularly
and published semi-annual and annual reports of its activities.
Government agencies conducted a variety of prevention projects
and activities, although the government reported some observers
believe it did not reference trafficking in public awareness
campaigns frequently enough. Police transmitted videos and
participated in television programs devoted to trafficking issues.
Police held awareness-raising discussion at schools, and the
Ministry of Diaspora distributed informative materials on
the risks of trafficking to individuals crossing the border, as
well as Armenians residing in the Middle East and European
countries. The Ministry of Education together with the Ministry
of Health conducted awareness raising campaigns for students
and teachers. The Ministry of Sports and Youth Affairs financed
several awareness campaigns targeting vulnerable populations.
Government agencies posted trafficking information on their
websites, including information on hotlines operated by
police and NGOs; hotline calls led to preventive measures
and investigations. There was no mechanism for oversight and
regulation of labor recruitment agencies. The government did
not make efforts to reduce the demand for commercial sex
acts or forced labor. The government provided anti-trafficking
training and guidance for its diplomatic personnel.

TRAFFICKING PROFILE

As reported over the past five years, Armenia is a source and,
to a lesser extent, destination country for men, women, and
children subjected to sex and labor trafficking. Armenians
are subjected increasingly to labor trafficking in Russia, the
United Arab Emirates (UAE), and Turkey; Armenian women
and children are subjected to sex trafficking in the UAE and
Turkey. Armenian women and children are subjected to sex
and labor trafficking and forced begging within the country.
Chinese women have been subjected to sex trafficking in
Armenia. Some children work in agriculture, construction, and
service provision within the country, where they are vulnerable

to labor trafficking. Men in rural areas with little education
and children staying in child care institutions remain highly
vulnerable to trafficking. Conflict-displaced persons, including
Syrian Armenians, living in Armenia are at risk of exploitation
and have been subjected to bonded labor.

ARUBA: TIER 2†

ARUBA

reasons, including fear of retaliation from their traffickers,
victims were reluctant to assist in prosecutions. Observers
reported local investigators lacked the skills to interview victims
properly, especially children. The government continued to
lack a formal victim-witness protection program. In 2014, a
draft law establishing victim-witness protection was submitted
to parliament; the law remained pending at the close of the
reporting period. There were no reports in 2016 that authorities
inappropriately detained identified trafficking victims; the law
exempts victims from criminal prosecution for crimes they were
forced to commit as a result of being subjected to trafficking.
The law entitles victims to obtain restitution during criminal
proceedings or through a separate civil suit. Victims did not
file any civil suits; however, in previous years, judges had not
issued damages in civil suits, asserting that victims did not
substantiate the financial damages they had suffered. The law
allows investigators to place defendants’ property in custody
to ensure civil claims can be paid.

The Government of Aruba does not fully meet the minimum
standards for the elimination of trafficking; however, it is making
significant efforts to do so. The government demonstrated
increasing efforts compared to the previous reporting period;
therefore, Aruba remained on Tier 2. The government
demonstrated increasing efforts by initiating investigations,
upholding the 2013 conviction of one trafficker, identifying
potential victims, conducting awareness campaigns, and
establishing the Counter Trafficking Coordination Center
(CTCC)—responsible for coordinating awareness trainings and
for gathering and analyzing indicators of human trafficking.
However, the government did not meet minimum standards
in several key areas. For the third consecutive year, it did not
initiate any new prosecutions or secure any new convictions, and
only very limited efforts were made to refer and protect victims.

RECOMMENDATIONS FOR ARUBA

Vigorously investigate and prosecute trafficking offenses, and
convict and punish traffickers; proactively identify trafficking
victims among all vulnerable groups, including domestic
workers, migrants in construction, supermarkets, and the retail
sector, and women in the regulated prostitution industry and
who hold adult entertainment visas; amend the anti-trafficking
law to ensure penalties are sufficiently stringent and restrict
the ability of judges to impose fines in lieu of prison time
when sentencing convicted traffickers; continue to provide
information to all migrant workers arriving in Aruba on their
rights and resources for assistance; finalize and implement the
victim assessment and referral process; formalize agreements
with local NGOs and private sector accommodations to shelter
adult and child victims; allocate sufficient resources to enable
the national anti-trafficking taskforce and national coordinator
to improve anti-trafficking efforts; and implement the 20152019 national anti-trafficking action plan.

PROSECUTION

The government maintained anti-trafficking law enforcement
efforts. Articles 203a and 286a of the criminal code prohibit
all forms of trafficking in persons. In 2014, the government
amended the penal code to criminalize the receipt of services
from a trafficking victim if the individual knows the victim
is being forced or coerced to provide the services and to

† Aruba is an autonomous entity within the Kingdom of the Netherlands. For the purpose of this report, Aruba is not a “country” to which the minimum standards for the elimination of
trafficking in the Trafficking Victims Protection Act apply. This narrative reflects how Aruba would be assessed if it were a separate, independent country.

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ARUBA

increase penalties to eight to 18 years imprisonment or a
fine of 25,000 to 100,000 Aruba West Indies Guilder (AWG)
($14,045-56,180). These penalties are generally sufficiently
stringent and commensurate with those prescribed for other
serious crimes, such as rape; however, instances in which fines
are applied in lieu of imprisonment are inadequate to deter
trafficking crimes.
The national coordinator received referrals for four alleged
forced labor and seven suspected sex trafficking cases, compared
to five in 2015. Of these, the government conducted subsequent
investigations in six of these cases, compared to one in
2015. The government did not initiate any prosecutions for
trafficking offenses or newly convict any traffickers for the third
consecutive year. In January 2016, the government upheld the
2013 conviction of a trafficker to five years imprisonment for
fraudulently recruiting workers, threatening and physically
injuring victims, and exploiting women in sex trafficking. The
government also upheld the 2013 conviction and sentencing in
absentia of his wife, including 22 months imprisonment; she
remains outside of Aruba and has not served her sentence. The
public prosecutor and police screened all human smuggling
cases for indicators of human trafficking. In 2016, the
government did not report any investigations, prosecutions,
or convictions of government officials complicit in human
trafficking. However, it arrested and suspended an immigration
officer who allegedly allowed illegal border crossings and
falsification of documents; at the close of the reporting period,
this case remained under investigation.
The Counter Trafficking Taskforce trained 450 government
officials on the signs of human trafficking and their
responsibilities to combat it. The government created a
multidisciplinary investigative team, the team comprises
officials from the police and the Directorates of Alien Affairs
and Labor, designated to investigate cases of human trafficking
and smuggling; and established the Counter Trafficking
Coordination Center (CTCC), which coordinated trainings
and analyzed indicators of human trafficking. At the Interpol
Conference on Human Trafficking in the Caribbean, the CTCC
provided training on victim identification and assistance
procedures and gave a presentation on the multidisciplinary
approach towards human trafficking used in Aruba and the
possibilities for regional cooperation to combat trafficking to
approximately 100 law enforcement officials from Aruba and
various Latin America and Caribbean countries.

PROTECTION

70

The government identified an increased number of victims
and maintained assistance efforts. The government identified
nine potential victims of forced labor and sex trafficking,
an increase from one in 2015. It reported initiating use of
a trafficking victim referral process, drafted in the previous
reporting period, to guide officials using a three-tier system
of high, medium, and low urgency. The Bureau for Victim
Assistance, the government agency providing shelter, legal
assistance, and medical care to all victims of criminal acts
and the national coordinator utilized this process to refer one
victim to NGOs for shelter and assistance during the reporting
period; however, the victim did not utilize these services and
found private accommodations after government issuance of
a special permit for victims of trafficking. Multi-disciplinary
teams of police, labor and immigration officials conducted
inspections aimed at identifying potential labor exploitation.
In addition to identifying employers who illegally employ
workers, the teams also focused on ensuring all workers received

appropriate wages and compensation for their services.
The government encouraged victims to cooperate in
investigations and prosecutions by arranging for shelter and
providing necessary care and assistance; and in June 2016,
the Legislation Committee of the Aruba Taskforce started to
ensure trafficking victims accessibility to legal aid, medical
assistance, and immigration support. The taskforce and the
Bureau for Victim Assistance could provide potential victims
with emergency shelter, food, medical care, legal assistance,
temporary immigration relief, and financial and repatriation
assistance; the bureau also operated a hotline for trafficking
victims. The taskforce maintained informal, verbal agreements
with local NGOs and private sector accommodations to shelter
adult and child victims; however, the government did not
support the work of these organizations. Unaccompanied
children received shelter in foster care centers or in foster
homes, and in certain cases, local churches could also provide
shelter. Nonetheless, to improve availability of shelter, in
December 2016, the taskforce signed an MOU with a local
NGO to establish a multifunctional shelter in Aruba for
victims in the Dutch Caribbean; however it did not begin
implementation of the agreement. The national anti-trafficking
taskforce lacked a dedicated budget for shelter and other
forms of victim assistance. Foreign victims are entitled to the
same rights and protection as Arubans. Officials conducted
risk assessments before deciding whether victims could leave
shelters unchaperoned, and restricted their movement if their
lives were threatened. The anti-trafficking taskforce continued
to provide law enforcement and social services officials with
a checklist of the most common signs of human trafficking.
The law authorizes the extension of temporary immigration
relief for foreign victims for three to six months on a caseby-case basis, and allows foreign victims whose employers
are suspected of human trafficking to change employers. The
criminal code enabled victims to file civil suits against traffickers
and if the trial resulted from a criminal investigation, the
victim could also seek restitution not to exceed 50,000 AWG
($28,090) for financial and emotional damages. Victims were
not punished for unlawful acts committed as a direct result
of being subjected to human trafficking.

PREVENTION

The government maintained efforts to prevent trafficking. The
2015-2019 national anti-trafficking action plan, completed
by the taskforce in the previous reporting period, remained
pending approval by the government. While the taskforce
and other relevant stakeholders lacked the capacity to be
exclusively dedicated to combating trafficking, in the interim,
they reported limited efforts to begin implementation of the
plan. The CTCC gave a presentation on multidisciplinary and
regional cooperation, provided training during the Interpol
Conference on Human Trafficking in the Caribbean, and
worked with NGOs to explore possibilities of a multifunction
shelter for victims needing temporary shelter. The government
continued its trafficking awareness campaigns, via social
media and posters and flyers in four languages targeting both
victims and the general public; the campaign was linked to a
hotline staffed by the national coordinator trained to assist
trafficking victims. The government conducted an awareness
campaign highlighting the risks of becoming victims of human
trafficking, which targeted students leaving Aruba to study
abroad. In connection with the National Day Against Human
Trafficking, the taskforce cooperated with an NGO to host its
first Walk for Freedom in Oranjestad; 50 people participated.

TRAFFICKING PROFILE

As reported over the past five years, Aruba is a source and
destination country for women, men, and children subjected
to sex trafficking and forced labor. Venezuelan women are
subjected to trafficking in Aruba’s commercial sex trade and
foreign men and women are vulnerable to forced labor in the
service and construction industries. Chinese men and women
working in supermarkets, Indian men in the retail sector
and domestic service, and Caribbean and South American
women in domestic service are also at risk of forced labor.
A 2013 international organization report identified women
in Aruba’s regulated and unregulated prostitution sectors,
domestic workers, and employees of small retail shops as
populations most vulnerable to trafficking. Children may be
vulnerable to sex trafficking and to forced labor in Chineseowned supermarkets and restaurants.

AUSTRALIA: TIER 1
The Government of Australia fully meets the minimum
standards for the elimination of trafficking. The government
continued to demonstrate serious and sustained efforts during
the reporting period; therefore, Australia remained on Tier 1.
The government demonstrated serious and sustained efforts
by increasing investigations of suspected trafficking cases,
identifying and referring more victims to the governmentfunded support program, and implementing changes to its
visa policies intended to better address the needs of foreign
trafficking victims. Although the government meets the
minimum standards, screening procedures for indicators of
labor trafficking among vulnerable groups remained insufficient.
Authorities did not obtain any convictions under the trafficking
provisions of the criminal code for the third consecutive year;
courts convicted only one trafficker for dealing in proceeds
of a crime under Division 400 of the criminal code, but fully
suspended his sentence.

RECOMMENDATIONS FOR AUSTRALIA

Further strengthen efforts to investigate and prosecute trafficking
offenses, with increased focus on labor trafficking, and convict

and stringently sentence sex and labor traffickers; increase
efforts to train police and other front-line officers to recognize
indicators of trafficking and respond to suspected cases of both
sex and labor trafficking; increase training for prosecutors and
judges on Australian trafficking laws; continue to strengthen
efforts to proactively identify trafficking victims among
vulnerable groups, such as undocumented migrants or workers
filing civil grievances; ensure initial screening interviews with
potential victims are conducted in a safe and neutral location,
and in the presence of a social service professional; increase
funding to NGOs for robust victim protection services; consider
establishing a national compensation scheme for trafficking
victims; continue to implement or fund awareness campaigns,
particularly among rural communities and migrant populations;
strengthen efforts to prosecute and convict Australian child sex
tourists; increase efforts to investigate and hold accountable
foreign diplomats posted in Australia suspected of complicity in
trafficking; and develop a targeted campaign to raise awareness
among clients of the legal commercial sex industry about the
links between prostitution and trafficking.

AUSTRALIA

The government continued procedures to screen and inform
adult entertainers and meet with a Dutch consular officer to
ensure the applicant knows his/her rights and are fully informed
of the work agreement before picking up their in-flight letter
at the Dutch embassy in Colombia. Upon arrival, such visa
recipients undergo medical check-ups and receive information
about their rights, risks, and resources. In an effort to reduce the
entry or transit of potential victims of human trafficking and
smuggling into Aruba, the government established a minimum
amount of cash needed to stay in Aruba and created a register
of all persons who acted as guarantors for foreigners entering
the country. The government provided anti-trafficking training
for its diplomatic personnel.

PROSECUTION

The government increased investigations, but convicted only
one trafficker. Divisions 270 and 271 of the Commonwealth
Criminal Code prohibit sex and labor trafficking and traffickingrelated offenses and prescribe maximum penalties of 12 to
25 years imprisonment and fines of up to 197,000 Australian
dollars ($142,238). These penalties are sufficiently stringent
and commensurate with those prescribed for other serious
offenses, such as rape. The criminal code also prohibits forced
labor and prescribes penalties of nine years imprisonment, and
the Migration Act of 2007 prohibits exploitation of migrant
workers through forced labor, sexual servitude, or slavery,
and prescribes penalties of up to five years imprisonment and
various fines. Under the law, prosecutors cannot recommend
prison sentences—a factor that may contribute to insufficient
penalties for traffickers prosecuted under lesser criminal charges.
The Australian Federal Police (AFP) investigated 105 cases of
alleged trafficking and related offenses, an increase from 61
cases investigated in 2015; roughly a third were suspected forced
marriage cases, and the government did not report how many
involved sex or labor trafficking. The government initiated
prosecutions of four defendants for suspected labor trafficking
offenses and one defendant for suspected sex trafficking offenses,
compared to four prosecutions in 2015 and nine in 2014.
Authorities continued prosecutions from previous reporting
periods against three individuals suspected of forced labor
offenses. One individual allegedly subjected 23 foreign nationals
to forced labor and was charged with “causing a person to
remain in servitude.” In a separate case, authorities initiated
the prosecution of two individuals for the alleged long-term
exploitation of a foreign national brought to Melbourne in
2007 to perform domestic labor. The government opened one
investigation into alleged labor trafficking in the household
of a foreign diplomat, but reported being unable to pursue
prosecution due to diplomatic immunity provisions.
For the third consecutive year, the government did not convict
any sex or labor traffickers under the trafficking provisions
in the criminal code. In 2016, authorities convicted one sex
trafficker on the lesser offense of dealing in proceeds of a crime
under division 400 of the criminal code and fully suspended
the prescribed prison sentence; this was a decrease from six
convictions in 2015, also under lesser charges, culminating in
prison sentences for five offenders. The courts also convicted

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AUSTRALIA
72

three defendants for traveling overseas to engage in child sex
tourism, compared to one in 2015. Authorities often opted to
pursue labor or employment violations in lieu of trafficking
charges due to a perception that it could increase the success
rate of prosecutions; however, offenders often faced only civil
penalties. The government did not report any investigations,
prosecutions, or convictions of government officials complicit
in human trafficking offenses. The government-funded and
facilitated training on trafficking investigations, legal provisions,
and victim support for 26 police and immigration officers.

PROTECTION

The government slightly increased efforts to protect trafficking
victims. Authorities identified 36 potential victims, including
22 for sex trafficking and forced labor, and 14 for which the
form of exploitation was unclear, compared with 35 in 2015.
Authorities provided accommodation, living expenses, legal
advice, health services, vocational training, and counseling to 83
victims—including some identified in previous years—through
the support program, for which the government continued
to allocate approximately one million Australian dollars
($722,021). Only AFP had the legal authority to refer victims
to the support program; NGOs provided services for additional
victims who were either not formally recognized by AFP or
who chose not to communicate with law enforcement. The
government also repatriated six potential Australian trafficking
victims from abroad, three of whom were returned to Australia
to receive protective services through this program, compared
to one in 2015. There were no government-run shelters for
trafficking victims; one known trafficking-specific shelter run
by an NGO received funding from an NGO operating partially
on government funding to accommodate participants in the
Support Program. In 2016, the government reported providing
temporary stay visas to 33 foreign trafficking victims, compared
to 29 the previous year, although it did not report how many
of these constituted cases of forced marriage. The government
began implementing visa policy reforms enacted in 2015
intended to address the needs of foreign trafficking victims, such
as by extending access to its adult migrant English programs,
which in prior years were only available to permanent visa
holders. These services were provided to 11 trafficking victims in
Australia on temporary stay visas during the reporting period. It
also granted to six victims and their immediate family members
referred stay (permanent) visas, compared to four in 2015, which
required victims to assist with an investigation or prosecution
of a trafficking offense. Victims identified by authorities were
not detained, fined, or penalized for unlawful acts committed
as a direct result of being subjected to trafficking; however,
given underdeveloped screening efforts among vulnerable
populations, some unidentified victims may have been arrested,
prosecuted, or deported.
The government made limited efforts to identify and refer victims
of forced labor to services; authorities did not routinely screen
for indicators of labor trafficking among vulnerable groups,
but established new mechanisms for doing so. Authorities
identified most victims through the efforts of joint agencies,
taskforces, and cooperative action with foreign governments.
Some victims may have been reluctant to communicate with law
enforcement officers due to fear of detainment and deportation.
The government did not ensure social service professionals
were present during initial screening interviews, although
procedures were in place for law enforcement officials to bring
them in at their discretion. Although the government expanded
certain benefit schemes for trafficking victims, it did not have
a centralized victim compensation system.

PREVENTION

The government increased efforts to prevent trafficking. It
continued implementation of its five-year national action
plan to combat trafficking, launched in 2014, and created
new interagency and regional taskforces, working groups,
and other mechanisms for the purpose of expanding the
scope of its research on, and strengthening its ability to
respond to, trafficking offenses. In furtherance of the national
action plan, the Australian Interdepartmental Committee on
Human Trafficking and Slavery delivered its annual report on
government anti-trafficking efforts to Parliament in December
2016. The government continued to fund anti-trafficking
initiatives and deliver trainings in the Asia-Pacific and Middle
East regions. In May 2016, the Fair Work Ombudsman (FWO)
established the Migrant Worker Strategy and Engagement
Branch to coordinate and develop strategies for engagement,
education, and compliance activities focusing on workplace
rights and entitlements in migrant worker communities. In
April 2016, the FWO introduced an online platform to facilitate
the anonymous reporting of labor law violations. It continued
to conduct awareness-raising campaigns on migrant workers’
rights and pursued and concluded long-term inquiries into
potential labor abuses committed against migrant workers
in the retail and hospitality industries, although none of
these appeared to culminate in trafficking victim referrals or
investigations. The government also facilitated training on
trafficking in persons for 535 immigration officials during
the reporting period. The government continued to publish
materials for passport applicants outlining the application
of Australian child sexual exploitation and child sex tourism
laws to Australians overseas. In 2016, authorities convicted
three defendants for traveling to other countries to engage in
child sex tourism, compared to one in 2015, with sentences
ranging from six months imprisonment to five years and three
months imprisonment. The government did not make efforts
to reduce the demand for commercial sex acts, but it created
a ministerial labor exploitation working group and migrant
workers taskforce aimed at reducing the demand for forced
labor. The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade conditioned
the departure of diplomatic personnel to overseas posts on
compliance with Australia’s anti-trafficking legislation, and
the government provided anti-trafficking training to military
and law enforcement personnel prior to their deployment on
international peacekeeping missions.

TRAFFICKING PROFILE

As reported over the last five years, Australia is primarily a
destination country for women and girls subjected to sex
trafficking and for women and men subjected to forced labor.
A small number of children, primarily teenage Australian
and foreign girls, are subjected to sex trafficking within the
country. Some women from Asia and—to a lesser extent—
Eastern Europe and Africa migrate to Australia to work legally
or illegally in a number of sectors, including commercial sex.
After their arrival, some of these women are coerced to enter or
remain in prostitution. Some foreign women—and sometimes
girls—are held in captivity, subjected to physical and sexual
violence and intimidation, manipulated through illegal drugs,
obliged to pay off unexpected or inflated debts to traffickers, or
otherwise deceived about working arrangements. Some victims
of sex trafficking and some women who migrate to Australia
for arranged marriages are subjected to domestic servitude.
Unscrupulous employers and labor agencies subject some men
and women from Asia and several Pacific Islands recruited to
work temporarily in Australia to forced labor in agriculture,

AUSTRIA: TIER 1
The Government of Austria fully meets the minimum standards
for the elimination of trafficking. The government continued to
demonstrate serious and sustained efforts during the reporting
period; therefore, Austria remained on Tier 1. The government
demonstrated serious and sustained efforts through an increased
number of prosecutions and convictions, by bolstering rights
for victims, and increased funding for victim services. Law
enforcement collaborated with neighboring countries on cases
and worked closely with NGOs on victim care. The government
improved its efforts to identify trafficking victims among
refugees, irregular migrants, unaccompanied minors, and
asylum-seekers by providing new training in victim identification
to border officials and NGOs providing care to migrants and
asylum-seekers. Although the government meets the minimum
standards, in some cases courts partially or fully suspended
sentences for convicted traffickers or accepted fines instead of
imprisonment.

years imprisonment. In addition, article 116 criminalizes the
exploitation of foreigners illegally in the country, with a penalty
of one to 10 years. Article 217 also makes it a crime to bring a
person into Austria for prostitution, regardless of the means
used, but provides enhanced penalties when a foreign person
is induced to engage in prostitution by deception, coercion,
or force. Article 217 penalties range from six months to 10
years imprisonment.
The government investigated 139 trafficking suspects in 2016
(one under article 104, 77 under article 104a, and 61 under
article 217), compared with a total of 118 investigations in
2015. The government prosecuted 39 trafficking defendants
in 2016 (19 under article 104a and 20 under article 217),
an increase from 35 prosecutions in 2015. Courts convicted
26 traffickers in 2016 (10 under article 104a and 16 under
article 217), an increase from 15 convictions in 2015. The 10
convictions under article 104a were for labor exploitation; the
16 cases under article 217 were for sexual exploitation. Prison
sentences ranged from six months to five years in 2015, the most
recent year for which sentencing data was available, but courts
partially or fully suspended some sentences and accepted fines
instead of time served. The government provided specialized
training to prosecutors and judicial personnel. Training was
included as part of the standard curriculum for law enforcement.
National and local governments cooperated with authorities
from other countries to investigate and prosecute trafficking
cases. Cooperation with central European governments was
especially effective in uncovering and prosecuting trafficking
rings.

AUSTRIA

construction, hospitality, and domestic service. Some identified
victims are foreign citizens on student visas who pay significant
placement and academic fees. Unscrupulous employers coerce
students to work in excess of the terms of their visas, making
them vulnerable to trafficking due to fears of deportation for
immigration violations. Some foreign diplomats allegedly
subject domestic workers to forced labor in Australia.

PROTECTION

RECOMMENDATIONS FOR AUSTRIA

Sentence convicted traffickers to penalties proportionate to
the seriousness of the crime to ensure convicted traffickers
serve time in prison; strengthen or revise existing criminal
code articles, particularly article 217, to better differentiate
between trafficking and smuggling; establish a comprehensive
national referral mechanism for adult victims; increase efforts
to identify victims among women engaged in prostitution,
the physically and mentally disabled, children exploited in
prostitution and forced begging, and men working in sectors
vulnerable to labor exploitation and prosecute their traffickers;
continue efforts to identify trafficking victims among irregular
migrants, asylum-seekers, and individuals in prostitution;
continue cooperation with foreign governments to uncover
and prosecute trafficking rings; and consistently apply laws for
granting legal residence to trafficking victims including those
who choose not to participate in legal proceedings.

PROSECUTION

The Austrian government sustained vigorous law enforcement
efforts. Article 104a of the criminal code criminalizes all forms
of sex and labor trafficking consistent with the international law
definition, with penalties ranging up to 10 years imprisonment,
which are sufficiently stringent and commensurate with those
prescribed for other serious crimes, such as rape. Article 104
also criminalizes slavery, with penalties ranging from 10 to 20

The government increased already strong protection efforts.
NGOs reported good cooperation with government agencies
and reported police identification was generally effective. The
government increased efforts to identify victims among migrants
and asylum-seekers and in shelters for unaccompanied minors,
providing training to border officials, NGOs, and directly to
migrants. Police conducted raids and screenings in brothels, red
light districts, and massage parlors to find victims proactively.
Police and other government institutions, in cooperation with
NGOs, identified and assisted 288 female and 60 male foreign
victims in 2016, an increase from 271 female victims and 30
male victims in 2015. According to the government’s national
implementation plan, between July 2015 and December 2016,
officials and NGOs identified 15 trafficking victims among
migrants transiting through or remaining in Austria.
The government disbursed approximately €892,220 ($940,169)
to specialized anti-trafficking NGOs to assist and house victims,
an increase from €831,760 ($876,459) disbursed in 2015.
The government also disbursed €400,000 ($421,496) to two
NGO-run counseling centers for male trafficking victims
and undocumented migrants, on par with funding in 2015.
Government funding comprised the bulk of these organizations’
budgets. The center for male victims assisted 60 victims, of which
20 were provided accommodation, and all 60 were provided
counseling; this is twice the number of cases compared to
2015. A government-run center for unaccompanied minors
was available for child trafficking victims and offered legal,
medical, psychological, social, and language assistance. There
were cases of suspected trafficking among minors assisted by
the center. Government-funded NGOs provided adult trafficking
victims with emergency shelter, medical care, psychological
care, language assistance, and legal assistance; some NGOs
offered specialized services for victims with physical or mental

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AZERBAIJAN

disabilities. Foreign victims were entitled to the same care
available to domestic victims. NGO staff helped victims
prepare for court proceedings and assisted foreign victims
with repatriation.
The government amended its criminal procedural code in
2016 to establish minimum standards on the rights, support,
and protection of victims of crime (including those exploited
in trafficking), expanding and strengthening victims’ rights,
specifically in criminal and court proceedings. The new law
provides that victims in particular need of protection may, in
order to minimize re-traumatization, be accompanied by a
trusted person or be afforded special interview methods during
the investigation phase. The national trafficking taskforce
finalized a comprehensive national referral mechanism and
guidelines for the identification of child victims. Government
officials from multiple agencies and NGOs used guidelines
and checklists to identify trafficking victims proactively. The
government trained law enforcement, the labor inspectorate,
military, diplomatic services, detention centers, asylum centers,
revenue authority, and social services to proactively identify
victims.
Under the asylum law, the government-provided right of
temporary residence status for trafficking victims and benefits
was not linked to victims’ participation or testimony in criminal
trials. According to one observer, however, the government failed
to grant legal residence to victims if they do not assist police and
testify in legal proceedings. The government granted 16 foreign
victims temporary residence permits in 2016, compared to 14 in
2015; these permits allowed them unconditional access to the
labor market. Identified victims were granted a 30-day reflection
period to receive assistance and decide whether to cooperate
in investigations. Austria led an international working group
that discussed strategies for improving the non-punishment
of victims in Balkan countries. The justice ministry developed
guidelines for prosecutors on non-punishment of victims.
Victims can testify via video conference, provide anonymous
depositions, and enroll in witness protection programs. The
justice ministry reported 120 victims assisted with prosecutions
during 2016. Victims, including those without legal residence,
are able to file civil suits for damages and compensation against
traffickers, even in the absence of a criminal prosecution.
According to the justice ministry, victims obtained restitution
in nine criminal cases and six victims of trafficking received
government compensation as crime victims. Victims were
entitled to legal aid in the form of financial assistance and
legal representation if they cannot afford their legal costs. The
government did not report any cases of trafficking victims being
detained, fined, or jailed for unlawful acts committed as a direct
result of being subjected to human trafficking.

PREVENTION

74

The government continued robust efforts to prevent trafficking.
A national anti-trafficking coordinator headed a taskforce
that coordinated the government’s anti-trafficking efforts and
included NGOs. The government published a detailed annual
report on its website on the implementation of its action plan
for 2015-2017. The government hosted several international
conferences on trafficking, including labor exploitation
and trafficking in the context of the migration crisis. The
government subsidized several publications and television
programs on trafficking and child sex tourism and funded
campaigns to inform women in prostitution of their legal
rights. The government also continued school exhibitions, with
accompanying teacher handbooks, to sensitize Austrian youth

to trafficking. The interior ministry continued to run a 24-hour
trafficking hotline and email service. The taskforce distributed
leaflets on child trafficking to government authorities and the
military, and the men’s shelter had an online brochure that
provided information on its services. An NGO collaborated with
the Austrian trade union organization to organize information
campaigns on trafficking for harvest workers, and workshops
during immigration integration and language classes. The
government reissued the “Global Code of Ethics for Tourism”
to tour operators, hotels, and restaurants to combat child
sex tourism. Austrian embassies and consulates in source
countries informed visa applicants of the potential dangers of
trafficking. The government provided anti-trafficking training
to its diplomatic personnel. The foreign ministry hosted
events for employees of diplomatic households, increasing
workers’ awareness of their rights and sensitizing them to
trafficking. The government required foreign domestic workers
in diplomatic households to appear in person to receive their
identification cards. Austrian troops received governmentfunded anti-trafficking training conducted by NGOs prior to
their deployment abroad as part of peacekeeping missions.
As part of its efforts to reduce the demand for commercial sex
acts, the government subsidized and distributed a brochure,
published in seven languages, which raised public awareness
about trafficking within commercial sex. The government
worked with business and labor organizations in awareness
training on labor exploitation. The government changed its
public procurement guidelines to avoid goods and services
provided by exploited workers.

TRAFFICKING PROFILE

As reported over the past five years, Austria is a destination and
transit country for men, women, and children subjected to sex
trafficking and forced labor. Victims primarily originate from
Romania, Bulgaria, Hungary, Slovakia, Bosnia, and Serbia, with
some victims coming from Nigeria, Southeast Asia, China, and
South America. Vienna has the majority of trafficking cases.
Most identified victims are foreign women subjected to sex
trafficking. Traffickers sometimes lured women by offering
fictitious positions, including au pairs, cleaners, waitresses,
and dancers. Domestic workers in diplomatic households and
workers in restaurants, construction, cleaning companies, and
agriculture were subjected to labor exploitation. Children and
physically disabled persons are the primary victims of forced
begging. A growing number of victims from Nigeria and China
are abused for sexual exploitation, some in massage parlors and
brothels. Traffickers are primarily male and largely are Austrian
or are the same nationality as their victims.

AZERBAIJAN: TIER 2
The Government of Azerbaijan does not fully meet the
minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking; however,
it is making significant efforts to do so. The government
demonstrated increasing efforts compared to the previous
reporting period; therefore, Azerbaijan remained on Tier 2. The
government demonstrated increasing efforts by prosecuting
and convicting more traffickers and identifying more victims.
The government increased funds for victim protection and the
state-run shelter. However, the government did not meet the
minimum standards in a few key areas. The victim identification
and referral mechanism lacked formal implementation, and
the government did not provide consistent funding to NGO-

foreign governments. Azerbaijani law enforcement officials
shared information with the government of Uzbekistan after
discovering a transnational organized criminal group involved
in trafficking citizens from Uzbekistan and Azerbaijan. The
government cooperated with Georgia to extradite an Azerbaijani
citizen from Georgia.

PROTECTION

RECOMMENDATIONS FOR AZERBAIJAN

Vigorously investigate and prosecute trafficking offenses
and convict and punish traffickers, in particular, proactively
investigate potential trafficking cases such as situations of
internal trafficking and forced labor; create standard operating
procedures to implement the national referral mechanism
and allocate adequate funding to NGO-run shelters providing
victim support services; formalize the role of NGOs and other
stakeholders in the referral process; respond to NGO referrals
of potential trafficking victims by investigating alleged crimes
and providing appropriate victim services; continue training
first responders, including law enforcement, immigration, and
social services personnel, on proactive victim identification and
inform relevant actors on formal identification procedures;
strengthen the capacity of the Labor Inspectorate to identify
and refer victims of forced labor; improve coordination and
communication among government agencies, including about
victim referrals and potential cases; and target public awareness
campaigns to foreign migrant workers, describing indicators
of human trafficking and avenues to seek help.

PROSECUTION

The government increased anti-trafficking law enforcement
efforts. The 2005 Law on the Fight against Trafficking in
Persons and article 144 of the criminal code prohibit sex
and labor trafficking and prescribe penalties of five to 15
years imprisonment, which are sufficiently stringent and
commensurate with those prescribed for other serious crimes,
such as rape. The government investigated 26 cases of suspected
trafficking, compared with 29 suspected cases in 2015. Twentytwo cases were for sexual exploitation and four were for labor
exploitation. The government prosecuted 36 defendants,
compared with 32 defendants in 2015. Thirty defendants were
prosecuted for sex trafficking and six defendants for forced labor.
The government convicted 28 sex traffickers, compared to 18
sex traffickers and five labor traffickers in 2015. Two traffickers
received sentences between one to five years imprisonment
and the other 26 traffickers received sentences between five to
10 years imprisonment.
The Anti-Trafficking Department (ATD) held eight trainings for
law enforcement and supported an international organization
to train law enforcement and officials from the State Migration
Service (SMS) in the Autonomous Republic of Nakhchivan. SMS
held four separate specialized training programs on human
trafficking in all 32 regional offices. The Justice Academy
developed an e-learning platform and a specialized curriculum
for trafficking. Corruption remained a systemic issue and the
government did not report any prosecutions or convictions
of complicit officials. The prosecutor general did put out an
INTERPOL notice for an Azerbaijani airport official connected
to an organized criminal group involved in human trafficking.
The government continued law enforcement cooperation with

The government slightly increased victim protection efforts. The
government identified 70 trafficking victims, compared with 63
victims in 2015. Sixty-nine victims were female and one was
male, compared to 56 female victims, six male victims, and a
child victim in 2015. All females were victims of sex trafficking
and the male was a victim of forced labor. The government
did not identify any child victims. ATD spent approximately
154,000 manat ($83,696) for victim protection, compared
to approximately 109,000 manat ($59,239) from 2015. This
amount included the ATD’s one-time allowance of 400 manat
($217) to all victims. The ATD spent approximately 900 manat
($489) a month per individual staying at the government-run
shelter. The Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA) allocated 15,000
manat ($8,152) to civil society representatives providing victim
support services. The government allocated 48,000 manat
($26,086) to the Victim Assistance Center (VAC), an increase
from 44,000 manat ($23,913) in 2015.

AZERBAIJAN

run shelters while relying heavily on their victim support and
reintegration services.

The government had a formal procedure for victim identification
but first responders, including law enforcement, immigration,
and social services personnel, were either unaware of the
procedure or did not consistently follow and understand
it. First responders are required to refer potential victims
within 48 hours to ATD, who are then officially recognized as
victims based on an investigation. NGOs and the government
provided support services to some potential victims; however,
individuals without official recognition did not receive the
one-time government-provided allowance and did not have the
ability to bring a civil claim against the alleged traffickers. NGOs
referred 466 potential trafficking victims to ATD but none were
determined to be victims. Observers reported minimal efforts to
proactively identify Azerbaijani victims of internal trafficking;
as a result, all officially identified victims were foreign victims
exploited in Azerbaijan or Azerbaijani victims repatriated
from foreign countries, likely reflecting an overemphasis on
transnational movement.
The MIA-run shelter accommodated 63 officially recognized
victims and an additional seven potential victims, and provided
clothing, specific dietary needs, medical and psychological
assistance. The shelter has separate areas for women, men, and
children. The MIA-run shelter limited freedom of movement
for victims and required victims to submit an application
to leave the shelter. The SMS-run reception center did not
accommodate trafficking victims in 2016. The VAC provided
legal, psychological, medical, and employment assistance to
all 63 victims at the MIA-run shelter and assisted an additional
30 potential trafficking victims referred from NGOs and the
hotline. The government allocated land to create three new
VACs in Ganja, Guba, and Lankaran. ATD provided 42 beds
and collected 2,000 manat ($1,087) in donations for NGO-run
shelters; however, the government did not provide consistent
funding to NGO-run shelters despite relying heavily on their
victim support and reintegration services to 40 victims during
the reporting period. NGOs remained severely underfunded
and restrictive legislation governing foreign grants limited
NGOs’ ability to receive funding from foreign donors. Most
shelter staff who provided support services during the reporting

75

THE BAHAMAS

period worked on a voluntary basis. The government amended
an article in the criminal code; the amendment established a
30-day reflection period to victims before deciding whether to
cooperate with authorities. The government did not penalize
trafficking victims for unlawful acts committed as a direct result
of being subjected to human trafficking. A presidential decree
prevented the Labor Inspectorate from conducting spontaneous
employment inspections, which restricted proactive victim
identification efforts. Two trafficking victims received restitution
of 5,000 manat ($2,717) and two additional victims received
sheep as restitution.

PREVENTION

The government maintained prevention efforts. The ATD led
the implementation of the national action plan (2014-2018)
during the reporting period; however, competition between
agencies hindered interagency coordination. The government
publicly released an annual assessment of the country’s antitrafficking efforts, including prosecution data and protection
efforts, which were made available online. The Council of State
Support to NGOs awarded 71,000 manat ($38,587) to fund
seven proposals from NGOs for awareness campaigns and victim
rehabilitation efforts. VAC conducted awareness campaigns
targeting youth, students, and other vulnerable populations.
The State Committee for Family, Women, and Children Affairs
organized awareness campaigns for law enforcement, labor
inspectors, executive committees, teachers, and health care
workers. SMS helped 117 stateless persons obtain identification
documents and Azerbaijani citizenship and legalized residency
for 2,372 irregular migrants. The government did not report
any new measures to reduce the demand for commercial sex
or forced labor. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in cooperation
with an international organization, began developing a manual
for diplomats on identifying and preventing human trafficking.

TRAFFICKING PROFILE

As reported over the past five years, Azerbaijan is a source,
transit, and destination country for men, women, and children
subjected to forced labor and sex trafficking. Azerbaijani men
and boys are subjected to forced labor in Turkey, Russia, the
United Arab Emirates (UAE), and Azerbaijan. Women and
children from Azerbaijan are subjected to sex trafficking within
the country and in Malaysia, Turkey, Russia, and the UAE.
Traffickers increasingly used the internet for recruitment.
Azerbaijan is a destination country for sex and labor trafficking
victims from, Ukraine, and in previous years China, Russia,
Turkey, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan. In previous years,
Azerbaijan has been used as a transit country for victims of
sex and labor trafficking from Central Asia to the UAE, Turkey,
and Iran. Within the country, some children, particularly those
of Romani descent, are subjected to forced begging and forced
labor as roadside vendors and at tea houses and wedding
facilities. Filipino women have been subjected to domestic
servitude in Azerbaijan.

THE BAHAMAS: TIER 1

76

through strong collaboration across multiple government
agencies, facilitating the prosecution of traffickers and
protection of victims. The government initiated 11 new labor
and sex trafficking investigations, screened 37 potential
trafficking victims, identified five victims, and initiated one new
prosecution. It also increased funding for victim assistance and
expanded procedures to include identification and interviewing
guidelines to cover labor trafficking victims. Although the
government meets the minimum standards, it did not obtain
any convictions during the reporting period.

The Government of The Bahamas fully meets the minimum
standards for the elimination of trafficking. The government
continued to demonstrate serious and sustained efforts during
the reporting period; therefore, The Bahamas remained on Tier
1. The government demonstrated serious and sustained efforts

RECOMMENDATIONS FOR THE BAHAMAS

Increase efforts to prosecute, convict, and appropriately punish
traffickers; continue to implement the victim identification
and referral protocol to identify victims of sex and labor
trafficking, especially among vulnerable groups; continue to
provide all identified victims with adequate protection and
assistance; increase grassroots outreach to potential trafficking
victims among vulnerable groups, in partnerships with NGOs;
strengthen engagement with officials involved in anti-trafficking
activities in other countries in the region; and continue to
implement a nationwide public awareness campaign to
educate the public and officials about human trafficking and
its manifestations in The Bahamas, including the distinction
between trafficking and smuggling.

PROSECUTION

The government’s anti-trafficking law enforcement efforts
continued at previous levels, but resulted in only 11 new
labor and sex trafficking investigations involving 37 potential
victims, compared with 12 new investigations involving 53
potential victims in 2015. The Trafficking in Persons (Prevention
and Suppression) Act 2008 prohibits all forms of human
trafficking and prescribes penalties ranging from three years
to life imprisonment and fines; these penalties are sufficiently
stringent and commensurate with penalties prescribed for other
serious crimes, such as rape. The government did not report
any investigations, prosecutions, or convictions of government
officials complicit in human trafficking offenses.
Authorities initiated one new trafficking prosecution compared
to three new prosecutions in the previous reporting period,
but continued four prosecutions from previous reporting
periods. For the second consecutive year, the government did
not convict any traffickers. The Magistrate’s Court acquitted
three alleged traffickers prosecuted in the previous reporting
period, but the government’s appeal of those cases remained
pending at the end of the reporting period. The government
enacted amendments effective March 31, 2017 to the criminal
procedure code and the 2008 law to allow prosecutors the
option to prosecute trafficking cases directly before the
Supreme Court without the necessity of going first to a lower
Magistrate’s Court; and created a new offense that criminalizes
the organizing, engagement in, or directing another to engage
in, trafficking in persons. The amendment to the criminal
procedure code will address the January 2016 Privy Council’s
finding that trafficking cases, under then-existing legislation,

PROTECTION

The government increased efforts to protect victims. Authorities
continued to implement a formal victim-centered protocol to
guide front-line responders in identifying trafficking victims
and referring them to services. The government worked with
an outside consultant to develop guidelines for identifying and
interviewing labor trafficking victims and for providing medical
and mental services. The national trafficking commission
funded and trained member agencies and ministries in their
roles in identifying and protecting victims and making referrals.
During the reporting period, the government screened 37
potential trafficking victims and identified five victims—three
sex trafficking victims, one labor and sex trafficking victim,
and one labor trafficking victim. The government screened 35
foreign nationals from seven foreign countries for trafficking
indicators, resulting in the identification of three foreign national
victims. Five of the victims received some form of assistance,
including housing, medical, psychological, educational, legal,
immigration, translation, and reintegration assistance.
The government reported spending approximately 59,450
Bahamian dollars ($59,450) on trafficking victims’ care,
compared to 42,000 Bahamian dollars ($42,000) in the previous
period. The government also provided subsidies of 180,000
Bahamian dollars ($180,000) to NGOs that provide services
to trafficking victims, among other vulnerable groups. The
government granted one foreign victim relief from deportation.
The government developed, but has not finalized, a refugee/
asylee certificate for those in need of protection and legal
residency in the country. Authorities encouraged trafficking
victims to assist in prosecutions by providing lodging, food,
a stipend, clothing and other basic necessities, medical
assistance and psychological counseling, immigration relief,
legal assistance, support during court proceedings, and witness
protection, which may include police protection as needed.
Bahamian law permits victim testimony via live television
links and for the reading of written statements into evidence.
Despite these protections, the government noted foreign victims
were reluctant to testify largely out of fear of reprisal against
them or their family in their home countries. In addition, the
criminal procedure code allowed trafficking victims to submit
statements to the court to inform judges of the harm inflicted by
their traffickers prior to sentencing of convicted traffickers. The
2008 anti-trafficking act provides victims with immunity from
prosecution for unlawful acts committed as a direct result of
being subjected to trafficking, which the government effectively
implemented for the confirmed trafficking victims during the
reporting period. The anti-trafficking act also authorizes the
court to order convicted defendants to pay restitution to victims;
however, such restitution was not ordered in 2016.

PREVENTION

The government increased prevention efforts, taking steps

to inform the public and potential victims about trafficking.
The government’s inter-ministerial committee to coordinate
anti-trafficking policy met regularly, as did the government’s
anti-trafficking taskforce, which was charged with ensuring
operational coordination on trafficking cases. The government
continued to conduct a nationwide public awareness campaign
to educate students, vulnerable populations, faith communities,
the public, and government officials about human trafficking
through the use of pamphlets in English and Creole to inform
potential victims of their rights and available resources, public
service announcements on television and radio throughout the
country, and a museum exhibit. The government partnered with
NGOs to implement its 2014-2018 national anti-trafficking
strategy and detailed action plan that outlined efforts related
to government infrastructure, prevention, victim and witness
protection, investigation and prosecution, and partnerships.
The government dedicated resources to implement the plan,
but noted that the officials responsible for trafficking matters
also have other areas of responsibilities and are, therefore,
not solely dedicated to trafficking cases. NGOs reported the
government partnered to engage vulnerable communities
in more than ten community outreach sessions to discuss
trafficking. The Bahamas actively participated in the Caribbean
Trafficking in Persons working group with Jamaica, Trinidad
and Tobago, Barbados, St. Lucia, and Antigua and Barbuda by
developing a shared social media campaign to raise awareness
about trafficking in the region.

THE BAHAMAS

could not be brought, in the first instance, in the Supreme Court,
where potential penalties are greater. This prior decision had
invalidated, on procedural grounds, the 2014 Supreme Court
conviction of a defendant for trafficking and withholding
of a victim’s documents. Government officials funded and
delivered training to 270 police, investigators, prosecutors,
judges, health professionals, and other officials on the Bahamian
anti-trafficking law, trafficking indicators, victim referral and
assistance, and trafficking investigations and prosecutions,
and shared best practices on multi-disciplinary response to
trafficking with regional colleagues.

The government formalized its policy in the Department of
Labor’s 2017-2019 Strategic Plan to raise awareness and advise
foreign nationals of their labor rights, limits on recruitment
fees, and prohibition against document retention, in addition to
the current practice of sending letters to foreign nationals with
work permits, which explain the definition of trafficking and
advise employers of the prohibition against document retention.
The Department of Labor raised awareness in the business
community, distributed pamphlets about labor trafficking and
workers’ rights, advised potential job seekers about potential
fraud in the cruise ship industry, screened for indicators of
trafficking when inspecting work sites, and identified a foreign
national as a labor trafficking victim during the reporting
period. The government provided anti-trafficking training for
immigration and labor officials, and its diplomatic personnel,
including a rotation in the legal affairs office of the Ministry
of Foreign Affairs and Immigration where officials participate
in inter-ministerial anti-trafficking committee meetings. The
government distributed trafficking awareness-raising materials in
consular reception areas. The government conducted awareness
efforts targeted at potential clients of the sex trade, closed some
sex trade establishments, and conducted random inspections
of businesses, including strip clubs and bars, to identify and
hold accountable owners of such establishments. Authorities
did not consider child sex tourism to be a problem in The
Bahamas and reported no child sex tourism investigations,
although it developed a special pamphlet on child trafficking,
trained tourism officials, and placed anti-trafficking pamphlets
in tourism information booths. The government has developed
general standard operating procedures for victim identification,
protection and referral, and specific procedures for data
collection and victim care, including referrals for medical or
mental health care, and terms of reference for research, and
case management.

TRAFFICKING PROFILE

As reported over the past five years, The Bahamas is a source,
destination, and transit country for men, women, and children

77

BAHRAIN

from other Caribbean countries, South and Central America,
and Asia subjected to sex trafficking and forced labor, including
in domestic servitude and in sectors with low-skilled laborers.
Vulnerable populations include migrant workers—especially
from Haiti, Jamaica, the Dominican Republic, Costa Rica,
Cuba, Colombia, Venezuela, and the Philippines—who arrive
voluntarily to work as domestic employees and laborers, but
may be recruited or deceived by traffickers who lure victims
with fraudulent recruitment practices, such as false promises
of employment through advertisements in foreign newspapers.
Children born in The Bahamas to foreign-born parents who
do not automatically receive Bahamian citizenship, and
individuals involved in prostitution and exotic dancing may
also be vulnerable. Traffickers previously confiscated victims’
passports, but currently often allow victims to retain their
documents in case they are questioned by law enforcement.

BAHRAIN: TIER 2
The Government of Bahrain does not fully meet the minimum
standards for the elimination of trafficking; however, it is making
significant efforts to do so. The government demonstrated
increasing efforts compared to the previous reporting period;
therefore, Bahrain remained on Tier 2. The government
demonstrated increasing efforts by developing a national
referral mechanism and disseminating the strategy to relevant
government and civil society stakeholders. It investigated
potential trafficking cases and continued its anti-trafficking
training for various officials during the year. It took some
concrete steps to amend elements of the sponsorship system
that increase workers’ vulnerability to forced labor and debt
bondage. However, the government did not meet the minimum
standards in several key areas. It convicted fewer traffickers
and made minimal efforts to proactively identify potential
forced labor victims. Reports of official complicity persisted,
and enforcement of curbing the “free visa” scheme—laborers
who work for a non-sponsor employer and subsequently
have illegal working status—remained weak throughout the
reporting period.

RECOMMENDATIONS FOR BAHRAIN

78

Increase efforts to investigate, prosecute, and convict traffickers,
particularly cases involving forced labor or allegedly complicit
officials; abolish or significantly amend provisions of the
sponsorship system, and strengthen efforts to eliminate the
“free visa” scheme; vigorously investigate potential trafficking
cases involving passport retention and non-payment of wages;
systematically implement formal procedures to identify
trafficking victims among vulnerable groups, such as domestic
workers and women in prostitution; fully implement the
national referral mechanism for law enforcement and other
officials to refer identified victims to protection services; expand
the flexible work permit pilot program to a broader range
of eligible beneficiaries beyond workers with terminated or
expired work permits; extend to and actively enforce labor

law protections for domestic workers; make efforts to ensure
identified trafficking victims are not punished for unlawful acts
committed as a direct result of being subjected to trafficking,
such as illegal migration or prostitution; broaden training for
officials on the anti-trafficking law and victim identification;
conduct a national anti-trafficking awareness campaign on
trafficking issues, strategically targeting migrant and domestic
workers.

PROSECUTION

The government demonstrated uneven law enforcement efforts.
Bahrain’s anti-trafficking law, Law No.1 of 2008, prohibits
all forms of trafficking and prescribes penalties ranging from
three to 15 years imprisonment, plus a fine of between 2,000
and 10,000 Bahraini dinar ($5,310-$26,530) and the cost of
repatriating the victim(s), which are sufficiently stringent and
commensurate with penalties prescribed for other serious
crimes, such as rape. Article 325 prescribes imprisonment of
two to seven years for forced prostitution and three to ten years
if the victim is a child. Passport retention is a crime punishable
under article (395) of the Bahraini penal code. Additionally, it
is a crime to limit or otherwise control any persons’ freedom of
movement in accordance with article (19) (b) of the constitution
of Bahrain. In order to enforce this prohibition, laborers may
file a grievance for passport withholding with the police or
Labor Market Regulatory Authority (LMRA); a worker may
also register a complaint to the court directly if the employer
refuses to return the passport.
The Ministry of Interior (MOI) reported investigating 29
potential trafficking cases during the reporting period, of
which five were for forced labor, 19 for sexual exploitation, and
five involved domestic workers, compared to 18 investigations
the previous reporting period. Of the 29 investigations, Justice
officials received 25 for consideration, one of which involved
a domestic worker. The government referred four domestic
worker cases to criminal courts as labor disputes rather than
trafficking cases due to insufficient evidence. It convicted
and sentenced three traffickers to five years imprisonment;
in 2015, the government convicted 17 sex traffickers and
imposed 10-year prison terms plus fines and deportation. At
the close of the reporting period, five trafficking cases, and
four from the previous year, remained ongoing. Officials
reported three government employees were allegedly complicit
in potential trafficking crimes. Two of these cases remained
under investigation and one was in the trial phase at the
conclusion of the reporting period. The media reported the
arrest of two police officers—one former and one current—for
their role in the sex trafficking of foreign women; however, it
was unclear if the government and media were reporting the
same two cases.
Cases of unpaid or withheld wages, passport retention, and
analogous abuses that are indicators of forced labor were
typically treated administratively as labor law violations and
resolved through arbitration; however, if arbitration was
unsuccessful a worker could file a grievance against the employer
in a labor court. These cases were not often investigated for
trafficking crimes despite exhibiting indicators of the crime. In
2016, the government reported closure of 39 recruitment offices
and revocation of their licenses, and canceled an additional
25 licenses for non-compliance with Bahraini labor law. The
public prosecutor received referrals from the LMRA of 13
recruitment offices allegedly involved in forced labor, compared
to four such cases in 2015. The LMRA’s Enforcement and
Inspection Department employed 70 inspectors in enforcement

PROTECTION

The government made modest efforts to protect victims, but did
not report how many victims it identified; in 2015, it identified
90 trafficking victims. The government used standard procedures
to identify potential trafficking victims. The government reported
1,523 individuals of various nationalities and professions—
predominantly women—received assistance from the LMRA’s
Expatriate Protection Unit (EPU), which provided shelter to
392 for an average of 39 days; among this population, 25 were
trafficking victims. Other protective provisions included food,
clothing, medical care, religious and psycho-social support,
transportation, legal counsel, familial reunification, translation
assistance, and information on labor rights. The EPU maintained
onsite offices for medical and mental health professionals
and a representative from the police anti-trafficking unit, and
provided a training room for training shelter residents and a
conference space for the national anti-trafficking committee.
Several embassies of labor-sending countries reported they
temporarily housed some victims who refused to go to the
EPU or were unable to reach it. The EPU received referrals
from diverse sources, including the police, government offices,
NGOs, health services, and embassies. During the reporting
period, the government, in cooperation with two international
organizations, developed a national referral mechanism to
streamline the proactive identification of potential trafficking
victims, ensure proper documentation of cases, accurately
refer cases to the MOI anti-trafficking division and public
prosecutor’s office for an official determination as a trafficking
case, and provide sufficient protections to victims until case
resolution or voluntary return to their respective countries of
origin. The government disseminated the 30-page, dual EnglishArabic mechanism to relevant civil society and government
stakeholders.
Labor Law No. 36 of 2012 provides some protections for
domestic workers, requiring employers to provide a labor
contract specifying working hours, annual leave, and bonuses,
and to pay workers at least monthly; the government did
not report any efforts to implement the law. The LMRA was
responsible for coordinating with other relevant ministries,
referring trafficking cases for prosecution, and conducting
interviews to officially identify victims in collaboration with
respective embassies. Upon receiving claims of abuse from
domestic workers who fled employers, some police stations
reportedly investigated immediately, while others sometimes
delayed launching an investigation. Inspection agencies cited
difficulties conducting unannounced inspections of domestic
worker accommodations and investigating allegations of abuse
in the absence of an official complaint, which may have left some
victims at risk of exploitation and without protective provisions.
According to a local NGO, police referred some victims to
its shelter; however, police implementation of standardized
procedures to identify victims remained inconsistent across
different stations. Many law enforcement officials in Bahrain
did not systematically or proactively identify victims among
vulnerable groups, such as domestic workers who fled abusive
employers or women arrested for prostitution. There were no
reports victims were punished for crimes committed as a direct

result of their being subjected to trafficking; nonetheless, victims
likely remained unidentified in the law enforcement system.
NGOs reported workers who entered the country illegally
or under pretenses often did not benefit from Bahraini
legal protections. Some migrant workers who fled abusive
situations chose not to contact police to report the abuse
due to being a “free visa” holder. Cases could be complex
or expensive to resolve, and workers who could not do so
were sometimes deported. Bahraini officials provided full
assistance to trafficking victims regardless of their willingness
to participate in investigations and court proceedings of their
traffickers. The government reported it informed all victims of
full evaluation of the case and their legal right to restitution
in the event of a conviction. Victims were permitted to testify
in person, via written correspondence, video recording, a
closed-circuit live video, or in private. The labor law allows
foreign workers to change sponsors during investigations
and court proceedings; however, among individuals residing
temporarily at the shelter only five domestic workers transferred
employment during the year. Workers rarely filed complaints
against employers due to distrust of the legal system, protracted
court processes, inability to afford legal representation, lack
of interpretation and translation services, concern over
potential loss of residence permits during proceedings, and
fear of additional maltreatment due to employer reprisal. The
government funded the repatriation of an unknown number
of third country nationals to their countries of origin during
the reporting period.

BAHRAIN

of employment contraventions under its purview such as
worksite inspections. The MOI continued to fund periodic
training for all 59 members of the MOI Anti-Trafficking Division
in various programs at the Royal Police Academy, and in
other training programs by an international organization. Six
prosecutorial personnel received anti-trafficking training via
the Judicial and Legal Studies Institute.

PREVENTION

The government maintained efforts to prevent trafficking.
Despite historical pledges, the government did not take concrete
steps to abolish the sponsorship system, which increased
workers’ vulnerability to forced labor and debt bondage. During
the reporting period, the national committee maintained its
focus on expanding victim assistance, broadening training
for government personnel, and raising awareness among
Bahraini society and labor-sending communities. The national
committee reported its budget was roughly 528,300 Bahraini
dinar ($1.4 million) for daily operations and 265,000 Bahraini
dinar ($702,920) for awareness and outreach programs. The
LMRA continued to provide booklets outlining labor rights in
13 languages common among expatriate and migrant worker
populations and provided mobile phones with SIM cards and
the hotline number to each foreign worker upon arrival at
Bahrain International Airport. The hotline was active and served
as a resource to educate workers about their rights and available
services in Hindi, Telugu, Sinhalese, Tamil, Urdu, Malay, Arabic,
and English. During the reporting year, the hotline received an
average of 677 calls per month, of which an average of 39 per
month were directly related to the EPU’s services; it was unclear
how many calls constituted instances or indicators of trafficking.
The EPU provided information and services for potential and
identified trafficking victims. During the year, officials ratified
the “Arab Convention against Transnational Organized Crime”
and signed an agreement with India on bilateral cooperation
related to combating trafficking. The government had MOUs
with several labor exporting countries, including Nepal, Sri
Lanka, and India, which focused on oversight of recruitment
agencies and protection of migrant workers in Bahrain. A
2014 royal decree prohibiting and penalizing the falsification
of immigration documents enables authorities to prosecute
Bahraini companies that illegally obtain work permits; however,
the government did not report efforts to implement the decree
during the reporting period. The government did not make

79

BANGLADESH

discernable efforts to reduce the demand for commercial
sex. The government provided anti-trafficking training for its
diplomatic personnel.

TRAFFICKING PROFILE

As reported over the past five years, Bahrain is a destination
country for men and women subjected to forced labor and
sex trafficking. Men and women, primarily from Bangladesh,
India, Pakistan, Philippines, Nepal, Egypt, Jordan, Yemen,
Thailand, Syria, and Kenya, migrate voluntarily to Bahrain to
work as domestic workers or as laborers in the construction
and service industries. The greatest influx of workers during
the current reporting year came from Bangladesh. A significant
percentage of foreign workers borrowed money or sold property
in their home countries to secure their jobs, increasing their
vulnerability to debt bondage. Some foreign workers are
subjected to forced labor in Bahrain; indicators of forced
labor include passport retention, strict confinement, contract
substitution, non-payment of wages, threats or intimidation,
and physical or sexual abuse, which preclude employees from
reporting instances of abuse and exploitation. Nationals
of countries without diplomatic presence in Bahrain are
particularly vulnerable to trafficking, as are domestic workers,
who are only partially protected under Bahraini labor law
and cultural norms and existing legal infrastructure avert
private home inspection. Government and NGO officials
report physical abuse and sexual assault of female domestic
workers are significant problems in Bahrain. Bangladeshi
unskilled workers are reportedly considered by employers to be
exploitable as they typically refrain from contesting hazardous
work environs or low pay. Some unscrupulous employers
continue to lure migrant workers into the labor market under
the “free visa” scheme—laborers who work for a non-sponsor
employer after leaving the employment of the employer who
sponsored their entry into the country—thereby rendering
them vulnerable to exploitation. Some migrant workers do not
possess their employment contracts and are generally unaware
of the terms of employment. Women from Asia, the Middle
East, and Eastern European countries are subjected to forced
prostitution in Bahrain.

BANGLADESH: TIER 2 WATCH LIST

80

The Government of Bangladesh does not fully meet the
minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking; however,
it is making significant efforts to do so. The government
demonstrated significant efforts during the reporting period
by finalizing and adopting the implementing rules for the
2012 Prevention and Suppression of Human Trafficking Act
(PSHTA) in January 2017 and drafting an implementation
roadmap for the 2015-2017 national action plan. However, the
government did not demonstrate increasing efforts compared to
the previous reporting period. The government’s investigations,
prosecutions, and convictions of trafficking crimes decreased.
Official complicity in trafficking crimes remained a serious
problem, yet the government did not make efforts to investigate,
prosecute, and convict allegedly complicit law enforcement,
border, and manpower officials. The number of victims
identified by the government decreased. The government
remained without a formal mechanism to refer trafficking
victims to protective services and, protection services, when
acquired, did not provide rehabilitation services designed for
trafficking victims’ specific needs nor were they provided for
adult male victims. NGOs reported victims were frequently

re-trafficked due to insufficient care. While the government
maintained labor export agreements with several countries
that aim to tackle recruitment fees, the government’s continued
allowance of high recruitment fees combined with insufficient
efforts to address illegally operating recruitment sub-agents left
workers vulnerable to trafficking. Therefore, Bangladesh was
downgraded to Tier 2 Watch List.

RECOMMENDATIONS FOR BANGLADESH

Take steps to eliminate all recruitment fees charged to workers
by licensed labor recruiters and instead ensure they are paid by
employers; increase prosecutions and convictions, particularly
of labor traffickers and fraudulent labor recruiters, while strictly
respecting due process; establish guidelines for provision of
adequate victim care and standard operating procedures for
the referral of victims to such services; thoroughly investigate
credible allegations of government complicity in trafficking
and prosecute officials who are suspected of being complicit;
enhance the training provided to officials, including law
enforcement, labor inspectors, and immigration officers,
on methods to identify trafficking cases and refer victims
to protection services; expand the support services available
to victims, including adult male victims, within Bangladesh
and at Bangladesh’s embassies abroad; expand the Ministry
of Expatriate Welfare and Overseas Employment’s (MEWOE)
mandate to include the regulation of sub-agents; improve
quality of pre-departure trainings, including sessions on labor
rights, labor laws, and methods to access justice and assistance
in destination countries and Bangladesh; and accede to the
2000 UN TIP Protocol.

PROSECUTION

The government decreased investigations, prosecutions, and
convictions but finalized implementing rules for its antitrafficking law. The 2012 PSHTA generally prohibits and punishes
all forms of human trafficking. Prescribed penalties for labor
trafficking offenses are five to 12 years imprisonment and a fine
of not less than 50,000 Bangladeshi Taka (BDT) ($633); and
prescribed penalties for sex trafficking offenses range from five
years imprisonment to the death sentence. These penalties are
sufficiently stringent and commensurate with those prescribed
for other serious crimes, such as rape. The government finalized
and in January 2017 officially released the implementing rules
for the PSHTA; the government disseminated these rules but
planned training sessions for relevant officials had not yet
started.
The government investigated 122 sex and 168 labor trafficking
cases in 2016 a decrease from 181 sex and 265 labor trafficking
cases in 2015. Of the forced labor cases, 31 cases were specifically
investigated for bonded labor. Authorities prosecuted 302
alleged traffickers in 2016, compared with 481 in 2015, under
the PSHTA. The government convicted three traffickers in
2016, compared with four in 2015 and 15 in 2014. The courts
sentenced the convicted traffickers to 14 years imprisonment
and a fine of 25,000 BDT ($316). Observers stated convictions

Complicity of officials in trafficking offenses remained a serious
problem. Observers reported police took bribes and sexual favors
to ignore potential trafficking crimes at brothels. Observers
accused officials from district employment and manpower
government offices of facilitating trafficking and border guards
of ignoring potential trafficking crimes at maritime embarkation
points. Observers stated some traffickers in rural areas were
politically-connected and therefore operated with impunity. In
September 2016, a federal court in New York entered a default
judgment against a former Bangladeshi consular officer and
his wife and ordered them to pay approximately $920,000 to
a Bangladeshi citizen in a suit in which the plaintiff alleged
violations of the TVPA as well as federal and state labor laws.
The consular officer appealed the case, judgment has not been
paid and the consular official, who left the United States,
remains in the Bangladeshi foreign service. During the reporting
period, the government investigated, prosecuted, and convicted
a Bangladeshi official on a peacekeeping mission of sexually
exploiting a child; he was dismissed from service and sentenced
to one year imprisonment. The government did not report
any additional investigations, prosecutions, or convictions of
government officials allegedly complicit in human trafficking
offenses in 2016.

PROTECTION

The government identified a decreased number of victims and its
victim services were not comprehensive or specific to trafficking.
The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), the government’s lead
agency for combating trafficking, had standard operating
procedures for the proactive identification of trafficking victims;
however, it is unclear how widely they were disseminated or
used. The government reported the identification of 355 victims
in 2016; of those identified, 212 were men, 138 women, and
five children. This was a significant decrease from the 1,815 and
2,899 victims identified in 2015 and 2014, respectively; experts
commented the decrease may be due in part to the application
of a more accurate definition of trafficking. Police directly
recovered from exploitation 204 of the 355 victims identified
in 2016. The government did not provide services specifically
designed for trafficking victims, but children and adult female
victims could access support services for vulnerable people
through nine multipurpose shelters, drop-in centers, and safe
homes administered by the Ministry of Social Welfare (MSW).
The government placed an unknown number of female and
child victims in these shelters in 2016; however, NGOs stated
government services at these centers did not meet minimum
standards of care and insufficient rehabilitation resources
contributed to victims being re-trafficked. The government
did not provide shelter or rehabilitation services to adult male
victims; NGOs provided male victims with some services,

although shelter was not available. The government continued
to lack a formal mechanism for authorities to refer victims
to care. Police referred victims to NGO-provided shelter and
services specifically for trafficking victims on an ad hoc basis.
The government continued to operate safe houses for female
Bangladeshi workers fleeing abusive employers in Jordan, Saudi
Arabia, and United Arab Emirates. The government maintained
29 labor offices in embassies and consulates overseas to provide
welfare services to Bangladeshi migrant workers, including
legal and interpretation services; however, observers reported
one Bangladeshi labor attaché in the Middle East told migrant
workers to return to work without addressing their complaints,
suggesting that not all complaints were addressed. NGOs
reported not all victims were aware of available opportunities
for restitution. The arbitration process provided victims with
restitution, but there was no parallel criminal process to address
illegal activities, including alleged fraud by licensed recruitment
agencies.

BANGLADESH

remained rare because the government had not dedicated
adequate resources to pre-trial investigations and short timelines
for the completion of cases led to inadequately prepared and
subsequently unsuccessful prosecutions. The government’s
tribunal on human trafficking, proposed in the previous
reporting period to specialize in trying trafficking cases, was
not yet functional. An established tribunal, the Woman and
Children Violence Protection Tribunal, heard trafficking cases
in the interim; however observers commented the prosecutors
were overburdened and lacked expertise in trafficking cases. In
2016, the government trained 29,889 police officers 186 training
programs on anti-trafficking, funded through the government,
NGOs, and international organizations. Some NGOs reported
information about the PSHTA had not been circulated widely
among district and local officials.

The Governments of Bangladesh and India reportedly continued
to implement their 2015 MOU on human trafficking, which
included coordination on the rescue and repatriation of
Bangladeshi victims. The PSHTA provides for victim protection
during judicial proceedings, including police security and the
ability to testify via video, but it is unclear how frequently
officials employed such protections. NGOs noted insufficient
protection resulted in traffickers threatening victims not to
pursue cases against them. NGOs reported some Bangladeshi
trafficking victims being moved on land and sea routes, instead
of being detected as victims, were instead detained and fined
for failure to carry a passport. Unregistered Rohingya refugees,
including potential trafficking victims, may have been at risk of
indefinite detention because of their lack of documentation. The
government did not provide legal alternatives to the removal
of foreign victims of trafficking to countries where they might
face hardship or retribution.

PREVENTION

The government maintained some efforts to prevent trafficking,
but did not adequately address the issue of high recruitment fees.
The government continued to allow the Bangladesh Association
of International Recruiting Agencies (BAIRA) to set recruitment
fees sufficiently high to render many migrant workers indebted
and vulnerable to trafficking. The 2013 Overseas Employment
and Migrants Act prohibits fraudulent recruitment and unlawful
recruitment fees, and outlines procedures through which
Bangladeshi migrant workers, originally hired through the
Bureau for Manpower, Education, and Training, could lodge
complaints with MEWOE upon their return to Bangladesh and
seek government arbitration for labor and recruitment violations,
including allegations of forced labor. MEWOE reported 165
complaints were settled during 2016; it is unknown if any of
these complaints involved forced labor. MEWOE suspended
13 recruitment agencies’ licenses in 2016 for false advertising
and charging fees above the legal maximum and referred three
cases to the police for prosecution. The government initiated
229 cases against illegally operating dalals, unregulated subagents who operate in rural locations and connect prospective
migrant workers to licensed employment agencies.
The government continued to use a number of bilateral labor
agreements, in part intended to try to protect Bangladeshi
workers abroad. For example, the government continued to
use a bilateral labor agreement with Saudi Arabia for female
migrant workers that mandated employers cover travel costs

81

BARBADOS

and domestic workers be employed by a third party rather
than the private households in which they work, but the
agreement did not stipulate the maximum cost or eliminate
the processing fee charged to the migrant by recruitment
agencies. During the reporting period, Saudi Arabia lifted its
seven-year ban on male Bangladeshi migrant workers and
Bangladeshi females performing any job other than domestic
work; MEWOE set the maximum recruitment cost for migrant
workers to Saudi Arabia at 165,000 BDT ($2,090), although
media reported dalals charged intending migrant workers three
to four times that amount. In February 2017, the governments
of Bangladesh and Malaysia began to implement an intergovernmental agreement signed in the previous reporting
period to facilitate the migration of Bangladeshi workers to
Malaysia. The agreement aimed to mitigate the impact of private
recruitment agencies’ high fees and sometimes unscrupulous
practices for an initial 5,300 Bangladeshi workers by removing
agents from the migration process. The government continued
to require pre-departure training, including safe migration
and anti-trafficking components, for some migrant workers,
including a 30-day pre-departure training course for female
domestic workers which focused on learning practical skills and
included modules on trafficking awareness and self-protection.
In June 2016, the MHA, along with other agencies and NGOs,
created an implementation roadmap for the 2015-2017 national
action plan, launched in the previous reporting period. MHA
published its annual report on human trafficking. Some districtand sub-district level counter-trafficking committees allocated
funding for coordination and victim support while others
were not functioning. The government continued to conduct
awareness campaigns, at times in partnership with NGOs. In
October 2016, the government passed the Foreign Donations
(Voluntary Activities) Regulation Act, placing stricter control
over the foreign funding of NGOs and enacting punitive
provisions for those NGOs that make “derogatory” comments
regarding the constitution of the country, its founding history,
or constitutional bodies (i.e., government institutions and
leaders). International NGOs that assist Rohingya refugees
and work with organized labor reported difficulties in meeting
stringent government administrative requirements in order to
carry out programs protecting vulnerable populations from
various forms of exploitation. In May 2016, the government
initiated a census of undocumented Rohingya and stated its
intent to distribute information cards to participants that
would provide protection and improve access to basic services
and work opportunities; at the end of the reporting period,
the government had not yet released the results of the census
and had since re-initiated the census to include the Rohingya
who fled Burma towards the end of 2016. The government
trained military personnel to recognize and prevent trafficking
in persons prior to their deployment abroad on international
peacekeeping missions and provided anti-trafficking training
for its diplomatic personnel. The government did not make
efforts to reduce the demand for commercial sex acts or forced
labor. Bangladesh is not a party to the 2000 UN TIP Protocol.

TRAFFICKING PROFILE

82

As reported over the past five years, Bangladesh is primarily a
source and, to a lesser extent, a transit and destination country
for men, women, and children subjected to forced labor and sex
trafficking. Some Bangladeshi men and women who migrate
willingly to work in the Middle East, Southern and East Africa,
South and Southeast Asia, Europe, and the United States face
conditions indicative of forced labor. Before their departure,
many migrant workers assume debt to pay high recruitment

fees, imposed legally by recruitment agencies belonging to
BAIRA and illegally by unlicensed sub-agents; this places
migrant workers at risk of debt bondage. Some recruitment
agencies and agents also commit recruitment fraud, including
contract switching, in which they promise one type of job and
conditions but then change the job, employer, conditions, or
salary after arrival. Bangladesh is host to an estimated 32,000
registered Rohingya refugees and up to 500,000 undocumented
Rohingya, whose stateless status and inability to receive aid and
work legally increases their vulnerability to human trafficking.
Though numbers of such migrants were significantly fewer than
in previous years, some Rohingya and Bangladeshi migrants
who travel by boat to Southeast Asian countries are subject
to exploitation when they are unable to pay ransoms and are
instead sold into forced labor. Women and girls who migrate
for domestic work are particularly vulnerable to abuse. Some
women who migrate through Bangladeshi recruitment agencies
to Lebanon or Jordan for domestic work are subsequently sold
and transported to Syria and subjected to forced labor and sex
trafficking. Some women and children are subjected to sex
trafficking and forced labor in India and Pakistan.
Within the country, children and adults are subjected to sex
trafficking, domestic servitude, and forced and bonded labor,
in which traffickers exploit an initial debt assumed by a worker
as part of the employment terms. Street children are sometimes
coerced into criminality or forced to beg; begging ringmasters
sometimes maim children to increase their earnings. In some
instances, children are sold into a form of bondage by their
parents, while others are induced into labor through fraud
and physical coercion, including in the domestic fish drying
industry, or exploited in sex trafficking. Bangladeshi children
are vulnerable to forced labor in tanneries. According to an
international expert on debt bondage, Bangladeshi families
and Indian migrant workers are subjected to bonded labor in
some of Bangladesh’s brick kilns; some kiln owners sell bonded
females into prostitution purportedly to recoup the families’
debts and some Bangladeshi families are subjected to debt
bondage in shrimp farming. Some ethnic Indian families are
forced to work in the tea industry in the northeastern part of
the country. NGOs allege some officials allow human traffickers
to operate at brothels, at India-Bangladesh border crossings,
and at maritime embarkation points.

BARBADOS: TIER 2
The Government of Barbados does not fully meet the minimum
standards for the elimination of trafficking; however, it is making
significant efforts to do so. The government demonstrated
increasing efforts compared to the previous reporting period;
therefore, Barbados remained on Tier 2. The government
demonstrated increasing efforts by creating a new anti-trafficking
law, which includes stringent penalties commensurate with
other serious crimes and allows for victim restitution. The
government also increased training for officers in the Ministry
of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade and employees in the hotel
and tourism industries. However, the government did not meet
the minimum standards in several key areas. The government
did not initiate new prosecutions, had difficulty obtaining
victim cooperation to prosecute traffickers, did not provide
adequate resources to government agencies or relevant NGOs
for training or furthering anti-trafficking efforts, and did not
provide sufficient resources for victim care.

Provide adequate funding to train law enforcement and
prosecutors in proactively identifying, obtaining, preserving,
and corroborating evidence to reduce dependence on victim
testimony; while respecting due process, investigate, prosecute,
and convict traffickers, including complicit officials, and
apply stringent sentences that deter future trafficking crimes;
provide resources for training relevant government agencies
to proactively identify labor and sex trafficking victims
among vulnerable populations; provide adequate funding to
organizations that assist trafficking victims; enact a national
action plan to combat trafficking; complete the governmentwide anti-trafficking manual; codify provisions for victims’
legal alternatives to their removal to countries in which they
would face retribution or hardship; and make efforts to reduce
the demand for commercial sex acts or forced labor.

PROSECUTION

The government maintained efforts to prosecute traffickers in
2016. During the reporting period, the government repealed
the Transactional Organized Crime (TOC) Act of 2011, which
did not prohibit all forms of human trafficking and did not
prescribe penalties for trafficking that were sufficiently stringent.
In June, the Trafficking In Persons Prevention Act (TIPPA) was
enacted. The TIPPA criminalizes all forms of human trafficking
and is generally in line with the definition of international law,
defining “exploitation” broadly to include slavery, practices
similar to slavery, forced labor, domestic and sexual servitude,
and the exploitation of the prostitution of another or other
forms of commercial sexual exploitation. It also requires
“means” of force, fraud or coercion, except with regard to the
exploitation of children. The TIPPA covers transnational as well
as domestic trafficking crimes, makes evidence of past sexual
behavior inadmissible, disallows the defense of consent, and
makes withholding or destroying travel documents a crime.
The punishment for labor or sex trafficking of adults is the
same: 25 years in prison, a fine of one million Barbados dollars
(BDS) ($495,050), or both penalties. Labor or sex trafficking of
children is punished by a fine of two million BDS ($990,099),
life imprisonment, or both penalties. The maximum sentences
prescribe punishment that is sufficiently stringent to deter, and
the penalties for sex trafficking are commensurate with those for
rape. However, by allowing for a fine in lieu of imprisonment,
the prescribed punishment is not commensurate with those
for other serious crimes, such as rape.
Authorities conducted two raids on nightclubs in 2016. Police
identified eight victims in the two raids; all were immigrant
women, seven Jamaicans and one Guyanese. As in 2015
and 2014, all of the victims refused to cooperate with law
enforcement and requested to be returned to their home
countries. Outside of the two raids, the police investigated one
additional sex trafficking case involving a woman who came
to Barbados under the guise of a modeling job. After further
investigation, the director of public prosecutions chose not
to bring charges under the TIPPA, and instead charged the

The government did not report any new investigations or
prosecutions of government employees complicit in human
trafficking offenses and has never reported any convictions
of government employees complicit in such offenses. The
government supported training sessions for law enforcement
and judicial personnel. A police officer and an attorney from
the director of public prosecutor’s office attended a seminar
in El Salvador on the prosecution of human traffickers. An
additional 12 officers attended training on victim identification
and prosecution of cases in Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago,
Barbados, and Turks and Caicos. The government provided per
diem allowances for attendees; an international organization
covered the cost of travel. The government continued to train
and re-train law enforcement officers in 2016 at levels consistent
with last year’s reporting period.

BARBADOS

RECOMMENDATIONS FOR BARBADOS

perpetrator with unlawful confinement, rape, assault, and theft;
the prosecution was pending at the close of the reporting period.
The 2016 investigation record compared with six trafficking
investigations in 2015, eight in 2014, and three in 2013. There
were no new prosecutions initiated under the TIPPA during
the reporting period, as there were none in 2015 and 2014. A
prosecution that was ongoing in 2014 against two suspected
traffickers is scheduled for a hearing in April 2017. A 2013 case
involving an immigration official charged with complicity and
misconduct in public office was cleared of charges; the individual
was moved to another unit. To date, the government has not
convicted any traffickers under the TIPPA.

PROTECTION

The government maintained efforts to protect victims. Officials
identified eight foreign adult female potential sex trafficking
victims, compared with 12 in the previous reporting period.
Authorities did not refer any of the eight victims to care facilities,
reportedly because they chose to leave the country. The gender
affairs bureau was designated to coordinate assistance with local
NGOs. The government provided some funding to an NGO crisis
center that provided shelter and psychological, medical, and
reintegration services to female and child victims of violence,
including potential trafficking victims; the government had
a separate agreement with an NGO to shelter male victims.
This organization and the government’s gender affairs bureau
cooperated with other NGOs to offer additional services,
although some experts noted that the referral process could
be improved to make sure that relevant NGOs are contacted
and involved for specialized services. Experts reported that
some victims self-identify to NGOs, but those who are foreign
nationals were afraid to go to law enforcement or receive
government-funded services for fear of being deported. The
government maintained an informal policy allowing foreign
victims to receive temporary legal status as an alternative to
their removal to countries where they would face hardship or
retribution; the minister of national security can authorize
victims to remain and work in the country for the duration of
the criminal prosecution against traffickers.
The government stated that it has encouraged victim participation
in the prosecution of traffickers by speaking with victims and
by providing safeguards for their identities and those of their
families, providing authorizations for work permits, as well
as transportation and security during legal proceedings. Over
the past three years, however, all foreign victims have refused
to cooperate with law enforcement. According to government
policy, victims are allowed to leave the country and return for
hearings. The government cooperated with the countries of
origin of the eight foreign victims identified in order to facilitate

83

BELARUS

repatriation. The government acknowledged having insufficient
funding to support multiple victims for long periods of time.
Although the new TIPPA law provides victims with the right to
pursue restitution from a trafficker after a conviction, there were
no restitution cases in 2016. The government did not detain,
jail, incarcerate, fine or deport, or otherwise penalize trafficking
victims for unlawful acts committed as a direct result of being
subjected to human trafficking. The government provided
sensitization training to 40 members of the national hotel
and tourism association. Experts, however, noted a need for
more resources to support training across relevant government
agencies and NGOs.

convict any traffickers under the trafficking statute.

PREVENTION

Reform state policies to end all forms of state-sponsored forced
labor, including repealing presidential decrees and other laws
that result in the unemployed, civil servants, students, and
citizens suffering from drug or alcohol dependency, among
others being subjected to forced labor; amend the criminal
code to remove the possibility of forced labor as a penalty for
political dissent; significantly increase efforts to investigate
and prosecute cases of forced labor and sex trafficking; amend
article 181 to include exploiting children under 18 to engage in
commercial sex as a trafficking crime, regardless of evidence of
coercion, as prescribed by international law; increase resources
devoted to trafficking victim assistance and protection within
Belarus, including for state-owned territorial centers for social
services and for NGOs; provide child sex trafficking victims
with services specialized to their needs and refer all identified
victims to care facilities; train all relevant officials on the national
identification and referral mechanism; proactively screen all
individuals in prostitution for indicators of trafficking; and
increase labor inspections to identify internal forced labor.

The government maintained efforts to prevent trafficking. The
attorney general led the government’s anti-trafficking taskforce,
which met monthly and included permanent secretaries from
several ministries. The government developed its national
anti-trafficking action plan, covering 2016 through 2020, in
collaboration with various government agencies and NGOs;
the plan was pending formal adoption by the Cabinet at the
close of the reporting period. Relevant government agencies
and NGOs were already implementing activities within the
action plan. No formal monitoring or data collection efforts
were conducted during 2016. A sensitization campaign on
human trafficking was conducted for 15 employees of the
Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade. The government
did not make efforts to reduce the demand for forced labor or
commercial sex acts.

TRAFFICKING PROFILE

As reported over the past five years, Barbados is a source and
destination country for men, women, and children subjected
to sex trafficking and forced labor. Authorities and NGOs
report foreign women have been forced into prostitution in
Barbados. Foreigners have been subjected to forced labor in
Barbados, most notably in domestic service, agriculture, and
construction. Legal and undocumented immigrants from
Jamaica and Guyana are especially vulnerable to trafficking.
Child sex trafficking occurs in Barbados. There are anecdotal
reports by authorities and NGOs that children are subjected to
sex trafficking, including by parents and caregivers. Previously,
traffickers operated as part of an organization; more recently
they appear to operate individually. Authorities have noted an
increased use of social media as a means of trolling for victims.

BELARUS: TIER 3

84

The Government of Belarus does not fully meet the minimum
standard for the elimination of trafficking and is not making
significant efforts to do so; therefore, Belarus remained on Tier
3. Despite the lack of significant efforts, the government took
some steps to address trafficking, including actively engaging
in multilateral efforts to combat trafficking, making efforts to
protect Belarussian victims exploited abroad, and repealing
a decree in June 2016 that prevented state workers in wood
processing from leaving their jobs. However, the government
maintained policies that actively compelled the forced labor of
its citizens, including civil servants, students, part-time workers
and the unemployed, citizens suffering from drug or alcohol
dependency, and, at times, critics of the government, among
others. For the fourth consecutive year, authorities did not

RECOMMENDATIONS FOR BELARUS

PROSECUTION

The government maintained weak law enforcement efforts.
Article 181 of the criminal code prohibits both sex and labor
trafficking and prescribes penalties ranging from five to 15
years imprisonment in addition to the forfeiture of offenders’
assets, which are sufficiently stringent and commensurate with
penalties prescribed for other serious crimes, such as rape.
Contrary to the definition of trafficking under international
law, article 181 does not consider exploiting children under
18 to engage in commercial sex a trafficking crime unless there
is evidence of coercion. The government reported one sex
trafficking investigation in 2016 under article 181, compared
with one in 2015, one in 2014, and six in 2013. Authorities
did not initiate any investigations under article 181-1, which
criminalizes the use of forced labor, a decrease from one
investigation in the prior year. The government did not convict
any traffickers under article 181 in 2013, 2014, 2015, or 2016.
Authorities prosecuted at least four individuals for potential
child sex trafficking offenses under other articles in the criminal
code in 2016, compared with six individuals in 2015, and three
individuals in 2014. The interior ministry’s law enforcement
academy continued to provide trafficking-specific training to
Belarusian law enforcement and NGO officials.

PROTECTION

The government maintained its victim protection efforts.
The government identified one confirmed and 183 potential
trafficking victims during law enforcement investigations,
compared with 121 confirmed and potential victims in 2015
and 113 in 2014. The government reported law enforcement
officials referred 55 victims to international organizations and
NGOs for care, compared with 27 in 2015 and 32 in 2014.

TRAFFICKING PROFILE

The government provided in-kind assistance to anti-trafficking
NGOs in the form of facilities for seminars, conferences, and
training; expedited approval of projects and grants; and taxexempt status. The government did not have trafficking-specific
facilities available to care for victims, but local authorities
operated 124 “crisis rooms” that offered temporary shelter,
including beds, meals, and personal hygiene products to
vulnerable adults, including victims of natural and manmade
disasters, domestic violence, and human trafficking. Of the
124 facilities, 15 were newly opened in 2016. The Ministry of
Labor and Social Welfare conducted monitoring of the “crisis
rooms” operations and, with assistance from NGOs, drafted
a list of measures to improve services for implementation in
2017. The Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs also dropped
limits on the amount of time vulnerable individuals could
stay in the facilities. The government did not report the use of
these facilities by any identified trafficking victims.

State-sponsored forced labor continues to be an area of concern,
and the UNHRC adopted a resolution in July 2015 expressing
deep concern at the government’s “violations of labor rights
amounting to forced labor,” among other human rights issues.
The European Parliament condemned an April 2015 Belarusian
presidential decree that requires unemployed persons to pay
a fee to the state or potentially face compulsory community
service. In June 2016, the government repealed a 2012 decree
preventing state workers in wood processing from leaving
their jobs without employer approval and subjecting them to
significant fines; failure to pay those fines placed employees at
risk of having to work under law enforcement supervision. The
ILO Committee of Experts reported that a 2010 law allows for
Belarusians suffering from alcoholism or drug dependencies
to be “interned in ‘medical labor centers’ for a period of 12 to
18 months and have an obligation to work; refusing to work
results in punishment, such as solitary confinement, for up
to ten days.” As of June 2015, an estimated 6,700 people were
held at these centers. The government continued the practice of
subbotniks, which requires employees of the government, state
enterprises, and many private businesses to work on occasional
Saturdays and donate their earnings to finance government
projects. The UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human
rights in Belarus reported repercussions for non-participation
in subbotniks, including non-renewal of employment contracts
and the revocation of monthly bonuses. State employers
and authorities also intimidate and fine some workers who
refused to participate. Authorities require university and high
school students to help farmers during the harvesting season
without paying them for their labors, in addition to other
forced community service projects. Authorities reportedly
force military conscripts to perform work unrelated to military
service. Per a 2006 presidential decree, parents who have had
their parental rights removed are subjected to compulsory
labor, and the government retains 70 percent of their wages.
The ILO Committee of Experts noted its deep concern in 2016
that some provisions of the Belarusian criminal code, which
included forced labor as possible punishment, are worded
broadly enough to lend themselves to application as a means
of punishment for the expression of views opposed to the
government. The ILO Committee of Experts cited reports that
the government used or threatened to use arbitrary detention
involving compulsory labor for apparently political motives.

In previous years, observers reported most victims sought
assistance at private shelters because the government’s centers
were poorly equipped and lacked qualified caregivers. The
education ministry maintained centers that could provide
vulnerable children with shelter and basic provisions; however,
similar to past years, no child trafficking victims have received
services at these facilities, despite the government identifying
child sex trafficking victims.

PREVENTION

The government maintained efforts to prevent trafficking.
The government conducted public awareness campaigns
through television, radio, and print media, and provided
in-kind assistance to anti-trafficking NGOs in the form of
advertising hotlines, production assistance, and placement of
awareness-raising materials on state-owned television, radio,
and billboards. The interior ministry continued to operate a
hotline for safe travel abroad to inform potential labor migrants
and identify illegal recruitment practices; the hotline received
1,157 calls for consultations in 2016. Although authorities
charged 50 companies with administrative offenses related
to illegal recruitment, forced labor regulations were seldom
enforced, and resources and inspections dedicated to preventing
forced and compulsory labor were minimal and inadequate
to deter violations. A national Human rights action plan,
adopted in October 2016, includes five points on trafficking,
including increased prevention efforts via information and
awareness campaigns, prosecution of traffickers, training of
police officers and other government employees on victim
identification, and the promotion of Belarus’s anti-trafficking
efforts in international fora. A draft action plan, the 2016-2018
State Program on Countering Crime and Corruption, which
included anti-trafficking activities, remained pending approval
for a second year and had not been adopted by the close of
the reporting period. The government did not report efforts
to reduce the demand for commercial sex.

As reported over the past five years, Belarus is a source, transit,
and destination country for men, women, and children
subjected to sex trafficking and forced labor. Belarusian victims
are primarily subjected to trafficking in Russia and Belarus, as
well as in Poland, Turkey, and other countries in Eurasia and
the Middle East. Some Belarusian women traveling for foreign
employment in the adult entertainment and hotel industries
are subjected to sex trafficking. The government has identified
Belarusian, Moldovan, Russian, Ukrainian, and Vietnamese
victims exploited in Belarus.

BELGIUM

NGOs reported assisting 279 trafficking victims in 2016, 27
of whom were children. The government reported providing
medical care and information to 70 individuals who may
have been, but were not identified as, trafficking victims.
The government reported screening individuals arrested for
prostitution for trafficking indicators and exempting them from
any legal liability; as a result, the government reported that
of the 1,420 individuals convicted on prostitution charges in
2016, none were trafficking victims. The government reported
training designated police officers and diplomats on victim
identification and referral procedures.

BELGIUM: TIER 1
The Government of Belgium fully meets the minimum standards
for the elimination of trafficking. The government continued to
demonstrate serious and sustained efforts during the reporting
period; therefore, Belgium remained on Tier 1. The government
demonstrated serious and sustained efforts by prosecuting and
convicting more traffickers and training police, lawyers, and

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BELGIUM

judges on advanced techniques for investigating trafficking
cases and collecting and preserving evidence. The government
developed new training programs to assist financial institutions
in identifying transactions related to trafficking, and maintained
strong prevention efforts. The government trained staff at asylum
centers on identifying and assisting trafficking victims in migrant
populations and circulated administrative notices on referral
procedures to prosecutors, police, health care workers, migration
staff, and other stakeholders. Although the government meets
the minimum standards, it did not allocate a regular budget to
NGO-run shelters despite complete reliance on these shelters
for the majority of victims’ services. Sentences for convicted
traffickers continued to be suspended, with most traffickers
receiving little to no prison time.

RECOMMENDATIONS FOR BELGIUM

Allocate regular funding for NGO-run shelters for trafficking
victims; enhance training of law enforcement, prosecutors, and
judges to improve the conviction rates of traffickers and ensure
dissuasive sentences; increase awareness-raising efforts among
migrant populations, including asylum-seekers; enhance training
of relevant professionals to increase the number of trafficking
victims identified, including child victims; continue to improve
security at reception centers to prevent traffickers from recruiting
asylum-seekers; increase efforts to reduce the demand for forced
labor and international child sex tourism by Belgian nationals
travelling abroad; revise the definition of human trafficking
under Belgian law to more closely align with the definition in the
2000 UN TIP Protocol; and provide disaggregated prosecution
and conviction data for cases involving force, fraud, or coercion.

PROSECUTION

The government increased law enforcement efforts. Belgium
prohibits all forms of trafficking through a 2005 amendment
to the 1995 Act Containing Measures to Repress Trafficking
in Persons. The law’s maximum prescribed penalty—20 years
imprisonment—is sufficiently stringent and commensurate
with penalties prescribed for other serious crimes, such as
rape. Belgium’s definition of trafficking in persons is broader
than the definition in the 2000 UN TIP Protocol. The failure
of an employer to meet prevailing wage, hours, and working
conditions can constitute “exploitation” under Belgian law, and
these cases are included in the government’s prosecution data.
Contrary to the definition of trafficking under international
law, coercion is considered an aggravating factor rather than an
integral part of the base offense for adults. Belgian law does not
require evidence of any form of coercion to secure a trafficking
conviction. GRETA reported the overbroad definition may lead
to confusion between trafficking and other criminal offenses
and possible difficulties in mutual legal assistance with foreign
governments that use a definition more consistent with the
UN TIP Protocol.

86

The government prosecuted 324 defendants, compared to 299
in 2015, including 184 defendants for sex trafficking offenses,
126 for labor trafficking, and 14 for forced criminality (151 for

sex trafficking and 124 for forced labor in 2015). Authorities
convicted and sentenced 125 individuals under the trafficking
statute, including 231 counts of aggravating circumstances,
compared with 93 in 2015. Most who were convicted received
no prison time or a partially or fully suspended prison sentence.
The government sentenced 113 convicted under the trafficking
statute to prison terms (of which 79 were suspended or partially
suspended), compared to 88 prison sentences (52 of which were
suspended or partially suspended) in 2015. Prison sentences
ranged from one to five years imprisonment; 11 offenders
were sentenced to one year, 55 were sentenced to one to three
years, 33 were sentenced to three to five years, and 14 were
sentenced to five years or more. The government continued
efforts to prosecute eight members of the Abu Dhabi royal
family for allegedly subjecting 17 girls to forced servitude while
staying at a Brussels hotel in 2008. The government trained
police, lawyers, and judges who handled trafficking cases on
advanced investigations and collection and preservation of
evidence. The government provided basic training to all local
and federal police officers, as well as advanced training for
officers specializing in cases of labor and sexual exploitation.
The government did not report any investigations, prosecutions,
or convictions of government officials complicit in human
trafficking offenses. In 2016, the government cooperated on
three extraditions requests, including the extradition and
conviction of a Belgian citizen for offenses related to child sex
tourism in Cambodia.

PROTECTION

The government maintained efforts to protect victims. The
government identified and assisted 144 victims (including
69 victims of labor trafficking, 56 victims of sex trafficking,
seven victims of forced criminality, and 12 victims of other
forms of exploitation), compared to 152 victims in 2015
(93 victims of sex trafficking and 43 labor trafficking). First
responders followed formal written procedures on proactive
victim identification; however, observers reported challenges in
accurately identifying victims. The government trained staff at
asylum centers on identifying and assisting trafficking victims in
migrant populations. The government circulated administrative
notices on referral procedures to prosecutors, police, health care
workers, migration staff, and other stakeholders and updated
regulations to improve referral procedures for Belgian trafficking
victims and victims of forced begging. While NGOs referred
many victims to the shelters, most victims were identified by
law enforcement, social workers, and medical professionals.
To qualify for victim status, victims must have broken off all
contact with traffickers and agreed to counseling at a specialized
trafficking shelter.
The government allocated approximately €430,000 ($453,109)
to each of the three specialized NGO-run shelters. NGO-run
shelters also received various amounts of funding from regional
governments. Despite complete reliance on these three NGO-run
shelters for the majority of victims’ services, the government
provided ad hoc rather than dedicated funding. NGO-run
shelters carried the administrative burden of requesting
funding each year from different levels of government (region,
community, federal). NGO-run shelters provided specialized,
comprehensive assistance to trafficking victims, including
psycho-social, medical, and legal care. The shelters were open
to all victims regardless of gender, immigration status, or
nationality. The government also funded two shelters for
children; child trafficking victims shared these facilities with
victims of other crimes. Adult victims could leave the shelter
unchaperoned. The government reportedly did not penalize

PREVENTION

The government maintained strong efforts to prevent trafficking.
The Inter-Departmental Coordination Unit (ICU) continued
to coordinate government-wide anti-trafficking efforts and
monitored the implementation of national action plan for
2015-2019. The government continued awareness campaigns
targeting businesses and vulnerable populations. The
government developed new training programs to assist financial
institutions in identifying transactions related to trafficking and
coordinated with the Netherlands and Luxembourg to produce
common awareness-raising materials. ICU integrated trafficking
awareness trainings into programs in schools and juvenile
justice institutions. Awareness-raising flyers were available
in the consular sections of Belgian embassies and consulates
abroad. The national rapporteur produced its own report on
Belgian trafficking efforts. The government did not make efforts
to reduce the demand for commercial sex acts during the year;
however, the government continued to implement programs
to reduce the demand for forced labor, such as a widely-used
program that subsidizes the wages of maids and domestic
assistants. Belgian law permits the prosecution of Belgian
citizens who sexually abuse children outside of Belgium. The
government convicted offenders under this law; however,
observers reported Belgium nationals engaging in child sex
tourism in many countries, including Guinea-Bissau, Cambodia,
Brazil, and Romania. In response to the dramatic increase in
asylum-seekers in the country, authorities took measures to
identify and reduce exploitation at reception centers, including
training for reception center staff and awareness-raising among
the migrant population; however, authorities and the national
rapporteur identified vulnerabilities in securing these centers
during the reporting period. The government trained diplomatic
personnel on trafficking issues and disseminated trafficking
pamphlets to staff at Belgian diplomatic posts.

TRAFFICKING PROFILE

As reported over the past five years, Belgium is a destination,
transit, and limited source country for men, women, and
children subjected to forced labor and sex trafficking. Foreign
victims come primarily from countries in Eastern Europe, North
and sub-Saharan Africa, among them Romania, Morocco,
India, Nigeria, Albania, Hungary, and Thailand. Male victims
are subjected to forced labor in restaurants, bars, sweatshops,
horticulture sites, fruit farms, construction sites, cleaning

businesses, and retail shops. Belgian girls, some of whom are
recruited by local pimps, and foreign children—including
Roma—are subjected to sex trafficking within the country.
Forced begging within the Romani community in Belgium
also occurs. Foreign workers are subjected to forced domestic
servitude, including in the diplomatic community assigned
to Belgium. In 2015 and 2016, approximately 63,000 people
applied for asylum in Belgium, a dramatic increase over previous
years. Experts anticipate migrants whose asylum applications
are denied will be highly vulnerable to trafficking, but very few
such migrants were confirmed trafficking victims during the
reporting period. Individuals pose as family visitors to recruit
asylum-seekers waiting in reception centers for low-paid work
and prostitution and potentially subjected to trafficking.

BELIZE

identified victims for unlawful acts committed as a direct result
of being subjected to trafficking; however, victims who were not
properly identified, particularly child sex trafficking victims, were
vulnerable to such penalization. The government granted most
identified foreign victims residence and employment permits
and protective services; however, full protection status and the
residence permit were conditional on the victim assisting in the
prosecution of their trafficker. Victims who were not citizens
of EU member states could only obtain permanent residency
upon the successful prosecution and sentencing of traffickers,
although residence permits for indefinite periods of time
were available without conviction if authorities established a
formal charge of trafficking. During the year, the government
issued or renewed 216 residence permits to trafficking victims.
Although government-supported NGOs provided some legal
representation to victims, such support was limited due to a
lack of steady funding. Victims can claim compensation through
the same mechanism that allows any victim of crime to claim
compensation at local courts; however, observers reported
victims faced expensive legal fees.

BELIZE: TIER 3
The Government of Belize does not fully meet the minimum
standards for the elimination of trafficking and is not making
significant efforts to do so; therefore, Belize remained on Tier 3.
Despite the lack of significant efforts, the government took some
steps to address trafficking, including the identification of two
trafficking victims; and the investigations of 10 trafficking cases
and two continued prosecutions initiated in a previous year.
However, the government did not begin any new prosecutions
or convict any traffickers. The government did not investigate or
prosecute any public officials for alleged complicity in human
trafficking-related offenses, despite reports of a significant
level of official complicity. Despite the government’s raids on
commercial sex establishments, few trafficking crimes were
uncovered due to limited intelligence-gathering, inconsistent
application of formal victim identification procedures, and
suspected complicity among some law enforcement officials.

RECOMMENDATIONS FOR BELIZE

Consistently implement formal procedures to identify and refer
to care victims of sex and labor trafficking among vulnerable
groups, and involve Spanish-speaking social workers, NGOs,
or victim advocates in the process to ensure trafficking victims
are not penalized for crimes committed as a direct result of
trafficking; implement victim-centered procedures during raids,
including conducting interviews in a safe and neutral location
and separately from immigration inquiries; implement the
anti-trafficking law by vigorously investigating and prosecuting
suspected sex and labor traffickers, including complicit officials,
and imposing adequate penalties on convicted traffickers;
consider implementing measures to expedite trafficking
prosecutions; continue to provide specialized victim care, in
partnership with NGOs, and increase efforts to reintegrate
victims; update and implement the national anti-trafficking
plan; investigate and prosecute child sex tourists; amend laws
to ensure penalties are commensurate with those prescribed
for rape or kidnapping; and develop and implement a targeted
campaign to raise awareness among clients of Belize’s legal
sex trade about the links between prostitution and trafficking.

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BELIZE

PROSECUTION

The government maintained minimal anti-trafficking law
enforcement efforts. The Trafficking in Persons (Prohibition)
Act 2013 prohibits all forms of trafficking and prescribes
penalties of one to eight years imprisonment for the trafficking
of adults and up to 12 years imprisonment for the trafficking
of children or a fine in lieu of imprisonment. When allowing
for a fine in lieu of imprisonment, the prescribed punishment
is not commensurate with those for other serious crimes, such
as rape. The 2013 Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children
(Prohibition) Act criminalizes the facilitation of prostitution of
children younger than 18. This law, however, does not prohibit
adults from engaging in sexual activity with 16- and 17-yearold children in exchange for remuneration, gifts, goods, food,
or other benefits if there is no third party involved—leaving
children of this age group vulnerable to sex trafficking.
The government reportedly investigated 10 trafficking cases
compared to seven in 2015, but for the second consecutive year
did not initiate any new prosecutions. Authorities continued
two prosecutions from 2015. The government did not convict
any traffickers in the reporting period. Observers reported
that a lack of communication and coordination between law
enforcement and prosecutors hindered law enforcement efforts.
The government did not provide detailed information on the
pending investigations or prosecutions.
The government’s enforcement activity against suspected
trafficking consisted of referrals from other government agencies
and NGOs as well as raids on venues in Belize’s sex trade. Few
trafficking crimes were uncovered during these raids due to
limited intelligence-gathering, inconsistent application of formal
victim identification procedures, and suspected complicity
among some law enforcement officials. Many off-duty police
officers provided security for sex trade establishments, which
may have inhibited police from investigating allegations of
trafficking in the sex trade and may have dissuaded victims
from reporting trafficking. The government did not investigate,
prosecute, or convict any officials for complicity in trafficking
crimes despite reports of complicity. The government provided
anti-trafficking training to new law enforcement officers, and
prosecutors attended workshops financed and delivered by an
international organization.

PROTECTION

The government decreased efforts to protect trafficking
victims. Authorities identified two victims in 2016 compared
to seven sex trafficking victims in 2015 and 10 victims in
2014. The government identified 10 additional potential child
sex trafficking victims, who were offered protection services.
Although the government had formal written procedures to
guide officials in identifying victims, in practice, officials did
not consistently follow these procedures. The government did
not report screening for indicators of trafficking of women and
girls apprehended in raids on commercial sex establishments.
There were anecdotal reports of women and girls, potentially
including trafficking victims, arrested, jailed, or deported
for immigration violations following raids. Victims’ fear
of detention or deportation may have contributed to their
reluctance to report trafficking to law enforcement officers.
The government partnered with NGOs and international
organizations to provide training to teachers, national utility
workers, social security board inspectors, and private employers
in the tourism sector on human trafficking, victim identification,
and reporting.

88

Identified victims could be referred to the Department of Human
Services, although officials made decisions for protection on
a case-by-case basis. In past years, adult victims were typically
referred to an NGO shelter, while children were placed in foster
homes. Experts questioned the appropriateness of placing
victims in foster homes because of a lack of education about
human trafficking for some foster parents, uneven coordination
and communication between government agencies and foster
parents, and limited availability of psycho-social care for
victims. NGOs were the main providers of limited medical
care and psychological counseling for victims. The government
encouraged victims to assist in investigations by providing
witness protection and coordinating lodging; court delays
and fear of retaliation by traffickers may have led foreign
national victims to decline or withdraw cooperation with
law enforcement and return to their home countries. The
government had a policy to grant temporary residency status to
victims willing to cooperate in investigations or prosecutions,
seven potential trafficking victims received this benefit in 2016;
one foreign victim identified in 2014 remained in the country
and participated in a prosecution. Victims could apply for
work permits, but the cost of 500 Belizean dollars ($250) to
obtain such permits imposed a significant barrier. Belize’s antitrafficking law exempts victims from punishment for crimes
committed as a result of being subjected to trafficking; however,
NGOs reported that victims not formally identified by the
government were commonly arrested, jailed, and deported.

PREVENTION

The government maintained minimal prevention efforts. Its
anti-trafficking council met quarterly and reportedly began work
on a new national action plan; the 2012-2014 anti-trafficking
national strategic plan remained largely unimplemented.
The government, in partnership with an NGO, expanded its
awareness campaign through television, posters, and billboards
in English, Spanish, and Mandarin. Authorities continued to
disseminate public service announcements on child sexual
exploitation and the links between tourism and the demand for
commercial sex, but did not investigate, prosecute, or convict
any child sex tourists. The government did not make efforts to
reduce the demand for forced labor. The government did not
provide anti-trafficking training for its diplomatic personnel.

TRAFFICKING PROFILE

Belize is a source, transit, and destination country for men,
women, and children subjected to sex trafficking and forced
labor. The UN Special Rapporteur on Trafficking in Persons
reported family members facilitate the sex trafficking of Belizean
women and girls. In tourist regions, foreign child sex tourists,
primarily from the United States, exploit child sex trafficking
victims. Sex trafficking and forced labor of Belizean and foreign
women and girls, primarily from Central America, occur in
bars, nightclubs, brothels, and domestic service. LGBTI men,
women, and children are vulnerable to sex and labor trafficking.
Foreign men, women, and children—particularly from Central
America, Mexico, and Asia—migrate voluntarily to Belize in
search of work and are often exploited by traffickers who recruit
victims using false promises of relatively high-paying jobs. Some
migrants are subjected to forced labor in restaurants, shops,
agriculture, and fishing or to sex trafficking. Trafficking-related
complicity by government officials remains a problem.

The Government of Benin does not fully meet the minimum
standards for the elimination of trafficking; however, it is making
significant efforts to do so. The government demonstrated
significant efforts during the reporting period by identifying
more victims, establishing an ad hoc inter-ministerial committee
to coordinate trafficking efforts, and increasing training for
law enforcement officials. However, the government did not
demonstrate increasing efforts compared to the previous
reporting period. The government decreased the number
of reported prosecutions; did not report conviction of any
traffickers; and did not systematically investigate allegations
of trafficking of adults or provide protective services to adult
victims. Anti-trafficking legislation—including provisions to
prohibit and penalize the trafficking of adults—remained
pending review by the Ministry of Justice (MOJ) for the fifth
consecutive year. Inadequate funding and staffing for the
Ministry of Interior’s Office for the Protection of Minors
(OCPM), the Ministry of Family (MOF), and the Ministry
of Labor (MOL), now merged as the Ministry of Labor, Civil
Service and Social Affairs (MLCSSA), continued to hinder antitrafficking efforts. Therefore, Benin remained on Tier 2 Watch
List for the second consecutive year.

RECOMMENDATIONS FOR BENIN

Finalize and enact legislation to criminalize all forms of
trafficking consistent with the 2000 UN TIP Protocol; increase
efforts to investigate, prosecute, convict, and adequately sentence
offenders of sex and labor trafficking of adults and children,
including illegal recruitment agencies; develop systematic
procedures for proactive victim identification—including of
adults and victims of forced labor—and their subsequent referral
to care; train law enforcement officials on identification and
referral procedures; increase funding to OCPM and MLCSSA
to provide adequate support to victims; establish measures to
assist adult trafficking victims; reinvigorate the efforts of the
national anti-trafficking coordinating committee; improve
efforts to collect law enforcement data on trafficking offenses
and make it publicly available; and launch a nationwide antitrafficking awareness campaign.

PROSECUTION

The government decreased its anti-trafficking law enforcement
efforts. Existing laws do not prohibit all forms of trafficking.
The 2006 Act Relating to the Transportation of Minors and the
Suppression of Child Trafficking (act 2006-04) criminalizes child
trafficking but focuses on movement of children rather than their
ultimate exploitation and prescribes penalties of six months to
two years imprisonment or fines if children are moved for the
purpose of labor exploitation; these penalties are not sufficiently
stringent. The penal code outlaws procuring or offering a
person for prostitution and the facilitation of prostitution with
punishments of six months to two years imprisonment. The

BENIN

BENIN: TIER 2 WATCH LIST

labor code prohibits forced labor and prescribes punishments
of two months to one years imprisonment or a fine. None of
these punishments are sufficiently stringent or commensurate
with punishments prescribed for other serious crimes, such as
rape. Comprehensive anti-trafficking legislation that would
criminalize all forms of trafficking, including the trafficking of
adults, has been pending MOJ review since September 2012.
During the year, OCPM—a specialized unit responsible for all
criminal cases involving children—investigated 48 child abuse
cases, although the government did not specify how many
were child trafficking cases, compared with 49 cases of child
trafficking and 12 cases of exploitative child labor in the previous
reporting period. The government intercepted 19 adult female
victims at the Cotonou airport en route to Lebanon and Kuwait,
reportedly for domestic servitude; the government arrested one
suspect in connection with these cases, but a judge released him,
unable to charge him under existing trafficking prohibitions.
The government did not systematically investigate the trafficking
of adults or take action against potential illegal recruitment
agencies. OCPM referred six suspects, five of child trafficking
and one of adult trafficking, to the courts for prosecution,
compared with 12 suspects in the previous reporting period,
though the adult trafficking case was ultimately dismissed. The
government did not report the conviction of any traffickers,
compared with four offenders convicted for child trafficking
during the previous reporting period. Lack of a specific law
to prosecute adult trafficking cases has led judges to reduce
adult trafficking cases to misdemeanors in previous years. The
government did not report any investigations, prosecutions,
or convictions of government officials complicit in human
trafficking offenses. With assistance from a foreign donor, OCPM
and the MLCSSA Office of Childhood and Adolescence trained
four judges and 26 police officers on child trafficking, including
the trafficking legal framework and addressing challenges in the
field. Senior police officers received training in child trafficking
law enforcement techniques as part of the police academy’s
training curriculum.

PROTECTION

The government increased efforts to protect victims. OCPM
identified 223 potential trafficking victims, including 201
children and 22 adults, in 2016, compared with 131 in 2015.
OCPM provided temporary shelter and legal, medical, and
psychological services to all identified potential victims
before their transfer to long-term NGO shelters; however, the
government failed to provide financial or in-kind support to
NGOs providing care. The government did not have formal
written procedures to guide officials in proactive identification
of trafficking victims or a formal mechanism for screening
trafficking victims among vulnerable populations, including
persons in commercial sex.
The MLCSSA and ministries of justice and interior worked
with an international organization and NGOs to coordinate
placement of child trafficking victims with host families, who
provided additional care to children prior to reintegration
into their home communities. Government social workers
provided counseling for such children, while an NGO provided
financial support to cover their basic needs. Through their
general support for victims of crime and vulnerable groups,
85 centers for social promotion under the MLCSSA offered
basic social services, food, and temporary shelter to trafficking
victims throughout the country, particularly in rural areas where
such services were scarce, and assisted with reintegration of
victims into their home communities. These centers reunited

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BHUTAN

an unknown number of Beninese child trafficking victims
with their families or placed them in long-term shelters if their
families could not be identified. During the reporting period,
the government provided in-kind donations of 19 million West
African Franc (CFA) ($30,390) to OCPM to assist in providing
care for all victims of crime, including trafficking victims. The
government, with support from an international organization
and an NGO, established two counseling and leisure centers
(baraques) in the markets of Zakpota and Abomey in central
Benin. These centers offered counseling and education to
106 children during the reporting period, including children
exposed to labor exploitation. Officials and NGO stakeholders
in destination countries noted re-trafficking was an issue once
victims returned to Benin, with parents often sending child
victims or their siblings back to the trafficker to uphold an
initial agreement. A draft cooperation agreement between
Benin and Gabon on child trafficking remained pending for the
third consecutive year. Benin did not provide legal alternatives
to removal of trafficking victims to countries in which victims
would face retribution or hardship.
The government did not make systematic efforts to identify
adult trafficking victims. The government intercepted 19
potential adult victims at the Cotonou airport en route to
Lebanon and Kuwait and identified three other adult victims,
but did not report on protections provided to adult victims.
The government acknowledged that adult sex trafficking exists
in the country, but did not screen individuals in commercial
sex for trafficking, which may have left victims unidentified in
the law enforcement system.

PREVENTION

The government increased efforts to prevent trafficking in
persons. In October 2016, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and
cooperation established an ad hoc inter ministerial committee
to discuss ways to better combat trafficking and coordinate antitrafficking efforts in Benin; the committee began meeting during
the reporting period. However, the existing anti-trafficking
coordinating body—the Trafficking and Exploitation Technical
Working Group of the National Monitoring and Coordination
Working Group for Child Protection—did not meet during
the year. The government worked to finalize an action plan to
support the implementation of the National Policy of Child
Protection.

90

The MLCSSA conducted several prevention activities with
support from an international organization. It conducted a
survey in two cities on the extent of child sex trafficking. The
government held a workshop to train 50 labor inspectors and
child protection agents on prevention of child labor, including
on how to address child labor at the community level. The
MOL conducted a number of awareness raising activities on
child labor including targeting religious leaders to decrease the
practice of exploiting talibes, or Quranic school children, in
forced begging. Additionally, the government began establishing
civil registration centers (offices of vital records) in smaller towns
and neighborhoods to encourage registration of births. The
MOL’s general directorate of labor conducted labor inspections
in three markets during the reporting period to assess the
working conditions of children and found that 1,278 children
under the age of 14 were victims of exploitative labor in the
markets—a population that likely included many trafficking
victims. However, it did not take law enforcement action to
investigate or penalize labor law violations. The government
made no efforts to reduce the demand for commercial sex acts or
forced labor. It provided its troops with anti-trafficking training,

conducted by a foreign donor, prior to their deployment abroad
on international peacekeeping missions. The Ministry of Foreign
Affairs has a code of conduct for diplomats that prohibits
Beninese nationals deployed abroad to engage in or facilitate
trafficking in persons; however, the government did not report
providing anti-trafficking training for its diplomatic personnel.

TRAFFICKING PROFILE

As reported over the past five years, Benin is a source, transit,
and destination country for women, children, and men
subjected to forced labor and sex trafficking. Most identified
victims are Beninese girls subjected to domestic servitude
or sex trafficking in Cotonou and across Benin’s southern
corridor. Some families send children to wealthier families
for educational or vocational opportunities, a practice called
vidomegon; some of these children are subjected to domestic
servitude. Children from Benin and neighboring countries are
forced to labor on farms, in commercial agriculture (particularly
in the cotton sector), in artisanal mines, at construction sites,
or as street or market vendors. A 2013 study cited more than
7,800 children subjected to labor exploitation in the markets of
Cotonou, Porto-Novo, and Parakou. Togolese girls are exploited
in commercial sex in Benin. Cases of child sex tourism involving
both boys and girls along the coast and within the department
of Mono have been reported in previous years. A 2016 survey
conducted in the cities of Cotonou in southern Benin and
Malanville in northern Benin indicated that girls are subjected
to sexual exploitation, including potential sex trafficking, in
these two cities. In northern Benin, as in other countries in
the region, some unscrupulous marabouts, Quranic teachers,
exploit Beninese Quranic school children in forced begging.
Most Beninese child trafficking victims are from rural areas in
the northern regions; many are recruited and transported to
neighboring countries, where they are forced to labor in homes,
mines, quarries, restaurants, markets, and on cocoa farms.
The department of Oueme in southeast Benin was reportedly
a primary area of recruitment for child trafficking victims
subsequently exploited in the Republic of the Congo. Most
child victims intercepted in Benin, either from Benin or other
West African countries, are exploited or en route to exploitation
within the country. Benin is the largest source country for
trafficking victims in the Republic of the Congo; Beninese
victims are also subjected to trafficking in Nigeria, Gabon,
and Lebanon. West African women are exploited in domestic
servitude and forced commercial sex in Benin. Young Beninese
women are recruited from Benin by unlicensed Beninese and
Lebanese recruiters for domestic work in Lebanon and Kuwait;
reportedly, some are subjected to domestic servitude or forced
into commercial sex. OCPM reports that traffickers no longer
travel with child victims being moved internally or to nearby
countries. Victims now travel alone and are met by traffickers
or their accomplices once they reach their destination. This
tactic makes investigations more difficult.

BHUTAN: TIER 2
The Government of Bhutan does not fully meet the minimum
standards for the elimination of trafficking; however, it is making
significant efforts to do so. The government demonstrated
increasing efforts compared to the previous reporting period;
therefore, Bhutan remained on Tier 2. The government
demonstrated increasing efforts by identifying its first potential
trafficking victims and investigating and prosecuting the first
case under its trafficking law. However, the government did

RECOMMENDATIONS FOR BHUTAN

Amend section 154 of the penal code to refine the definition of
human trafficking to conform with the 2000 UN TIP Protocol
such that the purpose of the crime is “exploitation” rather
than “any illegal purpose”; finalize and disseminate SOPs
for proactive victim identification and referral to protection
services; vigorously investigate and prosecute trafficking cases;
train officials on the implementation of anti-trafficking laws
and victim identification and referral procedures; take steps to
eliminate all recruitment fees charged to workers by recruitment
agents; undertake and publish a comprehensive assessment of
all forms of human trafficking, including labor trafficking of
men; continue to fund NGOs that provide protective services
to trafficking victims; continue to conduct human trafficking
awareness events and disseminate awareness materials among
vulnerable populations; and accede to the 2000 UN TIP
Protocol.

PROSECUTION

The government increased anti-trafficking law enforcement
efforts. Article 154 of the penal code criminalizes a person who
“recruits, transports, sells or buys, harbors or receives a person
through the use of threat or force or deception within, into,
or outside of Bhutan for any illegal purpose.” This definition
departs from the 2000 UN TIP Protocol definition because
it requires the purpose be otherwise “illegal” rather than
“exploitation,” such as forced labor or sex trafficking. Bhutan
also defines trafficking to include buying, selling, or transporting
a child for any illegal purpose, and engaging a person in
prostitution if the defendant transports, sells or buys the person
within, into, or outside of Bhutan, in articles 227 and 379 of
the penal code, respectively. Bhutanese law also prohibits all
forms of child trafficking “for the purpose of exploitation”
in article 224 of the Child Care and Protection Act of 2011.
The punishments for these offenses range from three years to
life imprisonment. The Labor and Employment Act of 2007
prohibits most forms of forced labor with penalties from three
to five years imprisonment. These penalties are sufficiently
stringent and commensurate with those prescribed for other
serious crimes, such as rape. For the first time, the government
investigated and prosecuted one defendant under article 154.
Authorities apprehended the alleged trafficker before the victims
could be sent to a foreign country to work. The verdict remained
pending at the end of the reporting period. The government
did not report any investigations, prosecutions, or convictions
of government officials complicit in human trafficking.
While the government participated in efforts to train officials

and increase their awareness of trafficking, its response to human
trafficking remained limited by a general lack of understanding
of the crime. In partnership with an international organization,
the National Commission for Women and Children (NCWC),
an autonomous agency funded by the government, held an
event with officials, including parliamentarians, to launch and
disseminate a report on Bhutan’s laws and policies related to
human trafficking. The Royal Bhutan Police maintained three
women and child protection units and eight women and
child desks, responsible for coordination with other agencies
on matters relating to women and children and ensuring
acts related to their protection are implemented. Through
coordination with NCWC, an international organization
held a multi-day training on an anti-trafficking toolkit for 25
officials, including prosecutors, police, and immigration officers.
Attendees acknowledged the continued need for training.

BHUTAN

not meet the minimum standards in several key areas. The
government’s laws do not prohibit all forms of trafficking, and
while the government continued to work with an international
organization to draft standard operating procedures (SOPs) on
victim identification and referral, it had not finalized the SOPs
by the end of the reporting period. Understanding of trafficking
crimes remained low and it was unclear if identified victims
received protection services.

PROTECTION

The government increased efforts to identify victims while
maintaining modest efforts to provide protective services.
For the first time, the government reported identifying two
potential trafficking victims, intercepted before being subjected
to exploitation abroad. In partnership with an international
organization, NCWC continued to draft SOPs on victim
identification and referral, which it shared with 10 government
agencies and an NGO for final review at the end of the reporting
period. The government continued to fund an NGO to provide
shelter to women and child victims of crime, including human
trafficking, and rehabilitation and reintegration services to men,
women, and children. It is unclear whether trafficking victims
utilized these services during the year. There was no shelter
facility for men. The immigration department mandated the
reporting of suspected cases of trafficking of foreign women and
children to NCWC before initiating deportation for immigration
violations; it is unclear if similar policies existed for potential
foreign male victims. The law did not provide legal alternatives
to removal of trafficking victims to countries in which victims
would face retribution or hardship.

PREVENTION

The government maintained efforts to prevent human
trafficking. The government did not have a national action plan
to combat trafficking. NCWC functioned as the government’s
main anti-trafficking coordination body. NCWC’s mission,
however, encompassed only women and children, which was
recognized as a hindrance to combating adult male trafficking.
The government continued to actively collaborate with an
international organization on a project designed to enhance
government and civil society responses to trafficking. The
Bhutan Labor and Employment Act of 2007 required labor
recruitment agencies to be licensed and abide by the same
labor laws as employers. The government registered migrant
workers, monitored working conditions, and produced and
disseminated pamphlets advising migrant workers of their
rights in Bhutan, including employer-paid medical exams,
full and prompt payment of wages, and entitlement to retain
personal identity documents. The labor ministry licensed and
monitored five employment agencies to assist Bhutanese citizens
over age 21 seeking work overseas and produced a pamphlet on
their rights. Government regulations on overseas employment
agents allow agents to charge Bhutanese migrant workers a
recruitment fee of one month’s salary and most recruitment
expenses, except for costs associated with a visa or work permit;
reportedly these fees may only be collected after successful
placement with an employer. During the reporting period, the

91

BOLIVIA

government terminated the license of one agency for violating
the regulations. An international organization designed public
awareness materials in cooperation with NCWC, though the
materials had not been finalized and approved at the end of
the reporting period. The government did not make efforts to
reduce the demand for commercial sex acts or forced labor.
The government did not provide anti-trafficking training for
its diplomatic personnel. Bhutan is not a party to the 2000
UN TIP Protocol.

RECOMMENDATIONS FOR BOLIVIA
TRAFFICKING PROFILE

As reported over the last five years, Bhutan is a source and
destination country for men, women, and children vulnerable
to forced labor and sex trafficking. Bhutanese girls—working
as domestic servants and entertainers in drayungs or karaoke
bars—may be subjected to sex trafficking and labor trafficking
coerced by debt and threats of physical abuse. Rural Bhutanese
are transported to urban areas, generally by relatives, for
employment in domestic work, which at times involves forced
labor. While most domestic workers in Bhutan are young
girls from poor, rural areas of the country, Indian women
and girls also seek employment in this sector. An expanding
construction sector continues to increase demand for low-skilled
foreign labor, primarily men from India who are vulnerable
to trafficking. Bhutanese who migrate overseas for work are
vulnerable to human trafficking by unlicensed or unscrupulous
recruitment agents.

Implement established protocols for the proactive identification
of trafficking victims among vulnerable populations, and for
the referral of victims to care services; investigate, prosecute,
and convict traffickers, including complicit officials; provide
adequate resources to law enforcement agencies to conduct
anti-trafficking operations; increase availability for specialized
victim services, including long-term housing; train police,
prosecutors, judges, and social workers on a victim-centered
approach to investigations and prosecutions; devote resources
to implement the 2016-2020 national action plan; strengthen
engagement and coordination with civil society on technical,
budgetary, and policy matters related to trafficking; improve data
collection and sharing on anti-trafficking efforts, distinguishing
human trafficking from other crimes; and expedite and fund
repatriation and reintegration services to returning Bolivian
trafficking victims.

PROSECUTION

BOLIVIA: TIER 2 WATCH LIST
The Government of Bolivia does not fully meet the minimum
standards for the elimination of trafficking; however, it is making
significant efforts to do so. The government demonstrated
significant efforts during the reporting period by dedicating more
police investigators to a provincial human trafficking crimes
unit, launching several awareness campaigns in collaboration
with civil society, prosecuting traffickers, and investigating a
trafficking ring that resulted in the prosecution of three officials
suspected of complicity. The government also launched a pilot
program in the capital to improve the ability of police to detect
trafficking cases. However, the government did not demonstrate
increasing efforts compared to the previous reporting period.
The government did not report investigating, prosecuting,
or convicting any traffickers during the reporting period. It
also did not report identifying or assisting any victims and
lacked formal screening mechanisms by which to identify
trafficking victims, despite efforts to develop such protocols. The
government slightly decreased the funding it dedicated to antitrafficking efforts and relied heavily on donations from NGOs
and foreign donors to conduct law enforcement operations and
provide victim services. Because the government has devoted
sufficient resources to a written plan that, if implemented,
would constitute significant efforts to meet the minimum
standards, Bolivia was granted a waiver per the Trafficking
Victims Protection Act from an otherwise required downgrade
to Tier 3. Therefore, Bolivia remained on Tier 2 Watch List for
the fourth consecutive year.

92

The government did not report prosecution efforts and the
lack of comprehensive data on investigations, prosecutions,
and convictions made overall law enforcement efforts against
human trafficking difficult to assess. Law 263 of 2012—the
Comprehensive Law against Trafficking and Smuggling of
Persons—prohibits all forms of trafficking and establishes
penalties of 10 to 20 years imprisonment. These penalties are
sufficiently stringent and commensurate with penalties for
other serious crimes, such as rape. Law 263 diverges from the
international definition of trafficking in persons by classifying
non-trafficking crimes, such as illegal adoption and the removal
or sale of organs without the purpose of exploitation, as human
trafficking. While law 263 creates separate criminal offenses
for trafficking in persons and smuggling of persons, one
government agency is responsible for both crimes, possibly
leading to confusion in collection of data and in the response
to perpetrators and potential victims of trafficking. Some police
and prosecutors charged trafficking cases as non-trafficking
crimes, such as pimping; this was sometimes due to a belief
that trafficking cases were difficult to prove in court.
The government did not provide comprehensive data on the
number of trafficking investigations or convictions in 2016.
Trafficking and smuggling crimes reported to the Bolivian
police increased to 526 in 2016, compared to 247 in 2015
and 380 in 2014. However, the government did not report
any convictions during the reporting period, compared to
the reported five convictions in 2015 and 12 in 2014. Media
reported a government investigation of a case that resulted
in the prosecution of six individuals under law 263. Three of
those prosecuted were government officials—two members of
the Santa Cruz state police and a municipal councilman. They
were investigated in connection to an alleged trafficking ring
based out of two popular nightclubs located in La Paz and Santa
Cruz. At the end of the reporting period, the investigation and
prosecutions were ongoing. While law 263 imposes a serious
penalty for trafficking crimes, sources reported traffickers

PROTECTION

The government did not report protection efforts. Authorities
did not provide information on the total number of victims
identified, referred, assisted or the kinds of services these
victims received. The government approved a protocol for the
proactive identification of trafficking and smuggling cases,
but implementation remained pending. An international
organization reported assisting with the repatriation of six
Bolivian victims with minimal assistance from the government.
The Ministry of Health administered periodic medical tests
to individuals in the legal commercial sex trade, but did not
screen for trafficking indicators. The Ministry of Labor had
12 inspectors to investigate child and forced labor. Law 263
requires the Ministry of Labor to create a national registry of
employment agencies with the intent to monitor for trafficking
activity; however, authorities did not establish this mechanism
during the reporting period, and NGOs expressed concern the
registry would not address the many employment agencies
that operate transiently and informally. NGOs reported the
early prevention unit of the La Paz police department began
coordinating with the anti-trafficking and anti-smuggling
unit to provide psychologists and social workers for the early
stages of investigation to provide immediate mental health
services to victims.
The government relied on foreign donors and NGOs to fund
and provide most victim services. Law 263 requires regional
governments to build shelters for trafficking victims in each of
Bolivia’s nine departments; in 2016, there were no shelters, and
only one department began construction of a shelter. Law 263
also requires the government to provide free access to services
for victims, but the government did not provide adequate
funding for such services. Police were often unable to secure
safe accommodation for trafficking victims identified in raids
and reportedly used personal funds at times to assist victims.
The government did not provide any services to adult male
victims. The government detained and housed boy trafficking
victims with juvenile criminals due to a lack of alternative
accommodations. Four departmental governments operated a
total of five special victims units, which focused on providing
legal and psychological services to victims of gender-based
violence, but did not report whether they assisted any trafficking
victims in 2016. Victims may provide written testimony rather
than testifying in a court proceeding; most cases did not advance
far enough for this to be an option, and the government did
not report whether victims assisted in trials in 2016. Bolivian
law allowed victims to seek civil damages, but there were no

reports of trafficking victims doing so in 2016. The government
can legally provide foreign victims with humanitarian visas to
remain in Bolivia temporarily and, if granted, enable victims to
apply for a work permit; authorities did not report the number
of humanitarian visas granted for 2016.

PREVENTION

The government maintained prevention efforts. During the
reporting period, the government restructured its 2015-2019
smuggling and trafficking national action plan for 2016-2020,
including allocating funding for this revised plan in the budget.
In 2016, the government committed an estimated 14 million
bolivianos ($2.0 million), a decrease from the 18 million
bolivianos ($2.6 million) committed in 2015. According to
the budget plan, an additional 17 million bolivianos ($2.5
million) from international partners were committed to the
plan. The Plurinational Council against Human Trafficking and
Smuggling published a national policy to implement law 263
that required each department to develop anti-trafficking plans;
two of nine departments developed and implemented a plan,
and a third began drafting during the reporting period. Two
sub-ministerial units were responsible for coordinating antitrafficking efforts—the directorate of trafficking and smuggling
in persons mandated by law 263 and the Office of Trafficking
in Persons in the Ministry of Justice. Observers noted a lack of
interagency coordination, in part due to overlapping mandates.

BOLIVIA

could bribe prosecutors to avoid being charged. For the fourth
consecutive year, no information was available regarding any
government response to a 2013 report from the ombudsman’s
office that two police officers allegedly forced female inmates
into prostitution. The La Paz police department’s specialized
anti-trafficking and anti-smuggling unit increased the number
of police investigators to 25, whereas other departments’
anti-trafficking and anti-smuggling units allotted three to
five investigators. The government operated two national
anti-trafficking and anti-smuggling police units, one focused
on internal law enforcement efforts and the other on border
security. Because of limited funding, police relied significantly on
donations from NGOs and civil society to conduct operations,
including anti-trafficking operations. The government and an
international organization held a two-day training to familiarize
public officials with the legal protocols relating to trafficking
and smuggling; 120 individuals participated, including law
enforcement, prosecutors, and judges.

In 2016, an NGO headed the network of government officials
and civil society organizations, previously organized by the
human rights ombudsman, responsible for prevention efforts.
The network coordinated efforts in four border cities to train
municipal officials on trafficking issues and the implementation
of policies to mitigate trafficking in their regions; further, it
worked closely with schools to teach children how to avoid
becoming victims of trafficking. Despite this platform for
engagement, NGOs reported not having significant impact on
policy and budgeting decisions or being involved in a significant
way. Law 263 required media outlets to run public service
announcements on trafficking; an estimated 38 percent of
outlets complied, according to sources. The government created
an observatory of trafficking crimes to collect information
on trends, and law 263 mandated the Plurinational Council
submit an annual report to Congress on its work; the report
was not published by the end of the reporting period. Bolivia
signed trilateral and bilateral agreements with Brazil and Peru
on cooperation to reduce border related crimes, including
trafficking. During the reporting period, Bolivia and Peru
created a joint plan to advance their accord and an estimated
300 Bolivians and Peruvians officials participated in antitrafficking training. Authorities conducted some anti-trafficking
awareness events. In July, the government collaborated with an
NGO to inaugurate a film festival, attended by 3,000 people,
highlighting the realities of trafficking; several organized flash
mobs accompanied the festival. In November, the police
organized a “marathon for security” in La Paz to educate society
on smuggling and trafficking. The Institute for Normalization
of Quality, a semi-autonomous government agency, operated
a “triple seal” certification program for sugar producers whose
final products are certified to be free of child and forced labor,
which could reduce the demand for forced labor. As of 2016,
two companies had obtained the seal. The government did
not report efforts to reduce the demand for commercial sex
acts. The government provided anti-trafficking training for its
diplomatic personnel.

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BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA

TRAFFICKING PROFILE

As reported over the past five years, Bolivia is principally a
source country for men, women, and children exploited in sex
trafficking and forced labor within the country and abroad. To
a more limited extent, women from neighboring countries,
including Brazil, Colombia, and Paraguay, have been subjected
to sex trafficking in Bolivia. Bolivia serves as a transit and
destination country for migrants from Africa, Chile, and the
Caribbean, some of whom become victims of forced labor and
sex trafficking. Rural and poor Bolivians, most of whom are
indigenous, and LGBTI youth are particularly vulnerable to
sex and labor trafficking. Bolivian women and girls are found
in sex trafficking within Bolivia and in neighboring countries
such as Argentina, Brazil, Panama, Peru, and Chile. Within the
country, Bolivian men, women, and children are found in forced
labor in domestic work, mining, ranching, and agriculture.
Media report cases of children forced to commit crimes, such
as robbery and drug production, and others exploited in forced
begging. A significant number of Bolivians are subjected to
forced labor in Argentina, Brazil, and Chile in sweatshops,
agriculture, domestic work, textile factories, and the informal
sector. Traffickers exploit the absence of a national registry
of employment agencies to establish informal temporary
employment agencies, through which they identify and recruit
potential victims. Some suspected traffickers reportedly bribe
officials to avoid facing justice.

BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA: TIER 2
The Government of Bosnia and Herzegovina does not fully
meet the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking;
however, it is making significant efforts to do so. The government
demonstrated increasing efforts compared to the previous
reporting period; therefore, Bosnia and Herzegovina remained
on Tier 2. The government demonstrated increasing efforts by
the Federation Parliament’s adoption of a human trafficking law
consistent with the laws of the state, Republika Srpska, and Brcko
District. The state and Brcko District courts sentenced officials
complicit in human trafficking offenses and continued law
enforcement cooperation with foreign governments. However,
the government did not meet the minimum standards in
several key areas. The victim referral mechanism lacked formal
procedures and did not establish roles and responsibilities
for relevant actors. Victims required official recognition from
authorities to access support and assistance.

RECOMMENDATIONS FOR BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA

94

Vigorously investigate, prosecute, and convict traffickers,
including complicit officials, and impose sentences that reflect
the serious nature of the crime; formalize a multidisciplinary
national referral mechanism with established roles, procedures,
and responsibilities for relevant actors, including NGOs; provide
assistance to all victims regardless of whether their traffickers
are prosecuted; standardize victim assistance throughout the
country and provide specialized assistance for male victims;

develop financial policies that effectively allocate funding for
victim assistance; train judicial authorities on a victim-centered
approach to prosecution; train first responders on victim
identification and referral, particularly for those subjected to
forced labor and forced begging; and integrate Romani groups
into decision-making processes regarding victim protection.

PROSECUTION

The government increased law enforcement efforts. Bosnia
consists of two entities within the state, the Federation of
Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Republika Srpska (RS). Each
entity has political, legislative, and judicial authority. The Brcko
District (BD) is a self-governing unit under the jurisdiction of
the state. Entity-level authorities address domestic trafficking
offenses internal to their territories and state-level authorities
address cases with international aspects. During the reporting
period, the Federation Parliament adopted articles 210a and
210b, making the trafficking laws consistent with the state, RS,
and BD. Article 210a criminalizes sex trafficking, forced labor,
and trafficking of a child with a minimum prescribed penalty of
five years and a minimum of 10 years for trafficking of children.
These penalties are sufficiently stringent and commensurate with
those prescribed for other serious crimes, such as rape. Article
210a also criminalizes the use of services from a trafficking
victim with imprisonment for six months to five years. Article
186 of the state-level criminal code prohibits sex trafficking
and forced labor if the victim is exploited in a country in which
he or she does not reside or have citizenship; the law punishes
these crimes with a minimum of five years imprisonment.
Article 186 also prescribes a mandatory minimum of 10 years
imprisonment for offenses committed involving a child. RS and
BD prohibit sex trafficking and forced labor with minimum
prescribed penalties of three and five years respectively. These
penalties are sufficiently stringent and commensurate with
those prescribed for other serious crimes, such as rape.
The State Prosecutor’s Office launched an investigation
against one suspect, the same number as in 2015, issued no
indictments, and suspended two separate investigations of
two suspects. This was a decrease from one person indicted
in 2015 and 13 persons indicted in 2014 for subjecting 672
persons to labor trafficking; the latter case—Bosnia’s largest
indictment for trafficking in the country’s history—remained
ongoing during the reporting period. The state convicted two
persons, compared to zero convictions in 2015 and 2014; both
traffickers received sentences of three years imprisonment. RS,
BD, and Federation authorities increased law enforcement
efforts overall. Federation authorities investigated 25 trafficking
suspects prior to the adoption of Article 210a and 210b and
investigated four suspects under the new article, compared to 10
suspects investigated in 2015. Federation prosecutors indicted
21 persons, an increase from four in 2015. Federation courts
convicted six persons, compared to eight in 2015. One person
received four months imprisonment, two persons received
three years, and three persons received a two-year suspended
sentence. RS authorities investigated 12 trafficking suspects
but issued no indictments, compared to investigating five
trafficking suspects and indicting two persons in 2015. RS did
not report statistics on convictions. BD courts convicted two
persons to eight months of imprisonment and acquitted one
person, compared to 0 convictions in 2015. Cases in which
perpetrators received sentences less than those for other serious
crimes undermined the government’s record of vigorously
investigating and prosecuting traffickers.
All three police academies maintained basic and advanced

The government increased law enforcement cooperation
with foreign governments; however, the lack of bilateral
agreements regarding witness protection created obstacles for
witnesses and victims to participate effectively in international
investigations. During the reporting period, state authorities
in coordination with law enforcement in Serbia and Germany
conducted synchronized raids and arrested 11 members of an
organized crime group in Serbia and Bosnia and Herzegovina
for trafficking and recruiting young women and girls from
Bosnia and Herzegovina and Serbia for exploitation in Germany.
State prosecutors assisted the Netherlands and Austria in a
joint investigation of a Bosnian and Croatian married couple
forcing six Roma children to pickpocket in the Netherlands.
Bosnian and French law enforcement officials, with the support
of the EU’s Judicial Cooperation Unit, maintained a joint
investigative team.

PROTECTION

The government maintained victim protection efforts. The
government identified 44 trafficking victims in 2016, an increase
from 31 victims in 2015. Of these, six were victims of sex
trafficking, 32 of forced labor, and six of both sex trafficking
and forced labor, compared to seven of sex trafficking and 24
of forced labor in 2015; 26 were female and 18 were male,
compared to 23 and 8, respectively, in 2015; 10 were children,
compared to 14 in 2015; and there were four foreign victims
compared to zero in 2015. The state coordinator acknowledged
there were additional victims who likely did not come to the
attention of authorities.
The Ministry of Human Rights and Refugees allocated 60,000
marks ($32,327) for assistance to domestic trafficking victims,
the same amount as in 2015. Domestic victims did not have
to stay at the shelters to receive reintegration assistance. The
Ministry of Security allocated 70,000 marks ($37,716) for
assistance to foreign victims, a significant decrease from 120,000
marks ($64,655) in 2015. Funding for victim assistance was
disproportionately lower for domestic victims, although they
constituted the majority of identified victims. The funds to
assist foreign victims were returned to the state budget when
no foreign victims were identified and were not reallocated
for domestic victim assistance. An international organization
reported the victim’s ability to access assistance and support
were contingent on law enforcement initiating an investigation
and a prosecutor providing official victim status. Observers

reported the victim referral mechanism lacked formalized
procedures, roles, and responsibilities for relevant actors.
Authorities referred 13 victims to NGO-run shelters; officials
provided assistance to victims only if they proactively requested
it. The state amended regulations allowing foreign victims
to voluntarily leave shelters without a chaperone. Shelters
accommodated male trafficking victims but did not offer them
specialized services. Seven government-run social welfare centers
provided assistance to children involved in begging or working
on the streets and identified 28 potential child trafficking
victims. Law enforcement identified most trafficking victims,
but other identification channels included drop-in centers
operated by NGOs for street children, mobile teams, hotlines,
and interaction with officials from schools and clinics. Labor
inspectors were newly included in the referral process.
Observers reported law enforcement and prosecutors were often
unwilling to pursue investigations and prosecutions against a
child’s parents, particularly with Roma families, even if they were
involved in subjecting the child to trafficking; shelters would
subsequently return the child to their parents. Furthermore,
GRETA documented child victims were intimidated during
trials and authorities did not use available legal protections to
shield them from threats and re-victimization. Sub-state laws
against enticement to prostitution permitted law enforcement to
treat children 14 years and older as juveniles willingly engaged
in prostitution instead of victims of rape or sex trafficking
crimes; however, during the reporting period, there were no
reports of victims detained, fined, or otherwise penalized for
unlawful acts committed as a direct result of being subjected
to human trafficking. Criminal codes of the state, BD, and
Federation contain provisions exempting trafficking victims
from prosecution for such acts. Foreign victims were eligible
for a humanitarian visa allowing them to temporarily live and
work in Bosnia and victims were permitted a 30-day reflection
period to determine whether they wanted to request a visa.
Trafficking victims could seek restitution through criminal or
civil suits. During the reporting period, a district court upheld
an appeal made by an NGO that filed the first lawsuit for nonmaterial compensation on behalf of four trafficking victims
and returned the case before the district court.

BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA

courses on trafficking and the national state government
continued to provide basic training for prosecutors and judges
on trafficking cases. The state, in partnership with OSCE,
trained prosecutors and judges on labor trafficking and on
interviewing techniques for child trafficking victims. However,
the government reported the low understanding of forced
labor and forced begging among relevant actors remained an
issue. Corruption and official complicity in trafficking crimes
remained significant concerns. During the reporting period,
the state court and a Bosnian consular official entered a plea
bargain for involvement in trafficking-related crimes and was
sentenced to 11 months imprisonment; the Bosnian consular
official, based in Paris, was charged with sustained abuse of
position for issuing travel documents to facilitate the movement
of potential labor trafficking victims in exchange for money.
In another case, Federation courts convicted a Federation
police officer and sentenced the officer to three years and three
months of imprisonment for enticement to prostitution for
coercing his partner to provide sexual services to clients in
exchange for money.

PREVENTION

The government maintained efforts to prevent trafficking. The
government continued to implement the 2016-2019 national
anti-trafficking action plan, including specific efforts, in
partnership with OSCE and NGOs, to improve identification
and protection of trafficking victims. A nationwide interagency
taskforce met monthly to monitor the progress of trafficking
investigations and prosecutions. Regional monitoring teams also
met regularly to monitor the referral process. The government
incorporated labor inspectors, mental health centers, and
representatives of daily centers for children into the regional
monitoring teams. State and entity-level governments,
in partnership with OSCE and NGOs, organized two
multidisciplinary trainings with a human trafficking component
for 85 labor inspectors. The government allocated $5,500 to16
NGOs for activities associated with the 2016 European AntiTrafficking Day. The Ministry of Defense continued to provide
training on identifying and reporting trafficking to peacekeepers
in the country. The government continued public prevention
campaigns targeting the demand for commercial sex acts. The
government did not provide anti-trafficking training for its
diplomatic personnel.

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BOTSWANA

TRAFFICKING PROFILE

As reported over the past five years, Bosnia and Herzegovina
is a source, destination, and transit country for men, women,
and children subjected to sex trafficking and forced labor. In
2016, victims from Cuba, Gambia, and Serbia were subject to
trafficking in Bosnia. Bosnia is a transit country for Ukrainians
subjected to trafficking in Germany. Bosnian women and girls
are subjected to sex trafficking within the country in private
residences, motels, and gas stations. Economically marginalized
Romani children are subjected to forced begging and involuntary
domestic servitude in forced marriages. Foreign women and girls
from European countries are vulnerable to sex trafficking within
the country. Bosnian victims are subjected to sex trafficking
and forced labor in construction and other sectors in countries
across Europe including Croatia, France, Serbia, Slovenia, and
Austria. Corruption creates an environment enabling some
trafficking crimes.

BOTSWANA: TIER 2
The Government of Botswana does not fully meet the minimum
standards for the elimination of trafficking; however, it is making
significant efforts to do so. The government demonstrated
increasing efforts compared to the previous reporting period;
therefore, Botswana remained on Tier 2. The government
demonstrated increasing efforts by investigating and prosecuting
more trafficking cases than in the previous reporting period and
obtaining its first trafficking conviction under the 2014 AntiHuman Trafficking Act. The government also identified more
victims of trafficking, established a specialized anti-trafficking
unit, and appointed two officials, trained on human trafficking,
to monitor the investigation and prosecution of trafficking
cases. However, the government did not meet the minimum
standards in several key areas. The government did not amend
the 2009 Children’s Act to include in the definition of child
trafficking, the commercial sexual exploitation of children
without requiring the means of force, coercion, or movement.
The government’s efforts to protect victims were uneven. In the
government’s first trafficking conviction, the trafficker served
only eight months of an 18-month sentence in prison, although
the government’s appeal of that sentence was pending at the
end of the reporting period.

RECOMMENDATIONS FOR BOTSWANA

96

Formalize the system to refer victims to social services and
ensure all victims receive protective services; amend the antitrafficking laws to ensure penalties are sufficiently stringent by
eliminating fines in lieu of prison time and disallow suspended
sentences when sentencing convicted traffickers; increase efforts
to investigate, prosecute, and convict traffickers; implement
formal victim identification procedures for all stakeholders,
including law enforcement and immigration officials, and train
officials on the procedures; continue to encourage victims to
participate in the investigation and prosecution of traffickers
through formal procedures; develop guidelines for specific

protective services for trafficking victims, to be provided either
directly or in partnership with NGOs; continue to conduct
awareness campaigns, particularly in rural areas; and provide
anti-trafficking training to diplomatic personnel.

PROSECUTION

The government increased anti-trafficking law enforcement
efforts. The 2014 Anti-Human Trafficking Act criminalizes
all forms of trafficking, essentially tracking international law
and making it a crime to use force, fraud or coercion for the
purpose of exploitation. The 2014 Act defines “exploitation”
broadly to include not only forced labor and prostitution,
but also forced or child marriage and child labor. The Act
prescribes penalties for sex and labor trafficking of up to 25
years imprisonment or a fine of 500,000 pula ($46,852), which
are sufficiently stringent; however, allowing for a fine in lieu
of imprisonment for sex trafficking is not commensurate with
the penalties for other serious crime, such as rape. Similarly,
provisions of the Children’s Act criminalize various forms of
child trafficking, subject to fines or imprisonment of both.
Sections 57 of the 2009 Children’s Act makes it a crime to
induce, coerce or encourage a child to engage in prostitution,
subject to two to five years imprisonment and/or a fine of
50,000 pula ($4,685). Section 114 of the Children’s Act makes
it a crime to abduct or sell any child or to use any child to beg,
subject to a fine of between 30,000 ($2,811) and 50,000 pula
($4,685), imprisonment of five to 15 years, or both.
The government investigated 12 trafficking cases and
prosecuted 18 defendants under the 2014 Act, compared
with five investigations and seven prosecutions in the previous
reporting period. The government secured its first ever trafficking
conviction, which was under the Anti-Human Trafficking Act.
The High Court sentenced the trafficker, a South African woman,
to 18-months imprisonment, nine of which were suspended. The
Directorate of Public Prosecutions (DPP) appealed the sentence
to seek a more stringent penalty; the appeal was pending at the
close of the reporting period. The DPP established a specialized
anti-trafficking unit and appointed two trained focal points,
one law enforcement officer and one prosecutor, to monitor
the investigation and prosecution of trafficking cases. The
government did not report any investigations, prosecutions, or
convictions of officials complicit in human trafficking offenses.
In June 2016, the Ministry of Defense, Justice, and Security
(MDJS) and a consortium of international organizations
and donors hosted a course for trainers of criminal justice
practitioners and law enforcement on employing a victimcentered approach in investigations and prosecutions. The
government provided transportation for law enforcement
officers stationed countrywide to participate in the training.
In December 2016, the DPP conducted a one-day workshop
on the Anti-Human Trafficking Act for judges of the Industrial
Court responsible for labor disputes, Additionally, the police
service included in its curriculum a section on human
trafficking to educate recruits on the anti-trafficking law, victim
identification, and investigation of human trafficking cases. The
government requested mutual legal assistance and completed
joint investigations with Zimbabwe, Zambia, and Kenya on
trafficking cases.

PROTECTION

The government maintained uneven efforts to identify and
protect trafficking victims. The government identified 27 victims
during the reporting period—four child sex trafficking victims,

PREVENTION

The government increased prevention efforts. In December 2016,
the MDJS conducted a workshop for recruitment agencies to
raise awareness of human trafficking and highlight potential
vulnerabilities in liaising with international recruitment agencies.
The ministry also issued a press release following the training
to advise citizens and agencies to consult with government
officials if they encountered a dubious employment offer. In
January 2017, MDJS, in collaboration with an international
organization, hosted training for civil society, which included
a session on law enforcement and civil society cooperation on
anti-trafficking advocacy and awareness raising. MDJS officials
also held awareness and capacity building sessions on human
trafficking with social workers, district council members, and
students throughout the country. The DPP trained nationals
of Zambia, Zimbabwe, and Swaziland on anti-trafficking. The
Anti-Human Trafficking Committee, established under MDJS in
the previous reporting period in accordance with the 2014 act,
met four times during the reporting period. The committee and
MDJS did not complete a national action plan, which it began
drafting during the previous reporting period. The government
did not make efforts to reduce the demand for commercial
sex acts or forced labor during the reporting period. It did not
provide anti-trafficking training for its diplomatic personnel.

TRAFFICKING PROFILE

As reported over the past five years, Botswana is a source, transit,
and destination country for women and children subjected to
forced labor and sex trafficking. Residents of Botswana most
vulnerable to trafficking are unemployed women, the rural
poor, agricultural workers, and children. Some parents in poor
rural communities send their children to work for wealthier
families as domestic servants in cities or in agriculture and
cattle farming in remote areas, increasing their vulnerability to
forced labor. Young Batswana serving as domestic workers for
extended family may be denied access to education and basic
necessities or subjected to confinement or verbal, physical, or
sexual abuse—conditions indicative of forced labor. Batswana
girls and women are possibly exploited in prostitution within
the country, including in bars and by truck drivers along
major highways. Some women may be subjected to trafficking

internally or transported from neighboring countries and
subjected to sexual exploitation. Officials confirmed adults and
children of the San ethnic minority group are subjected to labor
conditions on private farms and cattle posts in Botswana’s rural
west that might rise to the level of forced labor. Undocumented
migrant Zimbabwean children might be vulnerable to trafficking
in Botswana. There has been no comprehensive international
or domestic study of trafficking trends within the country.

BRAZIL

three child victims of forced labor, and 20 adult victims of
forced labor—an increase from six victims identified during the
previous year. However, the government’s referrals of victims
for assistance were limited. It referred four girls to an NGO-run
shelter to receive protective services. The government did not
provide formal written procedures to guide social service, law
enforcement, or immigration officials in proactively identifying
victims of trafficking among vulnerable populations. The NGOrun shelter used its own assessment process for victim eligibility
for admission to the shelter and access to care services. The
government had not fully operationalized the victim referral
measures detailed in the 2014 Act. The government paid for
legal expenses and repatriation of a Motswana child trafficking
victim exploited in Canada during the reporting period. The
government was not known to have penalized trafficking
victims for crimes committed in relation to being subjected
to trafficking. The government encouraged victims to assist in
the investigation and prosecution of traffickers by providing
housing and food throughout the period of investigation. All
trafficking victims voluntarily provided written testimony as
evidence. However, due to a slow judicial process, one foreign
child victim had to remain in Botswana for a prolonged period
of time to testify during the lengthy trial process.

BRAZIL: TIER 2
The Government of Brazil does not fully meet the minimum
standards for the elimination of trafficking; however, it is making
significant efforts to do so. The government demonstrated
increasing efforts compared to the previous reporting
period; therefore, Brazil remained on Tier 2. The government
demonstrated increasing efforts by passing a comprehensive
anti-trafficking law, investigating and prosecuting suspected
traffickers under the new law, conducting more prevention
campaigns, beginning the development of a centralized judicial
database to track trafficking cases, and making efforts to reduce
demand for forced labor. However, the government did not meet
the minimum standards in several key areas. The government
did not report the total number of final convictions its courts
issued during the year or the number of victims that received
assistance in the latter part of 2016. Further, the government
did not provide specialized shelters for victims of trafficking or
adequate long-term care. The lack of adequate care left victims
vulnerable to re-trafficking.

RECOMMENDATIONS FOR BRAZIL

Vigorously investigate and prosecute trafficking cases and
convict and punish traffickers, including complicit officials;
prosecute labor traffickers in criminal courts; increase funding
for specialized services, including housing for victims of sex
trafficking and forced labor; improve federal and state law
enforcement cooperation and communication on trafficking
cases; enhance efforts to identify child victims in domestic
servitude and sex trafficking; robustly implement the antitrafficking law and make full use of institutions and mechanisms
already in place; train federal, state, and municipal law
enforcement officials on proactive identification of victims;
amend the 2016 anti-trafficking law to criminalize child sex
trafficking without elements of force, fraud, or coercion; update
referral mechanism guidance to reflect the provisions covered
under the new law; increase specialized services for child
trafficking victims, including case management assistance
and oversight of local guardianship councils; collect judicial
case data from all states to improve and better understand the
response to trafficking cases; increase efforts to investigate cases
of labor trafficking and add more labor inspectors trained to
recognize and report indicia of forced labor; and finalize and
begin implementing the third national action plan for the
elimination of trafficking.

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BRAZIL
98

PROSECUTION

The government maintained law enforcement efforts. In October
2016, the government passed law 13.344, a comprehensive
anti-trafficking law that criminalizes all forms of trafficking in
persons and updated existing statutes to generally harmonize
the definition of trafficking with international law. Article 149a
of the new anti-trafficking law criminalizes brokering, enticing,
recruiting, transporting, transferring, buying, harboring, or
receiving a person by grave threat, violence, coercion, fraud,
or abuse for the purpose of organ removal, forced labor (any
kind of servitude or conditions analogous to slavery), illegal
adoption, or sexual exploitation. Although article 149a does
not appear to include an exemption from force, fraud, or
coercion for the sex trafficking of children, article 244A of
the child and adolescent statute criminalizes inducing a child
to engage in sexual exploitation, without the need to prove
that means of force, fraud, or coercion were used. Article 149
prohibits trabalho escravo, or reducing a person to a condition
analogous to slavery, defining forced labor to include degrading
work conditions and exhausting work hours, going beyond
situations in which people are held in service through force,
fraud, or coercion. While not all individuals in trabalho escravo
are forced labor victims, many are. In 2016, Brazilian lawmakers
introduced legislation to redefine trabalho escravo to only include
instances of forced labor. The new anti-trafficking law increases
prescribed penalties to four to eight years imprisonment and a
fine, which are sufficiently stringent and commensurate with
those prescribed for other serious crimes, such as rape. The
sentence can be reduced by one- to two-thirds if the defendant
is a first-time offender, acted alone and not as part of a criminal
organization. Penalties can be increased by one-third to onehalf if the crime was committed by a public official; the victim
is a minor or a disabled person; there is a personal or familial
relationship with the victim; or if the victim was removed
from the country.
Contrary to previous years when law enforcement data might
have included state and federal efforts, the 2016 investigation
and prosecution data only includes information under federal
jurisdiction. In 2016, authorities reported 103 new and ongoing
investigations under articles 231 and 231a, 22 new and 20
ongoing investigations under article 149, and 22 investigations
under article 149a of the new anti-trafficking law (compared
with 374 ongoing and 97 new investigations under articles 231
and 231a, and 296 investigations under article 149 in 2015). The
government reported 104 new or ongoing prosecutions under
articles 231 and 231a; 31 ongoing prosecutions under article
149; and six new prosecutions under the new anti-trafficking
law, three under article 149 and three under article 149a
(compared with 97 new or ongoing prosecutions under articles
231 and 231a, and 65 under article 149 in 2015). Authorities
reported one final trafficking conviction in a higher court and
22 convictions by lower courts, compared with 12 convicted
traffickers in lower courts in 2015. The government did not
report the number of investigations and prosecutions in the
lower courts. Most sex and labor traffickers convicted by lower
courts appealed their convictions; there were 29 appeals related
to trafficking cases in federal court system in 2016 (compared
with 43 in 2015). The appeals process lasted years and hampered
Brazil’s overall law enforcement efforts. Authorities estimated
102 million cases were pending review in the Brazilian court
system in 2015 and rulings in eight of every 10 cases were not
enforced due to recurring appeals. The government did not
report the length of sentences given; however, most convicted
traffickers served these sentences under house arrest or by
spending only nights in prison while being free during the
day. The government treated forced labor as a distinct crime

from sex trafficking. The Ministry of Labor’s (MOL) inspectors,
prosecutors, and courts handled cases of trabalho escravo. This
resulted in uneven interagency coordination of anti-trafficking
efforts. Labor inspectors and labor prosecutors could apply only
civil penalties, and the government did not report criminal
prosecution of any trabalho escravo cases. The MOL conducted
5,376 inspections in 2016, a decrease from 7,263 inspections
in 2015, following eight months of strikes by labor inspectors.
The Brazilian Federal Police (DPF) had a unit in every state and
was involved in the investigation of most trafficking crimes.
In some states, the DPF worked efficiently with state and
municipal law enforcement entities; however, law enforcement
cooperation and communication among the DPF and state and
municipal entities was generally insufficient. Law enforcement
units at all levels had insufficient funding, expertise, and
staff to investigate trafficking. NGOs indicated that, for the
most part, the DPF competently handled identified trafficking
cases; however, specialized training for all law enforcement
entities on trafficking indicators was lacking. In Sao Paulo,
the municipal government trained the police to detect signs
of trafficking. During the reporting period, the government
collaborated with an international organization to provide
a five-day training for several judges and prosecutors on the
implementation of the new anti-trafficking law. In 2016, the
National Justice Council (CNJ) launched FONTET—a national
forum tasked with increasing judicial efficiency in the handling
of trafficking cases and ensuring that victims are not penalized
for crimes committed as a result of being subjected to human
trafficking. CNJ and FONTET jointly began centralizing judicial
case information into a database where the status of all cases
pending in Brazilian courts, including trafficking cases, would
be available; however, the database did not include data from all
states. In December 2016, the Inter-American Court for Human
Rights ruled against Brazil in a historic case where for the first
time it fined a country for failing to prevent slavery within
its borders and ordered the government to pay $5 million to
128 farm workers who were enslaved from 1988 to 2000 and
to reopen the investigation. Some cases of official complicity
remained open. The investigation of an elected official, who
in October 2016 was removed from his position in Parana
state after allegations of involvement in a child sex trafficking
ring, remained ongoing. An appeal by the prosecution of an
inadequate sentence given to a civil police investigator for his
involvement in a prostitution ring involving children remained
ongoing. After filing a habeas corpus petition, courts released
a former state legislator sentenced to 12 years imprisonment
for trafficking crimes after four months.

PROTECTION

The government maintained efforts to protect victims, although
it was difficult to assess victim identification and assistance
efforts as government entities used different definitions of
trafficking. Authorities continued to use guidance provided
by the Ministry of Justice (MOJ) for all federal, state, and
local governments on victim identification and assistance,
but the government did not report updating the guidance to
reflect requirements and provisions of the new legislation.
Law 13.344 mandates the government to provide victims with
temporary shelter, legal, social, and health assistance, and
protection against re-victimization. In 2016, the government,
in conjunction with an international organization, developed
specific guidance for assistance to migrants, refugees, returned
Brazilians, and trafficking victims in border areas. Sixteen
of 27 state governments operated state-level anti-trafficking
offices (NETPs) that referred victims to social assistance centers

The federal government did not fund specialized or long-term
shelters for trafficking victims; instead, it often placed them in
shelters for victims of domestic violence or centers for migrant
assistance. There were no specialized services for male and
transgender sex trafficking victims. Specialized shelters for
child sex trafficking victims were lacking, and guardianship
councils often did not have the expertise or resources to identify
child victims correctly and refer them to services. General
victim services and shelters varied in quality from state to
state and generally remained underfunded and inadequate.
The state of Sao Paulo maintained a shelter where female
victims of trafficking and their children could receive health
benefits, education, food, and housing for three to six months.
Another shelter in the same state provided temporary assistance
for refugees and trafficking victims, but the government did
not report how many victims stayed at the shelter. In 2016,
there were 2,521 specialized social assistance centers across
the country where psychologists and social workers assisted
vulnerable people (compared with 2,374 centers in 2015.)
In 2016, many centers remained underfunded; however, 988
centers were certified to assist trafficking victims an increase
from 675 centers in 2015. Authorities reported assisting 843
trafficking victims (598 men, 182 women, 33 boys, and 30
girls) in 2016, compared with 673 trafficking victims assisted
in 2015 (363 men, 185 women, 55 boys, and 70 girls.)
Most identified victims of trabalho escravo remained vulnerable
to re-trafficking due to lack of adequate assistance and limited
employment options; however, the government sought to
address this issue by offering vocational training. State
governments in Mato Grosso, Bahia, Rio de Janeiro, and
the “Bico do Papagaio” region continued to offer vocational
training to victims of trabalho escravo. The ministries of labor
and social development continued to provide trabalho escravo
victims access to public services by including the victims in the
registry for social programs, granting them priority access to a
cash transfer program, unemployment insurance, subsidized
low-income housing, a 60 percent discount on energy bills,
and technical assistance—all implemented at municipal-level
centers for social assistance.
During the reporting period, the MOJ reported the judicial
system began incorporating live video testimony into trials to

encourage victims of crimes to testify against their perpetrators
and do so from the location of their choice. Authorities indicated
video testimony had not been used in a trafficking trial yet.
Sex trafficking victims serving as witnesses were eligible for a
short-term protection program, although authorities did not
report how many victims received protection in 2016, compared
with two trafficking victims who received protection in 2015.
Foreign sex trafficking victims were entitled to permanent visa
status, but authorities did not report how many victims received
it in 2016, compared to one victim in 2015. The government
provided repatriation assistance for Brazilian nationals subjected
to trafficking abroad, as well as for foreign nationals who were
subjected to trafficking in Brazil who wish to return to their
country of origin. It was unclear how many victims received
repatriation assistance in 2016. There were no reports of victims
penalized for unlawful acts committed as a direct result of
being subjected to human trafficking.

BRAZIL

(CREAs). NETPs varied in effectiveness and generally only
referred victims of sex trafficking crimes. CREAs also worked with
victims of sexual abuse, exploitation, and domestic violence.
Specialized MOL divisions provided victims of forced labor
job training services, three months of unemployment pay,
and limited counseling services. Observers indicated some of
the NETPs had effective assistance and coordination teams
comprised of police offices, prosecutors, and mental health
professionals, whereas other state offices were not as well
equipped to assist victims. The anti-trafficking offices that are
located in major points of transport, like airports and bus
stations, and NETPs released their semester report for the first
half of 2016 and reported monitoring 237 trafficking cases,
providing services to 383 individuals, including 233 children
and adolescents, and reaching 10,183 individuals through
seminars, lectures, and trainings. For the same period in 2015,
the government reported providing services to 528 potential
sex trafficking and 176 potential labor trafficking victims. MOL
mobile inspection units identified 885 laborers in situations
of trabalho escravo in 2016, (1,010 in 2015 and 1,509 in 2014)
more than 50 percent in agriculture and ranching. Officials
did not report the number of victims of domestic servitude or
commercial sexual exploitation of children identified in 2016.

PREVENTION

The government increased prevention efforts. The 2013-2016
second national action plan for the elimination of trafficking
expired in December 2016. The anti-trafficking inter-ministerial
group held consultations with civil society to discuss lessons
learned and met to analyze progress made on the second
national action plan. In coordination with civil society, the
government began planning a third national action plan.
Coordination among agencies working on anti-trafficking
initiatives at the national and state level was uneven and varied
in efficacy. State and federal authorities reported reduced budgets
and other pressing government priorities limited, and will
continue to limit, their ability to implement anti-trafficking
efforts. Federal, state, and municipal entities undertook antitrafficking initiatives and awareness efforts. The government
continued to participate in the Blue Heart campaign focused on
raising awareness on the plight of trafficking victims and gaining
political support for the prosecution of traffickers. Municipal and
state governments hosted workshops, trainings, performances,
and roundtable discussions to commemorate World Day
Against Trafficking. In Rio de Janeiro, the state government, in
collaboration with an NGO, conducted awareness campaigns
to educate the public on the dangers of false employment
opportunities. In March 2017, the MOL resumed publication
of the lista suja, or dirty list, after a nearly three-year legal
dispute over its release. The list identified individuals and
businesses responsible for trabalho escravo. Businesses listed
were denied access to credit by public and private financial
institutions. In 2017, the list included 68 businesses, compared
with 609 businesses listed in May 2014, when it was last
released. Authorities continued efforts against child sex tourism
by enhancing law enforcement cooperation and information
sharing with foreign governments; however, the government did
not report any new investigations, prosecutions, or convictions
of child sex tourists in 2016. In collaboration with a network
of religious leaders in 26 states, the government launched
a campaign to promote general awareness of trafficking in
persons and preventing sex tourism. Military troops received
anti-trafficking training prior to their deployment abroad on
international peacekeeping missions. The government provided
anti-trafficking training for its diplomatic personnel.

TRAFFICKING PROFILE

As reported over the past five years, Brazil is a source, transit, and
destination country for men, women, and children subjected to
sex trafficking and forced labor. Brazilian women and children
are exploited in sex trafficking within the country; federal police

99

BRUNEI

report higher rates of children exploited in sex trafficking in the
north and northeast regions. Brazilian women are subjected
to sex trafficking abroad, especially in Western Europe and
China. Women and girls from other South American countries,
including Paraguay, are exploited in sex trafficking in Brazil.
Transgender Brazilians are forced into prostitution in Brazil.
Brazilian men and transgender Brazilians have been exploited
in sex trafficking in Spain and Italy. Child sex tourism remains
a problem, particularly in resort and coastal areas; many child
sex tourists are from Europe, and to a lesser extent, the United
States. Some Brazilian men, and to lesser extent women and
children, are subjected to trabalho escravo and debt bondage
in rural areas, including in ranching, agriculture, charcoal
production, logging, and mining. Exploitation of workers is
sometimes linked to environmental damage and deforestation,
particularly in the Amazon region. Brazilians are also found in
trabalho escravo in urban areas in construction, factories, and
the restaurant and hospitality industries. Brazilian women and
children, as well as girls from other countries in the region,
are exploited in domestic servitude; approximately 213,000
children are employed as domestic workers in Brazil. Some
Brazilian trafficking victims are forced to engage in criminal
activity, including drug trafficking, in Brazil and neighboring
countries. Brazilian forced labor victims have been identified
in other countries, including in Europe. Men, women, and
children from other countries—including Bolivia, Paraguay,
Haiti, and China—are subjected to forced labor and debt
bondage in many sectors, including construction; the textile
industry, particularly in Sao Paulo; and small businesses. NGOs
and officials report some police officers ignore the exploitation
of children in sex trafficking, patronize brothels, and rob and
assault women in prostitution, impeding identification of sex
trafficking victims. Government officials and former officials
have been investigated and prosecuted for trabalho escravo.

BRUNEI: TIER 2
The Government of Brunei does not fully meet the minimum
standards for the elimination of trafficking; however, it is making
significant efforts to do so. The government demonstrated
increasing efforts compared to the previous reporting period;
therefore, Brunei remained on Tier 2. Increased efforts
included convicting its first trafficker in four years; expanding
victim protection measures during judicial proceedings; and
carrying out victim screening procedures while strengthening
investigations into alleged labor abuses that may amount
to trafficking. However, the government did not meet the
minimum standards in several key areas. Authorities leveled
criminal charges against some foreign victims and deported
or fined others for unlawful acts committed as a direct result
of having been subjected to trafficking. Courts issued lighter
sentences for trafficking crimes than those prescribed by law.

RECOMMENDATIONS FOR BRUNEI
100

Increase efforts to investigate, prosecute, convict, and punish

both sex and labor traffickers, including complicit government
officials, and ensure the imposition of sufficiently stringent
penalties; increase protective services to provide incentives
for victims to participate in investigations and prosecutions,
including by allowing adult victims in government shelters to
move freely and by issuing work permits to all victims; cease the
arrest, deportation, and punishment of trafficking victims for
crimes committed as a direct result of their being subjected to
trafficking; allocate resources for the completion of the pending
dedicated trafficking victims’ shelter and expand existing shelter
services to accommodate adult male trafficking victims; train
officials on implementation of proactive procedures to identify
trafficking victims among vulnerable groups; train judges on
accurate and effective implementation of anti-trafficking laws;
allocate government resources to the victims’ fund established
under the 2004 law and allow those funds to be paid directly
to victims as restitution; strengthen efforts to enforce laws
prohibiting acts that facilitate trafficking, such as retention
or confiscation of migrant workers’ identity documents; offer
foreign victims long-term alternatives to removal from the
country; expand comprehensive and visible anti-trafficking
awareness campaigns directed at employers of foreign workers
and clients of commercial sex; approve and implement the
national action plan; and accede to the 2000 UN TIP Protocol.

PROSECUTION

The government increased law enforcement efforts. The 2004
Trafficking and Smuggling of Persons Order prohibits both
sex and labor trafficking and prescribes punishments of up to
30 years imprisonment, which are sufficiently stringent and
commensurate with penalties prescribed for other serious
offenses, such as rape. The penal code prohibits travel outside
the country for commercial sex with children, prescribing a
punishment of up to 10 years imprisonment. Upon referral
by other agencies, the Human Trafficking Unit (HTU) of the
Royal Brunei Police Force screened for trafficking indicators
in cases involving prostitution, unpaid wages, workers fleeing
their place of employment, or physical abuse of workers. It is
unclear how many cases of potential trafficking the government
investigated in 2016, compared with 66 cases in 2015. Referrals
to HTU led to one investigation into a suspected forced labor
case involving an unregistered employment agency, which was
ongoing at the end of the reporting period, and prosecutions
against three Thai nationals for sex trafficking. Authorities
convicted the three Thai nationals—the first convictions under
trafficking provisions since 2012. Courts sentenced all three
individuals to four years in prison and fines of USD $22,250,
USD $14,836, and USD $7,418, respectively, but all three
accepted added time to their prison sentences ranging from 10 to
30 months in lieu of paying the fines. Other HTU investigations
resulted in prosecutions for non-trafficking offenses, such as
human smuggling or labor violations. Courts also convicted
and fined a Malaysian national for engaging in a sex act with
a Bruneian minor forced into prostitution, but it was unclear
if the courts also imposed a prison sentence on that defendant
in accordance with the prescribed penalty. One additional sex
trafficking prosecution from 2012 remained pending. During
the reporting period, the HTU worked with domestic law
enforcement and Philippine officials to investigate an alleged
debt bondage and sex trafficking case in Malaysia, culminating
in the victim’s rescue and repatriation. In previous years,
government officials have been investigated for complicity in
trafficking offenses, including domestic servitude, although no
such investigations, prosecutions, or convictions took place
during the reporting period.

The government increased efforts to protect victims. To reduce
the risk of victim re-traumatization, the Attorney General’s
Chambers (AGC) enacted a legislative amendment allowing
victims who are unwilling to testify in court to provide evidence
via video link; it was unclear if this provision was implemented
during the reporting period. The HTU continued to employ
standardized interview questionnaires to screen and identify
potential trafficking victims when apprehending persons in
prostitution or when accompanying immigration and labor
officials on operations with suspected trafficking elements.
However, authorities only employed identification measures
after detaining these victims during law enforcement operations
and charging them with prostitution. Officials apprehended
foreign women and children during brothel raids and detained
and deported many for labor or immigration violations.
According to one NGO, this practice perpetuated victims’ fear
of communicating with law enforcement officers, culminating
in significant identification and service provision gaps. The
government maintained a secured, general-purpose shelter that
was available to female trafficking victims and male trafficking
victims under the age of 18, but required victims to apply to
leave the shelter, and only with a chaperone; no facilities were
available for adult male trafficking victims. During the reporting
period, one individual received assistance at the shelter, and
authorities referred four Indian nationals to their local embassy
for protective services. The government was in the process of
renovating a dedicated shelter for trafficking victims at the end
of the reporting period.
The 2004 law established a fund to compensate victims and
cover repatriation costs. However, convicted traffickers’ ability
to elect additional prison time in lieu of paying fines resulted
in the fund’s continued lack of resources. Negotiations were
ongoing between relevant ministries regarding government
contributions to the fund at the end of the reporting period;
as such, the government did not allocate funding for this
mechanism. By law, foreign trafficking victims can acquire
a temporary stay while the government works with relevant
local embassies to obtain new travel documents or repatriation
assistance, and victims are eligible for temporary work passes
on an ad hoc basis; it was unclear how many victims benefited
from these provisions. The government offered no long-term
alternatives to removal for victims who may face hardship or
retribution upon return to their home countries.

PREVENTION

The government maintained limited efforts to prevent trafficking.
During the reporting period, the government conducted training
for labor and immigration officials and NGOs, and it carried
out targeted public awareness-raising campaigns. In 2016, the
immigration department conducted nine roadshows to educate
businesses and employees on employment laws, recruitment,
and labor rights; the campaign reached 555 companies around
the country, compared to 1,200 in the previous year. The
government disseminated information to the public making it
clear employers should not withhold workers’ passports, but it
did not initiate any prosecutions against employers or agencies
for passport retention; the practice remained widespread. The
government did not complete its draft national action plan to
combat trafficking, but authorities reported implementing its
provisions during anti-trafficking efforts. Government-influenced
media continued to publish articles related to trafficking—
particularly regarding investigations and legal proceedings
against employers suspected of labor violations—as well as
the list of registered employment agencies in both English

and Malay. The government increased public messaging on the
consequences of violating workers’ rights and labor laws, but
did not make efforts to decrease the demand for commercial sex
acts. Unlike in prior years, the government trained diplomatic
personnel departing for posts overseas on trafficking indicators.
It did not accede to the 2000 UN TIP Protocol, but took some
legislative steps to do so.

TRAFFICKING PROFILE

As reported in the last five years, Brunei is a destination and
transit country for men, women, and children subjected
to forced labor and sex trafficking. Men and women from
Indonesia, Bangladesh, China, the Philippines, Thailand,
and Malaysia migrate to Brunei primarily for domestic work,
or on social visit passes or tourist visas. Upon arrival, some
are subjected to involuntary servitude, debt bondage, nonpayment of wages, passport confiscation, physical abuse, or
confinement. Some migrants who transit Brunei become
victims of sex or labor trafficking upon arrival in Malaysia or
Indonesia. Some Bruneian women and girls are subjected to
sex trafficking domestically. Although it is illegal for employers
to withhold wages of domestic workers for more than 10 days,
some employers withhold wages to recoup labor broker or
recruitment fees, or to compel the continued service of workers.
Retention of migrant workers’ travel documents by employers
or agencies remains a widespread practice, although the law
prohibits it.

BULGARIA

PROTECTION

BULGARIA: TIER 2 WATCH LIST
The Government of Bulgaria does not fully meet the minimum
standards for the elimination of trafficking; however, it is making
significant efforts to do so. The government demonstrated
significant efforts during the reporting period by investigating
more labor trafficking cases, providing shelters with specialized
services for adult trafficking victims, updating the national
mechanism referring and providing support to trafficking victims
and making it compulsory for all government institutions, and
approving a national anti-trafficking strategy for 2017-2021. Law
enforcement continued to take action against public officials
and police officers complicit in trafficking offenses. However, the
government did not demonstrate increasing efforts compared
to the previous reporting period. Although the total number of
investigations and prosecutions of traffickers increased slightly,
courts convicted fewer traffickers and issued suspended sentences
for most of those convicted. The government’s capacity to shelter
victims and provide specialized services remained low relative
to the number of victims identified, and it did not provide
specialized services for child trafficking victims. Because the
government has devoted sufficient resources to a written plan
that, if implemented, would constitute significant efforts to
meet the minimum standards, Bulgaria was granted a waiver
per the Trafficking Victims Protection Act from an otherwise
required downgrade to Tier 3. Therefore, Bulgaria remained
on Tier 2 Watch List for the third consecutive year.

101

BULGARIA

RECOMMENDATIONS FOR BULGARIA

Enhance efforts to investigate, prosecute, and convict traffickers,
particularly for labor trafficking, and hold convicted traffickers
accountable with prison terms; increase the capacity of
assistance available to women subjected to trafficking and
provide specialized assistance to child victims; proactively
investigate, prosecute, and convict government officials complicit
in trafficking, and hold convicted officials accountable with
prison terms; increase funding for anti-trafficking activities;
provide sensitivity training to prosecutors and judges working
with sex trafficking victims; provide knowledgeable legal counsel
and courtroom protections for victims assisting prosecutions;
and increase the number of traffickers subjected to fines,
in addition to prison sentences, and the number of victims
receiving compensation.

PROSECUTION

The government maintained inadequate law enforcement
efforts, as the number of convictions continued to fall and the
majority of convicted traffickers avoided time in prison. Article
159 of the criminal code prohibits all forms of trafficking and
prescribes penalties of between two and 15 years imprisonment,
which are sufficiently stringent and commensurate with
penalties prescribed for other serious crimes, such as rape.
Authorities launched 66 sex trafficking and 19 labor trafficking
investigations in 2016, compared with 71 sex trafficking and
seven labor trafficking investigations in 2015. Authorities
prosecuted 72 defendants with sex trafficking and one with
labor trafficking in 2016 (55 and 10, respectively, in 2015).
The government convicted 34 sex traffickers and one labor
trafficker in 2016 (47 sex traffickers and no labor traffickers
convicted in 2015). Only 12 of the 35 convicted traffickers—34
percent—received a prison sentence that was not suspended, a
similarly low rate as in the previous three years. As in 2015, the
government was unable to report the range of sentences imposed
on convicted traffickers who were sentenced to prison. Courts
issued fines to eight convicted traffickers in 2016, compared
with 23 in 2015. Observers reported judges prescribed lesser
penalties to sex traffickers if their victims had initially entered
prostitution willingly, despite Bulgarian and international law
deeming past experience in prostitution irrelevant when there
is subsequent exploitation.
The specialized court for organized crime continued to have
jurisdiction over trafficking cases. Observers noted police
rarely launched operations against internal trafficking and
investigations were lengthy, giving suspected traffickers time to
conceal assets and relocate operations. Authorities cooperated
with nine foreign governments on transnational investigations.
The government provided specialized training for police officers,
investigators, prosecutors, and judges.

102

The government demonstrated efforts to combat traffickingrelated complicity of public officials. In 2016, the prosecution
service opened proceedings in a case involving two police officers
who allegedly supported criminals involved in prostitution
and human trafficking. In March 2016, prosecutors issued
an arrest warrant for two police officers accused of forcing a
university student to sell drugs and recruit his female classmates
to engage in prostitution and sell drugs. Subsequently, the two
officers’ supervisors were also charged and currently five police
officers are facing trial. In August 2015, authorities charged
seven police officers with bribery and blackmail, due in part
to their alleged soliciting of bribes from pimps. Four of them
were indicted, and a trial was ongoing at the specialized court
for organized crime. Investigations of other police officers in

recent years included allegations of recruiting victims, forcing
a woman into prostitution, and warning traffickers of planned
police raids. Observers alleged police and prosecutors rarely
pursued high-profile traffickers and some prosecutors arbitrarily
dropped charges against defendants.

PROTECTION

The government maintained efforts to identify victims, but
increased efforts to counsel and shelter victims. The prosecution
service, based on open pre-trial investigations in 2016, identified
329 victims of sex trafficking, 31 victims of labor trafficking, and
five victims of both sex and labor trafficking, compared with 298
sex trafficking and 32 labor trafficking victims identified in 2015.
Twenty-one of the identified victims were children (30 in 2015).
One victim identified during the year was from Burkina Faso,
whereas no foreign victims were identified in 2015. Observers
alleged law enforcement could not effectively identify victims,
particularly foreign victims. Reports indicated police did not
proactively search for signs of trafficking among women detained
for prostitution, and prosecutors and judges lacked sensitivity
when interacting with sex trafficking victims. The government
updated its written procedures for referring victims to care
facilities, making it compulsory for all government institutions.
Local authorities in one region trained more than 130 police
and government officials on victim identification and assistance.
Throughout the reporting period, the government jointly
conducted training on identification, protection, assistance, and
prosecution for judiciary officials, law enforcement, and social
workers, holding more than 30 events with more than 1,000
attendees. The law accords victims anonymity during the pretrial and trial phases, but authorities rarely implemented this
provision, resulting in victims changing their statements out of
fear, intimidation, and bribery. Observers noted many victims
did not cooperate with law enforcement because they did not
believe the judicial system would effectively administer justice
and perpetrators would serve meaningful sentences. Authorities
did not consistently inform victims of their rights, including
the right to legal aid. Observers reported police investigators
interviewed victims three to four times during the pre-trial
stage, a practice that could re-traumatize victims. Observers also
reported victims lacked support during criminal cases, as the
state reportedly did not provide knowledgeable legal counsel
during trials. Victims were often required to give testimony
in the presence of the alleged trafficker, and it was common
practice for alleged traffickers to confront their victims in court
and question them through the judge, including inquiries into
victims’ previous sexual relationships.
The government spent approximately 83,100 lev ($44,774)
for services and implementation of the annual national antitrafficking and victim protection program. Observers urged
more state funding for anti-trafficking activities, reporting most
of the funding came from NGOs and international donors.
The government provided two NGO-operated centers offering
consultative services for trafficking victims, and three NGOoperated shelters offering residential-type services to female
victims with a total capacity of up to 16 people. None of the
shelters were located in Sofia, the largest city and most common
repatriation point for victims exploited abroad. In 2016, 22 crisis
centers offered social services to children and women victims of
violence, including trafficking, up from 16 in 2015. The centers
provided support, counseling, and accommodations to nearly 60
trafficking victims, including 36 minors. Several NGOs asserted,
however, child trafficking victims did not receive support
separately from victims of violence at the centers, despite their
different needs. The national commission drafted mandatory

PREVENTION

The government maintained efforts to prevent trafficking.
The commission approved a national anti-trafficking strategy
for 2017-2021. The national commission and its nine local
commissions implemented nation-wide awareness campaigns,
focusing on labor trafficking, third-country nationals, trafficking
trends, and improving investigation coordination. Observers
reported labor regulation and oversight improved in 2016. The
government conducted 585 inspections of labor recruitment
firms and identified various violations; it referred to law
enforcement one case concerning a Czech company that left
employees without personal documents and forced them to
work for inadequate payment. The government continued to
adopt annual national action plans accounting for individual
activities to occur during the year; the government approved
its 2016 and 2017 plans during the reporting period. The
commission continued to publish an annual report of the
government’s anti-trafficking activities. Civil society called
for more information sharing on government anti-trafficking
efforts, especially non-commission activities. The government
provided anti-trafficking training to its diplomatic personnel.
The government demonstrated efforts to reduce the demand
for commercial sex and forced labor.

TRAFFICKING PROFILE

As reported over the past five years, Bulgaria is a source and,
to a lesser extent, transit and destination country for men,
women, and children subjected to sex trafficking and forced
labor. Bulgaria remains one of the primary source countries of
human trafficking in the EU. The government and NGOs report
a steady rise in Bulgarian men subjected to labor trafficking.
Bulgarian women and children are subjected to sex trafficking
within the country, as well as in Europe, and the Middle East.
Several NGOs assert internal trafficking is increasing. Bulgarian
men, women, and children are subjected to forced labor in
other European states and Israel, predominantly in agriculture,
construction, and the service sector. Bulgarian children and

adults with disabilities are forced into street begging and petty
theft within Bulgaria and in Greece, Italy, Slovenia, Sweden,
and the United Kingdom. Romanian girls are subjected to
sex trafficking in Bulgaria. Government corruption creates an
environment enabling some trafficking crimes, and officials
have been investigated for suspected involvement in trafficking.

BURKINA FASO: TIER 2 WATCH LIST
The Government of Burkina Faso does not fully meet the
minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking; however,
it is making significant efforts to do so. The government
demonstrated significant efforts during the reporting period
by initiating an increased number of trafficking investigations,
identifying significantly more potential trafficking victims, and
providing some assistance to 20,000 freed child miners to
reduce their vulnerability to trafficking. The government began
drafting a new trafficking case management guide to facilitate
the referral of victims to care and trained law enforcement,
immigration, and social services personnel on proactive
identification of trafficking victims. However, the government
did not demonstrate increasing efforts compared to the previous
reporting period; The government did not address child forced
begging by unscrupulous marabouts (religious instructors) in
Quranic schools, did not report prosecuting or convicting any
traffickers, and did not report allocating funding for victim
protection activities, including for victim centers that cared
for potential trafficking victims. Therefore, Burkina Faso was
downgraded to Tier 2 Watch List.

BURKINA FASO

social services standards for protecting and assisting trafficking
victims, and adopted guidelines for crisis center workers caring
for minors. The government provided crisis centers a fixed
sum per victim assisted which, according to the state agency
for child protection, was insufficient to cover victims’ needs,
maintain the centers’ premises, and attract qualified staff.
In 2016, an international organization and the commission
provided humanitarian, healthcare, social, counseling, and legal
services to 44 adult male trafficking victims. Foreign partner
organizations referred three of the victims to authorities; eight
received accommodations in specialized protected healthcare
facilities, private lodgings, or hotels. The commission noted
male trafficking victims mainly benefited from and applied
for counseling services and were reluctant to make use of
residential accommodation services. The law allows foreign
victims who cooperate with law enforcement to stay and work
in Bulgaria for the duration of criminal proceedings before
deportation, although no foreign victims had applied for this
status. Foreign victims who choose not to assist in trafficking
investigations are permitted to remain in Bulgaria for 40 days
for recovery before repatriation; the recovery period for foreign
child victims is 70 days. The government did not penalize
trafficking victims for unlawful acts committed as a direct result
of being subjected to human trafficking. No victims received
compensation during the reporting period; observers reported
the process for seeking compensation continued to be overly
bureaucratic and discouraged victims from making claims.

RECOMMENDATIONS FOR BURKINA FASO

Increase efforts to investigate, prosecute, and convict traffickers—
including corrupt marabouts or traffickers posing as marabouts
who exploit children in forced begging—and apply penalties
prescribed by the 2008 anti-trafficking law; increase funding
for police and security force units charged with investigating
trafficking crimes; increase funding and in-kind support
for victim services, including long-term services and social
reintegration, to prevent re-trafficking among identified
victims; increase the availability of shelter and services for all
victims, including adults; train law enforcement to identify
victims among vulnerable populations, including women
in prostitution and children in agriculture and mining, and
refer them to protective services; train law enforcement,
prosecutors, and judicial officials on investigating, prosecuting,
and trying trafficking cases, including cases that do not involve
movement; strengthen the system for collecting anti-trafficking
law enforcement and victim identification data, and ensure
authorities responsible receive sufficient resources; work with
NGOs to raise awareness of trafficking among citizens, especially
forced begging in Quranic schools and trafficking that does not
involve movement; develop a national action plan to combat
trafficking; and improve coordination among the national,
regional, and provincial anti-trafficking committees by funding
and convening them regularly.

103

BURKINA FASO

PROSECUTION

The government reported decreased anti-trafficking law
enforcement efforts. The 2008 anti-trafficking law criminalizes
all forms of trafficking and prescribes penalties of five to
10 years imprisonment, which are sufficiently stringent and
commensurate with penalties prescribed for other serious
crimes, such as rape. Law No. 11-2014/AN criminalizes “child
prostitution” and the sale of children—including the sale of
children for crimes not considered trafficking in the 2000
UN TIP Protocol—and prescribes penalties of five to 10 years
imprisonment and/or a fine of 1.5 million to three million
West African CFA francs (FCFA) ($2,399-$4,799), or both; these
penalties are sufficiently stringent. However, when allowing for
a fine in lieu of imprisonment, the prescribed punishment is
not commensurate with those for other serious crimes, such
as rape. The 2015 law on violence against women and girls
prescribes punishments of two to five years imprisonment
and a fine of one to two million FCFA ($1,600-$3,199) for
sexual slavery, punishments that are sufficiently stringent but
not commensurate with penalties for other serious crimes
such as rape.
The government investigated 78 suspected traffickers in 2016 but
did not report any prosecutions or convictions, an increase from
38 investigations but a decrease from 16 prosecutions and nine
convictions in 2015. In one investigation, officials discovered
an alleged trafficker held five Nigerian girls in sex trafficking
through debt bondage. Several investigations remained pending
from previous reporting periods, including the investigation of
seven unregistered marabouts transporting 43 children to Mali
and Cote d’Ivoire, allegedly for forced labor in cotton fields; a
Burkinabe woman who allegedly subjected to trafficking more
than 30 women in Lebanon, Qatar, and Saudi Arabia; and three
suspects transporting 17 Ivoirian women and girls to Saudi
Arabia, allegedly for domestic servitude. In all of these cases,
the government did not report if it continued to investigate or
prosecute the suspects or if the cases had been dismissed. The
government did not report any investigations, prosecutions,
or convictions for forced begging in Quranic schools, despite
the prevalence of this form of trafficking in the country. It did
not report any investigations, prosecutions, or convictions of
government officials complicit in human trafficking offenses;
however, general corruption in the judiciary and among law
enforcement impeded anti-trafficking efforts. The government
did not provide funding to police specifically for anti-trafficking
activities, which impeded law enforcement and security forces’
investigation of trafficking offenses.

PROTECTION

104

The government increased efforts to identify potential trafficking
victims but did not report information on government funding
for victims services. With data from 40 of the country’s 45
provinces, the government reported identifying 1,407
potential trafficking victims in 2016, a three-fold increase
from 400 potential victims identified and assisted the previous
reporting period. Due to data collection constraints and lack of
disaggregated trafficking and smuggling statistics, it is unclear
how many of these were trafficking victims. The majority of
these victims were children intercepted while being transported,
sometimes in large numbers on trucks or buses, to destinations
where they could have faced exploitation, typically in gold
mines or in city centers as domestic servants or street beggars.
The government did not report how many victims it referred to
its 23 multipurpose transit centers in 2016 for psychological,
social, and food assistance. These centers provided shortterm care to both foreign and domestic victims of crime.

The government did not report allocating any funding to its
multipurpose centers in 2016, compared with 21.2 million FCFA
($33,912) allocated in the previous reporting period for health
care, education, vocational training, family reunification, and
social workers; the centers relied heavily on local NGOs and
international organizations for support. Of the 1,407 victims,
102 received educational support and 99 received assistance
to launch small businesses; it was unclear if this support came
from the government or NGOs. An international organization
identified and provided assistance to 17 additional trafficking
victims from Sri Lanka, Burkina Faso, Cote d’Ivoire, and Niger.
There were no shelters or services for adults, and long-term
care for all victims remained inadequate. The government
acknowledged victim services were insufficient and service
providers lacked the funding and resources to support victim
protection, rehabilitation and reintegration, which resulted in
many victims being subjected to re-trafficking. The 2015 law
on the prevention and repression of violence against women
and girls mandates measures for victim support, including the
establishment of free emergency integrated support centers
to offer comprehensive support services for women and girl
victims of violence, including sexual slavery, and the creation
of a government support fund for victims. The government
did not provide information on the provision of such services
during the reporting period.
The government and NGOs trained government employees,
police, gendarmerie, and judicial officials on how to interact
with and remove child trafficking victims from situations of
exploitation. It also trained members of its anti-trafficking
committees—including law enforcement, immigration,
and social services personnel—on proactive identification
of trafficking victims. The government had standard victim
identification and referral procedures, but authorities and
front-line responders did not employ them uniformly. The
government began drafting a new trafficking case management
guide for law enforcement and social services personnel to
facilitate the uniform referral of victims to care. The government
did not have a formal policy to encourage victims to participate
in trials against their traffickers. It was unclear if victims could
legally file civil suits against their traffickers or otherwise obtain
restitution. Foreign victims may apply for asylum if they fear they
will face hardship or retribution in their country of origin; there
were no reports trafficking victims applied for asylum during
the reporting period. The government did not report assisting
with the repatriation of Burkinabe victims identified abroad,
but in practice the Ministry of Women, National Solidarity,
and Family would help such victims upon return develop
personalized plans for reintegration into local communities.
There were no reports of trafficking victims penalized for
unlawful acts committed as a direct result of being subjected
to trafficking; however, without uniform implementation of
victim identification measures, including among vulnerable
populations, victims are likely to have been left unidentified
in the law enforcement system.

PREVENTION

The government maintained efforts to prevent trafficking.
The Ministry of Women, National Solidarity, and Family led
the national anti-trafficking committee, which coordinated
government anti-trafficking efforts, including implementing
previous anti-trafficking national action plans and providing
guidance and recommendations on improving anti-trafficking
efforts. Unlike in previous years, the national committee
met during the reporting period. The national committee,
comprised of government ministries and NGOs, also had sub-

It was unclear if the government’s intermediary body to monitor
new Quranic schools and marabouts and to identify unregistered
schools and instructors who subject children to forced begging,
established in 2015, was operational during the reporting
period. The government did not make any discernible efforts
to reduce the demand for forced labor or commercial sex
acts. The government, in partnership with foreign donors,
provided Burkinabe troops with anti-trafficking training prior
to their deployment abroad on international peacekeeping
missions. The government investigated allegations from the
previous reporting period of Burkinabe peacekeepers accused
of committing sexual exploitation while deployed to the UN
mission in Mali and did not find evidence of trafficking. The
government did not provide anti-trafficking training for its
diplomatic personnel.

legitimate employment in Lebanon, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and
various European countries and subsequently subject them to
forced prostitution. Media reports indicate Burkinabe women
are subjected to domestic servitude in the Middle East. Burkina
Faso is a transit country for traffickers transporting children
from Mali to Cote d’Ivoire and women and girls from Cote
d’Ivoire to Saudi Arabia. It is a destination for children subjected
to trafficking from neighboring countries, including Cote
d’Ivoire, Ghana, Guinea, Mali, Niger, and Nigeria. Women
from other West African countries are fraudulently recruited
for employment in Burkina Faso and subsequently subjected
to forced prostitution, forced labor in restaurants, or domestic
servitude in private homes. Nigerian girls are exploited in
sex trafficking in Burkina Faso. During the reporting period,
authorities identified Sri Lankan citizens transiting Burkina Faso
allegedly en route to forced labor in a third country. Nepalese
traffickers have subjected Tibetan women to sex trafficking in
Burkina Faso.

BURMA

committees at the regional, provincial, and departmental levels
to coordinate anti-trafficking action locally. The subcommittees
were composed of police, social workers, transit companies,
NGOs, and other regional stakeholders; they coordinated
administrative efforts to support anti-trafficking law enforcement
activities and victim protection and collected anti-trafficking
data for the national committee’s annual report. The groups
lacked resources to continue day-to-day operations, and the
government did not report how many met during the reporting
period. The government did not have or begin drafting an
anti-trafficking action plan. Some regional and provincial
directorates of the Ministry of Women, National Solidarity, and
Family organized awareness-raising campaigns on the signs and
dangers of trafficking and child labor. The government also
had child protection networks composed of law enforcement,
judicial officials, health workers, and NGO representatives in
24 of the country’s 45 provinces to coordinate child victim
referral to care, including for trafficking victims. The government
allocated 300,000 FCFA ($480) to each of the 24 networks
to facilitate meetings and communication among members.
Despite the existence of the anti-trafficking committees and
child protection networks, inter-governmental communication
on anti-trafficking issues remained a challenge. The Council
of Ministers adopted a 2016-2020 national project to combat
child labor in artisanal mines, including forced child labor, but
the government had not devoted any funding or resources to
implement the plan by the end of the reporting period. The
Ministry of Women, National Solidarity, and Family continued
to provide monitoring services and assistance to 20,000 freed
child miners to reduce their vulnerability to additional child or
forced child labor. The government operated a toll-free number
to report cases of violence against children and violations of
child rights, including trafficking. The government provided
a new building and purchased and installed new equipment
for the hotline’s command center; it did not report how many
trafficking-related calls it received during the reporting period.
Unlike in previous years, the government did not allocate any
funding for vocational training for the social reintegration of
young street children vulnerable to trafficking.

BURMA: TIER 2 WATCH LIST
The Government of Burma does not fully meet the minimum
standards for the elimination of trafficking; however, it is
making significant efforts to do so. The government made
key achievements during the reporting period; therefore,
Burma was upgraded to Tier 2 Watch List. These achievements
included continued progress to eliminate the recruitment
and use of child soldiers, an increased number of personnel
dedicated to anti-trafficking law enforcement units, and the
first trafficking prosecutions of government officials since the
enactment of the 2005 Anti-Trafficking in Persons Law. The
government strengthened efforts to identify victims in vulnerable
border areas, reached its goal of appointing trafficking case
workers to all social welfare offices throughout the country,
and continued cooperation with international partners to
identify and demobilize children recruited into the military’s
ranks, culminating in the release of 112 individuals recruited as
children. Despite these achievements, the government continued
to require troops to source their own labor and supplies from
local communities, thereby increasing the prevalence of forced
labor; failed to sufficiently penalize military officials who
engaged in child soldier recruitment; and prevented the UN from
playing a constructive role in bringing to an end the recruitment
and use of children by ethnic armed groups. Throughout
the reporting period, victim identification and protection
measures remained insufficient as a result of limited resources
and a general lack of coordination and awareness among key
government agencies and law enforcement entities; authorities
continued to arrest trafficking victims for acts they were forced
to commit as a result of being subjected to human trafficking.

TRAFFICKING PROFILE

As reported over the past five years, Burkina Faso is a source,
transit, and destination country for women and children
subjected to forced labor and sex trafficking. Burkinabe children
are subjected to forced labor as farm hands, gold panners and
washers in artisanal mines, street vendors, domestic servants, and
in forced begging by unscrupulous marabouts; girls are exploited
in sex trafficking. Burkinabe children are transported to Cote
d’Ivoire, Mali, and Niger for forced labor or sex trafficking.
To a lesser extent, traffickers recruit women for ostensibly

RECOMMENDATIONS FOR BURMA

Strengthen efforts to prosecute and convict individuals complicit
in forced labor and child soldiering offenses, including military

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and other government officials and civilian brokers, and
apply stringent penalties, including jail time; make efforts to
end the recruitment and use of children or forced labor by
members of ethnic armed groups and prioritize these issues
during peace negotiations; cease all recruitment of children
into the armed forces and actively identify and demobilize
all individuals recruited as children currently serving in the
military’s ranks; increase investigations, prosecutions, and
convictions of internal trafficking offenses; cease official
involvement in compelling civilians to perform any type of
forced labor, including civilian portering; reform military
policies—including the “self-reliance” policy—that drive the
demand for forced labor and child soldier conscription, and
support the UN’s efforts to sign action plans with ethnic armed
groups to end their recruitment and use of children; amend
the law so that all penalties prescribed for forced labor are
sufficiently stringent to deter the crime; implement formal
procedures for proactive victim identification among vulnerable
groups and their referral to service providers; continue to
strengthen age verification procedures for new military recruits;
cease arresting, detaining, or otherwise punishing victims
for acts committed while subjected to trafficking or those
fleeing trafficking situations, including through conducting
age assessments of any potential minors before making an
arrest for desertion; provide legal status to stateless persons in
Burma to decrease their vulnerability to exploitation; increase
funding for specialized anti-trafficking police units and enhance
their coordination with general police units and prosecutors;
strengthen efforts to prioritize and significantly increase funding
for victim protection efforts, including victim shelters, provision
of services for male victims, and reintegration support for
former child soldiers; and appoint a case manager to facilitate
victims’ involvement in criminal proceedings and maintain a
victim-centered approach to investigations and prosecutions,
including through establishment of robust witness protection
protocols and provision of language interpreters.

PROSECUTION

The government increased some law enforcement efforts,
particularly in taking steps to hold complicit officials
criminally accountable. The 2005 Anti-Trafficking in Persons
Law criminalizes all forms of sex and labor trafficking using
definitions that are generally consistent with international law;
however, it does not appear to contain provisions establishing
that, when children are the victims of a trafficking offense,
the use of force, fraud and coercion is not a required element
of the offense. The law provides for penalties ranging from a
minimum of five years to a maximum of imprisonment for
life, depending on the identity of the victim and other factors.
These punishments are sufficiently stringent and commensurate
with those prescribed for other serious crimes, such as rape.
Forced labor, including the recruitment of children into the
military, is a criminal offense under the 2005 Anti-Trafficking
Law, the 2012 Wards and Village Tracts Administration Act, and
penal code section 374, for which the maximum sentence is
one year or fine or both—an insufficiently stringent penalty.
The military reportedly pursues its own punitive measures for
child recruitment cases through unknown provisions in military
law, although the penalties it applies are disproportionately
low compared to the seriousness of the crime. During the
reporting period, the government continued a legal review to
redraft and strengthen the 2005 law.

106

In 2016, the government reported investigating 95 cases,
leading to the prosecution and conviction of 145 traffickers,
compared with 119 cases investigated and 168 traffickers

prosecuted and convicted in 2015, and 98 investigations and
143 prosecutions and convictions in 2014. As in previous years,
most of the government’s law enforcement efforts focused on
sex trafficking or the involuntary domestic servitude of Burmese
women through forced marriages to Chinese men. However,
of the 95 cases investigated, 46 were cases of forced labor,
including 23 cases of domestic servitude and 26 cases involving
labor trafficking in the fishing, manufacturing, and other such
industries, compared with 54 labor cases in 2015 and 54 labor
cases in 2014. The government identified seven instances of
forced labor in Burma’s fishing industry in 2016, triggering
an ongoing interagency process led by the Central Body for
Suppression of Trafficking in Persons (CBTIP) to institute new
preventative protocols in the fishing sector. Courts convicted 26
individuals under the 2005 anti-trafficking law for subjecting
Bangladeshi and Rohingya migrants to trafficking, although it
was unclear if these constituted instances of smuggling; the lead
offender, a Thai national, received a 27-year prison sentence.
The Anti-Trafficking in Persons Division (ATIPD) maintained
dedicated anti-trafficking taskforce (ATTF) police throughout
the country, the roster of which increased to 471 during the
reporting period, compared to 371 in 2015. However, a lack of
clarity between the roles and responsibilities of ATTF officers
and general police investigators, coupled with poor policeprosecutor cooperation, continued to hamper the success
of investigations and prosecutions. Local experts reported
non-ATTF police perceived they did not have the authority
to pursue investigations proactively, and primarily opened
investigations only in response to complaints. An acute lack
of basic policing equipment and resources remained a major
obstacle for police to proactively undertake investigations into
trafficking crimes. During the year, the government changed
its policies to facilitate greater efficiency in trafficking cases
by granting decentralized authority for sentencing traffickers,
eliminating the previous requirement for such sentencing
decisions to be made in the capital city. The ATIPD provided
both basic introductory and on-the-job training for police, and
international organizations funded additional anti-trafficking
training for Burmese officials. During the reporting period,
the Myanmar Police Force hosted the Thai Department of
Special Investigators and the Thai Royal Police for discussions
on enhancing bilateral anti-trafficking efforts, culminating in
increased access by Burmese law enforcement and social welfare
personnel to victims in Thai custody.
Some military and civilian officials reportedly facilitated the
smuggling and exploitation of Rohingya migrants and subjected
civilians, particularly members of ethnic minority groups, to
forced labor within Burma. There are reports that corruption
and impunity continued to hinder the enforcement of trafficking
laws; individuals claiming to have ties to high-level officials may
have pressured victims not to seek legal redress against their
traffickers. The power and influence of the Burmese military
limited the ability of civilian police and courts to address
cases of forced labor and the recruitment of child soldiers by
the armed forces; there is no evidence any soldiers accused
of trafficking crimes have ever been prosecuted in civilian
courts, nor has the government ever prosecuted a civilian for
child soldier recruitment. The Ministry of Defense undertook
independent efforts to investigate and punish military personnel
for child soldier recruitment; it reported punishing 13 officers
and 23 noncommissioned personnel in 2016, compared to 11
officers and 14 noncommissioned personnel in 2015. It did
not report punitive measures for military personnel guilty
of subjecting children or adults to forced labor. Imposed
punishments were significantly less than those prescribed

In one high-profile forced labor case, three children were
physically abused and forced to work in a tailor shop in Rangoon
over the course of five years with little to no pay. Two police
commanders dismissed initial reports of the abuse, prompting
a local journalist to file a complaint with the National Human
Rights Commission (NHRC). The NHRC brokered a financial
settlement with perpetrators rather than referring the case to
prosecution under the anti-trafficking laws. Following public
outcry over the NHRC’s inadequate response to the case, four
commissioners stepped down, the police chiefs who had ignored
the initial reports were investigated, and demoted to auxiliary
positions, and the ATTF police initiated the prosecution of six
tailor shop perpetrators. Their trial date was pending at the
close of the reporting period.

PROTECTION

The government maintained inadequate victim protection
efforts, and some officials reportedly continued to subject men,
women, and children to trafficking in Burma. More victims
were identified by authorities in other countries than within
Burma. Police and border officials identified 163 victims at
Thai and Chinese border crossings (118 in 2015 and 68 in
2014). The government did not report how many additional
victims it identified within Burma. In 2016, the government
released 112 individuals originally recruited as children from
the military through implementation of its UN-backed action
plan on child soldiers (146 the previous year and 322 in 2014).
Local observers reported once individuals were identified as
possible child soldiers, the military made progress in providing
immediate protections, including removal from combat, before
formal verification procedures concluded. The government
expanded the deployment of three full-time case managers to
each of 42 Department of Social Welfare (DSW) offices—up
from 27 offices in 2015—to provide healthcare, reintegration,
psycho-social, and legal services to trafficking victims, including
child soldiers. Despite this improvement, DSW continued to lack
the resources necessary to adequately provide intended services
to trafficking victims, and relied on civil society organizations
to provide most services to victims. The government worked
with Thailand to finalize and begin implementing bilateral
standard operating procedures on repatriation, reintegration,
and rehabilitation in March 2017. While law enforcement
officials continued to proactively identify suspected victims
en route to China for forced marriages likely to result in sex or
labor exploitation, or to Thailand for potential sex trafficking,
authorities did not follow standardized, nationwide procedures
for the proactive identification of trafficking victims. Despite
some progress, front-line officers largely lacked adequate
training to identify potential victims.
The military continued to subject civilians to forced labor. In
one case, the military forcibly removed 12 elderly men from

their mosque during prayer and beat them, forced them to
carry any personal belongings deemed useful in a conflict
setting—including heavy car batteries—to another village, and
then confiscated these belongings. Ethnic minority groups in
Burma—particularly internally displaced Rohingya, Rakhine,
Shan, and Kachin communities—continued to be at elevated
risk of forced labor as a result of ongoing military incursions,
and the government remained largely inactive on this longstanding issue. For the second year, the military granted within
72 hours all requests from UN monitors to access military
installations to inspect for the presence of children, although
the UN reported the military may have carefully controlled these
visits and possibly cleared problematic indicators in advance.
An uptick in violence in Rakhine and Shan states may have
constrained monitoring efforts.

BURMA

by criminal laws, with most receiving reprimands, fines, or a
decrease in pension, and NGOs assessed these penalties to be
insufficient. For the first time, the government investigated and
initiated prosecutions against government officials suspected
of complicity in trafficking crimes; in one case, authorities
charged a police constable with transporting a 16-year-old girl
from Rangoon to Muse for the purpose of subjecting her to
forced marriage in China, where she would have been at a high
risk of other forms of exploitation. The second case involved
a police lance corporal suspected of complicity in subjecting
six men to debt bondage in Mon State. Both prosecutions
were initiated in November and were ongoing at the end of
the reporting period.

The government continued to operate five centers for women
and children who were victims of violent crime; all five could
shelter trafficking victims, and one was dedicated to female
trafficking victims. In addition, the government operated
three facilities funded by a foreign donor that could serve
both men and women. It did not report the total number of
victims receiving services in these facilities, or whether shelters
housed any men. In previous years, repatriated victims of
trafficking abroad could stay in transit centers prior to their
reintegration, but it was unclear how many victims benefitted
from this provision in 2016. Services in government facilities
remained rudimentary, but the government increased its funding
allocation to trafficking victim protection, and some victims
received psycho-social counseling, travel allowances, support
for obtaining official documents, and assistance in returning to
home communities. Overall government support to demobilized
children remained minimal, with most services provided by
civil society partners. NGOs and foreign donors funded and
facilitated delivery of most services available to trafficking
victims. Longer-term support was limited to vocational training
for some former child soldiers and women in major city centers
and border areas; the lack of adequate protective measures
for victims—particularly males—left them vulnerable to retrafficking. The government did not have adequate procedures
for assisting victims identified abroad, and diplomatic missions
overseas largely lacked adequate funding or capacity to provide
basic assistance or repatriate victims. However, the government
maintained labor attachés in Thailand, Malaysia, and South
Korea, whose responsibilities included assisting trafficking
victims. It provided anti-trafficking training for its diplomatic
personnel and worked with an international organization to
establish victim identification reference materials for consular
officers, although the latter process was ongoing at the end
of the reporting period. In 2016, the ATIPD sent a delegation
of law enforcement officials to South Korea for a workshop
on victim identification, support, and sustainable protection.
Victims frequently declined to cooperate with authorities due
to the lack of adequate victim protection or compensation
programs, language barriers, a lengthy and opaque trial process,
fear of repercussions from their traffickers, and general mistrust
of the legal system. A cumbersome investigative process
required victims to give statements multiple times to different
officials, increasing the likelihood of re-traumatization. Further,
restrictions on contact between victims and prosecutors impeded
case-relevant communication and further obfuscated the court
process for some victims. The government did not provide
legal alternatives to the removal of foreign victims to countries
where they may face hardship or retribution. The government
made efforts to include victims’ perspectives in training sessions
with police and during government meetings. Authorities

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reportedly arrested sex trafficking victims for prostitution due
to inadequate efforts to screen for indicators of trafficking
in thousands of anti-prostitution interventions. Authorities
continued to arrest and imprison children who fled military
service or were demobilized by civil society organizations on
charges of desertion. In most cases where these individuals
were identified as minors, authorities subsequently processed
their release, although some remained in civilian detention
for several months; one detention of a minor on charges of
desertion remained under review at the end of the reporting
period.

PREVENTION

The government maintained prevention efforts. During the
reporting period, Parliament approved ratification of the
ASEAN Convention Against Trafficking in Persons, Especially
Women and Children. CBTIP continued to coordinate antitrafficking programs and policies; it worked with the ATIPD
and an international organization to draft a new five-year
comprehensive trafficking prevention strategy, which was
pending presidential review at the end of the reporting period.
A 2014 directive prohibiting the use of children by the military
remained in place. The government interfered with progress on
a significant trafficking problem in the country by not allowing
the UN to sign action plans with ethnic armed groups to end
their recruitment and use of children. Although oversight and
monitoring of recruitment procedures remained insufficient to
prevent child recruitment in the military, international observers
reported age verification procedures continued to improve the
military’s ability to identify and prevent most child recruitment,
and the military continued to provide enlisted personnel,
training centers, and recruitment officials with age assessment
and child soldier prevention trainings. The government did not
reform the military’s “self-reliance” policy, which continued to
make adults and children—particularly members of stateless
ethnic minority groups—vulnerable to forced labor.

108

The government has to date been unsuccessful in providing
citizenship and identity documents for an estimated 810,000
men, women, and children in Burma—most of whom selfidentify as Rohingya and live in Rakhine State. The lack of
legal status and identity documents significantly increased the
vulnerability of this population to trafficking in Burma and in
other countries. The government began distribution of national
verification cards (NVCs) to undocumented individuals, but
low participation prevented significant progress. Government
policies limiting freedom of movement in some jurisdictions—
including a new ban on Rohingya individuals’ use of fishing
vessels if they do not have NVC’s, which many Rohingya do
not accept—have hindered access to employment for some
communities, further aggravating economic conditions that
may have contributed to more Rohingya men pursuing informal
employment channels known to engender severe forms of
abuse, including forced labor. The government continued
to conduct awareness campaigns in print, television, radio,
billboards, and other media—particularly in high-vulnerability
states—and to train members of community-based watch
groups and students on trafficking. However, it did not launch
its second national campaign, initially scheduled for January
2016, to raise awareness about the recruitment and use of
child soldiers and educate the public on reporting such cases.
Authorities continued to release information on the prosecution
of traffickers via government-supported and private media
throughout the country. The ATIPD maintained a hotline and
social media account with information on trafficking, including
updated law enforcement statistics, but did not report the extent

to which the public employed either of these mechanisms.
The government did not make efforts to punish labor recruiters or
brokers for illegal practices that increase migrants’ vulnerability
to exploitation abroad. The government maintained a tourism
police unit, which it reported to have played a central role in
combating child sex tourism. There were no reports of child
sex tourism during the reporting period. Authorities partnered
with an NGO to raise awareness about child sex tourism among
some hotel industry personnel, but no related investigations or
prosecutions were reported. The government did not take steps
to reduce the demand for commercial sex acts or forced labor,
nor did it finalize curricula necessary to conduct anti-trafficking
training for its diplomats prior to their deployment overseas.

TRAFFICKING PROFILE

As reported over the past five years, Burma is a source country
for men, women, and children subjected to forced labor and
for women and children subjected to sex trafficking, both in
Burma and abroad. Some Burmese men, women, and children
who migrate for work abroad—particularly to Thailand and
China, as well as other countries in Asia, the Middle East, and the
United States—are subjected to forced labor or sex trafficking.
Men are subjected to forced labor in fishing, manufacturing,
forestry, agriculture, and construction abroad, while women
and girls are primarily subjected to sex trafficking, domestic
servitude, or forced labor in garment manufacturing. NGOs
continued to report instances of Burmese males transiting
Thailand en route to Indonesia and Malaysia, where they are
subjected to forced labor, primarily in fishing and other labor
intensive industries. Some Burmese men in the Thai fishing
industry are subjected to debt bondage, passport confiscation,
threats of physical or financial harm, or fraudulent recruitment;
some are also subjected to physical abuse and forced to remain
aboard vessels in international waters for years. Burmese women
are increasingly transported to China and subjected to sex
trafficking and domestic servitude through forced marriages to
Chinese men; there have been reports that Burmese government
officials are occasionally complicit in this form of trafficking,
as well as in the facilitation of the smuggling and exploitation
of Rohingya migrants. There were limited reports of Rohingya
individuals attempting to be smuggled out of the country later
being abducted in transit and sold into forced marriage in
Malaysia; some of these individuals may have become victims
of domestic servitude or sex trafficking.
Within Burma, men, women, and children from predominantly
ethnic minority areas—including the estimated 103,000 persons
displaced by conflict in Kachin and northern Shan states and
the estimated 120,000 displaced persons in Rakhine state—
are at increased risk of trafficking. Rohingya individuals are
particularly vulnerable to labor trafficking in Rakhine state,
including forced labor perpetrated by government authorities.
Many among the estimated 70,000 Rohingya who have crossed
out of Rakhine into neighboring Bangladesh in 2016 and early
2017 are at elevated risk of being subjected to trafficking. Ethnic
Rakhine are reported to be victims of forced labor on the margins
of conflict between the military and ethnic armed groups in
Rakhine State. Local traffickers use deceptive tactics to recruit
men into forced labor on oil palm and rubber plantations, in
jade and precious stone mines, and in fishing. Children are
subjected to sex trafficking or to forced labor (at times through
debt bondage) in teashops, small businesses, the agricultural
and construction sectors, and in begging. Children and adults
are subjected to domestic servitude. A small number of foreign
child sex tourists exploit Burmese children.

The Burmese military, civilian officials, and some ethnic armed
groups use various forms of coercion, including threats of
financial and physical harm, to compel victims into forced labor.
In areas with active conflict, members of local populations—
mostly men, but also women and children as young as 12 years
old—are subject to forced labor. The ILO continued to receive
reports indicating the actual use of forced labor is decreasing
overall, but the number of complaints of forced labor through
the ILO complaints mechanism remained significant. Reports of
forced labor occurred across the country; prevalence was higher
in states with significant armed conflict, while reports declined
in cease-fire states. Reporting and verification mechanisms were
weak or non-existent in conflict areas, making it difficult to fully
assess the ongoing scale of forced labor. Officials continued
to use violence or threats thereof to compel civilians into
forced labor, including portering, work on public infrastructure
projects, and activities related to the military’s “self-reliance”
policy —under which military battalions are responsible for
procuring their own food and labor supplies from local villagers,
who in turn are at a significantly elevated risk of forced labor
through the arrangement. The army uses children as porters,
cooks within battalions, or to carry supplies or perform other
support roles. Some observers noted forced labor practices
were changing, resulting in a reported decrease in the use
of forced labor by the military and an increase in reports of
forced labor in the private sector and by civilian officials. At the
same time, international organizations reported forced labor
remains common in areas affected by conflicts—particularly
in Rakhine State. There were continued reports of widespread
abuses by government soldiers, including forced labor of
members of ethnic groups in Shan, Karen, and Kachin states.
Land confiscation by military, local government, and private
businesses placed agricultural workers at risk for forced labor,
including on lands they previously occupied.

BURUNDI: TIER 3
The Government of Burundi does not fully meet the minimum
standards for the elimination of trafficking and is not making
significant efforts to do so; therefore, Burundi remained on
Tier 3. Despite the lack of significant efforts, the government
took some steps to address trafficking, including by organizing

and participating in several workshops to train government
officials and coordinating with the Government of Rwanda
to repatriate 28 alleged trafficking victims. It also investigated
several cases involving the alleged recruitment of Burundian
women for exploitation in forced labor in the Middle East.
However, the government did not investigate internal trafficking
or sex trafficking crimes, and did not prosecute or convict any
alleged trafficking offenders. It did not investigate or hold
accountable any officials complicit in trafficking crimes despite
serious allegations that arose during the year. Although the
government took steps to increase the number of anti-trafficking
trainings for government officials, authorities continued to
lack understanding of trafficking, and the government did not
provide adequate anti-trafficking training for its personnel.
The government did not provide victims adequate protection
services. Trafficking victims continued to be subject to arrest
and detention for crimes committed as a direct result of being
subjected to trafficking. The government did not establish the
Consultation and Monitoring Committee mandated by the 2014
anti-trafficking act to coordinate and lead anti-trafficking efforts.

BURUNDI

Some military personnel, civilian brokers, border guard officials,
and ethnic armed groups continue to recruit or use child soldiers,
particularly in conflict-prone ethnic areas, although monitoring
groups report the incidence of forced conscription into
government armed forces continued to decrease significantly.
As of the close of the reporting period, international monitors
had verified two cases of child recruitment by the Burmese
military in 2016. In some cases, recruiters use deception, offering
incentives or coercing children or their families through false
promises about working conditions, salary, and promotion
opportunities. Men and boys are forced to serve in ethnic armed
groups through intimidation, coercion, threats, and violence;
in the past, the Burmese army has employed similar tactics,
although no such cases were verified during the reporting
period. Some child soldiers are deployed to the front-line as
combatants. In addition to formally recruiting at least two
children into its ranks in 2016, the military may have continued
to use children for labor or other support roles. Some ethnic
armed groups abduct or recruit children—including from
internally displaced persons’ camps—for use as solders in
fighting against the Burmese army.

RECOMMENDATIONS FOR BURUNDI

Take measures to ensure children and adults are not forcibly or
fraudulently recruited into governmental and non-governmental
armed forces, and provide them with appropriate protection
services; hold individuals criminally accountable for the
recruitment and use of children and the forced or fraudulent
recruitment of adults in armed forces, including government
officials; implement the anti-trafficking law and significantly
increase investigations, prosecutions, and convictions of
traffickers, including allegedly complicit officials; institutionalize
anti-trafficking training to include how to implement the
anti-trafficking law for all police, prosecutors, judges, and
border guards; establish standardized procedures for officials to
proactively identify trafficking victims, including children and
adults, and refer them to appropriate care; ensure trafficking
victims, including children and adults who are forcefully or
fraudulently recruited into armed groups, are not punished
for crimes committed as a direct result of being subjected to
trafficking; drastically improve provision of protective services
to trafficking victims, including through partnerships with
NGOs that provide appropriate care to victims; and undertake
efforts to reduce child sex tourism.

PROSECUTION

The government maintained minimal enforcement efforts.
Burundi’s anti-trafficking law prohibits the trafficking of adults
and children for the purpose of forced labor and sex trafficking.
The definition of “forced labor or services” in the law, however,
fails to account for situations in which an individual might
initially consent to labor but is later forced, defrauded, or
coerced to provide such labor. Prescribed penalties under
the law range from five to 10 years imprisonment, penalties
which are sufficiently stringent and commensurate with those
prescribed for other serious crimes, such as rape.

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BURUNDI

The government investigated transnational trafficking cases, but
did not investigate internal trafficking or sex trafficking crimes
or prosecute and convict any suspects during the reporting
period. The government reported arresting 25 alleged traffickers
in 2016. Between May and August 2016, the Police’s Morals
and Minors Brigade reported arresting 18 traffickers following
interception of 75 potential trafficking victims en route to
Oman. In a similar case, in June 2016, the government arrested
seven alleged traffickers, accused of sending Burundian women
to the Middle East for exploitation. Following these discoveries,
in June 2016, the government acknowledged the large-scale
recruitment of Burundian women for work in the Middle East
since April 2016, including reports of an additional 267 women
overseas in situations of forced labor. In July 2016, a civil
society group alleged trafficking networks in Burundi involving
five recruitment companies, government officials and security
officers, had fraudulently recruited up to 2,500 Burundian
women and girls who subsequently endured forced labor and
sex trafficking in Oman and Saudi Arabia. In June 2016, a judge
suspended the activities of the five recruitment companies
accused of involvement in trafficking. The government did
not report any investigations, prosecutions, or convictions
of government employees complicit in human trafficking
offenses despite multiple allegations of significant government
involvement in such crimes. Moreover, civil society organizations
and individuals investigating trafficking allegations reported
receiving threats against themselves and their families.
The government did not provide adequate funding for law
enforcement agencies responsible for investigating trafficking
crimes, partly due to limited financial means and competing
priorities, which severely limited their capacity and effectiveness.
Widespread corruption and officials’ lack of investigative
skills and poor understanding of trafficking crimes continued
to impede investigations. In June and July, the National
Independent Human Rights Commission held two workshops
focusing on the legal framework to combat trafficking for
representatives of the government, police, the judiciary, the
bar, civil society, religious denominations and the media. In
August 2016, an NGO-led working group including international
organizations and government officials held a training session to
introduce and explain the anti-trafficking law to the Ministries
of Human Rights, External Relations, Public Security, Justice,
and Interior. In February and March 2017, the government
organized two anti-trafficking workshops on the anti-trafficking
law and awareness-raising for over 65 representatives of relevant
government ministries, NGOs, and provincial government
officials.

PROTECTION

110

The government maintained minimal protection efforts. It did
not maintain statistics on human trafficking, making it difficult
to determine the number of victims, if any, the government
referred to or provided with protective services. In September
2016, the government identified 28 Rwandan trafficking victims
in Bujumbura and coordinated with the Government of Rwanda
on their repatriation; it is unknown if these victims received
any services prior to their repatriation. After intercepting 75
potential trafficking victims reportedly en route to Oman, the
government facilitated their return home, but did not provide
supplemental services. Separately, the government did not
report efforts to assist, via Burundian missions abroad, the
267 potential trafficking victims in Oman and Saudi Arabia
or support their repatriation. The government provided
minimal protection services and support for NGOs, religious
organizations, or women’s or children’s associations that offered

care to trafficking victims. The government continued to operate
Humura Center in Gitega, which provided protection to foreign
and domestic victims of sexual and gender-based violence,
including an unknown number of potential trafficking victims.
The government provided medical personnel to an NGO-run
center in Bujumbura which delivers medical and psycho-social
care to abuse victims, including trafficking victims. Overall, lack
of dedicated funding for victim protection measures seriously
constrained the government’s ability to assist victims.
The government did not have formal procedures for authorities
to identify and refer trafficking victims to protection services, and
law enforcement officials lacked training to identify potential
victims. Furthermore, potential victims were vulnerable to
being penalized for unlawful acts committed as a result of
being subjected to trafficking. In April 2016, the government
passed a law providing for the protection of witnesses, victims,
and vulnerable persons, which called for the establishment of
a unit within the Ministry of Justice to coordinate protection
measures; however, the government did not formally create this
unit by the close of the reporting period. Burundian law did
not provide foreign trafficking victims with legal alternatives
to their removal to countries where they may face hardship
or retribution.

PREVENTION

The government maintained minimal prevention efforts. The
government did not take steps to implement its national
anti-trafficking action plan, approved in March 2014, and did
not establish the Consultation and Monitoring Committee
mandated by the 2014 anti-trafficking act to coordinate
and lead national anti-trafficking efforts. While government
officials participated in an NGO-led working group, it did
not lead country-wide efforts during the reporting period.
The government did not conduct anti-trafficking awareness
campaigns in 2016, nor did it make efforts to prevent or raise
awareness of the forcible or fraudulent recruitment of children
and adults into armed groups. In June 2016, a judge suspended
the activities of five recruitment companies accused of being
involved in trafficking; however, there are no formal laws or
procedures authorizing officials to monitor or investigate
fraudulent labor recruitment practices. The government did not
make efforts to reduce the demand for forced labor, commercial
sex, or child sex tourism. The government did not provide antitrafficking training for its diplomatic personnel. Burundian
nationals deployed abroad as peacekeepers received training
on human rights, including trafficking elements, in previous
reporting periods conducted by a foreign donor; however,
after suspension of this program in May 2015 it was unclear
whether the military still teaches a similar curriculum prior to
deployment of peacekeepers.

TRAFFICKING PROFILE

As reported over the past five years, Burundi is a source country
for children and possibly women subjected to forced labor
and sex trafficking. Due to a complex political, economic, and
security crisis in 2015, more than 400,000 Burundians fled to
refugee camps in neighboring countries and many others sought
refuge at internally displaced persons (IDP) camps or moved
to the homes of extended family members. Burundi’s fragile
economic and security environment created an opportunity for
criminals, including traffickers, to take advantage of Burundians
in precarious or desperate situations. There is little official data
available on abuses committed against Burundi’s approximately
60,000 IDPs, 60 percent of whom are younger than age 18 and

Between April and December 2015, approximately 70,000
Burundians refugees fled to Rwanda, which contributed to an
increase in child sex trafficking of both male and female refugees
in Rwanda. Burundian refugee girls residing in Rwanda’s Kigeme
refugee camp were reportedly exploited in sex trafficking in
nearby towns. In July 2015, approximately 58 children, some
younger than 15 years old, were fraudulently recruited and
forced to participate in an anti-government armed invasion
in Kayanza Province, which was ultimately put down by the
Burundian government; it was unclear if these children were
armed. Between May and December 2015, an international
organization reported allegations that Burundian refugees
residing in Mahama refugee camp in Rwanda were recruited into
non-state armed groups, allegedly by Rwandan security forces,
to support the Burundian opposition; many refugees alleged
recruiters threatened, intimidated, harassed, and physically
assaulted those who refused recruitment—a form of human
trafficking. Most of these recruits were adult males, but six
Burundian refugee children, between the ages of 15 and 17,
were also identified as recruits from Mahama refugee camp. The
same international organization also reported that hundreds
of Burundian adult and child recruits, including girls, were
allegedly trained in weaponry at a training camp in southwestern
Rwanda. Some of these adult and child refugees could be victims
of human trafficking. In December 2014, an armed group of
primarily Burundian rebels invaded the northwestern province
of Cibitoke; the estimated 150 rebels reportedly included child
soldiers as young as 15 years old, some of whom were trained in
Rwanda. In 2016, the Government of the Democratic Republic
of the Congo (DRC) apprehended 16 Burundian children
transiting through the east allegedly after recruitment from
refugee camps in Rwanda or the DRC to participate in armed
conflict in Burundi with an unknown entity.
Children and young adults are coerced into forced labor on farms
throughout Burundi, in gold mines in Cibitoke, in informal
commerce in the streets of larger cities, collecting river stones
for construction in Bujumbura, and in the fishing industry.
Traffickers allegedly include victims’ relatives, neighbors, and
friends, who recruit them under false pretenses to exploit them
in forced labor and sex trafficking. Some families are reportedly
complicit in the exploitation of children and adults with
disabilities, accepting payment from traffickers who run forced
street begging operations. Children are subjected to domestic
servitude in private homes, experiencing non-payment of wages
and verbal and physical abuse. Children in domestic servitude or
working in guest houses and entertainment establishments may
also be sexually exploited. Children are fraudulently recruited
from rural areas for domestic work and later exploited in sex
trafficking, including in Bujumbura. Women offer vulnerable
girls room and board within their homes, eventually pushing
some into prostitution to pay for living expenses. These brothels
are located in poorer areas of Bujumbura, along the lake, on
trucking routes, and in other urban centers such as Ngozi,
Gitega, and Rumonge. Some orphaned girls are exploited in
sex trafficking, with boys acting as their facilitators, to pay
for school, food, and shelter. Incarcerated women facilitate
commercial sex between male prisoners and detained children
within the Burundian prison system. Men from East Africa and
the Middle East, as well as Burundian government employees
including teachers, police officers and gendarmes, military,
and prison officials, are among the clients of Burundian girls
in child sex trafficking. Business people recruit Burundian
girls for exploitation in sex trafficking in Bujumbura, as well
as in Rwanda, Kenya, Uganda, and the Middle East; they

also recruit boys and girls for various types of forced labor in
southern Burundi and Tanzania. In 2015, Rwandan officials
and international and local NGOs reported that Burundian
refugee girls were exploited in sex trafficking in Uganda after
transiting Rwanda; some of these girls may also be subjected
to forced labor in domestic work in Uganda.

CABO VERDE: TIER 2 WATCH LIST
The Government of Cabo Verde does not fully meet the
minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking; however,
it is making significant efforts to do so. The government
demonstrated significant efforts during the reporting period
by initiating six sex trafficking investigations under the 2015
anti-trafficking penal code amendments and convicting one
trafficker to four years imprisonment on slavery charges, its
first conviction for trafficking or slavery offenses in three years.
In addition, it provided some in-kind support to NGOs that
assisted trafficking victims and designated the Ministry of Justice
(MOJ) as the lead entity for inter-ministerial anti-trafficking
efforts. However, the government did not demonstrate increasing
efforts compared to the previous reporting period. While the
government provided security to some identified trafficking
victims, it relied on NGOs and international organizations to
coordinate and fund all victim shelter and repatriation. Law
enforcement did not investigate any individuals in connection
with the 18 reports of potential child forced labor in the
informal sector during the reporting period, and despite an
identified need to train law enforcement and the judiciary on
trafficking victim identification and the 2015 anti-trafficking
penal code amendments, the government did not provide any
training. Therefore, Cabo Verde remained on Tier 2 Watch List
for the second consecutive year.

CABO VERDE

are highly vulnerable to exploitation.

RECOMMENDATIONS FOR CABO VERDE

Using the penal code amendments, vigorously investigate
and prosecute trafficking offenses and convict and punish
traffickers; develop and institute standardized trafficking
victim identification procedures—including for adults and
victims among vulnerable populations, such as child domestic
workers—and a mechanism to refer victims to institutions that
provide care, and train law enforcement, judicial personnel, and
hotline operators on such procedures; train law enforcement and
judiciary officials on the 2015 anti-trafficking amendments; in
collaboration with NGOs and government agencies that provide
victim care, allocate funding or in-kind assistance to support
shelter and psycho-social care for all victims, and collect data
on such efforts; investigate indicators of child forced labor in
the informal sector, including in domestic service and street
vending; educate law enforcement that children younger than 18
exploited in prostitution with a third party is sex trafficking, and
robustly investigate such cases, especially in high-tourist areas;
amend article 149 of the penal code to criminalize committing
such acts against children 16-18 years old; increase efforts to

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112

raise public awareness of human trafficking, including child
sex trafficking and domestic servitude; increase collaboration
with foreign governments on cases of transnational trafficking;
draft and implement a national action plan on trafficking in
persons; allocate resources to the MOJ to facilitate coordinated
government anti-trafficking action; and develop a system to
compile and share comprehensive data on anti-trafficking law
enforcement and victim identification efforts among agencies.

PROSECUTION

The government increased anti-trafficking law enforcement
efforts, but gaps remained. The penal code appears to prohibit
all forms of trafficking in persons. Article 271 criminalizes slavery
and prescribes sufficiently stringent penalties of six to 12 years
imprisonment. Article 271-A makes it a crime to use force, fraud,
or coercion for the purposes of sexual or labor exploitation
and prescribes penalties of four to 10 years imprisonment,
which are sufficiently stringent and commensurate with those
prescribed for other serious crimes, such as rape. When the
victim is a minor—an undefined term which elsewhere in
the criminal code is defined at 16—the penalty increases to
six to 12 years imprisonment. As the penal code does not
define labor exploitation, it could be implemented such that
labor exploitation short of forced labor would be considered
human trafficking. In addition to article 271-A, article 148 of
the criminal code outlaws the promotion, encouragement, or
facilitation of prostitution and sexual acts with minors younger
than 16 years of age or persons suffering from mental incapacity
with penalties of four to 10 years imprisonment, or two to
six years imprisonment if the victim is between ages 16 and
18. Article 149 of the penal code punishes those who entice,
transport, host, or receive children younger than 16 years of age
or promote the conditions for sexual acts or prostitution in a
foreign country with two to eight years imprisonment; however,
this does not prohibit such acts with children 16-18 years old,
which is inconsistent with the 2000 UN TIP Protocol. The Law
of Foreigners prohibits knowingly subjecting an undocumented
migrant worker to trafficking and prescribes penalties of two to
six years imprisonment. Article 271-A also prescribes penalties
for those who have knowledge of trafficking crimes or use the
services of trafficking victims (one to five years imprisonment)
and those who retain, conceal, damage, or destroy trafficking
victims’ identity documents (up to three years imprisonment).
The government investigated seven sex trafficking cases and
prosecuted and convicted one trafficker, compared with
one sex trafficking investigation and no prosecutions or
convictions in the previous reporting period. After completing
the investigation initiated the previous reporting period, the
government convicted and sentenced a Nigerian trafficker to
four years imprisonment for slavery crimes for subjecting two
Nigerian women to sex trafficking on Boa Vista Island. The six
investigations initiated during the reporting period remained
pending and involved female foreigners from ECOWAS countries
exploited in sex trafficking. Officials admitted law enforcement
and judges lacked understanding of trafficking crimes and the
2015 anti-trafficking amendments, hampering their ability to
identify, investigate, and prosecute trafficking cases; nonetheless,
the government did not provide any training to such officials.
Insufficient staffing and a lack of resources confined the judicial
police’s presence to four of the country’s nine inhabited islands,
impeding the government’s efforts to identify victims, investigate
crimes, collect data, and conduct awareness-raising campaigns.
The government did not report any investigations, prosecutions,
or convictions of government officials complicit in human
trafficking offenses. Despite ongoing transnational trafficking

investigations, the government did not report collaborating
with foreign governments on anti-trafficking investigations.

PROTECTION

The government increased efforts to identify trafficking victims,
but maintained limited protection efforts. It identified at least
six female sex trafficking victims from ECOWAS countries and 18
potential child forced labor victims, compared with two victims
identified in the previous reporting period. The government
did not have formal procedures for law enforcement or social
workers to identify trafficking victims, nor did it have a formal
mechanism to refer trafficking victims to care. Authorities lacked
training to differentiate trafficking victims from smuggling
victims and victims of child abuse from child forced labor
and child sex trafficking, which resulted in incomplete and
inconsistent data on the number of trafficking victims identified
and referred to care. Border police had written procedures to
proactively identify trafficking victims and people vulnerable
to trafficking, although officials neither received training on
such procedures nor implemented them uniformly during the
reporting period.
An international organization provided temporary shelter to two
identified victims and funded their subsequent repatriation; the
government provided security for the shelter and issued laissezpasser cards to facilitate repatriation. Neither the government nor
NGOs reported providing shelter, psycho-social, or repatriation
assistance to the other identified victims. There were no shelters
or services specifically for trafficking victims, but governmentfunded agencies provided emergency services, temporary shelter,
and psycho-social care to at-risk populations and female and
child victims of crime that trafficking victims could access.
The government’s Cabo Verdean Institute for Children and
Adolescents (ICCA) operated a national network to prevent
and provide assistance to victims of child sexual abuse, which
could be used to coordinate the referral of child trafficking
victims to care and support throughout court processes. It
operated two shelters that provided temporary care for child
victims of sexual abuse, violence, and abandonment, and
maintained five protection and social reinsertion centers,
which provided services for children experiencing long-term
trauma, including trafficking. ICCA removed 18 child potential
forced labor victims from exploitative conditions in domestic
service and street vending and referred them to its shelters.
The government did not report assisting any other potential
or identified trafficking victims in these shelters during the
reporting period, but due to the lack of formal procedures to
identify victims, it is possible that some unidentified trafficking
victims received care in these shelters.
Law enforcement conducted sex trafficking victim interviews in
collaboration with psychologists and, in cases of children, the
victims’ parents, to provide a comfortable and safe environment.
In addition, the government could expedite the investigation
and prosecution of cases involving sexual violence, including sex
trafficking. Cabo Verdean law does not provide legal alternatives
to the removal of foreign victims to countries where they may
face hardship or retribution. There is no mechanism by which
a victim could obtain restitution from the government or file
a civil suit against a trafficker. There were no reports officials
fined, detained, or penalized trafficking victims for unlawful
acts committed as a result of being subjected to trafficking;
due to the lack of formal victim identification procedures,
however, some victims may have remained unidentified in the
law enforcement system.

The government maintained modest prevention efforts. The
government designated MOJ as the lead for anti-trafficking
efforts, although it was not an effective coordinator during
the reporting period, which obstructed communication on
trafficking issues and hampered the government’s ability to
adequately address trafficking. ICCA, in partnership with an
international organization, drafted, approved, and funded a
2017-2019 national plan to combat child sexual violence, which
included actions to address child sex trafficking. In addition,
ICCA held six conferences and workshops across four islands
to sensitize stakeholders to the list and laws against dangerous
work for children and strengthen child protection partnerships.
MOJ, in partnership with an international organization,
began drafting a trafficking-specific action plan. The national
committees to prevent child sexual exploitation and to prevent
and eliminate child labor continued awareness campaigns
to address child labor and child sexual violence. After ICCA
received allegations of the worst forms of child labor in domestic
work and street vending and removed the 18 children involved,
neither labor inspectors nor law enforcement officials launched
any investigations; labor inspectors do not have jurisdiction
over the informal sector, although law enforcement does. The
government continued to operate six day centers through its
Nos Kaza project, which aimed to reduce the vulnerability of
street children to forced labor and sexual abuse, including sex
trafficking. It also continued to operate a hotline for reporting
cases of child abuse, including sexual exploitation and child
labor. The hotline did not receive any reports of trafficking
during the reporting period, although hotline workers did not
receive training to differentiate trafficking from similar crimes,
such as child labor or abuse. The government did not make
efforts to reduce the demand for forced labor or commercial sex
acts. The government did not provide anti-trafficking training
for its diplomatic personnel.

CAMBODIA: TIER 2
The Government of Cambodia does not fully meet the minimum
standards for the elimination of trafficking; however, it is making
significant efforts to do so. The government demonstrated
increasing efforts compared to the previous reporting period;
therefore, Cambodia remained on Tier 2. The government
demonstrated increasing efforts by convicting a significantly
higher number of traffickers, allocating more funds to the
national anti-trafficking committee and its subsidiary provincial
committees, and establishing new action plans to curb child debt
bondage and other forms of labor exploitation. However, the
government did not meet the minimum standards in several key
areas. Despite endemic corruption that contributes to trafficking
in many sectors and among several vulnerable demographics,
the government did not investigate, prosecute, or convict any
complicit officials. Courts continued to conclude sex trafficking
cases with monetary settlements in lieu of prison sentences.
The government did not issue formal guidance allowing the
use of undercover investigative techniques in anti-trafficking
operations—a factor that continued to impede officials’ ability
to fully hold sex traffickers accountable—nor did it take steps
to improve anti-trafficking data collection or information
sharing necessary for effective interagency coordination. The
government maintained limited victim identification and
protection efforts, at times returning child victims to high-risk
environments, and provided minimal assistance to male labor
trafficking victims despite their prevalence.

CAMBODIA

PREVENTION

TRAFFICKING PROFILE

As reported over the past five years, Cabo Verde is primarily a
source country for children subjected to forced labor and sex
trafficking within the country and a destination for women
in forced prostitution; to a lesser extent, it is a source country
for children subjected to forced labor in Guinea-Conkary and
for men subjected to forced labor in Europe. Boys and girls,
some of whom may be foreign nationals, are exploited in sex
trafficking in Santa Maria, Praia, and Mindelo, sometimes
through child sex tourism. Increasing numbers of West African
women have been identified in forced prostitution, including on
Boa Vista and Sal Islands and sometimes through sex tourism.
Children in domestic service often work long hours and at times
experience physical and sexual abuse—indicators of forced labor.
Cabo Verdean children engaged in begging, street vending, car
washing, garbage picking, and agriculture are vulnerable to
trafficking. Children living in impoverished neighborhoods with
little state presence are also at risk, especially for sex trafficking.
In previous years, there were reports Nigerian traffickers may
have forced Cabo Verdean and Brazilian females to transport
drugs between the two countries. During the reporting period,
a Cabo Verdean man with an EU passport was forced to sell
drugs in Luxembourg. West African migrants may transit the
archipelago en route to situations of exploitation in Europe.
Some adult migrants from China and ECOWAS countries may
receive low wages, work without contracts, and have irregular
status, rendering them vulnerable to forced labor and sex
trafficking.

RECOMMENDATIONS FOR CAMBODIA

Vigorously investigate and prosecute trafficking offenses and
convict and stringently sentence labor and sex traffickers
including complicit officials; authorize the use of undercover
investigative techniques in the enforcement of the antitrafficking law; strengthen efforts to fully implement the
nationwide protocol for proactive victim identification
among vulnerable groups and train officials on its provisions;
increase the availability of services for male victims, especially
men exploited in commercial fishing; establish systematic
procedures and allocate resources to assist Cambodian victims
abroad through diplomatic missions abroad or in countries
without Cambodian diplomatic representation; increase public
awareness on proper travel document application procedures
to facilitate safe, legal migration; strengthen efforts to inspect
private labor recruitment agencies and their sub-licensed brokers
for fraudulent recruitment or other trafficking indicators; modify
the law to allow restitution upon conviction of the trafficker;
implement a system for monitoring, collecting, and reporting
data on anti-trafficking prosecution and victim protection
efforts, and disseminate data among the relevant government
agencies in a manner that protects victims’ identities and privacy;
strengthen efforts to incorporate NGO input into the policy
for formally transferring custody of child victims; strengthen
efforts to implement policies guiding victim-centered court
processes, including through the provision of witness protection

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and options for compensation; allocate increased resources to
anti-human trafficking police to better facilitate the monitoring
of defendants released under judicial supervision pending trial;
and increase public awareness campaigns aimed at reducing
domestic demand for commercial sex and child sex tourism.

PROSECUTION

The government increased law enforcement efforts, particularly
in obtaining convictions. The 2008 Law on the Suppression
of Human Trafficking and Commercial Sexual Exploitation
explicitly addresses trafficking offenses in 12 of its 30 articles,
prohibits all forms of trafficking, and prescribes seven to 15 years
in prison—and up to 20 years for aggravating circumstances—for
both sex and labor trafficking; these penalties are sufficiently
stringent and commensurate with other serious crimes, such
as rape. The government did not collect comprehensive
data on anti-trafficking law enforcement efforts, particularly
among provincial courts; however, the information authorities
provided, augmented by media and NGO reports, indicated
the government prosecuted 53 individuals under its antitrafficking law or comparable provisions in the penal code
in 2016, compared to 69 prosecutions in 2015. The National
Committee for Counter Trafficking (NCCT) reported courts
convicted at least 100 traffickers—including some whose trials
began in the previous reporting period—up from 43 in 2015
and 29 in 2014. Unlike in prior years, the government did not
provide data on sentencing, nor did it disaggregate information
on investigations, prosecutions, or convictions based on the
type of trafficking offense. Authorities noted that labor officials’
failure to sufficiently inspect private recruitment agencies, and
the ability of these agencies to sub-license their names to other
independent brokers, likely perpetuated labor exploitation
during the reporting period.
Local experts reported cases involving foreign suspects were more
likely to result in trafficking convictions than cases involving
Cambodian suspects, for whom charges were often reduced
to less serious offenses. NGOs reported courts continued to
conclude sex trafficking cases with monetary settlements in
lieu of prison sentences, and victims whose families received
out-of-court settlements from traffickers often changed their
testimony, further complicating prosecutions. Judicial police
lacked the resources to monitor defendants released pending
trial, allowing many to flee prior to their trial dates.
The government continued to design and deliver donor-funded
training on the implementation of anti-trafficking laws to
police, prosecutors, judges, and other government officials.
During the reporting period, the NCCT reported more than
7,680 commune and provincial officials, law enforcement
officers, judicial staff, and NGO workers received training
or attended workshops on anti-trafficking laws, investigative
techniques, and evidence collection. Local organizations and
some officials noted an urgent need for more sophisticated
evidence collection techniques, including undercover
investigation, to decrease reliance on witness testimony and
adapt to the increasingly clandestine nature of sex trafficking.
However, the government did not grant undercover investigative
authority to anti-trafficking police units, and NGOs continued
to report this significantly constrained law enforcement officers’
ability to pursue sex traffickers, particularly for cases involving
establishments discreetly engaged in prostitution, such as beer
gardens, massage parlors, salons, karaoke bars, and retail spaces.

114

Endemic corruption at all levels of the government severely
limited the ability of individual officials to make progress

in holding traffickers accountable. The Cambodian national
police maintained a mechanism for NGO workers to report
incidents of anti-trafficking police corruption, but did not field
any complaints during the reporting period. The government
did not investigate, prosecute, or convict any government
employees complicit in trafficking, nor did it take any punitive
measures against Phnom Penh’s former anti-trafficking police
chief, whose 2011 trafficking conviction was overturned in an
unannounced, closed-door Supreme Court hearing in 2013.

PROTECTION

The government maintained limited victim identification and
protection efforts. In 2016, the NCCT launched new victim
identification guidelines developed by the Ministry of Social
Affairs, Veterans, and Youth Rehabilitation (MOSAVY) with the
intention of unifying disparate victim identification, referral,
and repatriation efforts across government and law enforcement
agencies. With assistance from an international organization, the
government continued to operate a transit center in the border
city of Poipet, where it screened for trafficking victims among
the approximately 55,000 migrants deported from Thailand in
2016. However, it did not report how many victims it identified
and, given the extent of trafficking among this population, it
likely failed to identify many victims. Authorities did not provide
complete statistics on the number of victims they assisted or
referred, and the total number of victims identified or assisted
by NGOs was unknown. Police identified and referred 326 sex
and labor trafficking victims to provincial agencies or NGOs,
a decrease from 589 victims in 2015. Authorities indicated
most of these were labor trafficking victims. The government
operated a temporary shelter in Phnom Penh for female victims
of trafficking and other crimes, and it referred trafficking victims
to NGO shelters—most of which cared for victims of several
forms of abuse—to receive further assistance. The government
continued to rely heavily on civil society organizations to protect
trafficking victims; however, it did not facilitate formal transfer
of custody of child victims, leaving organizations that accepted
child victims vulnerable to court action. Provisions allowing
for financial settlements in lieu of harsher sentencing further
discouraged some families from consenting to temporary
guardianship at shelters; absent family consent, government
officials at times returned children to high-risk environments,
leaving them extremely vulnerable to re-victimization. Despite
the prominence of male labor trafficking victims, assistance for
this population remained limited.
Cambodian diplomatic missions overseas continued to lack
adequate funding or capacity to provide basic assistance or
repatriate victims, despite government action in prior years
to train diplomats on migrant worker protections. Victims
identified in countries without Cambodian diplomatic
representation had access to even less support. The Ministry
of Foreign Affairs (MFA), which bore the primary responsibility
of aiding Cambodian trafficking victims identified in countries
not bordering Cambodia, reported rescuing and repatriating
815 Cambodian trafficking victims from 11 countries (857
in 2015); this included 272 victims from Malaysia, 231 from
Vietnam, 139 from Thailand, 78 from Indonesia, 64 from
China, 16 from Japan, six from Singapore, four from Somalia,
two from Laos, two from Russia, and one each from Australia
and Saudi Arabia. The majority were repatriated with the
assistance of an international organization. The MFA did not
promulgate or implement standard operating procedures for
the identification and referral of Cambodian victims abroad,
nor did it take increased measures to publicize information
on how to apply for passports, leaving many Cambodians

The government required the repatriation of foreign victims,
except in rare cases, and did not provide legal alternatives to
their removal regardless of whether they may face hardship or
retribution upon return to their countries of origin. MOSAVY
repatriated 13 trafficking victims to Vietnam after they received
care in NGO-run shelters (five in 2015). There were no reports
of the government punishing identified victims for crimes
committed as a result of being subjected to trafficking; however,
insufficient victim identification efforts left many potential
victims at risk of law enforcement action. Law enforcement
officials often lacked the facilities necessary to keep victims
and perpetrators separated during interviews. The government
continued to work with an NGO on a pilot program to train
social workers on providing psycho-social support and other
services to trafficking victims whose cases are under court
proceedings. The Ministry of Justice instructed provincial
courts to implement a child-friendly judicial program aiming
to facilitate child testimony, including barring direct crossexamination of victims in front of the accused and relying
instead on video-conferencing technology. In practice, however,
the weak and corrupt legal system and the lack of adequate
victim and witness protection, exacerbated by a lengthy
trial process and fear of retaliation by traffickers, hindered
victims’ willingness to cooperate in many cases. Victims were
theoretically eligible for restitution, although this was limited by
a legal requirement that compensation be paid only following
the completion of the trafficker’s jail term; NGOs noted victims
rarely received the amount promised.

PREVENTION

The government increased prevention efforts. An interagency
committee and its secretariat coordinated anti-trafficking
activities and continued to implement the 2014-2018 national
action plan. The government dedicated an increased number
of staff members to the committee and allocated a budget
of more than 4 billion riels ($974,896) as compared to 3.6
billion riels ($877,407) in 2015. Local committees coordinated
efforts at the provincial level; NGOs reported the central
government provided modest funds to provincial committees
in 2016. For example, one NGO survey noted five out of nine
provincial committees received some funding, compared to
four committees in 2014. The Ministry of Labor and Vocational
Training released a separate action plan aimed at reducing child
labor and debt bondage in the service, agricultural, mining, and
energy sectors by 2025 through awareness raising, increased
legal action, and collaboration with civil society, funded in part
through the national budget. An NGO reported receiving 96
complaints from victims seeking legal redress from brokers or
recruiting agents involved in their being subjected to trafficking
in Malaysia. The government reported continuing to investigate
and prosecute labor recruiters for illegal practices that may
have contributed to trafficking but did not provide relevant
statistics. The anti-trafficking police independently developed
its own awareness campaign on policies and procedures to
prevent and report sex trafficking crimes in the entertainment

sector, and conducted the related training 2,926 times during
the reporting period.
The government continued to implement consular screening
measures to reduce the sex and labor trafficking of Cambodian
women following forced marriages, including by assessing
applicants against trafficking victim profiles jointly developed
with China in the prior reporting period. MFA officials claimed
the number of visas granted to Cambodian applicants matching
the trafficking victim profile dropped significantly during the
reporting period due to this consular screening; it was unclear
if the MFA had a process for referring these potential victims to
law enforcement or protective services. The government entered
into two labor recruitment agreements with Saudi Arabia
intended to improve migrant worker protections, but it was
unclear if these were implemented during the reporting period.

CAMBODIA

without the documentation necessary to migrate legally and
safely. MOSAVY reported repatriating 195 Cambodian labor
trafficking victims from Vietnam, and reported receiving and
referring 38 Cambodian internal trafficking victims and 24 sex
and labor trafficking victims from Thailand to NGO services. An
NGO recorded accepting 218 potential Cambodian trafficking
victims deported from Vietnam alone, including 152 children.
However, it was unclear if this figure was captured in the statistics
provided by the MFA, or to what extent the MFA data included
cases received by MOSAVY.

With support from foreign and local donors, the Ministry of
Tourism produced and disseminated printed materials, radio
broadcasts, billboards, and posters on the dangers of human
trafficking—with a particular focus on child sex tourism—
although these efforts were targeted at foreign sex tourists rather
than the local population that was the main source of demand
for commercial sex with children. Authorities reported arresting
12 foreign individuals suspected of engaging in child sex
tourism but did not report whether they initiated prosecutions
or obtained convictions in any of these cases. Local experts
reported concern over the government’s ongoing failure to
impose appropriate punishments on foreign nationals who
purchase commercial sex acts with children. The government
provided anti-trafficking training for its diplomatic personnel
and to members of the military prior to their deployment
abroad on peacekeeping initiatives.

TRAFFICKING PROFILE

As reported over the past five years, Cambodia is a source,
transit, and destination country for men, women, and children
subjected to forced labor and sex trafficking. Cambodian
adults and children migrate to other countries within the
region and increasingly to the Middle East for work; many
are subjected to forced labor on fishing vessels, in agriculture,
in construction, in factories and in domestic servitude—
often through debt bondage—or to sex trafficking. Migrants
using irregular migration channels, predominantly with the
assistance of unlicensed brokers, were at an increased risk
of trafficking, but those using licensed recruiting agents also
became victims of forced labor or sex trafficking. Children from
impoverished families were vulnerable to forced labor, often
with the complicity of their families, including in domestic
servitude and forced begging or street vending in Thailand and
Vietnam. Significant numbers of male Cambodians continued to
be recruited in Thailand to work on fishing boats and subjected
to forced labor on Thai-owned vessels in international waters.
Cambodian victims escaping from this form of exploitation have
been identified in Malaysia, Indonesia, Mauritius, Fiji, Senegal,
South Africa, and Papua New Guinea. Cambodian men reported
severe abuses by Thai captains, deceptive recruitment, underpaid
wages, and being forced to remain aboard vessels for years. The
UN reported a significant number of women from rural areas
were recruited under false pretenses to travel to China to enter
into marriages with Chinese men, who often incur as much as
$20,000 in debt to brokers facilitating the transaction; some
Cambodian women in forced marriages faced forced factory
labor or forced prostitution as a result of this debt.

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CAMEROON

CAMEROON: TIER 2 WATCH LIST
The Government of Cameroon does not fully meet the minimum
standards for the elimination of trafficking; however, it is making
significant efforts to do so. The government demonstrated
significant efforts during the reporting period by convicting two
individuals for trafficking-related offenses, providing services
to potential trafficking victims, sending a delegation to the
Middle East to discuss Cameroonian migrant workers’ rights
with two destination governments, and continuing broad social
development efforts to assist vulnerable children, including
potential trafficking victims. However, the government did
not demonstrate increasing efforts compared to the previous
reporting period. The government penalized trafficking victims
for crimes committed as a result of being subjected to trafficking;
did not convict any individuals under the trafficking statute;
and did not convene the inter-ministerial committee, hindering
government-wide action on trafficking. The government did not
support anti-trafficking training for law enforcement officials or
fund repatriation for Cameroonian trafficking victims stranded
in the Middle East, and it continued to rely on NGOs to bring
potential trafficking cases to its attention and provide nearly
all victim services. Therefore, Cameroon remained on Tier 2
Watch List for the second consecutive year.

RECOMMENDATIONS FOR CAMEROON

116

Increase efforts to investigate, prosecute, and convict traffickers
for all forms of trafficking—including complicit officials and
cases referred by NGOs—under the trafficking section of the
penal code; provide repatriation assistance, including laissezpasser cards, to Cameroonian trafficking victims identified
abroad, and expand trafficking-specific services for all victims;
increase collaboration with NGOs on identifying and protecting
victims and raising awareness of trafficking; provide funding
and training on trafficking investigations to the inter-ministerial
anti-trafficking committee and regional taskforces, and regularly
convene the groups; enact legislation to address the lack of
victim protection measures, to ensure force, fraud, or coercion
are not required in cases of child sex trafficking, and to conform
the definition of “trafficking in persons” in the English version of
the penal code with the 2000 UN TIP Protocol; expand training
for law enforcement, judiciary personnel, and social workers
on the anti-trafficking section of the penal code and victimcentered investigations; develop and train law enforcement on
procedures to identify trafficking victims among vulnerable
populations, including among people in prostitution and
street children; train government officials and sensitize NGOs
on the standardized procedures for referring trafficking victims
to services; provide pre-departure information to citizens on
their rights as foreign workers and sources of assistance while
abroad; investigate labor recruiters and agencies suspected of
fraudulent recruitment—including unlicensed recruiters and
intermediaries—and prosecute if complicit in trafficking; raise
awareness among citizens of registered recruitment agencies;
establish anti-trafficking taskforces in all regions; and investigate
cases of hereditary slavery.

PROSECUTION

The government maintained anti-trafficking law enforcement
efforts. During the reporting period, the government
incorporated its 2011 anti-trafficking law into the penal code
as Section 342-1 “Trafficking and Slavery of Persons.” The
government published the penal code in French and English,
the two official languages of the government. The French
version defines “trafficking in persons” (“la traite de personnes”)
in line with the 2000 UN TIP Protocol, whereas the English
version defines “trafficking in persons” to require movement.
In addition, although the English version does not define
“exploitation,” its definition of “slavery in persons” does not
require movement and criminalizes most forms of human
trafficking. Contrary to international law, both versions require
the use of threat, fraud, deception, force, or other forms of
coercion in sex trafficking crimes against children. Section 342-1
prescribes penalties of 10 to 20 years imprisonment and a fine
of 50,000 to one million CFA francs (FCFA) ($80 $1,608) for “la
traite de personnes”/“slavery in persons,” which are sufficiently
stringent and commensurate with penalties prescribed for other
serious crimes, such as rape. There are enhanced penalties if
the trafficking victim is 15 years old or younger, if a weapon
is used, or if the victim sustains serious injuries as a result of
being subjected to trafficking. The penalties for debt bondage—
criminalized in Section 3(1) of the 2011 anti-trafficking law but
not explicitly criminalized in the penal code—range from five
to 10 years imprisonment and a fine of 10,000 to 500,000 FCFA
($16-$804) and are also sufficiently stringent. Draft legislation
to address victim and witness protection and definitional
inconsistencies with international law, drafted in 2012 in
collaboration with an NGO and national and international
experts, remained pending for the fifth consecutive year.
The government did not collect comprehensive anti-trafficking
data, resulting in unreliable and incomplete statistics on law
enforcement and victim identification efforts. The government
reported 13 potential trafficking investigations, 13 prosecutions,
and two convictions, compared with 17 investigations, 20
prosecutions, and two convictions the previous reporting
period. Several investigations involved child kidnapping for
an unknown purpose, so it was unclear how many of the 13
cases were trafficking. Prosecutors initiated 11 adult and child
labor trafficking prosecutions under the trafficking statute,
and they were all ongoing at the end of the reporting period.
Despite strong indicators of trafficking, judges convicted three
defendants in two trafficking cases for non trafficking crimes.
In one case, two defendants who collaborated with a Kuwaiti
trafficker to send multiple Cameroonian women to Kuwait for
domestic servitude were acquitted of trafficking charges but
convicted on charges related to keeping victims by means of false
pretenses, and one of the defendants was additionally charged
with causing harm under false pretenses. The judge prescribed
a sentence of one year in prison and ordered the defendants
to pay court fees and damages to the victim, severely less than
the minimum penalty of five years imprisonment prescribed
for one of the crimes. In contrast with previous years, judges
did not convict any individuals for trafficking charges. The
government did not report any sex trafficking investigations.
NGOs alleged the government did not proactively investigate
trafficking offenses but relied on NGOs to conduct preliminary
investigations and bring cases to its attention. Due to the
lack of collaboration between the government and NGOs
and judicial inefficiencies, some regional courts and NGOs
encouraged victims to settle trafficking cases outside of court;
financial penalties without imprisonment do not provide
adequate deterrence given the serious nature of the crime.
The judiciary was reportedly investigating several government

The Ministry of External Relations (MINREX) led a delegation
to Lebanon and Qatar to meet with Cameroonian trafficking
victims, discuss with the host governments the rights
of Cameroonian workers, and begin drafting MOUs on
Cameroonian workers’ rights in each country. In addition,
the Cameroonian mission in Lebanon increased collaboration
with trafficking victims and the host government, and MINREX
established a focal point for trafficking victims who, with
NGOs, made travel arrangements to repatriate 14 Cameroonian
trafficking victims from Kuwait, Lebanon, and United Arab
Emirates. While the delegation formulated a list of future
actions, including monitoring employment agencies, creating an
agency to monitor Cameroonian workers abroad, and assisting
and repatriating victims identified abroad, the government did
not proactively regulate such recruiters or initiate investigations
of suspicious recruitment practices. Although trafficking victims
provided the government a list of alleged middlemen and illegal
recruitment agencies involved in exploitation, the government
did not report investigating these suspects. Despite the draft
MOUs and the identification of several thousand Cameroonian
trafficking victims abroad, the government did not report
cooperation with foreign governments on transnational
trafficking investigations.

PROTECTION

The government increased efforts to identify potential trafficking
victims but maintained negligible efforts to protect Cameroonian
victims identified abroad. The government did not produce
comprehensive statistics on the number of trafficking victims
identified or the services these victims received, resulting in
unreliable and incomplete statistics on victim identification
efforts. Information available indicated the government and
NGOs identified 153 potential trafficking victims, compared
with zero victims identified the previous reporting period, and
all victims received government or NGO services. At least 42 of
those identified were victims of kidnapping for an unknown
purpose, so it is unclear how many were actually trafficking
victims. The government placed one victim in a government-run
victim shelter that provided healthcare and education, and the
shelter continued to care for a trafficking victim identified in a
previous reporting period. These centers were not available to
adults and did not provide trafficking specific services. Men,
women, domestic, and foreign victims received the same services.
The Ministry of Social Affairs (MINAS) placed 92 children
removed from Boko Haram—who had been abducted to serve as
child soldiers and suicide bombers—in government-sponsored
shelters that offered healthcare, education, and psycho-social
services. MINAS also continued to place other vulnerable
children and child victims of crimes in these facilities in several
cities. NGOs provided shelter and services to the majority of
trafficking victims in private centers funded by donors. NGOs
provided assistance to 60 trafficking and potential trafficking
victims, ranging from repatriation, to temporary shelter in

orphanages or social centers, to computer job skills training and
a monthly allowance, to family reunification. It is unclear how
and when victims were referred to government or NGO centers
and if the government and NGOs communicated on such efforts.
MINREX estimated 3,500 Cameroonian victims of domestic
servitude remained in Kuwait and Lebanon, some of whom
had expired residence permits or passports and were awaiting
repatriation; it coordinated travel arrangements for 14 of these
women, whom an NGO subsequently repatriated. An NGO and
an international organization also repatriated an additional 10
trafficking victims from Kuwait during the reporting period;
there is no evidence the government-funded the repatriations
or provided access to medical services, shelter, counseling,
reintegration support, or financial help to any Cameroonian
victims identified abroad before or after repatriation.

CAMEROON

officials for trafficking offenses at the end of the reporting period,
including a police officer and an official from the Ministry
of Women’s Empowerment and the Family. The government
did not report any prosecutions or convictions of officials
complicit in trafficking offenses. Although law enforcement,
judicial personnel, and other relevant officials lacked training
in distinguishing human trafficking from other crimes, the
government did not directly provide anti-trafficking training
or grant in-kind support for trainings by other organizations.
Due to the lack of training for law enforcement and judicial
staff, some trafficking offenses may have been tried as child
abuse or kidnapping, which carry lesser penalties.

There is no evidence the government made efforts to encourage
victims to participate in investigations or prosecutions of
their traffickers, and the government did not report providing
counseling, legal support, or any other assistance to victims who
testified during court proceedings. Three victims participated
in criminal trials of their traffickers. One of the three victims
dropped her case due to threats from the community, and
a second victim reported she felt pressured to drop her case
because of the financial burdens of traveling to the court,
threats against her life and the lives of her children, and the
absence of government protection. Victims may file suits or
seek legal action against traffickers, and family members may
also bring civil suits against traffickers on behalf of children.
All three victims who participated in trials of their traffickers
also filed restitution suits, two of which remained ongoing at
the end of the reporting period; in one case, the judge required
the defendant to pay damages to the victim but she did not
receive the funds due to an ongoing appeal. It is unclear if
courts finished adjudicating any of the 20 restitution suits filed
by trafficking victims in the previous reporting period. The
government could grant temporary residency status to foreign
victims who, if deported, may face hardship or retribution;
however, it did not report use of this accommodation during the
reporting period. The government punished trafficking victims
for unlawful acts committed as a direct result of being subjected
to trafficking. In one case, a judge convicted and sentenced a
14-year-old trafficking victim to 18 months imprisonment when
his trafficker—who had refused to pay the child—accused him
of stealing a cow. Due to a lack of formal victim identification
procedures, including measures to identify victims among
vulnerable populations, some victims may have remained
unidentified in the law enforcement system. In March 2017,
the government deported more than 2,600 undocumented
Nigerian refugees without screening for indicators of trafficking.

PREVENTION

The government maintained prevention efforts, but its
inadequate provision of resources to national and regional
coordinating bodies impeded coordination on anti-trafficking
initiatives. Unlike in previous years, the prime minister’s office
did not convene the inter-ministerial anti-trafficking committee,
nor did it coordinate efforts to implement the 2014-2019 antitrafficking national action plan. While the government did
not provide funding to implement the plan, some ministries
undertook efforts to assist street children and unemployed
youth vulnerable to trafficking. Government-funded awareness
campaigns sensitized more than 10,000 students and
vulnerable street children to trafficking. MINAS provided
family reunification and reinsertion care to 215 street children
vulnerable to trafficking. The Northwest regional taskforce,

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CANADA

comprised of social welfare agencies, police, gendarmerie,
magistrates, and NGOs, lacked the resources and training to
fulfill its mandate. The previously established taskforces in the
Southwest and Littoral regions were not operational during
the reporting period, and the government did not establish
taskforces in the remaining seven regions. In an attempt to
reduce the number of Cameroonian women exploited in Kuwait,
the government banned all women and youth from traveling
to the Middle East from the Douala airport; to circumvent
the ban, however, migrant workers began transiting Nigeria
en route to the Middle East, increasing their vulnerability to
trafficking. To reduce the demand for commercial sex acts,
MINAS continued its public awareness campaign against child
sexual exploitation, and law enforcement arrested purchasers of
commercial sex; the government did not make efforts to reduce
the demand for forced labor. The government provided briefings
on international humanitarian law and the requirements
governing international peacekeeping missions to members
of the Cameroonian armed forces prior to their deployment
abroad on such missions; it is unclear whether these trainings
included anti-trafficking modules. In the previous reporting
period, allegations arose that Cameroonian peacekeepers
deployed to the UN mission in the Central African Republic
(CAR) sexually exploited civilians; the government did not
provide an update on the cases during the reporting period.
The government reported providing anti-trafficking training
for its diplomatic personnel.

TRAFFICKING PROFILE

As reported over the past five years, Cameroon is a source,
transit, and destination country for women and children
subjected to forced labor and sex trafficking and a source
country for men in forced labor. Child traffickers often use the
promise of education or a better life in the city to convince
rural parents to give their children over to an intermediary, who
then exploits the children in sex trafficking or forced labor;
traffickers also kidnap victims, as heightened public awareness
of trafficking has led parents to be less willing to give their
children to intermediaries. Sometimes relatives subject children
to sex trafficking within the country. Homeless children and
orphans are especially vulnerable to trafficking. Teenagers and
adolescents from economically disadvantaged families are often
lured to cities by the prospect of employment but are subjected
to labor or sex trafficking. Cameroonian children are exploited
in domestic service, restaurants, begging or vending on streets
and highways, artisanal gold mining, gravel quarries, fishing,
animal breeding, and agriculture (on onion, cotton, tea and
cocoa plantations), as well as in urban transportation assisting
bus drivers and in construction as errand boys, laborers, or
night watchmen. In northern regions, parents send young
boys—known as talibes—to study at Quranic schools, where
some are exploited in forced begging by corrupt teachers. Reports
document hereditary slavery in northern chiefdoms. Children
from neighboring countries are exploited in spare parts shops
or by herders in northern Cameroon and transit the country
en route to Gabon and Equatorial Guinea.

118

Cameroonian women and men are lured to Europe and
other regions by fraudulent internet marriage proposals or
offers of well-paying jobs, and subsequently are subjected
to forced prostitution or forced labor, especially in domestic
servitude. Cameroonians from disadvantaged social strata,
rural areas, and students are increasingly exploited in forced
labor and sex trafficking in the Middle East—especially Kuwait
and Lebanon—as well as in Europe—including Finland—
the United States, and multiple African countries, including
Nigeria. Some Cameroonian women reported being recruited

for domestic work in Kuwait but sold at “slave shops” upon
arrival for sex trafficking. Trafficking networks typically involve
destination-country recruitment agencies that use Cameroonian
intermediaries to fraudulently recruit fellow Cameroonians for
work abroad. Reports suggest local awareness-raising activities
targeting fraudulent recruitment have caused intermediaries
to operate with greater discretion, often directing victims
to travel to the Middle East through neighboring countries,
including Nigeria. Some evidence indicates Cameroonian
trafficking networks in Morocco force women into prostitution.
Cameroonian women also transit Morocco en route to Europe,
where they are often forced into prostitution by European
trafficking networks.
Adults and children from CAR and Nigeria are lured to
Cameroon by the prospect of better opportunities but subjected
to labor trafficking. Refugees from CAR and Nigeria, as well
as displaced Cameroonians fleeing insecurity in border areas,
are vulnerable to human trafficking in Cameroon, especially
in urban areas. Nigerian traffickers increasingly bring Nigerian
children to major Cameroonian cities for forced labor in spare
parts shops. The terrorist organization Boko Haram continued
to forcibly recruit Cameroonian children, and Cameroon was
also a destination for Nigerian women and girls used as forced
suicide bombers and boys used as child soldiers by Boko
Haram. An NGO alleged some officially sanctioned community
neighborhood watch groups (vigilance committees) may
have used and recruited children during the reporting period,
including children as young as 12 years old. It also alleged
these groups participated in military operations alongside the
government security forces and received financial and material
support from the government.

CANADA: TIER 1
The Government of Canada fully meets the minimum standards
for the elimination of trafficking. The Government of Canada
continued to demonstrate serious and sustained efforts during
the reporting period; therefore, Canada remained on Tier 1.
The government demonstrated serious and sustained efforts
by operating a national anti-trafficking taskforce to coordinate,
monitor, and report on efforts to combat trafficking; launching
an initiative that improved the government’s ability to identify
the laundering of trafficking proceeds; and increasing efforts
to prevent trafficking, particularly related to forced labor.
Although the government meets the minimum standards, it
identified fewer trafficking victims than in the previous year
and did not improve access to or funding for trauma-informed
care and specialized services. For the third consecutive year, the
government did not convict any labor traffickers.

RECOMMENDATIONS FOR CANADA

Increase specialized services and shelter available to all trafficking
victims, in partnership with civil society and through dedicated
funding from federal and provincial governments; increase
use of proactive law enforcement techniques to investigate

PROSECUTION

The government maintained efforts to hold traffickers criminally
accountable, although most efforts focused on sex trafficking.
Criminal code sections 279.01 and 279.011 criminalize all
forms of human trafficking, prescribing penalties of four to 14
years imprisonment for trafficking adults and five to 14 years
imprisonment for trafficking children. Aggravating factors such
as kidnapping, sexual assault, or death increase the mandatory
minimum penalty to five years and the maximum penalty to
life imprisonment for trafficking adults and six years to life
imprisonment for trafficking children. Such penalties are
sufficiently stringent and commensurate with those for other
serious crimes. Section 279.02 also makes it a crime to receive
financial or any other material benefit from trafficking and
prescribes a maximum penalty of 10 years imprisonment with
adult victims and a mandatory minimum of two years to a
maximum of 14 years imprisonment with child victims. Section
279.03 makes it a crime to withhold or destroy documents
to facilitate trafficking; and prescribes a maximum penalty of
five years imprisonment for adult victims and a mandatory
minimum of one year to a maximum of 10 years imprisonment
for child victims.
In 2016, police charged 107 individuals in 68 trafficking cases
(none for labor trafficking) compared to 112 individuals in 63
cases in 2015. Prosecutions continued against 300 individuals,
including 34 suspected labor traffickers, compared to 314
individuals, including 24 suspected labor traffickers, in 2015.
The courts convicted 10 sex traffickers and no labor traffickers
in 2016, compared to six sex traffickers in 2015 and imposed
sentences ranging from six months to nine and a half years
imprisonment, comparable with 2015. NGOs noted a continued
imbalance in the government’s anti-trafficking efforts, with
greater attention to and understanding of sex trafficking versus
forced labor. NGOs and other non-governmental experts
indicated police and prosecutors’ understanding of human
trafficking varied, leading some officials to categorize trafficking
cases as other crimes or to bring civil instead of criminal
charges. The government launched a new project to identify and
report financial transactions suspected of being linked to the
laundering of proceeds from trafficking, which resulted in 102
disclosures nationwide in 2016, compared to 19 in 2015. Federal
and provincial authorities conducted training sessions for law
enforcement, immigration, and labor officials and maintained
online training courses offered to social, child protection victim
services, and shelter workers. Some law enforcement officials
reported, however, that not all immigration officials received
anti-trafficking training. The federal Royal Canadian Mounted
Police (RCMP) included trafficking in the national academy
training for all new recruits, trained 68 police officers in an indepth human trafficking investigators’ course, and maintained
a national anti-trafficking enforcement unit in Quebec. The
government did not report any investigations, prosecutions,
or convictions of government employees complicit in human
trafficking offenses.

PROTECTION

The government maintained protection efforts, but identified
fewer trafficking victims than in previous years, provided a
limited number of shelter beds, did not improve access to
services, and lacked trauma-informed care. Police identified
77 new victims in trafficking-specific cases in 2016, compared
with 99 victims in 2015. Of these, 71 were female, one was
male, and the gender of five victims was unknown; 31 were
children; all were victims of sex trafficking. Authorities reported
a total of 367 trafficking victims related to current and ongoing
cases before the courts where trafficking-specific charges were
laid. Police and prosecutors screened potential trafficking
cases using established indicators, including during proactive
operations such as “Northern Spotlight,” which resulted
in the identification of 16 potential victims. Immigration
officials updated the Canada Border Services Agency. Victim
Identification and Referral Manual in 2016 and continued to
implement guidelines to assess whether foreign nationals were
potential trafficking victims. Civil society reported provincial
and territorial governments often lacked adequate resources
and personnel to monitor effectively the labor conditions of
temporary foreign workers or to identify proactively human
trafficking victims among vulnerable groups.

CANADA

human trafficking, particularly forced labor; intensify efforts
to prosecute and convict traffickers; increase training for
government officials, particularly for prosecutors and judges;
improve coordination and communication among federal,
provincial, and territorial actors and strengthen provincial
interagency efforts; investigate and prosecute Canadian child
sex tourists; and improve trafficking data collection, including
documentation of numbers of identified victims and assistance
provided.

The government did not report the number of trafficking
victims assisted in 2016; the government reported it assisted
trafficking victims through its crime victim assistance regime,
which relied on Justice Canada’s funding to provincial and
territorial governments. The government provided access to
services depending on the jurisdiction where the crime victim
resided, with each province or territory using a police-based,
court-based, or system-based service delivery model. Services
included emergency financial assistance, food, housing, health
services, and legal services. NGOs, with provincial and federal
support, also provided specific services, as did provincial crime
victim assistance centers, where available. Services generally
included shelter, legal and immigration services, medical
care, psychological and crisis counseling, income support,
and interpretation. Under the Canadian Crime Victims Bill of
Rights, a victim may request information about the offender’s
conviction and has opportunities to present information to
decision-makers for consideration, protection, and restitution;
the government did not provide information on whether
trafficking victims accessed these rights. There were no reports
that victims filed for or obtained restitution in 2016.
In 2016, Public Safety Canada (PSC) issued a call for proposals
and awarded two NGOs grants to develop housing response
models to address the specific needs of trafficking victims. Two
NGOs, with municipal, provincial, and federal government
funding, opened new trafficking-specific transitional housing
projects with services. Despite these advances, NGOs reported
only 24 shelter beds specifically dedicated to trafficking victims
nationwide. As a result, social workers had to relocate some
victims to provinces that had available housing. The government
provided access to health care benefits to foreign victims through
the interim federal health program or through provincial or
territorial health insurance programs. NGOs reported significant
problems accessing such programs, especially when victims were
not cooperating with law enforcement. NGOs also reported
a need for more trauma-informed care for victims, who were
sometimes re-traumatized by the health care system. The
government allocated 2.4 million Canadian dollars ($1.78
million) to 25 NGOs during 2016 to enhance multi-disciplinary
child advocacy centers, which provided specific services to child
trafficking victims. The government, through the Department
of Justice, designated 500,000 Canadian dollars ($371,471)

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CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC

for projects to improve trafficking victim services in 2016 as
in previous years. Experts reported some shelters for victims of
domestic violence would not accept trafficking victims due to
the complexity of their needs and out of fear of their traffickers.
Although some provincial governments dedicated funding
to victim assistance, Quebec’s Victim Assistance Fund did
not compensate or provide funding or services to women in
prostitution, even if the woman was identified as a sex trafficking
victim. Manitoba funded initiatives to identify and assist victims
of sexual exploitation, including sex trafficking victims, with
a focus on indigenous communities. Part of Ontario’s $53.97
million anti-human trafficking strategy is aimed at improving
survivor’s access to services such as housing, mental health
services, and trauma counseling. In Ontario, however, children
16 and older were not eligible for child protective care and were
often diverted to co-ed youth shelters, leaving them vulnerable
to recruitment into sex trafficking. The range, quality, and timely
delivery of services varied, although most provinces could offer
trafficking victims access to shelter services intended for victims
of violence or the homeless population, short-term counseling,
court assistance, and other services.
Foreign trafficking victims could apply for a temporary resident
permit (TRP) to remain in Canada, which entitled victims to
access health care and receive a work permit. The government
issued TRPs to 67 foreign victims in 2016, compared with
44 TRPs in 2015. Twenty-six permits were issued to first-time
recipients; 41 were issued to persons who had previously
received TRPs. In comparison, authorities granted TRPs to
19 foreign victims in 2014. The government provides foreign
trafficking victims eligibility for short-term 180-day temporary
resident permits or long-term TRPs, which are valid up to three
years. TRP holders could apply for fee-exempt work permits,
but it was unclear how many foreign victims received permits in
2016. Some government officials and NGOs reported difficulties
and delays in getting TRPs for foreign victims. While victims
waited to receive TRPs, they could not access government
services, but could receive assistance from NGOs. There were
no reports that the government penalized identified victims
for crimes committed as a direct result of being subjected to
human trafficking.

PREVENTION

120

The government increased prevention efforts. PSC led a
federal interagency taskforce; published regular anti-trafficking
newsletters; and released annual progress reports. PSC also
hosted a national forum for provincial and regional governments
and NGOs in 2016 that yielded recommendations to develop
further training, data collection, peer-led outreach, programs
that reflect geographical and cultural contexts, and wrap-around
services for victims. The government-funded and promoted
awareness-raising campaigns, in partnership with civil society,
aimed at indigenous people, youth, law enforcement, and the
public. The RCMP Human Trafficking National Coordination
Center and three regional human trafficking awareness
coordinators in the provinces of British Columbia, Quebec,
and Nova Scotia served as anti-trafficking points of contact
for law enforcement across the country and participated in
meetings to share local strategies, best practices, and successful
cases. British Columbia’s provincial anti-trafficking office
continued to conduct training, prevention, and awareness
activities. The government of Ontario developed and published
a comprehensive, survivor-focused provincial anti-trafficking
strategy and established an anti-human trafficking office to
implement the strategy. The province allocated $54 million

over five years to address human trafficking, and in December
2016 hired indigenous liaisons to work with native communities
whose members are at risk of being trafficked. NGOs cited the
need for better coordination among the federal, provincial, and
territorial governments on anti-trafficking law enforcement.
Authorities provided information to temporary foreign workers
to let them know where to seek assistance in cases of exploitation
or abuse. The government worked closely with the governments
of Mexico and Caribbean countries to ensure that Canada’s
seasonal agricultural program provided workers with access to
information on their rights and available consular and other
services. Although the government modified the temporary
foreign worker program to increase detection of abuse and
prioritize Canadian employees over lower-paid migrants, it
is not clear whether the measures led to the identification of
any potential trafficking victims. According to NGO contacts,
Canada’s temporary foreign worker program continues to be
a vehicle for human trafficking. The government conducted
outreach to domestic workers of foreign diplomats to prevent
and identify trafficking cases, but did not report whether the
outreach led to new cases. Authorities continued to distribute a
publication warning Canadians traveling abroad about penalties
under Canada’s child sex tourism law. The Department of
Justice reported sentencing one child sex tourist and designating
the individual a long-term sex offender in 2015, but did not
report any convictions in 2016. The government provided
more than 14.6 million Canadian dollars ($10.85 million) to
support anti-trafficking initiatives in more than 16 countries
globally. The government made efforts to reduce the demand
for commercial sex and forced labor through awareness-raising,
training, and research. The government began to identify
ways to address risks of trafficking in the federal supply chain
in 2016. The government provided anti-trafficking training
for its diplomatic personnel. Canadian authorities provided
anti-trafficking information to Canadian military forces prior
to their deployment on international peacekeeping missions.

TRAFFICKING PROFILE

Canada is a source, transit, and destination country for men,
women, and children subjected to sex trafficking, and a
destination country for men and women subjected to forced
labor. Women and girls from indigenous communities,
migrants, at-risk youth, runaway youth, and girls in the child
welfare system are especially vulnerable. Foreign women,
primarily from Asia and Eastern Europe, are subjected to
sex trafficking in Canada. Law enforcement officials report
traffickers include individuals, family-based operations, some
local street gangs, and transnational criminal organizations.
Labor trafficking victims include workers from Eastern Europe,
Asia, Latin America, and Africa who enter Canada legally, but
are subsequently subjected to forced labor in a variety of sectors,
including agriculture, construction, food processing plants,
restaurants, the hospitality sector, or as domestic workers,
including diplomatic households. Canada is a source country
for tourists who travel abroad to engage in sex acts with children.
Canadian trafficking victims have been exploited in the United
States.

CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC: TIER 3
The Government of the Central African Republic (CAR) does
not fully meet the minimum standards for the elimination
of trafficking and is not making significant efforts to do so;

RECOMMENDATIONS FOR CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC

Demobilize and reintegrate child soldiers from armed
groups and self-defense units; increase efforts to investigate,
prosecute, convict, and adequately sentence traffickers,
specifically government officials or armed group members
who unlawfully recruit child soldiers; take concrete steps to
provide comprehensive protection services to victims of all
forms of trafficking, and ensure trafficking victims, including
child soldiers, are not punished for unlawful acts committed
as a direct result of being subjected to human trafficking; hold
court hearings for suspected trafficking cases; thoroughly vet
incoming members of the reconstituted Central African Armed
Forces (FACA) to ensure soldiers who have committed abuses
against children are not reintegrated; train law enforcement
officials and magistrates to use the penal code’s anti-trafficking
provisions to investigate and prosecute trafficking offenses; in
collaboration with NGOs and the international community,
provide care to demobilized child soldiers and children in
commercial sexual exploitation and forced labor; draft and
implement a national action plan to combat all forms of human
trafficking; and increase efforts to educate and encourage the
public and relevant governmental authorities to identify and
report trafficking victims among vulnerable populations, such
as women in prostitution, street children, children associated
with armed groups, and Ba’aka minorities.

PROSECUTION

The government maintained insufficient anti-trafficking law
enforcement efforts during the reporting period. Article 151 of
the penal code criminalizes all forms of trafficking in persons
and prescribes penalties of five to 10 years imprisonment, which
are sufficiently stringent and commensurate with penalties
prescribed for other serious offenses, such as rape. If the offense
involves a child victim of sex trafficking or forced labor similar
to slavery, the prescribed penalty is life imprisonment with
hard labor. Articles 7 and 8 of the January 2009 Labor Code
criminalizes forced and bonded labor and prescribes sufficiently
stringent penalties of five to 10 years imprisonment.

The government did not report prosecuting any trafficking cases
or convicting any traffickers, and has not done so since 2008.
Traditional dispute resolution methods were widely practiced
throughout the country to punish criminal acts, often to the
exclusion of formal legal proceedings. The government did
not report any investigations, prosecutions, or convictions of
government employees complicit in human trafficking offenses.
The government did not provide anti-trafficking training to law
enforcement, prosecutors, or judges.

PROTECTION

The government made negligible efforts to identify and protect
victims. It did not report assisting or referring to care any
trafficking victims during the year. The government reported
there were 39 child trafficking victims, 22 boys and 17 girls,
ages 9-17, who were identified by international organizations;
however, it did not report referring these children to care. The
government did not have or develop measures for the proactive
identification of victims among vulnerable groups or enact a
standardized system for referring identified victims to NGOs
to receive care. The Ministry of Social Affairs continued to
provide financial support to an NGO for the operation of an
orphanage to house and assist children, including potential
trafficking victims; however, it is unknown if any trafficking
victims received assistance at this orphanage. The government
could refer trafficking victims to NGOs that accept, but do
not specialize in assisting, trafficking victims; however, the
government did not report referring any victims to assistance
from NGOs or other service providers. Without a formal
identification process, victims may have remained unidentified
in the law enforcement system, facing detention or penalization.
In previous years, reports indicated the government arrested
and jailed individuals engaged in commercial sex, some of
whom may have been trafficking victims, without verifying
their ages or attempting to identify indicators of trafficking; it
is unknown whether the government punished any individuals
for engaging in commercial sex during this reporting period. The
government did not provide legal alternatives to the removal of
foreign victims to countries where they may face hardship or
retribution; however, no such victims were identified during the
reporting period. An international organization, in partnership
with the government, provided medical care and psychological
services for demobilized child soldiers. No other specialized
care was available for child or adult trafficking victims in the
country. The law allows victims to file civil suits against the
government or their alleged traffickers for restitution; however,
there were no reports this occurred during the reporting period.

CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC

therefore, the Central African Republic remained on Tier 3.
Despite the lack of significant efforts, the government took
some steps to address trafficking by establishing the national
Disarmament, Demobilization, Reinsertion, and Repatriation
(DDRR) Consultative Committee and continuing to support
the operation of an orphanage that could house potential
trafficking victims. However, the government did not report
prosecuting or convicting any traffickers. It also did not identify,
provide protection to, or refer to assistance any trafficking
victims. The government did not conduct any anti-trafficking
awareness campaigns or provide any anti-trafficking training
for law enforcement, prosecutors, or judges. According to an
international organization, the government took no action to
hold accountable armed groups that recruited and used child
soldiers during the reporting period. Several international
NGOs reported their anti-trafficking efforts were inhibited by
harassment from local officials and general corruption.

PREVENTION

The government maintained minimal anti-trafficking prevention
efforts during the reporting period. During the reporting period
the government established the national DDRR Consultative
Committee, responsible for engaging armed groups in the formal
DDRC process, including obtaining the release of child soldiers
and other children being used by armed groups and ensuring
appropriate care is provided; however, they did not report any
tangible decisions for the reporting period. The government did
not make any progress in drafting or implementing a national
action plan to combat trafficking. The government did not
have an effective policy on holding foreign labor recruiters
liable for fraudulent recruitment. The government did not
report any efforts to raise awareness of human trafficking. The
government did not report any measures to reduce the demand
for commercial sex acts or forced labor, and did not provide
anti-trafficking training for its diplomatic personnel.

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CHAD

TRAFFICKING PROFILE

As reported over the past five years, CAR is a source, transit,
and destination country for children subjected to forced labor
and sex trafficking, women subjected to forced prostitution,
and adults subjected to forced labor. Observers report most
victims are CAR citizens exploited within the country, and a
smaller number transported between CAR and Cameroon, Chad,
Nigeria, Republic of the Congo, Democratic Republic of the
Congo (DRC), Sudan, or South Sudan. Traffickers, as well as
transient merchants and herders, subject children to domestic
servitude, commercial sexual exploitation, and forced labor in
agriculture, artisanal gold and diamond mines, shops, and street
vending. Within the country, children are at risk of becoming
victims of forced labor, and Ba’aka (pygmy) minorities are at
risk of becoming victims of forced agricultural work, especially
in the region around the Lobaye rainforest. Girls are at risk of
being exploited in commercial sex in urban centers. Girls forced
into marriages are often subjected to domestic servitude, sexual
slavery, and possibly sex trafficking.
Surges in violent conflict in recent years resulted in chronic
instability and the displacement of nearly one million
people, increasing the vulnerability of men, women, and
children to forced labor and sex trafficking. In March 2017,
more than 402,000 people remained internally displaced and
approximately 464,000 sought refuge in neighboring countries.
There is limited information about the forms of exploitation
believed to have increased as a result of years of conflict. The
recruitment and use of children by armed groups, at times
through force, particularly among armed groups aligned with
the former Seleka government and the organized village selfdefense units fighting against it known as the anti-Balaka,
has been widely documented. An international organization
reported between 6,000 and 10,000 children were recruited by
armed groups during the latest conflict through 2015; some
remain under the control of these armed groups. On May 5,
2015, as part of the Bangui Forum for National Reconciliation,
10 armed groups operating in the country agreed to release all
children under their control and cease recruitment of child
soldiers; however, an international organization reports that
during the reporting period, some armed groups are recruiting
child soldiers again. Between April and September 2016, 389
children were separated from armed groups. The program
for the withdrawal, reintegration, and reintegration into the
community of Children Associated with Armed Forces or Groups
(EAFGA), which began with the signing of the Bangui Forum
Agreement in May 2015, continued and to date 7,506 children
were removed from armed groups through this program. The
government remained without an effective disarmament,
demobilization, and reintegration program. Children formerly
associated with armed groups remained at risk of re-recruitment;
for example, one armed group re-recruited approximately 150
children in January 2016. Additionally, reports indicated that
some anti-Balaka fighters held ethnic Peuhl women and girls
as sex slaves. UN Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization
Mission in the Central African Republic (MINUSCA) helped to
facilitate the rescue of over 90 Peuhl held hostages in southwest
for many months.

122

MINUSCA has over 10,000 peacekeeping forces and police in
CAR to protect civilians, provide security, support humanitarian
operations, and promote and protect human rights, among other
objectives; however, allegations of sexual abuse by peacekeepers
within MINUSCA persisted during the reporting period. The
UN reported receiving 50 allegations of sexual exploitation
and abuse by MINUSCA Peacekeepers by December 2016,
including 16 incidents which reportedly occurred in 2016, some

of which may have involved trafficking victims. Peacekeepers
from the DRC and the Republic of Congo allegedly perpetrated
the majority of these 50 reported cases; however, soldiers from
Bangladesh, Morocco, Niger, Senegal, Cameroon, Egypt, and
Mauritania were also reportedly involved. In August 2016,
MINUSCA peacekeepers and UN civilian staff were also accused
of multiple cases of sexual abuse in the country, including the
alleged rape by a UN peacekeeper of a 12-year-old girl. More
than 100 cases were reported since MINUSCA’s inception in
September, 2014.
The Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA), a Ugandan rebel group that
operates in CAR’s eastern regions, continued to enslave Central
African, South Sudanese, Congolese, and Ugandan boys and
girls for use as cooks, porters, concubines, and combatants.
Some of these children may have been taken back and forth
across borders into South Sudan or the DRC. In 2016, the LRA
abducted 299 people, compared to 217 people abducted in the
previous reporting period. One quarter of the abductions were
children, 41 of whom are still missing or in captivity. The LRA
also committed abductions, forced girls into marriages, and
forced children to commit atrocities such as looting and burning
villages, killing village residents, and abducting or killing
other children. During the reporting period, an international
organization reported the LRA abducted at least six children,
from a mining camp site in Lipoutou, and 16 people were
attacked and abducted by LRA forces in Mbomou; however, it
is unclear if they were consequently enslaved. Similar actions
by other armed groups are frequently attributed to the LRA.

CHAD: TIER 2 WATCH LIST
The Government of Chad does not fully meet the minimum
standards for the elimination of trafficking; however, it is making
significant efforts to do so. The government demonstrated
significant efforts during the reporting period by identifying
at least two trafficking victims. It implemented some measures
to prevent the recruitment and use of child soldiers by training
members of the military and verifying the age of entrants at
military centers. However, the government did not demonstrate
overall increasing efforts compared to the previous reporting
period. The government reported a decrease in the number
of investigations, prosecutions, and convictions compared to
the previous year. It did not provide specialized services for
trafficking victims and did not systematically refer victims to
NGOs or international organizations for care. Therefore, Chad
was downgraded to Tier 2 Watch List.

RECOMMENDATIONS FOR CHAD

Enact legislation prohibiting all forms of trafficking in persons
and prescribing sufficiently stringent punishments; strengthen
enforcement of existing laws to combat trafficking in persons;
vigorously investigate and prosecute suspected trafficking
offenders and sentence them to time in prison; provide
training to magistrates on managing trafficking and applying

PROSECUTION

The government decreased law enforcement efforts. Existing laws
do not specifically prohibit trafficking, though they do prohibit
forced prostitution and many types of labor exploitation.
Article 20 of the Constitution prohibits slavery and servitude.
Title 5 of the labor code prohibits forced and bonded labor,
prescribing penalties ranging from six days to three months of
imprisonment or a fine of 147,000 to 294,000 ($236-$473)
Central African CFA francs (FCFA) or up to 882,000 CFA
($1,419) for repeat offenders; these penalties are not sufficiently
stringent to deter this form of trafficking and do not reflect the
serious nature of the crimes. Penal code articles 279 and 280
prohibit the “prostitution” of children, prescribing punishments
of five to 10 years imprisonment and fines up to 1,000,000
FCFA ($1,608); Title 5 of the labor code punishes forced labor
and servitude with fines ranging from 50,000 FCFA to 500,000
FCFA ($80 to $804). These penalties are sufficiently stringent
and commensurate with penalties prescribed for other serious
crimes. Pimping and owning brothels are prohibited under
penal code articles 281 and 282. The African Charter on the
Rights and Welfare of the Child, the January 1991 Ordinance
on the Reorganization of the Armed Forces, and the Optimal
Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child prohibit
recruitment of children younger than 18 years; punishment for
those who violate this provision is at the discretion of military
justice officials. In December 2016, the National Assembly
passed an updated penal code at the end of the reporting
period that required presidential proclamation at the end
of the reporting period before it could be enacted into law;
it includes 16 articles specifically criminalizing trafficking in
persons and is intended to align Chad’s law with the 2000 UN
TIP Protocol. Draft revisions to the child protection code, also
including provisions criminalizing trafficking in persons, awaits
the President’s proclamation and enactment.
Although the government did not collect comprehensive law
enforcement data, it initiated one investigation which led to
the prosecution of one marabout for the alleged forced begging
of two Quranic school students; the suspect was in detention
while this case remained pending at the close of the reporting
period. The government did not report any convictions. These
efforts represent a decrease compared with six investigations,
four prosecutions, and three convictions during the previous
reporting period. The government did not report any new
investigations, prosecutions, or convictions of complicit officials;
however, NGOs reported of some local officials’ complicity in
trafficking during the reporting period. During the previous
reporting period, authorities arrested the police commissioner of
the city of Kelo on suspicion of involvement in child trafficking;
however, after initial investigation for kidnapping, officials
released the suspect from custody and, while the case remained
open, it was unknown whether officials continued to actively
investigate the charge. In 2016, the Chadian National Police
Child Protective Services (Brigade des Mineurs) continued to

investigate child abuse and exploitation, including trafficking.

PROTECTION

The government decreased efforts to identify and protect
trafficking victims. It did not officially report the number of
victims identified or referred to protection services, although
it identified at least two victims whom it referred to a public
hospital for immediate care. These efforts represent a decrease
from 13 victims identified in 2015. Regional committees,
located in eight regions in Chad, identified and referred an
unknown number of victims to protective services, but these
service agencies lacked adequate resources to fully investigate
every case. The government continued to lack formal victim
identification and referral procedures. The government did not
finalize or begin implementation of its draft guide for security
forces, NGOs, social workers, and civil society outlining steps
to assist suspected trafficking victims, such as informing the
police and referring victims to social services or local NGOs. The
guide also details what role different institutions have during an
investigation and provides guidance on social services, health
centers, and shelters, as well as information about how to
reunite victims with their families when possible. Inadequate
human and financial resources severely limited the government’s
ability to provide adequate services to victims of all crimes,
including trafficking victims. The government continued to
provide limited in-kind contributions and social services to
victims of crime through a joint agreement with UNICEF,
though these services were not specific to the needs of trafficking
victims. Through this joint agreement, the government also
provided facilities to UNICEF, which used the buildings as
shelters for victims of crime, including trafficking victims.
During the reporting period, these multipurpose shelters were
used to provide shelter and services to an unknown number
of children; the government ultimately reunited the children
with their families. The government did not have a formal
policy to offer temporary or permanent residency for foreign
victims of trafficking. There were no reports the government
punished trafficking victims for unlawful acts committed as a
direct result of being subjected to human trafficking.

CHAD

penalties that have a deterrent effect under existing laws;
provide specialized anti-trafficking training to law enforcement
officers and prosecutors; work with NGOs and international
organizations to increase the provision of protective services
to all trafficking victims, including children exploited in sex
trafficking or forced into cattle herding or domestic service;
allocate regular funding to support the activities of the interministerial committee on trafficking in persons, including
funding for victim protection efforts; and raise public awareness
of trafficking issues, particularly at the local level among tribal
leaders and other members of the traditional justice system.

PREVENTION

The government decreased efforts to prevent trafficking. The
inter-ministerial committee responsible for coordinating
government efforts to combat trafficking did not convene
due to cabinet reshuffles throughout the reporting period. The
government made no discernible efforts to raise awareness on
trafficking or reduce the demand for forced labor or commercial
sex during the reporting period. The government provided
Chadian troops human rights training, which included antitrafficking training, prior to their deployment abroad on
international peacekeeping missions, in collaboration with a
foreign donor. The government did not provide anti-trafficking
training or guidance for its diplomatic personnel.

TRAFFICKING PROFILE

Chad is a source, transit, and destination country for children
subjected to forced labor and sex trafficking. The country’s
trafficking problem is primarily internal and frequently involves
children being entrusted to relatives or intermediaries in return
for promises of education, apprenticeship, goods, or money,
and subsequently subjected to forced labor in domestic service
or herding. Children are subjected to forced labor as beggars
and agricultural laborers. Some children who leave their villages
to attend traditional Quranic schools are forced into begging,

123

CHILE

street vending, or other labor. Child herders, some of whom
are victims of forced labor, follow traditional routes for grazing
cattle and, at times, cross ill-defined international borders into
Cameroon, Central African Republic, Sudan, and Nigeria.
Some of these children are sold in markets for use in cattle or
camel herding. In some cases, child herders are subjected to
forced labor by military or local government officials. Chadian
girls travel to larger towns in search of work, where some are
subsequently subjected to child sex trafficking or are abused in
domestic servitude; child sex trafficking is also a concern among
refugees and IDPs in Chad. NGOs report that the Nigerian
terrorist groups Boko Haram and its offshoot Islamic StateWest Africa are involved in child trafficking. In the Lake Chad
area, since May 2015, attacks by Boko Haram and concurrent
government military operations increased the number of IDPs, a
population vulnerable to trafficking, to 76,225. Vigilante groups
in Chad may have recruited and used children in armed conflict.

CHILE: TIER 1
The Government of Chile fully meets the minimum standards
for the elimination of trafficking. The government continued
to demonstrate serious and sustained efforts during the
reporting period; therefore, Chile remained on Tier 1. The
government demonstrated serious and sustained efforts by
pursuing more prosecutions and obtaining more convictions
under the trafficking statute, increasing funding for victim
services, assisting a greater number of child sex trafficking
victims, and developing a national identification and referral
mechanism. Although the government meets the minimum
standards, weak sentences for trafficking convictions continued
to hamper efforts to deter and hold traffickers accountable.
The government continued to prosecute and convict internal
child sex trafficking cases under a law that does not prescribe
penalties commensurate with other serious crimes.

RECOMMENDATIONS FOR CHILE

Increase efforts to penalize traffickers with dissuasive sentences
proportionate to the severity of the crime; investigate, prosecute,
and convict all forms of human trafficking, including internal
child sex trafficking, under law 20.507; expand access to
specialized shelters for victims, including male victims and
victims outside the capital; issue guidance to law enforcement
and members of the judiciary clarifying that third-party
prostitution of children is sex trafficking; encourage members
of the judiciary to order restitution on behalf of all victims
of trafficking who request it; strengthen law enforcement’s
capacity to respond to trafficking victims, including by providing
translation services when needed; increase legal representation
to victims who wish to seek restitution from their exploiters;
develop guidelines for officials to screen for trafficking indicators
for children involved in illicit activities; and make efforts to
reduce the demand of commercial sex and forced labor.

124

PROSECUTION

The government increased prosecution efforts, although
imposed penalties for convicted traffickers were inadequate
as none of the eight convicted traffickers served prison terms.
Law 20.507 prohibits all forms of human trafficking, prescribing
penalties ranging from five years and one day to 15 years
imprisonment, plus fines, for trafficking offenses. These
penalties are sufficiently stringent and commensurate with
those prescribed for other serious crimes, such as rape. Chilean
officials continued to investigate and prosecute many internal
child sex trafficking cases under article 367 of the penal code,
which penalizes promoting or facilitating child sex trafficking.
Minimum penalties for this crime range from three to five years
imprisonment, which is commensurate with those for other
serious crimes, such as kidnapping, although well below those
for rape. In practice, judges frequently suspended or commuted
sentences of individuals convicted of serious offenses, including
human trafficking. Anti-trafficking police units opened 23
new investigations in 2016, four for sex trafficking and 19 for
labor trafficking, compared with 15 cases in 2015, seven for sex
trafficking and eight for labor trafficking. Authorities prosecuted
109 cases, 103 under article 367 for promoting and facilitating
child sex trafficking, and six under law 20.507 for trafficking,
compared with 94 prosecutions in 2015 (91 under article
367 and three under law 20.507). The government obtained
convictions for eight traffickers, three under article 367 and five
under law 20.507 (two for sex trafficking and three for labor
trafficking), an increase from three under article 367 and none
under law 20.507 in 2015. However, none of the traffickers
convicted during the reporting period were sentenced to terms
of incarceration, although some were in pre-trial detention.
Convicted traffickers were sentenced to probation, a penalty
inadequate given the severity of the crime. In contrast, in
2015, the government sentenced two of the three convicted
traffickers to three years imprisonment and the third trafficker
to daily overnight imprisonment. The government obtained its
first labor trafficking conviction, handed down by a panel of
judges in a bench trial, in a case in which three children from
Ecuador were forced to work 12-hour days, seven days a week
selling clothes and handicrafts on the street in cold weather
and doing domestic work in the home of two Ecuadorian
nationals. The children were never paid and had no access
to education or medical services. The defendants were found
guilty and sentenced to probation. In another labor trafficking
case involving one child from Ecuador, defendants provided
restitution in the amount of 5 million pesos ($7,480) as part
of a settlement and were sentenced to 5 years probation. The
government did not report any prosecutions or convictions of
government officials allegedly complicit in human trafficking
offenses during 2016. The former deputy police chief who had
been investigated for his alleged involvement in the commercial
sexual exploitation of children was convicted of sexual abuse
after the investigations concluded he had not been a part of
the trafficking ring.
The government provided specialized training on trafficking to
more than 420 officials in 2016, including law enforcement,
prosecutors, justice officials, often in partnership with NGOs
and international organizations. The public prosecutor’s
office maintained an active anti-trafficking working group
that provided guidelines for investigating trafficking cases
and maintained a human trafficking coordinator in each
regional office. The human trafficking coordinator notified and
coordinated new cases with specialized units at the national
prosecutor’s office to ensure assignment of prosecutors with
trafficking experience or experience prosecuting other complex or
transnational crimes. In December 2016, the public prosecutor’s

PROTECTION

The government maintained victim protection efforts.
Authorities identified 23 trafficking victims during the year
including two children, 15 for labor trafficking, and eight for
sex trafficking, compared with 65 trafficking victims in 2015
and16 in 2014. The National Service for Minors (SENAME)
assisted 1,341 children who were victims of commercial sexual
exploitation in 2016, compared with 1,285 in 2015; authorities
did not report how many were victims of trafficking or how
many of the children assisted were new in 2016. Provision
of victim services remained uneven across the country and
NGOs reported funding was inadequate to provide necessary
services, especially shelter. The National Service for Women
and Gender Equality (SERNAMEG) allocated 92.2 million
Chilean pesos ($137,859) to fund the NGO-operated shelter
for women victims of trafficking, smuggled women, and their
children, an increase from 85 million pesos ($127,093). The
shelter facilitated health, immigration, and employment
services. In 2016, the shelter housed 10 women, including
six foreigners from Ecuador, Russia, and Haiti. The shelter
was at full occupancy and all other victims were referred
to non-specialized shelters for victims of domestic abuse.
SENAME provided services to child sex trafficking victims
through its national network of 17 NGO-operated programs
for children, including boys, subjected to commercial sexual
exploitation. There were no shelters for adult male victims
or victims outside the capital. SENAME increased funding to
2.717 billion Chilean pesos ($4.1 million) in 2016, compared
with 2.276 billion Chilean pesos ($3.4 million) in 2015. The
Social Action Department of the Ministry of Interior had a
separate fund to assist vulnerable migrants that was used for
trafficking victim services.
In 2016, the anti-trafficking interagency taskforce published
a comprehensive identification and referral guide for public
officials, including police officers, immigration officials, health
providers, labor, health, and municipal inspectors. According
to this guide, 63 percent of trafficking victims in Chile were
male, yet specialized assistance for male victims was limited.
Law enforcement officials lacked guidelines for dealing with
potential trafficking victims detained or placed in protective
custody for alleged criminal acts, such as children involved in
illicit or illegal activities. The government increased training
efforts outside the capital and maintained robust efforts to
train first responders, including health workers, public officials,
and victims. Reintegration services such as education and job
placement assistance were insufficient, and officials reported
access to quality mental health services was expensive and
limited. Authorities provided training on victim assistance
and identification to 275 government officials, including
labor inspectors, SENAME staff, and first responders. The

Department of Migration continued to provide no-fee visas for
trafficking victims and issued 16 in 2016. The visa is valid for
six months, renewable for up to two years. Renewal requires
that the victim report the crime to the prosecutor’s office. The
government did not report if restitution was granted to any
victims through civil or criminal cases in 2016; however, in a
forced labor case the defense provided 5 million Chilean pesos
($7,476) to the victim. There were no reports the government
penalized trafficking victims for unlawful acts committed as a
direct result of being subjected to trafficking.

CHILE

office created a northern Chile internal working group, including
regional prosecutors from three northern provinces, to increase
coordination and effectiveness of criminal investigations into
organized crime, including trafficking in persons. Authorities
increased the staff of the trafficking and smuggling investigative
police unit in Santiago to 28 detectives from 24; a similar unit
in Iquique had eight detectives. Authorities reported lack of
specialized funding for trafficking efforts remained a concern; it
limited access to qualified translators and interpretation services
for investigations involving foreign victims and specialized
legal representation for victims, particularly for those seeking
restitution via civil lawsuits. The government participated in
an international law enforcement operation of 36 countries
that resulted in the detention of 10 traffickers.

PREVENTION

The government maintained prevention efforts. The Ministry
of Interior continued to lead the anti-trafficking interagency
taskforce—which included government agencies, as well as
international organizations and local NGOs—and its three
sub-commissions. The taskforce continued to implement the
2015-2018 national action plan. While there was improvement
in interagency cross-referencing and sharing of data, more robust
coordination was needed. A team of forensic psychologists
completed a qualitative study on the nexus between the
psychological aspects involved in human trafficking, such as
coercion, intimidation, abuse of power, dependency, and the
forensic investigatory techniques that can support a criminal
investigation. By the end of the reporting period, the results of
the study were not published; however, authorities indicated
the findings were incorporated into the training offered to the
investigative police.
A law enacted last year continued to strengthen protections
for domestic workers, including by requiring registration of
domestic worker contracts, setting limits on weekly hours,
and authorizing labor inspectors to enter employers’ homes,
with their permission, or to require their appearance at a
labor inspection office. The government reported that no
victims were identified as a result of the inspections conducted.
The government continued the “Blue Campaign,” a website
to combat human trafficking, and a video campaign to
commemorate the UN World Day against Trafficking in Persons.
The government continued to conduct awareness efforts,
including prevention campaigns focused on reducing demand
for commercial sexual exploitation of children. The government
did not report efforts to reduce the demand for forced labor
or adult commercial sex. Authorities provided anti-trafficking
training to Chilean troops prior to their deployment abroad
for international peacekeeping missions. The government
provided anti-trafficking training to its diplomatic personnel.

TRAFFICKING PROFILE

As reported over the past five years, Chile is a source, transit, and
destination country for men, women, and children subjected to
sex trafficking and forced labor. Chilean women and children
are exploited in sex trafficking within the country, as are women
and girls from other Latin American countries and Asia. Some
traffickers may recruit children staying in child protection
centers. Men, women, and children—primarily from other
Latin American countries, as well as Asia—are exploited in
forced labor in Chile in mining; agriculture; construction; street
vending; the hospitality, restaurant, and garment sectors; and
domestic service. Chinese immigrants may be vulnerable to sex
trafficking and forced labor and Korean women are subjected
to sex trafficking. Chilean authorities identified a significant
number of children involved in illicit activities, including
drug trafficking and theft; some of these children may have
been trafficking victims. Chilean men are subjected to labor

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CHINA

trafficking in Peru and Chilean women are subjected to sex
trafficking in Argentina, as well as other countries. Brothels in
small towns are often frequented by police officers, dissuading
potential trafficking victims from reporting exploitation. In 2016,
law enforcement investigations and convictions indicated an
increasing number of Ecuadorian men, women, and children
are exploited in forced labor and sex trafficking in Chile.

CHINA: TIER 3
The Government of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) does
not fully meet the minimum standards for the elimination
of trafficking and is not making significant efforts to do so;
therefore, China was downgraded to Tier 3. Despite the lack of
significant efforts, the government took some steps to address
trafficking, including increasing cooperation with other countries
to investigate cases involving Chinese trafficking victims overseas
and by funding awareness campaigns and materials to increase
general understanding of the issue. The government continued
to provide law enforcement data and reported convicting
numerous traffickers; however, it was unclear how many of
the cases reported by the government were consistent with the
international definition of human trafficking. The government
reported operating shelters specifically for trafficking victims,
as well as multi-purpose shelters available to accommodate
trafficking victims. However, some unverified media and
NGOs reports indicated government complicity in forced labor
continued, including in some drug rehabilitation facilities where
individuals continued to be detained without judicial process.
Human rights organizations and media continued to report
local officials in Xinjiang coerced Uighur men and women
to participate in forced labor in and outside the province,
despite the local government issuing a notice in early 2017
the practice had been completely abolished. The government
convicted fewer sex and labor traffickers compared to the
previous reporting period. Authorities continued to forcibly
repatriate North Koreans, where they faced severe punishment
including forced labor and execution, without screening them
for indicators of trafficking. While the government reported
mandating authorities screen for indicators of trafficking among
all individuals arrested for prostitution, it was unclear if any
were screened, and the government did not report referring any
such potential victims to shelters or other care. The law does not
fully criminalize all forms of trafficking such as the facilitation
of prostitution involving children younger than the age of 18,
and defines several crimes as human trafficking that do not fit
within international law. The government handled most cases
with indicators of forced labor as administrative issues and
initiated prosecutions of the traffickers in relatively few cases.

RECOMMENDATIONS FOR CHINA
126

End forced labor in government facilities and by government
officials outside of the penal process; vigorously investigate,
prosecute, and impose prison sentences on perpetrators

of forced labor and sex trafficking, including government
officials who facilitate or are complicit in trafficking; update
the legal framework to criminalize fully all forms of trafficking,
including the facilitation of prostitution involving children
younger than the age of 18; expand efforts to institute proactive,
formal procedures to systematically identify trafficking victims
throughout the country, including labor trafficking victims,
Chinese victims returning from abroad, and victims among
vulnerable groups, such as migrant workers and foreign and
local women and children arrested for prostitution; improve
procedures to prevent victims from being punished for acts
committed as a direct result of being subjected to trafficking;
ensure authorities do not subject trafficking victims to detention,
punishment, or forcible repatriation; expand victim protection
services, including comprehensive counseling and medical,
reintegration, and other rehabilitative assistance for male
and female victims of sex and labor trafficking; provide legal
alternatives to foreign victims’ removal to countries where
they would face hardship or retribution, particularly North
Korea; increase the transparency of government efforts to
combat trafficking and provide disaggregated data on efforts
to investigate and prosecute sex and labor trafficking of adults
and children and to identify and provide protection services
to victims of all forms of trafficking; and continue to provide
data on the number of criminal investigations, prosecutions
and convictions in cases identified as involving forced labor,
including recruiters and employers who facilitate forced labor
and debt bondage, both within China and abroad.

PROSECUTION

The government decreased law enforcement efforts. It reported
crimes outside international law’s definition of human
trafficking, making it difficult to assess appreciable progress
from the previous reporting period. Not all statistics were
captured by the central government. The criminal code prohibits
many forms of trafficking, although it differs from international
law on human trafficking. Article 240 of the criminal code
prohibits “abducting and trafficking of women or children,”
which is defined as a series of acts (e.g., abduction, kidnapping,
purchasing, selling, sending, receiving) for the purpose of
selling women and children. While the acts that comprise the
crime are not tied specifically to a purpose of exploitation, as
international law defines trafficking in persons, crimes such
as forced labor or forced prostitution are addressed in related
articles. In addition, a 2016 opinion from the Supreme People’s
Court (SPC) interpreting article 240, et seq. provides that “selling
and buying human beings is banned for any reason. The SPC
will penalize crimes of trafficking and purchasing regardless
of victims’ gender, age, and nationality for whatever purpose
according to the law.” Crimes under article 240 are punishable by
no less than 10 years imprisonment, with life imprisonment or
the death penalty possible in particularly serious circumstances.
Article 241 criminalizes the purchase of women or children,
although like article 240, it does not require that the purchase
be done for the purpose of exploitation as international law
defines human trafficking. Article 358 criminalizes organizing
prostitution and forced prostitution, which is punishable by five
to 10 years imprisonment or, with aggravated circumstances,
up to life imprisonment. Article 359 makes it a crime to harbor
prostitution or seduce or introduce others into prostitution and
is subject to a maximum five years sentence and payment of a
fine; for the seduction of girls younger than the age of 14 into
‘prostitution,’ the sentence is five years or more and a fine. Under
international law, the inducement of children under the age
of 18 to engage in prostitution, without resort to force, fraud,
or coercion, and the forced prostitution of adults, are both

The government continued to provide some law enforcement
data; it reported investigating 1,004 trafficking cases (1,414
in 2015) and convicting 1,756 traffickers (2,076 in 2015) in
2016. However, unlike in the previous reporting period, it
did not report the number of prosecutions initiated in 2016.
In addition, due to China’s definition of human trafficking,
which may include human smuggling, child abduction, forced
marriage, and fraudulent adoptions, the exact number of
trafficking offenses the government investigated, prosecuted,
and convicted was unclear. The Ministry of Public Security
(MPS) reported investigating 1,004 cases of human trafficking
and arresting 2,036 suspects (1,932 in 2015), including 45
suspected cases of forced labor (21 in 2015) involving the
arrest of 74 suspects. In one investigation across 13 provinces
involving disabled labor trafficking victims, the government
arrested 464 suspects. The government reported convicting 435
sex traffickers (642 in 2015) and 19 labor traffickers (72 in 2015)
as well as convicting 1,302 offenders in cases in which it was
unclear what forms of exploitation occurred. The government
did not report the number of investigations, prosecutions, or
convictions involving cases of children or disabled persons
forced to beg or engage in other illegal activities.
The government handled most cases with indicators of
forced labor as administrative issues through the Ministry of
Human Resources and Social Services and seldom initiated
prosecutions of such cases under anti-trafficking statutes. The
government increased law enforcement cooperation with foreign
governments, investigating cases of Chinese citizens subjected
to trafficking in the United States, Africa and Europe, with
some investigations resulting in prosecutions. The government
reported funding training in rural areas for court officials and
prosecutors; however, it did not provide detailed information on
these efforts. In addition, law enforcement officials, prosecutors,
and judges attended trainings on trafficking organized by other
countries and international organizations; when authorities
participated in these trainings, the PRC sometimes provided
speakers and venues, and funded lodging, transportation,
and meals for some participants. Despite reports of police
accepting bribes from sex traffickers, including brothel owners,
the government reported few investigations of government
employees complicit in human trafficking offenses. Two officials
who reportedly solicited child trafficking victims for commercial
sex acts were expelled from their political party and positions;
however it is unclear if the government subjected these officials
to criminal prosecution.

PROTECTION

The government maintained minimal efforts to protect
victims. The government did not report comprehensive data

on how many victims it identified during the reporting period.
It did report identifying 432 women and 406 children as
a result of law enforcement investigations, in addition to
identifying 98 disabled labor trafficking victims. However, it
was unclear how many were victims of human trafficking as
defined by international law and despite reporting services
were available to assist victims, it did not report how many
victims it assisted during the reporting period. The government
reported maintaining at least 10 shelters specifically dedicated
to care for trafficking victims, as well as eight shelters for foreign
trafficking victims and more than 2,300 multi-purpose shelters
nationwide that could accommodate trafficking victims. The
government reported victims could receive shelter, medical care,
counseling, and other services. However, the government did not
provide victim protection data to ascertain the extent to which
trafficking victims in fact accessed these shelters or services.
Access to specialized services was dependent upon victims’
location and gender. Rehabilitation services for trafficking
victims, especially mental health services, were limited. The
impact or effectiveness of the government’s previously reported
victim assistance—including border liaison offices, victim
funds, hotlines, and government-to-government agreements to
assist victims—remained unclear. Foreign embassies in China
reportedly provided shelter or protective services to victims.
The government sponsored trainings and provided speakers
for trainings organized by an international organization to
government officials and civil society on a national referral
mechanism and standards for treatment of victims of trafficking.
The government detained women during police prostitution
raids and detained some of these women while their cases
were under investigation; previously, detained women could
be held for up to 15 days, however, the government reported
a new policy during the reporting period to limit detention
to a maximum of 72 hours. While the government reported it
mandated screening for trafficking indicators of all individuals
arrested for prostitution, it did not report how many victims
were identified from this screening and referred to shelters or
other care facilities. The Office to Combat Trafficking in Persons
continued to disseminate trafficking victim identification
procedures to law enforcement officials throughout the country.
The government held interagency meetings to establish a
national referral mechanism and adopted victim identification
guidelines, however, identification procedures varied according
to local officials’ training and understanding of trafficking.
This variation increased the risk that unidentified trafficking
victims were detained or deported following arrest for unlawful
acts committed as a direct result of being subjected to human
trafficking. The government entered into agreements with
neighboring countries and increased training of border officials.
The government did not uniformly provide temporary or
permanent residence permits to foreign trafficking victims.
The government reported cooperating with law enforcement
in Spain, France, Malaysia, the United States, and countries
in Africa on cases involving Chinese women exploited in
sex trafficking; however, most victims chose not to return
to China. Chinese law provides victims the right to request
criminal prosecution and claim financial restitution by filing
civil lawsuits against their traffickers; the government did not
report if any victim benefited from this provision. The judicial
system did not require victims to testify against their traffickers
in court and allowed prosecutors to submit previously recorded
statements as evidence. Authorities continued to detain North
Korean asylum-seekers and forcibly repatriated some to North
Korea where they faced severe punishment or death, including
in North Korean forced labor camps. As it was unclear if
the government screened these individuals for indicators of

CHINA

forms of sex trafficking. Article 244 makes it a crime to force a
person “to work by violence, threat or restriction of personal
freedom” and to recruit, transport or otherwise assist in forcing
others to labor, punishable by three to 10 years imprisonment
and a fine. Prescribed penalties under all these statutes are
sufficiently stringent and commensurate with those prescribed
for other serious crimes, including rape. In January 2017, SPC
issued a widely-publicized formal interpretation regarding
the application of the law in cases involving the trafficking
of women and children which advised that in certain cases,
including when women or children were purchased and then
subjected to sexual exploitation or begging, respectively, a person
found guilty of trafficking should be convicted “according to
the provisions of combined punishment for several crimes,”
thereby increasing the penalty for such crimes.

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CHINA

trafficking and there were reports the government forcibly
returned some North Korean trafficking victims in previous
years, authorities may have forcibly repatriated some North
Korean trafficking victims. The government did not report if
legal alternatives to repatriation were available for suspected
North Korean trafficking victims.

PREVENTION

The government maintained efforts to prevent trafficking.
The government funded a television show, used traditional
and social media, and distributed posters and other materials
at transportation and community centers to increase general
understanding of the issue. The government continued to
hold an annual inter-ministerial meeting to coordinate antitrafficking efforts. MPS continued to coordinate the antitrafficking interagency process and lead interagency efforts to
implement the National Action Plan on Combatting Human
Trafficking. In 2016, MPS invested more than 5 million renminbi
(RMB) ($720,250) on handling major cases, conferences,
trainings, information system construction, and international
law enforcement cooperation, as well as 50 million RMB
($7.2 million) for a special anti-trafficking fund for local law
enforcement. The government reported conducting campaigns
to educate vulnerable children on the risks of exploitation and
allocated resources to maintain contact with children left in rural
communities whose parents have migrated to cities. Academics
and experts noted the gender imbalance due to the previous one
child policy could contribute to crimes of human trafficking in
China. The government’s easing of the birth limitation policy
may decrease future demand for prostitution and foreign
women as brides for Chinese men. Provincial government
officials acknowledged most marriages between foreign women
and Chinese men, including some forced marriages that may
also involve trafficking, had not been legally formalized and
examined options to legitimize such marriages and formulate
mechanisms to provide residency rights to foreign nationals who
married a Chinese citizen. Government officials pointed to a
reduction in child abduction cases as an indicator of a reduction
in human trafficking crimes; however, it was unclear how many
child abduction cases in China are related to exploitation in
commercial sex or forced labor.
The government hukou (household registration) system
continued to contribute to the vulnerability of internal migrants
by limiting employment opportunities and reducing access
to social services. The government addressed some of these
vulnerabilities by requiring local governments to provide a
mechanism for migrant workers to obtain residency permits
in urban areas. The government reported efforts to reduce
forced labor by including language in written agreements with
foreign businesses and countries explicitly prohibiting human
trafficking. The government attempted to reduce the demand
for commercial sex through its crackdown on corruption and
high profile arrests of men soliciting or procuring prostitution.
Addressing reports of Chinese nationals engaged in child sex
tourism, media reports indicated the government issued draft
regulations penalizing Chinese tourists engaging in prostitution
while abroad; however, it was unclear if these regulations
were issued or implemented. The government did not report
investigating or prosecuting any Chinese citizens for purchasing
commercial sex while abroad. The government provided antitrafficking training to its troops prior to their deployment
abroad as part of international peacekeeping missions and to
its diplomatic personnel.

128

TRAFFICKING PROFILE

As reported over the past five years, China is a source,
destination, and transit country for men, women, and children
subjected to forced labor and sex trafficking. China’s internal
migrant population, estimated to exceed 180 million people,
is vulnerable to trafficking, with Chinese men, women, and
children subjected to forced labor in brick kilns, coal mines and
factories, some of which operate illegally and take advantage of
lax government enforcement. While the law prohibits employers
from withholding property from an employee as a security
deposit, previous reports indicated such practices continued,
thus making certain workers vulnerable to forced labor. Forced
begging by adults and children occurs throughout China. There
are reports of traffickers targeting for forced labor and forced
begging persons with developmental disabilities as well as
children whose parents have migrated to the cities and left them
with relatives, estimated at more than 60 million. International
media and the ILO report children in some work-study programs
supported by local governments and schools are forced to work
in factories. African and Asian men are exploited on Chinese
vessels, working under conditions indicative of forced labor.
State-sponsored forced labor continued to be an area of concern
in China. In 2013, the PRC’s National People’s Congress ratified
a decision to abolish “Re-education through labor” (RTL), a
systematic form of forced labor of individuals subjected to
extra-judicial detention from which the government reportedly
profited. The government closed most RTL facilities by October
2015; however, the government reportedly converted some RTL
facilities into state-sponsored drug rehabilitation facilities or
administrative detention centers where, according to unverified
reports, forced labor continued. Religious and political activists
held in legal education facilities previously reported forced
labor occurred in pretrial detention and outside of penal
sentences. The government previously detained some women
for prostitution offenses for up to two years, and subsequently
up to 15 days, without due process in “custody and education”
centers where they were subjected to forced labor, but it reported
changing its official policy in 2016 to limit the time women
detained for prostitution could be held in detention facilities
to 72 hours. Reports continued of forced labor in and outside
Xinjiang, whereby the government forced ethnic Uighurs to
perform farm labor as a way of keeping them from getting
involved in “illegal activities.” On February 4, 2017, the local
government issued a notice that rural obligatory labor had
been completely abolished throughout Xinjiang; however,
it remains unclear if this practice was in fact discontinued. A
new law on the management of foreign NGO activities inside
mainland China placed foreign NGOs under the supervision of
the MPS. As a result of concerns with the law’s vaguely worded
provisions, an already limited space for civil society, including
those able to provide services for trafficking victims and those
vulnerable to exploitation, was further constrained.
Chinese women and girls are subjected to sex trafficking within
China. Traffickers typically recruit them from rural areas and take
them to urban centers, using a combination of fraudulent job
offers and coercion by imposing large travel fees, confiscating
passports, confining victims, or physically and financially
threatening victims to compel their engagement in commercial
sex. Well-organized criminal syndicates and local gangs play key
roles in the trafficking of Chinese women and girls in China,
recruiting victims with fraudulent employment opportunities
and subsequently forcing them into commercial sex. Chinese
men, women, and children are also subjected to forced labor
and sex trafficking in at least 19 other countries. Traffickers
recruit girls and young women, often from rural areas of China,

Women and children from neighboring Asian countries,
Africa, and the Americas are subjected to forced labor and
sex trafficking in China. North Korean women are subjected
to forced prostitution, forced marriage, and forced labor in
agriculture, domestic service, and factories. According to media
and a 2015 UN report, North Korean citizens are subjected
to forced labor in China by the North Korean government,
possibly with the knowledge of Chinese officials. African
and South American women are promised legitimate jobs in
China and forced into prostitution upon arrival. The Chinese
government’s birth limitation policy and a cultural preference
for sons created a skewed sex ratio of 117 boys to 100 girls
in China, which observers assert increases the demand for
prostitution and for foreign women as brides for Chinese
men—both of which may be procured by force or coercion.
Women and girls are kidnapped or recruited through marriage
brokers and transported to China, where some are subjected
to commercial sex or forced labor.

COLOMBIA: TIER 1
The Government of Colombia fully meets the minimum
standards for the elimination of trafficking. The government
continued to demonstrate serious and sustained efforts during
the reporting period; therefore, Colombia remained on Tier 1.
The government demonstrated serious and sustained efforts by
removing a legal requirement for victims to file a complaint
against their traffickers before receiving assistance, identifying
more victims, increasing funding for government agencies
providing services, increasing the number of investigations,
taking law enforcement action against complicit officials,
providing training and developing tools for labor inspectors,
and strengthening internal coordination to combat trafficking,
including approving the 2016-2018 anti-trafficking strategy.
Although the government meets the minimum standards, it
failed to fund the national anti-trafficking strategy, it reduced
funding for specialized NGOs, and long-term care for trafficking
victims remained insufficient.

RECOMMENDATIONS FOR COLOMBIA

Vigorously prosecute and convict traffickers; in partnership
with civil society and through dedicated funding from national
and local governments, increase specialized services and shelter
available to all trafficking victims; improve access to long-term
care for trafficking victims; increase efforts to identify child
victims exploited in sex trafficking, forced begging, and within
informal sector activities, such as street vending; increase antitrafficking training for law enforcement officials, prosecutors,
judges, and labor inspectors; fully fund the national antitrafficking strategy; vigorously investigate, prosecute, and convict
illegal armed groups or organized crime groups involved in
forced child recruitment or forced criminal activity; increase
efforts to hold public officials complicit in trafficking criminally
accountable; and improve data collection and disaggregation,
such as by finalizing and implementing the national trafficking
information system.

COLOMBIA

and Chinese men and women who are forced to labor in
restaurants, shops, agriculture, and factories in overseas Chinese
communities. Some are promised jobs abroad and confined
to private homes upon arrival overseas, held in conditions
indicative of forced labor, and compelled to conduct telephone
scams. Chinese men in Africa and South America experience
abuse at construction sites, in coal and copper mines, and in
other extractive industries where they face conditions indicative
of forced labor such as non-payment of wages, restrictions
on movement, withholding of passports, and physical abuse.
Chinese women and girls are subjected to sexual exploitation
throughout the world, including in major cities, construction
sites, remote mining and logging camps, and areas with high
concentrations of Chinese migrant workers.

PROSECUTION

The government maintained law enforcement efforts. Article 188
A of Law 985 of the penal code prohibits all forms of trafficking
and prescribes punishments of 13 to 23 years imprisonment
plus fines up to 1,500 times the monthly minimum salary.
These penalties are sufficiently stringent and commensurate
with those prescribed for other serious crimes, such as rape.
Article 188 B provides aggravating factors, which if present,
increase the article 188 A punishment by one-third to one-half,
including if the victim is younger than 18 years of age. Article
141 prohibits forced prostitution in situations of armed conflict
and prescribes a penalty of 160 to 324 months imprisonment
and a fine. Authorities sometimes charged traffickers with
lesser crimes, such as induction into prostitution or pimping.
Police arrested 29 suspects for trafficking or trafficking-related
crimes (41 in 2015 and 37 in 2014). In 2016, the government
opened 150 investigations for trafficking or traffickingrelated crimes (135 in 2015 and 122 in 2014); prosecuted 59
trafficking cases with an unknown number of defendants; and
convicted 25 individuals of trafficking and trafficking-related
crimes (31 in 2015 and seven in 2014). It was unclear how
many convictions were for forced labor or for sex trafficking.
Authorities indicated convicted traffickers received an average
of 10.5 years imprisonment in 2016. Sixteen of the cases
investigated were referred from the anti-trafficking hotline
(56 in 2015 and 176 in 2014). Government officials did not
consider forced child recruitment or forced criminal activity
by illegal armed groups or organized criminal groups to be
trafficking in persons, and therefore investigated or prosecuted
these cases as other crimes. Social workers and other officials
interacting with potential trafficking victims, such as children
exploited in sex trafficking or in the worst forms of child labor,
did not always refer these cases for criminal investigation. In
2016, the Colombian Child Welfare Institute (ICBF) referred
170 cases of potential forcible recruitment or forcible use of
children in the commission of criminal activities; however,
it was unclear how many were investigated, prosecuted, or
convicted. Authorities collaborated with the several foreign
governments on anti-trafficking law enforcement operations
and investigations, including an operation in which two U.S.
citizens were arrested for allegedly running a child sex tourism
business.
Trainings provided to law enforcement, prosecutors, and
members of the judiciary decreased, compared with 2015, when
authorities trained a variety of officials on human trafficking,
often through partnerships with international organizations. The
government indicated several cases of alleged official complicity

129

COLOMBIA

were open and at different stages of the judicial process. The
investigation into the alleged involvement of police officials
with criminal gangs that sexually exploited children in Bogota
remained open. In February 2016, the director of the national
police stepped down after evidence surfaced of an alleged
trafficking ring inside a police training facility where young male
cadets were sold into prostitution to high-ranking officials and
members of the legislature. In October, the investigation of the
former director was closed because evidence showed that he was
not serving as director of the national police during the time
of the incident and did not have command and control of the
unit in question. In November, authorities formally charged
a retired colonel for his alleged role in this case and a retired
police major also faced charges. In May, a judge convicted 12
individuals, including nine immigration officials and two police
officers, for their involvement with a criminal network engaged
in human trafficking and drug smuggling. Two immigration
officials were sentenced of 10 months in prison and ordered
to pay a fine of 71 minimum salaries, and all other individuals
were awaiting sentencing at the end of the reporting period.
During the reporting period, courts convicted an individual
in the 2013 case of municipal employees in the department
of Antioquia for their involvement in the commercial sexual
exploitation of children, two other individuals awaited oral
hearings, and one remained under investigation.

PROTECTION

The government increased protection efforts. The Ministry of
Interior (MOI) reported authorities identified 68 trafficking
victims (67 in 2015 and 59 in 2014). Of the identified victims,
47 were sex trafficking victims, 10 were forced labor victims, four
were victims of forced begging, three were domestic servitude
victims, and four were unidentified. The ICBF identified 46 cases
of child trafficking, 39 girls and 7 boys (39 girls and 6 boys in
2015). Authorities and an international organization identified
at least 167 children who separated from illegal armed groups
in 2016 (229 in 2015 and 243 in 2014). In 2016, the recruitment
of children by illegal armed groups for armed conflict reached a
historic low after the government signed a peace accord with the
Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) to end a more
than five-decade conflict. During the reporting period, the FARC
had released 57 children from its ranks, all of whom received
medical and psychological evaluations from an international
organization before referring them to the ICBF for additional
reintegration services. The Ministry of Labor (MOL) and an
international organization began drafting a protocol for the
identification of trafficking victims that will be included in the
training manual provided to all labor inspectors. In 2016, the
MOL provided anti-trafficking training to 10 officials from the
inspection and surveillance unit on developing an identification
protocol for labor trafficking victims.

130

Presidential decree 1069 of 2014, which clarified the
implementation of Law 985, mandated the government to
provide emergency trafficking victim protection and assistance,
which includes medical and psychological assessments and
assistance, clothing and hygiene kits, housing, transportation,
legal advice, issuance of travel and identity documents, and
repatriation; and medium-term assistance, such as educational
services, job training and job search assistance, and economic
support. Emergency assistance was provided for five calendar
days, and could be extended for an additional three calendar
days as needed; medium-term assistance was provided for
up to six months, and could be extended for an additional
three months. Of the 76 identified victims, the government
provided 63 with emergency assistance and 37 with medium-

term assistance. In addition, 19 victims received protective
measures and 38 received repatriation assistance. All 46 child
victims identified by the ICBF received services. In August
2016, the constitutional court invalidated language in article
7 of Law 985 of the penal code, which had required victims
to file an official complaint against their traffickers in order
to receive assistance. The Interagency Committee for the Fight
against Trafficking in Persons (ICFTP), which coordinated
the efforts of 16 national entities, created formal instructions
for each agency in the committee to standardize reporting,
identification of victims, and provision of rapid assistance.
NGOs acknowledged improved coordination, but criticized
delays in service delivery, the lack of long-term victim assistance,
and lack of attention to vulnerable populations. NGOs indicated
the absence of formal procedures for engagement with civil
society resulted in uncoordinated and limited engagement by
the government. The government did not operate specialized
shelters dedicated to adult trafficking victims, but it referred
victims to NGOs for these services. The ICBF provided shelters
for child trafficking victims. Shelter and services for male victims
were very limited. NGOs asserted Afro-Colombian, indigenous,
LGBTI, and disabled persons received insufficient attention,
but the government reported maintaining a shelter for LGBTI
victims of violence, an indigenous training center, and policies
to assist disabled victims.
Authorities increased budget resources to government agencies
responsible for assisting trafficking victims. In 2016, the
government appropriated 2.3 billion pesos ($766,284) for
internal trafficking victims and earmarked 222.8 million pesos
($74,230) to assist Colombian trafficking victims abroad
[compared with 596.1 million pesos ($198,601) in 2015
for internal victims and 200 million pesos ($66,633) for
Colombian victims abroad]. The government also disbursed
15.7 billion pesos ($5,230,718) to provide services to child
victims of sexual violence, including child trafficking victims.
The national government ceased funding to specialized
NGOs; however, some states continued to provide emergency
assistance to victims. Authorities lacked sufficient funding and
personnel to provide specialized services, reintegration work
with families, and vocational training for children. Decree 1069
makes local governments responsible for providing services
beyond emergency care, but most had no funding dedicated
to providing specialized services.
The government approved measures to formalize a referral
mechanism to provide protection for victims who assist in the
penal process. During the reporting period, the government
assisted five victims, witnesses, and family members through
the victim and witness protection program. Some victims were
reluctant to report their exploitation or testify against their
traffickers due to fear of reprisals or lack of trust in the justice
system. There were no reports that victims were detained,
fined, or otherwise penalized for unlawful acts committed
as a direct result of being subjected to human trafficking.
The government again did not provide updates on the 2014
media report alleging a trafficking victim was incarcerated
due to testimony of another victim’s father, who alleged she
was a recruiter in a trafficking ring. Authorities could provide
foreign trafficking victims with temporary permission to remain
in the country during the investigative process on a case-bycase basis; however, authorities have never reported doing so.
In July, a civil court upheld a settlement for back wages and
benefits for a forced labor victim, but there were no reports
on the number of trafficking victims who received restitution
to which they were entitled under articles 102 and 103 of the
criminal procedure code.

The government maintained prevention efforts. The government
treated different forms of trafficking as distinct crimes subject
to different government entities’ jurisdiction, which resulted
in uneven interagency coordination of anti-trafficking efforts.
The ICFTP continued to hold monthly formal meetings, and in
June, the government approved the 2016-2018 anti-trafficking
strategy. NGOs reported increased government coordination
with civil society following the adoption of the national antitrafficking strategy. The government did not fund the national
anti-trafficking strategy and NGOs indicated insufficient funding
for the plan created assistance gaps, leading to inadequate
services for victims. Civil society reported that there was
inconsistent coordination and engagement with NGOs.
NGOs and international organizations noted the absence of
a national trafficking information system hindered monitoring,
research, and evaluation of the impact of trafficking in persons in
Colombia; however, authorities reported progress in developing
this system. Members of civil society continued to file petitions
to obtain statistical information from the ICFTP and the MOI.
Authorities maintained an interagency commission for the
prevention of child recruitment by armed groups and a separate
committee on child sexual exploitation. During the reporting
period, the MOI advised departments on ways to include an
anti-trafficking strategy in their annual development plans and
on procedures to request funding from the national government.
Consequently, increasing local government coordination on
anti-trafficking initiatives, leading five departments to allocate
budgets to combat trafficking and 21 departments to include
an anti-trafficking strategy in their development plans. The
MOI consulted periodically with anti-trafficking committees
in the 32 departments, but NGOs indicated the committees
lacked expertise and funding. Colombia’s anti-trafficking
operations center’s toll-free 24-hour hotline received 1,320
calls, including 16 suspected trafficking cases, which were
under investigation. Authorities continued several interrelated
trafficking awareness campaigns, commemorated World Day
Against Human Trafficking in July in various parts of the country,
and conducted other prevention efforts, often in partnership
with an international organization and NGOs. The government,
working with an international organization, designed a strategy
and campaign to prevent fraudulent recruiting, which can lead
to forced labor, and distributed materials at a public event;
however, it did not report efforts to reduce the demand for
forced labor. Authorities conducted investigations for child
sex tourism and reported the arrest of one person for this
crime. The government provided anti-trafficking training for
its diplomatic personnel.

TRAFFICKING PROFILE

As reported over the past five years, Colombia is a source,
destination, and transit country for men, women, and children
subjected to sex trafficking and forced labor in Colombia
and in Asia, the Caribbean, Europe, Mexico, and Central and
South America. Groups at high risk for trafficking include
internally displaced persons, Afro-Colombians, Colombians
with disabilities, indigenous Colombians, and Colombians in
areas where armed criminal groups are active. Sex trafficking of
Colombian women and children occurs within the country and
around the world, particularly in Latin America, the Caribbean,
and Asia. Authorities reported high rates of children exploited
in sex trafficking in areas with tourism and large extractive
industries. Sex trafficking in mining areas sometimes involves
organized criminal groups. Transgender Colombians and
Colombian men in prostitution are vulnerable to sex trafficking
within Colombia and in Europe. Colombian labor trafficking

victims are found in mining, agriculture, and domestic service.
Colombian children working in the informal sector, including
as street vendors, are vulnerable to labor trafficking. Colombian
children and adults are exploited in forced begging in urban
areas. Illegal armed groups forcibly recruit children to serve
as combatants and informants, cultivate illegal narcotics, and
exploit them in sex trafficking. Children and adolescents who
separate from the ranks of illegal armed groups are vulnerable
to trafficking. Organized criminal groups and other individuals
force vulnerable Colombians, including displaced persons,
into prostitution and criminal activity—particularly to sell and
transport illegal narcotics and serve as lookouts and assassins.
Such groups use false job opportunities and feigned friendship
or romance to recruit victims and threats to maintain control
over them. Colombia is a destination for foreign child sex
tourists, primarily from North America and Europe.

COMOROS

PREVENTION

COMOROS: TIER 3
The Government of Comoros does not fully meet the minimum
standards for the elimination of trafficking and is not making
significant efforts to do so; therefore, Comoros remained on
Tier 3. Despite the lack of significant efforts, the newly elected
government took some steps to address trafficking, including
adopting a National Policy for the Protection of Children in
Comoros to combat child sex and labor trafficking. However, the
government did not investigate, prosecute, or obtain convictions
for any sex trafficking or forced labor crimes, including of
complicit officials. It did not identify and protect any victims
and lacked formal procedures to do so. It did not provide
adequate resources to law enforcement officials, including the
Morals and Minors Brigade, the office charged with investigating
child abuse and exploitation. The extensive use of financial
settlements in lieu of investigation and prosecution of crimes,
and the use of mediation, resulting in the return of children
to their alleged exploiters, continued to be serious concerns.

RECOMMENDATIONS FOR COMOROS

Revise and enact draft amendments to the penal code related
to trafficking and address potential contradictions of those
provisions with the child labor law and other relevant laws;
in cooperation with NGOs and international organizations,
increase the availability of protection services, including
counseling and psychological care, for adult and child trafficking
victims; develop procedures to identify and refer trafficking
victims to care; investigate, prosecute, and convict traffickers,
including allegedly complicit officials; end the practice of
returning children to their exploiters through arbitration;
increase work with international partners to implement
recommendations from the forthcoming study on the forms
and extent of the trafficking problem in Comoros; undertake
efforts to engage Mayotte officials to prevent the trafficking
of unaccompanied Comorian youth in Mayotte; expand antitrafficking public awareness campaigns; and accede to the 2000
UN TIP Protocol.

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COMOROS

PROSECUTION

The government did not make anti-trafficking law enforcement
efforts. Comorian law does not prohibit all forms of human
trafficking. Article 310 of the penal code prohibits aiding or
assisting in the prostitution of others, prescribing penalties of
six months to three years imprisonment and fines. Article 311
prescribes increased penalties, ranging from two to 10 years
imprisonment, for aggravating factors related to article 310.
Article 323 prohibits the facilitation of child prostitution and
prescribes sufficiently stringent punishments of two to five
years imprisonment and fines; however, these penalties are
not commensurate with those for other serious crimes, such as
rape. Existing laws do not criminalize the forced prostitution
of adults. Article 2 of the labor code prohibits forced and
bonded labor, prescribing insufficiently stringent penalties of
three months to three years imprisonment or fines. The Law
Countering Child Labor and Trafficking in Children (child
labor law), which went into effect in January 2015, criminalizes
slavery or similar practices, such as the sale and trafficking of
children, bonded labor, and debt bondage—as well as forced
or compulsory labor—including the forced or compulsory
recruitment of children for use in armed conflicts in article 6
and prescribes an insufficiently stringent penalty of five months
to 10 years imprisonment. There appears to be an overlap
between provisions of the child labor law, the labor code and
the penal code that could add to the challenge of prosecuting
traffickers in Comoros. Despite parliamentary approval in 2014,
the president did not sign into law the penal code amendments
that would specifically prohibit trafficking in persons.
The government did not systematically collect data on law
enforcement efforts, including human trafficking. It did not
report investigating, prosecuting, or convicting traffickers
during the reporting period. The government did not report
any investigations, prosecutions, or convictions of government
officials complicit in human trafficking offenses. The government
did not provide further information on the previously reported
investigation of a magistrate allegedly responsible for the
domestic servitude of a 14-year-old girl. Corruption at all
levels of government, law enforcement, and the judiciary
remained a significant concern in Comoros and hindered law
enforcement efforts, including efforts to address trafficking.
Judges were known to have negotiated agreements between
a child’s parents and his or her trafficker, often returning the
child to trafficking situations. Families or village elders settled
many allegations of sexual violence, including sex trafficking,
informally through traditional means, without recourse to the
formal court system.
The Morals and Minors Brigade investigated an unknown
number of cases of child abuse and exploitation nationwide
through July 2016, which may have included child trafficking;
its investigative efforts were hampered by a lack of government
funds during the reporting period. Some police reportedly
returned sexually abused children to their exploiters. NGO-run
listening centers, supported by an international organization to
provide assistance to abused and neglected children, reported
24 cases of sexual abuse on Anjouan, and 18 arrests from 27
cases of sexual violence against minors on Moheli, some of
which may have involved trafficking crimes.

132

The police lacked basic resources, including vehicles, fuel, and
equipment, and often relied on victims to provide funds for
transport or communication. The government did not provide
training for law enforcement officials on how to recognize,
investigate, and prosecute trafficking and related crimes. The
Ministry of Labor’s four labor inspectors—responsible for

implementing the 2015 child labor law prohibiting child
trafficking—did not receive training on the law and did not
receive operational resources to conduct labor inspections of
informal work sites, where children are especially vulnerable to
forced labor. Inspectors did not remove or assist any children
as a result of labor inspections during the reporting period.

PROTECTION

The government maintained minimal protection efforts. The
government did not provide direct assistance or services for
victims and provided minimal support to NGOs doing so. There
were no government shelters for adults or child victims of abuse
or human trafficking, and the quality of care in NGO-operated
shelters remained poor. In the absence of adequate funding,
NGO staff sometimes provided temporary shelter in their
private homes; however, government officials often returned
children to their parents or guardians. In 2016, the government
continued to provide the salaries of two employees and donated
office space for the NGO-run and international-organizationsupported listening centers for abused and neglected children.
The morals and minors brigade lacked facilities to shelter child
victims, even temporarily, and few of its staff had training in
interviewing child victims of crime. The government did not
develop or employ systematic procedures to identify trafficking
victims or refer them to the limited care available. There were
no reports of the government penalizing victims for crimes
committed as a direct result of being subjected to trafficking;
however, victims may have remained unidentified in the law
enforcement and immigration systems.

PREVENTION

The government made minimal efforts to prevent trafficking.
The government’s interagency monitoring group—comprised
of representatives of relevant government agencies, NGOs,
and international organizations—began drafting an updated
national action plan. Government efforts to work with an
international partner to conduct a study on the forms and extent
of the trafficking problem in Comoros stalled. While the labor
ministry signed an agreement with some labor recruitment
agencies to facilitate review of transnational recruitment
processes and to monitor advertisements in an effort to identify
recruitment activities that might endanger Comorians seeking
overseas employment, the effort lacked tangible results. The
Ministry of Health adopted a National Policy for the Protection
of Children in Comoros in partnership with other government
institutions in November 2016; this policy included actions
to combat child labor and child trafficking. The government
continued to fund a toll-free emergency line for reporting crimes
to assist in the identification of victims of child abuse and
exploitation. The government did not make efforts to reduce
demand for commercial sex acts or forced labor. Comoros is
not a party to the 2000 UN TIP Protocol.

TRAFFICKING PROFILE

As reported over the past five years, Comoros is a source country
for children subjected to forced labor and sex trafficking within
the country; Comorian women and children are subjected
to forced labor in Mayotte. Comorian women and Malagasy
women who transit Comoros may be subjected to forced
labor in the Middle East. Children on Anjouan, some of
whom were abandoned by parents who left to seek economic
opportunities in other countries, are subjected to forced labor,
mostly in domestic service, roadside and market vending,
baking, fishing, and agriculture. On Anjouan and Moheli, poor

CONGO, DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF THE:
TIER 3
The Government of the Democratic Republic of the Congo
(DRC) does not fully meet the minimum standards for the
elimination of trafficking and is not making sufficient efforts
to do so; therefore, the DRC was downgraded to Tier 3. Despite
the lack of significant efforts, the government took some steps to
address trafficking, including measures to end the recruitment
and use of child soldiers, holding officials complicit in child
soldiering accountable, and cooperating with international
organizations and NGOs to identify and demobilize child
soldiers. The government also continued efforts to combat sexual
exploitation and certify mines to prevent the use of forced and
child labor. The government provided modest protection services
to some trafficking victims, and some officials, in partnership
with NGOs and international organizations, referred potential
trafficking victims to protection services. However, authorities
continued to arrest and detain some victims, including child
soldiers. Recent reports allege the Congolese National Police
(PNC) and the Congolese National Army (FARDC) executed
unarmed children who were allegedly associated with the
Nsapu armed group and that the FARDC supported and broadly
collaborated with various proxy militias that recruit and use
children. The government made negligible efforts to investigate,
prosecute, or convict offenders of sex trafficking, as distinct
from other sexual crimes, or labor trafficking. Lack of an
anti-trafficking framework, capacity, funding, and widespread
corruption continued to hinder efforts to combat all forms of
human trafficking throughout the country.

RECOMMENDATIONS FOR THE DEMOCRATIC
REPUBLIC OF THE CONGO

Develop legislation to comprehensively address all forms of
trafficking, consistent with international law; cease collaboration,
financial, and in-kind support to groups recruiting and using

children; continue measures to end the unlawful recruitment
and use of child soldiers by the FARDC and other armed groups,
and continue to cooperate with international organizations and
NGOs to identify, remove, demobilize, and refer all children
associated with armed groups to appropriate care; in partnership
with civil society, take concrete steps to provide comprehensive
protection services to victims of all forms of trafficking, and
ensure trafficking victims, including child soldiers, are not
punished for unlawful acts committed as a direct result of
being subjected to human trafficking; use existing legislation
to investigate, prosecute, convict, and adequately sentence
traffickers, and continue to investigate and prosecute government
officials complicit in the unlawful recruitment and use of child
soldiers; create an inter-ministerial anti-trafficking committee
to support development of anti-trafficking legislation and
adopt an action plan to combat all forms of trafficking; provide
training and develop procedures for officials to proactively
identify trafficking victims among vulnerable groups, including
women and children in prostitution, street children, and
men, women, and children in artisanal mining, and to refer
victims to NGO-run protection services; develop procedures
for collecting and reporting data on cases of sex trafficking as
distinct from other sexual violence crimes; improve training
for law enforcement and judicial officials on combating all
forms of human trafficking; and raise awareness about human
trafficking among the general public.

PROSECUTION

The government maintained efforts to investigate and prosecute
officials and armed group leaders complicit in child soldiering
and sexual exploitation, but made negligible efforts to combat
other forms of trafficking throughout the country. The DRC does
not have an anti-trafficking law, nor do existing laws criminalize
all forms of human trafficking; the lack of a legal framework
continued to contribute to officials’ lack of understanding of
trafficking and their conflation of it with other crimes, such
as illegal international adoption. Adult forced labor is not
criminalized under Congolese law, although the Constitution
prohibits involuntary servitude. The 2006 sexual violence
statute (Law 6/018) prohibits sexual slavery, sex trafficking,
and child and forced prostitution and prescribes penalties
ranging from five to 20 years imprisonment. These penalties are
sufficiently stringent and commensurate with those prescribed
for other serious crimes, such as rape. The Child Protection
Law 09/001 prohibits forced child labor, child prostitution,
and the use of children in illicit activities, and prescribes
penalties of 10 to 20 years imprisonment for sexual slavery;
these penalties are sufficiently stringent and commensurate
with other serious crimes. Forced child labor, debt bondage,
and child commercial sexual exploitation carry penalties of
one to three years imprisonment, which are not sufficiently
stringent. The enlistment of persons younger than 18 years old
into the armed forces and the police carries penalties of 10 to
20 years imprisonment. Corruption remained a hindrance to
adequately punishing trafficking offenders.
The government investigated, prosecuted, and convicted
trafficking suspects, including several officials, of child
soldiering and sexual violence, which may have included
sex trafficking; however, it did not make vigorous law
enforcement efforts directly targeting sex or labor trafficking
offenses. The government did not report comprehensive data
on investigations, prosecutions, and convictions as there is no
centralized database for trafficking information. In 2016, the
government investigated three FARDC officials and an armed
group leader, from Mouvement Populaire d’Auto-Defense for

CONGO, DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF THE

rural families frequently place children with wealthier relatives
or acquaintances in urban areas or on Grande Comore for
access to schooling and other benefits; some of these children
are subjected to domestic servitude and physical and sexual
abuse. Most Comorian children aged 3 to 7 (and some up
to age 14) study at informal neighborhood Koranic schools
headed by private instructors, where some are exploited as field
hands or domestic servants as payment for instruction and
subjected to physical and sexual abuse. Women and girls are
reportedly subjected to sex trafficking in Comoros. Comorians
may be particularly vulnerable to transnational trafficking due
to a lack of adequate border controls, corruption within the
administration, and the existence of international criminal
networks involved in human smuggling. The estimated 3,0004,000 unaccompanied Comorian children on Mayotte are
especially vulnerable to domestic servitude and sex trafficking.

133

CONGO, DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF THE
134

child recruitment; these cases remained ongoing at the end of
the reporting period. The government reportedly charged 319
FARDC officials, 135 PNC officials, and 18 civilians or members
of armed groups in military courts for crimes of sexual violence;
however, it was unclear if these cases involved sex trafficking
crimes, how many were convicted, or what the penalties were.
The government convicted and sentenced a FARDC colonel in
June 2016 to seven years imprisonment for rape of a minor; and
in May 2016, the government reportedly arrested and charged
in military court 90 persons, including a provincial Member
of Parliament, for abduction, rape and genital mutilation in
Kavumu, South Kivu province. An international organization
reported that the government convicted 41 offenders, including
several officials, in military court and one FARDC officer in 2016;
however, it was unclear what the individuals were charged for or
what sentences were imposed. The government demonstrated
increased efforts to address and improve its data collection
on sexual violence, which may have included sex trafficking
crimes. Such efforts appeared to fulfill the 2015 commitment
by FARDC commanders to combat sexual violence by soldiers,
including sexual slavery, through prosecution of perpetrators
and protection of victims, witnesses, and judicial actors involved
in addressing these crimes. The government provided limited
training to some police and military personnel on preventing
child soldiering, protecting human rights, and preventing
sexual violence, but it did not provide training to officials on
all forms of human trafficking.

PROTECTION

The government continued efforts to identify and refer child
soldiers to international organizations for assistance. As part of
its national Disarmament, Demobilization, and Reintegration
(DDR) Plan, the government continued to cooperate with
an international organization and NGO child protection
partners to identify and remove child soldiers from illegal
armed groups operating in eastern DRC. The government
worked with an international organization, and reported
identification of at least 1,662 children in 2016, who were
consequently separated from illegal armed groups; once
identified, there was a procedure in place to send the victims
for specialized care. The government identified one child soldier
from Rwanda and 16 from Burundi being transported through
eastern DRC to participate in an armed conflict in Burundi.
The government of Uganda reported eight Ugandan children
were separated from the Allied Democratic Front armed group
in the DRC, and remained in the DRC due to difficulties with
family tracing. Other than identifying child soldiers during the
reporting period, the government did not make appreciable
efforts to identify victims of sex and labor trafficking among
other vulnerable groups, such as street children, women and
children in prostitution, and men, women, and children in
artisanal mining, even though the scope of these problems
was significant. However, some NGOs in eastern DRC reported
police and security officials identified and referred an unknown
number of potential victims to NGOs for care on an ad hoc
basis in 2016.
The government did not provide specialized services and care to
trafficking victims as distinct from other vulnerable groups. In
partnership with NGOs, the Ministry of Social Affairs and the
Office of the President’s Representative on Sexual Violence and
Child Recruitment assisted an unknown number of victims of
sexual violence, possibly including trafficking victims, during the
reporting period. Housing for up to three months, attempts at
family reunification, and support for socio-economic integration
were services reported to be available from the government;

however, it is unclear whether any of these services were provided
to trafficking victims during the reporting period. Several NGOs
also provided services to survivors of sexual violence, including
trafficking victims, as well as children separated from armed
groups; services included access to medical and psychological
services, legal assistance, and reintegration services including
literacy and vocational training. The Ministry of Social Affairs
worked with local NGOs to reintegrate street children—some
of whom may have been trafficking victims—and child soldiers
into their communities and to reunify them with their families.
Trafficking victims could file cases against their traffickers in
civil courts. The government consistently allowed for the safe
repatriation of foreign child soldiers in cooperation with
an international organization. Despite these efforts, some
trafficking victims, including child soldiers, continued to be
subject to detention for unlawful acts committed as a direct
result of being subjected to human trafficking. An international
organization identified 174 children in detention centers, who
were detained for their alleged association with armed groups,
an increase from the previous reporting period.

PREVENTION

The government continued efforts to prevent the recruitment
and use of children into the FARDC, sexual exploitation, and
forced labor in mining, but it did not make tangible efforts to
prevent other forms of trafficking. During the reporting period,
the government continued to implement a national action
plan—supported by an international organization—to end
the recruitment and use of child soldiers and remove them
from armed groups, through the Joint Technical Working
Group, which comprised of government ministries, NGOs,
and international organizations. The working group met
regularly throughout the reporting period and in addition to
newly created groups in Bunia, Beni, and Lubumbashi, the
government established groups in the Tanganyika and North
Kivu provinces. There were no confirmed cases of child solider
recruitment by the FARDC for the second consecutive year. In
partnership with NGOs, the government screened more than
7,500 new FARDC recruits to verify their ages. The government
drafted UN-approved standard operating procedures for use in
methodically verifying the age of potential enlistees. Through
the screening process, the government prevented more than
191 children from joining the FARDC in 2016. However, there
were multiple reports of the FARDC’s broad collaboration with
and provision of arms, ammunition, and funding to proxy
militias that recruit and use children, including various Mai Mai
groups. There are currently no measures in the national action
plan to address the termination of these proxy relationships.
Due in part to capacity and security constraints, the government
did not have an inter-ministerial anti-trafficking committee
to address all forms of trafficking. The government did not
initiate anti-trafficking public awareness campaigns during the
reporting period; however, a local NGO conducted an awareness
campaign in Kinshasa, which included community theater,
television programming, and collaboration with local churches,
youth groups, schools, and universities. The government did
not make efforts to reduce the demand for commercial sex
acts. The government continued to make efforts to reduce the
demand for forced labor in artisanal mining, but did not do so
in other sectors. In 2016, the government continued its efforts
in cooperation with an international organization to validate
and certify approximately 285 artisanal mining sites in eastern
DRC as conflict-free and child labor-free, a significant increase
from 215 in the previous year. The Ministry of Labor, responsible
for inspecting worksites for child labor, remained understaffed

TRAFFICKING PROFILE

As reported over the past five years, the DRC is a source,
destination, and transit country for men, women, and children
subjected to forced labor and sex trafficking. In 2016, several
armed groups continued to abduct and forcibly recruit Congolese
men, women, and children as combatants and in support roles,
such as guards, porters, cleaners, cooks, messengers, spies, and
tax collectors at mining sites; women and girls were forced to
marry or serve as sex slaves for members of some armed groups.
As reported in 2015, some children were also forced to commit
crimes for their captors, such as looting and extortion. In 2016,
an international organization reported 184 confirmed cases
of children who were forcibly recruited and used by armed
groups, while 1,662 children were separated or escaped from
armed groups. In 2016, abductions for recruitment by the
Lord’s Resistance Army increased slightly, and 16 Burundian
child soldiers and one Rwandan child soldier, some recruited
from refugee camps, transited the DRC to fight in armed groups
in Burundi. Child soldiers who were separated from armed
groups and reintegrated into society remain vulnerable to rerecruitment, as adequate rehabilitation services did not exist for
children suffering severe psychological trauma, stigmatization
may interfere with community reintegration, and armed groups
continue to recruit children.
For a second consecutive year, international observers reported
there were no cases of child recruitment by the FARDC in
2016. However, there were multiple reports of the FARDC’s
broad collaboration with and provision of arms, ammunition,
and funding to proxy militias that recruit and use children,
including various Mai Mai groups. In particular, an international
organization reported ongoing collaboration between the
FARDC and Mai Mai Guidon, also known as Nduma Defense
of Congo Renove (NDC-R) —to coordinate battlefield tactics
and capture of territory from a foreign illegal armed group
with ammunition and support from senior Congolese army
officials—which recruited and used at least 27 children during
the reporting period.
Some men, women, and children working in artisanal mines
in eastern DRC are subjected to forced labor, including debt
bondage, by mining bosses, other miners, family members,
government officials, and armed groups. Some children are
subjected to forced labor in the illegal mining of diamonds,
copper, gold, cobalt, tungsten ore, tantalum ore, and tin, as well
as the smuggling of minerals. In January 2016, an international

organization reported widespread abuse, including forced
labor, of some children in artisanal cobalt mines in southern
DRC; some children reported extremely long working hours
and physical abuse by security guards employed by the state
mining company. Children are also vulnerable to forced labor in
small-scale agriculture, domestic work, street begging, vending,
and portering. Some street children are suspected to be forced
to participate in illicit drug transactions and exploited in sex
trafficking. An NGO reported some families send their children
to Kinshasa, after being promised educational opportunities for
the children; however, upon arrival, the children are subjected
to forced labor and sex trafficking. Children from the Republic
of the Congo may transit through the DRC en route to Angola
or South Africa, where they may be subjected to domestic
servitude. Some Congolese women and girls subjected to forced
marriage are highly vulnerable to domestic servitude or sex
trafficking. Congolese women and children migrate to other
countries in Africa, the Middle East, and Europe, where some
are exploited in sex trafficking, domestic servitude, or forced
labor in agriculture and diamond mines. Some women may
be fraudulently recruited and forced into domestic servitude
abroad through false promises of education or employment
opportunities. Some Angolans who enter the DRC illegally to
work in Bas Congo province are vulnerable to forced labor.

CONGO, REPUBLIC OF THE: TIER 3
The Government of the Republic of the Congo does not fully
meet the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking
and is not making significant efforts to do so; therefore, the
Republic of the Congo was downgraded to Tier 3. Despite
the lack of significant efforts, the government investigated
and prosecuted five suspected traffickers during the reporting
period. However, the government did not fund or take any steps
to implement the 2014-2017 national action plan, nor did it
provide funding to the Trafficking in Persons Coordinating
Committee in Pointe-Noire. The government has never convicted
any traffickers; several cases in prosecution have been pending
for up to six years. Harassment of anti-trafficking activists,
reportedly including police, inhibited their work. The lack of
an inter-ministerial coordinating body and low understanding
of anti-trafficking laws among government officials continued
to hinder countrywide efforts to address internal trafficking
and sex trafficking from the Democratic Republic of the Congo
and other countries.

CONGO, REPUBLIC OF THE

and had limited resources to conduct inspections for child
labor violations, including trafficking violations, throughout
the country. Furthermore, the government’s committee to
address child labor lacked funding and did not meet in 2016,
nor did the government adopt a draft national action plan to
combat the worst forms of child labor. Following reports of sex
trafficking and domestic servitude of several women from DRC
in Lebanon and Kuwait, the government reportedly prohibited
travel to Lebanon for young women; however, it is unclear if the
government undertook any proactive efforts to regulate foreign
labor recruitment and train or raise awareness among intending
Congolese migrant workers. The government did not provide
anti-trafficking training for FARDC members deployed abroad
in peacekeeping operations; in January 2016, an international
organization reported allegations that peacekeepers from the
DRC committed sexual abuse crimes in the Central African
Republic, but it was unclear if any of these crimes amounted to
sex trafficking. The government did not provide anti-trafficking
training for its diplomatic personnel.

RECOMMENDATIONS FOR THE REPUBLIC OF THE CONGO

Enact comprehensive anti-trafficking legislation that prohibits
adult trafficking; fund the Trafficking in Persons Coordinating
Committee, the national action plan, and protective services
such as the foster care system; expedite hearings to address the
trafficking case backlog or consider prosecuting trafficking cases
in the low court in the interim; increase efforts to investigate
and prosecute trafficking offenses and to convict and punish

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CONGO, REPUBLIC OF THE

traffickers, including complicit government officials; increase
outreach, victim identification, and law enforcement efforts on
sex trafficking and internal trafficking beyond Pointe-Noire and
Brazzaville, with specific attention to the trafficking of adults
and indigenous persons; develop formal procedures to identify
trafficking victims among child laborers, illegal immigrants,
and women and girls in prostitution, and train social workers
and law enforcement officials on these procedures; provide
adequate security and supervision for victims placed in foster
families and anti-trafficking activists and partners; establish a
national body that includes all relevant ministries to increase
coordination of countrywide anti-trafficking efforts; bolster antitrafficking law enforcement cooperation with other governments
in the region, especially Benin and DRC; and accede to the UN
Convention Against Transnational Organized Crime and the
2000 UN TIP Protocol.

PROSECUTION

The government maintained minimal anti-trafficking law
enforcement efforts and still has not secured any trafficking
convictions. Article 60, chapter 2 of the 2010 Child Protection
Code prohibits the trafficking, sale, trading, and exploitation of
children, for which article 115 prescribes penalties of hard labor
for an undefined period of time and a fine. Article 68 prohibits
the worst forms of child labor, for which article 121 prescribes
penalties between three and five years of imprisonment or
fines of 1 million to 10 million African Financial Community
(CFA) francs ($1,608 to $16,084) for child sexual exploitation,
and article 122 prescribes penalties between three months
and one year of imprisonment or fines of 50,000 to 500,000
CFA francs ($80 to $804) for forced child labor. Article 4 of
the country’s labor code prohibits and penalizes forced or
compulsory labor, but there are no penalties defined in the
law. None of these penalties are sufficiently stringent, and the
penalties prescribed for sex trafficking are not commensurate
with those prescribed for other serious crimes, such as rape.
Article 131 of the penal code prohibits forced prostitution and
carried penalties between two and five years of imprisonment
and fines between 1,000,000 and 10,000,000 CFA francs ($1,608
to $16,084). Although Congolese law prohibits some forms
of trafficking of adults, it does not outlaw bonded labor or the
recruitment, harboring, transport, or provision of a person for
the purposes of forced labor. Draft anti-trafficking legislation,
completed in partnership with an international organization
in 2014, remained in draft for the third consecutive year; after
adoption of a new constitution in 2015, officials returned the
draft legislation to the Ministry of Justice to facilitate a second
review by government stakeholders.
The government initiated the investigation and prosecution of
one case involving five suspects during the reporting period,
compared to four investigations and no prosecutions in 2015.
The government has never convicted any traffickers. Officials
charged one of the suspects for kidnapping, one for falsifying
documents for the purpose of trafficking of a minor; and the
other three for rape of a minor; Officials referred the falsification
of documents case to the high court, where it remained awaiting
trial. Many cases continued to languish, some without progress
for up to six years, partly because of a significant backlog in the
high court, which has never convened to hear a trafficking case.

136

The government did not provide any anti-trafficking training
for law enforcement during the reporting period due to a
lack of funding. Limited understanding of the child antitrafficking law among law enforcement officials, judges, and
labor inspectors continued to hinder the anti-trafficking law

enforcement efforts. There was a widespread perception of
corruption throughout the government, but the government
did not report any investigations, prosecutions, or convictions
of officials complicit in human trafficking offenses. Human
trafficking activists reportedly faced harassment and threats
from government officials, including police, which discouraged
some civil society members and government officials from
reporting trafficking cases.

PROTECTION

The government maintained minimal protection efforts. The
government did not employ systematic procedures to identify
victims among vulnerable groups or refer victims for assistance,
relying instead on NGOs and international organizations to
identify victims. During the reporting period, an NGO identified
16 foreign trafficking victims ranging in age from seven to 23,
including 14 in Pointe-Noire and two in Brazzaville, compared
to 15 identified in the previous reporting period. The NGO
reported all of those identified were victims of forced labor
in either domestic service or market vending and two were
also sex trafficking victims. Fourteen victims originated from
Benin, one from Togo, and one from Senegal. The Trafficking
in Persons Coordinating Committee in Pointe-Noire, which
aids in assigning identified child trafficking victims to foster
homes and conducts family tracing, referred no children to
foster families; however, a local NGO referred an unknown
number of child victims to such homes. The government did not
provide an operating budget for the Coordinating Committee
during the reporting period. The government did not provide
care to any victims during the reporting period, but relied on
partnerships with NGOs and foster families to enable victims
in Pointe-Noire to receive access to care; however, it did not
fund these entities or any victim assistance programs during
the reporting period. Five foster care families were available,
but only one reported receiving victims during the reporting
period due to a lack of government funding. The government
did not facilitate NGO partnerships to provide protective services
elsewhere in the country. During the reporting period, the
government facilitated, but did not fund, the repatriation of 13
victims to their countries of origin and the local reintegration
of one victim. Congolese officials cooperated with Beninese
officials on these repatriations and in three cases, the Committee
in Pointe-Noire facilitated payment from the traffickers for the
victims’ return flight to Benin.
During the reporting period, there were no reports of victims
jailed or prosecuted for crimes committed as a result of their
having been subjected to trafficking; however, inadequate
identification efforts may have left victims unidentified in the
law enforcement system. Officials encouraged victims to assist
in the prosecution of their traffickers, but child victims were
not expected to testify in court. The government did not deport
foreign victims, but it did not issue temporary or permanent
residency status to victims and had no legal alternatives to
removal to countries in which victims would face retribution
or hardship. For the fifth consecutive year, the government did
not carry out joint investigations or extraditions of charged
traffickers under its bilateral agreement with the Government
of Benin.

PREVENTION

The government decreased efforts to prevent trafficking. The
Trafficking in Persons Coordinating Committee met three times
during the reporting period, primarily to facilitate repatriation
of foreign victims. However, it did not conduct awareness-

TRAFFICKING PROFILE

As reported over the past five years, the Republic of the Congo
is a source and destination country for children, men, and
women subjected to forced labor and sex trafficking. According
to a study released by an international organization in 2013,
most trafficking victims in the Congo originate from Benin
and the DRC, and to a lesser extent from other neighboring
countries. Most foreign victims are subjected to forced labor
in domestic service and market vending. Women and girls
from Benin, ages 7 to 19, constituted the majority of identified
trafficking victims in 2016, all of which endured forced labor.
Both adults and children are victims of sex trafficking in the
Congo, with most between the ages of 9 and 11. Girls and
women from both the Republic of the Congo and the DRC are
subjected to sex trafficking, with clients from among Chinese
and Malaysian construction workers building a highway near
the cities of Nkayi and Pointe-Noire.
Internal trafficking involves recruitment from rural areas for
exploitation in cities. The indigenous population is especially
vulnerable to forced labor in agriculture. NGOs in Bambama,
Sibiti, and Dolisie reported the majority population, called
Bantus, often forced adult indigenous people to harvest manioc
and other crops without pay and under the threat of physical
abuse or death. Most children subjected to trafficking within
the country migrate from rural to urban areas to serve as
domestic workers for relatives or family friends. Some child
trafficking victims are also subjected to forced labor in bakeries,
and the fishing and agricultural sectors, including in cocoa
fields in Sangha department, sugar cane fields in the Bouenza
department, and, among indigenous populations, harvesting
manioc in the Lekoumou department.

COSTA RICA: TIER 2
The Government of Costa Rica does not fully meet the minimum
standards for the elimination of trafficking; however, it is making
significant efforts to do so. The government demonstrated
increasing efforts compared to the previous reporting period;
therefore, Costa Rica was upgraded to Tier 2. The government
demonstrated increasing efforts by disbursing funds from its
national anti-trafficking and smuggling fund to key government
agencies for the first time; providing funds and technical support
to open a second emergency shelter; addressing complicity by
indicting a former mayor and four suspected accomplices on
charges of establishing a trafficking network; identifying more
trafficking victims than in the previous year; and improving
public awareness-raising activities about forced labor. However,

the government did not meet the minimum standards in several
key areas. Prosecution efforts remained weak and publicly
funded victim services remained insufficient to care for the
number of victims identified.

COSTA RICA

raising campaigns as it had done during the previous reporting
year. The government-funded neither the implementation of
the 2014-2017 action plan, which remained behind schedule,
nor the efforts of the Committee. It did not establish an interministerial coordinating body to guide national anti-trafficking
efforts. The government did not take discernible measures to
reduce demand for commercial sex acts or forced labor. The
government did not provide anti-trafficking training for its
diplomatic personnel. The government has signed but has not
acceded to the Convention Against Transnational Organized
Crime and the 2000 UN TIP Protocol. With support from
a foreign donor, the government provided its troops with
anti-trafficking training, prior to their deployment abroad on
international peacekeeping missions.

RECOMMENDATIONS FOR COSTA RICA

Intensify efforts to investigate and prosecute trafficking
offenses, including labor trafficking and cases not involving
movement under trafficking-related criminal code provisions,
and convict and punish traffickers; amend legislation to
define human trafficking consistent with international law;
increase the disbursement of funds for victim services and
provide specialized shelter and services for trafficking victims,
including men, in partnership with civil society organizations;
improve victim identification and referral, and investigations
and prosecutions, particularly in cases occurring outside of
the capital; improve screening of individuals in prostitution
for indicators of trafficking, including during raids; conduct
thorough and transparent criminal investigations of alleged
government complicity in trafficking offenses and prosecute,
convict and punish complicit officials; increase efforts to
investigate, prosecute, and convict child sex tourists and others
who purchase commercial sex acts from child trafficking victims;
increase anti-trafficking training for police, prosecutors, and
judges; and improve data collection on law enforcement and
victim protection efforts.

PROSECUTION

The government maintained law enforcement efforts. Article
172 of the criminal code criminalizes the acts of promoting,
facilitating, or assisting in the movement of persons across
borders for sexual or labor exploitation, slavery or practices
similar to slavery, forced labor or services, or forced begging,
and prescribes penalties of four to 20 years imprisonment; these
penalties are sufficiently stringent and commensurate with
other serious crimes. The definition of trafficking in the law
is inconsistent with international law in that it requires that a
victim be internationally transported; and also criminalizes these
acts for the purpose of illegal adoption and labor exploitation
that does not amount to forced labor. In addition to article 172,
officials used trafficking-related offenses, including prohibiting
holding a person in servitude (article 189) or aggravated
pimping (article 170) or coerced pimping (article 171) to
prosecute cases. These articles prescribe penalties ranging from
two to 10 years imprisonment; these penalties are sufficiently
stringent and commensurate with other serious crimes. The
government and national assembly introduced an amendment
to the law in 2016, under review by the national assembly’s
human rights committee, which would improve the current law
by removing the requirement of movement and establishing
force, fraud, or coercion as essential elements of the crime.
The Attorney General’s Office reported investigating 26 new
cases of movement-based trafficking (article 172) and aggravated
pimping (article 170) compared to 31 new cases of movementbased trafficking in 2015. The government initiated 39 new

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prosecutions—27 movement-based trafficking prosecutions
(article 172) and 12 aggravated and coerced pimping
prosecutions (articles 170-171); brought one movementbased trafficking case to trial; and convicted one trafficker of
movement-based trafficking under article 172. Prosecutors
appealed three acquittals from 2014 in a case of suspected
labor trafficking involving Asian fishermen on boats in Costa
Rican waters, but the appellate court declined to accept the
case. The government designated funding for 2017 to increase
investigative and prosecutorial capacity in rural areas and
cities outside the central valley. Observers noted the judicial
system had a significant backlog of criminal cases, including
trafficking cases, which slowed prosecutions. The government
provided anti-trafficking training to law enforcement, the
judicial sector, and child welfare officials; and civil society
members. The government indicted a former mayor and four
suspected accomplices on charges of establishing a trafficking
network, aggravated rape, and giving illicit narcotics to minors
in a case opened in 2011; the case was awaiting a court date at
the close of the reporting period. The court dismissed a case
against a government official who was previously investigated
for using an official vehicle for unauthorized personal use;
this official was visiting an establishment where, according to
media reports, sex trafficking occurred. The government did
not convict any officials complicit in human trafficking or
trafficking-related offenses.

PROTECTION

The government increased victim protection efforts. The
government identified and verified 17 trafficking victims in
2016 under the existing trafficking law (12 sex trafficking and
five labor trafficking), compared to three sex trafficking victims
in 2015 under the same law, and 23 victims (13 sex trafficking
and ten labor trafficking) in 2014. However, the government
provided shelter and health, legal, and psychological services
to 53 potential victims during the reporting period, including
44 women, two men, six girls, and one boy. Potential victims
received immediate services, but not all 53 were “verified” as
trafficking victims under Costa Rican protocols. Law enforcement
authorities used written procedures for identifying victims
among vulnerable groups, such as migrants and individuals in
prostitution, and referred identified victims to the government’s
interagency anti-trafficking body, the National Coalition against
Migrant Smuggling and Trafficking in Persons (CONATT) to
coordinate service provision.

138

The 2013 law mandates CONATT to coordinate assistance to
trafficking victims, which includes emergency, short-term, and
long-term assistance. The government updated its protocol
for officials on the immediate response team responsible for
certifying victims and updated its protocol for coordinating
among various agencies and NGOs to provide victim services,
which could include food, lodging, and health, financial, and
psychological support. Authorities had the discretion to refer
victims to services on a case-by-case basis; not all victims
received the same level of protection. Civil society organizations
reported referral mechanisms were not always implemented in
an effective or timely manner. The government acknowledged
it was challenged in using the referral mechanism by large
increases in migrants in the country in 2016. The government,
through the National Anti-Trafficking in Persons and Smuggling
of Migrants Fund (FONATT), disbursed 122 million colons
($223,443) to fund trafficking victim services in 2016, the first
time it had used the fund. Separately, through its child welfare
agency, the government provided direct funding to an NGO-run
shelter for child victims, a per-victim subsidy for victims it and

the NGO identified, and directed 91 million colons ($166,667)
in lottery funds to NGOs providing services to trafficking victims.
Remaining services were funded and provided by NGOs. The
government does not provide dedicated shelters or specialized
services to male victims, although the emergency shelter and safe
houses can be used for male or female victims. The government
provided medical and psychological services, legal services, and
support for victims assisting criminal proceedings.
The government granted temporary residency status, with
permission to work or study, to 17 foreign victims in 2016. The
government worked with two foreign governments to repatriate
four Costa Rican trafficking victims in 2016. There were no
reports that the government penalized trafficking victims for
unlawful acts committed as a direct result of being subjected
to human trafficking.

PREVENTION

The government increased prevention efforts. CONATT
continued to meet quarterly and coordinate the government’s
anti-trafficking activities and funded an international
organization to develop a new national action plan for 20172020. In 2016, the government obligated $1.15 million of the
total $1.8 million available in 2016 for programming from the
FONATT to public awareness raising and the establishment of
a headquarters for CONATT, which will house the immediate
response team and a 24-hour emergency short-term shelter
for victims. Authorities financed a national public awareness
campaign, distributed brochures and posters, publicized the
9-1-1 hotline with anti-trafficking messages on national lottery
tickets, and held public events to warn about the dangers of
trafficking. The government made efforts to reduce the demand
for commercial sex acts and forced labor. The government
worked to reduce the vulnerability of children of migrant
indigenous workers in the coffee sector by expanding the
availability of child care centers. The government educated
labor recruiters for international and domestic businesses
about the consequences of violating the anti-trafficking
regulations, but did not report investigating or penalizing
any labor recruiters for illegal practices that contribute to
trafficking. A quasi-governmental agency continued conducting
trainings on combating child sex tourism for members of the
tourism industry. The government convicted an individual
for promoting Costa Rica as a child sex tourism destination
and imposed a sentence of five years imprisonment for the
first time in November 2016. The government continued to
investigate and prosecute individuals that paid child trafficking
victims for commercial sex, resulting in 35 investigations and
at least one conviction in 2016. Working in collaboration with
international partners, the government reported denying entry
to 71 foreign registered sex offenders attempting to travel to
Costa Rica as tourists in 2016, compared to 53 in 2015. The
government and NGOs provided anti-trafficking training to
its diplomatic personnel.

TRAFFICKING PROFILE

As reported over the past five years, Costa Rica is a source,
transit, and destination country for men, women, and children
subjected to sex trafficking and forced labor. Costa Rican
women and children are subjected to sex trafficking within
the country, with those living in the north and central Pacific
coastal zones being particularly vulnerable. Authorities have
identified adults using children to transport or sell drugs;
some of these children may be trafficking victims. Migrants
en route to the United States, primarily from Haiti and Cuba,

COTE D’IVOIRE: TIER 2
The Government of Cote d’Ivoire does not fully meet the
minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking; however,
it is making significant efforts to do so. The government
demonstrated increasing efforts compared to the previous
reporting period; therefore, Cote d’Ivoire was upgraded to
Tier 2. The government demonstrated significant efforts by
prohibiting human trafficking in its new constitution, passing
a comprehensive anti-trafficking law—the first to penalize
the trafficking of both children and adults, reporting more
prosecutions and convictions than in the previous reporting
period, and adopting a 2016-2020 anti trafficking action plan.
However, the government did not meet the minimum standards
in several key areas. Despite allocations for victim protection in
its 2016-2020 national action plan, the government continued
to rely on NGOs to provide nearly all victim assistance without
adequate government support. The government also remained
without formal mechanisms to identify adult trafficking victims
or refer trafficking victims to NGOs for care. During the majority
of the reporting period, the government lacked coordination
and a clear delegation among ministries of responsibilities
for combating trafficking, which impaired implementation
of the national action plan and impeded overall progress. The
government did not provide sufficient funding or resources
to enable law enforcement to investigate trafficking crimes
nationwide and did not provide any data regarding cases of
adult forced labor.

RECOMMENDATIONS FOR COTE D’IVOIRE

Increase funding to NGOs to expand shelter and services for
trafficking victims, and establish victim shelters as indicated
in the national action plan; allocate more staff, funding,
and resources to the police anti-trafficking unit to facilitate
investigation of trafficking crimes nationwide; vigorously
investigate, prosecute, and convict traffickers, including
allegedly complicit officials and others who commit sex and

labor trafficking offenses against adults, and apply sufficiently
stringent penalties; train prosecutors and judges on the 2016
anti-trafficking law; clearly delineate responsibilities among
stakeholders for activities outlined in the 2016-2020 national
action plan, and enhance interagency coordination to effectively
implement the plan; establish a standardized victim referral
mechanism across ministries to ensure all trafficking victims
receive services, and train law enforcement and front-line
responders on such protocols; revise the existing procedures used
to identify potential trafficking victims to include adults and
victims among vulnerable populations, such as those working
in domestic service and street vending, and incorporate those
changes into existing victim identification trainings; train child
labor and human rights hotline operators on the procedures for
referring reports of trafficking to regional authorities; actively
monitor agencies and middlemen that recruit Ivoirians for work
abroad, and investigate agencies if allegations of fraudulent
recruitment arise; improve efforts to collect data on antitrafficking actions across all ministries, including cases of adult
trafficking; increase efforts to collect information on the scope
of trafficking in Cote d’Ivoire and among Ivoirian nationals
abroad; and remove smuggling as a form of exploitation from
the definition of human trafficking under Ivoirian law to more
closely align with the definition in the 2000 UN TIP Protocol.

COTE D’IVOIRE

remained vulnerable to trafficking. The significant numbers
of transgender Costa Ricans in the commercial sex industry
are vulnerable to sex trafficking. Costa Ricans are subjected
to sex and labor trafficking in the Bahamas and Guatemala.
Women and girls from Nicaragua, the Dominican Republic,
and other Latin American countries have been identified in
Costa Rica as victims of sex trafficking and domestic servitude.
Child sex tourism is a serious problem, with child sex tourists
arriving mostly from the United States and Europe. Men and
children from other Central American countries are subjected
to forced labor in Costa Rica, particularly in the agriculture,
construction, fishing, and commercial sectors. Nicaraguan men
and women transit Costa Rica en route to Panama, where some
are subjected to forced labor or sex trafficking. Indigenous
Panamanians are also reportedly vulnerable to forced labor
in agriculture in Costa Rica.

PROSECUTION

The government made increased law enforcement efforts. In
December 2016, the president promulgated Law No. 2016-111 on
the Fight Against Trafficking in Persons, the first law to prohibit
both adult and child trafficking in the country. The law prohibits
sex trafficking and forced labor and prescribes penalties of five
to 10 years imprisonment and a fine of five to 10 million West
African CFA francs (FCFA) ($7,998-$15,996). These penalties
are sufficiently stringent but not commensurate with those
prescribed for other serious crimes, such as rape. With regards
to trafficking, the law includes in its definition of “exploitation”
migrant smuggling, which is a different crime than trafficking.
The new law explicitly allows the courts to reduce the sentences
imposed for those who attempt to engage in trafficking but
instead alert the authorities, prevent the offense from taking
place, or identify accomplices. During the reporting period, Law
No. 2010-272 Pertaining to the Prohibition of Child Trafficking
and the Worst Forms of Child Labor remained the primary law
used to prosecute child trafficking. The law prohibits compelling
children into or offering them for prostitution and prescribes
penalties of five to 20 years imprisonment and a fine of 500,000
to 50 million FCFA ($800 to $79,982); penalties can increase
to life imprisonment with aggravating circumstances. These
penalties are sufficiently stringent and commensurate with
those prescribed for rape. The penalties for subjecting a child
to forced labor or situations akin to bondage or slavery are 10
to 20 years imprisonment and a fine, which are sufficiently
stringent. Penal code articles 335 and 336 prohibit pimping and
exploitation of adults and children in prostitution by means
of force, violence, or abuse. Article 378 prohibits the forced
labor of adults and children, prescribing sufficiently stringent
penalties of one to five years imprisonment and a fine.
The government did not have a mechanism to collect and share
data between ministries, so it did not gather comprehensive
data on anti-trafficking law enforcement efforts. The Ministry
of Justice solicited trafficking case data from all 31 departments.
In trafficking case data from Abidjan and eight departments,
the government reported investigating at least 35 alleged
traffickers in 28 cases, prosecuting 19 suspects in 18 cases, and
convicting eight traffickers in five cases, an increase from 27

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COTE D’IVOIRE

investigations, one prosecution, and one conviction the previous
reporting period, with data from Abidjan and 13 regions. The
government investigated 16 alleged child traffickers under the
2010 law and 19 alleged sex traffickers under the penal code’s
pimping statute. Eleven prosecutions involving seven suspects
remained ongoing at the end of the reporting period, and it
was unclear if the judiciary continued to investigate or had
dismissed eight investigations of 15 alleged sex traffickers.
Four of the eight convicted traffickers received sentences of 20
years imprisonment under the penal code’s forced prostitution
statute. Judges convicted two individuals of child trafficking
under the 2010 child trafficking law, sentencing one offender to
three years imprisonment and 500,000 FCFA ($800) in damages
to the victim and the second to 10 months imprisonment, a
five million FCFA ($7,998) fine, and 250,000 FCFA ($400) in
damages to the victim. In another case, the judge sentenced
a trafficker who was intercepted while transporting Togolese
children to Abidjan with the intent to exploit them in forced
labor to 12 months imprisonment for child smuggling. Judges
acquitted five suspected traffickers. Law enforcement continued
to investigate six of 12 alleged child traffickers arrested the
previous reporting period; there was no information available
about investigations into the other six suspects. Authorities
recorded seven cases of pimping involving at least 11 suspects
that might have amounted to sex trafficking. The government
did not provide any data regarding cases of adult forced labor.
Limited funding and resources for law enforcement created
serious gaps in the government’s ability to address human
trafficking. The national police’s 13-person anti-trafficking
unit bore primary responsibility for enforcing anti-trafficking
laws throughout the country, although it only had staff in
Abidjan. The unit had a budget of approximately $4,592 in
2016. Although the unit liaised with regional police on child
trafficking cases, limited funding hampered its overall ability
to investigate trafficking offenses, especially outside Abidjan.
Resource limitations also constrained the Brigade Mondaine—
the police unit charged with investigating prostitution and sex
trafficking—to Abidjan and a few regional precincts, rendering
the two primary anti-trafficking units unable to cover the
majority of the country. The government did not report any
investigations, prosecutions, or convictions of government
officials complicit in human trafficking offenses. Anecdotally, an
international organization reported the government transferred
to other units police officers who proactively attempted to
investigate cases of child domestic servitude in the northern
regions, which indicates the presence of official complicity in
trafficking crimes.

PROTECTION

140

The government maintained efforts to identify and protect
victims. Although it did not compile comprehensive victim
identification statistics, the government improved its data
collection efforts and reported identification of 106 trafficking
victims and 62 potential trafficking victims during the reporting
period, compared with 48 potential victims identified in the
previous reporting period. Victims included children from
Mali, Guinea, Nigeria, and Burkina Faso exploited in forced
labor; Togolese boys intercepted en route to exploitation in
domestic service and street vending; and Nigerian and Ghanaian
female sex trafficking victims. The government did not operate
any victim shelters or any formal care centers exclusively for
trafficking victims and relied on NGOs to provide almost all care.
The police anti-trafficking unit referred 66 vulnerable children,
including potential trafficking victims, to an NGO for shelter
and services; however, it provided only limited material support

to this NGO that assisted the majority of potential trafficking
victims identified and referred during the year. Nonetheless, the
government provided 20 million FCFA ($31,993) in material
and financial support to 30 NGOs, some of which cared for
potential trafficking victims; compared to 30 million FCFA
($47,989) provided to these NGOs in 2015. Government social
services continued to provide income-generating assistance to
the families of 41 child labor and trafficking victims identified
the previous reporting period.
The government did not have a formal mechanism to identify
adult trafficking victims or refer trafficking victims to NGOs
for care, and government ministries responsible for referring
victims to services lacked coordination, hindering the provision
of services. Operational procedures encouraged officials to
refer victims to government-run social centers for a psychosocial examination, and the government reported referring an
unknown number of foreign and domestic child trafficking
victims for this care during the reporting period. The severely
inadequate shelter system—especially for adults—and lack of
reintegration assistance rendered many victims vulnerable to
re-victimization. During the reporting period, the government
provided logistical support for NGO construction of three
shelters for child labor and child trafficking victims. To improve
victim referrals, the Ministries of Family and Solidarity, with
international technical and financial support, began mapping
shelters and transit centers that assist trafficking victims
throughout the country.
Foreign and domestic victims reportedly had the same access to
care. During the reporting period, the government coordinated
with NGOs to provide short-term shelter for at least six foreign
trafficking victims, provided psycho-social support to some
foreign victims before repatriation, and reported collaborating
with source country embassies to repatriate or locally integrate at
least 59 trafficking victims. The government reported providing
repatriation and reintegration support to Ivoirian victims of
crime identified abroad during the reporting period, including
an unknown number of trafficking victims; such assistance
reportedly included placement in a transit center, food, and
some financial support. An international organization countered
that the government’s response was limited to the issuance of
laissez-passer cards to enable victims to return home, while
victims’ families paid for return tickets, and international
organizations and NGOs provided shelter and services during
the repatriation process.
In 2016, the police anti-trafficking unit trained 144 police
and gendarmes on child protection, including child trafficking.
The 2016 anti-trafficking law, passed in December, provides
for protection and assistance to victims who participate in
investigations or trials against their traffickers; however, the
government did not report whether any victims supported
any judicial proceedings during the reporting period. There
was no mechanism for victims to obtain restitution or file civil
suits against their traffickers. In 2016, the government revised
the National Solidarity Fund to allow trafficking victims to be
included as beneficiaries of government assistance; authorities
began establishing a mechanism to enable victims to actually
receive this assistance. There were no reports the government
detained, fined, or jailed victims for unlawful acts committed
as a direct result of being subjected to trafficking; however, the
lack of formal identification procedures for adult trafficking
victims and victims among vulnerable populations may have
resulted in some victims remaining unidentified in the law
enforcement system.

The government modestly increased efforts to create national
anti-trafficking measures but reported minimal efforts to
implement those measures. The National Monitoring
Committee and the Inter-Ministerial Committee continued
to coordinate child labor and child trafficking issues during the
reporting period, and for most of the reporting period there
was no structure dedicated to coordinating comprehensive antitrafficking efforts, including adult trafficking. In January 2017,
however, the Ministry of Family merged with the Ministry of
Solidarity, and the newly combined Ministry of Solidarity, along
with the Ministry of Justice, assumed the lead in overseeing the
government’s anti-trafficking efforts. The 2016 law mandated the
creation of a new anti-trafficking committee, and in February
2017 the government drafted the implementation decree to
establish this committee. Due to poor communication and
coordination among ministries on anti-trafficking efforts
throughout most of the reporting period, implementing agencies
did not have a clear understanding of their role in combating
trafficking or who had the lead in such efforts. Nevertheless,
in April 2016 the government adopted a 2016-2020 antitrafficking national action plan—the first anti-trafficking plan
to address both child and adult trafficking—and implemented
some portions of the plan. However, the government did not
report disbursing any of the 1.94 billion FCFA ($3.1 million)
that it had committed towards implementation of the plan.
The government initiated and signed bilateral accords with the
first ladies of Burkina Faso and Ghana to combat cross-border
child labor and trafficking. The government continued to run
a hotline for children in distress and reported receiving 6,766
phone calls; however, it was unclear how many, if any, were
related to trafficking. It reactivated a hotline to report human
rights violations, which received six reports of trafficking; the
judiciary initiated one investigation. The government did not
demonstrate efforts to reduce the demand for commercial sex
acts or forced labor. The government did not report providing
anti-trafficking training for its diplomatic personnel.

TRAFFICKING PROFILE

As reported over the past five years, Cote d’Ivoire is a source,
transit, and destination country for women and children
subjected to forced labor and sex trafficking. Trafficking within
the country is more prevalent than transnational trafficking,
and the majority of identified victims are children. Due to a
stronger emphasis on combating internal child trafficking, the
prevalence of adult trafficking may be underreported. Some
Ivoirian women and girls are subjected to forced labor in
domestic service and restaurants in Cote d’Ivoire and exploited
in sex trafficking. There are reports suggesting involvement of
women and forcing of children to participate in drug trafficking
in Western Cote d’Ivoire. Ivoirian boys are often subjected to
forced labor in the agricultural and service industries, especially
cocoa production. West African boys may be forced to labor in
agriculture (on cocoa, coffee, pineapple, and rubber plantations
and in animal breeding) and in mining, carpentry, construction,
and begging in Cote d’Ivoire. Traffickers often operate in wellestablished networks, making it difficult for law enforcement to
detect. An increasing number of corrupt marabouts, or religious
instructors, exploit Ivoirian, Burkinabe, Malian, and Nigerien
boys in forced begging in Quranic schools in the northern
regions. Some Beninese and Togolese workers who migrate
to Cote d’Ivoire for construction and carpentry work bring
children, whom they exploit in domestic servitude. Some West
African girls recruited for work as domestic servants and street
vendors are subjected to forced labor. Some women and girls
recruited from Ghana and Nigeria for jobs as waitresses are

subjected to sex trafficking. Nigerian traffickers increasingly
exploit Nigerian women and girls in sex trafficking in Cote
d’Ivoire’s northern and western mining regions, including near
gold mines in Tengrela. Other Nigerians transit Cote d’Ivoire
en route to sex trafficking in Asia, the United Arab Emirates,
and North Africa. Female Nigerian traffickers bring Nigerian
children to northern Cote d’Ivoire for exploitation in domestic
servitude. Ivoirian community and religious leaders, possibly
working in concert with others abroad, recruit Ivoirian women
and girls for work in the Middle East and Europe but subject
them to forced labor in Europe; North Africa; and the Gulf,
primarily Saudi Arabia, Morocco, Lebanon, and Tunisia. In
previous reporting periods, authorities identified Ivoirian
trafficking victims in Cyprus, France, and Morocco. Illegal
Ivoirian migrants in Algeria are vulnerable to trafficking due
to their irregular status.

CROATIA

PREVENTION

CROATIA: TIER 2
The Government of Croatia does not fully meet the minimum
standards for the elimination of trafficking; however, it is making
significant efforts to do so. The government demonstrated
increasing efforts compared to the previous reporting period;
therefore, Croatia remained on Tier 2. The government
demonstrated increasing efforts by working with NGOs to
strengthen proactive victim identification efforts for first
responders among large migrant flows and identifying more
victims of labor trafficking, male victims, and foreign victims
within migrant flows. The government increased funding
for trafficking prevention efforts and continued to provide
comprehensive services to victims. However, the government
did not meet the minimum standards in several key areas.
Judges continued to issue light sentences for forced labor
and sex trafficking, and often dismissed victim testimony as
unreliable due to a lack of understanding of trafficking. The
national committee to coordinate anti-trafficking activities
did not meet in 2016 and a national action plan remained in
development.

RECOMMENDATIONS FOR CROATIA

Vigorously investigate and prosecute suspected traffickers;
punish offenders with sentences commensurate with the severity
of the crime, particularly labor traffickers; train judges to ensure
the judiciary understands the severity of the crime when issuing
sentences and sensitize judges about secondary trauma in sex
trafficking testimony; increase efforts to identify victims among
vulnerable populations, including street children, migrants,
refugees, asylum-seekers, and Roma; allocate adequate funding
for NGO-run shelters and victim protection efforts; finalize and
adopt a national action plan; integrate the labor inspectorate
into anti-trafficking efforts; inform all identified victims of
their right to pursue compensation and encourage them to do
so; and increase capacity of border police to screen irregular
migrants for trafficking indicators.

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PROSECUTION

The government maintained law enforcement efforts. Articles 105
and 106 of the criminal code criminalize all forms of trafficking
and prescribe penalties of one to 15 years imprisonment,
which are sufficiently stringent and commensurate with those
prescribed for other serious crimes, such as rape. The government
investigated seven trafficking cases, the same number investigated
in 2015, involving 11 alleged perpetrators. The government
prosecuted 11 defendants (five for child sex trafficking, two
for sex trafficking, and four for forced labor), compared to
four defendants in 2015. Courts convicted seven traffickers
(eight in 2015), five of which were appealable verdicts and two
were final verdicts with sentences of one year of community
service for a forced labor case and six years imprisonment
for a sex trafficking case. As in past years, sentences for labor
traffickers remained lower than the prescribed minimum of one
year imprisonment. Government officials reported difficulties
in receiving information on final verdicts due to a lack of
formal procedures, electronic case management systems, and
standardized databases.

Croatian law entitles trafficking victims to safe accommodation,
medical and psychological support, and legal aid. The
government, in cooperation with NGOs, provided psychological
and financial support and guardianship for children. Shelters
operated in cooperation with professionals from MDFYSP and
NGOs. One shelter accommodated adult trafficking victims with
the capacity for five victims with separate rooms for women
and men and service staff who were available 24 hours a day,
seven days a week. OHRRNM created a roster of pro bono legal
counsel available for victims. Foreign victims are entitled to
receive a renewable residence permit for a year. The government
reported no trafficking victims filed for compensation but all
victims were informed of their right to compensation; however,
observers reported the government did not proactively inform
victims on compensation measures. The Office of the Chief
State Prosecutor issued written instructions that victims not be
prosecuted for crimes committed as a result of being subjected
to trafficking. The government informed victims of their rights
and had the option to testify via video link; cooperation was
not a precondition to obtain services and temporary residence
permits.

The government continued to organize counter-trafficking
trainings for police, mobile teams, social workers, NGOs, labor
association officials, and workers from the tourism industry.
The government maintained law enforcement cooperation with
foreign governments, EUROPOL, INTERPOL, and the Southeast
Law Enforcement Center. Experts reported that some Croatian
judges lacked an understanding of the impact of psychological
trauma on victims’ ability to consistently and clearly relate
the circumstances of their exploitation and inappropriately
dismissed as unreliable victim testimony. The government did
not report any investigations, prosecutions, or convictions of
government officials complicit in human trafficking offenses.

Authorities continued to screen migrants during the 20152016 migration wave for possible traffickers and victims, but
authorities reported difficulties during the screening process
as a significant portion of migrants did not possess valid travel
and identification documents. The government, in cooperation
with an NGO, developed indicators for identifying potential
victims amongst migrants in transit and asylum-seekers and
trained first responders on the indicators. NGOs reported first
responders often encountered migrants and asylum-seekers
who displayed multiple indicators of trafficking including debt
bondage and labor exploitation.

PROTECTION

PREVENTION

The government maintained victim protection efforts. Police
identified 30 trafficking victims (13 forced labor victims, 16
sex trafficking victims, and one victim of both), compared to
38 sex trafficking victims in 2015. However, the government
made efforts to identify more victims among demographics for
which it had been lacking in the past: nine victims were male,
compared to zero in 2015; eight victims were foreign victims,
compared to three in 2015; 11 victims were children, compared
to four in 2015. The Ministry of Demography, Family, Youth
and Social Policy (MDFYSP) spent approximately 400,000
kunas ($56,740) to support two shelters and provide monthly
stipends for victims, compared to 446,541 kunas ($63,340)
in 2015. The government provided shelter for one child, two
females, and one male.

142

Croatian law enforcement and social service personnel followed
a standard operating procedure for identifying and referring
victims to services, which included instructions on activating
the national referral mechanism when indicators of trafficking
were present. Regional mobile teams consisting of social workers
and NGO and Red Cross representatives traveled to meet the
victims in person and coordinate victim care and placement. The
Office for Human Rights and Rights of the National Minorities
(OHRRNM) and the Croatian Red Cross organized two twoday regional seminars for relevant institutions involved in the
national referral mechanism. Observers reported the need to
continue strengthening coordination between social workers
and law enforcement when approaching victims. NGOs involved
in the mobile unit reported two years of training was required
to join the mobile team and needed more funding to train staff
in a shorter amount of time.

The government maintained prevention efforts. OHRRNM
served as the secretariat for the senior-level national coordinating
committee; the national committee did not meet in 2016 due
to political instability at the highest levels of the Croatian
government. The committee’s working-level operational team
was supposed to meet monthly; however, NGOs reported the
operational team only met seven times during 2016. The labor
inspectorate was not included in the national committee or the
operational team despite its potential role in detecting victims
of human trafficking. The government increased funding for
prevention efforts to 197,000 kunas ($27,940), compared
to 78,600 kunas ($11,150). The government did not adopt a
new national action plan, but worked on finalizing a national
action plan for 2017-2020. NGOs reported the government
did not provide adequate financial support for the NGO-run
hotline, which can only operate from 10am to 6pm due to the
lack of funds. The government systematically monitored its
anti-trafficking efforts and posted information on ministries’
websites. The Ministry of the Interior has a specific unit for
prevention activities consisting of 80 prevention officers and
continued outreach programs for students and the service sector.
The government continued to implement an awareness building
campaign targeted towards Roma. The Ministry of Education
certified the Croatian Red Cross to train teachers on indicators
of trafficking. OHRRNM continued a campaign sensitizing
the public, including potential customers, to the reality that
persons engaged in prostitution may be trafficking victims.
The government did not make efforts to reduce the demand
for forced labor. The government provided anti-trafficking
training for its diplomatic personnel.

As reported over the past five years, Croatia is a destination,
source, and transit country for women and children subjected
to sex trafficking and men, women, and children subjected to
forced labor. In 2016, identified victims included more from
Asia, male victims, and victims exploited for labor than previous
years. Migrants in transit, particularly from Afghanistan and
Pakistan, are forced into debt bondage by their smugglers
to pay off smuggling fees. Croatian women and girls, some
of whom respond to false job offers online, are exploited in
sex trafficking within the country and elsewhere in Europe.
Economically marginalized Romani children from Croatia are
at particular risk of forced begging in Croatia and throughout
Europe. In previous years, traffickers target Croatian girls in state
institutions and subjected them to sex trafficking. Croatian,
Bosnian, and Romanian women and men have been subjected
to forced labor in the Croatian agricultural sector. Women and
girls from the Balkans and Central Europe are subjected to sex
trafficking in Croatia.

CUBA: TIER 2 WATCH LIST
The Government of Cuba does not fully meet the minimum
standards for the elimination of trafficking; however,
it is making significant efforts to do so. The government
demonstrated significant efforts during the reporting period by
prosecuting and convicting sex traffickers; providing services
to sex trafficking victims; releasing a written report on its antitrafficking efforts; and coordinating anti-trafficking efforts
across government ministries. In addition, the government
investigated indicators of trafficking exhibited by foreign labor
brokers recruiting Cuban citizens. However, the government did
not demonstrate increasing efforts compared to the previous
reporting period. The penal code does not criminalize all
forms of human trafficking. The government did not prohibit
forced labor, report efforts to prevent forced labor domestically,
or recognize forced labor as a possible issue affecting its
nationals in medical missions abroad. Because the government
has devoted sufficient resources to a written plan that, if
implemented, would constitute significant efforts to meet
the minimum standards, Cuba was granted a waiver per the
Trafficking Victims Protection Act from an otherwise required
downgrade to Tier 3. Therefore, Cuba is placed on Tier 2 Watch
List for the third consecutive year.

RECOMMENDATIONS FOR CUBA

Draft and enact a comprehensive anti-trafficking law that
prohibits and sufficiently punishes all forms of human
trafficking, including forced labor, sex trafficking of children
ages 16 and 17, and the full range of trafficking “acts” (recruiting,
transporting, transferring, harboring, or receiving persons);
vigorously investigate and prosecute both sex trafficking and
forced labor offenses; provide specialized training for managers
in state-owned or -controlled enterprises on identifying and

referring victims of forced labor for services; implement policies
to prohibit force, fraud, or coercion in recruiting and retaining
employees in such enterprises; train those responsible for
enforcing the labor code to screen for trafficking indicators
and educate workers about trafficking indicators and where
to report trafficking-related violations; implement the 20172020 national anti-trafficking action plan in partnership with
international organizations; implement formal policies and
procedures on the identification of all trafficking victims and
their referral to appropriate services, and train officials, including
first responders, in their use; and adopt policies that provide
trafficking-specific, specialized assistance for male and female
trafficking victims, including measures to ensure identified sex
and labor trafficking victims are not punished for unlawful acts
committed as a direct result of being subjected to sex trafficking
or forced labor.

CUBA

TRAFFICKING PROFILE

PROSECUTION

The government maintained law enforcement efforts by
prosecuting and convicting sex traffickers, but took no new
action to address forced labor. The penal code does not
criminalize all forms of trafficking, in particular forced labor
and sex trafficking of children ages 16 and 17. In January 2017,
the government reported it continued its work to amend the
criminal code to address trafficking as defined in international
law, but it had not amended the criminal code by the end of
the reporting period. Cuba prohibits some forms of trafficking
in its penal code provisions, including article 302 (procuring
and trafficking in persons); article 310.1 (corruption of minors
younger than 16 for sexual purposes); article 312.1 (corruption
of minors younger than 16 for begging); and article 316.1
(sale and trafficking of a child younger than 16). The penal
code’s definition of sex trafficking conflates sex trafficking with
prostitution and pimping. The law criminalizes inducement to
or benefiting from prostitution, but treats force, coercion, and
abuse of power or vulnerability as aggravating factors rather
than an integral part of the crime. These provisions prescribe
penalties ranging from four to 10 years imprisonment with
more severe penalties for complicit government officials,
which are sufficiently stringent and commensurate with those
prescribed for other serious crimes, such as rape. Legal provisions
addressing “corruption of minors” criminalize many forms of
child sex trafficking but define a child as an individual younger
than 16 years of age, below the age set in international trafficking
law, which is 18. Forced prostitution is illegal irrespective of
the victim’s age, and the penal code enables the government to
prosecute individuals benefiting from sex trafficking. Provisions
for adult and child sex trafficking do not explicitly criminalize
the acts of recruitment, transport, and receipt of persons for
these purposes. Article 346.1 of the criminal code mandates
sentences of five to 12 years imprisonment for various crimes,
including for laundering funds obtained from trafficking in
persons. The penal code prohibits the deprivation of freedom
(article 279.1), coercion (article 286.1), extortion (article 331),
and arbitrary exercise of rights (article 159.1). Labor code article
116 prohibits entities from directly establishing labor relations
with adolescents younger than age 17. However, Cuban law
does not prohibit forced labor as defined in international law.
In January 2017, the government publicly presented official
data on prosecutions and convictions of sex traffickers during
calendar year 2015, the most recent data available. Authorities
reported 10 prosecutions and 17 convictions of sex traffickers,
compared with 13 prosecutions and 18 convictions in 2014.
At least six convictions in 2015 involved suspects accused of
subjecting children to trafficking within Cuba, including the

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facilitation of child sex tourism in Cuba. The average sentence
was 12 years imprisonment, compared to seven years in 2014.
The government investigated 37 cases and prosecuted four cases
of Cubans and foreign nationals recruiting and transporting
women with false promises of employment and fraudulent work
contracts to subject the victims to debt bondage and forced
prostitution. The government did not report any domestic
labor trafficking investigations, prosecutions, or convictions.
Students at the Ministry of Interior academy and police assigned
to tourist centers reportedly received specific training in antitrafficking and victim assistance. The government maintained
bilateral cooperation agreements and extradition agreements
with more than 15 countries demonstrating its willingness to
cooperate with other governments on criminal investigations;
however, these agreements are not specific to trafficking. The
Cuban government cooperated with foreign law enforcement in
investigating foreign citizens suspected of sexual crimes against
children, including child sex trafficking. The government did
not report any investigations, prosecutions, or convictions of
government officials complicit in human trafficking in 2015.

PROTECTION

The government maintained efforts to identify and protect
sex trafficking victims, but did not make efforts to identify or
protect victims of forced labor. Authorities identified at least
seven child sex trafficking victims and four adult sex trafficking
victims in 2015, compared to 11 and four, respectively, in 2014.
The government did not identify any labor trafficking victims
or male sex trafficking victims inside Cuba. The government
reported it provided assistance to the 11 identified sex trafficking
victims but did not provide detailed information on assistance
provided. The government reported having procedures to
proactively identify sex trafficking victims; police and medical
professionals identified and evaluated potential sex trafficking
victims and referred them to other professionals for medical,
psychological, psychiatric, educational, family, or social services.
Other government-organized NGOs, like the Federation of
Cuban Women (FMC), the Prevention and Social Assistance
Commission, and the Committees for the Defense of the
Revolution, referred trafficking victims to state authorities and
provided victim services. Independent members of civil society
expressed concern about the government’s anti-trafficking efforts
and limited information on the scope of sex trafficking and
forced labor in Cuba given sparse independent monitoring by
NGOs and international organizations.
The government did not report having procedures to identify
victims of forced labor. In 2015, Cuba reinstituted restrictions
on travel for specialized doctors and some medical personnel,
requiring them to obtain an exit permit from their superiors
before leaving the country. On September 9, 2015, the
government agreed to reinstate medical personnel who had
left their positions while abroad. As of April 1, 2016, the
Cuban authorities claimed that 274 medical professionals
who returned to Cuba and were rehired at the same salary and
level of responsibility they had before leaving. More recent
data was not available.

144

The government provided funding for child protection centers
and guidance centers for women and families, which serve all
crime victims, including trafficking victims. These centers had
the ability to screen cases, make referrals to law enforcement,
assist with arranging cooperation with law enforcement in
preparation for prosecution, and provide victim services.
The FMC continued to receive funding from international

organizations and operated centers for women and families
nationwide to assist individuals harmed by violence, including
victims of sex trafficking. These centers provided services such
as psychological treatment, health care, skills training, and
assistance in finding employment. The government developed a
process to refer trafficking victims to law enforcement to secure
evidence for prosecutions and provide victim services and
follow-on care. Neither the government nor the governmentorganized NGOs operated shelters or provided services
specifically for male trafficking victims. Police encouraged
child sex trafficking victims under the age of 16 to assist in
prosecutions of traffickers by gathering testimony through
psychologist-led videotaped interviewing, usually removing the
need for children to appear in court. There were no reports of
the government punishing sex trafficking victims for unlawful
acts committed as a direct result of being subjected to human
trafficking. The government reported some foreign sex trafficking
victims in Cuba, but did not report whether it offered these
victims repatriation or services.

PREVENTION

The government maintained prevention efforts to combat
sex trafficking; however, authorities did not make efforts
to prevent or address the demand for forced labor. The
government worked across the ministries of justice, information
and communications, health, education, tourism, and the
attorney general’s office to combat trafficking and for the
fourth consecutive year published an annual report of its
efforts in the areas of prosecution, protection, prevention,
and partnerships. The government and the FMC continued
to operate a 24-hour telephone line for individuals needing
legal assistance, including sex trafficking victims, but did
not report whether any calls related to potential trafficking
cases in 2015 led to investigations or identifying victims.
State media continued to produce newspaper articles and
television and radio programs to raise public awareness about
sex trafficking. Authorities maintained an office within the
Ministry of Tourism charged with monitoring Cuba’s image as
a tourism destination, combating sex tourism, and addressing
the demand for commercial sex acts; that office also trained
law enforcement officials assigned to the tourism sector on
trafficking indicators. Under Cuban law, authorities may deny
entry to suspected sex tourists and expel known sex offenders,
but reported no related convictions in 2015. The government did
not report providing anti-trafficking training for its diplomatic
personnel. In March 2015, authorities invited the UN special
rapporteur on trafficking in persons to visit, and the visit took
place in April 2017, after the conclusion of the reporting period.
The government did not report specialized training for labor
inspectors to screen for indicators of potential forced labor.

TRAFFICKING PROFILE

As reported over the past five years, Cuba is a source and
destination country for adults and children subjected to sex
trafficking and forced labor. Child sex trafficking and child sex
tourism occur within Cuba. Cuban authorities report people
from ages 13 to 20 are most vulnerable to human trafficking
in the country. Traffickers also subject Cuban citizens to sex
trafficking and forced labor in South America, the Caribbean,
and the United States. Traffickers recruit Cuban citizens through
promises of work abroad, providing fraudulent contracts and
immigration documents for a fee, and subsequently coercing
these individuals into prostitution to pay off these debts. The
government reported foreign national sex trafficking victims
in Cuba. The government is the primary employer in the

CURAÇAO: TIER 2
The Government of Curaçao does not fully meet the minimum
standards for the elimination of trafficking; however, it is making
significant efforts to do so. The government demonstrated
increasing efforts compared to the previous reporting period;
therefore, Curaçao remained on Tier 2. The government
demonstrated increasing efforts by initiating more trafficking
investigations, one of which involved three allegedly complicit
police officers, and providing assistance and care to increasing
numbers of trafficking victims. However, the government did
not meet the minimum standards in several key areas. It did not
prosecute or convict any traffickers for the second consecutive
year; did not finalize standard operating procedures on victim
identification; and did not address sex trafficking within the
unregulated commercial sex industry.

RECOMMENDATIONS FOR CURAÇAO

Increase efforts to identify and assist potential victims of sex
trafficking and forced labor, including in the unregulated
commercial sex industry; vigorously prosecute trafficking
offenses and convict and punish traffickers, including any
government officials complicit in human trafficking; finalize
formal victim identification, referral, and protection measures
to guide officials, including health workers, on assisting victims
of forced labor and sex trafficking; complete and implement
the new national anti-trafficking action plan; provide targeted
training and resources to local officials to conduct outreach
in migrant communities; raise awareness among migrant
workers about their rights, trafficking indicators, and available
resources; continue to implement multilingual public awareness

campaigns directed at vulnerable groups, the general public,
and potential buyers of commercial sex acts; provide specialized
care and assistance for victims of trafficking; and allocate an
independent budget to the National Taskforce to Combat
Trafficking In Persons and Human Smuggling to improve
anti-trafficking efforts.

PROSECUTION

The government maintained anti-trafficking law enforcement
efforts. Article 2:239 of the criminal code prohibits all forms of
trafficking in persons, which prescribes penalties ranging from
nine to 24 years imprisonment. These penalties are sufficiently
stringent and commensurate with those prescribed for other
serious crimes, such as rape. The government investigated two
sex trafficking cases, compared to none in 2015, but for the
second consecutive year, did not initiate any prosecutions or
convict traffickers. In November 2016, the government initiated
an investigation of one case involving five suspects, including
three police officers, for the sex trafficking of a Venezuelan
woman fraudulently recruited for a restaurant job; the officers
remained on suspension at the close of the reporting period as
the investigation was ongoing. Beyond this case, the government
did not report any investigations, prosecutions, or convictions
of government officials complicit in human trafficking offenses.
In March 2017, the government initiated an investigation of a
Venezuelan woman allegedly running an illegal brothel and
facilitating the sex trafficking of women, predominantly from
Venezuela. The government trained approximately 20 police
officers with a focus on the investigation and prosecution
of sex trafficking offenses, and trained 30 officials on victim
identification and the special needs of trafficking victims.

CURAÇAO

Cuban economy, including in foreign medical missions that
employ more than 84,000 workers in more than 67 countries,
including Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, and Venezuela. These
medical missions constitute a significant source of Cuban
government income. Some participants in foreign medical
missions as well as other sources allege that Cuban officials
force or coerce participation in the program; the government
has stated the postings are voluntary, and some participants also
have stated the postings are voluntary and well paid compared
to jobs within Cuba. The Cuban government acknowledges
that it withholds passports of overseas medical personnel in
Venezuela due to security concerns; the government provided
ID cards to such personnel in place of passports. There are also
claims about substandard working and living conditions in
some countries. In the past, there have been claims that Cuban
authorities coerced participants to remain in the program,
including by allegedly withholding their passports, restricting
their movement, using “minders” to monitor participants
outside of work, or threatening to revoke their medical licenses
or retaliate against their family members in Cuba if participants
leave the program. The government uses some high school
students in rural areas to harvest crops and does not pay them
for their work but claims this work is not coerced.

PROTECTION

The government maintained efforts to identify and assist
trafficking victims. It reported identification of four trafficking
victims and six potential victims intercepted transiting Curaçao
en route to France; this is compared to zero identified in 2015
and seven in 2014. During the reporting period, the national
taskforce drafted but did not finalize standard operating
procedures on victim identification for all front-line responders.
In the interim, it maintained informal agreements to coordinate
ad hoc victim referral among community-based organizations
and government departments. Various divisions of the Curaçao
Police Force, such as the immigration department, the organized
crime department, and the Department of Intelligence identified
victims and, on an ad hoc basis, referred victims to the Bureau
for Victim Assistance for care. While the government did not
operate any specialized shelters for trafficking victims, it had
capacity to host trafficking victims in shelters for domestic
violence victims, which restricted victims’ movements if their
safety was at risk. There were no specialized shelters for male
victims; however, the Bureau for Victim Assistance funded shelter
for victims in private accommodations. It also partnered with
NGOs to provide victims with wide-ranging and comprehensive
care and assistance, which included legal assistance, shelter,
food, clothing, medical care, and counseling among other
services; four victims of trafficking received care and assistance.
The government had a policy to protect victims from being
punished for crimes committed as a direct result of being
subjected to human trafficking and reportedly allowed foreign
victims to temporarily remain in the country to assist in law
enforcement investigations. Victims could provide written
testimony in court proceedings. Should victims choose not
to assist, they were still provided protections and support to
depart the country; the government provided legal assistance

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to three victims in an ongoing investigation. Trafficking victims
could seek restitution from the government and file civil suits
against traffickers; however, there were no reported cases of
them doing so in 2016.

PREVENTION

The government maintained efforts to prevent trafficking. While
the interagency taskforce lacked sufficient funds and resources
to combat trafficking, it continued to coordinate national antitrafficking efforts and implement the Administrative Report on
Trafficking in Persons, its existing anti-trafficking action plan;
it completed a revised draft for 2016-2017, which now awaits
approval by the Minister of Justice. The government operated
a trafficking tip hotline, although no tips were received during
the reporting period. The government did not report new
efforts to reduce demand for forced labor, or commercial sex.
In Curacao, prostitution is legal but underage prostitution is
not. The government continued to keep an official register of
individuals in prostitution working in Campo Alegre. These
individuals, whose ages range from 18-50, are allowed a
three-month residence permit and are restricted to working
in Campo Alegre. The government reported no registered cases
of underage prostitution. The Ministries of Justice and of Social
Development, Labor, and Welfare continued cooperation in
conducting full review of all work permit applications and
jointly managing issuance of work and residence permits. The
Ministry of Labor allowed foreign migrant laborers to request
residence permits independent of their employers to ensure
employees had better knowledge regarding the terms of work
within contracts. The government provided anti-trafficking
training for its diplomatic personnel.

and accommodation expenses for a victim to testify in the
first civil case against a trafficker. However, these efforts were
not serious and sustained compared to the efforts during the
previous reporting period. The government convicted fewer
traffickers, initiated fewer prosecutions, and identified fewer
victims. A police officer employed interview tactics that may
have re-traumatized victims. Three NGOs withdrew from the
Multidisciplinary Coordinating Group (MCG) due to the nonsubstantive role of NGOs and infrequent meetings. Therefore,
Cyprus was downgraded to Tier 2.

RECOMMENDATIONS FOR CYPRUS

Vigorously investigate, prosecute, and convict traffickers under
law 60(I) and train judges and prosecutors on its application;
provide specialized training for law enforcement, including
best practices for interviewing trafficking victims; proactively
investigate potential labor trafficking of domestic workers and
individuals in agriculture; train staff at the government-run
shelter to increase the quality of support services available to
victims, particularly psychological support; proactively identify
victims among vulnerable populations, including among
domestic and agricultural workers; reduce delays in court
proceedings; and ensure cooperation of all relevant actors,
including NGOs, in the MCG.

TRAFFICKING PROFILE

As reported over the past five years, Curaçao is a source and
destination country for women, children, and men subjected
to sex trafficking and forced labor. Vulnerable populations
include women and girls in the unregulated commercial
sex industry; foreign women from South America and other
Caribbean countries in the regulated commercial sex industry;
and migrant workers, including from other Caribbean
countries, South America, India, and China in the dry dock,
construction, landscaping, minimarket, retail, and restaurant
industries. Media accounts indicate an increase in the number
of Venezuelan women who work illegally at roadside bars
(“snacks”) and are subjected to prostitution in both legal and
illegal brothels in Curacao. These women, who may be engaged
in prostitution or overstay their visas while in Curaçao and
become undocumented, are vulnerable to human trafficking.

CYPRUS: TIER 2

146

The Government of the Republic of Cyprus does not fully meet
the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking;
however, it is making significant efforts to do so. The government
made significant efforts to meet the minimum standards during
the reporting period by developing protocols of cooperation
to formalize NGOs into the national referral mechanism in
areas of housing and general support and increasing funds
to an NGO-run shelter. The government improved efforts
to assist victims including by streamlining the process to
disperse financial support to victims, providing foreign victims
residence permits and the right to work, and paying travel

PROSECUTION

The government decreased law enforcement efforts. Law
60(I) of 2014 prohibits all forms of trafficking and prescribes
penalties of up to 20 years imprisonment, which are sufficiently
stringent and commensurate with those prescribed for other
serious crimes. The government investigated 26 suspected
traffickers, compared to 31 suspected traffickers in 2015;
authorities investigated 13 suspects for sex trafficking and 13
for forced labor (seven for sex trafficking and 24 for forced
labor in 2015). The government also investigated 113 suspects
for forced marriage in 2016, which authorities considered
to be trafficking under their law. The government initiated
prosecutions against 10 defendants (30 defendants in 2015).
Thirty-seven prosecutions remained pending at the end of the
reporting period. Courts convicted one trafficker, compared to
31 in 2015, nine in 2014, and two in 2013. The trafficker received
a sentence of one year imprisonment, which was suspended for
three years. Observers reported key witnesses left the country
before trial due to long delays, hindering prosecution efforts.
In previous years, authorities did not investigate potential
trafficking cases among domestic workers or individuals in
agriculture because officials perceived all such cases to be
labor disputes. The government trained first responders on a
wide range of trafficking issues, including 40 first responders
on labor trafficking within agriculture. The police academy
trained police officers on trafficking issues, including financial
investigations to combat trafficking and a refresher training for
police officers working in detention centers. The government,
together with an international organization, conducted training
for immigration officials on identifying potential victims

PROTECTION

The government increased victim protection efforts, but
identified fewer victims. The government identified 21 trafficking
victims, compared to 40 in 2015. Of these, 10 women were
subjected to sex trafficking, three men to forced labor, and
seven women and one man to forced criminality (16 men and
six women to forced labor, 13 women to sex trafficking, two
children and a woman to forced criminality, and two children
to forced begging in 2015). The government allocated €254,560
($268,240), compared to €133,750 ($140,940) in financial
assistance to victims through a public benefit scheme known
as guaranteed minimum income created to gradually replace
most forms of public assistance. The government provided
an additional €14,325 ($15,090), compared to €116,988
($123,280) in the form of public assistance to victims. The
government spent €294,941 ($310,790), compared to €269,900
($284,400) to operate the trafficking shelter.
A multi-disciplinary national referral mechanism, established
in the previous reporting period, provided standard operating
procedures for identifying and referring victims to services.
First responders carried out the preliminary identification of
potential victims and contacted Social Welfare Services (SWS).
SWS officers provided potential victims with information and
notified the police anti-trafficking unit, who officially identified
victims. SWS referred 169 potential victims to the police; of
these, NGOs identified 52 potential victims and the government
identified 117 potential victims. Specialized personnel in the
police anti-trafficking unit, including a forensic psychologist,
conducted interviews with potential and identified victims
before taking an official statement. Observers reported some
of the police officers within the anti-trafficking unit conducted
insensitive interviews that may have re-traumatized victims.
In previous years, observers reported interpreters used in the
interview process did not have sufficient knowledge of local
dialects, particularly for Francophone African countries, and
made translation mistakes, which made victims’ testimony
appear inconsistent. In 2016, however, police reported replacing
the translators, as well as requiring victims’ consent for use
of the translator and giving victims the right to choose the
translator’s gender. The government provided police officers with
identification manuals and operation guides to assist with the
identification and referral procedures. Police and immigration
officials interviewed arriving domestic and agricultural workers
and ensured they possessed a contract and informed workers
of their rights. Observers reported many potential forced labor
victims remained undetected due to an inadequate number of
labor inspectors.
SWS evaluated the needs of victims and potential victims
and referred them to the appropriate government agencies
and NGOs for assistance. SWS operated a specialized shelter
for sex trafficking victims and victims of forced marriage; the
SWS-run shelter accommodated 53 official and potential
victims during the reporting period. Victims may stay for
one month or longer, as appropriate, in the shelter for a
reflection period. The government provided a rent subsidy
and a monthly allowance for female sex trafficking victims
who chose not to stay in the SWS-run shelter as well as to
female labor trafficking victims and all male victims, as there
were no specialized facilities for these victims. The government

developed protocols of cooperation to formalize NGOs into the
national referral mechanism in areas of housing and general
support. The government allocated €15,000 ($15,810) to an
NGO-run shelter to accommodate these victims and informally
partnered with other NGOs to place them in apartments.
Shelters allowed adult victims to voluntarily leave the shelter.
As a matter of law, victims are entitled to psycho-social services,
health care, translation and interpretation services, education,
vocational training, and financial assistance. Experts reported
SWS and the labor office exhibited greatly improved service
quality for victims; however, observers reported staff at the
government-run shelter were not adequately trained to provide
the necessary psychological support to victims. Employment
counselors trained to handle sensitive cases sought suitable
employment for each victim; however, finding employment
for victims remained a challenge. Benefits to victims were not,
as in previous years, automatically discontinued if a victim
refused a job offer; rather, an employment counselor and a
SWS officer examined each case. The government provided
education and specialized medical and psycho-social care for
child victims. The government streamlined the process for
providing financial support to victims and prioritized public
benefit applications from trafficking victims. NGOs confirmed
all identified victims received a monthly allowance and delays
in receiving allowances were rare. SWS reported victims received
emergency financial assistance in cases of delayed distribution
of monthly allowances.

CYPRUS

at airports. The government extradited four traffickers from
Romania to stand trial for trafficking. It did not report any
investigations, prosecutions, or convictions of government
employees complicit in human trafficking offenses.

The government voluntarily repatriated or granted residence
permits and work authorization to foreign victims including
those who decided after their reflection period not to cooperate
with the police. The government extended the residence
and work permit for four victims and subsequently granted
asylum to three of the victims. Fourteen victims assisted in
investigations and six victims chose not to cooperate. The
government permitted victims to leave Cyprus and return for
trial, and police remained in contact with victims while they
were abroad. Victims can receive restitution through civil suits;
the government covered travel and accommodation expenses
for a victim to testify in the first civil case against a trafficker.
There were no reports of victims penalized for unlawful acts
committed as a direct result of being subjected to human
trafficking.

PREVENTION

The government maintained prevention efforts. The government
adopted the 2016-2018 national action plan (NAP). The MCG to
combat trafficking, comprises relevant government agencies and
NGOs, met twice during the reporting period and coordinated
and monitored the implementation of the NAP; however, three
of the four NGOs in the MCG withdrew because NGOs were
not given a substantive role and meetings were infrequent.
Police signed protocols of cooperation with 12 NGOs on a wide
range issues including trafficking. The government continued
to print and distribute brochures in 11 languages aimed at
potential victims on their rights and assistance available to
them. Cypriot diplomatic and consular missions distributed
the booklets to visa applicants. The government-funded the
publication of an anti-trafficking poster in newspapers and
magazines and co-funded an anti-trafficking campaign in
Nicosia and a social media campaign. The Ministry of Labor
(MOL) inspected 117 employment agencies and revoked the
licenses of nine employment agencies’ for labor violations. The
government did not report efforts to reduce the demand for
commercial sex acts. The government provided anti-trafficking
training for its diplomatic personnel.

147

CYPRUS

TRAFFICKING PROFILE

As reported over the past five years, Cyprus is a source and
destination country for men, women, and children subjected
to forced labor and sex trafficking. Victims identified in Cyprus
were primarily from India, Latvia, Bangladesh, Dominican
Republic, China, Bulgaria, Turkey, Romania, Philippines,
Cameroon, Cote d’Ivoire, Slovakia, Togo, Paraguay, and Czechia.
Women, primarily from Eastern Europe, Vietnam, India, and
sub-Saharan Africa, are subjected to sex trafficking. Sex trafficking
occurs in private apartments and hotels, on the street, and within
commercial sex outlets in Cyprus including bars, pubs, coffee
shops, and cabarets. Some female sex trafficking victims are
recruited with false promises of marriage or work as barmaids
or hostesses. Foreign migrant workers—primarily from South
and Southeast Asia —are subjected to forced labor in agriculture.
Migrant workers subjected to labor trafficking are recruited by
employment agencies and enter the country on short-term work
permits; after the permits expire, they are often subjected to
debt bondage, threats, and withholding of pay and documents.
Asylum-seekers from South East Asia, Africa, and Eastern Europe
are subjected to forced labor in agriculture and domestic work.
Unaccompanied children, children of migrants, Romani, and
asylum-seekers are especially vulnerable to sex trafficking and
forced labor. Romani children are vulnerable to forced begging.

AREA ADMINISTERED BY TURKISH CYPRIOTS

The northern area of Cyprus is administered by Turkish
Cypriots. In 1983, the Turkish Cypriots proclaimed the area
the independent “Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus”
(“TRNC”). The United States does not recognize the “TRNC,”
nor does any other country except Turkey. The area administered
by Turkish Cypriots continues to be a zone of impunity for
human trafficking. The area is increasingly a destination for
women from Central Asia, Eastern Europe, and Africa who
are subjected to forced prostitution in nightclubs licensed and
regulated by the Turkish Cypriot administration. Nightclubs
provide a significant source of tax revenue for the Turkish
Cypriot administration; media reports estimated nightclub
owners pay between 20 and 30 million Turkish lira ($5.7-8.5
million) in taxes annually. This presents a conflict of interest
and a deterrent to increased political will to combat trafficking.
Men and women are subjected to forced labor in industrial,
construction, agriculture, domestic work, restaurant, and retail
sectors. Victims of labor trafficking are controlled through debt
bondage, threats of deportation, restriction of movement, and
inhumane living and working conditions. Labor trafficking
victims originate from China, Pakistan, Philippines, Turkey,
Turkmenistan, and Vietnam. Migrants, especially those who
cross into the Turkish Cypriot community after their work
permits in the Republic of Cyprus have expired, are vulnerable to
labor trafficking. Romani children and Turkish seasonal workers
and their families are also vulnerable to labor exploitation.
Women issued permits for domestic work are vulnerable to
forced labor. As in previous years, NGOs reported a number
of women entered the “TRNC” on three-month tourist or
student visas and engaged in prostitution in apartments in
north Nicosia, Kyrenia, and Famagusta; some may be trafficking
victims. Migrants, asylum-seekers, refugees, and their children
are also at risk for sexual exploitation.

148

If the “TRNC” were assigned a formal ranking in this report, it
would be Tier 3. Turkish Cypriot authorities do not fully meet
the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking and
are not making significant efforts to do so. The area administered
by the Turkish Cypriots lacked an anti-trafficking “law.” Turkish
Cypriots did not keep statistics on law enforcement efforts

against trafficking offenders. The area administered by Turkish
Cypriots lacked shelters for victims and social, economic, and
psychological services for victims. Local observers reported
authorities were complicit in facilitating trafficking, and police
continued to retain passports upon arrival of women working
in night clubs.
Turkish Cypriots do not have a “law” that specifically prohibits
trafficking in persons. Were there any trafficking-related cases,
they would be tried under the “TRNC criminal code,” which
prohibits living off the earnings of prostitution or encouraging
prostitution and forced labor. The “Nightclubs and Similar
Places of Entertainment Law of 2000” provides the most
relevant legal framework via-à-vis trafficking and stipulates
that nightclubs may only provide entertainment such as dance
performances. Turkish Cypriots did not enforce this law, nor did
the “TRNC” prosecute nightclub owners, bodyguards, or clients
during the reporting period. The authorities made no efforts to
punish labor recruiters or brokers involved in the recruitment
of workers through knowingly fraudulent employment offers
or excessive fees for migration or job placement. There was
no “law” that punished traffickers who confiscate workers’
passports or documents, change contracts, or withhold wages to
subject workers to servitude. Turkish Cypriots did not provide
any specialized training on how to investigate or prosecute
human trafficking cases.
Turkish Cypriot authorities did not allocate funding to antitrafficking efforts, police were not trained to identify victims,
and authorities provided no protection to victims. Police
confiscated passports of foreign women working in nightclubs
and issued them identity cards, reportedly to protect them
from abuse by nightclub owners who confiscated passports.
NGOs reported women preferred to keep their passports
but police convinced them to render passports to police to
avoid deportation. Foreign victims who voiced discontent
about the treatment they received were routinely deported.
Trafficking victims serving as material witnesses against a
former employer were not entitled to find new employment and
resided in temporary accommodation arranged by the police;
experts reported women were accommodated at nightclubs.
The Turkish Cypriot authorities did not encourage victims to
assist in prosecutions against traffickers, and all foreign victims
were deported. If the police requested a victim to stay to serve
as a witness, the police were required to provide temporary
accommodation. The only shelter accepting trafficking victims
closed in July 2016.
During the reporting period, “TRNC” authorities issued
1,314 six-month “hostess” and “barmaid” work permits for
individuals working in nightclubs and two pubs operating in
the north. During the reporting period, 351 women worked
under such permits. Nightclub owners hired female college
students during the reporting period to bypass the cap on the
number of employees legally permitted in each club and avoid
taxes and monitoring. An NGO reported authorities did not
consistently document the arrival of women intending to work in
nightclubs. Most permit holders came from Moldova, Morocco,
and Ukraine, while others came from Belarus, Kazakhstan,
Kenya, Kyrgyzstan, Paraguay, Russia, Tajikistan, Tanzania, and
Uzbekistan. Reportedly some “parliament” members were
clientele of the nightclubs. Women were not permitted to change
location once under contract with a nightclub, and Turkish
Cypriot authorities deported 445 women who curtailed their
contracts without screening for trafficking. While prostitution
is illegal, female nightclub employees were required to submit
to weekly health checks for sexually transmitted infection

CZECHIA: TIER 1
The Government of the Czechia, or Czech Republic, fully meets
the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking. The
government continued to demonstrate serious and sustained
efforts during the reporting period; therefore, Czechia remained
on Tier 1. The government demonstrated serious and sustained
efforts by approving a new action plan, providing comprehensive
care for victims, obtaining victim cooperation with law
enforcement, and implementing a multitude of public awareness
campaigns, particularly in areas with vulnerable populations.
Although the government meets the minimum standards, judges
and prosecutors continued to enforce trafficking legislation
unevenly. While progress was shown, in a minority of cases,
the courts suspended the sentences of convicted traffickers
weakening the deterrent effect of the penalties. The government
did not have sufficient collaboration and coordination between
labor inspectors and police, or training to improve victim
identification and evidence gathering in labor trafficking cases.

trafficking cases; improve victims’ ability to access court-ordered
restitution; train first responders, including labor inspectors,
police, and state contracting officers, on labor trafficking
victim identification criteria and evolving trends in labor
trafficking; disaggregate sex and labor trafficking data in both
law enforcement and victim protection efforts and consider
the creation of a central database for trafficking data.

PROSECUTION

The government improved its law enforcement efforts. Section
168 of the criminal code criminalizes all forms of trafficking
and prescribes punishments of up to 16 years imprisonment.
These penalties are sufficiently stringent and commensurate
with those prescribed for other serious crimes, such as rape. In
2016, police initiated 22 investigations into suspected trafficking
cases, compared with 18 cases in 2015. Authorities prosecuted
19 defendants for trafficking crimes under Section 168 of the
penal code in 2016, compared with 12 in 2015 and six in 2014.
In 2016, eight cases resulted in convictions (19 in 2015 and six
in 2014). Of the eight convictions in 2016, courts sentenced six
individuals to prison time: four received sentences of five to 15
years, and two received five-year sentences. In two cases, judges
fully suspended the sentences of two convicted traffickers. This
is an improvement from the last reporting period when more
than one-third of convicted traffickers received suspended
prison sentences. The government did not disaggregate sex and
labor trafficking data. The government seized 150,000 koruna
($5,989) and land valued at 580,000 koruna ($23,158) from
suspected traffickers; this was a decrease from 36,673,000 koruna
($1,464,284) in assets seized in 2015. Authorities collaborated
with foreign governments on three transnational investigations.

CZECHIA

screening, suggesting recognition and tacit approval of the
prostitution industry. Victims reported bodyguards at the
night clubs accompanied them to health and police checks,
ensuring they did not share details of their exploitation with
law enforcement or doctors. Turkish Cypriots made no efforts
to reduce demand for commercial sex acts or forced labor. The
“law” that governed nightclubs prohibited foreign women from
living at their place of employment; however, most women lived
in group dormitories adjacent to the nightclubs or in other
accommodations arranged by the establishment owner. The
“Nightclub Commission,” comprises “police” and “government
officials” who regulate nightclubs, prepared brochures on
employee rights and distributed them to foreign women upon
entry. The “Nightclub Commission” met monthly and made
recommendations to the “Ministry of Interior” regarding
operating licenses, changes to employee quotas, and the need
for intervention at a particular establishment. The “Social
Services Department” in the “Ministry of Labor” continued to
run a hotline for trafficking victims; however, it is inadequately
staffed by one operator who had not received any training on
trafficking. A total of 30 women were repatriated during the
reporting period. An expert reported trafficking victims were
afraid to call the hotline because they believed it was linked
to authorities. During the reporting period, the TRNC issued
2383 work permits to domestic workers.

The organized crime branch of the police was the lead law
enforcement investigative agency for trafficking; regional police
were responsible for smaller-scale cases. The government trained
more than 200 law enforcement officials, labor inspectors,
and prosecutors involved in investigating and prosecuting
human trafficking crimes, on par with training efforts in 2015.
Authorities reported the need for better collaboration between
the police and labor inspectors, as well as enhanced training for
inspectors on labor trafficking indicators. Observers reported
prosecutors and judges pursued trafficking cases unevenly
due to lack of familiarity with the law, unfamiliarity with
labor trafficking, and a preference to prosecute traffickers for
non-trafficking crimes. The government did not report any
investigations, prosecutions, or convictions of government
officials complicit in human trafficking offenses.

PROTECTION

RECOMMENDATIONS FOR CZECHIA

Vigorously investigate and prosecute suspected offenders
of both sex and labor trafficking, using the anti-trafficking
statute; sensitize judges to the severity of this crime to ensure
convictions result in proportionate and dissuasive sentences;
increase training for prosecutors and judges on applying the
anti-trafficking statute; enhance collaboration between the
labor inspectorate and police on investigating potential labor

The government maintained victim protection efforts. Police
identified 38 victims during the reporting period, one man and
37 women (92 victims in 2015 and 67 in 2014). Authorities
referred all victims to services. Of the victims identified in this
reporting period, 14 chose to cooperate with law enforcement
and entered the Ministry of Interior’s (MOI) program for
victim services (four victims entered the program in 2015 and
43 in 2014). In 2016, government-funded NGOs provided
services to 139 newly identified potential victims, of which
125 victims were identified by NGOs; this compared to 171
newly identified potential victims in 2015, 79 of whom were
directly identified by NGOs.
The MOI program for victim services was available to both
foreign and Czech adult victims of sex and labor trafficking
regardless of their country of origin or legal status. There

149

DENMARK

was a different national referral mechanism for children and
youth, in which identified child victims received care outside
of the MOI’s program through publicly funded NGOs that
provided shelter, food, clothing, and medical and psychological
counseling. Those victims who enter the MOI program must
cooperate with law enforcement; all victims are encouraged to
cooperate with Czech authorities. Authorities provided victims
with a 60-day reflection period, in which victims received care
and determined whether to cooperate with law enforcement;
victims with a medically recognized disability, including trauma,
received an additional 30 days. Under the law, a victim cannot
be deported during this period. Victims unwilling to cooperate
with law enforcement were still eligible to receive services via
NGOs, but these were located outside of the MOI’s victim
services program. However, to be eligible for these alternative
short-term victim services, trafficking victims must reside legally
in Czechia; victims not participating in the MOI program were
ineligible for long-term assistance. The government provided
medical care, psychological and crisis counseling, housing,
legal representation, vocational training, and other specialized
services to victims. Victims could voluntarily withdraw from
victim services at any time.
The MOI funded the costs for the victim assistance program,
and the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs (MLSA) provided
additional funding for actual day-to-day social services provided
by NGOs. In 2016, the MOI allocated approximately 1.2 million
koruna ($47,914), comparable to the 1.18 million koruna
($47,115) allocated in 2015. An international organization
also received additional funding from the MOI for repatriation
costs. Some experts noted a lack of funding for victim housing,
especially female victims with more than one child, and a lack
of expertise among counselors providing services. In 2016, the
MOI changed how it provided services to victims. Rather than
granting funds to multiple NGOs to provide services, the MOI
released a tender inviting NGOs to submit bids; one NGO was
selected to serve as the prime agent to manage victim services.
NGOs and government stakeholders reported this new funding
mechanism worked well.
During legal proceedings, victims were eligible to receive free
legal aid. A witness protection law allows the government to
conceal the identity of the witness, provides a new identity
to the victim, and can assign bodyguards. Foreign victims
who cooperated with investigators could receive temporary
residence and work visas for the duration of the relevant legal
proceedings. Upon conclusion of court proceedings, victims
could apply for permanent residency; one victim received
permanent residency in 2016, compared with no victims in
2015, and one in 2014. Victims had the legal option of seeking
court-ordered compensation from their traffickers in both
civil and criminal proceedings, although such restitution was
rare as victims often feared retribution from their traffickers
during criminal cases and could not afford attorney fees for a
civil suit. To seek civil damages, the law requires a finding of
criminal misconduct against the defendant. The government
did not report any victims received compensation during
the reporting period. There were no reports the government
penalized identified victims for unlawful acts committed as a
direct result of being subjected to trafficking. The MLSA created
working groups focused on forced labor. The governmentfunded anti-trafficking training to 70 health practitioners and
to 20 members of an international organization.

PREVENTION
150

The government maintained prevention efforts. The MOI chaired

an inter-ministerial body that coordinated national efforts and
approved the 2016-2019 national strategy in April 2016. A unit
in the MOI served as the national rapporteur and prepared a
comprehensive annual report on patterns and programs, which
it released publicly. The government continued to fund an
NGO-run hotline to identify victims of trafficking and domestic
violence, which received approximately 600 calls in 2016. The
law did not criminalize confiscation of workers’ passports. MOI
funding was also available to support trafficking prevention
campaigns; the government-funded NGOs to conduct 60
public awareness and prevention campaigns across regions
in Czechia. The new national action plan approved in April
2016 included a new focus on gathering data on trafficking
vulnerabilities and, based upon the data, developing a list of
recommendations to eliminate these risks. The government did
not maintain a central database that would allow it to better
analyze data about traffickers and victims. To increase foreign
workers’ awareness regarding their rights, the MLSA and the State
Labor Inspection Office published information on its website
in multiple languages about laws governing the employment of
foreigners. The government did not make any efforts to reduce
the demand for commercial sex acts or forced labor during the
reporting period. The government provided anti-trafficking
training for its consular and diplomatic staff, and military
personnel participating in international peacekeeping efforts.

TRAFFICKING PROFILE

As reported over the past five years, Czechia is a source, transit,
and destination country for women and children subjected to sex
trafficking and a source, transit, and destination country for men
and women subjected to forced labor. Women, girls, and boys
from Czechia, Slovakia, Ukraine, Romania, Bulgaria, Nigeria,
the Philippines, and Vietnam are subjected to sex trafficking
in Czechia and also transit through Czechia to other European
countries where they are subjected to sex trafficking. Men and
women from Czechia, Ukraine, Romania, Bulgaria, Moldova,
Mongolia, the Philippines, Russia, and Vietnam are subjected
to forced labor in Czechia, typically through debt bondage,
in the construction, agricultural, forestry, manufacturing, and
service sectors, including in domestic work. They may also
transit through Czechia to other countries in Europe where
they are exploited. Most identified victims in the country are
Czech, although law enforcement reported an increase in
European Union victims. Romani women from Czechia are
subjected to forced prostitution and forced labor internally
and in destination countries, including the UK. Most traffickers
are Czech citizens, and foreign traffickers often recruit victims
from their own home countries and work in cooperation with
a local Czech citizen; women comprise a large percentage of
sex trafficking perpetrators. Law enforcement have seen an
increase in “marriages of convenience” among Czech women
that involve sex trafficking. Private, unregistered labor agencies
often used deceptive practices to recruit workers from abroad
as well as from inside the country.

DENMARK: TIER 1
The Government of Denmark fully meets the minimum
standards for the elimination of trafficking. The government
continued to demonstrate serious and sustained efforts during
the reporting period; therefore, Denmark remained on Tier 1.
The government demonstrated serious and sustained efforts by
continuing to implement its 2015-2018 national action plan

such as residence permits for victims. In 2016, however, the
government offered a family of two trafficking victims (one
adult and one minor) temporary residence under section
9(c) of the Danish Aliens Act, which the victims accepted.
This was the first time the government implemented the 2013
amendment to the Aliens Act, allowing authorities to issue
temporary residency to trafficking victims without legal status
in Denmark assisting law enforcement and testifying in a trial.
Authorities cooperated in one transnational investigation and
began extradition proceedings against three individuals wanted
for human trafficking violations in Romania. In February
2015, authorities arrested 26 individuals during a nationwide
human trafficking sting. Ongoing investigations and court
cases continued through the end of the reporting period. The
government did not report any investigations, prosecutions,
or convictions of government employees complicit in human
trafficking offenses. Police received instruction on trafficking at
the police academy and again after their first year on the job.

DENMARK

against human trafficking and passing a spending resolution that
increased funding through 2020 for counter-trafficking efforts.
For the first time, the government offered trafficking victims
temporary residence under section 9(c) of the Danish Aliens
Act, which gives authorities the ability to stay deportation for
victims to assist in an investigation. The government identified
more trafficking victims and continued to fund victim service
providers. Although the government meets the minimum
standards, it continued to focus on foreign trafficking victims’
illegal immigrant status, often incarcerating them while pending
review of their status and repatriating non-EU resident victims
to their countries of origin without proper screening. This
impeded the ability of law enforcement to pursue traffickers
and left victims vulnerable. Victim identification methods
were convoluted and involved NGO partners too late in the
process. In the last five years, only four victims had been granted
asylum, despite the government officially identifying more
than 400 victims; no victims were granted asylum during the
reporting period.

PROTECTION

RECOMMENDATIONS FOR DENMARK

Increase incentives for victims to cooperate in the prosecution
of traffickers, including by permitting temporary residency for
victims while they assist law enforcement; more vigorously
prosecute trafficking offenses and convict sex and labor
traffickers; sentence traffickers in accordance with the gravity
of the offense; cease penalization of victims for crimes
committed as a direct result of being subjected to trafficking,
such as migration offenses, including assessing if new guidelines
concerning withdrawal of charges against trafficking victims
prevent their penalization and detention; strengthen and
streamline victim identification procedures, including expanding
law enforcement efforts to proactively identify and expeditiously
transfer potential trafficking victims, especially those without
legal status, from police or immigration custody to crisis centers
or care providers to facilitate trust among this vulnerable group.

PROSECUTION

The government maintained law enforcement efforts. Section
262(a) of the criminal code prohibits all forms of trafficking
and prescribes punishments of up to 10 years imprisonment;
these penalties are sufficiently stringent and commensurate
with penalties prescribed for other serious crimes, such as rape.
Authorities investigated 25 trafficking cases in 2016, an increase
from three in 2015. The government initiated prosecutions of
three trafficking suspects, compared with 58 in 2015, when the
Danish National Police conducted two major anti-trafficking
operations. The government reassigned a large number of
police units to border security duties due to the refugee crisis,
which hindered the number of officers available to conduct
trafficking investigations. Courts convicted 17 traffickers in 2016
(16 in 2015), all of whom received the full prison sentences
permitted by law. Sentences ranged from 3 years to 7 years, 11
months imprisonment. Experts reported few trafficking cases
were brought to trial because of the lack of incentives for
victims to participate in the investigation of their traffickers,

The government maintained efforts to protect victims.
Authorities identified 121 trafficking victims in 2016, compared
with 93 victims in 2015. Eight of the identified victims were
minors (five of sex trafficking, one of forced criminal activity,
and two trafficked for “other” purposes), compared with six
in 2015. Authorities did not identify any Danish trafficking
victims in 2016. The government provided a list of indicators
for police to reference for initial identification and procedures
to guide officials in proactive victim identification. When police
suspected they had a victim in custody, they called government
anti-trafficking experts to assist in questioning and explain the
victim’s rights; each police district appointed a trafficking expert.
NGOs noted the onus of victim identification remained on
trafficking victims rather than officials’ proactive identification.
Government guidelines for identifying victims required
shuffling victims between law enforcement and government
agencies before referring them to NGOs. NGOs stated victim
identification methods were convoluted and involved NGO
partners too late in the process. NGOs contended authorities
primarily treated trafficking victims as illegal immigrants subject
to the justice system. The Danish Institute for Human Rights
stated victims had been incarcerated pending review of their
immigration status and as part of the process for identifying
their traffickers. According to NGOs, the current laws and
identification process incentivized police officers to treat victims
as illegal immigrants. A third-party audit of the identification
process revealed the government did not effectively disseminate
current statistics and reports or manage its long-term planning.
Government-funded, NGO-operated facilities provided
trafficking victims care services, including medical, psychological,
and legal assistance; these facilities were dedicated to trafficking
victims. The Danish Red Cross assisted unaccompanied children
and child victims in another facility partially funded by the
government. Victims could apply for compensation through
a state fund and through civil suits against their traffickers;
however, no victims pursued these in 2016. To help prevent
trafficking victims from being penalized for crimes committed
as a result of being subjected to trafficking, the director of
public prosecutions distributed guidelines on the identification
of victims and the withdrawal of charges against them to
the police and prosecution service. Some observers reported
increased willingness by prosecutors to drop charges against
trafficking victims. The government did not implement efforts
to provide alternatives to victims’ removal, resulting in few
protections for victims.

151

DJIBOUTI

While the government reported asylum or humanitarian
residence permits could be used as alternatives to removal
for victims who lacked legal status in Denmark, trafficking
victims could not qualify for these provisions or receive these
protections solely on the basis of being subjected to trafficking
crimes. The government required victims to prove they were
persecuted in their home countries on the basis of Refugee
Convention grounds. In 2016, the government offered a
family of two trafficking victims (one adult and one minor)
temporary residence under section 9(c) of the Danish Aliens
Act, which the victims accepted. The government continued
to offer trafficking victims a 120-day “extended time limit for
departure” as part of its prepared return program for trafficking
victims ordered to leave Denmark; the prepared return gave
victims a specified period of time to receive services before
their eventual deportation. Regional anti-trafficking experts,
including the Council of Europe, emphasized this period does
not refer to a period of reflection and recovery necessary to
determine whether victims will cooperate in the investigation
of their cases; rather it is a period of time the victims have to
cooperate in their repatriation. During 2016, the Council of
Europe criticized Denmark for failing to honor the required
120-day period of recovery and reflection prior to deportation
of trafficking victims. In 2016, 12 trafficking victims accepted
a prepared return (43 in 2015). Authorities deported victims
without legal residency who did not accept a prepared return
unless they were assisting in the prosecution of a trafficker. Some
victims chose not to participate in the program, reportedly based
on the perception it was merely a preparation for deportation.
Victims’ debt bondage to their traffickers and lack of protection
in their home countries served as significant deterrents from
accepting the prepared return. The effective lack of alternatives
to removal impeded the ability of law enforcement to pursue
traffickers and left victims vulnerable to re-trafficking.

PREVENTION

The government increased prevention efforts. The government
allotted 88.3 million Danish Kroner ($12.5 million) for its
2015-2018 national action plan for trafficking protection
and prevention programs. In addition, parliament passed
an omnibus social spending resolution in November 2016,
which allocated 9.4 million Danish Kroner ($1.33 million)
to counter-trafficking efforts through 2020; this initiative
included provisions for identification, outreach, and shelter.
As part of the 2015-2018 national action plan, the government
provided anti-trafficking training to police, diplomats, and other
government personnel. The government conducted training
for health service providers at clinics, shelters, and hospitals
on how to identify trafficking victims and notify authorities.
In May 2016, a government-assisted NGO launched a public
exhibit focused on human trafficking and forced prostitution.
Authorities posted guidelines for the hospitality sector to assist
employers in the prevention of labor exploitation. Authorities
conducted public information campaigns aimed at curbing
demand for trafficking, provided public education about the
signs of possible trafficking, and publicized through social
media a hotline for reporting trafficking cases. Authorities
continued to train tax and labor inspectors on labor trafficking
indicators. The government did not take measures to reduce
the demand for commercial sex.

TRAFFICKING PROFILE
152

As reported over the past five years, Denmark is primarily a
destination and transit country for men, women, and children
subjected to forced labor and sex trafficking from Eastern Europe,

Africa, Southeast Asia, and Latin America. Migrants are subjected
to labor trafficking in agriculture, domestic service, restaurants,
hotels, and factories through debt bondage, withheld wages,
abuse, and threats of deportation. Unaccompanied migrant
children are vulnerable to sex trafficking and forced labor,
including theft and other forced criminality. Since 2009, 33
children have been identified as trafficking victims in Denmark:
nine forced into pickpocketing, three into cleaning restaurants,
six into forced criminal activity, 13 into sex trafficking, and two
trafficking for uncategorized purposes. Copenhagen’s relatively
small red-light district represents only a portion of the country’s
larger commercial sex industry, which includes sex trafficking in
brothels, bars, strip clubs, and private apartments. The rise in
migrants, asylum-seekers, and refugees entering and transiting
Denmark has increased the size of the population vulnerable
to human trafficking.

DJIBOUTI: TIER 2 WATCH LIST
The Government of Djibouti does not fully meet the minimum
standards for the elimination of trafficking; however, it is
making significant efforts to do so. The government made key
achievements during the reporting period; therefore, Djibouti
was upgraded to Tier 2 Watch List. These achievements included
increased investigations and prosecutions of trafficking cases
and expanded trainings for law enforcement, prosecutorial,
and judicial officials primarily on the 2016 anti-trafficking law.
Officials partnered with an international organization to assist
trafficking victims. Additionally, the government implemented a
national identification and referral mechanism during the year—
developed by an international organization—and continued to
partner collaboratively with civil society stakeholders to organize
diverse anti-trafficking awareness raising events throughout the
year. The anti-trafficking working group met more than ten times
during the year under the direction of the newly appointed
national coordinator for anti-trafficking and anti-smuggling
efforts. Despite these achievements, the government did not
amend its anti-trafficking law, which does not incorporate
the international law definition of trafficking, nor did it
convict any traffickers after passing the law in March 2016. In
addition, the government’s identification of potential victims
remained sporadic and protective services largely insufficient.
The government did not fully operationalize its national action
plan to combat trafficking for the second consecutive year and
the general lack of capacity and coordination among relevant
government agencies continued to hinder progress in national
anti-trafficking efforts.

RECOMMENDATIONS FOR DJIBOUTI

Strictly enforce the anti-trafficking law through investigations
and prosecutions of trafficking offenders; widely implement
standardized procedures for government personnel to
proactively identify potential victims and transfer them to care;
expand protective services for victims, through partnerships

PROSECUTION

The government modestly increased law enforcement efforts
to combat trafficking, although some provisions of its antitrafficking law remained inconsistent with international law.
The 2016 Law No. 133, On the Fight Against Trafficking in
Persons and Illicit Smuggling of Migrants, criminalizes all
forms of trafficking; it prescribes penalties of five to 10 years
imprisonment, and 20 when aggravating factors are present,
which are sufficiently stringent and commensurate with those
for other serious crimes, such as rape. However, contrary to the
international definition, Law No. 133 requires the government
prove that force, fraud, or coercion were used when children
are subjected to sex trafficking. Law No. 111, Regarding the
Fight Against Terrorism and Other Serious Crimes of 2011,
remains in effect and also prohibits all forms of trafficking
with the same problem regarding child sex trafficking, and
prescribes penalties of 10 to 15 years imprisonment, which
are also sufficiently stringent and commensurate with the
penalty for other serious crimes. These two similar laws have
some divergent definitions and penalties, which risk generating
confusion and raising legal issues, making it difficult for law
enforcement, prosecutorial, and judicial officials to effectively
prosecute human traffickers.
During the reporting year, the government investigated nine
trafficking cases, an increase from none the previous year. While
the government reported prosecution of 10 suspected traffickers
in seven cases, judges convicted all defendants for smuggling
crimes due to insufficient evidence of exploitation. It did not
initiate trafficking prosecutions or secure convictions in 2015.
Two prosecutions, one of which commenced in 2012, remained
ongoing from previous reporting periods. The government did
not report any new investigations, prosecutions, or convictions
of government officials complicit in human trafficking offenses
in 2016. In 2014, the government arrested five military officials
for alleged trafficking crimes. However, the government reported
they subsequently returned to their jobs and never appeared
when summoned to court in 2015; this case was dismissed
without criminal action during the reporting period.
To better delineate between trafficking and smuggling,
more than 300 national police personnel attended an open
discussion organized by Djibouti’s National Police Chief in
Djibouti’s National Police academy and led by local experts
on the differences between these crimes. During the reporting
period, the Ministry of Justice (MOJ) coordinated a roundtable
for approximately 80 officials and civil society stakeholders
to socialize the 2016 anti-trafficking law and mechanisms
to investigate potential trafficking crimes; for this event the
government paid for promotional materials, the event facility,
refreshments, and 300 printed booklets containing the anti-

trafficking law. In the bi-annual MOJ general assembly, the
president of the Court of First Instance and State Prosecutor
discussed effective application of the anti-trafficking law with
judges and prosecutors. In collaboration with an international
organization, the centrally-appointed regional governors of
Tadjourah, Dikhil, and Obock hosted three separate trainings
in their respective regions and each provided a venue for
training sessions for roughly 40 participants from civil society
and law enforcement focusing on the anti-trafficking law. In
addition, the government provided in-kind contributions to
support anti-trafficking trainings facilitated and funded by
international organizations.

DJIBOUTI

with NGOs or international organizations, and implement
the protections mandated by the anti-trafficking law; amend
the anti-trafficking law to comport with the international law
definition, specifically to remove the requirement that the
government prove that force, fraud, or coercion were used in
cases of child sex trafficking, and repeal contrary provisions
of existing laws; expand training for judges, prosecutors, and
police on the distinctions between trafficking and migrant
smuggling; compile and publicize data on convictions and
sentences of trafficking offenders; implement the extended
national action plan; institute a module on human trafficking
as a standard component of the mandatory training program
for new police and border guards; and develop and launch a
nationwide anti-trafficking awareness campaign.

PROTECTION

The government took steps to strengthen its victim protection
infrastructure, but efforts to identify and provide protective
services for trafficking victims were conducted on an ad hoc
basis and remained largely insufficient. In December 2016,
the government implemented a national identification and
referral mechanism developed and funded by an international
organization; however, it did not enact or routinely implement
this mechanism during the reporting year, which likely left
some individuals vulnerable to exploitation and potential revictimization. Furthermore, the government granted authority
to another international organization to conduct trafficking
screenings of all transiting migrants. It partnered with this entity
to provide water, food, and temporary shelter for an unknown
number of potential trafficking victims in more than 200 cases
reportedly involving indicators of trafficking; in 2015, the
government did not identify or provide protective services to
victims. Separately, an international organization referred nine
potential victims to the national police; while investigations
were ongoing, the victims remained under direct care of the
organization. The gendarmerie continued its coordination with
an international organization to transfer migrants, including
potential trafficking victims, on an ad hoc basis to either medical
facilities or the Migrant Response Center (MRC) in Obock—an
office staffed and operated by an international organization
along the route most heavily traversed by migrants from Somalia
and Ethiopia en route to Yemen. In October 2016, the Ministry
of the Interior provided this international organization with a
building to create a second MRC after unprecedented migrant
arrivals in Obock, a population vulnerable to trafficking.
Djibouti remains without a shelter in which to house trafficking
victims. The government also allocated an unspecified funding
amount to local Djiboutian NGOs, which operated counseling
centers and other programs that may have assisted trafficking
victims during the year. The 2016 anti-trafficking law’s provisions
for establishment of victim assistance programs for trafficking
victims, funded through asset seizure, remained unimplemented
for the second consecutive year.
The 2016 anti-trafficking law established provisions allowing
trafficking victims temporary residency during judicial
proceedings and permanent residency as necessary as legal
alternatives to removal to countries where they may face
hardship or retribution; however, these provisions were not
employed during the reporting year. Additionally, the 2016
law directs that necessary legal assistance and an interpreter be
provided to victims; the government did not report providing
such assistance during the reporting period. The government
agency that assists refugee and disaster victims, the Ministry
of Interior, the national gendarmes and police force, the Coast
Guard, the Ethiopian embassy in Djibouti, and an international
organization coordinated efforts to facilitate more than 1,000
voluntary returns of migrants, mainly Ethiopians, including 388

153

DOMINICAN REPUBLIC

unaccompanied minors and 54 women, to their countries of
origin in 2016. Some of these individuals reportedly encountered
violence, coercion, or exploitation during their travels through
multiple countries and, thus, may have been exploited in
trafficking.

PREVENTION

The government increased efforts to prevent trafficking. During
the reporting year, the government extended its 2015 national
action plan to combat trafficking through 2020 but did not
fully operationalize it. The anti-trafficking working group met
more than ten times during the year under the direction of the
newly appointed national coordinator for anti-trafficking and
anti-smuggling efforts; however, the general lack of capacity and
coordination among relevant government agencies continued
to hinder progress in national anti-trafficking efforts. The
government-sponsored newspaper included numerous articles
on trafficking and groups vulnerable to trafficking such as street
children and refugees. In coordination with the government, an
international organization sponsored a documentary and panel
discussion on trafficking; various civil society organizations
and officials from several ministries attended. In addition, the
government and a local charity co-conducted anti-trafficking
awareness raising activities in refugee camps across Djibouti.
As part of the World Day against Trafficking, the government
produced a three-part newspaper series on street children to raise
awareness among the public about the plight of this vulnerable
group. The government did not undertake significant efforts to
reduce the demand for commercial sex acts. Through a trainthe-trainer program, international experts provided Djiboutian
troops with anti-trafficking training prior to their deployment
abroad on international peacekeeping missions. English and
Amharic language teachers at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs’
training center for diplomatic personnel included information
on trafficking and domestic servitude in their course material.

TRAFFICKING PROFILE

As reported over the past five years, Djibouti is a source,
transit, and destination country for men, women, and children
subjected to forced labor and sex trafficking, although limited
data on trafficking cases has complicated efforts to determine
the full scope of the phenomenon. Men, women, and children,
primarily from Ethiopia and Somalia, and to a lesser extent
from Eritrea, transit Djibouti voluntarily en route to Yemen and
other locations in the Middle East, particularly Saudi Arabia,
to seek work. An unknown number of these migrants are
subjected to forced labor and sex trafficking in their intended
destinations. In 2016, more than 117,000 people embarked on
the sea crossing from the Horn of Africa to Yemen, marking
the highest annual total of the past decade. In addition to this
unprecedented influx of migrants, the 2015 crisis in Yemen
created a reverse flow of persons from Yemen to Djibouti. The
government allowed over 30,000 people of diverse nationalities
to enter freely and take refuge; some of them had endured
various types of exploitation, possibly including trafficking,
before their arrival in Djibouti. Given instability in Ethiopia’s
Oromia region that commenced in November 2015, more
Ethiopians journeyed on foot from Ethiopia to Djibouti to
either claim asylum with their families or continue onward to
destination countries in the Gulf, thereby causing an uptick in
refugee camp population; austere conditions in refugee camps
made this group highly vulnerable to trafficking.

154

Djiboutian and migrant women and street children are
vulnerable to domestic servitude or sex trafficking in Djibouti

City, the Ethiopia-Djibouti trucking corridor, and Obock, the
main departure point for Yemen. Some migrants intending to
be smuggled may be transported or detained against their will
and subsequently subjected to trafficking and other forms of
abuse in Djibouti. Smuggling networks, some of whose members
are likely Djiboutian, sometimes charge exorbitantly high rents
or kidnap and hold migrants, including children, for ransom
in countries neighboring Djibouti. In addition, some migrant
women reportedly were subjected to domestic servitude and
forced prostitution in Djibouti. Traffickers based in Yemen or
Saudi Arabia, who reportedly intend to exploit migrants or sell
women into prostitution or domestic servitude upon their arrival
there, sometimes pay these ransoms. Parents sometimes compel
their children to beg on the streets as a source of familial income;
children may also travel from foreign countries—including
Ethiopia and Somalia—for begging in Djibouti. Children are
also vulnerable to forced labor as domestic servants and, at
times, coerced to commit petty crimes, such as theft.

DOMINICAN REPUBLIC: TIER 2
The Government of the Dominican Republic does not fully
meet the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking;
however, it is making significant efforts to do so. The government
demonstrated increasing efforts compared to the previous
reporting period; therefore, the Dominican Republic remained
on Tier 2. The government demonstrated increasing efforts by
prosecuting traffickers—including an allegedly complicit official,
convicting traffickers, identifying victims, and launching a
national anti-trafficking awareness campaign, which increased
calls to the government hotline. However, the government did
not meet the minimum standards in several key areas. The
government did not report any new prosecutions or convictions
for forced labor. It did not provide sufficient funds, training,
or equipment to conduct law enforcement efforts or provide
adequate victim protection or specialized services. It also did
not take action to remedy gaps in law enforcement efforts
identified by the attorney general’s office review of 2010-2014
trafficking cases.

RECOMMENDATIONS FOR THE DOMINICAN REPUBLIC

Vigorously prosecute and convict traffickers involved in forced
labor and sex trafficking, including complicit government
officials; fully implement protocols to identify adult and child
trafficking victims, including in commercial sex, domestic
servitude, and the agriculture and construction sectors, and
refer them to protective services; adequately fund and train law
enforcement, including on how to better identify victims of
forced labor; amend the 2014 anti-trafficking law to remove the
requirement to prove force, fraud, and coercion of sex trafficking
victims under 18 years of age and consistent with international
law; adequately fund and coordinate specialized services for
adult and child trafficking victims; work with NGOs to provide
adequate shelter and services to adult and child victims; address

PROSECUTION

The government maintained law enforcement efforts by
investigating, prosecuting, and convicting sex traffickers, but did
not investigate, prosecute, or convict any labor traffickers. The
2003 Law on Human Smuggling and Trafficking (Law 137-03)
prohibits most forms of trafficking in persons and prescribes
penalties of 15 to 20 years imprisonment and fines—penalties
sufficiently stringent and commensurate with those prescribed
for other serious crimes, such as rape. However, in contrast to
the international definition of trafficking in persons, the law
requires prosecutors to prove that a trafficker used the means
of force, fraud, or coercion for sex trafficking of individuals
under 18 years of age. It also defines trafficking more broadly to
include forced marriage and illegal adoption without requiring
that either marriage or adoption have exploitation as a purpose.
Prostitution is legal, but promoting the prostitution of others
is prohibited by article 334 of the penal code, which prescribes
penalties of six months to three years imprisonment and fines.
Article 25 of the Child Protection Code of 2003 prohibits the
offering, delivering, or accepting, without regard to means
used, anyone under 18 years of age for the purpose of sexual
exploitation, forced labor, or any other purpose that demeans
the individual, for remuneration or any other consideration,
and prescribes a penalty of 20 to 30 years imprisonment and
a fine. Prosecutors may use these provisions to charge and
prosecute sex traffickers in addition to or instead of Law 137-03.
In 2016, the government initiated 25 investigations—23 for
sex trafficking and two for forced begging—and prosecuted
40 alleged traffickers, compared with 15 investigations and
prosecutions of 49 alleged traffickers in 2015. The government
secured convictions of 13 defendants in seven cases, compared
to 20 defendants convicted in seven cases in 2015; sentences
ranged from five to 20 years imprisonment. The national police
anti-trafficking unit, in cooperation with an NGO, planned and
conducted investigations, which resulted in the arrest of six
traffickers and identification of eight victims. The government,
in cooperation with a foreign government, conducted two major
operations resulting in the identification of 61 victims and the
arrest of nine alleged traffickers, including an army official.
Observers and prosecutors reported human and financial
resource shortages impeded law enforcement efforts.
An attorney general’s office review of 2010-2014 trafficking cases,
conducted during the prior reporting period, revealed a number
of gaps in law enforcement efforts: inadequate investigation
resulting in a lack of evidence to prosecute; insufficient efforts
to secure the cooperation of victims and families; and cases
prosecuted under inappropriate provisions of the law. The
government prosecuted a police officer for participating in a
sex trafficking ring that involved child victims, but the officer
was acquitted. The government cooperated with governments
in the Caribbean, Europe, and Central and South America on
investigations of transnational trafficking cases. The government
offered anti-trafficking courses at the National Defense Institute,
Police Institute, School of Justice, School of Public Ministry,
Intelligence School of the Navy, and Judiciary School. Police
recruits, prosecutors, judges, and court staff participated in
trainings offered by NGOs.

PROTECTION

The government increased slightly the identification of
trafficking victims, but decreased other victim protection
efforts and services. Authorities identified 157 sex trafficking
victims—137 female and 20 male; 83 children and 74 adults—
compared with 101 victims in 2015. The Attorney General’s
Anti-Trafficking Unit (ATU) coordinated with other government
agencies, international organizations, and NGOs that provided
trafficking victims temporary accommodation in shelters,
psychological and legal assistance, reintegration, medical
services, and support for higher education. However, NGOs
reported these services were ad hoc, not well coordinated or
specialized, and the government often returned child victims
to their families without follow-up care or education about
the risks of re-trafficking. The Ministry of Women through
its Center for Orientation and Comprehensive Investigation
provided victims shelter, limited legal services, and psychological
assistance. The government provided short-term services to the
157 identified trafficking victims.
Government officials reported having protocols to identify and
assist adult and child trafficking victims; however, authorities did
not fully implement the protocols across all levels of government
nationwide. The government encouraged victims to participate
in investigation and prosecution efforts by offering all victims
lodging and security in the courtroom and immigration relief
for foreign victims. The ATU opened a shelter twice in 2016
to house 60 foreign national victims identified during law
enforcement operations, but closed the shelter once the cases
concluded due to a lack of long-term funding. The government
lacked funding, trained personnel, and equipment to provide
adequate victim protection. The anti-trafficking law contains
victim protection provisions, including restitution; however, no
victims obtained restitution in 2016, compared to at least one
trafficking victim obtaining restitution in 2015. The government
offered foreign victims identified in cases investigated during
the reporting period the same services available to Dominican
victims; however, most victims chose to return to their own
countries, and only one victim accepted temporary residency
in the country in 2016 before returning to her home country.
There were no reports of victims being punished for unlawful
acts committed as a direct result of being subjected to trafficking.
Undocumented Haitian victims faced deportation and other
penalties resulting from their irregular immigration status,
increasing vulnerability to trafficking.

DOMINICAN REPUBLIC

the gaps identified in the attorney general’s office review of 20102014 trafficking cases; screen for trafficking indicators among
working children and undocumented or stateless persons at risk
of deportation, including those of Haitian descent to identify
victims and prevent re-trafficking; and conduct forced labor
and sex trafficking awareness campaigns in Spanish and Creole.

PREVENTION

The government increased prevention efforts. The interinstitutional anti-trafficking and anti-smuggling commission
met periodically to discuss ongoing commitments. The
government published an annual report of its efforts under
the 2009-2014 plan, which remained in effect. NGOs assessed
government implementation efforts were uncoordinated and
underfunded. In partnership with and with funding from
an international organization, the government completed
but will not publish a baseline study of the judicial system’s
handling of child sex trafficking cases. The government began
to develop a new national anti-trafficking action plan. The
government, in cooperation with an international organization,
launched a national campaign to raise awareness of child
sexual exploitation, including sex trafficking. NGOs reported
prevention efforts did not target youth and students or Creole
speakers, key vulnerable groups, and did not target social media
often used by traffickers to recruit victims. The government
operated a national hotline, which received 176 calls before
the start of the national campaign and 324 after the campaign

155

ECUADOR

launched; 493 of the 550 calls were trafficking-related, 61 of
which led to new investigations. The government did not
gather comprehensive data or statistics to help it gauge the
effectiveness of anti-trafficking efforts.
During the reporting period, the government extended the
benefits of the National Regularization Plan to offer an
additional year of legal residency status to approximately
240,000 beneficiaries. In addition, the government approved
55,000 birth certificates for documented individuals born in
the country to immigrant parents and reissued about 20,000
birth certificates for those individuals. The government planned
to offer permanent residency to 8,755 of the individuals who
had not obtained birth certificates. These actions reduced
the recipients’ risk of statelessness and deportation and their
vulnerability to trafficking. The government made efforts to
reduce the demand for forced commercial sex by charging
two tourists—an American and a Canadian—with child sexual
exploitation and improved monitoring of tourist areas. The
government maintained a national plan to reduce child sex
tourism and a detection system for foreign travelers who are
registered sex offenders in their countries. The government did
not report efforts to reduce the demand for forced labor. The
government provided anti-trafficking training for its diplomatic
personnel.

ECUADOR: TIER 2
The Government of Ecuador does not fully meet the minimum
standards for the elimination of trafficking; however, it is making
significant efforts to do so. The government demonstrated
increasing efforts compared to the previous period; therefore,
Ecuador remained on Tier 2. The government demonstrated
increasing efforts by conducting more anti-trafficking law
enforcement operations leading to an increased number of
convictions, and by enacting a law to enhance assistance and
protection efforts for trafficking victims and those vulnerable
among migrant populations. However, the government did not
meet the minimum standards in several key areas. Specialized
services for victims were unavailable in most of the country and
official complicity remained a challenge. For the fourth year in
a row, authorities failed to approve the revised anti-trafficking
plan, and government agencies lacked adequate resources to
implement anti-trafficking efforts.

TRAFFICKING PROFILE

As reported over the past five years, the Dominican Republic
is a source, transit, and destination country for men, women,
and children subjected to sex trafficking and forced labor. Large
numbers of Dominican women and children are subjected
to sex trafficking in the Dominican Republic, the Caribbean,
Europe, South and Central America, the Middle East, Asia,
and the United States. Foreign national victims from the
Caribbean, Asia, and South America are subjected to trafficking
in the Dominican Republic. Commercial sexual exploitation of
Dominican children by foreign tourists from the United States,
Canada, and Europe, and by Dominican residents persists,
particularly in coastal resort areas of the Dominican Republic.
NGO research indicates sex trafficking of 15- to 17-year-old
girls occurs in streets, in parks, and on beaches. Government
officials and NGOs report an increase in Colombian and
Venezuelan women brought to the country to dance in strip
clubs who are subjected to forced prostitution. Traffickers lure
Dominican women to work in night clubs in the Middle East,
the Caribbean, and Latin America and subject them to sex
trafficking. Dominican officials and NGOs documented cases of
children forced into domestic service, street vending, begging,
agricultural work, construction, and moving illicit narcotics.
There are reports of forced labor of adults in construction,
agricultural, and service sectors. Populations vulnerable to
trafficking include women and girls, working children and
street children, migrant workers, and undocumented or stateless
persons of Haitian descent. Haitian women report smugglers
often become traffickers for the purpose of sexual exploitation
along the border, and observers note traffickers operate along
the border with impunity and sometimes with the assistance
of corrupt government officials who accept bribes to allow
undocumented crossings. Unofficial border crossings remain
unmonitored and porous leaving migrants, including children
recruited to work in the agricultural and construction sectors,
vulnerable to trafficking. NGOs report police complicity in
areas known for child sex trafficking.

156

RECOMMENDATIONS FOR ECUADOR

Strengthen the provision of specialized services for trafficking
victims, including for adults, and increase funding for services,
including for those provided by civil society organizations;
increase efforts to hold criminally accountable public officials
complicit in trafficking; amend anti-trafficking statutes for
consistency with the international definition of trafficking
and to make the prescribed penalties commensurate with
other serious crimes such as rape and kidnapping; increase
use of the national protocol for protection and assistance to
trafficking victims, including identifying trafficking victims
among vulnerable populations, such as LGBTI individuals,
irregular migrants, and individuals in prostitution; increase antitrafficking training for police officers, judges, labor inspectors,
immigration officials, social workers, and other government
officials, particularly to enhance victim identification; enhance
data collection and interagency coordination; partner with
civil society to finalize, resource, and implement the national
anti-trafficking action plan; and take steps to retain expertise
among members of the anti-trafficking unit such as extending
their rotation period.

PROSECUTION

The government increased law enforcement efforts. Article
91 of Ecuador’s 2014 criminal code prohibits all forms of
trafficking and prescribes penalties ranging from 13 to 16
years imprisonment. These penalties are sufficiently stringent,
but not commensurate with those for other serious crimes,
such as rape. Article 91 does not require the means of force,
fraud, or coercion for sex trafficking of adults or for forced
labor, and it includes all labor exploitation, child labor, illegal
adoption, servile marriage, and the sale of tissues, fluids, and
genetic materials of living persons. The criminal code allows
for additional investigation techniques for trafficking, such
as undercover investigations and wiretapping, and penalizes
those who contract with workers using knowingly fraudulent or

The anti-trafficking and human smuggling police unit (ATU)
reported arresting 56 suspected traffickers and conducting 52
anti-trafficking operations in 2016, an increase from 10 antitrafficking operations in 2015 and 19 in 2014. Authorities
reportedly prosecuted 18 cases of trafficking and convicted 40
traffickers, compared with 64 prosecutions and 31 convictions
in 2015 and 95 prosecutions and 20 convictions in 2014. In
2016, the average sentence for trafficking crimes was 16 years.
The ATU in Quito focused on cases involving adult victims,
while police units for crimes against children investigated
cases of child trafficking, sometimes in coordination with
the specialized anti-trafficking police. The national organized
crime prosecutorial unit in Quito handled trafficking cases in
partnership with local prosecutors across the country. Limited
resources, limited presence in parts of the country, inadequate
victim services, bureaucratic delays, and the frequent rotation
of specialized police hampered law enforcement efforts during
the reporting period. Authorities did not report any new
investigations into government complicity; however, NGOs
indicated that corruption and official complicity of government
officials in trafficking crimes continued and impacted victims
and witnesses’ willingness to report cases. Most complicity cases
from prior years remained open, including the 2015 prosecution
of a police officer for sex trafficking, the case of the three civil
registry officials for falsifying and altering documents used by
international traffickers, the 2013 prosecution of two active
and two former police officers for their involvement in sex
trafficking, and the 2012 investigation of a judge for traffickingrelated complicity. Authorities provided 17 training events
reaching 537 government officials, including staff from the
attorney general’s office and members of the public. An NGO
and an international organization with foreign donor funding
provided specialized training to law enforcement officials in
the province of Sucumbios and Esmeraldas. The Ministry of
Interior (MOI) provided mandatory specialized training as
part of basic curriculum for all ATU officers; however, frequent
rotations impede the development and retention of expertise.

PROTECTION

The government decreased protection efforts. The government
used the “National Unified Protocol for Integral Protection and
Assistance to Victims of Trafficking” to refer victims. Authorities
regularly referred victims to one of five government ministries
responsible for victim assistance and referral, as well as NGOs
who provided shelter and assistance. The government identified

and assisted 75 potential trafficking victims, a decrease from 117
potential child trafficking victims in 2015. NGOs identified and
assisted an additional 75 potential trafficking victims, compared
to 63 in 2015. It was unclear how many government- and NGOidentified cases involved trafficking as defined in international
law given the overlapping trafficking-related criminal offenses.
During the reporting period, observers reported authorities
charged two trafficking victims as criminals rather than identify
them as victims.
Authorities, in partnership with NGOs, continued to provide
emergency services to trafficking victims, including legal,
psychological, and educational support, in addition to shelter for
underage female victims. Lack of specialized shelters, especially
for adult victims of trafficking, continued to be a concern. Male
victims had limited options for services through care centers
providing ambulatory services. Police reported challenges
finding shelters for trafficking victims, particularly outside the
capital; as a result, police sometimes placed victims in nonspecialized shelters. The government provided an unspecified
amount of funding for shelters and services for trafficking
victims. NGOs reported government funding decreased in
2016 compared to the year before. An NGO reported assisting
a transgender victim from Colombia who was mistreated by
police on both sides of the border and unable to find shelter
until the NGO helped her return to Colombia.
The Office of the Prosecutor General continued to support
a formal witness protection program (SPAVT) and provided
immediate support to victims. During the reporting period, the
SPAVT program assisted 47 victims, a decrease from 72 victims in
2015 and 66 victims and dependents in 2014. The government
granted a 30-day reflection period allowing victims to receive
SPAVT protection while deciding whether to participate in the
penal process against their traffickers. Many victims chose not
to participate in investigations due to fear of threats, inadequate
protections in the SPAVT program, or lack of faith in the judicial
system. It was unclear how many victims participated during
the reporting period. NGOs reported victims often sought
NGO-provided or private legal assistance due to the public
defender providing limited and poor quality legal assistance
to victims. Foreign victims were entitled by law to the same
services as domestic victims, but in practice, NGOs reported
the government treated foreign victims as irregular migrants
violating immigration law rather than as crime victims. Young
foreign victims lacking personal identification documents can
be considered minors and therefore have access to specialized
state care, shelters, and psychological and legal assistance. NGOs
reported a lack of specialized health professionals and denial of
medical services to victims without legal presence in the country.
The MOI reported it had mechanisms to repatriate trafficking
victims and Ecuadorian diplomatic and consular missions
abroad had funding to provide food, lodging, and airplane
tickets to Ecuadorian victims seeking repatriation; however,
the government did not use these mechanisms during the
reporting period. According to authorities, financial restitution
was not available for trafficking victims. In January 2016, the
government enacted the Human Mobility Law, which guaranteed
the non-return of people to countries where their lives or
relatives are at risk, including foreign victims of trafficking.
Authorities reported they could grant temporary or permanent
residency to foreign victims, but did not report how many
foreign victims received residency in 2016. The mobility law
prevented re-victimization and penalization of victims by
establishing a registry of identified trafficking victims and
assigning responsibilities to state agencies to provide protection

ECUADOR

deceptive offers with a penalty of 10 to 13 years imprisonment.
The criminal code also separately penalizes sexual exploitation
(article 100), forced prostitution (article 101), sexual tourism
(article 102), and forced labor and other forms of exploitative
labor (article 105), including all labor of children younger
than 15 years of age. Penalties under articles 101 and 102 are
13 to 16 years imprisonment, while penalties for forced labor
under article 105 are 10 to 13 years imprisonment—less than
the penalties for forced labor under article 91. The definitions
used in these laws to prohibit trafficking may cause confusion
for officials charging and prosecuting such offenses and may
hinder efforts to hold perpetrators accountable. The Children
and Adolescents Code contains definitions of child sexual
exploitation (article 69), child labor exploitation (article 81),
and child smuggling (article 70); however, the latter conflates
smuggling and trafficking, which may cause confusion for
officials implementing this code. In particular, the definition of
child sexual exploitation is not consistent with the definition
of sexual exploitation in article 91.

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EGYPT

and reintegration in addition to prevention education. It was
unclear if any of these requirements were implemented during
the reporting period.

PREVENTION

The government decreased prevention efforts. The MOI antitrafficking sub-directorate coordinated anti-trafficking efforts,
although civil society organizations continued to note a lack of
coordination among government actors. During the reporting
period, the government did not approve the revised version
of the 2013-2017 national action plan and the interagency
committee could not provide funding until its approval.
Government agencies were required to dedicate their own
resources for the implementation of the plan, which hindered
anti-trafficking efforts. National authorities conducted awareness
campaigns in public schools, including one in public schools
reaching over 2,000 students. The criminal code prohibits sex
tourism, but the government did not provide information on
investigations, prosecutions, or convictions of child sex tourists
in 2016. The mobility law requires the Ministry of Labor to
register all cases of job placement abroad. Travel agencies were
required to complete an online course on detecting trafficking
victims in order to obtain a working license from the Ministry
of Tourism. The government did not make efforts to reduce the
demand for commercial sex. In July, the MOI and a university
hosted a seminar on human trafficking trends and using social
media to improve victim assistance. In September, authorities
from Peru and Ecuador held a bi-national dialogue on human
trafficking. The government did not provide anti-trafficking
training for its diplomatic personnel.

TRAFFICKING PROFILE

158

As reported over the past five years, Ecuador is a source, transit,
and destination country for men, women, and children subjected
to sex trafficking and forced labor. Ecuadorian men, women,
and children are exploited in sex trafficking and forced labor
within the country, including in domestic servitude, forced
begging, on banana and palm plantations, in floriculture,
shrimp farming, sweatshops, street vending, mining, and in
other areas of the informal economy. Indigenous and AfroEcuadorians, as well as Colombian refugees and migrants, are
particularly vulnerable to human trafficking. Women, children,
refugees, and migrants continued to be the most vulnerable to
sex trafficking; however LGBTI individuals remain vulnerable
to sex trafficking. Smugglers promising a better life confiscate
documents, impose debts, and threaten or force into prostitution
nationals of Cuba, Ghana, Cameroon, Nigeria, Chad, China,
Pakistan, the Dominican Republic, Peru, Colombia, Venezuela
and Haiti, in Ecuador. Ecuador is also a destination for
Colombian, Peruvian, Dominican, Venezuelan, Mexican,
Haitian, Paraguayan, and Cuban women and girls exploited
in sex trafficking, domestic servitude, and forced begging.
Haitians migrate through Brazil into Ecuador to seek jobs on
banana plantations, where they are vulnerable to forced labor.
Traffickers use Ecuador as a transit route for trafficking victims
from Colombia, Cuba, Haiti, and the Dominican Republic.
Traffickers recruit children from impoverished indigenous
families under false promises of employment and subject them
to forced labor in begging, domestic servitude, in sweatshops,
or as street and commercial vendors in Ecuador or in other
South American countries. Ecuadorian children are subjected
to forced labor in criminal activity, such as drug trafficking and
robbery. Traffickers threaten these children’s families. Ecuadorian
men, women and children are exploited in forced labor and
sex trafficking abroad, including in the United States, Europe

and in other South American countries, particularly in Chile.
Some Ecuadorian trafficking victims are initially smuggled and
later exploited in prostitution or forced labor in third countries,
including forced criminality in the drug trade. Allegedly, corrupt
Ecuadorian officials have alerted traffickers prior to some law
enforcement operations, and some local authorities assisted
traffickers to get falsified identity documents, which resulted
in victims’ lack of confidence in the police and a reluctance to
report potential cases.

EGYPT: TIER 2
The Government of Egypt does not fully meet the minimum
standards for the elimination of trafficking; however, it is making
significant efforts to do so. The government demonstrated
increasing efforts compared to the previous reporting
period; therefore, Egypt remained on Tier 2. The government
demonstrated increasing efforts by creating three specialized
courts to prosecute human trafficking cases, prosecuting a
government official for alleged complicity in trafficking crimes,
adopting a new national anti-trafficking action plan, and
conducting several trafficking awareness campaigns and training
programs that addressed various forms of trafficking. However,
the government did not meet the minimum standards in several
key areas. The government did not report what services, if any,
it provided to the majority of the victims it identified. It did
not provide shelter services specifically for trafficking victims.
The government developed guidance on victim identification
and referral procedures, but it did not begin to implement
such procedures, and as a result, authorities continued to
punish unidentified victims for unlawful acts committed as a
direct result of being subjected to human trafficking, such as
immigration violations.

RECOMMENDATIONS FOR EGYPT

Improve efforts to proactively identify victims of all forms of
trafficking and implement standard operating procedures (SOPs)
for officials to use the national victim referral mechanism to
identify and refer to protection services trafficking victims
among vulnerable groups; ensure trafficking victims are not
punished for unlawful acts committed as a direct result of
being subjected to human trafficking; provide and allocate
adequate resources for protection services—including shelter—
for victims of all forms of trafficking, including both Egyptian
and foreign victims; increase investigations, prosecutions, and
convictions of all forms of trafficking and adequately punish
offenders, including complicit officials; increase training for
all government officials, including judges in the specialized
trafficking courts, on implementation of the anti-trafficking
law and victim identification and referral procedures; provide
a clear legal basis for NGOs to provide victim services; further
extend employment protections to cover domestic workers; raise
awareness of the specialized trafficking courts among judicial
and law enforcement officials; encourage trafficking victims to

PROSECUTION

The government maintained its anti-trafficking law enforcement
efforts. The 2010 anti-trafficking law prohibits all forms of
human trafficking and prescribes penalties from three to 15
years’ imprisonment and fines, which are sufficiently stringent
and commensurate with those prescribed for other serious
crimes, such as rape. The child law prohibits sex trafficking and
forced labor of children and prescribes sentences of at least
five years’ imprisonment, which are sufficiently stringent and
commensurate with those prescribed for other serious crimes,
such as rape. Articles 80 and 89 of the constitution prohibit
sex trafficking, compulsory exploitation, and forced labor. In
May and June 2016, the government created three specialized
courts within existing appellate courts to prosecute human
trafficking cases; however, the government did not report if any
trafficking cases were tried in these courts during the reporting
period. The government continued to conduct a nationwide
data call to gather information on trafficking cases in 2016.
In 2016, the government investigated 23 cases of potential forced
child labor, sex trafficking, and domestic servitude crimes, some
of which were referred for prosecution; however, these cases
also included perpetrators suspected of other crimes such as
illegal adoption and organ trafficking, it was unclear how many
of the 23 cases actually involved trafficking. This compares to
21 prosecutions in 2015. The government cooperated with the
Jordanian government on a potential trafficking case involving
the extradition of an Egyptian national; the case was pending
at the end of the reporting period. The government reported
convicting five Egyptians for trafficking crimes in 2016—
compared to three traffickers convicted in 2015. All convicted
in 2016 were sentenced to life imprisonment. Three other
prosecutions ended in acquittal during the reporting period.
The government reported the investigation and prosecution of a
government employee complicit in human trafficking offenses.
In December 2016, the Public Prosecutor referred to criminal
court an Egyptian law enforcement official working in passport
control at Cairo International Airport for his involvement with
two Saudi Arabian nationals who allegedly operated a gang
that fraudulently recruited Indonesian domestic workers to
be exploited in Egypt; the three individuals were charged for
human trafficking and bribery, and the case remained pending
at the end of the reporting period. Some trafficking cases were
settled out of court, resulting in a lack of adequate punishment
for trafficking offenders. The Ministry of Justice’s Center for
Judiciary Studies continued to provide compulsory training on
human trafficking for newly appointed prosecutors as a part of
its curricula; the center also provided training for 84 judicial
officials, in collaboration with an NGO. During the reporting
period, the government provided 23 anti-trafficking trainings
for 331 law enforcement, judicial, and military officials, an
increase from 222 personnel trained in the previous reporting
period. Additionally, the government provided in-kind support
to an NGO that conducted a trafficking workshop in May 2016
for 31 judges covering international trafficking protocols and
measures to combat trafficking, strategies to interview trafficking
suspects and witnesses, and international cooperation to
combat trafficking.

PROTECTION

The government did not improve its weak protection services.
The government’s national anti-trafficking strategy, adopted

in October 2016, provides policy guidance to formalize
SOPs to guide officials on proactive victim identification and
protection, as well as guidance on operationalizing a National
Victim Referral Mechanism. In December 2016, the General
Prosecutor’s Office began developing guidelines to train its
staff on implementation of the SOPs. The national strategy
and accompanying law on combating irregular migration
includes guidance for officials to protect, rather than treat as
criminals, irregular migrant children, a population vulnerable
to trafficking. Through the government’s anti-trafficking hotline,
it identified 65 potential trafficking cases in 2016 among
reported cases of child exploitation, organized begging, sexual
exploitation, and summer marriages, a decrease from the 173
it identified in 2014 which is the government’s most accurate
victim identification figure in the last two years. Of the 65
identified victims, the National Council for Childhood and
Motherhood (NCCM)—the government agency leading antitrafficking efforts—referred eight victims to an unspecified
government-run shelter or other protective service providers
and 16 cases to the Prosecutor General for investigation, but
it was unclear if these victims received protection services. The
government did not report what protection services—if any—it
provided to the other 41 identified victims. The government
repatriated 453 Egyptian nationals from Italy in 2016, an
unidentified number of which were identified as trafficking
victims. Although Ministry of Manpower inspectors were
trained to investigate employers suspected of child labor or
trafficking crimes, it did not report identifying any potential
trafficking victims or cases during routine inspections in 2016.
The government continued to operate a telephone hotline to
report trafficking abuses, which included live counseling and
legal aid, as well as referrals to law enforcement and NGOs
for victim assistance; the hotline received 85 calls during the
reporting period. The government did not implement the
national victim referral mechanism, which included the services
provided by the national anti-trafficking hotline. Ineffective
victim identification and referral procedures contributed to
authorities punishing some victims for unlawful acts committed
as a direct result of being subjected to human trafficking.
Authorities continued to treat and punish some unidentified
trafficking victims as criminal offenders, while foreign trafficking
victims remained vulnerable to detention and deportation for
illegal immigration or employment violations. The government
did not have a policy in place to waive visa overstay fines for
foreign trafficking victims that may have accrued during their
exploitation. Foreign trafficking victims were not offered legal
alternatives to removal to countries in which they faced hardship
or retribution. The government reported that it could provide
unspecified temporary residency status to trafficking victims,
but it did not report if any victims received this status during the
reporting period. The anti-trafficking law guarantees protection
of witnesses of trafficking crimes, but the government did not
report if it provided protection to any witnesses during the
reporting period.
Continued funding constraints hindered NCCM’s provision
of adequate protection services to victims. The government
did not provide shelter services specifically for trafficking
victims in 2016, but the NCCM continued to operate a
shelter jointly with an NGO that provided services to at-risk
children, including potential male child trafficking victims. The
government reported 5,590 children received services at this
shelter in 2016, but it did not specify how many of them were
trafficking victims. The Ministry of Health—with international
assistance—continued to operate a medical recovery unit for
foreign and Egyptian, male and female trafficking victims at a
Cairo hospital; however, the government did not report if any

EGYPT

assist in investigations and prosecutions of their traffickers; and
increase ongoing nationwide awareness campaigns.

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EL SALVADOR

trafficking victims received assistance at this unit in 2016. The
government continued to operate numerous facilities for victims
of sexual and physical violence, but it did not report if these
facilities assisted any trafficking victims during the reporting
period. The government continued to rely on international
organizations and civil society to fund victim assistance, and
in some cases it publicly acknowledged and cooperated with
NGOs in their efforts to provide assistance to victims, but
it did not—in turn—provide financial assistance to these
organizations, which affected their ability to offer protective
services to victims. Moreover, Egypt’s Law on Non-Governmental
Organizations hindered legal approvals and registrations for
NGOs operating in Egypt, thereby impeding their efforts to
provide essential services to victims.

PREVENTION

The government sustained efforts to prevent human trafficking.
In October 2016, the government adopted a 2016-2021 national
strategy to combat and prevent trafficking, which was approved
by the Prime Minister; however, it did not allocate resources
towards implementation of the plan. In November 2016, the
national anti-trafficking committee merged with the national
committee to combat and prevent irregular migration; this
newly merged committee falls under the direction of the Prime
Minister and is chaired by an ambassador seconded from the
Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The government conducted 90 antitrafficking public awareness campaigns, including educational
events in schools, during the reporting period. In June 2016,
the government hosted a regional conference that addressed
migration, smuggling, and human trafficking issues affecting
the Horn of Africa and Europe. The Ministry of Manpower
reported that it conducted regular surprise labor inspections,
including at worksites that employ foreign workers; it did not
report, however, if it identified any potential trafficking victims
through these inspections. The government did not make efforts
to reduce the demand for forced labor or commercial sex acts,
but it raised awareness of the problem of child sex tourism,
specifically regarding “temporary” or “summer” marriages
of girls for the purpose of commercial sex. The government
provided anti-trafficking training for Egyptian troops before
their deployment on international peacekeeping missions. The
government provided anti-trafficking training for its diplomatic
personnel.

TRAFFICKING PROFILE

160

As reported over the past five years, Egypt is a source, transit, and
destination country for men, women, and children subjected to
forced labor and sex trafficking. Egyptian children are vulnerable
to sex trafficking and forced labor in domestic service, street
begging, and agricultural work. Individuals from Saudi Arabia
and other Gulf countries purchase Egyptian women and girls
for “temporary” or “summer” marriages for the purpose of
commercial sex, including cases of sex trafficking, as well
as forced labor; these arrangements are often facilitated by
the victims’ parents and marriage brokers, who profit from
the transaction. Child sex tourism occurs primarily in Cairo,
Alexandria, and Luxor. Egyptian men are subjected to forced
labor in construction, agriculture, and low-skilled service jobs
in neighboring countries. In 2016, there was a reported increase
in Egyptian migrants, including unaccompanied children,
arriving in Italy and Greece; these migrants are vulnerable to
trafficking in the countries to which they migrate. In 2015,
the media reported migrant Egyptian children, including
unaccompanied minors, in Italy selling goods in marketplaces
and streets, some of whom are vulnerable to sexual exploitation

and forced labor; the media also reported criminal networks
force some Egyptian children in Italy into criminal activity.
Men and women from South and Southeast Asia and East Africa
are subjected to forced labor in domestic service, construction,
cleaning, and begging. Foreign domestic workers—who are
not covered under Egyptian labor laws—from Indonesia, the
Philippines, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, and Ethiopia are highly
vulnerable to forced labor, experiencing excessive working
hours, confiscation of passports, withheld wages, denial of
food and medical care, and physical and psychological abuse.
Women and girls, including refugees and migrants, from Asia,
sub-Saharan Africa, and the Middle East endure sex trafficking
in Egypt. Syrian refugees who have settled in Egypt remain
increasingly vulnerable to exploitation, including forced child
labor, sex trafficking, and transactional marriages of girls—
which can lead to sexual exploitation, including sex trafficking,
and forced labor. Irregular migrants and asylum-seekers from
the Horn of Africa, who transit Egypt en route to Europe, are
increasingly vulnerable to exploitation along this migration
route. From 2011 to 2013, thousands of cases of forced labor
and sexual servitude, smuggling, abduction, and extortion of
African migrants in the Sinai Peninsula occurred at the hands of
criminal groups. International organizations observed the flow
of these migrants into the Sinai declined substantially in 2015,
due in part to continued Egyptian military operations. Anecdotal
reports suggest these criminal groups have relocated from the
Sinai to Egypt’s border with Libya, where migrants remain
vulnerable to the same abuses, including trafficking. However,
Israeli NGOs report that Bedouin groups in the Sinai resumed
abuse—including trafficking crimes—against asylum seekers
on a limited scale in 2015. According to victim testimonies,
Bedouin groups forced approximately 61 Sudanese asylumseekers to work in agriculture, tree lumbering, and marijuana
growing; these groups physically abused the victims, including
beatings and deprivation of food and water and extorted money
from them for their release. On average, the Bedouin held the
victims captive for one month before releasing them.

EL SALVADOR: TIER 2
The Government of El Salvador does not fully meet the minimum
standards for the elimination of trafficking; however, it is making
significant efforts to do so. The government demonstrated
increasing efforts compared to the previous period; therefore,
El Salvador remained on Tier 2. The government demonstrated
increasing efforts by convicting an official who engaged in
commercial sex with a trafficking victim, investigating more
trafficking cases, prosecuting child sex trafficking crimes,
and providing services to some girl victims. The government
promulgated regulations to further implement the 2014 antitrafficking law intended to strengthen its interagency antitrafficking council. However, the government did not meet the
minimum standards in several key areas. The government did
not investigate and has never prosecuted any labor trafficking
cases. The judicial system’s overreliance on victim testimony
contributed to victims facing threats of reprisal from traffickers,
which undermined efforts to hold traffickers accountable.
Services for adults, boys, and LGBTI victims were severely
lacking. The government did not follow up on investigations
of official complicity from previous years, constraining overall
efforts to combat trafficking.

RECOMMENDATIONS FOR EL SALVADOR

Provide comprehensive protection services for all trafficking
victims, including adults and boys, and increase funding for
specialized services; strengthen efforts to proactively investigate
and prosecute trafficking offenses and to convict and sentence
traffickers, especially for forced labor; implement procedures
to proactively identify victims among vulnerable groups,
including children apprehended for illicit gang-related activities,
irregular migrants returning to El Salvador, and individuals in
the sex trade; conduct thorough criminal investigations and
prosecutions of alleged government complicity in trafficking
offenses and convict and punish complicit officials; enforce
laws punishing local labor brokers for illegal practices that
facilitate trafficking, such as fraudulent recruitment or excessive
fees for migration or job placement; increase training for public
officials on victim identification and assistance, trafficking
investigations, and provisions in the new law; amend the 2014
anti-trafficking law to include a definition of human trafficking
consistent with international law; strengthen anti-trafficking
coordination between government entities and with civil society
organizations, particularly outside the capital; and implement
measures to prevent trafficking by raising awareness, educating
youth, and increasing victim advocacy.

PROSECUTION

The government slightly increased law enforcement efforts to
combat child sex trafficking, but did not investigate any cases
of forced labor or government complicity; authorities have
never prosecuted a labor trafficking case. The Special Law
Against Trafficking in Persons prescribes penalties of 10 to
14 years imprisonment for human trafficking crimes, which
are sufficiently stringent and commensurate with penalties
prescribed for other serious offenses, such as rape. Although
it prohibits all forms of human trafficking, the law defines
trafficking inconsistently with international law: it treats force,
fraud, and coercion as aggravating factors rather than essential
elements of most trafficking crimes.
Similar to previous years, the government exclusively
investigated and prosecuted sex trafficking crimes. In 2016,
authorities investigated 55 sex trafficking cases, compared to
43 sex trafficking cases in 2015. Authorities prosecuted seven
cases and convicted six sex traffickers in 2016, compared
to eight cases and 19 sex traffickers convicted in 2015.
Offenders convicted in 2016 received sentences ranging from
eight to 10 years imprisonment. Despite evidence of force or
coercion used by gangs to compel children to engage in illicit
activities, authorities did not investigate or prosecute any
such crimes as trafficking. Some officials, particularly judges,
demonstrated a limited understanding of trafficking, which
impeded efforts to hold traffickers accountable. During the
year, the government provided anti-trafficking training to
2,718 government employees, including police, prosecutors,
judges, labor inspectors, immigration officials, physicians,
nurses, students, and teachers. The National Civil Police
(PNC) Specialized Human Trafficking and Related Crimes unit
comprises 32 persons in four groups that focus on trafficking,

A government official was convicted for purchasing sexual
services from a trafficking victim and received a sentence of
five years imprisonment. The government did not provide
any updates on two investigations from previous years, one
involving several officials for the alleged purchase of sex acts
from trafficking victims and a second involving a public official
suspected of sex trafficking. It did not report any developments
in a 2012 case of three prison guards arrested for facilitating
sex trafficking or a 2009 investigation of trafficking-related
complicity by the former head of the prosecutorial antitrafficking unit.

EL SALVADOR

human smuggling, sexual crimes, and special/international
investigations. The PNC reported a need to increase staffing
in order to deal with an accumulation of cases during 2016.

PROTECTION

The government maintained victim protection efforts. It
provided assistance primarily to girls subjected to sex trafficking;
services remained inadequate overall. Immigration officials
continued efforts to identify possible trafficking victims
in border regions; however, the government lacked formal
procedures to identify trafficking victims among vulnerable
groups, including individuals in commercial sex. In 2016, the
government reported identifying 53 sex trafficking victims,
an increase from 49 victims identified in 2015, but a decrease
from 87 victims identified in 2014. Those identified included
18 women and 35 girls; 48 were Salvadoran and five were
from other Latin American countries. Authorities did not
identify any forced labor victims in 2016 or 2015, compared
with three in 2014.
During the year, the government developed two immediate
response teams to coordinate victim assistance and referral
and formulated a protocol on the care of trafficking victims.
The government maintained a budget of $270,000 for victim
assistance in 2016. The government offered no specialized
services or shelter to boys, adults, or LGBTI victims, although
NGOs and officials reported these populations needed shelter,
rehabilitation, and mental health services. The government
shelter for girl sex trafficking victims offered psychological
and medical care to 15 victims in 2016. The government
provided shelter in a Migrant Attention Center to three adult
female victims identified by immigration officials, but 15
adult female victims did not receive services. Throughout the
investigation and intake process, residents of the center were
required to recount their trafficking experience multiple times to
various government entities, highlighting a lack of interagency
coordination and leading to re-traumatization. There were few
long-term support or reintegration services available for victims,
leaving them vulnerable to re-trafficking. Authorities made
efforts to screen for trafficking indicators among Salvadorans
returned from abroad and repatriated Salvadoran victims could
be referred to services and the police to investigate their cases,
but the government did not report doing so in 2016.
The judicial system’s inexperience with trafficking cases,
overreliance on victim testimony, and threats of reprisal from
traffickers undermined the effectiveness of the judicial system’s
response to trafficking. Judges in criminal courts could order
civil compensation awards in trafficking cases; however, victims
had to work through the civil courts to receive payment. In 2016,
no sentences included such compensation. The government
reported having procedures to protect victims’ identities in court
and allow for victims to provide testimony via teleconference,
but did not report using these procedures. Identified trafficking

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EQUATORIAL GUINEA

victims generally were not charged, jailed, or penalized for
unlawful acts committed as a direct result of being subjected
to human trafficking. However, due to the lack of a formal
mechanism to screen vulnerable populations, some unidentified
victims may have been punished for such crimes. Furthermore,
civil society organizations reported the government treated as
criminals children forced to engage in illicit activity by criminal
groups, rather than providing them protection as trafficking
victims. The 2014 trafficking law provides foreign trafficking
victims the right to seek residency status, which would allow
them to work legally, but no victims had received such benefits.

PREVENTION

The government slightly increased prevention efforts. The
government promulgated regulations to further implement
the 2014 law, specifically, to facilitate investigations of forced
child labor cases and improve coordination between law
enforcement and prosecutors. The anti-trafficking council,
whose 2015 budget was roughly $25,000, coordinated antitrafficking activities and developed a national action plan for
2016-2019, which includes objectives related to prosecution of
traffickers, protection of victims, prevention, and interagency
coordination. The government did not report its 2016 budget.
However, government entities continued to lack adequate
funding to fulfill their responsibilities and interagency
cooperation remained weak. While the 2014 law mandates
an annual report on government efforts, the council had not
yet published such a report. Government agencies partnered
with NGOs to conduct campaigns using television, radio, and
print media to warn the public against the dangers of labor
and sex trafficking. An international organization reported the
government formed a sub-commission to address migration
policies that could facilitate forced labor, but this body did not
report any related outcomes during the year. The government
conducted 13 inspections for labor violations and forced labor
involving 133 workers, but did not identify any instances of
forced labor. In response to press reports highlighting working
conditions in strip clubs, the Labor Ministry conducted an
inspection of such a club, but did not publicize the results of
the inspection. The government did not punish labor recruiters
for illegal practices that contribute to trafficking or enforce labor
migration policies that could decrease migrants’ vulnerability to
exploitation abroad. It did not report identifying, investigating,
or prosecuting any cases of child sex tourism during the year. The
government provided anti-trafficking training for its diplomatic
personnel. The government provided anti-trafficking training to
troops prior to their deployment abroad as part of international
peacekeeping missions. Authorities did not report any specific
efforts to reduce the demand for commercial sex acts or forced
labor; however, highlighted the anti-trafficking law allows
for the prosecution of those purchasing sexual services of a
trafficking victim.

TRAFFICKING PROFILE

162

El Salvador is a source, transit, and destination country for
women, men, and children subjected to sex trafficking and
forced labor. Women, men, and children are exploited in
sex trafficking within the country; LGBTI persons, especially
transgender individuals, are at particular risk. Salvadoran adults
and children are subjected to forced begging and forced labor in
agriculture, domestic service, and the textile industry. Some men,
women, and children from neighboring countries—particularly
Nicaragua, Guatemala, and Honduras—are subjected to sex
trafficking, domestic servitude, or forced labor in construction
or the informal sector. Traffickers use employment agencies

and social media to lure victims with promises of lucrative
employment; one organization noted traffickers are increasingly
targeting people in the regions of the country with high levels of
violence and coercing victims and their families through threats
of violence. Gangs subject children to forced labor in illicit
activities, including selling or transporting drugs. Salvadoran
men, women, and children are subjected to sex trafficking and
forced labor in Guatemala, Mexico, Belize, and the United
States. Media and government officials report organized criminal
groups, including transnational criminal organizations, are
involved in trafficking crimes. Some Salvadorans who irregularly
migrate to the United States are subjected to forced labor,
forced criminal activity, or sex trafficking en route to or upon
arrival in the country. Some Latin American migrants transit
El Salvador to Guatemala and North America, where they are
exploited in sex or labor trafficking. Corruption, particularly
within the judiciary, remained a significant obstacle to law
enforcement efforts. In 2014, media reported several public
officials—including legislators, political party officials, and a
mayor—purchased commercial sex acts from trafficking victims.
Prison guards and justice officials have been investigated for
trafficking-related complicity.

EQUATORIAL GUINEA: TIER 3
The Government of Equatorial Guinea does not fully meet the
minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking and is not
making significant efforts to do so; therefore, Equatorial Guinea
remained on Tier 3. Despite the lack of significant efforts, the
government took some steps to address trafficking, including:
investigating one potential trafficking case; adopting a national
action plan to train government officials; increasing numbers of
those targeted by awareness-raising; and conducting and funding
two multi-day trainings to improve victim identification and case
investigation techniques for all border and port officials. These
steps demonstrate increased interest in addressing trafficking
by the government; however, the government did not prosecute
or convict any traffickers. It did not make efforts to develop
standard operating procedures (SOPs) to identify or protect
trafficking victims or prosecute traffickers. The government
continued to deport undocumented migrants without screening
them to determine whether they were victims of trafficking or
referring them to assistance services.

RECOMMENDATIONS FOR EQUATORIAL GUINEA

Use the 2004 anti-trafficking law to prosecute and convict
traffickers including complicit officials; develop formal
procedures to identify trafficking victims, especially among child
laborers, undocumented immigrants, women in prostitution,
and children exploited for commercial sex; train social workers,
law enforcement, and immigration officials in the use of
trafficking victim identification and referral procedures; dedicate
more funding to shelter and protect trafficking victims, including
male victims, and develop a formal system to refer victims to
care; develop and implement SOPs for screening foreigners

PROSECUTION

The government made limited anti-trafficking law enforcement
efforts. The 2004 Law on the Smuggling of Migrants and
Trafficking in Persons prohibits all forms of trafficking and
prescribes penalties of 10 to 15 years imprisonment, which
are sufficiently stringent and commensurate with penalties
prescribed for other serious crimes, such as rape. The government
investigated one suspect, who had allegedly purchased for
sexual and labor exploitation three children from the Central
African Republic (CAR). After initial arrest, officials released the
suspect on bail and did not issue a formal charge by the end
of the reporting period. The government did not maintain law
enforcement statistics and, as in the previous year, did not report
any prosecutions or convictions of suspected traffickers. General
corruption and official complicity in trafficking-related offenses
occurred. The government did not report any investigations,
prosecutions, or convictions of government employees complicit
in human trafficking offenses. Nonetheless, the government
conducted two multi-day trainings to raise awareness about
trafficking, as well as increase officials’ ability to identify victims
and investigate cases; 215 law enforcement officers, including
all border and port officials, and other government officials
participated in the trainings.

PROTECTION

The government made limited efforts to protect trafficking
victims. It did not identify or refer any victims to protective
services. Although the 2004 anti-trafficking law mandates the
government to provide legal assistance, psychological and
medical care, lodging, food, access to education, training,
and employment opportunities to trafficking victims, it did
not provide these services directly. However, the government
provided funding to an NGO shelter for female victims of
violence including trafficking victims. After questioning, law
enforcement officials sent the three potential trafficking victims
to the embassy of CAR, where they received shelter and services,
prior to their repatriation. Law enforcement authorities did
not have procedures to identify trafficking victims nor did they
make efforts to refer victims to organizations providing care.
The government penalized victims for unlawful acts committed
as a direct result of being subjected to human trafficking. The
government routinely detained foreign nationals, including
possible trafficking victims, at police stations for periods of
several days to several months, and seldom notified their
embassies of their detention or deportation. In many of these
cases, police and border officials solicited bribes from detainees
and deported those who did not pay; the overwhelming majority
of those detained were young men, though children and women
were also sometimes detained and deported. The government
did not provide foreign trafficking victims legal alternatives to
their removal to countries where they might face retribution
or hardship.

PREVENTION

The government increased efforts to prevent trafficking. In
May 2016, the government partnered with an international
organization to train 600 community leaders on prevention
of trafficking in persons. The government broadcasted these
anti-trafficking trainings on television and radio programs, as
well as on its official website, in an effort to raise awareness
among the general public. The government approved a national
action plan in April 2016 focused on training officials and
awareness-raising campaigns and allocated $762,000 to fund
their anti-trafficking and anti-organized crime efforts. The
government continued implementing regulations requiring
all commercial sex establishments to register and provide
contracts to their workers in an attempt to reduce the demand
for commercial sex acts and exploitation in the sex industry. In
October 2016, the Ministry of Labor implemented regulations
for all companies to sign formal labor contracts with their
employees in order to reduce vulnerability to labor trafficking.
Using these new regulations, the general director of the national
financial research agency and Ministry of Labor inspected an
undisclosed number of Chinese-owned construction companies
for labor violations. At the end of the reporting period, the
investigations were ongoing. However, the Inter-Ministerial
Commission to Combat Trafficking in Persons remained
inactive. The government did not implement any programs to
address forced child labor despite having 13 labor inspectors
dedicated to documenting labor infractions. The government
did not provide anti-trafficking training for its diplomatic
personnel.

ERITREA

before deportation to ensure trafficking victims are provided
appropriate care and safe, voluntary repatriation; develop
and implement procedures for law enforcement officials to
systematically notify embassies when their nationals have been
detained; revive the inter-ministerial anti-trafficking commission
and dedicate resources to implement the national action
plan to combat trafficking in persons; research the extent and
nature of the crime within the country; launch a nationwide
anti-trafficking public awareness campaign.

TRAFFICKING PROFILE

As reported over the past five years, Equatorial Guinea is a source
country for women and girls vulnerable to sex trafficking and a
destination country for men, women, and children, who may
be vulnerable to forced labor. The majority of trafficking victims
are exploited in the cities of Malabo, Bata, and Mongomo,
where construction and economic activity funded by oil
wealth contribute to increases in the demand for labor and
prostitution. However, lower oil prices and lower oil production
in recent years have caused a deep contraction of the country’s
economy leading to a decreased government budget and
reprioritized activities. Equatoguinean women are exploited in
the sex trade in these cities, often by foreigners. Children from
nearby countries—primarily Nigeria, Benin, Cameroon, Togo,
and Gabon—may be subjected to forced labor as domestic
workers, market laborers, vendors, and launderers. Women
from Cameroon, Benin, and other neighboring countries are
recruited for work in Equatorial Guinea and subsequently
subjected to forced labor or forced prostitution. Significant
numbers of Chinese women migrate to Equatorial Guinea
for work or to engage in prostitution, and some are subject to
passport confiscation, increasing their vulnerability to forced
labor. Sub-contractor staff in the oil services and construction
sectors from other parts of Africa, Asia, and the Americas may be
subject to passport confiscation and, in some instances, may be
vulnerable to forced labor. General corruption and complicity
by government officials in trafficking-related offenses occurred
during the reporting period.

ERITREA: TIER 3
The Government of Eritrea does not fully meet the minimum
standards for the elimination of trafficking and is not making

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ERITREA

significant efforts to do so; therefore, Eritrea remained on Tier
3. The government continued to subject its nationals to forced
labor in its citizen militia and compulsory national service;
many citizens are forced to serve for periods of indefinite
duration under harsh conditions. While senior Eritrean officials
claimed many Eritrean nationals are currently serving prison
sentences in Eritrea for the crime of trafficking, the government
did not report any trafficking investigations, prosecutions, or
the identification and protection of any victims. Authorities
continued to demonstrate a lack of understanding of the
crime, regularly conflating it with transnational migration or
smuggling.

RECOMMENDATIONS FOR ERITREA

Develop, enact, and enforce an anti-trafficking statute that
criminalizes all forms of trafficking, including sex trafficking
and forced labor, clearly differentiating between emigration,
smuggling, and human trafficking; enforce existing limits on
the length of active national service to 18 months and cease the
use of threats and physical punishment for non-compliance;
investigate allegations of conscripts being forced to perform
duties beyond the scope of the national service program and
hold accountable those responsible; exclude children younger
than 18 at Sawa training academy from participation in activities
that amount to military service; ensure victims and their families
are not punished for crimes committed as a result of being
subjected to trafficking or for fleeing government-sponsored
forced labor; extend existing labor protections to persons
performing national service and other mandatory citizen duties;
with assistance from international organizations, provide
training to all levels of government, including law enforcement
officials and diplomats, on identifying and responding to
trafficking crimes; and provide protective services to trafficking
victims.

PROSECUTION

The government maintained negligible anti-trafficking law
enforcement efforts. Article 605 of the Eritrean Criminal
Code prohibits trafficking in women and young persons for
sexual exploitation, which is punishable by up to five years
imprisonment; these penalties are sufficiently stringent, but
not commensurate with punishments prescribed for other
serious crimes, such as rape. Article 565 prohibits enslavement
and prescribes penalties of five to 20 years imprisonment,
which are sufficiently stringent. Labor Proclamation 118 of
2001 prohibits forced labor and child labor, but specifically
excludes compulsory national and military service or other
civic obligations from the definition of forced labor.

164

The government did not report investigating, prosecuting, or
convicting suspected trafficking offenders during the reporting
period. The government stated national security forces are
empowered to investigate relevant crimes, including trafficking.
It did not report providing any trafficking-specific training
for judicial, prosecutorial, or law enforcement personnel;
government-sponsored organizations incorporated anti-

trafficking information into regular programming during the
previous reporting period. Officials continued to conflate
transnational migration and human trafficking crimes. The
government did not report any investigations, prosecutions,
or convictions of government officials complicit in human
trafficking; however, sources indicate Eritrean military officers
remained complicit in trafficking offenses.

PROTECTION

The government did not report any efforts to identify or protect
trafficking victims. During the previous year, the government
reportedly provided limited assistance to Eritrean female victims
subjected to sex trafficking in Gulf states, but the specifics
of these provisions were unknown. Eritrean officials had no
procedures to identify potential trafficking victims among
vulnerable groups, particularly Eritreans deported from other
countries and those fleeing the country, primarily to Sudan,
Ethiopia, and Djibouti; some of these nationals were vulnerable
to being arrested, detained, harassed, or forcibly recalled into
national service. The government did not report developing a
systematic referral mechanism for referring identified trafficking
victims to care. It did not provide foreign victims with legal
alternatives to their removal to countries where they faced
retribution or hardship.

PREVENTION

The government maintained minimal efforts to prevent
trafficking. The government reportedly continued its education
for citizens on the dangers of trafficking through awarenessraising events and poster campaigns through the Women’s
Association, Youth Association, and Workers’ Federation;
however, such efforts conflated transnational migration and
human trafficking. While the Proclamation of National Service
11/199 prohibits the recruitment of children younger than
18 years of age into the armed forces and applies sufficiently
stringent penalties for this crime, reports allege children younger
than age 18 are sent to Sawa military and training academy
for completion of their final year of secondary education. The
country remained without an independent monitoring body
to verify ages of new recruits into governmental armed forces
and lacked transparency on efforts to ensure children did not
participate in compulsory activities amounting to military
service or other forms of forced labor. The government did not
report on its efforts to reduce the demand for commercial sex
acts or forced labor, or its provision of anti-trafficking training
for its diplomatic personnel.

TRAFFICKING PROFILE

As reported over the past five years, Eritrea is a source country
for men, women, and children subjected to forced labor. To a
lesser extent, Eritrean adults and children are subjected to sex
and labor trafficking abroad. The government continues to
subject its citizens to forced labor through the national policies
and mandatory programs, which cause many citizens to flee
the country and subsequently increases their vulnerability to
trafficking abroad, primarily in Sudan, Ethiopia, and Libya.
Proclamation 82 of 1995 requires persons aged 18 to 40 years
to perform compulsory active national service for a period of
18 months—six months of military training followed by 12
months of active military and development tasks in military
forces or in a government-run work unit, including the Eritrean
defense forces. However, the 18-month timeframe is arbitrary
and unenforced; many individuals are not demobilized from
government work units after their mandatory period of service

All 12th-grade students, including some younger than age
18, are required to complete their final year of secondary
education at the Sawa military and training academy; those
who refuse to attend cannot receive high school graduation
certificates, attain higher education, or be offered some types of
jobs. Government policy bans persons younger than 18 from
military conscription; however, during some round-ups, the
government detains children younger than age 18 and sends
them to Sawa. Reports indicate some male and female recruits
at Sawa were beaten, and female recruits sexually abused and
raped in previous years. The government continued Maetot, a
national service program in which secondary-school children
are assigned to work in public works projects, usually within
the agricultural sector, during their summer holidays. Some
Eritrean children are subjected to forced labor, including
forced begging, and some women and girls are subjected to
sex trafficking within the country.
Perennially, thousands of Eritreans flee the country over land to
Sudan, Ethiopia, and—to a lesser extent—Djibouti, to escape
forced labor or government persecution, as well as to seek
better economic opportunities; for many, their ultimate goal is
to attain asylum in Europe—predominantly in Italy, Sweden,
Norway, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, and Germany—or
North America, or at minimum, achieve refugee status in Sudan,
Ethiopia, Kenya, Egypt, Israel, or Uganda. Unaccompanied
minors are increasingly at risk of being subjected to violence
and exploitation. The government’s strict exit control procedures
and limited issuance of passports and departure visas prevent
most Eritreans who wish to travel abroad from doing so legally,
increasing their vulnerability to trafficking. Children who
attempt to leave Eritrea are sometimes detained or forced
to undergo military training despite being younger than the
minimum service age of 18. Some Eritrean women and girls
travel to Gulf States for domestic work but are subsequently
subjected to sex trafficking. Smaller numbers of Eritrean women
and girls are subjected to sex trafficking in South Sudan, Sudan,
and Israel; reportedly, some Eritrean men are vulnerable to
sex trafficking in Israel. International criminal groups kidnap
vulnerable Eritreans living inside or in proximity to refugee
camps, particularly in Sudan, and transport them primarily
to Libya, where they are subjected to human trafficking and
other abuses, including extortion for ransom. Some migrants
and refugees report being forced to work as cleaners or on
construction sites during their captivity. Reports allege Eritrean
diplomats, particularly those posted in Sudan, provide travel
documents and legal services to Eritrean nationals in exchange
for bribes or inflated fees, potentially facilitating their subjection
to trafficking. Some Eritrean military and police officers are
complicit in trafficking crimes along the border with Sudan.

ESTONIA: TIER 2
The Government of Estonia does not fully meet the minimum
standards for the elimination of trafficking; however, it is making
significant efforts to do so. The government demonstrated
increasing efforts compared to the previous reporting period;

therefore, Estonia remained on Tier 2. The government
demonstrated increasing efforts by opening the first fully
state-funded center dedicated to treating victims of child abuse,
including sexual violence and trafficking. Estonian authorities
investigated, prosecuted, and convicted more trafficking cases
and provided training on labor trafficking in each of its counties.
However, the government did not meet the minimum standards
in several key areas. In 2016, the government required police
to initiate an investigation for presumed victims to receive
trafficking-specific services, though general victim support
services were available, including counseling and legal assistance.
This requirement discouraged victims from coming forward
and limited the publicly funded services available to trafficking
victims.

ESTONIA

but rather forced to serve indefinitely under threats of detention,
torture, or familial reprisal. In 2012, the government instituted
a compulsory citizen militia, requiring medically fit adults
up to age 70 not currently in the military to carry firearms
and attend military training or participate in unpaid national
development programs, such as soil and water conservation
projects. Working conditions are often harsh and sometimes
involve physical abuse.

RECOMMENDATIONS FOR ESTONIA

Further amend the Victim Support Act to remove barriers to
victim identification and government-funded assistance; increase
efforts to investigate, prosecute, and convict traffickers under
section 133 of the penal code; increase specialized training
for investigators and prosecutors on applying section 133 and
working with victims serving as witnesses; encourage police
and the labor inspectorate to investigate labor trafficking,
including labor recruiters engaging in fraudulent practices;
provide training for judges to ensure the judiciary understands
the severity of the crime when issuing sentences; encourage
more victims to assist prosecutions by facilitating access to
effective legal counsel; and inform victims of the option to
pursue court-ordered compensation from their traffickers.

PROSECUTION

The government increased law enforcement efforts. Sections
133 and 175 of the penal code criminalize sex and labor
trafficking and prescribe a maximum penalty of up to 15
years imprisonment, which are sufficiently stringent and
commensurate with penalties prescribed for other serious
crimes, such as rape. Section 133 criminalizes the use of force,
threats, or other forms of coercion to make a person engage
in prostitution, begging, criminal offenses, or other labor.
Section 175 criminalizes trafficking as a person who influences
a child (under the age of 18) to engage in a criminal offense,
begging, prostitution; or the production of pornography.
Police investigated 15 new cases under section 133 in 2016,
an increase from four in 2015. Authorities also registered 59
crimes under section 175, most of which involved the same
perpetrators and victims. In 2016, the government prosecuted
14 cases under section 133, an increase from three cases over
the past three years. Authorities also began prosecutions in
32 cases under section 175. Courts convicted 11 traffickers
under section 133 in 2016, nearly tripling its four convictions
in 2015. Eight traffickers received prison sentences, which
ranged from 16 months to five years. Courts also convicted
eight individuals under section 175. The government provided
training sessions for 45 law enforcement officials to facilitate
cooperation on forced labor cases, but it did not provide training
to the judiciary. All of Estonia’s counties received training on
labor trafficking, specifically on how to identify, investigate,

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ETHIOPIA

and improve cooperation between different organizations.
Authorities cooperated in three transnational investigations.
The government did not report any investigations, prosecutions,
or convictions of government officials complicit in human
trafficking offenses.

PROTECTION

The government maintained protection efforts. Per the Victim
Support Act, a police report must be filed for presumed
victims of trafficking to be eligible for government-funded,
trafficking-specific services. This requires victims to divulge
personal, traumatizing information early in their recovery,
which serves as a disincentive for victims to come forward. A
provision to the Victim Support Act passed during the reporting
period allowed victims to receive services for up to 60 days
before, during, or after criminal proceedings. Fourteen victims
received government-sponsored assistance, compared with
16 in 2015. The government newly identified nine victims of
which eight were victims of child sex trafficking and one was
a male third-country-national victim of labor exploitation. In
2016, authorities identified one foreign child victim, who did
not receive a temporary residency permit; in 2015, authorities
identified two foreign victims and provided them temporary
residence permits, accommodation, and education.
In 2016, the social security board allotted approximately
€196,050 ($206,590) on trafficking victims support, whereas
the government allotted €86,000 ($90,620) in 2015. In addition,
the Ministry of Social Affairs provided approximately €99,000
($104,320) to an NGO providing support services to women
in prostitution, some of whom may have been sex trafficking
victims. In 2016, the government amended the Victim Support
Act; further amendments are anticipated in 2017. Authorities
placed unaccompanied children and child victims in alternative
care facilities. The government opened the first fully statefunded, dedicated center for victims of child abuse, including
sexual violence and trafficking; it provided psychological,
physical, and social needs evaluations and services. Adult male
victims had access to legal counseling and other services. A
witness protection law allows trafficking victims to provide
testimony anonymously, but it was unknown whether this
has ever been applied in a trafficking case or whether victims
had ever served as witnesses in criminal trials. Victims did not
receive restitution in 2016.

TRAFFICKING PROFILE

As reported over the past five years, Estonia is a source, transit,
and destination country for women and girls subjected to sex
trafficking and for men, women, and children subjected to
forced labor. Estonian women and girls are subjected to sex
trafficking within Estonia and in other European countries. Men
and women from Estonia are subjected to conditions of forced
labor within Estonia and elsewhere in Europe, particularly in the
construction, cleaning, and social welfare sectors, as well as in
seasonal jobs. Estonian children are forced to commit crimes,
such as theft, to benefit their exploiters. Men from Ukraine and
Moldova are subjected to labor exploitation within Estonia,
particularly in construction. Vietnamese nationals subjected
to forced labor and sexual exploitation transit Estonia en route
to other EU countries.

ETHIOPIA: TIER 2
The Government of Ethiopia does not fully meet the minimum
standards for the elimination of trafficking; however, it is making
significant efforts to do so. The government demonstrated
increasing efforts compared to the previous reporting period;
therefore, Ethiopia remained on Tier 2. The government
demonstrated increasing efforts by assisting in the interception
of more than 30,000 individuals vulnerable to trafficking
and convicted 640 traffickers, an increase from 69 convicted
during the previous year. The government made robust efforts
to prevent and raise awareness on trafficking and traffickingrelated crimes through its community conversations project
and media campaigns, and trained government officials on
various elements of the crime. However, the government did
not meet the minimum standards in several key areas. It did
not sufficiently address internal trafficking, including child sex
trafficking. It remained without standard procedures for frontline responders to proactively identify trafficking victims among
vulnerable intending migrants. For the second consecutive
year, the government did not implement the revised overseas
employment proclamation that provides for improved oversight
of and more strenuously penalizes illegal recruitment.

PREVENTION

The government increased prevention efforts. Authorities
ran multiple awareness campaigns targeting schoolchildren,
specialists working with children, and labor workers, and in
collaboration with IOM and an NGO, released a creative call,
asking young people to produce trafficking-related videos and art
work. Objectives for the 2015-2020 plan for reducing violence,
including trafficking, included amending the Victim Support Act
to provide trafficking victims with easier access to services. The
anti-trafficking working group, with 35 government agencies
and NGOs, continued to meet regularly and published an
annual public report of its activities. The government provided
an NGO with approximately €40,000 ($42,150) to operate
an anti-trafficking hotline; the hotline received 420 calls from
individuals vulnerable to trafficking during the reporting
period. The government provided anti-trafficking training for
its diplomatic personnel. The government demonstrated efforts
to reduce the demand for commercial sex acts and forced labor.

166

RECOMMENDATIONS FOR ETHIOPIA

Increase efforts to convict traffickers, including for trafficking
within Ethiopia, and compile and publicize trafficking statistics;
improve the investigative capacity of police throughout the
country to increase prosecutions of internal child trafficking
offenses; continue to implement and train law enforcement
and judicial officials on the anti-trafficking proclamation; fully
implement the 2016 national referral mechanism; partner
with local NGOs to improve services available to trafficking
victims, including allocating funding to enable the continuous
operation of a government or NGO-run shelter; improve
oversight of overseas recruitment agencies and implement
the overseas employment proclamation, assign and train
labor attaches, and investigate and prosecute illicit recruiters;

PROSECUTION

The government increased its anti-trafficking law enforcement
efforts; however, it continued to focus on transnational labor
trafficking, with negligible investigation or prosecution of sex
trafficking or internal forced labor cases. The 2015 Proclamation
to Provide for the Prevention and Suppression of Trafficking in
Persons and Smuggling of Migrants, No. 909/2015, criminalizes
all forms of trafficking, prescribing penalties of 15-25 years
imprisonment and a fine of 150,000 to 300,000 birr ($6,696
to $13,393), which are sufficiently stringent and commensurate
with those prescribed for other serious crimes, such as rape. The
Employment Exchange Services Proclamation No. 632/2009,
which governs the work of licensed labor recruitment agencies,
remained unimplemented during the year.
In 2016, federal and regional justice officials investigated
1,392 potential trafficking cases and convicted 640 traffickers
under the 2015 anti-trafficking law, a significant increase from
69 convictions in 2015; however, an unknown number fell
outside the reporting period, and some cases in both years
likely involved smuggling. A March 2015 investigation of two
Ethiopian smugglers suspected of moving 38,000 Ethiopians,
potentially including trafficking victims, to South Africa and the
Middle East for unknown purposes, remained open. Financial
and capacity constraints continued to impede data compilation
by regional police, and poor communication and coordination
between the regions and the federal government also hindered
effective law enforcement efforts. The government continued
to partner with international organizations to conduct and
fund trainings for regional and federal government personnel
on the anti-trafficking proclamation and on victim-centered
investigative skills for detecting trafficking crimes. The
government provided space, technical and logistical support
for two trainings conducted by an international organization;
these trainings targeted approximately 35 police, prosecutors,
and judges. Another international organization, in partnership
with the government, facilitated two workshops for 61 labor
inspectors and other relevant officials on how to combat child
trafficking. During the year, in Bahir Dar, approximately 60
regional officials attended a government-organized training on
child trafficking, and an Ethiopian delegation traveled to the
Philippines to learn best practices for curbing child trafficking.
The government did not report any investigations, prosecutions,
or convictions of public officials allegedly complicit in human
trafficking offenses.

PROTECTION

The government maintained modest efforts to protect trafficking
victims. The national committee to coordinate anti-trafficking
efforts, chaired by the deputy prime minister, was fully
operational during the year; however, the government did
not report if the Council of Ministers issued the implementing
regulations to the anti-trafficking proclamation pertaining to
protective services for victims. The government continued to

partner with international organizations and NGOs to provide
services to victims; although it did not allocate funding to these
entities, it provided some in-kind support, including land,
facilities, staff, and other logistical services on an ad hoc basis.
The 2009 charities and societies proclamation, which prohibits
organizations receiving more than 10 percent of their funding
from foreign sources from engaging in activities that promote
human rights, restricted some NGOs’ ability to provide protective
services to trafficking victims. The government lacked standard
procedures for front-line responders to identify trafficking
victims among vulnerable outbound populations. In 2016,
federal and regional governments intercepted approximately
30,000 persons in the border areas of Ethiopia, the vast
majority of whom were intending to depart for work in Gulf
states and other African countries, and many were minors—a
population vulnerable to trafficking; however, an unknown
number were intercepted outside of the reporting period.
The government continued to jointly operate two migration
response centers in Afar and Metema with an international
organization. The government operated child protection units
in Addis Ababa and several major cities; staff was trained in
assisting vulnerable children, including potential trafficking
victims. Police and civil service transport workers—trained
to recognize child trafficking victims—referred the majority
of intercepted children to local shelters. Two NGOs in Addis
Ababa provided comprehensive reintegration services, familial
reunification, medical care, mental health counseling, legal
counsel, food and housing, and vocational training to more
than 900 women and child victims repatriated after enduring
trafficking; these NGOs operated without any governmental
funding or in-kind support. The government’s assistance to
repatriated victims improved. During the year, the government,
in collaboration with an international organization, repatriated
more than 3,700 Ethiopian trafficking victims from Djibouti,
Egypt, Malawi, Mozambique, Yemen, Oman, Tanzania, Zambia,
Zimbabwe, and Saudi Arabia. The government provided victim
identification services and sometimes negotiated discounted
air fares for returnees. Some Ethiopian missions in the Gulf
states had shelters for trafficking victims on respective mission
compounds.

ETHIOPIA

expand trafficking awareness training for labor officials who
validate employment contracts or regulate employment agencies;
improve screening procedures in the distribution of national
identification cards and passports to prevent their fraudulent
issuance to children; allocate appropriate funding for the
deployment of labor attaches to overseas diplomatic missions
to assist Ethiopians seeking work or employed overseas; and
incorporate information on human trafficking and labor rights
in Middle Eastern and other countries into pre-departure
training provided to all migrant workers.

In 2016, the government, in conjunction with an international
organization, finalized a national mechanism for referring
repatriated trafficking victims to social services; although it is
in effect, reports suggest implementation is still nascent. While
officials reported encouraging victims in some cases to assist
in the investigation and prosecution of their traffickers, the
number of victims who took an active role in these processes
was unknown and it was unclear whether they were afforded
legal assistance or other support to facilitate their doing so. The
2015 anti-trafficking proclamation extends to trafficking victims
protections outlined under the Witness and Whistleblowers
Protection Proclamation (No. 699/2010); it mandates extensive
protections and rights for trafficking victims, including
protection from prosecution for acts committed as a result of
being subjected to trafficking. Ethiopian law does not provide
alternatives to the deportation of foreign victims to countries
where they may face hardship or retribution. There were no
reports the government detained, jailed, fined, or otherwise
penalized victims for unlawful acts committed as a direct result
of being subjected to human trafficking in 2016, although the
government housed some victims at police stations who were
waiting to provide testimony in their respective trafficking cases.

PREVENTION

The government maintained robust efforts to prevent trafficking.

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ETHIOPIA

In 2016, Parliament approved a second National Human Rights
Action Plan, spanning 2016-2020, which included various
activities to curb trafficking, including a media campaign and
increased efforts in urban centers to assist women and child
victims. However, the government did not report allocating
specific funding for the action plan. The attorney general’s
office, in conjunction with an international organization,
organized a workshop for 80 members of the national media
to increase awareness of the anti-trafficking proclamation.
Local and regional state governments, employing community
conversations as an awareness-raising mechanism, continued
to host and facilitate hundreds of sessions throughout the
country, reaching hundreds of thousands of Ethiopians. Officials
produced television and radio public service announcements
and interviews to elevate the public’s awareness of the dangers of
trafficking, which, in addition to the general public, strategically
reached religious and traditional leaders, elders, and media
personnel.
The government maintained its 2013 ban on the recruitment
of low-skilled domestic workers to the Middle East, which it
intended to keep until the establishment of all bilateral work
agreements with destination countries and the enactment
and implementation of a revised employment exchange
proclamation. While the employment exchange proclamation
came into effect in the previous reporting period, allowing for
greater oversight of private employment agencies, placement
of labor attaches in Ethiopian embassies, and establishment of
an independent agency to identify and train migrant workers,
it was largely unimplemented during the reporting period.
Officials worked with approximately 100 private employment
agencies, licensed to send workers abroad, to ensure the agencies
understood their obligations under the revised overseas
employment proclamation. In adherence to the proclamation,
the government, in conjunction with an international
organization, began training awareness-raising facilitators
in specific migration prone localities on how to provide preemployment and pre-departure training for potential migrant
workers. In 2016, the government was still in negotiation with
Saudi Arabia and the UAE on bilateral employment agreements;
Ethiopia had such agreements in place with Qatar, Kuwait, and
Jordan. These agreements require signatories to commit to
ethical recruitment, legal remedies against those who violate
the law, and equal protection of Ethiopian workers, to include
equal wages for equal work, reasonable working hours, and
leave time. Memoranda remained in place with neighboring
African countries—particularly Djibouti, and on an ad hoc
basis with Kenya and Sudan—aim to provide joint border
management to include repatriation assistance for trafficking
victims; however, workers’ rights are not explicitly addressed.
While the government reported conducting thousands of
scheduled and random labor inspections, it did not report
any suspension of licenses of labor recruitment agencies or
employers for labor law violations.
Ethiopian officials continued efforts to implement a 2012 law
requiring registration of all births nationwide; however, the
lack of a uniform national identity card continued to impede
implementation of the law and allowed for the continued
issuance of district-level identity cards, whose dispersion is
subject to fraud. The government made limited efforts to
reduce the demand for commercial sex acts, forced labor, or
child sex tourism during the reporting period. The government
continued to include anti-trafficking training as a basic training
requirement for its diplomatic personnel. A foreign donor
and facilitator provided Ethiopian troops with anti-trafficking

168

training prior to their deployment abroad on international
peacekeeping missions.

TRAFFICKING PROFILE

As reported over the past five years, Ethiopia is a source and, to
a lesser extent, destination and transit country for men, women,
and children subjected to forced labor and sex trafficking. Scarce
economic opportunities and dire poverty coupled with familial
encouragement compels thousands of Ethiopians, including
a substantial percentage of minors, to transit, primarily via
Djibouti or Somalia, to Yemen and onward to Saudi Arabia; to
illegally cross the southern border into Kenya and further south
into Tanzania with a final destination of South Africa; or, less
commonly, to travel through Sudan and Libya with the hope
of crossing the Mediterranean and ultimately reaching Europe.
Reports suggest that along these three main routes, irregular
Ethiopian migrants who began their journeys voluntarily
are subsequently vulnerable to sexual exploitation or forced
labor in transit countries and in their intended destinations.
The Ethiopian government’s 2013 ban on domestic worker
employment in Gulf states remained in effect at the end of
the reporting period, but irregular labor migration to these
countries continued to be a significant problem resulting in
increased vulnerability to trafficking. Saudi Arabia remains
the primary destination for irregular migrants; reportedly,
over 400,000 Ethiopians reside there. Saudi officials regularly
deport Ethiopians in large numbers, and many of the deportees
reported instances of sexual exploitation. Many Ethiopian
women working in domestic service in the Middle East are
subjected to severe abuses, including physical and sexual assault,
denial of salary, sleep deprivation, passport confiscation, and
confinement. Ethiopian women who migrate for work or flee
abusive employers in the Middle East are also vulnerable to
sex trafficking. Ethiopian men and boys migrate to the Gulf
states and other African nations, where some are subjected to
forced labor. An international organization claims that unrest
in the Oromia region during the reporting period resulted in an
uptick in ethnic Oromo migrants fleeing to Djibouti. Previous
reports suggested district-level officials accepted bribes to alter
ages on identification cards, allowing children to acquire
passports without parental consent and enabling minors to
leave the country for work.
An international organization assesses that most traffickers are
small local operators, often from the victims’ own communities,
but that well-organized crime groups are also responsible for
irregular migrants becoming highly susceptible to trafficking.
Labor recruiters target young people from Ethiopia’s vast rural
areas with promises of a better life. Although reports remain
anecdotal, the severe drought in 2015-2016 may have resulted
in an increase in internal trafficking. Girls from Ethiopia’s
impoverished rural areas are exploited in domestic servitude and
commercial sex within the country, while boys are subjected to
forced labor in traditional weaving, construction, agriculture,
and street vending. Addis Ababa’s central market is the site
of numerous brothels, where some young girls are exploited
in commercial sex. Ethiopian girls are exploited in domestic
servitude and commercial sex in neighboring African countries,
particularly Sudan. Ethiopian boys are subjected to forced
labor in Djibouti as shop assistants, errand boys, domestic
workers, and street beggars, in addition to forced criminality.
Child sex tourism continues to be a problem in major hubs,
including Addis Ababa, Bahir Dar, Hawassa, and Bishoftu;
reports identify mostly Ethiopian-born perpetrators, including
members of the diaspora, with known links to local hotels,
brokers, and taxi drivers.

The Government of Fiji does not fully meet the minimum
standards for the elimination of trafficking; however, it is making
significant efforts to do so. The government demonstrated
increasing efforts compared to the previous reporting period;
therefore, Fiji remained on Tier 2. The government demonstrated
increasing efforts by identifying nine trafficking victims,
investigating five trafficking cases, prosecuting three alleged
traffickers, and conducting awareness campaigns targeted at
children, parents, and Fijians working overseas. However, the
government did not meet the minimum standards in several
key areas. The government did not convict any traffickers or
proactively implement formal victim identification or referral
procedures. Despite reporting an increase in child sex trafficking,
the government only identified one victim.

RECOMMENDATIONS FOR FIJI

Increase efforts to investigate and prosecute trafficking offenses
and convict and punish traffickers; develop and strengthen
formal procedures for proactive victim identification, especially
among vulnerable groups, such as foreign migrant workers
on fishing vessels, those allegedly involved in prostitution,
and exploited children; institute additional trainings for law
enforcement, immigration officers, and labor inspectors on
victim identification and protection; designate a government
agency responsible for coordinating victim services; enhance
efforts to provide access to interpretation services and legal,
medical, and psychological assistance to victims; make efforts
to allow identified trafficking victims to work and earn income
while assisting with investigations; increase dissemination of
anti-trafficking awareness campaigns directed at both families
that may send children to live in cities and clients of prostitution;
and accede to the 2000 UN TIP Protocol.

PROSECUTION

The government maintained modest law enforcement efforts
but did not convict any traffickers for the second year in a row.
The 2009 Crimes Decree includes provisions that prohibit all
forms of trafficking. The prescribed penalties of up to 25 years
imprisonment and possible fines of up to 100,000 Fijian dollars
($48,239) are sufficiently stringent and commensurate with
penalties prescribed for other serious crimes. The police antitrafficking unit investigated five new cases (the same number
as in 2015); four involved labor trafficking and one child sex
trafficking. Two cases investigated in 2015 were closed due to
insufficient evidence and three remained under investigation.
The government initiated prosecutions of three alleged traffickers
in two cases during the reporting period, compared to none
in 2015. In one case, the defendant allegedly confiscated the
passport of a Filipino man he recruited to work at his business.
In the second case, two defendants allegedly confiscated the
passport of a Bangladeshi man they brought to Fiji under
false promises of work and demanded payment for it to be

FIJI

FIJI: TIER 2

returned; it was unclear if this case involved exploitation in
forced labor. The government provided information to New
Zealand authorities to assist in the investigation of a Fijian
national who was subsequently prosecuted and convicted of
subjecting 15 Fijians to forced labor in New Zealand. During
the reporting period, a Fijian court overturned the convictions
of four men convicted in 2013 for trafficking offenses. The
government continued to fund anti-trafficking training for
new police recruits. The police anti-trafficking unit did not
dedicate adequate resources to trafficking investigations and
training, and prosecutors often did not respond to police
requests for guidance on trafficking cases in a timely manner.
The government did not report any investigations, prosecutions,
or convictions of government employees complicit in human
trafficking offenses.

PROTECTION

The government maintained modest efforts to identify and
protect victims. The police anti-trafficking unit identified nine
trafficking victims, a decrease from 13 victims identified in
2015. Eight victims were foreign nationals subjected to labor
trafficking. Despite reporting an increase in the number of male
and female victims of child sex trafficking, officials identified
only one victim during the reporting period. The foreign victims
were referred to government safe houses prior to returning to
their country of origin and police did not pursue additional
support for the child victim after the victim withdrew from
the case. Police officials reported using informal guidelines
to identify potential trafficking victims, but did not conduct
training for labor inspectors on these guidelines as was done
in the past. Authorities did not proactively identify victims of
trafficking among vulnerable populations, such as women in
prostitution and crew members who transit through Fijian
ports on board vessels. The lack of proactive screening may
have resulted in punishment of unidentified trafficking victims
for actions they took as a direct result of being subjected to
trafficking. Further, there is no legal alternative to foreign victims’
removal to countries in which they would face retribution or
hardship. The government did not develop a mechanism to refer
victims to services systematically, an objective in its national
anti-trafficking action plan.
The government apportioned funds to operate safe houses
for trafficking victims, asylum-seekers, and migrants awaiting
deportation. Four children’s homes operated by the government
were available to shelter victims younger than 21 years of age.
Trafficking victims were eligible to apply for government legal aid
and receive basic medical care. The government made available
accommodation, medical care, interpreters, and allowances
for basic necessities. However, officials reported the absence
of a government agency responsible for connecting victims
to services which limited the government’s anti-trafficking
efforts. In addition, because the government did not offer them
permanent residency status, foreign victims were unable to work
while assisting with investigations. Victims had the right to file
for civil remedies, but none took advantage of that legal right.

PREVENTION

The government maintained modest efforts to prevent trafficking.
Although the government has the authority to do so, it did
not punish labor brokers involved in fraudulent recruitment
during the reporting period. The police anti-trafficking unit
began investigating a travel agency that allegedly facilitated
the trafficking of 15 Fijians in New Zealand. The police antitrafficking unit continued public awareness campaigns aimed at

169

FINLAND

children and parents. Immigration and labor officials conducted
awareness programs targeted at Fijians who work overseas to
prevent labor exploitation. The government did not make
efforts to reduce the demand for commercial sex acts, forced
labor, or child sex tourism. The government did not provide
anti-trafficking training to Fijian military personnel prior to
their deployment abroad as part of international peacekeeping
missions. The government provided anti-trafficking training
to its diplomatic personnel. Fiji is not a party to the 2000 UN
TIP Protocol; however, during the reporting period parliament
initiated a review of a convention that would allow Fiji to
accede to the Protocol.

TRAFFICKING PROFILE

As reported over the past five years, Fiji is a source, destination,
and transit country for men, women, and children subjected to
sex trafficking and forced labor. Fijian women and children are
subjected to sex trafficking and domestic servitude abroad or
in Fijian cities. Family members, taxi drivers, foreign tourists,
businessmen, and crew on foreign fishing vessels have allegedly
exploited Fijian children in sex trafficking. Some Fijian children
are at risk of human trafficking as families follow a traditional
practice of sending them to live with relatives or families in
larger cities, where they may be subjected to domestic servitude
or coerced to engage in sexual activity in exchange for food,
clothing, shelter, or school fees. Women from China, Thailand,
Malaysia, and other East Asian countries are deceptively recruited
by the lure of legitimate jobs in their home countries or while
visiting Fiji, sometimes by Chinese criminal organizations, and
then exploited in illegal brothels (posing as massage parlors
and spas), local hotels, private homes, small and informal farms
and factories, and other rural and urban locations. Fijian adults
working overseas, including in Australia and New Zealand, are
vulnerable to forced labor, particularly in the construction and
agriculture industries. Workers from other Asian countries are
subjected to forced labor on fishing vessels that transit through
Fiji or board fishing vessels from Fiji ports and waters. They
live in poor conditions, accrue significant debts, and work for
little or no compensation on foreign fishing vessels, mainly
China and Taiwan-flagged, in Pacific waters. South Asian and
East Asian men are fraudulently recruited to work in Fiji and
find themselves in conditions of forced labor upon arrival.

FINLAND: TIER 1

170

The Government of Finland fully meets the minimum standards
for the elimination of trafficking. The government continued
to demonstrate serious and sustained efforts during the
reporting period; therefore, Finland remained on Tier 1. The
government demonstrated serious and sustained efforts by
developing and publishing a new national action plan for
2016-2017 and allocating funds for its implementation. The
government identified significantly more victims than in the
previous reporting period; investigations, prosecutions, and
convictions also increased. Although the government meets the
minimum standards, courts continued to issue weak sentences
for convicted traffickers, several of whom did not serve time in
prison. Law enforcement pursued some trafficking cases under
non-trafficking statutes, which affected victims’ access to services
and residency benefits. Victim identification among asylumseekers remained a challenge and authorities applied laws and
guidelines governing residency eligibility inconsistently, in
some cases refusing entry to asylum-seekers despite trafficking
indicators.

RECOMMENDATIONS FOR FINLAND

Vigorously investigate and prosecute sex and labor trafficking
cases using the trafficking statute and impose sufficiently
stringent sentences on convicted traffickers; develop and
implement a national referral mechanism and train officials
in its use to identify potential sex and labor trafficking victims
proactively, especially children, and refer them to services to
which they are legally entitled; offer all victims appropriate
housing and specialized care and consistently notify them of
available resources; increase the number of prosecutors, judges,
and police that specialize in trafficking cases and consider
creating specialized law enforcement units; train investigators,
police, immigration officials, prosecutors, labor inspectors,
and judges on applying the trafficking law and respecting
victims’ rights; institute a formal witness protection program
to encourage greater victim participation in the criminal justice
process; increase efforts to reduce the demand for forced labor;
and expand worker protection laws to include seasonal workers
on commission.

PROSECUTION

The government increased law enforcement efforts. Law 1889-39
of the penal code prohibits all forms of trafficking in persons
and prescribes sentences of up to six years imprisonment
(up to 10 years for aggravated trafficking) with the possibility
of additional fines—penalties that are sufficiently stringent
and commensurate with those prescribed for other serious
crimes, such as rape. The government continued to use laws
against pandering, discrimination, and usury, among others,
to investigate and prosecute some suspected traffickers; the
penalties for these crimes are generally far less severe than those
for trafficking crimes. The government reported initiating 74
investigations of trafficking cases in 2016 (including at least
16 labor and 35 sex trafficking cases), compared with 32 cases
in 2015 (including at least 19 labor and 12 sex trafficking
cases). The national rapporteur noted, however, the quality of
investigations conducted throughout the country varied from
region to region. Authorities initiated prosecution of four cases
(two labor and two sex trafficking) involving eight suspected
traffickers in 2016 (four in 2015). Finnish courts convicted six
traffickers (four for labor and two for sex trafficking) in 2016
(four in 2015). In those cases, the courts issued sentences of
one year’s imprisonment (suspended); 15, 12, and 12 months
imprisonment (all suspended); 26 months imprisonment; and
11 years imprisonment.
Police officers in each of the 11 regions served as a national
network of anti-trafficking experts and trainers and met twice
annually to share best practices. The government provided
annual training for prosecutors. Law enforcement and border
guard personnel received anti-trafficking instruction as part
of their basic training; law enforcement personnel receive
additional trafficking awareness training throughout their
careers. The government designated four special prosecutors from
different regions to handle serious crimes including trafficking
cases. GRETA’s most recent report, however, recommended

PROTECTION

The government increased protection efforts. The government
provided both direct care and funding for third-party care
through an asylum reception center that coordinated the
national victim assistance system. Police were required to refer
potential victims to the national assistance system immediately
upon identification, where they were eligible for emergency
assistance. The center offered shelter and psychological, medical,
and legal assistance to identified victims. The staff of the
reception center was empowered to identify and authorize
emergency care for most victims, even when law enforcement
authorities did not identify a person as a trafficking victim;
however, victims subjected to trafficking within Finland must
have law enforcement pursue their cases specifically as trafficking
crimes in order to continue receiving services through the
national victim assistance system beyond the initial emergency.
There were no shelters specifically for trafficking victims. In
2016, the government allocated €815,800 ($859,642) to the
national assistance system, compared with €540,000 ($569,020)
in 2015. Local municipalities provided additional funding for
victim services for Finnish citizens. The government increased its
funding for one NGO providing trafficking victim services and
training for Finnish authorities. The national victim assistance
system admitted 130 potential trafficking victims in 2016 (86
women and 44 men, of whom 21 were children); most were
exploited prior to their arrival in Finland, many as migrants
seeking asylum. Some admitted to the assistance system were
victims of forced marriage or organ trafficking, crimes that fall
outside the U.S. definition of trafficking. The assistance system
admitted 52 victims in 2015 (of whom none were children).
Authorities used a series of written guidelines to assist in victim
identification and referral to care and to ensure protection of
victims’ rights. Despite these measures, law enforcement and
immigration officials noted victim identification remained a core
challenge for the government; the increase in asylum applicants
since 2015 continued to strain the government’s capacity to
identify potential victims among the migrant population and
may have resulted in refusal of entry for some particularly
vulnerable individuals. The January 2017 reorganization of
the Finnish Immigration Service (FIS) integrated the national
assistance system with the agency’s overall operations; FIS
assumed responsibility for asylum investigations, making it
the primary actor in identifying trafficking victims among
asylum-seekers. There were no reports the government penalized
victims for unlawful acts committed as a direct result of being
subjected to human trafficking. NGOs reported the law allowing
authorities to refuse entry into Finland to persons suspected
of engaging in prostitution may have resulted in penalizing
unidentified sex trafficking victims and deterred some victims
from seeking help from authorities. NGOs continued to advocate
further training for officials, especially social service and
healthcare providers, on victim identification and protection.
The government created a working group in the Ministry of
Social Affairs and Health to improve coordination between
healthcare professionals on support and assistance for victims.
The government encouraged victims to assist in the prosecution

of their alleged traffickers. Courts had the authority to conceal
witnesses’ identities for their protection in cases involving severe
criminal offenses, including trafficking, and police could place
victims in temporary safe locations; however, there was no
formal witness protection program. Finnish law allows foreign
victims a six-month reflection period during which they can
receive care and assistance while considering whether to assist
law enforcement. Victims may receive renewable temporary
residence permits, which are valid for six to 12 months and
allow victims to seek employment. The FIS estimated it
provided three victims with a reflection period in 2016. The
government offered continuous residence permits to six victims
in particularly vulnerable positions in 2016 (nine in 2015).
Authorities provided temporary residence permits to four victims
of trafficking and renewed five permits. In instances where
victims do not possess a national passport, the government
may grant a temporary alien passport, although GRETA noted
victims whose cases were prosecuted under non-trafficking laws,
such as pimping, were often treated solely as witnesses rather
than victims, which affected their access to residence permits.
The national rapporteur conducted a case study of victims of
Nigerian origin to evaluate the application of laws governing
residence permits for trafficking victims; the study found FIS
did not consistently grant residency to asylum-seekers with
trafficking indicators due to a lack of sufficient guidelines.

FINLAND

further specialization among law enforcement, prosecutors,
and judges to increase the government’s capacity to investigate
and prosecute trafficking offenses. NGOs recommended law
enforcement agencies create specialized anti-trafficking units.
The government did not report any investigations, prosecutions,
or convictions of government employees complicit in human
trafficking offenses.

PREVENTION

The government increased prevention activities. The national
anti-trafficking coordinator developed and published a
new national action plan for 2016-2017. The plan included
provisions to create a national referral mechanism for victim
identification and assistance, as well as nine specific areas of focus
spanning efforts for prosecution, protection, prevention, and
partnerships. The government allocated €525,000 ($553,214)
for implementation and related programs, including trainings,
awareness campaigns, victim support services, and research.
The national coordinator also maintained a government-wide
coordination structure of trafficking prevention offices within
each ministry and engaged regularly with NGOs. The NonDiscrimination Ombudsman, in her capacity as the National
Rapporteur on Trafficking in Human Beings, published an annual
report on trafficking in Finland as part of the ombudsman’s
larger annual report. The national rapporteur also used its case
study of victims of Nigerian origin to improve anti-trafficking
cooperation with Italy. The government conducted a threemonth awareness campaign against trafficking and smuggling
aiming to reach smuggled migrants and trafficking victims
and contributed funding and free airtime with the national
broadcaster for an international organization’s anti-trafficking
campaign. The national assistance system maintained a hotline
and website in multiple languages exclusively for trafficking
victims. In response to the vulnerability facing berry pickers,
who were not covered under worker protection laws, the
government conducted assessments of berry industry companies
to prevent labor exploitation and required companies to agree
to a general code of conduct. In September, law enforcement
authorities opened an ongoing investigation into possible labor
violations by companies that hire berry pickers. The government
assigned law enforcement personnel to its embassies to assist
in trafficking prevention and victim identification during
the visa application process. Finland’s laws against child sex
tourism have extraterritorial reach, although the government
did not investigate or prosecute any perpetrators during the
reporting period. The government did not make efforts to
reduce demand for commercial sex acts or forced labor. The

171

FRANCE

government provided anti-trafficking training to its diplomatic
personnel and to its troops prior to their deployment abroad
as part of international peacekeeping missions.

TRAFFICKING PROFILE

As reported over the past five years, Finland is a transit,
destination, and limited source country for women and girls
subjected to sex trafficking and for men and women subjected
to forced labor. Forced labor victims originate primarily in
Eastern Europe, West Africa, and Asia. Foreign-born workers
and immigrants are especially vulnerable; many victims arrive in
Finland legally and are exploited in the construction, restaurant,
agriculture, metal, and transport industries, and as cleaners,
gardeners, and domestic workers. Authorities reported a surge
in potential trafficking victims among asylum-seekers, including
a rise in the number of individuals who were exploited prior
to their arrival in Finland. Law enforcement note most labor
trafficking involves small-scale operations in businesses such
as restaurants and massage parlors, rather than larger criminal
syndicates. Seasonal berry pickers, many of whom are Thai,
are especially vulnerable to labor exploitation. Most work on
commission and, because they are not considered employees
under Finnish law, are not covered by worker protection laws
governing minimum wage and maximum working hours.
Female sex trafficking victims originate primarily in Eastern
Europe, Southeast Asia, and West Africa, especially Nigeria;
many were exploited in other countries, arriving in Finland after
fleeing their traffickers. Finnish women and children, mostly
girls, are increasingly vulnerable to sex trafficking. Although
pimps cannot legally operate in Finland, they are able to operate
from abroad using threats of violence, debt leverage, and other
forms of coercion. In its 2015 report, GRETA highlighted forced
begging and forced criminality as emerging problems.

FRANCE: TIER 1
The Government of France fully meets the minimum standards
for the elimination of trafficking. The government continued to
demonstrate serious and sustained efforts during the reporting
period; therefore, France remained on Tier 1. The government
demonstrated serious and sustained efforts by identifying more
victims and allocating more funding to victim care services,
as well as creating specialized care centers for child victims of
trafficking. It also significantly increased its confiscation of assets
from traffickers. Although the government meets the minimum
standards, the government did not provide anti-trafficking
training for its diplomatic personnel. Law enforcement officers
regularly screened individuals in prostitution for trafficking
indicators, but were less consistent in screening potential labor
trafficking victims.

RECOMMENDATIONS FOR FRANCE
172

Strengthen victim protection for child victims of forced begging

and theft; train all incoming law enforcement officers to screen
all individuals in prostitution for trafficking indicators; improve
victims’ access to restitution; offer all victims appropriate
housing to which they are entitled under the law; continue
outreach to potential victims in the labor sectors and identify
forced labor; standardize residence permit issuance policies;
screen all women and children arrested for soliciting or theft
for trafficking indicators; and provide anti-trafficking training
or guidance to diplomats.

PROSECUTION

The government increased law enforcement efforts. Article
225-4 of the penal code prohibits all forms of trafficking and
prescribes maximum penalties of between seven years and
life imprisonment for trafficking offenses. These penalties are
sufficiently stringent and commensurate with those prescribed
for other serious offenses, such as rape. The government arrested
253 suspected traffickers, prosecuted 231 suspected traffickers,
compared with 278 in 2015; and convicted 75 traffickers,
compared with 83 in 2015. The government did not report
complete sentencing data but confirmed several cases in which
traffickers received dissuasive sentences during the reporting
period. For instance, in April 2016, the government sentenced
10 Romanian citizens to between eight months and seven years
imprisonment for sex trafficking and ordered eight traffickers to
pay €170,000 ($179,140) in fines. In October, the government
obtained a conviction of one man for sex trafficking, for which
he was sentenced to two years imprisonment and another man
to six years. In November, a court sentenced eight Bulgarian
nationals to between two and six years imprisonment for
child sex trafficking. In January 2017, a court sentenced nine
Romanian nationals to up to five years imprisonment for sex
trafficking.
During the reporting period, the Ministry of Interior’s Central
Office for Combating Human Trafficking (OCRTEH), a
specialized body of law enforcement trained to combat human
trafficking, trained 25 law enforcement officers as specialists in
investigating trafficking networks. During the reporting period,
OCRTEH regularly trained magistrates on human trafficking
and participated in operational and strategic exchanges with
EUROPOL and INTERPOL. The government did not report
any investigations, prosecutions, or convictions of government
employees complicit in human trafficking offenses. NGOs
reported law enforcement officers regularly screen individuals
in prostitution for trafficking indicators, but were less consistent
in screening potential victims of labor trafficking.

PROTECTION

The government increased protection efforts. The government
identified 1,118 sex trafficking and aggravated pimping victims
in 2016, compared to 712 in 2015. The victims identified in
2016 included 323 French, 202 Chinese, 114 Nigerian, 104
Romanian, and 375 were other nationalities. The government
had a formal procedure for identifying victims and an NGOrun referral mechanism. The Ministry of Social Affairs, the
Ministry of Health, and the City of Paris provided funding for
the Ac-Se system, an NGO-managed network of 50 NGO-run
shelters assisting adult victims of sex and labor trafficking.
Ac-Se assisted 82 trafficking victims in 2016, compared with
92 in 2015, by providing them with shelter, legal, medical,
and psychological services. Seventy-nine were victims of sex
trafficking, two of labor trafficking, and one was forced to
commit a petty crime. Seventy-three percent of those victims
were Nigerian. The government repatriated eight victims to

The government had an NGO-run referral program to transfer
victims detained, arrested, or placed in protective custody by
law enforcement authorities to institutions that provided shortterm care. A June 2016 law on organized crime and terrorism
extended and strengthened the witness protection program for
witnesses and their relatives in cases involving organized crime,
including human trafficking. The April 2016 Law to Strengthen
the Fight Against Prostitution allows the criminal trials for
trafficking or aggravated pimping to be heard in private at the
victim’s request. NGOs reported children arrested or detained
for soliciting or theft were not always screened for trafficking
indicators by law enforcement officials. The law provides for
a 30-day reflection period for identified victims, regardless of
whether they choose to cooperate with law enforcement or not;
however, some authorities were not familiar with the reflection
period and did not offer it. Victims were eligible for temporary
residence permits, regardless of whether they cooperated with
police investigations. Trafficking victims were also eligible for
international protection under refugee status or subsidiary
protection status in cases where victims had a credible fear of
retaliation, including from public authorities in their country
of origin, if returned. Victims were eligible to receive restitution
through the Crime Victims Compensation Program. In October,
a labor court found in favor of five undocumented Moroccan
workers in a civil case against their employer, awarding the
plaintiffs between €20,000 ($21,070) and €50,000 ($52,690)
in back-pay, paid leave, and damages for forced labor in a
sawmill. The compensation request process often took several
years to complete, and many victims had requests in progress.

PREVENTION

The government increased prevention efforts. In April 2016,
the government passed the Law to Strengthen the Fight Against
Prostitution, which penalizes purchasers of commercial
sex, thereby reducing the demand for commercial sex. The
government did not report investigating or prosecuting any cases
of child sex tourism. In July, the government, in coordination
with NGOs, launched a public awareness campaign on sex
tourism during the Euro 2016 soccer championship that took
place in France. The government funded programs through
airlines and tourism operators describing the penalties for
child sex tourism and funded poster and pamphlet campaigns
by NGO partners to reduce the demand for child sex tourism.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs researched and reported on
indicators of child sex tourism abroad and monitored increases
in the crime. Tourism and hospitality students in France were
obligated to take coursework on preventing child sex tourism.
The government continued to fund a regional technical advisor
on trafficking to the UNODC and OSCE. The French government
provided anti-trafficking training to all peacekeeping troops
prior to their deployment abroad on international peacekeeping
missions. The government did not provide anti-trafficking
training for its diplomatic personnel.

FRANCE

multiple countries. The government increased Ac-Se’s budget
from €170,000 to €220,000 ($179,140 to $231,820) for 2017.
Local governments provided French language classes to victims,
and some victims could qualify for subsidized housing and
job training programs. The government provided victims
€350 ($370) as an initial stipend, and €100 ($110) per month
thereafter. The central and municipal governments also partially
funded the operation of a shelter in Paris and a small number
of emergency apartments external to the Ac-Se system. The
Mission for the Protection of Women against Violence and
the Fight Against Human Trafficking (MIPROF) signed a pilot
convention in October 2016 with an NGO, the Paris regional
court, the Paris police, the Paris City Hall, and the Paris city
council that will provide several places of accommodation
in Paris dedicated to sex trafficking victims. MIPROF signed
another pilot convention in June 2016 with an NGO, the Paris
regional court, the Paris police, the Paris City Hall, the Paris Bar
Association, the MOJ, and the Inter-ministerial Committee for
the Prevention of Delinquency and Radicalization (CIPDR) that
will provide training on identifying, integrating, educating, and
housing child victims of trafficking. The convention provided
additional secure accommodation for child trafficking victims.
The care centers are run by child welfare services and provided
access to health care, schooling, and rehabilitation and were
equipped with specialized staff trained by MIPROF to educate
and rehabilitate child trafficking victims. During the reporting
period, 45 child trafficking victims benefitted from the special
care centers. The government continued to operate a hotline
for children in abusive situations, including trafficking. In
2015, hotline operators received 16 calls related to modern
slavery. Ac-Se operated a separate hotline during the reporting
period. In 2016, Ac-Se operators referred 82 trafficking cases
for additional Ac-Se assistance, which assisted 76 individuals,
including six children. The MOJ partnered with Ac-Se to train
front-line responders, including labor inspectors and social
workers, on the identification and referral of trafficking victims.

TRAFFICKING PROFILE

As reported over the past five years, France is a destination,
transit, and a limited source country for men, women, and
children subjected to forced labor and sex trafficking. Foreign
victims from Eastern Europe, West and North Africa, Asia,
and the Caribbean are subjected to sex trafficking and forced
labor. Sex trafficking networks controlled by Bulgarians,
Nigerians, Romanians, Chinese, and French citizens force
women into prostitution through debt bondage, physical
force, and psychological coercion, including the invocation of
voodoo and drug addiction. The number of children exploited
in commercial sex has increased in recent years. Children are
forced to commit crimes, mainly petty theft, often as part of
larger criminal networks. Traffickers force children living in
migrant camps in northern France to commit crimes, including
facilitating smuggling to the United Kingdom. Migrants from
Africa and the Middle East, particularly women and children,
were vulnerable to sex and labor trafficking in Calais. Some
migrants who could not pay their smugglers are held in debt
bondage. Reports indicate children, primarily from Romania,
West and North Africa, and the Middle East, are victims of sex
trafficking in France. The Government of France estimates the
majority of the 30,000 people in France’s commercial sex trade,
about 90 percent of whom are foreign, are likely trafficking
victims. Online-advertised prostitution organized by Russians
and Bulgarians has increased, along with classified ads posted
by organized networks controlled by Romanians, Bulgarians,
Nigerians, and Brazilians; trafficking victims are likely involved
in activities described in these ads. Roma and unaccompanied
minors in France are vulnerable to forced begging and forced
theft. Women and children are subjected to domestic servitude,
mostly in cases in which families exploit relatives brought from
Africa to work in their households. Trafficking networks have
expanded to operate in large towns outside of Paris, including
Lille, Marseille, Chartres, Toulouse, and Nice. Trafficking of male
victims for sex and labor trafficking has increased, with males
comprising approximately 28 percent of trafficking victims in
France. Nigerian trafficking networks use migrant and drug
trafficking routes through Libya and Italy to transport girls
to France. Chinese victims often enter France on short-term
student or tourist visas. Unaccompanied children that illegally

173

GABON

migrated with their parents to the overseas French Department
of Mayotte were vulnerable to trafficking when their parents
were deported.

GABON: TIER 2 WATCH LIST
The Government of Gabon does not fully meet the minimum
standards for the elimination of trafficking; however, it is making
significant efforts to do so. The government demonstrated
significant efforts during the reporting period by identifying
and providing care to child trafficking victims, initiating
trafficking prosecutions, and conducting awareness-raising
campaigns. However, the government did not demonstrate
increasing efforts compared to the previous reporting period.
The government did not convict any traffickers or enact a
proposed amendment to criminalize adult trafficking for the
fourth consecutive year, and it decreased funding for victim
shelters. The inter-ministerial child trafficking committee,
which coordinates national anti-trafficking efforts, remained
without sufficient funds to fulfill its mandate. Because the
government has devoted sufficient resources to a written plan
that, if implemented, would constitute significant efforts to
meet the minimum standards, Gabon was granted a waiver
per the Trafficking Victims Protection Act from an otherwise
required downgrade to Tier 3. Therefore, Gabon remained on
Tier 2 Watch List for the third consecutive year.

RECOMMENDATIONS FOR GABON

Increase efforts to complete trafficking prosecutions and convict
traffickers, including complicit officials and sex traffickers;
use existing penal code articles criminalizing forced labor to
investigate, prosecute, and convict traffickers who exploit adults
in forced labor; draft and enact legislation to criminalize all
forms of trafficking; expand training for social workers, law
enforcement, labor inspectors, and judicial staff to include the
identification and investigation of adult trafficking; increase
financial or in-kind support to government-run and NGO
shelters; increase communication among ministries to facilitate
improved case management and data collection; reinvigorate
collaboration with foreign governments to investigate
transnational trafficking cases and repatriate foreign victims;
train social workers and service providers on best practices in the
provision of care for trafficking victims; expand the existing interministerial committee’s mandate to include adult trafficking, and
include efforts to address adult trafficking in the next national
action plan; expand awareness-raising campaigns to include
information on adult trafficking; and develop a system to track
trafficking cases and publicize relevant law enforcement and
victim protection statistics, including on trafficking offenses
prosecuted under other articles of the penal code.

PROSECUTION
174

The government decreased anti-trafficking law enforcement
efforts. Existing laws do not criminalize all forms of human

trafficking. Law 09/04 to Prevent and Combat Child Smuggling
criminalizes selling children, subjecting them to debt bondage,
and bringing them into the country and unlawfully employing
them, and prescribes penalties of a “custodial sentence” and
a fine of 10 to 20 million West African CFA francs (FCFA)
($16,084-$32,168). Title 1, article 4 of the Gabonese labor
code criminalizes forced labor and prescribes penalties of one
to six months imprisonment or a fine of 300,000 to 600,000
FCFA ($483-$965). Neither law appears to provide sufficiently
stringent sentences that reflect the serious nature of the offense.
Penal code article 261 criminalizes adult and child sex trafficking
and prescribes penalties of two to five years imprisonment and
a fine. Law 21/63-94 also prohibits forced prostitution of adults
and prescribes penalties of two to 10 years imprisonment.
These penalties are sufficiently stringent and commensurate
with penalties prescribed for other serious crimes, such as rape.
For the fourth consecutive year, the government did not pass
the 2013 draft amendment to law 09/04 to criminalize the
trafficking of adults and explicitly criminalize sex trafficking.
Only the high court is authorized to hear trafficking cases
because it is a crime equivalent to murder; however, the high
court was backlogged with cases and did not routinely meet, in
part because of a shortage of funding. In addition, as a result of
a lack of training and widespread corruption, the prosecutorial
judges tasked with investigating trafficking cases often did not
investigate cases brought to their attention, creating significant
obstacles to prosecuting trafficking crimes. The government
reported investigating and prosecuting eight individuals for
child labor trafficking, a decrease from 16 investigations
and 11 prosecutions in the previous reporting period. Judges
subsequently dropped all of the investigations and prosecutions
initiated during the reporting period. The government did
not convict any traffickers for the fourth consecutive year. The
government did not report any investigations, prosecutions,
or convictions of government employees complicit in human
trafficking offenses; however, there were reports corruption and
official complicity in trafficking crimes remained significant
concerns. Judges were vulnerable to corruption by alleged
traffickers and often failed to advance or dismissed trafficking
cases. There were also allegations a Gabonese diplomat posted
to the United Kingdom exploited a worker in domestic servitude.
During the reporting period, the inter-ministerial committee
conducted a two-day training for immigration law enforcement
agents on identifying and investigating trafficking cases. Data
on anti-trafficking law enforcement efforts was limited, in part
due to poor communication among ministries. In contrast with
previous years, the government did not report working with
foreign law enforcement on trafficking cases.

PROTECTION

The government maintained modest protection efforts. Officials
identified at least 15 child labor trafficking victims and referred
all 15 to social services, compared with identifying 20 victims
and referring 14 to social services in 2015. The government
continued to fund and run two shelters, and provided an
unknown amount of funding and in-kind support—including
funding for social workers, medical support, psycho-social
services, legal assistance, tuition, and food and furniture
vouchers—to two NGO-run shelters offering services to orphans
and street children vulnerable to trafficking. Nonetheless,
NGOs that assisted trafficking victims relied primarily on
donations from churches and private companies to finance
their services, and some government workers used personal
funds to assist victims. There continued to be a lack of shelter
space to accommodate all trafficking victims, and for the third

The Ministry of Family and Social Development, in coordination
with foreign embassies, assisted in the repatriation of four
foreign trafficking victims. Authorities reported that a lack
of cooperation with source-country governments, including
agreement on who should fund the repatriation of foreign
trafficking victims from Gabon, greatly lengthened the
repatriation process; foreign trafficking victims remained in
Gabonese centers on average between six months and three
years before repatriation. If victim repatriation was not an
option, the Ministry of Social Affairs could provide a victim
with immigration relief and resettle them in Gabon, but it
is unknown if any victims availed themselves of this legal
alternative or had knowledge of this option during the reporting
period. The government encouraged victims to cooperate when
authorities needed their testimony for the prosecution of alleged
traffickers. Prosecutors, police, and magistrates routinely took
victims’ testimonies at the time of the arrest of the suspected
traffickers or identification of the victim, which is not considered
the most effective nor a victim-centered approach. While the
government has sought restitution for trafficking victims in the
past, there were no reports this occurred during the reporting
period. Victims can file civil suits against their traffickers, but
there were no known cases of such action, in part due to victims’
poverty and lack of knowledge of the option. There were no
reports the government detained, fined, or jailed victims for
unlawful acts committed as a result of being subjected to
trafficking; however, due to the lack of focus on identifying
adult trafficking victims, some victims may have remained
unidentified in the law enforcement system.

PREVENTION

The government maintained modest prevention efforts. Through
its local vigilance committees in nine provincial capitals, the
inter-ministerial child trafficking committee continued to
investigate child trafficking offenses and raise awareness of
trafficking, but insufficient funding severely hampered its efforts.
The government drafted and validated a 2016-2017 action
plan to combat child trafficking; however, resource constraints
prevented the inter-ministerial committee from implementing
most action items within the plan, and the plan did not include
actions to address adult trafficking. Local vigilance committees
conducted two information campaigns in local languages to
inform potential victims about available assistance and warn
potential traffickers of the legal penalties for child trafficking.
Unlike in previous years, the government did not partner with
multilateral organizations and governments of source countries
to combat trafficking. The government did not make any
discernible efforts to reduce the demand for commercial sex
acts. The government, with foreign donor support, provided
anti-trafficking training to 450 Gabonese troops prior to their
deployment abroad on an international peacekeeping mission in

the Central African Republic (CAR). The government continued
investigating 16 Gabonese peacekeepers formerly deployed
to CAR that allegedly sexually exploited civilians during the
previous reporting period, including purchasing commercial sex
from underage girls exploited in sex trafficking. The government
did not provide anti-trafficking training for its diplomatic
personnel.

TRAFFICKING PROFILE

As reported over the past five years, Gabon is primarily a
destination and transit country for West and Central African
men, women, and children subjected to forced labor and sex
trafficking and—to a lesser extent—a source country for children
subjected to forced labor and sex trafficking. Boys are forced
to work as street vendors, mechanics, or in the fishing sector.
Girls are subjected to domestic servitude and forced labor in
markets or roadside restaurants. Gabonese children are exploited
as market vendors in eastern provinces of the country. West
African women are forced into domestic servitude or prostitution
in Gabon. Some foreign adults seek the help of smugglers for
voluntary labor migration to Gabon but are subsequently
subjected to forced labor or prostitution after arriving via plane
or boat with falsified documents. Some victims transit Gabon
en route to Equatorial Guinea. Traffickers appear to operate in
loose, ethnic-based criminal networks, at times involving female
traffickers—some of whom are former trafficking victims—in the
recruitment and transportation of victims from their countries
of origin. In some cases, families willingly give children to
intermediaries who fraudulently promise education or terms of
employment they ultimately do not provide, instead subjecting
the children to forced labor through debt bondage. Some
traffickers procure falsified documents for child trafficking
victims to make them appear older than 18 years old to exempt
the traffickers from prosecution under the child trafficking law,
in case they are discovered. Some traffickers operate outside the
capital to avoid detection by law enforcement. There were reports
Gabonese officials, including diplomats and peacekeepers, were
complicit in trafficking.

THE GAMBIA

consecutive year the government decreased funding to NGOs
that provided shelter and services to victims. Male and female
victims received the same services, as did foreign and domestic
trafficking victims. There were no government or NGO-run
shelters specifically designated for adult victims, but some
allowed child trafficking victims to remain after they reached
18 years of age. Some shelters could have also provided shelter
and services to adults, although it is unclear if law enforcement
referred any adults to such facilities during the reporting period.
In practice, authorities permitted adult male victims to leave
shelters unchaperoned but not adult female victims, reportedly
for their safety. Shelter and services were available to repatriated
Gabonese victims, but it is unknown if any victims received
these services during the reporting period.

THE GAMBIA: TIER 2 WATCH LIST
The Government of The Gambia does not fully meet the
minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking; however,
it is making significant efforts to do so. The government made
key achievements during the reporting period; therefore, The
Gambia was upgraded to Tier 2 Watch List. These achievements
included identifying and providing services to the first internal
trafficking victims identified in four years; training law
enforcement and border officials on identifying and referring
cases of trafficking for investigation; and convicting and
sentencing one trafficker to life imprisonment—its first reported
conviction for a trafficking-related offense in four years. Despite
these efforts, the government did not have formal procedures
to identify trafficking victims and refer them to care; it did not
complete any prosecutions or secure any convictions under the
amended 2007 Trafficking in Persons Act, even though NGOs
brought cases of child sex trafficking to law enforcement’s
attention; nor did it prosecute or convict any complicit officials.
Additionally, the National Agency Against Trafficking in Persons
(NAATIP) remained without sufficient funding and resources
to coordinate inter-ministerial anti-trafficking efforts and
investigate trafficking offenses nationwide..

175

THE GAMBIA

RECOMMENDATIONS FOR THE GAMBIA

Vigorously investigate, prosecute, and convict traffickers—
including allegedly complicit government officials and child
sex traffickers—with sufficiently stringent sentences; train law
enforcement and prosecutors to investigate and prosecute all
types of trafficking, and ensure they have the resources to do so;
develop standard procedures for identifying trafficking victims,
including those among vulnerable populations, and referring
them to care, train government officials on such procedures,
and ensure no victims are detained before referred to services;
significantly increase awareness of trafficking among the general
public, including of child sex trafficking and how to report
cases; increase funding and training for social workers to
ensure trafficking victims, including those outside the capital,
receive adequate social services; provide adequate funding and
resources to NAATIP to ensure effective implementation of the
anti-trafficking national action plan; amend the labor law to
extend its protections to domestic workers; and improve data
collection and public reporting on victim identification and
law enforcement efforts.

PROSECUTION

The government modestly increased anti-trafficking law
enforcement efforts. The 2007 Trafficking in Persons Act, as
amended in 2010, criminalizes all forms of trafficking and
prescribes penalties of 50 years to life imprisonment. These
penalties are sufficiently stringent and commensurate with
penalties prescribed for other serious crimes, such as rape. The
2005 Children’s Act also prohibits child trafficking—although it
does not include forced labor in its definition of trafficking—and
prescribes a penalty of life imprisonment. Other articles of the
2005 Children’s Act also criminalize child sex trafficking offenses
with penalties of 10 years imprisonment. The 2003 Tourism
Offenses Act criminalizes child sex trafficking, prescribing a
penalty of 10 years imprisonment. The penalties in both the
2005 and 2003 acts are sufficiently stringent and commensurate
with penalties for other serious crimes, such as rape.
The government investigated, prosecuted, and convicted one
trafficker under the 2005 Children’s Act and continued, from
previous reporting periods, three labor trafficking investigations
under the 2007 trafficking act, compared with one investigation,
one prosecution, and zero convictions for trafficking offenses
the previous reporting period. A judge sentenced one convicted
trafficker to life imprisonment for rape under the 2005 Children’s
Act. The trafficker, a Scandinavian child sex tourist, sexually
exploited two Gambian girls in exchange for paying their
schooling fees. A judge adjourned indefinitely the prosecution of
four defendants charged with exploiting 59 women in Lebanon
and Kuwait initiated in a previous reporting period because
three of the suspects remained at large. Despite identifying 40
children as potential forced begging victims, officials did not
report investigating any suspects in connection with those cases.

176

NAATIP trained 60 security personnel, including police and
immigration officers, on the 2007 trafficking act and how to
report suspected trafficking cases to NAATIP for investigation;

however, authorities acknowledged law enforcement and judicial
personnel continued to lack adequate training to investigate
and prosecute trafficking offenses. NGOs reported alleged
child sex traffickers and child sex tourists to law enforcement
but claimed police would not provide updates on the cases,
calling into question if law enforcement were investigating
such cases. Due to a lack of training on human trafficking,
authorities investigated and prosecuted some potential sex
trafficking cases as rape. Despite reports of official complicity,
the government did not report any investigations, prosecutions,
or convictions of government employees complicit in human
trafficking offenses.
Additionally, law enforcement officials acted with impunity, and
corruption remained a problem. The government collaborated
with two foreign governments on transnational trafficking
investigations during the reporting period.

PROTECTION

The government increased efforts to protect trafficking victims.
The government identified and referred to services two sex
trafficking victims and 40 child potential forced begging victims.
The lack of formal identification procedures likely resulted
in victims remaining unidentified in the law enforcement
system. The Department of Social Welfare (DSW) operated
a shelter for trafficking victims, abandoned children, and
victims of domestic violence, as well as a drop-in center for
street children; these facilities cared for the 40 child potential
forced begging victims during the reporting period, including
assistance with repatriation and family re-integration. The
government provided two million dalasi ($45,455) to the
shelter and paid the salaries of eight nurses and 30 other staff
members. The shelter offered 24-hour services to children,
adults, males, and females; authorities did not allow victims
to leave without a chaperone. The shelter could assist Gambian
victims exploited abroad after repatriation, and it reported
providing initial screening, psychological counseling, and
victims’ assistance funds to support vocational training for 10
victims repatriated by an international organization during the
reporting period. The government referred the two child sex
trafficking victims to an NGO shelter for care. Shelters were
concentrated around the capital, leaving some victims in rural
areas without access to assistance. In addition, many shelters
lacked social workers trained to assist trafficking victims. NAATIP
trained law enforcement and social services personnel on victim
identification. The government maintained an electronic child
protection database, which included information on trafficking
cases. The 2007 trafficking act allows foreign victims to obtain
temporary residence visas for the duration of legal proceedings,
but the government did not offer any other legal alternatives
to the removal of foreign trafficking victims to countries where
they may face hardship or retribution. Victims could file civil
suits against their traffickers, although there were no reports
that any such cases were filed during the year. There were
reports police detained potential child trafficking victims in
the course of investigations.

PREVENTION

The government made uneven prevention efforts. The
government allocated 1.84 million dalasi ($41,818) to NAATIP
in 2016 for salaries and administrative costs; this was insufficient
to fund law enforcement training, investigations, and prevention
activities, however, so NAATIP continued to rely on donors
for additional support. In consultation with NGOs, NAATIP
updated the government’s national action plan to cover 2016-

In collaboration with NGOs, the Gambian tourism board
continued to raise awareness of child sex trafficking within the
tourism industry. Authorities continued to enforce the 2005
ban on unattended children in resort areas. DSW continued
to operate five neighborhood watch groups to monitor urban
areas near tourist resorts for possible cases of child abuse or
child sexual exploitation, and it provided group members
with allowances and cell phone credits; however, none of
these efforts led to the arrest of any suspected traffickers or
child sex tourists. The government also maintained posters
at the international airport and in tourist areas to warn of
the dangers of trafficking, including child sex tourism, and
the criminal penalties for such offenses. The government did
not make efforts to decrease the demand for forced labor. The
government provided anti-trafficking training to Gambian troops
before their deployment abroad on international peacekeeping
missions. The government provided anti-trafficking training
for its diplomatic personnel.

TRAFFICKING PROFILE

As reported over the past five years, The Gambia is a source and
destination country for women and children subjected to forced
labor and sex trafficking. Within The Gambia, women, girls,
and—to a lesser extent—boys are subjected to sex trafficking,
forced labor in street vending, and domestic servitude. Women
and children from West African countries—mainly Senegal,
Sierra Leone, Liberia, Ghana, Nigeria, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau,
and Benin—are recruited for commercial sexual exploitation
in The Gambia. The majority of these victims are subjected
to sexual exploitation by child sex tourists, primarily from
Britain, Germany, Scandinavia, the Netherlands, and Canada.
Poor families may encourage their children to endure such
exploitation for financial gain. In recent years, sex traffickers
are increasingly hosting child sex tourists in private residences
outside the commercial tourist areas of Banjul, making the crime
harder for law enforcement to detect. Traffickers have allegedly
exploited Sierra Leonean boys and girls as “cultural dancers”
in The Gambia. Observers believe organized sex trafficking
networks use European and Gambian travel agencies to promote
child sex tourism. Many Gambian boys attend Quranic schools
in The Gambia, Guinea-Bissau, and Senegal, and some corrupt
marabouts force their students into begging and street vending.
Gambian children have been identified as forced labor victims

in neighboring West African countries, including Ghana and
Senegal. Gambian Women are subjected to forced labor and
sex trafficking in Middle Eastern countries, including United
Arab Emirates, Kuwait, and Lebanon. Finnish authorities
identified Gambians in forced labor and sex trafficking during
the reporting period.

GEORGIA: TIER 1

GEORGIA

2020 and began implementation. In 2017, the government
began disbursing to NAATIP approximately 160,000 dalasi
($3,636) monthly for the plan’s implementation. NAATIP
officials traveled to key border posts to sensitize civil society
groups, security personnel, government officials, and local
communities on human trafficking and the need to report
suspected cases directly to NAATIP. The Ministry of Education
continued to encourage reputable Quranic school teachers,
called marabouts, to educate students and not force them to
beg by providing monthly cash transfers and food rations to
17 schools that it verified did not employ forced begging. The
ministry also provided science, math, and English teachers
to these Quranic schools to broaden their curriculums. It
estimated 1,000 children were benefitting from the program. The
government did not have effective policies to regulate foreign
labor recruiters and penalize them for fraudulent recruiting.
The 2015 draft MOU between the Gambian government and
Lebanon to improve the regulation of labor recruiters and law
enforcement cooperation remained pending at the close of the
reporting period. Domestic laborers are not protected under
the national labor law, rendering such workers vulnerable to
exploitation.

The Government of Georgia fully meets the minimum standards
for the elimination of trafficking. The government continued to
demonstrate serious and sustained efforts during the reporting
period; therefore, Georgia remained on Tier 1. The government
demonstrated serious and sustained efforts by adopting the
2017-2018 national action plan and continuing proactive
investigations and screening of vulnerable populations for
trafficking indicators. The government implemented a child
referral mechanism expanding the pool of actors participating in
proactive victim identification and provided free identification
documents to vulnerable street children. The government
continued to provide comprehensive care for all identified
victims and conducted robust awareness campaigns. Although
the government meets the minimum standards, authorities
did not increase anti-trafficking law enforcement efforts and
identified fewer victims. The labor inspectorate continued
to operate with an unclear mandate and restricted ability to
investigate employers. Victim identification remained weak for
children in exploitative situations on the street, such as those
subjected to forced begging and criminality, and for individuals
working in vulnerable labor sectors.

RECOMMENDATIONS FOR GEORGIA

Vigorously investigate, prosecute, and convict traffickers
under article 143; improve efforts to proactively identify
trafficking victims, particularly street children and Georgian
and foreign victims in vulnerable labor sectors; increase law
enforcement capacity to investigate complex cases; further
incorporate the labor inspectorate in anti-trafficking efforts
with established roles and responsibilities; improve measures
to guarantee victims’ access to compensation, including asset
seizure, informing victims of their rights to compensation, and
legal assistance; increase transparency of the inter-ministerial
trafficking coordination council; fully implement the law that
provides street children with free government identification;
create integrated, interagency strategies for reducing vulnerability
and countering forced begging; and continue awareness-raising
campaigns about the existence of human trafficking, legal
recourse, and available protection services, targeted at vulnerable
groups.

PROSECUTION

The government maintained anti-trafficking law enforcement
efforts. The Law on Combating Trafficking in Persons and article

177

GEORGIA

143 of the criminal code prohibit all forms of trafficking and
prescribe penalties ranging from seven to 20 years imprisonment,
which are sufficiently stringent and commensurate with those
prescribed for other serious crimes, such as rape. The law defines
trafficking broadly and includes illegal adoption without the
purpose of exploitation. The government investigated 16 new
cases, compared to 17 in 2015. Of these, 11 were sex trafficking
cases, four were forced labor cases, and one case involved both,
compared to 11 sex trafficking cases and six forced labor cases
in 2015. The government prosecuted one defendant for sex
trafficking and one defendant for forced begging, compared
to two defendants for sex trafficking and one defendant for
forced begging in 2015. The government convicted a total of
one trafficker for forced labor, compared to three traffickers
in 2015. The trafficker received a sentence of one year and
six-month imprisonment for forced labor of her child. The
government maintained several specialized units including the
Anti-Trafficking and Illegal Migration Unit (ATIMU) within the
Central Criminal Police Department, an anti-trafficking unit
within the Tbilisi police, and an anti-trafficking taskforce in
Batumi. Four mobile inspection units within ATIMU inspected
83 organizations involved in prostitution and the labor
inspectorate inspected 99 private companies resulting in one
criminal investigation for labor trafficking. Experts reported the
government continued to develop capabilities to investigate
trafficking cases but required additional advanced training for
complex cases involving money laundering, organized crime,
and digital evidence. The government reported the inability
to conduct anti-trafficking law enforcement efforts within the
breakaway territories of Abkhazia and South Ossetia.
Prosecutor General’s Office’s Victim-Witness Coordinators
(VWCs) provided counsel to victims during the initial stage
of trafficking investigations through the end of the court
proceedings. Investigators contacted VWCs to speak with victims,
offering counsel and information on government assistance
programs prior to and after interviews with investigators. The
government did not report any investigations, prosecutions,
or convictions of government employees complicit in human
trafficking. Observers confirmed there were no cases of complicity
in trafficking by public servants. The government trained
22 labor inspectors on forced labor issues. The government
separately trained police officers, law enforcement trainers,
prosecutors, and judges on various trafficking issues. The
government provided legal assistance to the Turkish National
Police.

PROTECTION

The government maintained protection efforts. The government
identified three victims, compared to nine in 2015. All three
victims were female sex trafficking victims, compared to six
female sex trafficking victims and two male and one female
forced labor victims in 2015. The government allocated 269,215
lari ($101,209) to the anti-trafficking shelters in Tbilisi and
Batumi and other victim assistance programs, compared to
271,000 lari ($101,880) in 2015.

178

Law enforcement and the Permanent Group officially identified
victims: law enforcement granted “statutory victim” status for
victims who participated in investigations and the Permanent
Group assessed and officially recognized victims who declined
to participate in investigations. The Permanent Group comprises
a five member board of NGO and international organization
representatives and is required by statute to convene and
assess a potential victim within 48 hours. A multi-disciplinary
national referral mechanism (NRM) provided standard

operating procedures for identifying and referring victims to
services. The government implemented a new child referral
mechanism, which expanded the list of actors responsible for
victim identification efforts of children, including schools,
medical providers, art academies, and sports institutions.
ATIMU mobile units screened 375 individuals working
at organizations involved in prostitution for indicators of
trafficking. Authorities also screened for trafficking indicators
amongst 2,213 foreign nationals deported from Georgia and
442 Georgians deported from Turkey. These screening efforts
resulted in eight trafficking investigations, one prosecution,
and the identification of a victim. The government provided all
police cadets victim identification training and trained border
police on victim identification at border crossings and airports.
The government trained 16 VWCs on the NRM and standard
operating procedures. Observers reported the NRM worked
effectively and demonstrated strong cooperation between law
enforcement and victim assistance agencies; however, victim
identification of children in exploitative situations on the street
and Georgian and foreign workers in vulnerable labor sectors
remained inadequate.
The government operated two specialized shelters and provided
medical aid, psychological counseling, legal assistance, child care
services, and a one-time financial payment of 1,000 lari ($376)
to victims. The government-run shelters accommodated all three
of the statutory victims identified in 2016. The government-run
shelters staffed a nurse, social worker, lawyer, and psychologist
and offered separate sections for males, females, and children.
The government chaperoned victims when leaving the shelter
but victims could request to leave the shelter unchaperoned. The
government provided equal services for domestic and foreign
victims. The government reported foreign trafficking victims
were eligible for temporary, one-year residence permits; one
statutory victim received a residency permit in 2016. The law
prohibits detaining, arresting, incarcerating, fining, or otherwise
penalizing trafficking victims for unlawful acts committed as
a direct result of being subjected to human trafficking; and no
such acts were reported in 2016. The government reported it
encouraged victims to assist law enforcement with investigations
and prosecutions, although their assistance was not required to
receive government protection or shelter services; three statutory
victims assisted law enforcement. Victims can pursue financial
restitution through civil suits; however, no trafficking victims
have ever received restitution from their trafficker. Observers
highlighted the failure to freeze and seize criminal assets as an
obstacle to pursuing restitution from traffickers.

PREVENTION

The government increased trafficking prevention efforts. The
Inter-Agency Council on Combating Trafficking in Persons (TIP
Council) approved the 2017-2018 national action plan. The
TIP Council monitored implementation of the 2016 national
action plan but did not provide public assessments. The TIP
Council created an NGO working group to further integrate
NGOs in anti-trafficking efforts. The government disseminated
approximately 35,000 leaflets on various trafficking issues at
border crossings, tourism information centers, metro stations,
and public service halls throughout the country. Government
officials funded and participated in an increased number of
television, radio, and print media programs to raise awareness.
The government organized anti-trafficking information meetings
in villages and towns in nearly every region of Georgia,
presenting to more than 1,100 audience members from different
target groups, including primary school and university students,
minorities, IDPs, and journalists. The government continued

The government continued to fund, in partnership with the
EU, and develop a system to support the rehabilitation and
re-socialization of children living and working on the street.
The government provided 49,000 lari ($18,421) to a local NGO
that presented the most effective plan to identify homeless
children and map their locations during nonworking hours.
In June 2016, the government approved legislation authorizing
free government identification documents to street children
allowing them to receive government services and assistance,
including health and education services for children who are
undocumented foreign citizens. The Law on Labor Migration
regulates the operation of labor recruitment agencies; however,
the labor inspectorate continued to have an unclear mandate
due to a lack of substantive labor laws and unclear authority
to conduct unannounced inspections. The government, in
cooperation with foreign law enforcement, interviewed 117
Georgians employed outside of the country to screen for
labor exploitation. The government demonstrated efforts to
reduce the demand for commercial sex and forced labor. A
number of teenage girls alleged they were sexually abused by
peacekeepers, including Georgian troops, posted in the Central
African Republic; it was unclear whether trafficking crimes may
have occurred. The government conducted a comprehensive
investigation by speaking with victims and witnesses and
announced there was no evidence of sexual abuse by Georgian
peacekeepers; however, the government did not yet release the
final report. The government provided anti-trafficking training
for its diplomatic personnel and its armed forces prior to
deployment as peacekeepers.

TRAFFICKING PROFILE

As reported over the past five years, Georgia is a source, transit,
and destination country for women and girls subjected to
sex trafficking and men, women, and children subjected to
forced labor. Women and girls from Georgia are subjected to
sex trafficking within the country, in Turkey, and, to a lesser
extent, in China and the United Arab Emirates. Georgia is also
a transit country for women from Central Asia exploited in
Turkey. Women from Azerbaijan and Central Asia are subjected
to forced prostitution in the tourist areas of the Adjara region
and in saunas, strip clubs, casinos, and hotels. The majority of
identified trafficking victims are young, foreign women seeking
employment. Georgian men and women are subjected to forced
labor within Georgia and in Turkey, United Arab Emirates, Egypt,
Cyprus, and Iraq. Georgian, Romani, and Kurdish children
are subjected to forced begging or coerced into criminality in
Georgia. No information was available about the presence of
human trafficking in the separatist regions of Abkhazia and
South Ossetia; however, the government and NGOs consider
IDPs from these occupied territories particularly vulnerable
to trafficking.

GERMANY: TIER 1
The Government of Germany fully meets the minimum
standards for the elimination of trafficking. The government
continued to demonstrate serious and sustained efforts during

the reporting period; therefore, Germany remained on Tier 1.
The government demonstrated serious and sustained efforts by
passing stronger criminal statutes on labor and sex trafficking
and identifying significantly more labor trafficking victims.
Although the government meets the minimum standards,
weak sentences for trafficking convictions, with only 26 percent
of convicted traffickers serving prison time, undercut efforts
to hold traffickers accountable. The impact of the criminal
statute revisions was yet to be realized given the recent
date of implementation. Government-funded counseling
centers or youth welfare organizations provided assistance to
approximately one-third of victims identified, and just under
half of identified victims did not receive specialized care. Efforts
to identify and assist labor trafficking victims and prosecute
and convict labor traffickers remained inadequate given the
scope of the problem.

GERMANY

to fund an anti-trafficking hotline operated by police from the
anti-trafficking division and another hotline operated by the
State Fund that received calls from trafficking victims. In 2016,
the anti-trafficking hotline received calls from 114 persons
and the state fund hotline received 116 calls, which led to the
identification of no victims and initiation of 18 investigations.

RECOMMENDATIONS FOR GERMANY

Sentence convicted traffickers to punishments proportionate
to the severity of the crime; increase efforts to address labor
trafficking through proactive identification of victims and
public awareness campaigns on criminal code reforms; increase
the number of victims provided government-funded services;
increase the capacity of prosecutors and courts to minimize delay
in bringing cases to trial; standardize victim assistance measures
and cooperation with civil society across the 16 federal states,
including on labor trafficking victim assistance; extend more
specialized care based on trafficking victims’ specific needs;
expand longer-term residence permit eligibility for victims; and
conduct awareness campaigns targeting beneficiaries of forced
labor and clients of the commercial sex industry.

PROSECUTION

The government maintained law enforcement efforts. The
criminal code prohibits all forms of sex and labor trafficking
under sections 232 and 233, respectively. Punishments
prescribed in these statutes range from six months to 10 years
imprisonment and are sufficiently stringent and commensurate
with penalties prescribed for other serious crimes, such as
rape. Amendments to the criminal statutes on both labor and
sex trafficking went into effect in October and include forced
begging and forced criminal behavior and stronger penalties in
cases in which the victims are under the age of 18 (where as the
law had earlier applied only to victims under the age of 14), and
also impose penalties on persons knowingly engaging trafficking
victims as a purchaser of commercial sex. Section 233, however,
posed significant challenges for law enforcement and judicial
officials due to its complex wording and scope of application.
As a result, prosecutors often charged suspected perpetrators
with offenses that were easier to prove than coercion in labor
and sex trafficking, or reduced charges through the use of plea
bargains. For sex trafficking the law does not require proof of
force or coercion to prosecute perpetrators if the victim who
is induced to engage in prostitution is under age 21. Statistics
on criminal convictions provided by the government did not
include cases involving trafficking when a trafficker was tried

179

GERMANY

and convicted for a different criminal offense with a longer
sentence. This may have lowered the reported number of
trafficking offenses recorded, as well as the number of traffickers
convicted on a different charge. Government statistics indicated
convicted traffickers frequently avoided imprisonment, creating
potential safety problems for trafficking victims, weakening
deterrence, and undercutting efforts of police and prosecutors.
The government reported actions against sex trafficking in 2015,
the most recent year for which comprehensive statistics were
available. Police identified 573 suspected sex traffickers, an
increase from 507 identified in 2014, 25 percent of whom were
German citizens. State and federal authorities completed 364
pre-trial sex trafficking investigations in 2015, a slight decline
from 392 in 2014 and 425 in 2013. Authorities prosecuted
89 defendants for sex trafficking in 2014, a decline from 105
prosecutions in 2014. Courts convicted 72 sex traffickers in
2015, compared to 79 in 2014 and 77 in 2013, with less than
30 percent serving prison time. Most convicted traffickers
received lenient prison sentences under a provision in the
criminal code allowing suspension of prison sentences under
two years, particularly for first-time offenders. Of the 72 sex
trafficking convictions, 12 received only a fine or other nonincarceration penalty, 45 were sentenced to two years or less,
and 42 of those received suspended sentences. In total, only 19
sex traffickers were sentenced to actual prison time, 16 serving
sentences between two and five years, and three serving less
than two years.
For labor trafficking, police identified 24 suspected labor
traffickers in both 2015 and 2014. The government investigated
19 cases in 2015, an increase from 11 in 2014. Authorities
prosecuted 12 alleged labor traffickers in 2015, compared with
17 in 2014. Courts convicted five of these offenders, compared
with eight convicted in 2014. Three received a suspended
sentence and two received prison terms. Of the 77 combined
convictions for labor and sex trafficking, 13 were against persons
between age 18 and 21, considered juveniles under German
law. Juvenile cases are tried under a separate system, in which
case the court has discretion to examine the offender’s degree
of maturity and the type of offense committed relative to the
maturity level. Prosecution within the juvenile system allows a
wider range of sentences other than incarceration. Authorities
seized assets in only a few investigations, totaling €512,000
($539,520) in 2015. Prosecutors must prove seized assets were
direct proceeds of trafficking, a difficult burden to meet.

180

Although sex trafficking cases were frequently led by prosecutors
with experience assisting victims through trial processes, labor
trafficking cases were mostly assigned to financial or economic
crime sections with less experience with trafficking or victimcentered prosecutions. Police, prosecutors, and some NGOs also
noted a decrease in specialized knowledge, especially as cases
moved to trial. NGOs and officials reported mixed experiences
with the judiciary; while some judges were sensitive to victims’
trauma, others subjected victims to repeated testimonies or
made insensitive statements about their experiences. According
to NGOs, the duration of the average criminal investigation
remained too long, sometimes years, and police in many
jurisdictions lacked sufficient staff to process the workload
in a timely manner. Judges were sometimes unfamiliar with
special considerations in trafficking cases and were not required
to take training on trafficking crimes and victim-centered
procedures. The German Judicial Academy continued annual
anti-trafficking training to prosecutors and judges covering the
sexual exploitation of women and children in connection with
cross-border crime, with 27 persons receiving training in 2016.

The Federal Criminal Police organized specialized seminars to
educate investigating officers and prosecutors on trafficking.
Both federal and state-level police collaborated with EUROPOL
and several foreign governments, including Romania, Bulgaria,
and Nigeria, to investigate trafficking cases. The government did
not report any investigations, prosecutions, or convictions of
government officials complicit in human trafficking offenses.

PROTECTION

The government maintained victim protection efforts.
Authorities identified 416 sex trafficking victims in 2015, a
decrease from 557 in 2014 (the decline explained in part
due to a single case in 2014 with 110 victims). Governmentfunded counseling centers or youth welfare organizations
provided assistance to approximately 36 percent of victims
identified, while 48 percent did not receive specialized care,
and there was no information on the remaining 16 percent
of victims. The government asserted many victims did not
receive counseling due to their lack of interest, return home,
or return to prostitution. Of identified sex trafficking victims,
20 percent were under age 18 and 34 percent were between
18 and 21 years old.
The government identified 54 labor trafficking victims, a
significant increase from 26 in 2013, with one-third in the
agricultural sector and one-fourth in the construction sector.
One investigation in Saxony-Anhalt involved 18 Romanian
citizens found living and working in the agriculture industry
under precarious conditions with wages withheld, following
recruitment by a licensed recruiter.
Thirteen of the 16 states had formal cooperation agreements
with trafficking counseling centers, but not all of these
agreements addressed labor trafficking. NGOs, funded in part
by the government, operated counseling centers in 45 cities,
providing or facilitating shelter, medical and psychological
care, legal assistance, vocational support, and other services,
largely for adult female sex trafficking victims, estimated at
90 percent of the total victims identified. Some counseling
centers dealt specifically with boys, although NGOs reported
the availability of adequate and secure accommodation was
insufficient in some parts of the country. The government
mandated counseling centers to provide services to both labor
and sex trafficking victims, although many solely provided
services to female sex trafficking victims, and the centers were
generally less experienced with labor trafficking. There was no
comprehensive or long term support available for children and
male trafficking victims. Trade union-affiliated and migrant
counseling centers coordinated with trafficking NGOs to offer
support to labor trafficking victims. The federal governmentfunded an umbrella organization responsible for NGO-run
counseling centers, and many state governments provided
significant supplemental funding for victim support.
The government offered undocumented victims a reflection
period of three months to decide if they would testify in court.
Only those victims who agreed to testify were allowed to remain
and work in Germany beyond the reflection period, which was
limited to the duration of the trial. Victims who faced injury
or threats to life or freedom in their countries of origin or in
cases of humanitarian hardship could apply for residence
permits. Family members were eligible for residency in certain
circumstances. State interior ministries circulated instructions on
completing an application for humanitarian residence permits
for victims, and NGOs confirmed the application system seemed
to work in practice. However, the law still gives some discretion

PREVENTION

The government maintained efforts to prevent trafficking.
The government did not prioritize labor trafficking as highly
as sex trafficking, but continued to increase efforts to assess
and address labor trafficking through a partially federally
funded labor alliance conducting research, raising awareness,
and providing victim identification training. The federal-state
working group on trafficking in persons disseminated best
practices, provided input and evaluation on the government’s
anti-trafficking efforts, and collaborated with anti-trafficking
coordination bodies at state and local levels. The federal-state
working group against labor trafficking, formed in 2016, held
working group meetings in April and June. In October, the
labor ministry presented a first draft strategy to combat labor
trafficking based on input from these meetings, which included
recommendations to establish a national rapporteur, improve
coordination within the federal government, and establish a
national coordinating service point for labor trafficking issues.
The government continued, however, to debate the need for a
national rapporteur given existence of other interagency and
state-federal coordination anti-trafficking entities.
Working with NGOs, the government co-funded and
implemented various public awareness campaigns during
the reporting period. The Federal Agency for Migration and
Refugees (BAMF) trained officials on identifying victims among
asylum-seekers, and implemented standard procedures for
handling and reporting suspected trafficking cases among the
growing number of petitioners for asylum. Recommendations
in a BAMF-funded study on “Flight and Trafficking—Support
Structures for Women and Minors,” released in December,
included improving the system of identification of vulnerable
asylum-seekers, increasing personnel in counseling centers
trained in trafficking issues, expanding support for care of
minors, and researching why victims from some countries have
a much higher rate of seeking assistance. The government, in
cooperation with an NGO, continued to hold informational
events and annual in-person interviews with domestic workers
employed by embassies in Berlin without the presence of their
employers, advising them of their rights and anti-trafficking laws.
The federal criminal police continued to publish an annual

report on trafficking in Germany, describing law enforcement
efforts, victim trends, and challenges in addressing the crime,
and in November the government published its report on
human rights, including national and international countertrafficking efforts. The government continued to fund a hotline
for women affected by violence, including female trafficking
victims. The hotline was available in 15 languages, and provided
counseling in 86 trafficking-related cases in 2015, a 50 percent
increase from 2014. The government did not make efforts
to reduce the demand for commercial sex or forced labor.
However, a new law published in October 2016 slated to go
into effect in July 2017, strengthens protections for persons
in prostitution, including registration of those employed in
commercial sex and requiring background checks on brothel
management employees. Law enforcement collaborated with
foreign officials to investigate German citizens’ participation
in child sex tourism, and a German citizen was convicted in
Germany in April to four years in prison for sexual abuse of
minors in Cambodia. The government did not provide antitrafficking training for its diplomatic personnel, but did so
for troops prior to deployment on international peacekeeping
missions. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs funded six antitrafficking programs in source countries in 2016, including
victim identification and prevention campaigns in South
America, training of law enforcement and border protection
forces in sub-Saharan Africa, and capacity building on trafficking
prevention in the Middle East and North Africa.

GHANA

to authorities before approval, and a perceived uncertainty
hindered the willingness of some victims to identify themselves
and in turn testify against suspected traffickers. Since most labor
and sex trafficking victims were either German or EU citizens
and did not require permits to remain in Germany, authorities
asserted this was not a large scale concern; however, NGOs cited
that some non-German or non-EU victims remained fearful of
coming forward given the uncertainty of application approval,
although NGOs also confirmed there were no known denials
of a residency application in these situations. Subject to certain
requirements victims may join criminal trials as joint plaintiffs,
entitled to free legal counsel and pursuit of civil remedies;
however, victims often had difficulty obtaining compensation
in practice. The law entitles victims to an interpreter and a thirdparty representative from a counseling center to accompany
them to all interviews. The law also exempts trafficking victims
from criminal prosecution for minor crimes committed during
the course of their trafficking; however, prosecutors anecdotally
cited cases where victims were given small or suspended fines
for crimes such as narcotics possession. An NGO also noted that
police often raised the issue of legal status in Germany when
questioning trafficking victims, which was counterproductive
in gaining victims’ cooperation for further investigation.

TRAFFICKING PROFILE

As reported over the past five years, Germany is a source, transit,
and destination country for women, children, and men subjected
to sex and labor trafficking. Most identified sex trafficking victims
in Germany are European, primarily Bulgarians, Romanians,
and Germans, although victims also come from most other
regions of the world, particularly Nigeria and other parts of
Africa. Most sex trafficking victims are exploited in bars, brothels,
and apartments. Labor trafficking victims are predominantly
European, including Bulgarians, Poles, and Romanians, as well
as Afghans, Pakistanis, and Vietnamese. Victims of forced labor
are exploited on construction sites and in agriculture, hotels,
meat processing plants, seasonal industries, restaurants, and
diplomatic households. Romani and foreign unaccompanied
minors are particularly vulnerable to trafficking, including
forced begging and coerced criminal behavior. The large influx
of migrants during the 2015 and 2016 refugee crises continues
to place a significant strain on government resources at all levels
and among agencies responsible for combating trafficking. This
impacted the overall capacity to screen and identify potential
trafficking victims among irregular migrant arrivals, and these
irregular migrants and refugees remain vulnerable to sex and
labor trafficking. Several foreign governments also reported
German citizens engaged in sex tourism abroad.

GHANA: TIER 2 WATCH LIST
The Government of Ghana does not fully meet the minimum
standards for the elimination of trafficking; however, it is making
significant efforts to do so. The government demonstrated
significant efforts during the reporting period by providing
protection services to more child trafficking victims, raising
awareness, developing agreements with other governments
to prevent cross-border sex and labor trafficking of Ghanaian
citizens, and collaborating with international organizations
and NGOs to develop and begin implementation of victim

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GHANA

identification and referral procedures and a national action plan.
However, the government did not demonstrate increasing efforts
compared to the previous reporting period. The government
did not convict any traffickers under the anti-trafficking law;
insufficient resources for investigation and prosecution led
to inadequate evidence collection and hindered prosecution
efforts. Victim protection services remained limited, and the
lack of systematic data collection hindered efforts to monitor,
analyze, and report on anti-trafficking efforts. Because the
government has devoted sufficient resources to a written plan
that, if implemented, would constitute significant efforts to
meet the minimum standards, Ghana was granted a waiver
per the Trafficking Victims Protection Act from an otherwise
required downgrade to Tier 3. Therefore, Ghana remained on
Tier 2 Watch List for the third consecutive year.

RECOMMENDATIONS FOR GHANA

Increase the number of traffickers held accountable for
their crimes by providing sufficient support for police and
immigration service investigators and prosecutors, and attorney
general prosecutors to effectively investigate and prosecute
sex trafficking and labor trafficking offenses using the antitrafficking act; increase government support for comprehensive
trauma-informed care and reintegration services for children in
government-operated shelters, including child sex trafficking
victims; implement the national plan of action against trafficking
with dedicated resources, including funding and implementation
of the human trafficking fund; provide protection and assistance
services for adult trafficking victims; increase efforts to ensure
attorney general prosecutors review human trafficking case
dockets and lead the prosecution of human trafficking cases;
provide advanced training to law enforcement on evidence
collection in trafficking cases and to prosecutors and judges on
pursuing cases under the anti-trafficking act; fully implement
systematic procedures for law enforcement, social welfare
personnel, and labor inspectors to proactively identify trafficking
victims among vulnerable populations and refer them to
protective services; develop and implement systematic methods
of collecting and reporting data on investigations, prosecutions,
victims identified by enforcement and protection agencies, and
assistance provided; and increase efforts to investigate and
prosecute recruitment agencies suspected of participating in
human trafficking of Ghanaian migrant workers.

PROSECUTION

182

The government maintained modest anti-trafficking law
enforcement efforts. The 2005 Human Trafficking Act, amended
in 2009 to align its definition of human trafficking with the
2000 UN TIP Protocol, criminalizes all forms of trafficking,
essentially tracking international law in defining the crime as the
use of force, fraud or coercion for the purpose of exploitation,
to include forced labor and prostitution. It also provides that a
defendant will be guilty of the crime of sex trafficking of a child
if the child is induced to engage in prostitution without regard
to the use of force, fraud or coercion. The Human Trafficking Act

prescribes penalties of a minimum of five years imprisonment,
which are sufficiently stringent and commensurate with those
prescribed for other serious crimes, such as rape. The 2015
regulations for this Act provide specific guidance on sentencing
depending on the circumstances; in general the term is not less
than five years and not more than 25 years, but if a parent,
guardian or other person with parental responsibilities facilitates
or engages in trafficking, they are liable to a fine or a term of
imprisonment of not less than five years and not more than 10
years, or both. By allowing for a fine in lieu of imprisonment,
this prescribed punishment is not commensurate with those
for other serious crime, such as rape.
The government did not report comprehensive statistics on its
anti-trafficking law enforcement efforts during the reporting
period January 1-December 31, 2016. The Ghana police
service (GPS) anti-human trafficking unit (AHTU) reported
conducting 118 investigations of potential trafficking crimes,
compared with 238 investigations in 2015; of these, 114 were
for labor trafficking and four for sex trafficking. The Ministry
of Employment and Labor Relations (MELR) investigated three
licensed recruitment agencies for suspected human trafficking
during the reporting period and referred two cases to the AHTU
for further investigation. The Ghana Immigration Service
(GIS) reported investigating 20 cases of suspected cross-border
trafficking, compared with 10 cases in 2015; of these, 18 cases
involved suspected labor trafficking, one alleged sex trafficking,
and another both sex and labor trafficking. The GPS reported
initiating prosecutions against seven defendants, compared
with 21 defendants in 2015. The GIS reported preparing for
prosecution the case of one defendant in a case involving
three Ghanaian children intercepted before being sent to
Cameroon for suspected labor trafficking. The GPS also reported
prosecuting at least 17 labor trafficking cases and three sex
trafficking cases initiated in prior years that remained pending
before the courts; many of these cases were reportedly stalled
and an unknown number of pending cases were dismissed due
to a lack of evidence, inability to locate the alleged perpetrator,
or victims’ reluctance to testify. The attorney general’s (AG)
department reviewed 217 open investigations of the Greater
Accra AHTU and determined many cases were inadequately
investigated and recommended only five cases for prosecution
by state attorneys; however, these cases were not brought to
trial during the reporting period. As in the previous reporting
period, the government reported no convictions under the
anti-trafficking act in 2016; however, the government reported
seven convictions for offenses using other statutes that resulted
in lesser penalties. For example, prosecution of a trafficker for
the labor exploitation of a 15-year-old boy working on a fishing
boat without pay on Lake Volta resulted in a sentence of a fine
of 720 cedis ($170). A reported lack of evidence resulted in
reduced charges in a case in which the government convicted
and sentenced to two months imprisonment two traffickers
for the forced prostitution of a Nigerian woman. In addition,
the GPS reported four convictions for labor trafficking but did
not report information about sentencing. Despite continued
reports of general corruption and bribery in the judicial system
as well as interference with police investigations of suspected
trafficking, the government did not report any investigations,
prosecutions, or convictions of government officials complicit
in human trafficking offenses.
For the fourth year, the AHTU did not receive operating funds
and relied on donor support for logistics, equipment, and
facilities for identified adult victims. AHTUs in some regions
did not have personnel assigned throughout the reporting
period. The GIS also reported a lack of financial support and

PROTECTION

The government maintained modest efforts to identify and assist
victims. The human trafficking fund, established by the 2005
Human Trafficking Act to finance protection efforts, continued
to be unfunded for the fifth consecutive year and agencies
responsible for victim identification and assistance reported a
continued lack of funds to support services for both children
and adults. The government did not report comprehensive
statistics on the number of trafficking victims it identified or
assisted. The AHTU reported identifying 121 potential victims,
of whom 112 were victims of labor trafficking and nine of sex
trafficking, compared with 112 victims reported identified in
2015. Most identified victims were adults; 28 were children. The
GIS identified 42 potential trafficking victims, including 19 at
airports, border crossings, and GIS offices, and 23 repatriated
from Saudi Arabia and Kuwait, most of whom were young adult
females and seven of whom were potential child labor trafficking
victims. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration
(MFA) facilitated the repatriation of Ghanaian trafficking victims
identified abroad by liaising with the victims’ families, private
donors, and the government in the destination countries. Private
citizens and NGOs continued to take primary responsibility
for funding the return of Ghanaians trafficked abroad. NGOs
working in cooperation with local social service workers and
police identified and assisted 102 child trafficking victims, 61
boys and 41girls. With support from donors, the Department
of Social Welfare provided medical, legal, and psycho-social
services for 31 child victims of labor trafficking, nine boys and
22 girls, in a shelter for abused children in Osu, and referred
76 child victims of labor trafficking, 66 boys and 10 girls, to
private shelters in the Central Region. Of these 107 children,
75 were reintegrated with their families and 32 remained in
the shelter at the end of the reporting period. Five foreign
national children received psycho-social and legal assistance
in the Osu shelter. The shelter in Osu provides short-term care
and has a maximum capacity of 30 children. This shelter is colocated with a juvenile correctional facility with no structural
barrier protecting the victims from criminal offenders, is in
serious disrepair, and lacks security. The government provided
the salaries of the Osu shelter staff and approximately 3,710
cedis ($880) for shelter operations; the shelter also relied on
support from donors and internally generated funds to help
feed, clothe, and provide care for trafficking victims. Numerous
NGOs, without government support, continued to provide
shelter and comprehensive care to child victims of forced labor;
few services were available for child sex trafficking victims. The
government did not provide shelter or other services for adult
victims of trafficking. The GIS and AHTU reported they did
not have the means to provide shelter or to effectively protect
witnesses. Ghanaian law permits victims of trafficking to pursue
restitution by filing a civil suit. No such suits were reported;
however, the government reported that some Ghanaian victims
received unpaid wages from foreign employers after the victims
reported their case to authorities.
The government collaborated with international organizations

and NGOs to develop formal procedures to identify and refer
victims and began implementing these mechanisms during
the reporting period. GIS deployed some officers with training
on the indicators of trafficking to field offices, including at the
border. Foreign victims may seek temporary residency during
the investigation and prosecution of their cases and, with the
interior minister’s approval, permanent residency if deemed
to be in the victim’s best interest; no victims sought temporary
or permanent residency during the year. The GIS supported
the repatriation of an adult sex trafficking victim to Nigeria in
coordination with a Nigerian anti-trafficking agency. There were
no reports victims were penalized for unlawful acts committed
as a direct result of being subjected to trafficking; however
the GIS reported placing one trafficking victim in a detention
facility due to a lack of budgetary resources or government-run
shelter for adult victims.

GHANA

inadequate facilities for anti-trafficking activities. The AG’s
office also reported a shortage of prosecutors. The government
supported a specialized anti-trafficking training for 25 border
security and law enforcement officers, trained officers assigned
to the new anti-trafficking airport taskforce, and provided inkind support for a donor-funded training for investigators and
prosecutors during the reporting period. New recruits in the
GIS and the GPS received training on trafficking-related topics
as part of their basic training.

PREVENTION

The government increased anti-trafficking prevention efforts.
The government supported three meetings during the year of
the Human Trafficking Management Board (HTMB), the interministerial committee responsible for advising the Ministry
of Gender, Children, and Social Protection on anti-trafficking
policy, promoting prevention efforts, and facilitating the
rehabilitation and reintegration of trafficking victims. HTMB
did not receive sufficient personnel and government funds
to fulfill its mandate to conduct monitoring and evaluation,
data collection, and research relating to trafficking. The HTMB
Secretariat developed and distributed a template for collecting
and reporting governmental anti-trafficking activities; however,
reliable data collection for analysis and reporting of antitrafficking enforcement and protection activities continued to be
lacking. With support from an international organization and
with input from stakeholders, the government drafted a National
Plan of Action for the Elimination of Human Trafficking in
Ghana, 2017-2021, which remained pending final approval.
The action plan includes activities under four objectives aligned
with the four-P paradigm: prosecution, protection, prevention,
and partnership. The government allocated 1.5 million cedis
($355,450) toward the implementation of the plan in 2017,
including 500,000 cedis ($118,480) for the human trafficking
fund. The local government authorities in 20 communities in
two regions partnered with an NGO to conduct community-level
training on child trafficking prevention and identification and
appropriate care for child trafficking victims. The government
did not fulfill its commitment to increase its resources devoted
to combating child trafficking as it had committed to do as
part of its partnership with a foreign donor. In response to
continued reports of sex and labor trafficking, as well as serious
physical abuse of Ghanaian women recruited for domestic and
hospitality jobs in the Middle East, the MFA, Ministry of the
Interior, MELR, GIS, GPS, and the HTMB Secretariat participated
in radio and television programs to raise awareness of fraudulent
recruitment agencies and advise prospective job seekers to
avoid unlicensed agencies. The MELR increased the number
of registered recruitment agencies from 22 to 44 and widely
publicized the list of these agencies. The government also signed
an MOU with the Government of Jordan to formalize labor
recruitment between the two countries and provide support
for repatriation of Ghanaian trafficking victims identified in
Jordan. Ghana and Cote d’Ivoire also signed a cooperation
agreement on the fight against cross-border child trafficking
and the worst forms of child labor. The government made
no efforts to decrease the demand for forced labor or for
commercial sex acts. The government relied on foreign donors
to provide anti-trafficking training to Ghanaian troops prior

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GREECE
184

to their deployment abroad on peacekeeping missions. The
government did not provide anti-trafficking training for its
diplomatic personnel.

TRAFFICKING PROFILE

As reported over the past five years, Ghana is a source, transit,
and destination country for men, women, and children
subjected to forced labor and sex trafficking. The exploitation
of Ghanaians, particularly children, within the country is
more prevalent than the transnational trafficking of foreign
nationals. Ghanaian boys and girls are subjected to forced
labor within the country in fishing, domestic service, street
hawking, begging, portering, artisanal gold mining, quarrying,
herding, and agriculture. Donor-funded research focused
on the fishing industry on Lake Volta indicated that more
than half of the children working on and around the lake
were born in other communities and many of these children
are subjected to forced labor, not allowed to attend school,
given inadequate housing and clothing, and are controlled by
fishermen through intimidation, violence, and limiting access
to food. Boys as young as five years old are forced to work in
hazardous conditions, including deep diving, and many suffer
water-born infections; girls perform work on shore such as
cooking, cleaning fish, and preparing fish for market, and are
vulnerable to sexual abuse. A study of the prevalence of child
trafficking in selected communities in the Volta and Central
Regions indicated that children from nearly one-third of the
1,621 households surveyed had been subjected to trafficking,
primarily in fishing and domestic servitude. Child trafficking in
the fishing industry is often facilitated by parents who receive
a payment and organized traffickers who target vulnerable
communities; girls exploited in domestic servitude are often
sent via relatives or middlemen to work in harsh conditions.
Ghanaian girls, and to a lesser extent boys, are subjected to
sex trafficking in Ghana. Sex trafficking of Ghanaian girls has
been reported in the Greater Accra, Ashanti, Central, Volta,
and Western regions. As part of a ritual to atone for sins of a
family member, Ghanaian girls are subjected to servitude that
can last for a few months or several years. Ghanaian girls and
young women from the rural northern regions move to urban
centers throughout Ghana to seek work as porters; they are at
risk for sex trafficking and forced labor.
Ghanaian women and children are recruited and sent to the
Middle East, West Africa, and Europe for forced labor and
sex trafficking. Unscrupulous agencies arrange transport of
Ghanaians seeking employment in Europe through neighboring
African countries, where they are subjected to sexual exploitation
and held involuntarily by traffickers who extort funds from
the victims. Licensed and unlicensed agencies recruit young
Ghanaian women for domestic service or hospitality industry
jobs in countries in the Middle East. After their return, many
of them report being deceived, overworked, starved, abused,
molested, and/or forced into prostitution. Ghanaian men are
also recruited under false pretenses to go to the Middle East,
where they are subjected to domestic servitude and forced
prostitution. In recent years, a few Ghanaian men and women
were identified as victims of forced labor in the United States.
Women and girls voluntarily migrating from Vietnam, China,
and neighboring West African countries are subjected to sex
trafficking in Ghana. Citizens from West African countries are
subjected to forced labor in Ghana in agriculture or domestic
service. Ghana is a transit point for West Africans subjected
to sex trafficking in Europe, especially Italy and Germany.
Corruption and bribery in the judicial system hinder antitrafficking measures.

GREECE: TIER 2
The Government of Greece does not fully meet the minimum
standards for the elimination of trafficking; however, it is making
significant efforts to do so. The government demonstrated
increasing efforts compared to the previous reporting period;
therefore, Greece remained on Tier 2. Despite Greece’s economic
crisis and the influx of refugees and migrants to the country,
which placed a significant strain on government resources, the
government demonstrated increasing efforts by operationalizing
a national referral mechanism and organizing working groups
to establish roles and responsibilities for relevant actors. The
Office of the National Rapporteur on Human Trafficking
continued to coordinate government wide anti-trafficking
efforts, including the annual anti-trafficking awareness festival,
attended by more than 6,000 people. The Anti-Trafficking
Unit (ATU) continued proactive victim identification efforts
and maintained excellent cooperation with NGOs. However,
the government did not meet the minimum standards in
several key areas. The government decreased investigations,
prosecutions, and convictions. The government conducted
inadequate or hasty screening procedures and vulnerability
assessments at migrant entry points and camps. No victims
to date have received compensation or received restitution
from their traffickers. Court proceedings took years, hindering
cooperation from victims and key witnesses.

RECOMMENDATIONS FOR GREECE

Vigorously investigate, prosecute, and convict traffickers,
including officials complicit in trafficking; increase efforts
to identify trafficking victims among vulnerable populations
and refer them to specialized services; provide advanced
training to judges, prosecutors, and law enforcement on
trafficking investigations and prosecutions; establish formal
procedures for the national referral mechanism, including
formalizing NGO and international organization services into
the mechanism; train first responders on victim identification
and the national referral mechanism; strengthen specialized
services including shelter and psycho-social support for adult
male and child victims; employ witness protection provisions
already incorporated into law to further encourage victims’
participation in investigations and prosecutions; allocate
adequate funds towards a compensation fund and inform
victims of their right to compensation; and draft a national
action plan for combating trafficking.

PROSECUTION

The government decreased law enforcement efforts. Law
3064/2002 and Presidential Decree 233/2003 prohibit both sex
trafficking and forced labor and prescribe punishments of up to
10 years imprisonment. These penalties are sufficiently stringent
and commensurate with those prescribed for other serious
crimes, such as rape. Police investigated 25 cases involving 97
suspected traffickers, compared to 32 cases in 2015. Of these,

The Hellenic Police Unit maintained an ATU within the
organized crime division composed of two units in Athens
and Thessaloniki that investigated trafficking and 12 smaller
units across municipalities investigating trafficking and also
organized crime related offenses. ATU officers continued to
use advanced investigative techniques and regularly inspected
brothels, bars, and massage parlors. NGOs continued to report
excellent cooperation with the ATU. The government trained
front-line officers, including border police and coast guard, on
trafficking issues and the ATU provided regular seminars and
presentations at the police academy on trafficking; however,
observers reported non-specialized law enforcement and
government officials lacked an understanding of how emotional
control or psychological coercion can be used to gain consent
from a victim. The government prosecuted two police officers
involved in an organized criminal group that sexually exploited
women. One was charged with membership in an organized
criminal group, sexual exploitation, and “breach of faith and
abuse of power,” and the other with “breach of faith and
abuse of power” and customs law violation. The government
extradited three suspected traffickers to Switzerland and prepared
extradition for two individuals to Mexico and Albania. In March
2017, the European Court of Human Rights ruled that Greece
failed to protect 23 Bangladeshi laborers on a strawberry farm
near the town of Manolada in a forced labor case in 2013. The
court found Greece to be in violation of article 4 § 2 of the
European Convention on Human Rights and ordered Greece
to pay out more than half a million euro for neglecting their
exploitation.

PROTECTION

The government slightly increased victim protection efforts.
Police identified 46 trafficking victims, compared to 57 in 2015;
26 were subjected to sex trafficking, including five children,
and 20 to forced labor, including 11 children (34 to sexual
exploitation, including four children, and 23 to forced labor in
2015). Eleven victims were Greek and 35 were foreign citizens.
The government was unable to determine how much funding
was spent exclusively on victim protection, and NGOs expressed
concerns regarding government funding shortfalls caused by
Greece’s seven-year economic crisis and fiscal measures imposed
as part of its international bailout.
First responders followed standard operating procedures for
identifying victims. Observers reported NGOs and the ATU
conducted the majority of proactive victim identification
efforts. The government, separately and in cooperation with
international organizations and NGOs trained law enforcement,
immigration officers, social service workers, labor inspectors,
and health workers on identifying trafficking victims, including
potential victims among refugees and migrants; however,

observers reported inadequate or hasty screenings procedures
and vulnerability assessments at migrant entry points and
camps. NGOs reported a lack of proactive identification efforts
among vulnerable unaccompanied children. For example,
observers reported unaccompanied children, particularly
from Afghanistan, engaged in survival sex in Athens and were
extremely vulnerable to trafficking. Public prosecutors officially
certify victims, which entitles them to a residency and work
permit; potential victims without this recognition had access
to equal support and assistance. Public prosecutors officially
certified four victims.

GREECE

18 were sex trafficking cases and seven forced labor cases (26
sex trafficking cases and six forced labor cases in 2015). The
government prosecuted 32 defendants (117 in 2015), 25 of
these for sex trafficking and seven for forced labor (97 for sex
trafficking and 20 for forced labor in 2015). The government
convicted nine traffickers (34 in 2015). Sentences ranged from
10 to 15 years imprisonment plus fines from €10,000 ($10,540)
to €100,000 ($105,370). The courts issued suspended sentences
in 19 cases. Observers reported court proceedings could take
years, hindering cooperation from victims and key witnesses.
Observers reported lawyers went on strike from January 2016
to June 2016, which halted or slowed all court proceedings.
Severe budgetary constraints stemming from Greece’s seven-year
financial crisis continue to impact police efforts.

The government operationalized a national referral
mechanism and organized working groups to establish roles
and responsibilities among law enforcement, government
agencies, and NGOs. The government, in cooperation with
NGOs, provided shelter, psychological support, medical
care, legal aid, and reintegration support. Despite excellent
cooperation with the ATU, NGOs reported law enforcement
generally demonstrated reluctance to refer victims to NGOrun support services due to a lack of formalized referral
procedures incorporating NGOs. Observers reported a lack
of specialized shelters for trafficking victims; only one NGOrun shelter provided shelter specifically for female trafficking
victims. The government provided shelter and general support
services to trafficking victims through two agencies: (1) the
General Secretariat for Gender Equality operated 19 shelters
and 40 counseling centers for female victims of violence and
(2) the National Social Solidarity Center operated two longterm shelters, one of which had an emergency section, an
emergency shelter, and two social support centers for vulnerable
populations in need of assistance. Observers reported victims
in rural areas had little access to support services and were
often accommodated in police stations, hospital wards, or
received no assistance. Male victims could be accommodated
in an NGO-run shelter for sexually exploited men or short-term
government shelters for asylum-seekers or homeless persons.
Child victims were sheltered in government-run shelters, NGO
shelters, and facilities for unaccompanied minors, but were
not housed in specialized facilities for trafficking victims. The
government signed a cooperation agreement with three NGOs
to house, protect, and assist vulnerable women and children,
including trafficking victims, and allocated three buildings to
use as shelters. The government trained police on preventing
child trafficking and protecting unaccompanied minors. The
government did not detain, jail, incarcerate, fine, or otherwise
penalize trafficking victims for unlawful acts committed as a
direct result of being subjected to human trafficking.
The government provided victims with a reflection period
so they could determine if they wanted to cooperate in
investigations. The government did not provide funding for
travel and other expenses to attend court hearings; however,
NGOs provided some victims with legal support and funding
for travel expenses. The law also provides for the presence of
mental health professionals when victims are testifying and the
use of audiovisual technology for remote testimony, but many
courts lacked the capabilities to deploy these resources and
many judges continued to require victims to appear in court.
The law provides for witness protection to victims during trial;
however, observers reported no trafficking victims have received
full witness protection privileges to date, while authorities
stated no victims requested such protection. Observers reported
traffickers may have paid bribes to repatriated trafficking
victims to preclude them from testifying. Official victim status
provided foreign victims one-year, renewable residence and
work permits. Victims who did not apply for official recognition

185

GUATEMALA

could receive a residence and work permit by applying for
asylum on humanitarian grounds; the government issued 23
residence permits to female trafficking victims in 2016. Observers
reported the process to receive residence permits took time but
the government granted victims a temporary document that
prevented deportation or detainment. The law entitles victims
to file civil suits against traffickers for compensation; however,
no victims to date have received compensation or received
restitution from their traffickers. The government reported
trafficking victims have never applied for compensation.

received more than 170,000 migrants and asylum-seekers
in 2016; some of these individuals, such as unaccompanied
children and single women, are highly vulnerable to trafficking.
Unaccompanied children, primarily from Afghanistan, engage
in survival sex and are vulnerable to trafficking. Recruiters target
migrants in refugee camps from their own countries. Most
migrants and asylum-seekers are believed to rely on smugglers
at some point during their journey and in some instances are
forced into exploitation upon arrival in Greece.

PREVENTION

GUATEMALA: TIER 2 WATCH LIST

The government maintained efforts to prevent trafficking.
The government had no national action plan exclusively for
anti-trafficking efforts. The Office of the National Rapporteur
on Human Trafficking (ONRHT) continued to coordinate
government wide anti-trafficking efforts despite lacking sufficient
resources. The government monitored anti-trafficking efforts
and provided assessments to foreign governments, NGOs, and
international organizations; however, the government did not
make assessments publicly available. The government reinstated
the parliamentary sub-committee on trafficking issues and held
the first meeting in June. The development of a national database
for trafficking statistics remained pending during the reporting
period. The government organized and funded its second
national two-day anti-trafficking awareness festival, attended
by more than 6,000 people. ONRHT reported, after the festival,
that the hotline and police received an increase in calls reporting
trafficking offenses, including clients of prostitution reporting
possible trafficking victims within brothels. The government
organized a series of annual anti-trafficking seminars for civil
servants. The government provided airtime for free public
service announcements by NGOs and government agencies
on trafficking issues. The government continued efforts to
reduce the demand for commercial sex and forced labor. The
government provided anti-trafficking guidance for its diplomatic
personnel and manuals on identifying trafficking victims to
facilitate granting visas.

The Government of Guatemala does not fully meet the
minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking; however,
it is making significant efforts to do so. The government
demonstrated significant efforts during the reporting period
by re-launching the Inter-Institutional Committee Against
Trafficking, developing a work plan, implementing revised
inter-institutional protocols for victim protection, increasing the
number of prosecutors in its anti-trafficking unit, and expanding
outreach to indigenous persons. The government also convicted
a former government official. However, the government did
not demonstrate increasing efforts compared to the previous
reporting period. The government prosecuted and convicted
significantly fewer defendants; identified fewer trafficking victims
in 2016 and referred fewer than half of identified victims to
shelters. At least 41 children died and more were injured when
a fire broke out in a government-managed shelter already facing
accusations of abuse and neglect for failing to properly provide
for more than 700 children, including trafficking victims. The
quality and availability of specialized victim services remained
uneven due to a lack of services for adult and male victims.
The number of department-level anti-trafficking committees,
which identified trafficking cases and conducted prevention
activities, significantly declined. Therefore, Guatemala was
downgraded to Tier 2 Watch List.

TRAFFICKING PROFILE

As reported over the past five years, Greece is a destination,
transit, and, to a very limited extent, source country for women
and children subjected to sex trafficking and men, women, and
children subjected to forced labor. Some women and children
from Eastern and Southern Europe, South Asia, Nigeria, and
China, are subjected to sex trafficking in unlicensed brothels,
on the street, in strip clubs, massage salons, and hotels. Victims
of forced labor in Greece are primarily children and men from
Eastern Europe, South Asia, and Africa. Migrant workers from
Bangladesh, Pakistan, and Afghanistan are susceptible to debt
bondage, reportedly in agriculture. Some labor trafficking
victims enter Greece through Turkey along irregular migration
routes from the Middle East and South Asia. Economically
marginalized Romani children from Albania, Bulgaria, and
Romania are forced to sell goods on the street, beg, or commit
petty theft in Greece. The increase in unaccompanied child
migrants in Greece has increased the number of children
susceptible to exploitation. Some public officials have been
investigated for suspected involvement in human trafficking.

186

During the reporting period, Greece continued to experience
a wave of migration from the Middle East, Africa, and Asia,
consisting of a mix of asylum-seekers, potential refugees,
economic migrants, and populations vulnerable to trafficking,
among others. One international organization estimated Greece

RECOMMENDATIONS FOR GUATEMALA

Review shelter standards and operations in shelters providing for
child trafficking victims nationwide and address overcrowding,
abuse, and neglect; improve access to and quality of specialized
services for all victims, including for male victims; increase
efforts to hold government officials criminally accountable
for complicity in trafficking; increase efforts to investigate,
prosecute, and convict child sex tourists and others engaged in
sex trafficking of children; strengthen implementation of the
inter-institutional protocol for the protection and attention to
victims of human trafficking; amend legislation to permit adults
access to open shelters and enhance comprehensive services
and witness protection; investigate and prosecute trafficking
offenses, with increased focus on suspected cases of forced labor
and domestic servitude; increase training for judges, who under
Guatemalan law have the sole responsibility to refer victims
to care, and ensure all victims are referred to appropriate care

PROSECUTION

The government decreased law enforcement efforts to prosecute
and convict sex and labor traffickers. The anti-trafficking law of
2009 prohibits all forms of trafficking and prescribes penalties
from eight to 18 years imprisonment, which are sufficiently
stringent and commensurate with penalties prescribed for
other serious crimes, such as rape. However, in contrast to the
international definition, the law establishes the use of force,
fraud, and coercion as aggravating factors rather than essential
elements of the crime and defines illegal adoption without
the purpose of exploitation as a form of human trafficking.
The government initiated investigations of 243 complaints
of trafficking-related offenses in 2016, compared with 280
investigations in 2015, and prosecuted 43 defendants in 39
separate trafficking-related cases, compared with 105 defendants
in 28 separate cases in 2015. These cases included suspects
prosecuted for trafficking, including individuals who solicited
or patronized a person for the purpose of a commercial sex act,
as well as illegal adoption. Authorities secured 13 convictions in
2016, compared with 39 in 2015, with sentences ranging from
eight to 24 years imprisonment. The government convicted a
former government official of sex trafficking and sexual abuse
of a child and imposed a sentence of 22 years imprisonment
and sentenced the child’s mother to 24 years imprisonment
for human trafficking and crimes against a minor.
Anti-trafficking police and prosecutors’ capacity to conduct
investigations outside of the capital, while improved, continued
to be limited by inadequate funding and training; however,
the government designated additional funds for 2017 to open
prosecution branches in Quetzaltenango, Puerto Barrios, and
Flores. Specialized courts, including a specialized 24-hour
court in Guatemala City, continued to hear trafficking and
gender-based violence cases. Some judges, especially in the
interior, lacked adequate training to apply forensic evidence
in prosecutions. Officials did not identify any cases of forced
criminal activity. Guatemalan officials trained 100 prosecutors
and paralegals on trafficking indicators and identifying
trafficking victims, among other topics. Guatemalan authorities
also held training sessions for labor inspectors, and businesses
to enhance identification and prosecution efforts.

PROTECTION

The government significantly decreased efforts to identify
and protect victims. The government and NGOs identified
484 trafficking victims in 2016, a significant decrease from
673 victims in 2015, and reported data did not specify the
types of trafficking involved in those cases. Of the 484 victims
identified, at least 395 were women and girls, compared with
a total of 456 in 2015; and 89 victims of trafficking were men

and boys, a decrease from 174 in 2015. The Secretariat against
Sexual Violence, Exploitation, and Trafficking in Persons (SVET)
revised and implemented the inter-institutional protocol for the
protection and attention to victims of human trafficking (the
protocol) in 2016 and published a compendium of resources
to assist law enforcement agencies, judges, and social workers
in identifying victims of trafficking, and included checklists, contact information and resource guides. While some
government officials continued to implement a protocol to
identify potential forced labor victims during labor inspections,
NGOs expressed concern the labor ministry did not proactively
look for indicators of forced labor, including in the agricultural
sector where workers are particularly vulnerable to forced
labor. The government did not report how many children
were identified and removed from forced child labor in 2016
compared with at least 135 children removed from forced
child labor in 2015.

GUATEMALA

facilities; as part of developing a cadre of specialized prosecutors
and judges outside of the capital, increase training to law
enforcement and criminal justice officials so that forced labor
and sex trafficking cases are investigated and prosecuted as
trafficking according to the international definition of trafficking;
provide reintegration and witness protection support to victims;
allocate and disburse funding for specialized victim services,
including those administered by NGOs; sustain efforts to
identify trafficking victims, particularly among vulnerable
populations, such as working children, returning migrants,
individuals in the sex trade, and children apprehended for
illicit gang-related activities; and target prevention activities
toward the most vulnerable populations, including indigenous
communities.

Guatemalan law requires judges make all referrals to public or
private shelters. In 2016, judges referred 256 victims to shelters,
a slight increase from 249 referrals in 2015 but less than half
of all victims identified. Judges at times referred child victims
to their families, leaving some vulnerable to re-trafficking, as
family members often were involved in their exploitation.
Repatriated victims could be referred to services, but authorities
typically did not screen for indicators of trafficking among
the large numbers of Guatemalans returned from abroad,
including unaccompanied migrant children. The government
continued funding three government shelters, as well as
NGOs that provided specialized services, mostly for child
trafficking victims. The three government-run shelters housed
77 trafficking victims (74 minors and three adults) in 2016,
compared to 153 in 2015. While SVET shelters were widely
recognized among experts in civil society as superior to the
government-run options that existed previously, the quality
and availability of specialized victim services remained uneven
due to a lack of services for adult and male victims. SVET
made several improvements in its shelters in 2016, including
adding a computer lab for residents’ use; increasing job training
opportunities for victims; and implementing a “single-file”
system which provided comprehensive tracking for each victim’s
case information, needs, and services. Secretariat of Social
Welfare shelters provided basic services, including food and
housing, and more advanced services, such as healthcare,
vocational education, and therapy.
In March 2017, at least 41 girls died and more were injured
when a fire broke out in an overcrowded government-managed
shelter for children. A court had previously ordered authorities
to improve conditions at the shelter, which housed more than
700 children, including trafficking victims, despite having a
capacity of 400 residents; and faced accusations of maltreatment,
including lack of adequate clothing, abuse by staff, and lack
of adequate food for the children in its care. Residents set fire
to mattresses to protest living conditions and physical and
sexual abuse and some were unable to escape because they
were held under lock and key. During the aftermath of the
fire, one re-housed resident of a SVET shelter for victims of
sexual abuse and trafficking disappeared, and in publicizing
that disappearance, the government mistakenly revealed the
confidential location of a secure shelter, risking the safety of
all residents of the shelter. NGOs, international organizations,
and the UN reported assisting in efforts to rehouse children,
recommended the government redirect the budget for this
shelter to other government agencies and NGOs caring for
the children, and called for investigations into the shelter’s
management, which faced allegations of corruption and neglect.

187

GUINEA

The families of the deceased planned to file a suit against the
government for their losses. Guatemala’s president called for a
restructuring of the country’s shelter system. Three government
officials face charges of abuse of power, noncompliance with
their duties, and maltreatment of minors.
The former government-run shelter for women closed in
December 2015; the government planned to cut funding for
2017 to the only trafficking-specific NGO-run shelter for adult
women and two non-trafficking specific NGO-run shelters
that did not provide comprehensive services for victims.
The human rights ombudsman responded by putting the
shelter under a management plan and transferring children
to small shelters. NGO shelter operators expressed concern
for victims’ safety upon being discharged from shelters. They
cited insufficient ongoing case management and reintegration
services in government shelters, leaving some victims vulnerable
to re-victimization or retaliation from traffickers—particularly
those whose cases involved organized crime groups or public
officials. The government ran 15 centers in the country’s interior,
which provided non-residential reintegration assistance to child
trafficking victims and families but not specialized services.
The government had no specialized shelters for male victims.
Authorities encouraged victims to assist in the investigation
and prosecution of traffickers and made options available for
private testimony; 161 crime victims, including some victims
of trafficking, received such legal and psychological support
from NGOs and the public ministry in 2016 compared to an
unspecified number in 2015. Victims residing in government
facilities did not receive adequate legal support or witness
protection. Prosecutors cited the lack of appropriate protection
options for adult victims as an impediment to pursuing
prosecutions in cases involving adults. Judges may order
restitution when sentencing traffickers, and victims also had
the right to file civil claims for compensatory damages and
harm suffered as a result of being subjected to trafficking; seven
victims received restitution in 2016 compared to none in 2015
and 10 in 2014. There were no reports that the government
detained, fined, or otherwise penalized identified victims for
unlawful acts committed as a direct result of being subjected to
human trafficking. The government, however, did not recognize
children forced to engage in criminal activity as trafficking
victims; officials acknowledged some of these victims may have
been prosecuted or otherwise treated as criminals. Guatemalan
law provided legal alternatives to the removal of foreign victims
who may face hardship or retribution upon return to their
home countries, but all known foreign victims opted for
repatriation. Foreign victims had the same access to care as
domestic trafficking victims. The government repatriated six
Guatemalan trafficking victims identified in other countries.

PREVENTION

188

The government slightly increased its prevention efforts. SVET
continued to oversee the interagency anti-trafficking commission
and coordinate government efforts against trafficking and
gender-based violence. Officials oversaw 11 departmental
networks in the interior of the country, down from 23 in 2015,
which identified trafficking cases and conducted prevention
activities; network activities decreased from 2015 due to political
instability. The government conducted a wide range of initiatives
to educate potential victims, the public, government officials,
and tourists about the dangers, causes, and consequences of
trafficking, including by launching the “Blue Heart” campaign,
the first Central American country to do so. Authorities ran
prevention campaigns on trafficking awareness and sex tourism

targeting students, visitors to hospitals, activists, airport security
officials, tourist police, and businesses. As part of the code
of conduct for the prevention of child sex tourism, SVET
provided training to 32 businesses across the country, reaching
a total of 2,195 individuals. The government did not make
discernible efforts to reduce the demand for commercial sex
acts nor investigate suspected sex tourists who purchased
commercial sex with children. The government worked with
NGOs and international partners to launch a campaign to
prevent fraudulent recruitment of migrant workers and worked
with the private sector to promote policies to exclude products
made with forced labor in efforts to reduce the demand for
forced labor. The government provided anti-trafficking training
to its diplomats and to Guatemalan troops prior to their
deployment abroad on international peacekeeping missions.

TRAFFICKING PROFILE

Guatemala is a source, transit, and destination country for men,
women, and children subjected to sex trafficking and forced
labor. Guatemalan women, girls, and boys are exploited in
sex trafficking within the country and in Mexico, the United
States, Belize, and other foreign countries. Commercial sexual
exploitation of Guatemalan children by foreign tourists from
Canada, the United States, and Western Europe, and by
Guatemalan residents persists. Women and children from
other Latin American countries and the United States are
exploited in sex trafficking in Guatemala. Government studies
of past cases suggest women recruited victims while men ran
criminal organizations. Guatemalan men, women, and children
are subjected to forced labor within the country, often in
agriculture or domestic service, and in the garment industry,
small businesses, and similar sectors in Mexico, the United
States, and other countries. Domestic servitude in Guatemala
sometimes occurs through forced marriages. Indigenous
Guatemalans are particularly vulnerable to labor trafficking.
Guatemalan children are exploited in forced labor in begging
and street vending, particularly within Guatemala City and along
the border with Mexico. Child victims’ family members often
facilitate their exploitation. Criminal organizations, including
gangs, exploit girls in sex trafficking and coerce young males
in urban areas to sell or transport drugs or commit extortion.
Some Latin American migrants transiting Guatemala en route
to Mexico and the United States are subjected to sex trafficking
or forced labor in Mexico, the United States, or Guatemala.
Police, military, and elected officials have been placed under
investigation for paying children for sex acts, facilitating child
sex trafficking, or protecting venues where trafficking occurs.

GUINEA: TIER 3
The Government of Guinea does not fully meet the minimum
standards for the elimination of trafficking and did not
demonstrate overall increasing efforts compared to the previous
reporting period. Although Guinea meets the criteria for Tier 2
Watch List, because it has been on Tier 2 Watch List for four years,
it is no longer eligible for that ranking and is therefore ranked
Tier 3. The government took some steps to address trafficking,
including prosecuting and convicting the first trafficking-related
case since 2014, although none of the perpetrators served prison
time; repatriating two groups of Liberian trafficking victims
identified in the country; providing funding to the Office for
the Protection of Gender, Children, and Morals (OPROGEM),
the police unit responsible for trafficking investigations; and

RECOMMENDATIONS FOR GUINEA

Vigorously investigate, prosecute, and convict suspected
traffickers, including complicit officials and marabouts, and
prescribe sufficiently stringent sentences; expand victim care
by increasing financial or in-kind support to NGOs that
provide victim services; train magistrates and prosecutors in
the lower courts on the trafficking articles in the 2016 penal
code; develop systematic procedures for victim identification
and referral to services; train police, border officials, labor
inspectors, and magistrates on such procedures, as well as
case investigation techniques; enact legislation limiting the
ability to prescribe fines in lieu of prison sentences and to
increase prescribed penalties for forced prostitution; regularly
convene the national anti-trafficking committee (CNLTP) and
provide it with sufficient resources, including an operational
budget, to fulfill its mandate effectively; increase efforts to
raise public awareness of trafficking, including internal child
forced labor, forced begging in Quranic schools, and adult
trafficking; provide OPROGEM the resources and training
necessary to regulate recruitment agencies and investigate
cases of fraudulent recruitment; harmonize provisions and
penalties both within the penal code and with the children’s
code; amend the definition of trafficking in article 323 of the
penal code to conform with the 2000 UN TIP Protocol; update
the 2016 national action plan and allocate resources for its
implementation; and enhance collaboration and informationsharing among government agencies involved in combating
human trafficking.

PROSECUTION

The government maintained minimal law enforcement efforts.
In October 2016, the government revised its penal code to
criminalize trafficking in persons. It also moved the jurisdiction
for human trafficking cases from the high court to the country’s
lower courts, which may expedite the prosecution process.
The 2016 penal code newly criminalized debt bondage but
decreased the minimum terms of imprisonment for trafficking
crimes and included provisions allowing for fines in lieu of
imprisonment. The 2012 penal code prescribed a minimum of

five years imprisonment for trafficking crimes, whereas the 2016
penal code allows for fines alone as the minimum sentence.
Article 323 of the 2016 penal code criminalizes the recruitment,
transportation, harboring, or receipt of a person by means of
violence, threats of violence, or other forms of coercion for
the purposes of exploitation. “Exploitation” is defined as in
order to commit pimping, sexual aggression, or sexual assault;
holding a person in slavery; forced labor; forced begging;
organ removal; and forced criminality. With minors, defined
in other legislation as younger than age 18, means of violence
or coercion are not needed to prove trafficking. Trafficking
of adults is penalized by three to seven years imprisonment
and/or a fine of 500,000 to 10 million Guinean francs ($54$1,084) and child trafficking (article 324) by five to 10 years
imprisonment and/or a fine, which is sufficiently stringent but,
with regard to sex trafficking, not commensurate with penalties
prescribed for other serious crimes, such as rape. Additional
articles in the penal code separately criminalize forced begging,
debt bondage, and forced prostitution but provide differing,
insufficiently stringent penalties. Article 117 of the criminal
procedural code authorizes judges to suspend prison sentences
if they find “mitigating” circumstances. Penalties that allow for
a fine in lieu of imprisonment are not adequate to deter the
crime. The trafficking provisions in the penal code also cover
some crimes that are not considered trafficking in the 2000
UN TIP Protocol. The government began but did not finish
harmonizing the 2010 child protection code with the 2016
penal code, so magistrates could also prescribe insufficiently
stringent penalties for child trafficking offenses using provisions
in the 2010 code. Article 386 of the 2010 code prohibits child
trafficking and prescribes sufficiently stringent penalties of
three to 10 years imprisonment, but articles 388, 389, and 402
provide reduced sentences—with some penalties consisting of
fines only—for facilitators of trafficking, parents or guardians
complicit in trafficking, and forced begging, all of which are
inconsistent with the 2016 penal code.
The government initiated five potential trafficking investigations,
prosecuted four alleged traffickers, and convicted three under
the 2010 child protection code, compared with one investigation
and no prosecutions or convictions the previous reporting
period. Border police arrested four individuals in Boke for
facilitating the transportation of children to a Quranic school
in Senegal, where they allegedly would have faced forced
begging. The judge reclassified the case from child trafficking to
transporting a minor across the border without authorization
and convicted three individuals—the driver and two of the
children’s parents. These were the government’s first convictions
for trafficking-related offenses since 2014. The judge sentenced
the parents and the driver to six months imprisonment and
a fine but suspended the prison sentences, which negated
the deterrent effect of these law enforcement measures. The
Guinean embassy in Cairo identified several Guinean women
exploited in domestic servitude in Egypt. CNLTP arrested one
of the alleged recruiters in Conakry but he was later released;
it is unclear if the case was dismissed or if he was released on
bail pending a trial. One court reported initiating two trafficking
investigations—one of which could have been the previous
case—but did not provide details. Authorities intercepted four
suspected traffickers and four potential victims en route to
Kuwait, where the girls allegedly would have been exploited
in sex trafficking; the investigation was ongoing at the end
of the reporting period. The government also continued one
investigation from the previous reporting period involving 14
alleged traffickers, including three marabouts. Law enforcement
intercepted four additional groups of more than 74 potential
victims reportedly destined for forced begging or forced labor in

GUINEA

implementing some objectives of its 2016 anti-trafficking
national action plan. The government passed a new penal code
in 2016 that explicitly criminalizes debt bondage; however,
it includes provisions allowing judges to prescribe fines in
lieu of prison time in trafficking sentences. The government
continued to rely on underfunded NGOs to provide all victim
assistance, and although authorities intercepted 74 potential
trafficking victims allegedly en route to exploitation in Quranic
schools, it did not investigate any traffickers in connection
with these cases. Despite the prevalence of forced begging in
Quranic schools, Guinean authorities have never prosecuted
a marabout—a Quranic school teacher—for forced begging.
Although there were ongoing reports of official corruption
and alleged complicity in trafficking cases, the government
did not investigate any officials for alleged participation in or
facilitation of trafficking crimes

189

GUINEA

Quranic schools and removed the children but did not initiate
any investigations into the drivers or suspected traffickers.
Furthermore, while it directed its attention towards intercepting
potential child trafficking victims, the government did not
make efforts to address internal child forced labor in mining,
domestic servitude, or sex trafficking. The government did not
report any investigations, prosecutions, or convictions of officials
complicit in human trafficking; however, corruption among
law enforcement and the judiciary—suspected to be especially
prominent among labor inspectors, customs directors, and heads
of police stations—allegedly impeded anti-trafficking efforts.

funding for and knowledge of the process, so none received
restitution during the reporting period. The government did
not have policies to provide temporary or permanent residency
to victims from countries where, if repatriated, they would face
hardship or retribution. There were no reports the government
detained, fined, or jailed victims for unlawful acts committed as
a result of being subjected to trafficking; due to a lack of formal
victim identification procedures, however, some unidentified
victims may have been penalized for such crimes.

The government allocated 256 million Guinean francs ($27,751)
to OPROGEM during the reporting period to facilitate trafficking
case investigation and victim transportation to NGOs for care.
This was the first time the government disbursed funds to
OPROGEM specifically to assist with trafficking cases, although
the amount was insufficient to cover even the unit’s basic
operating costs. CNLTP funded training for Guinean and Sierra
Leonean border officials on identifying trafficking victims and
joint transnational trafficking investigations. Lack of general
knowledge of trafficking and the trafficking provisions of
the 2016 penal code persisted among government officials,
especially judges and prosecutors in lower courts, because the
government did not provide training or plan how to effectively
shift authority for trafficking crimes to the lower courts.

The government demonstrated a modest increase in efforts
to prevent trafficking. CNLTP continued to meet sporadically,
but not all members consistently attended meetings and
the committee lacked coordination and communication.
CNLTP did not have an operational budget, but the president
enacted a decree in February 2017 making it eligible to receive
a budget; it is unclear when CNLTP will receive any funding.
Although the absence of a budget hindered CNLTP’s efficacy in
overseeing national anti-trafficking efforts, it still implemented
some activities outlined in its 2016 action plan. As one of the
plan’s objectives, CNLTP and the Ministry of Social Action—in
partnership with youth organizations and NGOs—funded and
led two anti-trafficking awareness campaigns. The first, a media
campaign, sensitized communities to trafficking in persons; the
second campaign sensitized local communities between Conakry
and the Senegalese border on the dangers of migration and
how to identify vulnerable children and migrants, including
trafficking victims. The government had policies to regulate
foreign labor recruiters and hold them civilly and criminally
liable for fraudulent recruitment, but OPROGEM had neither
the resources nor the trained personnel to implement such
policies. The government did not take any tangible steps to
reduce the demand for forced labor or commercial sex acts.
The government, in partnership with foreign donors, provided
Guinean troops with anti-trafficking training prior to their
deployment abroad on international peacekeeping missions.
It did not provide training for its diplomatic personnel.

PROTECTION

The government maintained minimal efforts to protect trafficking
victims. The government identified 107 potential trafficking
victims, an increase from 48 potential victims the previous
reporting period. Border police intercepted six children allegedly
en route to forced begging in Quranic schools and returned the
children to their parents; the judiciary later convicted the same
parents of facilitating their children’s transportation to alleged
exploitation but suspended the terms of imprisonment. In
August 2016, authorities intercepted a caravan of 11 children in
Koundara—the same town where 48 potential trafficking victims
were intercepted the previous reporting period—allegedly en
route to exploitation in Quranic schools, but it was unclear if
officials conducted any investigations or referred the children to
services. Officials also intercepted three caravans of Liberian and
Sierra Leonean children also allegedly destined for exploitation
in Quranic schools, and the Ministry of Security coordinated
and financed the repatriation of the Liberian victims. The
government continued to rely on NGOs and foreign donors to
finance and provide all shelter and victim services, and it did
not provide funding or in-kind support to these NGOs. Due
to a lack of funding, two of three NGO shelters closed during
the reporting period. The government referred child trafficking
victims to NGOs on an ad hoc basis, and some OPROGEM
officials brought victims to their private homes until space
became available in NGO shelters.

190

The government did not encourage trafficking victims to
participate in the investigations or prosecutions of their
traffickers; reports indicated victims and their parents were
reluctant to file claims against traffickers due to a lack of
confidence in the justice system. The 2016 penal code allows
NGOs to become plaintiffs on behalf of victims. Articles 392-396
of the child protection code provide that child victims, including
trafficking victims, have the right to legal representation and a
ministry-appointed guardian but, due to the lack of financial
and human resources, these services were not available. While it
is possible for victims to obtain restitution from the government
and file civil suits against their traffickers, victims lack the

PREVENTION

TRAFFICKING PROFILE

As reported over the past five years, Guinea is a source, transit,
and—to a lesser extent—destination country for men, women,
and children subjected to forced labor and sex trafficking.
Women and children are the most vulnerable to trafficking. In
Guinea, trafficking victims are more often Guinean citizens than
foreign migrants, and children more so than adults. Parents send
girls to intermediaries who subject them to domestic servitude
and sex trafficking, sometimes in motels and restaurants in
Conakry; boys are forced to beg, work as street vendors and
shoe shiners, labor in gold and diamond mines, and work
in herding, fishing, and farming. Some government entities
and NGOs allege that within Guinea, forced labor is most
prevalent in the mining sector. Men, women, and children
are subjected to forced labor in agriculture. Reports indicate
children are sent to the coastal region of Boke for forced labor
on farms. Children from villages in Middle and Upper Guinea
may be more vulnerable to trafficking due to the region’s lack
of schools and economic opportunities. Some traffickers take
children with parents’ consent under the false pretenses of
providing an education and exploit them in forced begging in
Senegalese and Bissau-Guinean Quranic schools or forced labor
in West African gold mines. Bissau-Guinean boys are forced to
beg in corrupt Guinean Quranic schools. Guinean children are
exploited in forced labor in Cote d’Ivoire. Guinea is a transit
country for West African children subjected to forced labor in

GUINEA-BISSAU: TIER 3
The Government of Guinea-Bissau does not fully meet the
minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking and is
not making significant efforts to do so; therefore, Guinea-Bissau
remained on Tier 3. Despite the lack of significant efforts, the
government took some steps to address trafficking. The InterMinisterial Steering Committee on Trafficking reconvened and
drafted two action plans to assist Bissau-Guinean students—
known as talibes—exploited by Quranic school teachers—called
marabouts—in Senegal, and it partnered with an NGO and an
international organization to repatriate some of those victims.
The government continued to allocate modest funding to
an NGO that provided shelter and repatriation assistance to
trafficking victims. While working-level officials made some
efforts to address trafficking in persons, however, a lack of
dedicated resources and high-level engagement stymied antitrafficking action for the fifth consecutive year. The president’s
dismissal of two governments during the reporting period
created a near vacuum of governance and a steady turnover of
top officials in law enforcement and social service ministries.
The government did not investigate, prosecute, or convict any
traffickers; identify any trafficking victims; or investigate reports
of child sex tourism. Guinea-Bissau has never prosecuted or
convicted a trafficker.

minimizing the potential for re-trafficking, and increase efforts
to coordinate repatriations of such victims with the Government
of Senegal; train judicial personnel on the 2011 anti-trafficking
law; develop an effective national anti-trafficking program
through regular meetings of the anti-trafficking committee
and allocation of funding for its activities; develop formal
written procedures to identify and refer trafficking victims
to services, and train law enforcement on such procedures;
significantly increase efforts to raise awareness of human
trafficking, especially forced begging and child sex trafficking;
hold government officials accountable for trafficking-related
complicity, including the failure to investigate alleged trafficking
offenses and efforts to interfere with ongoing investigations;
and in collaboration with NGOs, allocate adequate space and
facilities for a victim shelter in Bissau.

PROSECUTION

The government maintained minimal law enforcement efforts.
Public Law 12/2011 prohibits all forms of human trafficking
and prescribes penalties of three to 15 years imprisonment and
the confiscation of any proceeds from the crime. The 2009 child
code prohibits all forms of child forced labor and sex trafficking
and prescribes penalties of three to 10 years imprisonment and
the confiscation of any proceeds from the crime. These penalties
are sufficiently stringent and commensurate with penalties
prescribed for other serious crimes, such as rape. The government
did not use these or other laws to prosecute trafficking cases
during the reporting period. For the second consecutive year, the
government did not report any investigations, prosecutions, or
convictions for trafficking offenses; the government has never
prosecuted or convicted a trafficker.

GUINEA--BISSAU

gold mining throughout the region. A small number of girls
from neighboring West African countries migrate to Guinea,
where they are exploited in domestic service, street vending,
and—to a lesser extent—sex trafficking. Thai and Chinese
women have been subjected to forced prostitution in Guinea.
Guinean women and girls are subjected to domestic servitude
and sex trafficking in West Africa, Europe, and the Middle East,
as well as the United States. Guinean women are fraudulently
recruited for domestic work in Egypt by Guinean-Egyptian
trafficking networks and exploited in prostitution. There have
been reports some Guinean men marry Guinean girls, take
them to Angola, and sell the girls to local brothels while they
work in diamond mines. Authorities identified Guinean forced
labor victims in Finland during the reporting period. Guinean
boys are exploited in commercial sex in the Netherlands. In
2016, an international organization reported a sharp increase
in Guineans—including unaccompanied minors—migrating
to North Africa and Europe, many of whom use smugglers
and are vulnerable to trafficking. More than 13,000 Guineans
arrived in Italy alone in 2016, compared with 1,195 registered
arrivals of Guineans in all of Europe in 2015.

The government did not provide specialized training to law
enforcement on investigating and prosecuting trafficking crimes.
The Judicial Police provided general child protection training to
new members of its Women and Children Brigade, a 10-person
unit charged with investigating crimes against women and
children, including trafficking. The unit possessed only one
vehicle and did not receive an operating budget, so it remained
highly concentrated in Bissau; this impeded its investigation
of child forced begging cases in eastern regions and reports
of child sex trafficking in the Bijagos. The government did
not report any investigations, prosecutions, or convictions of
government employees complicit in human trafficking offenses;
however, corruption and official complicity in trafficking crimes
remained concerns, inhibiting law enforcement action during
the reporting period. Observers reported some police and border
guards might have accepted bribes from traffickers.

PROTECTION

RECOMMENDATIONS FOR GUINEA-BISSAU

Vigorously investigate and prosecute trafficking offenses and
convict and punish traffickers, including marabouts who subject
boys to forced begging and hotels that facilitate child sex tourism
in the Bijagos; increase funding for NGOs to ensure all identified
victims—especially talibes—are repatriated and receive services,

The government made minimal efforts to identify and protect
victims. It did not report identifying any trafficking victims
during the reporting period and relied on NGOs to provide all
victim services; such assistance was available to both domestic
and foreign victims. The government continued to contribute
five million West African CFA francs ($7,998) annually to an
NGO that cared for at least 155 trafficking victims during the
reporting period. The NGO’s two facilities were still so severely
overcrowded and underfunded, however, that some shelter
volunteers used their own homes to house victims temporarily.
Shelter was only available for child victims, and there were no
trafficking-specific services. In Bissau, NGOs reported both law
enforcement officials and their own staff left identified forced
begging victims with their exploitative marabouts because there
were no shelters available.

191

GUINEA--BISSAU

The government did not provide protective services to the more
than 310 Bissau-Guinean boys forced to beg in Quranic schools
in Dakar whom Senegalese authorities and NGOs identified
in 2016. Despite a dearth of resources, the inter-ministerial
committee partnered with an international organization to
develop a short-term proposal to assist some of these victims.
The Institute of Women and Children (IMC), an NGO, and an
international organization implemented the plans—which an
international organization funded—and repatriated 34 talibes
during the reporting period. A Bissau-Guinean NGO provided
repatriation, emergency services, and family reunification to
an additional 121of the 310 victims. Because it lacked the
finances and staff to provide extended rehabilitation and
family monitoring, the NGO returned all exploited talibes
to their families, even if the parents were complicit in their
child’s exploitation.
There were no means by which victims could obtain restitution
from the government or file civil suits against their traffickers.
There were no legal alternatives to removal to countries in
which victims would face hardship or retribution. There was
no evidence the government detained, fined, or otherwise
penalized trafficking victims for unlawful acts committed as a
direct result of being subjected to trafficking; due to the absence
of written procedures to identify trafficking victims, however,
it was possible some were inadvertently penalized.

PREVENTION

The government increased efforts to prevent trafficking. In
contrast with previous years, the inter-ministerial committee—
which is headed by IMC and includes government agencies,
NGOs, and religious groups—met several times during the
reporting period, primarily to draft short-term and long-term
proposals to repatriate and sustainably reintegrate exploited
Bissau-Guinean talibes identified in Senegal. While the
government worked in partnership with donors to implement
the short-term proposal, the long-term proposal was not funded,
and weaknesses remained in the government’s overall response
to addressing transnational trafficking of Bissau-Guineans and
development of an effective national anti-trafficking program.
IMC, the Ministry of Justice, and an NGO began drafting a
plan to provide free birth registration to all trafficking victims
repatriated from Senegal in 2016; however, the plan was not
completed during the reporting period. The government had
a 2015-2018 national action plan to address trafficking, led
by IMC, and made some efforts to implement it during the
reporting period. Individual ministries worked with NGOs
and civil society groups to raise awareness of trafficking among
ministry officials, regional governors, and religious leaders, and
to strengthen partnerships on anti-trafficking efforts across the
region. The government provided some basic funding for the
plan on an ad hoc basis.

192

IMC and the Ministry of Tourism developed a code of conduct
against sexual exploitation in the tourism sector to increase
public awareness of child sexual exploitation in Bissau and
the Bijagos and encourage hotels to combat these crimes. The
government approved the code in August 2016 but did not
take tangible steps to implement it. The national assembly
provided office space and technical support to the National
Children’s Parliament, a youth organization that conducted
an awareness-raising campaign on child sex tourism during
the height of the tourist season in the Bijagos. The labor
inspectorate, housed within the Ministry of Labor, Civil Service
and Public Administration, did not receive regular funding from
the government and lacked resources to investigate violations
nationwide. The government did not make efforts to reduce

the demand for commercial sex acts or forced labor. The
government did not provide anti-trafficking training to its
diplomatic personnel.

TRAFFICKING PROFILE

As reported over the past five years, Guinea-Bissau is a source
country for children subjected to forced labor and sex trafficking
and a destination for West African boys exploited in forced
labor, including forced begging. The extent to which adults
are subjected to forced labor or forced prostitution is unclear.
Many Bissau-Guinean boys attend Quranic schools led by
marabouts. Some corrupt marabouts force their students to beg
and do not provide an education. Unscrupulous marabouts force
rural Bissau-Guinean boys to beg in cities, including Bissau’s
Afia neighborhood. The traffickers are principally men from
the Bafata and Gabu regions—often former talibes or men who
claim to be working for a marabout—and are generally wellknown within the communities in which they operate. Marabouts
increasingly force Guinean, Gambian, and Sierra Leonean boys
to beg in Bissau. Corrupt marabouts exploit Guinea-Bissau’s weak
institutions and porous borders to transport large numbers of
Bissau-Guinean boys to Senegal—and to a lesser extent Mali,
Guinea, and The Gambia—for forced begging in Quranic
schools. Bissau-Guineans, primarily from Bafata and Gabu,
made up at least 310 of the 838 trafficking victims identified
in Dakar, Senegal, between July and November 2016. NGOs
in Guinea Bissau report many repatriated talibes are extremely
vulnerable to re-trafficking.
Bissau-Guinean boys are forced into street vending in GuineaBissau and forced to labor in the agricultural, mining, and street
vending sectors in Senegal, especially in the southern cities of
Kolda and Ziguinchor. West African boys are forced to harvest
cashews during Guinea-Bissau’s annual harvest, and some
are recruited for work in the harvest but instead forced to beg.
Bissau-Guinean girls are forced into street vending and domestic
work in Guinea and Senegal. During the reporting period, a
Bissau-Guinean woman living in Luxembourg transported her
niece to Luxembourg with false documents and forced her
to work in a restaurant. Bissau-Guinean girls are recruited by
female Senegalese trafficking networks for modeling jobs or
traveling football clubs but then subjected to sex trafficking in
Senegal. Bissau-Guinean girls are exploited in sex trafficking
in bars, nightclubs, and hotels in Bissau.
Bissau-Guinean girls from the Bijagos—and to a lesser extent
mainland girls and boys—are exploited in child sex tourism
in the Bijagos, an archipelago off the coast of Guinea-Bissau
that is far from the mainland and largely devoid of government
and law enforcement presence. Although the extent of the
problem is unknown, it is widely acknowledged among civil
society, NGOs, and mid-level government officials. In most
cases, French-nationals own hotels on the islands and use
Bissau-Guinean middlemen to exploit island girls aged 13-17
years old for European child sex tourists, including French and
Belgians. International sources report these same hotel owners
provide jobs and significant support to the island community,
wielding influence that can deter victims from notifying law
enforcement. Poor families may encourage their children to
endure such exploitation for financial gain. Bissau-Guinean
men from the mainland fuel local demand for commercial
sex on the islands. There were reports of official complicity in
human trafficking among island officials and in the judiciary.
Guinea-Bissau’s judicial system lacked sufficient human and
physical capital to function properly, and corruption remained
pervasive.

The Government of Guyana fully meets the minimum standards
for the elimination of trafficking. The government made key
achievements during the reporting period; therefore, Guyana
was upgraded to Tier 1. The achievements included approving
the 2017-2018 national action plan for combating trafficking in
persons; increasing the number of investigations, prosecutions,
and convictions; and identifying and assisting more victims
for the second year in a row. Although the government meets
the minimum standards, it did not increase protection and
services for victims outside the capital or provide adequate
protection and shelter for child and male victims.

RECOMMENDATIONS FOR GUYANA

Fund specialized victim services, including those offered by
NGOs, including for child victims and adult male victims;
vigorously investigate and prosecute sex and labor trafficking
cases and hold convicted traffickers, including complicit
public officials, accountable by imposing sufficiently stringent
sentences; train law enforcement, judiciary officials, and frontline responders—especially those working outside the capital—
on victim identification and referral procedures; finalize the
written identification procedures to better guide law enforcement
officials; provide additional protection for victims to enable
them to testify against traffickers in a way that minimizes
re-traumatization; record the number of cases reported to
the trafficking hotline to promote a rapid investigative and
victim assistance response; and provide training for diplomatic
personnel on human trafficking.

PROSECUTION

The government increased its law enforcement efforts. The
Combating Trafficking of Persons Act of 2005 prohibits all
forms of trafficking and prescribes sufficiently stringent penalties
ranging from three years to life imprisonment. These penalties
are commensurate with those prescribed for other serious
crimes, such as rape. The Ministry of Social Protection was
the lead agency responsible for coordinating trafficking efforts
and overseeing the Anti-Trafficking Unit (ATU). In May, the
ATU added three new officers responsible for planning and
executing the unit’s site visits and victim-extraction exercises.
The government’s inter-ministerial taskforce, which included
representatives from several agencies and a specialized antitrafficking NGO, coordinated a number of successful police
operations. In 2016, the government reported 19 trafficking
investigations, 19 prosecutions, and two convictions; compared
to 15 trafficking investigations, seven prosecutions, and one
conviction in 2015, and seven investigations, four prosecutions,
and one conviction in 2014. The court sentenced one convicted
trafficker to three years imprisonment and required a restitution
payment to the victim; it required the second trafficker only to
pay restitution, a penalty inconsistent with the law and one that
the anti-trafficking taskforce appealed. The appeal remained
pending at the end of the reporting period. The government did

GUYANA

GUYANA: TIER 1

not report any investigations, prosecutions, or convictions of
government employees complicit in human trafficking offenses.
Authorities confirmed that the police officer who was convicted
of sex trafficking in 2015 was terminated from his position in
the police force; however, his case’s appeal was still pending at
the end of the reporting period. An international organization
provided three training sessions for government officials on
investigation and prosecution of trafficking offenses. The
government did not provide in-kind support for these trainings.

PROTECTION

The government increased victim identification efforts, but victim
assistance remained insufficient, especially in areas outside the
capital and for male victims. The ATU, in coordination with
the Guyana police force, developed identification procedures
that field officers used informally during the reporting period
pending their formal review and approval from the taskforce.
The government reported identifying 98 trafficking victims
in 2016 (80 for sex trafficking and 18 for labor trafficking),
compared with 56 in 2015. An NGO reported the government
referred 40 victims to shelter and psycho-social services in 2016,
compared with 17 victims in 2015. The government signed
a MOU with an anti-trafficking NGO during the previous
reporting period commiting public funding to the NGO-run
shelter for the provision of enhanced psycho-social services to
adult female trafficking victims referred by the government.
Despite this commitment, the government did not fund this
shelter during this reporting period. The government provided
13 million GYD ($63,415) to another NGO that provided
housing and counseling services to victims of gender-based
violence, including an unknown number of trafficking victims.
There were no adequate public or private shelters for male or
child trafficking victims, despite the government’s commitment,
made in early 2016, to open and partially fund a shelter for
male victims. Child trafficking victims were placed in nonspecialized shelters, and child victims identified in rural areas
were placed in holding cells overnight without food before
being transferred to the capital for shelter. Male victims were
offered voluntary placement in homeless shelters.
The government encouraged victims to assist in the investigation
and prosecution of their traffickers. Guyanese law protects
victims’ identities from being released to the media; however,
NGOs reported open court trials re-traumatized victims and
exposed their identity to members of the public. Victims were
allowed to leave shelters during their stay; however, they were
strongly encouraged to stay in shelters until trials concluded or
be chaperoned. NGOs provided protection and counseling for
victims during their stay. Guyanese law protects victims from
punishment for crimes committed as a result of being subjected
to trafficking and provides foreign victims with relief from
deportation. The government granted one victim of trafficking
temporary residence and legal employment in Guyana. The
government did not report whether it facilitated or funded the
repatriation of Guyanese nationals victimized abroad; however,
it offered shelter, medical care, and psycho-social assistance to
victims upon their return. In July, with funding from a foreign
government and an international organization, 105 officials
and some NGO representatives received victim identification
and protection training over a six-day period. In December,
the government-funded training for 37 officials on victim
identification and assistance.

PREVENTION

The government maintained efforts to prevent trafficking. The

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HAITI

anti-trafficking inter-ministerial taskforce remained active and
met monthly. During the reporting period, the government
finalized, released, and began implementing the 2017-2018 antitrafficking national plan of action. In February, the First Lady
of Guyana organized a two-day meeting with other Caribbean
countries to discuss gender-based violence, including trafficking.
The government conducted a variety of awareness-raising
activities, including a flash-mob targeting school children to
educate on human trafficking and how to report suspicious
activities. Authorities participated in various events surrounding
the annual Gold Miners Week including facilitating several
anti-trafficking awareness sessions focused on the mining and
logging sectors outside the capital. The government operated a
trafficking hotline but did not report how many calls it received.
The government did not make efforts to reduce the demand for
commercial sex acts. During the reporting period, authorities
conducted approximately 1,000 impromptu labor inspections
in the capital and the interior. The government did not provide
anti-trafficking training for its diplomatic personnel.

TRAFFICKING PROFILE

As reported over the last five years, Guyana is a source and
destination country for men, women, and children subjected
to sex trafficking and forced labor. Women and children from
Guyana, Brazil, the Dominican Republic, Suriname, and
Venezuela are subjected to sex trafficking in mining communities
in the interior and urban areas. Victims are subjected to forced
labor in the mining, agriculture, and forestry sectors, as well as
in domestic service and shops. While both sex trafficking and
forced labor occur in interior mining communities, limited
government presence in the country’s interior renders the
full extent of trafficking unknown. Children are particularly
vulnerable to sex and labor trafficking. Guyanese nationals are
subjected to sex and labor trafficking in Jamaica, Suriname, and
other Caribbean countries. Some police officers are complicit
in trafficking crimes, and corruption impedes anti-trafficking
efforts.

HAITI: TIER 2 WATCH LIST
The Government of Haiti does not fully meet the minimum
standards for the elimination of trafficking; however, it is
making significant efforts to do so. The government made key
achievements during the reporting period; therefore, Haiti was
upgraded to Tier 2 Watch List. These achievements included
strengthening partnerships between the government’s interministerial anti-trafficking commission (TIP Commission)
and international organizations; increasing investigations
and prosecutions, and obtaining the first three convictions
under the 2014 anti-trafficking law; creating a post-Hurricane
Matthew emergency working group to address human
trafficking, providing training to government officials in the
three most affected departments, and opening a temporary
national 24-hour hotline for trafficking victims; and committing
resources for the work of the TIP Commission. Despite these
achievements, Haiti’s cabinet ministers and key government
ministries did not prioritize anti-trafficking efforts in Haiti; and
the justice system lagged behind in prosecuting cases, which
impaired efforts to prosecute traffickers and protect victims.

194

RECOMMENDATIONS FOR HAITI

Vigorously investigate, prosecute, and convict traffickers,
including those responsible for domestic servitude and child
sex trafficking; prioritize the development and implementation
of a new national anti-trafficking action plan and increased
long-term funding for trafficking victim assistance; train
police, prosecutors, and judges in all departments of Haiti on
trafficking; in partnership with NGOs, adopt and employ formal
procedures to guide officials in proactive victim identification
and referral to appropriate shelters and services; implement
measures to address the vulnerabilities leading to child domestic
servitude, including protecting child victims of neglect, abuse,
and violence; draft and enact a child protection law with specific
protections for child trafficking victims; and educate the Haitian
public about children’s rights to education and freedom from
slavery to counteract tolerance of child domestic servitude.

PROSECUTION

The government increased anti-trafficking law enforcement
efforts and secured its first three trafficking convictions during
the reporting period. The 2014 anti-trafficking law (No. CL/20140010) prohibits all forms of human trafficking by criminalizing
sex trafficking, forced labor, and the intentional retention of
identity documents or passports for the purpose of committing
trafficking-related offenses. The law criminalizes those who
knowingly obtain the sexual services of a trafficking victim.
The law applies to trafficking offenses committed both within
and outside of Haiti. The law prescribes penalties of seven to
15 years imprisonment and a fine ranging from 200,000 to
1.5 million gourdes ($3,009 to $22,570), which is sufficiently
stringent and commensurate with those prescribed for other
serious crimes, such as rape. It provides for increased penalties
of up to life imprisonment for human trafficking committed
with aggravating circumstances, such as if the victim is a child
or the trafficker is a public official.
During the reporting period, the government investigated six
potential new trafficking cases, initiated three new prosecutions
involving 11 defendants, including a government official, and
obtained three trafficking convictions, including that of a former
government official. In the previous reporting period, the
government reported four new investigations, two prosecutions,
and no convictions. Sentences ranged from five to seven years
imprisonment and fines of 82,150 to 1.2 million gourdes
($1,236 to $18,056). The government provided 946 members
of the Haitian national police with three hours of human
trafficking and smuggling training. However, NGOs reported
government personnel in some provinces lacked training on
the anti-trafficking law and its implementation, resulting in
lesser charges and informal arrangements to dispose of cases.
The government cooperated with officials in The Bahamas and
Chile to facilitate victim protection and prosecution of two
trafficking cases involving Haitian nationals.

The government maintained minimal efforts to identify and
assist trafficking victims. The government did not systematically
track data regarding victim identification. However, reported
cases suggest the government identified at least 43 potential
trafficking victims during the course of six potential new
investigations. An international organization reported 20 Haitian
and 17 foreign victims were subjected to forced labor between
2014 and 2016. In 2016, Haitian officials removed children,
including some trafficking victims, from vulnerable situations
and referred them to appropriate care. The government placed
child trafficking victims in shelters on a provisional basis prior
to their placement in a recently developed foster care program.
One government ministry estimated it identified “hundreds” of
child domestic servants in situations with trafficking indicators,
but these estimates could not be correlated with existing
investigations or prosecutions.
The 2014 anti-trafficking law tasked the TIP Commission to
develop standard operating procedures to guide officials in
the identification and rehabilitation of trafficking victims;
required the government to provide protection, medical, and
psycho-social services to victims; and created a governmentregulated fund to assist victims. The government worked with
an international organization during the reporting period to
draft standard operating procedures for victim identification
and referral; however, it had not finalized and implemented
these procedures. The government did not dedicate funding
for victim assistance or provide any specialized services for
adult or foreign victims. Government officials referred child
trafficking victims to its social welfare agency, which did not
have funding for their care. Instead, the agency referred child
victims to government-registered residential care centers that,
due to a lack of resources, provided short-term medical and
counseling services, family tracing, pre-return assessments,
and some support for the families receiving these victims.
The ministries of labor and social welfare lacked staff and
resources to inspect worksites for indicators of forced labor.
The government did not have a formal program to assist victims
who returned to Haiti, but did refer victims to international and
non-governmental organizations. Authorities worked closely
with the U.S. Coast Guard to receive Haitian migrants who have
attempted to leave by boat in an effort to reach The Bahamas
or the United States, to screen unaccompanied children and
to facilitate their re-integration with family members. The
law provides temporary residency during legal proceedings
for foreign victims of human trafficking, as well as access to
legal counsel, interpretation services, and permanent residency
in Haiti if the victim so chooses; however, the government
has not provided these services and would be unlikely to
have the financial resources to implement them. The law also
protects victims from liability for crimes committed while being
trafficked, but there was no information regarding whether this
provision was used.

PREVENTION

The government slightly increased efforts to prevent trafficking.
The Haitian president committed a small amount of resources
($140,000) for anti-trafficking efforts; however, the resources
were not used for assistance to trafficking victims. International
donors continued to provide the majority of funding. Donors
assisted the government in making progress in the areas of
prosecution, protection, and public awareness; however,
coordination among donors and the government remained
weak. The 2015-2017 national action plan remained in place;
however, the TIP Commission no longer regarded it as a guiding

document. In early 2017, the TIP Commission engaged an
international donor to assist in developing a new national
action plan for 2017-2022. The TIP Commission established
a post-Hurricane Matthew emergency working group to
address human trafficking, trained government officials in the
three most affected departments, and launched a temporary
national 24-hour hotline for trafficking victims accompanied
by an awareness campaign. The government also launched
a campaign via television and radio called “I am better with
my family” to curb the practice of child domestic servitude
and encourage parents to keep their children at home. The
government managed a social services hotline and received an
estimated 50 calls related to children in domestic servitude;
but this data could not be verified.

HAITI

PROTECTION

Since the Government of the Dominican Republic’s June 2015
deadline for registration of migrant workers in that country,
the Haitian government coordinated efforts with international
organizations and NGOs to receive Haitian expellees. However,
the continued dysfunction of the Haitian civil registry system and
weak consular capacity to provide identification documentation
left many Haitians at risk of remaining undocumented in the
Dominican Republic and subject to deportation—recognized
risk factors for vulnerability to trafficking. The government
issued regulations requiring adults with a Haitian passport to
have written government authorization to cross the border with
any child to prevent child trafficking; however, reports indicated
many adults with children crossed with foreign passports to
avoid this requirement. Haiti does not have effective laws or
policies to regulate foreign labor recruiters or prevent fraudulent
recruiting. The 2014 anti-trafficking law includes sanctions for
individuals who knowingly procure commercial sex acts from
trafficking victims, but authorities had not prosecuted anyone
for this crime. The government did not provide anti-trafficking
training for its diplomatic personnel.

TRAFFICKING PROFILE

As reported over the past five years, Haiti is a source, transit, and
destination country for men, women, and children subjected to
forced labor and sex trafficking. Most of Haiti’s trafficking cases
involve children in domestic servitude who often are physically
abused, receive no payment for services rendered, and have
significantly lower school enrollment rates. A December 2015
joint government and international organization report on
children in domestic servitude found one in four children do
not live with their biological parents and estimated 286,000
children under age 15 work in domestic servitude. The report
recommended the government put measures in place to
prevent exploitation, including domestic servitude; protect
at-risk children and victims of neglect, abuse, violence, or
exploitation, including sex trafficking and forced labor; and
draft and enact a child protection law. A May 2015 UN report
documented members of its peacekeeping mission in Haiti
sexually exploited more than 225 Haitian women in exchange
for food, medication, and household items between 2008 and
2014. A significant number of children flee employers’ homes
or abusive families and become street children. Female foreign
nationals, particularly citizens of the Dominican Republic and
Venezuela, are particularly vulnerable to sex trafficking and
forced labor in Haiti. Other vulnerable populations include
children in private and NGO-sponsored residential care centers;
Haitian children working in construction, agriculture, fisheries,
domestic work, and street vending in Haiti and the Dominican
Republic; internally displaced persons including those displaced
by Hurricane Matthew and the 2010 earthquake; members of
female-headed, single-parent families, and families with many

195

HONDURAS

children; Haitians living near the border with the Dominican
Republic; Haitian migrants, including those returning from the
Dominican Republic, Brazil, Mexico, the United States, or The
Bahamas; and LGBTI youth often left homeless and stigmatized
by their families and society. Haitian adults and children are
vulnerable to fraudulent labor recruitment and are subject
to forced labor, primarily in the Dominican Republic, other
Caribbean countries, South America, and the United States.

HONDURAS: TIER 2
The Government of Honduras does not fully meet the minimum
standards for the elimination of trafficking; however, it is making
significant efforts to do so. The government demonstrated
increasing efforts compared to the previous reporting period;
therefore, Honduras remained on Tier 2. The government
demonstrated increasing efforts by prosecuting a higher number
of suspected traffickers; identifying, referring, and assisting more
sex trafficking victims; approving a national action plan for 20162022; issuing implementing regulations for its trafficking law;
and approving a budget for the Inter-institutional Commission
to Combat Commercial Sexual Exploitation and Trafficking in
Persons (CICESCT). However, the government did not meet
the minimum standards in several key areas. There were no
prosecutions for the recruitment of children for forced criminal
activity or of officials complicit in trafficking. There were
limited services available for adult victims, and services for
victims identified outside the capital were even more limited.
The lack of witness protection programs discouraged victims
from cooperating in the criminal justice process and left them
vulnerable to re-trafficking.

RECOMMENDATIONS FOR HONDURAS

Increase efforts to prosecute trafficking offenses and to convict
and sentence traffickers, particularly for crimes involving forced
labor and forced criminal activity of children; increase efforts
to prosecute and convict public officials for complicity in
trafficking offenses; increase the identification and assistance
of adult victims, forced labor victims, and children forced to
commit crimes, including among repatriated Hondurans and
other particularly vulnerable populations; strengthen existing
or develop and implement new victim referral mechanisms
and provide specialized services and shelter to all victims,
including through increased government funding to civil
society organizations; amend the anti-trafficking law to include
a definition of human trafficking consistent with international
law; implement the national action plan for 2016-2022; enforce
laws punishing brokers for illegal practices that facilitate
trafficking, such as fraudulent offers of employment or illegal
fees for migration or job placement; and continue training
and properly resourcing dedicated anti-trafficking police and
prosecutorial units, as well as staff on the “immediate response”
team.

196

PROSECUTION

The government maintained law enforcement efforts. The 2012
Honduran anti-trafficking law prohibits all forms of trafficking,
prescribing penalties ranging from 10 to 15 years imprisonment;
these penalties are sufficiently stringent and commensurate
with those prescribed for other serious crimes, such as rape.
However, in contrast to the international definition, the law
establishes the use of force, deceit, or intimidation as aggravating
factors rather than essential elements of the crime and defines
illegal adoption without the purpose of exploitation as a form
of human trafficking. The government published regulations
implementing the law in January 2017, which provided guidance
on how to properly enforce the mandates of the CICESCT.
The CICESCT, with funding and assistance from a foreign
government, evaluated the 2012 law and issued a number of
recommendations, including amending the law to include the
means of force, deceit, or intimidation as essential elements
of the crime; improving victim assistance by compensating
victims; and providing additional financial, logistical, and
technical resources for service provision.
The government reported investigating at least 41 cases of
suspected trafficking and initiating prosecution of 41 suspects
in 11 cases for sex trafficking. It convicted nine traffickers in
eight cases, including one case of forced labor, compared
with initiating prosecution of 24 suspects in nine cases and
13 convictions in the previous reporting period. In 2016,
convicted offenders were fined and received sentences ranging
from six to 15 years imprisonment, compared to 10 to 15 years
imprisonment in 2015. Civil society organizations reported
concerns that traffickers were often prosecuted for lesser crimes
with lower penalties, such as pimping. Widespread impunity
for all crimes, including trafficking in persons and corruption,
remained a challenge. While the government convicted two
complicit officials in 2015, it did not report any prosecutions
or convictions of government employees complicit in human
trafficking offenses in 2016. Authorities investigated several
cases in which a gang appeared to force victims to engage in
criminal activity. In the one case brought to trial, authorities
found enough evidence to bring charges for sex trafficking.
A lack of adequate human and material resources limited
the effectiveness of investigators and prosecutors. Authorities
cooperated on trafficking investigations with officials from
Belize, Brazil, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Mexico,
Panama, and the United States. The government, including
the CICESCT, provided anti-trafficking training to local antitrafficking committees; justice system, immigration, labor, and
health officials; NGOs; and businesses. Police and prosecutors
also received training on investigating and prosecuting
organized crime, including trafficking in persons, from a foreign
government. NGOs funded by international donors delivered
anti-trafficking training to students, parents, teachers, church
communities, women’s groups, journalists, and local officials,
often with support from the government’s anti-trafficking
commission.

PROTECTION

The government increased efforts to identify, refer, and assist
sex trafficking victims; however, authorities remained largely
dependent on NGOs to fund and provide services. The
CICESCT’s “immediate response team” used protocols for
identifying and referring sex trafficking victims, but Honduran
authorities lacked systematic procedures to identify forced
labor victims. The immediate response team, which included
a full-time coordinator and a trained psychologist, worked

There were limited services available for adult victims, and
services for both adults and children outside the capital were
even more limited. International donors and NGOs continued
to fund and provide the majority of services for victims. In
2015, the government created a new mechanism to provide
trafficking victims greater access to existing social services,
although the impact of this initiative was not yet clear. The
government continued to provide a small grant of 371,460
lempiras ($15,870) to an NGO that operated the country’s
only specialized shelter for girl victims of sexual abuse and sex
trafficking. Adult victims were typically placed in shelters for
victims of various forms of abuse; such shelters had neither the
capacity nor the specialized resources to provide appropriate care
for trafficking victims. There were increased, but still limited,
long-term support and reintegration services for victims, most
of whom remained vulnerable to re-trafficking. Authorities
made efforts to screen for indicators of trafficking among the
large numbers of Hondurans returned from abroad, including
unaccompanied migrant children. The government encouraged
victims to assist in investigations and prosecutions, but the lack
of adequate victim and witness protection programs, exacerbated
by a slow trial process and the fear of retaliation by traffickers,
led some victims—particularly adults or those victimized
by criminal groups—to decline to cooperate. There were no
reports of identified victims being penalized for unlawful acts
committed as a result of being subjected to human trafficking.
However, officials acknowledged that many children forced to
engage in illegal activities by criminal groups were not properly
identified, and thus may have been treated as criminals instead
of victims. NGOs noted the criminal justice system sometimes
re-victimized both child and adult victims due to a lack of
sensitivity by some officials, a lack of protective services, and
restrictions on movement imposed on adult victims. The
government enabled some child victims to provide testimony
via pre-recorded interviews, but the necessary equipment was
not always operational. Honduran law allows foreign victims
to receive temporary or permanent residency status, including
authorization to work; the government did not report that any

victims received such benefits in 2016.

PREVENTION

The government maintained its prevention efforts. The
government provided the CICESCT with a budget of 2.2 million
lempiras ($96,140), but officials reported that these funds were
insufficient for the CICESCT to fulfill its mandate. The CICESCT
continued to work with a network of 19 local interagency
anti-trafficking committees. With both government and donor
funding, authorities organized and participated in activities
to raise awareness about the dangers of trafficking, including
through television, radio, and printed materials. The government
provided training and materials to members of local interagency
committees and conducted awareness-raising sessions at schools
and other public institutions. CICESCT approved the 2016-2022
national action plan to guide the government’s anti-trafficking
activities, which it drafted in consultation with stakeholders in
early 2016. Although the government issued a decree in 2015
requiring job placement companies to charge fees to employers
and not employees, it did not provide information on its efforts
to enforce these requirements. Authorities conducted campaigns
to raise awareness of child sex tourism among members of the
tourism sector and local officials, but did not report convicting
any individuals for purchasing sex acts from trafficking victims,
compared to three convictions in 2015. The government did
not make efforts to reduce the demand for forced labor, but
did mandate that tourism-focused businesses sign a code of
conduct to reduce trafficking and sanction businesses that
facilitate exploitation. The government provided anti-trafficking
training for its diplomatic personnel.

HONDURAS

with government ministries and civil society organizations to
coordinate services for immediate victims—including food,
shelter, and health screenings—as well as referrals to longerterm support services. It operated a dedicated hotline for
reporting cases of trafficking, which screened 80 individuals
and responded to more than 60 calls. The government
identified 111 victims, provided immediate support to 93
victims (including 73 Hondurans and 20 foreign nationals in
Honduras and 18 Honduran victims in Mexico, Belize, and
Guatemala), and provided longer-term support to 39 victims.
Local anti-trafficking committees provided longer-term support
to five victims, helping them to open small businesses. The
government identified LGBTI victims in 2016. NGOs identified
and assisted 40 victims in 2016. The government and NGOs
assisted 48 victims identified in previous years. The foreign
ministry assisted 18 Honduran nationals who were victims
of sex and labor trafficking through its diplomatic missions
in Belize, Guatemala, and Mexico; these victims included two
women and one child, while the age and gender of the others
were not reported. Of the 111 victims identified within the
country and 19 Honduran victims identified abroad, 94 were
reunited with their families and received limited long-term
support, 22 remained housed in shelters, one foreign victim
was repatriated, and 13 Honduran victims remained in other
countries. Honduran consular officers in Mexico helped 13
Honduran victims obtain humanitarian visas to remain in
Mexico. The government provided repatriation assistance to
five Honduran victims.

TRAFFICKING PROFILE

As reported over the past five years, Honduras is principally
a source and transit country for men, women, and children
subjected to sex trafficking and forced labor; to a much lesser
extent, it is a destination for women and girls from neighboring
countries subjected to sex trafficking. Honduran women and
children are exploited in sex trafficking within the country and
in other countries in the region, particularly Mexico, Guatemala,
El Salvador, Belize, and the United States. LGBTI Hondurans
are particularly vulnerable to sex trafficking. Honduran men,
women, and children are subjected to forced labor in street
vending, domestic service, and the informal sector in their
own country, and forced labor in other countries, particularly
Guatemala, Mexico, and the United States. Children from
indigenous and Afro-descendant communities, particularly
Miskito boys, are vulnerable to forced labor, including on
fishing vessels; children living on the streets are vulnerable to
sex and labor trafficking. Criminal organizations, including
gangs, exploit girls for sex trafficking, force children into street
begging, and coerce and threaten young males to transport
drugs, commit extortion, or commit acts of violence, including
murder; this occurs primarily in urban areas, but one NGO
reported an increase in gang activity in rural areas. During the
year, there were continued reports of children subjected to sex
trafficking on the streets of large cities, particularly the country’s
economic capital of San Pedro Sula, under the guise of street
begging or vending. Honduras is a destination for child sex
tourists from Canada and the United States. Some Honduran
migrants to the United States are subjected to forced labor,
forced criminal activity, or sex trafficking en route or upon
arrival. Latin American migrants transit Honduras en route to
northern Central America and North America, where some are
exploited for sex trafficking and forced labor. During the year,
there was one investigation by authorities into a report of child

197

HONG KONG

sex trafficking victims being brought into prisons and exploited
by prisoners, raising concerns over the potential complicity of
prison authorities. Overall corruption remained a challenge for
law enforcement efforts. Prosecutors reported that some local
police provided protection to brothel owners or tipped them
off about impending raids, and security officials have been
involved in child sex trafficking.

HONG KONG: TIER 2 WATCH LIST
The Government of Hong Kong does not fully meet the
minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking; however,
it is making significant efforts to do so. The government
demonstrated significant efforts during the reporting period
by implementing new victim identification guidelines and
increasing screenings of vulnerable individuals to identify more
potential trafficking victims. The government penalized some
unscrupulous employment agencies and adopted legislation
that will add the possibility of prison sentences for operators
of such agencies. The government established guidelines on
whole-of-government anti-trafficking procedures, investigated
more trafficking cases, granted some victims visa fee waivers
to encourage their assistance in legal proceedings, and took
steps to increase awareness of the rights of foreign domestic
workers and responsibilities of their employers. However, the
government did not demonstrate increasing efforts compared to
the previous reporting period. The government prosecuted only
five cases of labor exploitation with indicators of trafficking, and
Hong Kong’s laws do not criminalize all forms of trafficking,
resulting in cases of forced labor being prosecuted under lesser
crimes with sentences insufficiently stringent to deter trafficking
crimes; only three offenders convicted for trafficking-related
crimes received prison sentences over a year. The government
identified a relatively low number of victims compared to the
known scale of the problem and charged unidentified victims
with crimes committed as a direct result of being subjected to
human trafficking. The government did not adequately address
its policies creating vulnerabilities for foreign domestic workers
or conduct public awareness campaigns targeted at preventing
sex trafficking. Therefore, Hong Kong remained on Tier 2 Watch
List for the second consecutive year.

RECOMMENDATIONS FOR HONG KONG

198

Enact a comprehensive anti-trafficking law that criminalizes
all forms of trafficking, including sex trafficking and forced
labor without trans-border movement, in accordance with
the definitions set forth in the 2000 UN TIP Protocol; increase
efforts to proactively identify sex and labor trafficking victims
among vulnerable populations—such as mainland Chinese and
foreign migrants, domestic workers, and women and children
in prostitution—and refer them to protection services; cease
penalization of victims for non-violent crimes committed as
a result of being subjected to trafficking; vigorously prosecute
suspected labor traffickers and recruiters, especially those who

exploit foreign domestic workers; increase legal protections for
populations vulnerable to trafficking; enforce new penalties
to penalize employment agencies that charge excessive fees to
vulnerable populations, particularly foreign domestic workers;
increase protective services available specifically for trafficking
victims; increase efforts to consult with civil society on antitrafficking policies; make labor tribunals more effective through
improved translation services, better access to counsel, and antitrafficking training for judges; grant foreign victims permission
to work and study while participating in judicial proceedings
against their traffickers; remove requirements that foreign
domestic workers must depart Hong Kong within two weeks
of quitting or being let go from their positions to renew their
visas; expand existing guidelines or adopt an anti-trafficking
action plan with resources committed to implementation;
provide legal alternatives to foreign victims who may face
hardship or retribution in their home countries; and increase
public awareness campaigns and trainings to educate police,
labor inspectors, prosecutors, judges, and the public on human
trafficking as defined by international standards.

PROSECUTION

The government maintained anti-trafficking law enforcement
efforts. Hong Kong law does not criminalize all forms of human
trafficking—for example, it does not include forced labor—and
the government relies on various provisions of laws relating to
prostitution, immigration, employment, and physical abuse
to prosecute trafficking in persons crimes. Section 129 of the
crimes ordinance, which criminalizes “trafficking in persons
to or from Hong Kong,” requires transnational movement and
does not require the use of force, fraud, or coercion, and is
therefore inconsistent with the 2000 UN TIP Protocol. Section
129 prescribes penalties of up to 10 years imprisonment, which
is sufficiently stringent and commensurate with punishments
prescribed for other serious crimes, such as rape. Section 130 of
the crimes ordinance criminalizes the harboring, controlling,
or directing of a person for the purpose of prostitution and
prescribes penalties of up to 14 years imprisonment. Section 131
criminalizes procuring a person to engage in commercial sex acts
and prescribes penalties of up to 10 years imprisonment. The
government amended the prosecution code—an administrative
handbook to guide prosecutors in building criminal cases—
in 2013 to include the 2000 UN TIP Protocol’s definition
of trafficking; the security bureau, which is responsible for
coordinating and implementing the government’s overall
anti-trafficking efforts, adopted the same definition at the
working level in 2016. There was no parallel change in the
criminal laws, however, and trafficking investigations and
criminal prosecutions of trafficking-related crimes remained low
compared to the scope of the problem. In December 2016, the
Hong Kong Court of First Instance ruled that the government
was required to increase victim protections, expand procedures
to prosecute traffickers, and expand existing trafficking laws,
including by enacting a comprehensive anti-trafficking law.
The government reported investigating 15 cases with elements
of trafficking (six in 2015), initiating prosecutions of seven
employers of exploited foreign domestic workers and five
alleged sex trafficking suspects (17 prosecutions in 2015), and
obtaining convictions of 32 offenders under various statutes
(eight in 2015) in 2016. The government reported obtaining
convictions of five employers of foreign domestic workers for
crimes such as assault and inflicting bodily harm but it was
unclear if these cases included the elements of human trafficking
consistent with the international definition. Courts sentenced
one of these employers to eight months imprisonment and a

Authorities trained approximately 1,000 police, immigration,
labor, justice, and customs officials on human trafficking
awareness, victim identification, and the investigation of
trafficking cases. The labor department introduced a training
module on labor laws protecting against child labor and
exploitation of foreign domestic workers for new employees.
The immigration department’s victim identification training
was incorporated into training courses for new employees
at all law enforcement agencies, and the customs and excise
department added a training requirement for new employees
covering international human trafficking trends and analysis.
Authorities did not report any investigations, prosecutions,
or convictions of government officials complicit in trafficking
offenses.

PROTECTION

The government maintained efforts to protect victims. In
2016, authorities identified 36 trafficking victims (16 in 2015),
including 16 victims of sex trafficking and 20 victims of labor
exploitation (11 sex and two labor trafficking victims in 2015).
Although the government had a policy to refer all identified
victims to services, it was unclear what specific services were
provided to victims identified during the reporting period. In
July 2016, the government introduced a new victim identification
and referral mechanism for police and immigration officials to
screen vulnerable populations and refer potential victims to
services. The government also expanded the scope of vulnerable
persons to be screened to include foreign domestic workers, legal
and illegal migrant workers, as well as recognizance form holders
(generally refugees, asylum, and torture claimants). After a pilot
period, the police, immigration, and customs departments
fully implemented the identification and referral mechanism,
and labor officials initiated a pilot of the mechanism before
the end of the reporting period. The government conducted
9,099 screenings of vulnerable individuals, compared to
7,133 screenings in 2015. The government developed an “aide
memoire” outlining a whole-of-government anti-trafficking
strategy and issued guidelines for inter-departmental cooperation
for the handling of trafficking cases. The government subsidized
six NGO-run shelters, and operated three government-owned
shelters to serve victims of violence, abuse, or exploitation,
including trafficking victims. These shelters provided temporary
accommodation, counseling, and access to public hospital

medical and psychological services to local and foreign victims,
regardless of gender or age. Some government-funded shelters
were specifically equipped to provide services and protection
to child victims. Government-subsidized centers operated 24hour hotlines, which were available for trafficking victims to
receive crisis support counseling and assistance with referral to
authorities or services. Local NGOs praised existing government
services but reported concern authorities did not consult civil
society when developing new identification guidelines and
reported a need for more consistency in victim identification
across the government.
Economic barriers to reporting and victims’ fears of being
penalized for low-level immigration violations discouraged
victims from self-identifying, seeking assistance, or leaving
employment where they suffered exploitation. For example,
the government’s policy of requiring foreign domestic workers
to return home within two weeks and renew their visa in order
to work for a new employer in Hong Kong deterred trafficking
victims from leaving exploitative employment as it imposed a
prohibitive cost on changing their employer. The government
reported a new policy allowing exploited foreign domestic
workers to pursue new employment visas without having to
leave the country in criminal, civil, and administrative cases;
the government granted this approval to 22 workers in 2016.
In response to concerns over the safety of domestic workers,
the government banned employers from requiring them to
clean outside high-rise windows and added worker safety
clauses to standard employment contracts. The government
encouraged victims to participate in the investigation and
prosecution of traffickers, including by offering financial
assistance to victims residing overseas to enable them to
return to Hong Kong as witnesses and establishing a policy to
offer visa fee waivers to trafficking victims, as well as foreign
domestic workers determined to be victims of illegal conduct;
the government granted 130 visa fee waivers in 2016. This
allowed some trafficking victims to work during pending
prosecutions; however, the government did not have a statutory
policy allowing all victims to work while participating in trials
that were sometimes lengthy, which deterred victims from
cooperating with authorities or leaving exploitative employment.
As a result, many victims opted to repatriate immediately or
were deported. The government’s new guidelines state that
victims should not be prosecuted for crimes committed as a
direct result of being subjected to trafficking. However, NGOs
and victims reported the government sometimes prosecuted
unidentified victims for crimes committed as a direct result of
being subjected to human trafficking, such as violating their
labor contracts, using forged identity documents given to
them by recruitment agencies or employers, prostitution, drug
trafficking, and immigration violations, and that victims often
pled guilty to these charges to facilitate expeditious deportation.
For example, one victim forced to carry drugs into Hong Kong
was sentenced to 25 years imprisonment on drug trafficking
charges, according to court records. The government’s public
defender service collaborated with an NGO to provide training
to defense lawyers to assist in the identification of victims
not previously identified by front-line personnel. Hong Kong
does not allow trafficking victims who are foreign domestic
workers to receive permanent residency status for cases in which
repatriation may constitute a risk of hardship or retribution in
the victim’s home country; other victims of trafficking may be
eligible to receive permanent residency status depending on
their visa status upon entry to Hong Kong.

HONG KONG

fine of 40,000 Hong Kong dollar (HKD) ($5,160), and others
were sentenced to probation or fines. The government reported
obtaining 28 convictions on offenses related to sex trafficking,
including sections 129, 130, and 131 of the crimes ordinance.
The government reported 18 offenders received immediate
custodial sentences, and reported sentencing only three to
prison terms exceeding one year. Prosecutors sometimes used
victims’ receipt of unlawfully low wages or their acceptance to
work outside of their contracts under duress as evidence that
victims violated their immigration status, instead of as evidence
of abuse and prosecuted victims for immigration violations.
While victims could go to labor tribunals to attempt to claim
back wages, poor translation services, lack of trained defense
attorneys, the inability to work while awaiting a decision,
and judges’ inexperience with forced labor cases sometimes
impaired victims attempts at restitution; the cases of two
exploited domestic workers identified in 2016 were settled
in labor tribunals, but it was unclear if the victims received
compensation from their employers. In an effort to improve
the efficacy of labor tribunals, the government increased the
number of available translators and provided victims with the
right to counsel.

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HUNGARY

PREVENTION

The government maintained efforts to prevent trafficking;
however, the government did not fully mitigate the vulnerabilities
facing foreign domestic workers or conduct campaigns to raise
awareness of or prevent sex trafficking. An interdepartmental
working group led by the security bureau, established in 2010
and expanded in 2016 to include the police, immigration,
customs and excise, labor, and social welfare departments,
continued to meet. The government began drafting a national
action plan to combat trafficking in 2013, but still had not
announced the formal adoption or implementation of the
plan by the close of the reporting period. The government
reported funding NGOs that operated hotlines available to
assist trafficking victims. The government increased efforts
to improve both the public’s and workers’ awareness of the
rights of foreign domestic workers and the responsibilities of
employers including by publishing simplified information
leaflets that it required employment agencies to distribute;
developing separate web information portals for employers
and employees in multiple languages; erecting electronic
workers’ rights information kiosks in public areas; working
with the Philippine and Indonesian consulates in Hong Kong
to provide information briefings to newly arriving domestic
workers regarding their rights; and publishing translated
versions of standard employment contracts in additional foreign
languages. The government continued placing advertisements
in newspapers, distributing information packets and screening
videos on employment rights in popular gathering areas for
foreign domestic workers, and distributing anti-trafficking
pamphlets in five languages to foreign domestic workers at
the airport, through their consulates, and in Filipino and
Indonesian language newspaper advertisements. NGOs reported
employment agencies and employers often seized these packets.
NGOs reported fines and penalties for employment agencies
exploiting foreign domestic workers were too light and did
not act as a deterrent for unscrupulous agencies. In February
2017, the government introduced legislation that will increase
the penalties for operating an employment agency without a
license or overcharging workers to include up to three years
imprisonment and increase potential fines from no more
than 50,000 HKD ($6,450) to 350,000 HKD ($45,130).
The government increased regular and unscheduled labor
inspections of employment agencies in 2016 to 1,800, compared
to 1,300 in 2015. The government began to require employment
agencies to comply with a newly instituted “code of practice”
covering statutory requirements and standards for Hong
Kong-based employment agencies. In 2016, the government
reported convicting five employment agencies for charging
workers excessive fees, and three for unlicensed operations. The
commissioner for labor revoked the licenses of five additional
employment agencies on suspicion of overcharging foreign
domestic workers. Despite praising the government’s efforts
to prosecute some unscrupulous employment agencies, NGOs
encouraged the government to increase efforts to improve
inspections to better identify errant agencies and further prevent
exploitation of vulnerable domestic workers. The government
reported efforts to reduce the demand for commercial sex and
forced labor. The government did not provide anti-trafficking
training to its officials posted overseas.

TRAFFICKING PROFILE

200

As reported over the past five years, Hong Kong is primarily
a destination, transit, and to a much lesser extent, a source
territory for men, women, and children subjected to forced
labor and sex trafficking. Victims include citizens from mainland

China, Indonesia, the Philippines, Thailand, and other Southeast
Asian countries as well as countries in South Asia, Africa, and
South America. Approximately 351,000 foreign domestic
workers, primarily from Indonesia and the Philippines, work in
Hong Kong; some become victims of forced labor in the private
homes in which they are employed. An NGO report released in
2016 estimated as many as one in six foreign domestic workers
is a victim of labor exploitation. Employment agencies generally
charge job placement fees in excess of legal limits, which
may lead to situations of debt bondage of workers in Hong
Kong. The accumulated debts sometimes amount to up to 80
percent of workers’ salaries for the first seven to eight months
of employment. A 2013 survey found 58 percent of the more
than 3,000 workers surveyed experienced verbal abuse in the
home, 18 percent physical abuse, and six percent sexual abuse.
Some workers are unwilling to report abusive employers for
fear of losing their jobs and being unable to repay their debts;
some employers or employment agencies illegally withhold
passports, employment contracts, or other possessions until
the debt is paid. Domestic workers have also reported working
17-hour days, receiving less than minimum wage, experiencing
physical or verbal abuse and confinement in the employer’s
home, and not receiving a legally required weekly day off. A
government policy, mandating foreign domestic workers depart
Hong Kong within two weeks of quitting or losing their job,
discourages domestic workers from seeking assistance. Some
foreign domestic workers sign contracts to work in Hong Kong,
but upon arrival are sent to work in mainland China or the
Middle East. Separately, criminal syndicates or acquaintances
sometimes lure women to Hong Kong from the Philippines,
South America, and mainland China using false promises
of lucrative employment and subsequently force them into
prostitution to repay money owed for passage to Hong Kong.
Traffickers sometimes psychologically coerce sex trafficking
victims by threatening to reveal photos or recordings of the
victims’ sexual encounters to their families. “Compensated
dating” continues to facilitate commercial sexual exploitation of
Hong Kong children and make them vulnerable to trafficking.

HUNGARY: TIER 2 WATCH LIST
The Government of Hungary does not fully meet the minimum
standards for the elimination of trafficking; however, it is making
significant efforts to do so. The government demonstrated
significant efforts during the reporting period by amending its
criminal code to allow for the seizure of assets held by traffickers,
conducting training of prosecutors and judicial personnel,
cooperating with foreign law enforcement on joint trafficking
investigations, and increasing funding for public awareness
and anti-trafficking efforts. However, the government did
not demonstrate increasing efforts compared to the previous
reporting period. Investigations, prosecutions, and convictions
decreased significantly from the previous reporting period.
Services for victims remained scarce, uncoordinated, and
inadequate. Specialized services for child victims (including
shelter) did not exist and law enforcement arrested and
prosecuted children exploited in sex trafficking as misdemeanor
offenders, including sentencing 12 children to imprisonment
based on their exploitation in sex trafficking. Shortcomings
in security and services at state care institutions for children
and in the identification of child trafficking victims remained
widespread, resulting in high vulnerability of children and their
re-victimization under state protection during and after their
time in these facilities. The government also continued to have

RECOMMENDATIONS FOR HUNGARY

Screen all individuals in prostitution for trafficking indicators
and protect adults and children from punishment for crimes
committed as a result of trafficking, including prostitution;
increase provision of specialized victim services and provide
sufficient funding to NGOs to offer victim care; increase law
enforcement and judiciary efforts to investigate, prosecute,
and convict the perpetrators of all forms of trafficking
under the trafficking in persons law; take steps to prevent
trafficking of vulnerable children residing in state-run child
care institutions and individuals who leave these institutions;
increase identification of and assistance for child victims
exploited within Hungary; increase victim-centered training
of law enforcement, prosecutors, and social workers; bolster
protection for victims who face serious harm and retribution
from their traffickers, including by developing longer-term care
options to improve reintegration; enhance the collection and
reporting of reliable law enforcement and victim protection data;
bring the anti-trafficking law in line with international law by
more precisely defining exploitation and requiring fraud, force,
or coercion as elements of the core offense of adult trafficking;
amend Hungarian law to extend trafficking provisions for
everyone under 18 involved in prostitution regardless of the
level of consent; increase efforts to raise awareness of trafficking
among the general public and in at-risk populations.

PROSECUTION

According to statistical indicators, the government decreased law
enforcement efforts against human trafficking, although data
on these efforts was unreliable and efforts to address trafficking
of children remained weak. Article 192 of the 2013 criminal
code prohibits many forms of human trafficking, but is overly
broad because it does not require the use or threat of force or
fraud to prove the basic offense of trafficking in persons, instead
establishing force, the threat of force, or fraud as aggravated
elements resulting in enhanced penalties under article 192(3).
The law defines exploitation as the abuse of power for the
purpose of taking advantage of a victim. Prescribed penalties
range from one to 20 years imprisonment, which are sufficiently
stringent and commensurate with those prescribed for other
serious crimes. Article 193 of the criminal code also prohibits
forced labor, with sentences ranging from one to eight years
imprisonment, while article 203 penalizes profiting from child
prostitution, with penalties of up to eight years imprisonment.
In October 2016 parliament amended the Criminal Code to
authorize the seizure of assets from convicted human traffickers.
Law enforcement data remained unreliable, making it difficult
to assess efforts. In 2016, police terminated 25 investigations,
compared to 62 investigations in 2015 and 20 investigations
in 2014. Of the 25 investigations, 21 were of forced labor and

four were unspecified cases of trafficking. Officials prosecuted
seven individuals (two for forced labor in 2016 and five for
sex trafficking in 2017), compared to 18 in 2015 and 18 in
2014. Courts convicted seven traffickers in 2016 (22 in 2015
and 10 in 2014); two convictions were for sex trafficking and
five were for forced labor. For the sex trafficking convictions,
courts sentenced the traffickers to six years in one case and
two years and four months imprisonment in the other case.
For the forced labor convictions, one perpetrator received
five years imprisonment for forced labor and another crime
(cumulative sentence); one perpetrator received two years and
six months of imprisonment for forced labor; one perpetrator
received three years imprisonment for forced labor and another
crime (cumulative sentence); one perpetrator received 12 years
imprisonment for forced labor and other crimes (cumulative
sentence); and one perpetrator received 10 years imprisonment
for forced labor and other crimes (cumulative sentence).
Although the 2012 criminal code removed a requirement that
trafficking include a commercial transaction, reportedly judges
continued to seek this evidence. National police generally
limited their investigations to transnational trafficking cases,
and local police to investigations of internal cases; NGOs
criticized local police for lack of sensitivity toward trafficking
victims. Observers raised concerns law enforcement regularly
underreported trafficking offenses.

HUNGARY

significant deficiencies in its victim identification and referral
systems, as well as a comprehensive and reliable database on
trafficking cases. Therefore, Hungary was downgraded to Tier
2 Watch List.

Anti-trafficking experts reported police categorized children
between the ages of 14 and 18 as “juveniles” instead of children
and under Hungarian law this allows the courts to impose
punishment for crimes and misdemeanors instead of treating
them as victims, particularly in prostitution related offenses,
and police generally failed to identify or remained reluctant
to investigate certain trafficking cases involving child victims,
including vulnerable children in state-run care institutions. There
were no reported investigations, prosecutions, or convictions for
official complicity; some observers, however, expressed concerns
about potential police protection of suspected traffickers. There
were no standard trainings on trafficking provided for law
enforcement professionals and only ad hoc training courses
were conducted. During the reporting period, national police
cooperated with their counterparts from Belgium, France,
Austria, and the Netherlands on joint investigation teams
pursuing sex trafficking cases. The national prosecutor’s office
organized training for 195 regional prosecutors on data
collection, police investigations, victim identification, and
indictments on trafficking cases. The judicial office organized
trafficking training at the national and regional level for 840
judicial personnel. Officials extradited 52 foreign nationals
accused of trafficking to other European countries. The
government began to develop a new digital data collection
system to gather victim-related statistical information.

PROTECTION

The government maintained insufficient protection efforts, as
specialized services for child victims (including shelter) did
not exist and law enforcement arrested children exploited in
commercial sex as misdemeanor offenders, including sentencing
12 children to imprisonment based on their involvement in
commercial sex. The victim assistance service of the Office of
Justice identified nine victims (five males and four females,
including two minors), compared with eight victims in 2015.
Of these, three were victims of forced labor in the construction
industry, five of forced prostitution and one of domestic
servitude. The victims received the following care services: one
person received information on legal assistance, four persons
received financial aid, and three persons received psychological

201

HUNGARY

assistance. The national crisis management and information
service registered 23 victims (10 men and 13 women), compared
with 27 in 2015. Fourteen of the 23 victims received shelter.
The national bureau of investigation identified one victim and
Hungarian embassies abroad identified a total of 11 victims.
Therefore, in total, the government identified 44 victims during
the reporting period. NGOs reported assisting approximately
143 trafficking victims—77 female victims, 26 male victims,
40 minors (including indirect victims).
The government did not adequately identify victims among
vulnerable populations, such as adults and children exploited
in commercial sex, adults who previously lived in and children
living in government-run institutions, and unaccompanied
minors seeking asylum. In addition, the government did
not effectively screen unaccompanied minors to identify
potential trafficking victims. The government decree on the
trafficking victim identification mechanism listed the institutions
responsible for identifying victims, the questionnaire to be
completed with suspected victims, and procedural protocols.
There was, however, a lack of clear legal definition and unified
professional standards for identifying trafficking victims, as well
as a lack of widespread dissemination of identification protocols
among front-line responders. In early 2017, the government
enacted a new asylum detention law that requires mandatory
detention of all asylum-seekers until the final decision is issued
in their cases; without proper screening, this may result in the
detention of trafficking victims. During the reporting period,
however, the government allocated 7 million forints ($23,830)
to improve the screening of trafficking victims among third
country nationals and asylum-seekers.
All victims were eligible for government-provided financial
support, psychological services, legal assistance, witness
care, access and referral to a shelter, however, victims were
only eligible for state compensation if the crime was violent,
committed deliberately, and caused serious damage to the
victim’s health. Victim assistance services remained scarce,
uncoordinated, and inadequate, and risk re-victimizing the
victim. Authorities did not report how many trafficking victims
received state-ordered restitution in 2016. Experts also criticized
the government’s lack of harmonized guidelines on protective
services for victims, noting the referral system was ineffective.
Two government-funded, NGO-run shelters reported providing
care for 64 victims (62 in 2015) during the reporting period,
including 28 women (including one minor) and 11 adult
men, as well as 25 dependent children accompanying adult
victims. In addition, other NGOs provided housing for 40
female trafficking victims identified during the reporting period,
nine male victims, two minor victims, as well as 12 dependent
children. In 2016, the Ministry of Human Capacities developed
a unified service protocol and set minimum standards for its
human trafficking shelters. NGOs, however, noted a lack of
trained staff, funding, and available accommodations and
services, particularly for long-term needs such as reintegration.
The government could provide Hungarians repatriated as
trafficking victims with various victim support services and
accommodation in shelters. These services, however, were
insufficient because they did not provide victims with housing
beyond six months and appropriate services for long-term
reintegration were lacking. The Office of Justice issued a new
protocol to provide practical guidance to local officials on the
kinds of information to be provided to trafficking victims and
guidance on avoiding secondary victimization.

202

Child victims could receive general care through the child
protection system, but this system had insufficient staff or

resources to provide tailored care or security, leaving victims
vulnerable to being re-trafficked. Experts criticized the lack
of assistance and specialized shelters for child trafficking
victims. The government recognized repatriation of child
victims is provided by state authorities but there were no
appropriate reintegration facilities for children; secondary
victimization of children was common. In 2016, the government
set up a professional working group, including NGOs and
relevant government agencies, to focus on research, protection,
prevention, and victim assistance regarding child sex trafficking
in state care institutions.
The government provided 19 million forints ($64,681, the same
as 2015) to two NGO-run shelters in 2016 that could reserve a
total of 16 beds for trafficking victims. Victims generally were not
allowed to leave the shelters unless accompanied by a chaperone.
Authorities provided 2 million forints ($6,809, the same as
2015) to another NGO to support its shelters providing services
to trafficking victims. The government provided 1.5 million
forint ($5,106) to support the operation of the national crises
management and information telephone service, which can
be used for reporting trafficking. There was a lack of sufficient
funding for victim assistance services.
NGOs continued to report that authorities sometimes penalized
adult and child sex trafficking victims treated as criminals as
opposed to victims; reportedly courts ruled to reimburse the
victims for the criminal penalties they received. Furthermore,
authorities penalized 88 children, including 85 girls and
three boys, for prostitution offenses; 42 children received
a warning, 17 received a fine, 12 received prison sentences,
13 were sentenced to community service work, three were
sentenced to confiscation, and there was no information on
the penalty of one child. The government has consistently
failed to implement a 2011 EU directive requiring individuals
under 18 years of age involved in prostitution be considered
as trafficking victims regardless of consent.
Foreign victims could receive a 30-day reflection period to
decide whether to assist law enforcement, during which they
were eligible for temporary residence permits during legal
proceedings against their traffickers. The government did not
issue any temporary residence permits, permanent resident
permits, or exemptions from deportation for trafficking victims
during the reporting period. NGOs remained concerned about
inadequate government protection for victims who testified
against traffickers; no victims participated in the witness
protection program during the reporting period.

PREVENTION

The government increased prevention and coordination efforts.
The government had an anti-trafficking coordinator who chaired
the national coordination mechanism, an entity including
government actors and civil society organizations. Coordination
among these entities remained uneven. The government had a
2013-2016 anti-trafficking national strategy. Experts criticized
the national strategy for not providing a clear definition of
trafficking victims, not focusing on vulnerable populations
such as child or Roma victims, and inadequate training of
law enforcement officials; some were also concerned that
officials did not encourage victims to avail themselves of victim
services. According to experts, the government’s training of
labor inspectors remained inadequate. The government did
not release regular reports assessing its anti-trafficking efforts,
but operated a government and social media site that provided
information on government activities related to combating

The government contributed 25 percent of the funding for six
trafficking-related projects awarded by the EU, worth a total of
137 million forints ($466,383). Half of this funding, 70 million
forints ($238,298) went to an international organization to
conduct a social media public awareness campaign on sex and
labor trafficking. In addition, an international organization
received 14 million forints ($47,660) to establish a victim
transnational referral mechanism between Hungary and
Switzerland. The national police received 20 million forints
($68,085) to provide trafficking awareness training for 600
police officers and front-line practitioners. The immigration
and asylum office received 7 million forints ($23,830) to
improve the screening of trafficking victims among third country
nationals and asylum-seekers. The Ministry of Justice received
18 million forints ($61,277) to design a new digital platform
to collect statistical information on trafficking victims across
the government and NGOs. The national police received eight
million forints ($27,234) to set up regional coordination
mechanisms in prevalent trafficking regions in the country.
Authorities continued multiple awareness campaigns on human
trafficking for NGOs and government agencies involved in victim
identification, as well as to teenagers, students, educational
institutions, and foster homes. The government continued its
labor trafficking awareness campaign to advisors, young adults,
and NGOs connected to the European Employment Service
Network (EURES) regarding safe employment abroad, and also
to local and national labor departments. Human trafficking
prevention programs, however, continued to lack a systematic
approach, coherence, and cooperation among actors.
The government initiated modest efforts to reduce the
demand for sex trafficking and forced labor. The government
disseminated among its domestic tour operators the global
code of ethics of the UN world tourism organizations and
information on criminal sanctions within domestic law to
sensitize tour agencies on child sex tourism. The government
had no authority to impose fines or punishment on a foreign
labor exchange agency that commits trafficking offenses, but
it can inform the relevant foreign government if a problem
arises. For the first time in 2016, 30 consular diplomats-intraining participated in a trafficking awareness session; existing
Hungarian consular staff was also trained on human trafficking.

TRAFFICKING PROFILE

As reported over the past five years, Hungary is a source, transit,
and, to a lesser extent, destination country for men, women, and
children subjected to forced labor and sex trafficking. Vulnerable
groups include Hungarians in extreme poverty, undereducated
young adults, Roma, asylum-seekers and unaccompanied
minors, and homeless men. Hungarian women and children
are subjected to sex trafficking within the country and abroad,
mostly within Europe—with particularly high numbers in the
Netherlands, France, Belgium, Germany, Italy, Ireland, Austria,
Switzerland, and the United Kingdom. Hungarian men and
women are subjected to forced labor domestically and abroad,
including in the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Belgium,
Ireland, Austria, Germany, and Canada. During the reporting
period, press and NGOs also cited Turkey, Spain, United Arab
Emirates, Australia, Iceland, and Sweden as other sex and labor
trafficking destination countries for Hungarian women, girls,
men, and transgender persons. NGOs have reported a new
phenomenon of selling disabled victims for sex trafficking.
Hungarians, particularly Romani women and girls and those

from state care institutions, are exploited in sex trafficking in
large numbers in Austria by Hungarians of Roma and nonRoma origin. A large number of Hungarian child sex trafficking
victims exploited within the country and abroad come from
state-provided childcare institutions and correctional facilities,
and traffickers recruit them upon leaving these institutes.
Hungarian women lured into sham marriages to third-country
nationals within Europe are reportedly subjected to forced
prostitution. There are strong indicators labor trafficking of
Hungarian men in Western Europe has intensified in agriculture,
construction, and factories. Trafficking victims from Eastern
European countries transit Hungary en route to Western Europe.
Hungary is a transit country for asylum-seekers and illegal
migrants, some of whom may be or may become trafficking
victims. Within the country, Romani children are exploited in
forced begging, child sex trafficking involving both girls and
boys, and forced petty crime.

ICELAND

human trafficking.

ICELAND: TIER 2
The Government of Iceland does not fully meet the minimum
standards for the elimination of trafficking; however, it is making
significant efforts to do so. The government made significant
efforts to meet the minimum standards during the reporting
period by opening a center offering free comprehensive services
to victims of abuse, including trafficking, and establishing
specialized teams to investigate trafficking and educate
government employees on the crime. However, these efforts
were not serious and sustained compared to the efforts during
the previous reporting period. The government did not prosecute
or convict any suspected traffickers for the sixth consecutive year
and decreased investigations of suspected traffickers. Therefore,
Iceland was downgraded to Tier 2.

RECOMMENDATIONS FOR ICELAND

Intensify efforts to investigate, prosecute, and convict suspected
traffickers; significantly increase and report efforts to identify
trafficking victims and refer victims to care facilities for
assistance; increase training for all police, prosecutors, and
judges on detecting and prosecuting trafficking crimes; prioritize
building trust between law enforcement and victims and provide
protection, residence, and work permits to encourage victims to
participate in the investigation and prosecution of traffickers;
provide specialized services, including shelters for male and
child trafficking victims; enhance training methods for collecting
evidence against suspected traffickers to avoid overreliance on
victim testimony; develop procedures for identifying victims of
forced marriage; involve labor inspectors in victim identification;
expand training for officials on proactive identification of
trafficking victims, particularly among migrant workers,
unaccompanied children, and asylum-seekers; and develop
a current national anti-trafficking action plan and provide
adequate funding to law enforcement for its implementation.

203

ICELAND

PROSECUTION

The government maintained law enforcement efforts, but
did not prosecute and convict any suspected traffickers for
the sixth consecutive year. Article 227a of the criminal code
criminalizes both sex trafficking and forced labor and prescribes
penalties of up to 12 years imprisonment; these are sufficiently
stringent and commensurate with penalties prescribed for
other serious crimes, such as rape. Law enforcement reported
16 investigations in 2016, compared with 23 investigations
in 2015. The government has not reported prosecuting or
convicting any trafficking cases since 2010. Police authorities
reported one cooperative international investigation during
the year, compared with two in 2015. The government did
not report any investigations, prosecutions, or convictions of
government officials complicit in human trafficking offenses.
The police established a special investigative unit dedicated
to combating trafficking and prostitution, and a special email
address for tips or inquiries about possible human trafficking
cases. The police college curriculum included instruction on
victim identification and investigation of trafficking cases.

PROTECTION

The government decreased efforts to identify trafficking victims
and refer victims to care facilities, but increased efforts to shelter
and provide services to victims. The government identified four
victims in 2016 (four in 2015). All four victims were subjected to
forced labor. Authorities referred one victim to care facilities for
assistance. In December 2016, the government renewed its twoyear agreement to provide funding for an NGO-run domestic
abuse shelter to provide emergency shelter to female trafficking
victims and their children. The 2017 state budget allocated 71
million krona ($629,042) to the domestic abuse shelter. In
2016, the state budget allocated 70.6 million krona ($625,498)
to the shelter, compared with 65.1 million krona ($576,770)
for 2015. The Ministry of Welfare provided the shelter with
an additional 350,000 krona ($3,101) for the provision of
services for trafficking victims. The shelter maintained a team
of specialists to manage cases involving possible trafficking
victims. Victims had access to free legal, medical, psychological,
and financial assistance, whether or not they stayed at the
shelter or cooperated with authorities. Municipal social service
agencies provided services and financial assistance to trafficking
victims, and the welfare ministry reimbursed the municipalities
for all associated expenses. In 2016, the government refunded
22.3 million krona ($197,572) to municipal governments for
expenses related to “foreign citizens in distress,” which may
have included trafficking victims. The government allocated
71 million krona ($629,042) in the 2016 state budget to
a separate NGO offering psychological services to victims,
compared with 65.5 million krona ($580,314) in 2015. The
government in collaboration with several NGOs opened a center
offering free comprehensive services to abuse victims, including
trafficking victims, as a two-year pilot project. There were no
shelter services or specialized care available for male victims,
though they could access general social services and receive
referrals to NGOs providing food, shelter, legal advice, and
healthcare. Municipal and state child protection services were
responsible for assisting unaccompanied children, including
child trafficking victims.

204

The national police commissioner published detailed
procedures for police to use to identify, contact, and deal with
possible trafficking victims to provide them with assistance.
The government distributed information on the EU-issued
“Guidelines for the Identification of Victims of Trafficking” and
NGO-developed interview guidelines to government employees

most likely to come into contact with trafficking victims.
The directorate of immigration had written procedures to
identify trafficking victims and provide them with information
and resources, including during the interview process for
asylum-seekers. Immigration and police officers maintained a
pocket checklist to identify potential victims and inform them
of available services. NGOs stated these procedures worked
effectively in practice. Witness protection for trafficking victims
was not mandated by law, but the government provided it in
practice. Victims could file civil suits against traffickers or seek
restitution from the government, but no victims did during the
reporting period. Prior to January 2017, any foreign trafficking
victim could obtain a six-month residence permit; temporary
residence permits issued after that date were valid for nine
months. An additional one-year renewable residence permit
was available to victims who cooperated with law enforcement
or who may have faced retribution or hardship in their home
countries; however, victims with either temporary residence
permit could not apply for a permit to work legally in the
country. The government issued one temporary residence
permit in 2016. Trafficking victims have left the country pending
investigations because they were legally unable to work or obtain
permanent residence permits. There were no reports authorities
detained, fined, or jailed victims for illegal acts committed as
a result of being subjected to trafficking.

PREVENTION

The government increased efforts to prevent trafficking. The
directorate of labor (DOL) established a three-member team to
respond to suspected trafficking cases and educate government
employees on trafficking and identifying possible victims. DOL
monitored the operations of companies that hired foreign
“posted workers” by reviewing hiring contracts, checking
paychecks against bank statements showing payout of wages, and
conducting targeted visits to talk to employees and supervisors.
The government reported developing a 2017 action plan to
replace its 2013-2016 plan. The government held 30 sessions
on victim identification and assistance for approximately 2,000
government and municipal specialists in law enforcement,
welfare services, healthcare services, labor, and education. In
May 2016, the government organized a public symposium
on trafficking issues, focusing on forced labor. Throughout
the reporting period, the government demonstrated efforts
to reduce the demand for commercial sex acts and forced
labor. The government included anti-trafficking language in
its code of conduct for diplomatic personnel but provided no
trafficking-specific training.

TRAFFICKING PROFILE

As reported over the past five years, Iceland is a destination
and transit country for women subjected to sex trafficking and
men and women subjected to labor trafficking. Women from
Eastern Europe, the Baltics, and South America are subjected to
sex trafficking, often in nightclubs and bars. Men and women
from the Baltics, Eastern Europe, South America, and East
Asia are subjected to forced labor in construction, tourism,
and restaurants. Foreign “posted workers” are at particular
risk of forced labor as the traffickers pay them in their home
countries and contract them to work for up to 183 days in
Iceland to avoid taxes and union fees, limiting tax authorities’
and union officials’ ability to monitor their work conditions
and pay. Traffickers also subject women to domestic servitude,
forced labor, and sex trafficking and men to forced labor; NGOs
note these cases are rarely reported to the police. Traffickers
reportedly exploit the visa-free regime in the Schengen Zone

anti-trafficking training or guidance for diplomatic personnel
to prevent their engagement in or facilitation of trafficking
crimes, and to provide personnel the tools to identify and
assist trafficking victims in their work.

INDIA: TIER 2

PROSECUTION

The Government of India does not fully meet the minimum
standards for the elimination of trafficking; however, it is making
significant efforts to do so. The government demonstrated
increasing efforts compared to the previous reporting
period; therefore, India remained on Tier 2. The government
demonstrated increasing efforts by increasing the number of
victims identified, investigations completed, and traffickers
convicted, as well as its budget for shelter programs for female
and child trafficking victims. The government adopted an
action plan for children, which included plans to prevent
child trafficking and protect child victims. However, the
government did not meet the minimum standards in several
key areas. Overall victim identification and protection remained
inadequate and inconsistent and the government sometimes
penalized victims through arrests for crimes committed as a
result of being subjected to human trafficking. The government’s
conviction rate and the number of investigations, prosecutions,
and convictions was disproportionately low relative to the scale
of trafficking in India, particularly with respect to bonded and
forced labor. Despite reports of officials complicit in trafficking,
the government did not report investigating such allegations.

RECOMMENDATIONS FOR INDIA

Increase prosecutions and convictions for all forms of trafficking,
including forced and bonded labor, and of officials allegedly
complicit in trafficking, respecting due process; establish
and fully resource anti-human trafficking units (AHTUs) in
all districts, including by providing additional dedicated,
trained staff and by clarifying the mandate of AHTUs; develop
and implement standard operating procedures (SOPs) to
harmonize victim identification and referral, and train officials
on their use; address jurisdictional issues in the investigation
of suspected traffickers and use of testimony when trafficking
crimes cross state lines; cease the penalization of trafficking
victims; protect victim confidentiality and privacy, including
on government-issued identification documents; develop and
adopt a national action plan to combat trafficking; improve
central and state government implementation of protection
programs and compensation schemes to ensure trafficking
victims receive benefits, release certificates, and compensation
funds; take steps to eliminate all recruitment fees charged to
workers; promptly disburse government funding for shelters
and develop monitoring mechanisms to ensure quality of care;
continue to increase the transparency of government efforts to
combat trafficking and provide disaggregated data on efforts
to criminally investigate, prosecute, and punish sex and labor
trafficking; provide funding for states to establish fast-track
courts that deal with all forms of human trafficking; and provide

INDIA

and the European Economic Area to bring victims to Iceland
for up to three months and move them out of the country
before they must register with local authorities..

The government increased law enforcement efforts, although
investigations, prosecutions, and convictions remained low for
the scale of human trafficking in India. Section 370 of the Indian
Penal Code (IPC) prohibits slavery, servitude, and most forms
of sex trafficking and prescribes penalties ranging from seven
years to life imprisonment, which are sufficiently stringent and
commensurate with those prescribed for other serious crimes,
such as rape. Section 370 does not define the “prostitution of
children” younger than age 18 as an act of human trafficking in
the absence of coercive means, as required by the 2000 UN TIP
Protocol, although other statutes criminalize the “prostitution
of children.” Section 370 criminalizes government officials’
involvement in human trafficking, prescribing sentences up
to life imprisonment. Bonded labor is specifically prohibited
under the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of
Atrocities) Act, which prescribes sufficiently stringent penalties
of up to five years imprisonment, and the Bonded Labor System
(Abolition) Act (BLSA), which prescribes penalties of up to
three years imprisonment that are not sufficiently stringent.
The Child Labor (Prohibition and Regulation) Act, the Juvenile
Justice Act, and other provisions of the IPC prohibit many
forms of forced labor; however, these provisions were unevenly
enforced and their prescribed penalties are not sufficiently
stringent, allowing for only fines or short prison sentences
in some cases. The government frequently used the Immoral
Traffic Prevention Act (ITPA) and various provisions of the
IPC, which have sufficiently stringent penalties, to prosecute
sex trafficking. During the reporting period, the government
drafted new anti-trafficking legislation, sought public comment,
and revised the draft; the bill remained under review by the
Cabinet, awaiting introduction to parliament at the end of the
reporting period.
During the reporting period, the national crimes record bureau
(NCRB) issued the 2015 Crime in India Report, the most recent
law enforcement data available. In 2015, police investigated
4,203 trafficking cases, including 3,363 cases of sex trafficking,
77 cases of bonded labor, and 763 trafficking cases under
article 370 where further case details were not published to
clearly categorize the cases between sex or labor trafficking.
This was an increase from the investigation of 3,056 trafficking
cases in 2014, including 2,604 cases of sex trafficking, 46 cases
of bonded labor, and 406 cases under article 370. During
2015, the government completed the prosecutions of 2,387
traffickers, including 2,180 alleged sex traffickers, 16 alleged
labor traffickers, and 191 traffickers under article 370, compared
with the completion of prosecution of 2,596 alleged traffickers
in 2014. In 2015, courts convicted 815 traffickers and acquitted
1,556 individuals with an additional 16 persons discharged. This
was an increase from 577 traffickers convicted in 2014, 1,990
persons acquitted, and 29 persons discharged. The acquittal
rate decreased from 77 percent in 2014 to 65 percent in 2015.
The courts’ convictions under the BLSA remained notably low
at only four in 2015, although bonded labor offenders may also
be convicted under the Prevention of Atrocities Act and those
statistics were not reported. The government did not report
sentences for convictions. Indian media commented the figures
reported by the NCRB did not reflect the large scale of human
trafficking crimes in India, as many cases were not registered
by police or were settled at the complaint stage. Inconsistent

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INDIA

application of the law across jurisdictions, corruption among
officials, and a lack of awareness or capacity in some parts of
the country resulted in incidents of inaction on trafficking
crimes by police and prosecutors.
In December 2015, the Supreme Court directed the government
to establish an organized crime investigative agency by December
2016 to investigate human trafficking cases and rescue and
rehabilitate victims; the establishment of such an agency was
pending the passage of the draft anti-trafficking bill, although
the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) had allocated 832 million
Indian rupee (INR) ($12.3 million) to fund the agency. AHTUs
continued to serve as the primary investigative force for human
trafficking crimes. At the beginning of the reporting period,
of the more than 600 districts, 226 had active AHTUs; it is
unknown if additional AHTUs were established during the
reporting period. State and local governments partnered with
NGOs and international organizations to train AHTU officers.
Some NGOs reported significant cooperation with AHTUs
on investigations and police referral of victims to NGOs for
rehabilitation services. However, others noted some AHTUs
continued to lack clear mandates, which created confusion
with other district- and state-level police units and impeded
their ability to proactively investigate cases. Coordination
across states remained a significant challenge in cases where
the alleged trafficker was located in a different state from the
victim—jurisdictional barriers prevented confessions from one
state being used as evidence in another. NGOs noted some
police offices were overburdened, underfunded, and lacked the
necessary resources, such as vehicles and computers, to combat
trafficking effectively. Some police used AHTU resources and
personnel for non-trafficking cases. NGOs noted prosecutors and
judges did not have sufficient resources to properly prosecute
and adjudicate cases.
Official complicity in human trafficking occurred at varying levels
of government. The government did not report comprehensive
data on investigations, prosecutions, or convictions of
government officials complicit in human trafficking offenses.
In May 2016, a member of the Goa legislative assembly was
arrested under IPC Section 370 for allegedly purchasing a
girl from her mother and raping her; both the legislator and
the girl’s mother were released on bail, and at the end of the
reporting period, the Goa police continued to investigate the
case. However, media also reported allegations of a few complicit
officials whom the government did not investigate and who
remained in government. Some corrupt law enforcement
officers reportedly protected suspected traffickers and brothel
owners from law enforcement action, received bribes from sex
trafficking establishments and sexual services from victims, and
tipped off sex and labor traffickers on forthcoming raids. There
were no reports of investigations into such cases of complicity.

PROTECTION

206

The government increased efforts to protect victims. The
government did not provide comprehensive information on
the number of trafficking victims it identified. However, the
NCRB reported the government’s identification of at least
8,281victims in 2015 compared with 6,216 victims in 2014.
Of the victims identified in 2015, 5,407 were subjected to sex
trafficking, 426 were subjected to bonded labor, and 2,448
were victims identified in relation to a case investigation under
article 370 and not further categorized into victims of sex or
labor trafficking. A 2009 MHA non-binding directive advises
state officials to use SOPs for proactive victim identification
and referral to protection services; however, it is unclear if

all 29 states employed such SOPs. In 2016, the Ministry of
Women and Child Development (MWCD) published SOPs
for cases of missing children, mandating the transfer of cases
not resolved within four months to an AHTU. MWCD and
MHA implemented TrackChild, a system to identify missing
children nationally. MWCD continued to support the national
Childline hotline, an emergency phone service for children
in need of assistance, including child victims of forced labor
and sex trafficking. State- and district-level law enforcement
continued to carry out operations to rescue and rehabilitate
missing and exploited children, some of whom may have been
subjected to forced labor or sex trafficking. Some state- and
district-level law enforcement actively partnered with NGOs to
identify, rescue, and provide rehabilitation services to victims;
however, other police officers undertook rescue operations
without further investigating or charging suspects. In other
cases, police arrested and charged alleged traffickers, but in
some cases some of the alleged traffickers posted bail and while
awaiting trial purportedly intimidated witnesses and subjected
new victims to trafficking.
MWCD continued to fund NGO and government-run shelter
and rehabilitation services for women and children through
the Ujjawala program, specifically for female sex trafficking
victims, and the Swadhar Greh program, for women in difficult
circumstances. The central government’s budget for the Ujjawala
program increased from 180 million INR ($2.65 million) in
2015-2016 to 240 million INR ($3.54 million) in 2016-2017 and
the Swadhar Greh budget increased from 500 million INR ($7.37
million) to 900 million ($13.3 million). NGOs continued to
report the number of government shelters was insufficient
and overcrowding compromised victim rehabilitation. Both
government- and NGO-run shelters faced shortages of financial
resources and trained personnel, particularly of counselors and
medical staff. NGOs relied primarily on donor contributions
to provide victim services, although some received government
funds. The disbursal of government funding to NGOs was
sometimes delayed for multiple years and corruption reportedly
drained some resources intended for victim care. Some victims
waited months for transfer from temporary “transit homes”
to shelters that provide long-term care due to shortages of
government funds, shelter staff, or police escorts. Child victims
were placed in private shelters or in government juvenile justice
homes, some of which may have housed child victims with
children accused of crimes. Children largely received the same
government services as adults.
In May 2016, the central government revised its program for the
rehabilitation of bonded laborers to increase compensation and
include female sex trafficking and child forced labor victims to
receive compensation and assistance. Government-authorized
compensation increased from 20,000 INR ($295) to 100,000
INR ($1,470) per adult male victim and 200,000 INR ($2,950)
per adult female or child victim. Authorized-compensation
increased to 300,000 INR ($4,420) for cases of bonded or
forced labor involving transgender and disabled persons or
sex trafficking of women and children. In contrast to the
previous iteration of the program, the central government fully
funded the compensation without matching funds from state
governments; however, the release of compensation to victims
was contingent on administrative and court processes that may
take several years to conclude. At the end of the reporting period,
it was unclear if information on the revised program had been
disseminated to local officials for implementation and if any
victims had received the increased compensation. Rescued
bonded laborers are entitled to “release certificates” enabling
them to receive government-funded services. Many victims

Foreign victims received the same access to shelters and services
as Indian nationals. Government policy on foreign victims
dictated their return to their country of origin at the earliest
possible time. Authorities detained foreign sex trafficking victims
to government aftercare homes until repatriation, sometimes
as long as four years, and did not permit them to work in the
local economy. The repatriation of foreign victims could take
years due to a number of constraints, including some victims’
lack of identity documents. NGOs stated children who could
not identify their home state or country were unable to be
returned to their families or place of origin. The governments of
India and Bangladesh reportedly continued to implement their
2015 MOU on human trafficking, which included coordination
on repatriation; Bangladeshi victims were typically repatriated
within 21 days. To protect both Indian and foreign national
victims during trial, prosecutors may request the victim be
permitted to testify by video or behind a screen, the proceeding
be closed to the media and public, and irrelevant and potentially
harmful questions be barred; it is unknown if these protections
were used for trafficking victims during the reporting period.
MHA guidelines to all state governments encouraged police
not to charge victims for crimes committed while subjected
to human trafficking, including foreign women and child
victims for immigration violations. However, in certain cases,
the government continued to penalize victims as a result of
inconsistent identification and screening efforts, including sex
trafficking victims who were prosecuted for prostitution and
foreign trafficking victims charged with immigration violations.
In 2014, the government began denying travel of trafficking
victims and their family members, including by confiscating
the passports of Indians who received a visa from a foreign
government indicating the person was a trafficking victim
in the foreign country or was a family member of a victim.
The government revised this policy in 2015 to allow these
victims and their families to renew their passports and travel
if documentation of the victim’s trafficking experience was
provided and the Indian government determined the person
to be a trafficking victim. However, some victims continued to
cite lengthy delays, requests from the government for private or
otherwise sensitive information, and inconsistent application of
the policy when attempting to renew their passports. In 2016,
the government stamped the passports of some recipients of
the foreign government’s visas, for both trafficking victims and
their eligible family members, identifying them as trafficking
victims involved in a particular investigation, civil, or criminal
case. While the stamp requested authorities permit the visa
holder to travel without hindrance, some NGOs familiar with
this practice noted it made some victims fearful of reprisal and
penalization and served as a deterrent to victims interacting
with authorities.

PREVENTION

The government maintained overall efforts to prevent human
trafficking. The government did not have a national action
plan to combat trafficking; however, in January 2017, MWCD
launched the national plan of action for children, which
included plans to prevent and protect children from all forms
of trafficking and to conduct research and analysis. The central
advisory committee to combat trafficking of women and children
for commercial sexual exploitation is the government’s lead
authority on trafficking issues; it is unknown if the committee
met during the reporting period. Some state governments
had state-level action plans, taskforces, and MOUs to combat
trafficking. MWCD and Ministry of Railways increased the
number of railway stations hosting NGO staff to provide
immediate support to unaccompanied children, who may
be missing, abandoned, or runaways and are vulnerable to
exploitation, including trafficking. In December 2016, the
President launched an NGO campaign to end child labor, child
trafficking, and violence against children. The government
continued to publicly award civil society members for their
work against human trafficking. Some state governments
conducted anti-trafficking awareness campaigns or made inkind contributions to NGO-run campaigns.

INDIA

received certificates at or soon after their rescue, especially in
areas where there was significant coordination between the
government and NGOs. Others experienced lengthy delays
before obtaining the certificates. During the reporting period,
the Tamil Nadu government identified 282 bonded laborers
and provided them immediate compensation of 1,000 INR
($14.75), rice, and household commodities; the government
also enrolled 83 former bonded laborers in the revised central
government program for compensation and provided four
households with land. Other than bonded labor victims, adult
male trafficking victims did not receive care or funding from
the government. Victims had access to government hospitals for
emergency medical services, although long waiting lists made
it difficult to obtain surgery and other procedures and NGOs
often had to pay for victims’ emergency medical treatment.

The government registered foreign recruitment agencies and
Indian migrant workers through the eMigrate online system.
MEA provided counseling and other resources to those
considering migrant work at five resource centers in Chennai,
Gurgaon, Hyderabad, Kochi, and Lucknow; it also administered
a welfare fund in 43 Indian missions globally and provided
shelter to migrants in distress in several countries in the Middle
East. In October 2016, India and Bahrain signed an agreement
to increase cooperation on organized crime, including human
trafficking, and in January 2017, India and the United Arab
Emirates signed a MOU to enhance prevention of human
trafficking and the recovery and repatriation of trafficking
victims. MEA funded the repatriation of Indian victims abroad
through its mandatory insurance reserves, foreign employer
security deposit policies, and receipts from overseas consular
fees. The government permitted licensed foreign employment
recruiters to charge migrant workers up to 20,000 INR ($295)
for recruitment fees and costs; however, observers stated migrant
workers were frequently charged more than the maximum and
obtained loans to pay the recruiters, thereby increasing their
debt and vulnerability to labor exploitation. The government
prohibited the role of unregulated and unregistered subagents; however, sub-agents continued to operate widely with
impunity. MEA worked with the central bureau of investigation
to address cases of recruitment fraud and trafficking allegations
and frequently revoked recruitment licenses. Within India,
some states regulated aspects of the informal labor sector,
including the Jharkhand government, which passed legislation
in November 2016 requiring employment placement agencies to
be licensed and prohibiting recruitment fees for domestic work.
In November 2016 the government began a process of
demonetization, removing 500 and 1,000 INR notes ($7.37
and $14.75) from circulation as legal tender. Some NGOs
commented sex trafficking was temporarily reduced until other
forms of payment were established—some NGOs reported
a resultant increase in other methods of payment including
online payments. Other NGOs stated workers in the informal
economy, including brick kiln workers, were at times paid
in void currency notes or were not paid at all due to cash
shortages—both situations subsequently increased the workers’
vulnerability to debt bondage and forced labor. In February
2017, the national human rights commission held a two-day

207

INDONESIA

seminar on the prevalence of bonded labor and challenges to its
elimination. The government provided for the reimbursement of
450,000 INR ($6,640) per district for a census of bonded labor
in its May 2016 revision of the bonded laborers rehabilitation
program. Despite India being a destination for child sex tourism,
the government did not report measures to reduce child sex
tourism. The government also did not report efforts to reduce
the demand for commercial sex acts or forced labor. The Indian
military conducted training on trafficking for its personnel
before deployment on peacekeeping or similar missions. The
government did not provide information about any antitrafficking training provided to its diplomatic personnel.

TRAFFICKING PROFILE

As reported over the last five years, India is a source, destination,
and transit country for men, women, and children subjected to
forced labor and sex trafficking. Forced labor constitutes India’s
largest trafficking problem; men, women, and children in debt
bondage—sometimes inherited from previous generations—
are forced to work in brick kilns, rice mills, agriculture, and
embroidery factories. Most of India’s trafficking problem is
internal, and those from the most disadvantaged social strata—
lowest caste Dalits, members of tribal communities, religious
minorities, and women and girls from excluded groups—are
most vulnerable. Within India, some are subjected to forced
labor in sectors such as construction, steel, and textile industries,
wire manufacturing for underground cables, biscuit factories,
pickling, floriculture, fish farms, and ship breaking. Thousands
of unregulated work placement agencies reportedly lure adults
and children under false promises of employment into sex
trafficking or forced labor, including domestic servitude.
In addition to bonded labor, some children are subjected to
forced labor as factory and agricultural workers, carpet weavers,
domestic servants, and beggars. Begging ringleaders sometimes
maim children to earn more money. Some NGOs and media
report girls are sold and forced to conceive and deliver babies
for sale. The “Provident Funds” or “Sumangali” scheme in
Tamil Nadu, in which employers pay young women a lump
sum, used for education or a dowry, at the end of multi-year
labor contracts may amount to conditions of forced labor.
Separatist groups, such as the Maoists in Bihar, Chhattisgarh,
Jharkhand, Maharashtra, West Bengal, and Odisha, force some
children, reportedly as young as 6 years old, to act as spies and
couriers, plant improvised explosive devices, and fight against
the government.

208

Experts estimate millions of women and children are victims
of sex trafficking in India. Traffickers use false promises of
employment or arrange sham marriages in India or Gulf States
and subject women and girls to sex trafficking. In addition to
traditional red light districts, women and children increasingly
endure sex trafficking in small hotels, vehicles, huts, and
private residences. Traffickers increasingly use websites, mobile
applications, and online money transfers to facilitate commercial
sex. Children continue to be subjected to sex trafficking in
religious pilgrimage centers and by foreign travelers in tourist
destinations. Many women and girls, predominately from
Nepal and Bangladesh, and from Europe, Central Asia, Africa,
and Asia, including minority populations from Burma, are
subjected to sex trafficking in India. Prime destinations for both
Indian and foreign female trafficking victims include Kolkata,
Mumbai, Delhi, Gujarat, Hyderabad, and along the India-Nepal
border; Nepali women and girls are increasingly subjected to
sex trafficking in Assam, and other cities such as Nagpur and
Pune. Some corrupt law enforcement officers protect suspected

traffickers and brothel owners from law enforcement efforts,
take bribes from sex trafficking establishments and sexual
services from victims, and tip off sex and labor traffickers to
impede rescue efforts.
Some Indian migrants who willingly seek employment in
construction, domestic service, and other low-skilled sectors
in the Middle East and, to a lesser extent, other regions, face
forced labor, often following recruitment fraud and exorbitant
recruitment fees charged by labor brokers. Some Bangladeshi
migrants are subjected to forced labor in India through
recruitment fraud and debt bondage. Some Nepali, Bangladeshi,
and Afghan women and girls are subjected to both labor and
sex trafficking in major Indian cities. Following the 2015 Nepal
earthquakes, Nepali women who transit through India are
increasingly subjected to trafficking in the Middle East and
Africa. Some boys from Bihar and Uttar Pradesh are subjected
to forced labor in embroidery factories in Nepal. Burmese
Rohingya, Sri Lankan Tamil, and other refugee populations
continue to be vulnerable to forced labor in India.

INDONESIA: TIER 2
The Government of Indonesia does not fully meet the minimum
standards for the elimination of trafficking; however, it is making
significant efforts to do so. The government demonstrated
increasing efforts compared to the previous reporting period;
therefore, Indonesia remained on Tier 2. The government
demonstrated increasing efforts by obtaining more convictions
for trafficking offenses, conducting training for officials and
public awareness campaigns targeted to communities at
higher risk of trafficking, and creating new mechanisms to
strengthen its victim identification procedures in furtherance of
its 2015-2019 National Action Plan to Eradicate Trafficking in
Persons. However, the government did not meet the minimum
standards in several key areas. Officials’ unfamiliarity with
trafficking indicators and anti-trafficking laws impaired proactive
victim identification among vulnerable populations and law
enforcement efforts. Inadequate data collection, information
sharing, and coordination among government agencies
hampered implementation of the national anti-trafficking
strategy, and blanket regional labor migration restrictions
incentivized widespread emigration through illicit channels
rife with trafficking vulnerabilities. Despite endemic corruption
among officials that impedes anti-trafficking efforts and enables
traffickers to operate with impunity, only two officials were
prosecuted for trafficking offenses.

RECOMMENDATIONS FOR INDONESIA

Increase efforts to investigate, prosecute, and convict labor
recruitment agencies, brokers, and corrupt public officials
involved in trafficking; develop and implement procedures to
identify potential victims among vulnerable groups, including
returning migrant workers, persons in prostitution, and fishing
vessel crew members; train marine ministry staff and labor
inspectors on victim identification and referral procedures;

PROSECUTION

The government increased some law enforcement efforts. The
2007 anti-trafficking law prohibits all forms of trafficking
and prescribes penalties of three to 15 years imprisonment,
which are sufficiently stringent and commensurate with those
prescribed for other serious crimes, such as rape. In December,
the Supreme Court issued a new regulation expanding the
courts’ ability to prosecute corporations for complicity in
trafficking. NGOs and officials reported corruption continues
to obstruct the government’s ability to increase trafficking
prosecutions, including against trafficking syndicate leaders.
Corrupt officials reportedly continued to facilitate the issuance
of false documents, accept bribes to allow brokers to transport
undocumented migrants across borders, protect venues where
sex trafficking occurs, practice weak oversight of recruitment
agencies, and thwart law enforcement and judicial processes
to hold traffickers accountable. Despite these trends, the
government initiated prosecutions against only two low-level
officials for complicity in trafficking offenses.
In June 2016, the government issued a regulation that aimed to
improve coordination and cooperation between ministries and
increase prosecutions for trafficking offenses. However, officials
reported ineffective coordination among police, witnesses,
prosecutors, and judges continued to hinder the government’s
ability to investigate, prosecute, and convict traffickers,
especially when cases involved numerous jurisdictions or other
countries. Mediation outside of court also impeded successful
prosecutions, as victims were generally unwilling to participate
in criminal proceedings if they or their families received
financial settlements from traffickers. The Supreme Court
implemented a comprehensive prosecutorial recordkeeping
mechanism, but statistical discrepancies continued due to lack
of coordination with law enforcement entities, whose own
informal self-monitoring practices remained underdeveloped,
and due to the decentralized nature of Indonesia’s court system.
This dynamic, along with incomplete knowledge of the antitrafficking law and its scope among law enforcement and judicial
authorities, impaired the determination of the total number of
anti-trafficking investigations, prosecutions, and convictions.
The anti-trafficking unit of the Indonesian national police
reported 110 new trafficking investigations during 2016—a
decrease from 221 reported the previous year, though figures
from 2015 may have included forced marriage or organ
trafficking cases. The Supreme Court reported 256 convictions,
compared to 119 the previous year; convictions included
sentences up to seven years. The police reported referring 46
cases to prosecution, compared with 66 in 2015; the perpetrators
in at least 30 of the 46 cases were convicted. The other 16
cases are still being deliberated in the courts. In December,
the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) conducted training
for 25 investigators and prosecutors in three key provinces

on the 2007 anti-trafficking law. Still, a lack of familiarity
with the anti-trafficking law led some prosecutors and judges
throughout the country to decline cases or use other laws to
prosecute traffickers. During the reporting period, the police
investigated a high-profile trafficking case involving a migrant
worker from East Nusa Tunggara (NTT) who had committed
suicide in Kuala Lumpur. The president instructed the police
anti-trafficking unit and local authorities to conduct a joint
investigation of trafficking syndicates operating in NTT, where
they succeeded in arresting 16 suspects—recruiters, travel
document forgers, and airport ground handlers all connected to
seven previously unknown trafficking syndicates—throughout
Indonesia. Among the arrestees were two immigration officers
suspected of complicity in trafficking; their prosecutions were
ongoing at the end of the reporting period. In a separate case,
a suspect arrested for operating an online prostitution business
was convicted under the anti-trafficking law and sentenced to
four years in prison, along with a fine of 120 million rupiah
($8,969). During the reporting period, authorities continued
to investigate five of the companies involved in subjecting
hundreds of Burmese fishermen to forced labor on fishing
boats in Ambon in 2015. The government convicted a child
sex tourist from Australia and sentenced him to 15 years in
jail under the Child Protection Law.

INDONESIA

provide anti-trafficking training for judges, prosecutors, police,
and social workers; take steps to eliminate recruitment fees
charged to workers by labor recruiters; proactively offer identified
victims reintegration services; promote safe and legal migration
with trafficking prevention measures; increase resources for
the anti-trafficking taskforce and improve its coordination
across ministries; establish a data collection system to track
anti-trafficking efforts at all levels of law enforcement; train
hospital staff and other health care providers about provisions
guaranteeing government-funded care for trafficking victims;
and create a national protocol that clarifies roles for prosecuting
trafficking cases outside victims’ home provinces.

PROTECTION

The government maintained protection efforts. Officials did
not collect comprehensive data on victims identified, but
disparate government entities sometimes reported their own
statistics. In 2016, the Ministry of Women’s Empowerment
and Child Protection (MoWECP) reported partnering with a
communications company to collate open source information
on 943 trafficking victims featured in 65 print, online, and
broadcast media sources as an attempt to broaden victim
identification methods. Separately, the Commission for the
Protection of Children officially identified 307 child trafficking
victims. However, it was unclear if either of these processes led
to investigations or the provision of victim protective services.
The government’s overseas crisis center complaint system
received 4,761 complaints from workers placed overseas,
including 56 confirmed trafficking cases and 1,928 cases with
trafficking indicators. Although the government reportedly
initiated investigations based on these complaints, figures were
unavailable. The government body managing this complaint
system also led an interagency effort to establish five integrated
one-stop service centers to assist and educate Indonesians aiming
to travel abroad for work and those returning from overseas.
One of the service centers reported assisting 4,500 deportees
with safe migration education, renewal of passports, working
visas, and reintegration services. An international organization
partnered with the government to identify and provide services
to 336 Indonesian and foreign trafficking victims, including
159 individuals subjected to trafficking in the fishing industry.
The MFA also assisted 478 Indonesian trafficking victims
overseas through its consulates and embassies—an increase
from 413 in the previous reporting period. In 2016, the
MFA repatriated 13,714 Indonesian nationals, and foreign
governments deported 27,855, compared to 9,039 repatriations
and 85,490 deportations in 2015. The MFA screened for and
positively identified 602 Indonesian trafficking victims among
these two figures, comparted to 541 in 2015, and directly
assisted in the repatriation of 460 of them, compared to 306
in 2015. It secured a total of $240,398 in restitution for these
victims, provided them with short-term shelter and other
services upon return, and referred them to local government
entities for further care.

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INDONESIA

While the government had standard operating procedures
for proactive victim identification, it did not consistently
employ them, nor did it follow positive identification with
investigative or protective procedures in a majority of cases. It
continued to rely on international organizations and NGOs to
identify victims, especially foreign victims in Indonesia, and
to supplement the protective services it funded. Although the
government ratified the ILO Maritime Labor Convention in
September and established a fishing vessel victim screening
protocol in 2015, it did not uniformly adhere to either
mechanism during the reporting period. The government
continued to work with NGOs to identify trafficking victims
among the crews of ships grounded or destroyed as part of the
2014 moratorium on illegal fishing vessels, but figures were
unavailable at the end of the reporting period.
The government initiated new mechanisms to facilitate improved
victim protection services throughout the reporting period, but
it was unclear how often it used these mechanisms. In January,
the MFA collaborated with industry and civil society, including
migrant worker advocacy groups, to launch a mobile application
that provided safe travel tips, a social media platform, and a
panic button in case of emergencies for Indonesian citizens
traveling abroad. The application connects users to the MFA’s
hotline and the closest Indonesian overseas embassies and
consulates. In April, the MFA established a taskforce to
encourage undocumented and overstay Indonesian migrant
workers to request repatriation. The Ministry of Home Affairs
also issued formal instructions to allocate funding for districtlevel anti-trafficking taskforces to facilitate victim repatriation.
For the fourth year in a row, a draft law on the protection of
domestic workers in Indonesia stalled in the national legislature.
An international organization reported trafficking victims
were often unaware of government reintegration services,
and follow-up services for victims who had departed shelters
remained insufficient. The Ministry of Health was responsible
for paying victims’ health care, which national police hospitals
were obligated to provide free of charge; NGOs and government
officials reported some hospital staff were unaware of this duty
or unwilling to provide care without compensation.
During the reporting period, the government’s witness protection
unit provided legal assistance to at least 165 trafficking
victims, compared to 88 in 2015. Since multiple agencies
provided legal assistance with varying degrees of adherence to
recordkeeping protocols, the total number who received such aid
is unknown. The law allows victims to obtain restitution from
their traffickers, and most of the victims involved in 152 cases
received compensation during the year. There were no reports
that the government punished victims for crimes committed as
a result of being subjected to trafficking, but inadequate efforts
to screen vulnerable groups for trafficking indicators, including
during raids to arrest persons in prostitution or combat illegal
fishing, may have resulted in the punishment or deportation
of unidentified trafficking victims. The government did not
provide legal alternatives to the removal of foreign victims to
countries where they may face hardship or retribution.

PREVENTION

210

The government increased efforts to prevent trafficking. Most
prevention efforts occurred at the district and provincial levels;
taskforce funding and activities varied greatly across regions.
During the reporting period, the National Anti-trafficking
Taskforce, housed within MoWECP, drafted and circulated
localized trafficking prevention and case management
instructions for seven high-risk provinces. The taskforce met

its goal of establishing provincial-level taskforces in all 34
provinces—up from 31 in 2015—and increased the number of
local and district-level taskforces from 191 to 196. MoWECP
also established community watch groups in 25 villages in
five regencies throughout Indonesia. Insufficient funding and
lack of coordination within and between local taskforces and
with the national taskforce at times impeded anti-trafficking
efforts. In June, the government issued new regulations to
improve coordination between ministries to prevent trafficking
in furtherance of its national action plan, and in August
promulgated a seven-ministry MOU on preventing the trafficking
of Indonesians overseas. The government unveiled new policies
and mechanisms aimed at preventing trafficking in the fishing
industry, including two formal regulations on human rights
certifications for fishing companies and a fishing industry
training academy featuring trafficking-specific curriculum
materials. The government also engaged in income-generating,
awareness-raising, and capacity building activities targeted
to communities at higher risk of trafficking, including in
economically challenged rural and border regions. The Ministry
of Education and Culture conducted training workshops for
more than 80 education stakeholders, and the governmentfunded 26 NGOs in 13 provinces to implement these trainings.
The MFA carried out public awareness campaigns in 19 migrant
worker source regions throughout Indonesia, as well as in
primary destinations, including Saudi Arabia, China, South
Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia, and Brunei.
The MFA, in collaboration with six other ministries, produced
and disseminated an anti-trafficking campaign video for social
media users. In 2016, the president issued a policy directive
barring Indonesian women from working as maids in Malaysia
beginning in 2017. The government continued its moratorium
on permits for Indonesians to seek domestic work in 21 countries
in the Middle East, and it expanded the ban to include Malaysia.
According to NGOs, the ban had the unintended consequence
of incentivizing an increase in Indonesian labor migration to
these regions through illicit and often dangerous recruitment
and smuggling channels that could have made them more
vulnerable to trafficking.
During the reporting period, the labor ministry revoked the
licenses of 29 private labor recruitment agencies suspected of
trafficking or other illegal practices and suspended an additional
191 agencies pending review, compared to 24 revocations and
eight suspensions in 2015. These actions did not lead to criminal
investigations or prosecutions, although one of the agencies
was confirmed to have been directly involved in trafficking.
The government made efforts to reduce the demand for forced
labor and commercial sex acts, including through continued
use of a system developed to track money laundering among
known criminal networks—some of which are connected to
sex tourism. It provided anti-trafficking training for military
personnel prior to their deployment abroad on international
peacekeeping missions, and it conducted training on trafficking
victim identification and domestic migrant worker protections
for diplomatic personnel.

TRAFFICKING PROFILE

As reported the previous five years, Indonesia is a major source,
and to a much lesser extent, destination and transit country for
women, men, and children subjected to forced labor and sex
trafficking. Each of its 34 provinces is a source and destination
of trafficking. The government estimates 1.9 million of the 4.5
million Indonesians working abroad—many of whom are
women—are undocumented or have overstayed their visas,
increasing their vulnerability to trafficking. The actual figure

There were extensive reports of Indonesian fisherman in forced
labor on Chinese and Taiwanese trawlers in 2016. Many of
these vessels belong to Thai parent companies operating
under the auspices of Thai-Indonesian shell companies, and
utilized double-flagging and other illicit methods to contravene
interception by the Indonesian authorities—a byproduct of
the government’s 2014 moratorium on foreign fishing vessels.
Taiwanese companies work with dozens of recruitment agencies
in Burma, Indonesia, and Thailand to hire fisherman, assign
them fake Thai identity and labor permit documents, and force
them to fish long hours in Indonesian waters for low or unpaid
salaries while incurring severe physical abuse, including in the
waters surrounding Benjina and Ambon. The shell companies
prohibit the fishermen from leaving their vessels and reporting
these abuses by threatening to expose their fake identities to
the authorities or by detaining them on land in makeshift
prisons. Reports continued of Indonesian fishermen subjected
to labor trafficking on board South Korean fishing vessels in
non-Indonesian waters, where similar practices of coercion
and deprivation are not uncommon.
NGOs estimate labor recruiters are responsible for more
than half of Indonesian female trafficking cases overseas. The
government and NGOs note that, as awareness of trafficking
increases, traffickers are recruiting more victims from eastern
Indonesian provinces with lower general awareness of the crime.
Migrant workers often accumulate significant debt from both
Indonesian and overseas labor recruitment outfits, making
them vulnerable to debt bondage. Some companies use debt
bondage, withholding of documents, and threats of violence
to keep migrants in forced labor. Endemic corruption among
government officials facilitates practices that contribute to
trafficking vulnerabilities in the travel, hospitality, and labor
recruitment industries.
In Indonesia, women, men, and children are exploited in
forced labor in fishing, fish processing, and construction;
on plantations, including palm oil; and in mining and
manufacturing. Many women and girls are exploited in domestic
servitude and sex trafficking. Victims are often recruited with
offers of jobs in restaurants, factories, or domestic service, but
are subjected to sex trafficking. Debt bondage is particularly
prevalent among sex trafficking victims. Women and girls are
subjected to sex trafficking near mining operations in Maluku,
Papua, and Jami provinces. Child sex tourism is prevalent in
the Riau Islands bordering Singapore, and Bali is a destination
for Indonesians traveling to engage in child sex tourism.

IRAN: TIER 3
The Government of Iran does not fully meet the minimum
standards for the elimination of trafficking and is not making
significant efforts to do so; therefore, Iran remained on Tier 3.
Despite the lack of significant efforts, the government took some
steps to address trafficking, including operating some centers
where trafficking victims reportedly could receive assistance.
The government also agreed to improve cooperation with a
few countries in the region to combat trafficking. However, as
in previous reporting periods, the government did not share
information on its anti-trafficking efforts. Public information
from NGOs, the media, and international organizations indicate
the government did not take significant steps to address its
extensive trafficking problem. Trafficking victims remained
highly vulnerable to punishment, including death, for unlawful
acts committed as a direct result of being subjected to trafficking.
Allegations continued that Iranian officials coerced Afghan
men into combat roles in Syria, and the Iranian government
provided financial support to militias fighting in Iraq that
recruited and used child soldiers.

IRAN

is likely higher, as a significant number of migrant workers
traditionally circumvent government overseas placement and
permitting requirements, often at the instigation of traffickers.
A significant number of Indonesians are exploited in forced
labor and debt bondage in Asia and the Middle East, primarily
in domestic service, factories, construction, and manufacturing,
on Malaysian palm oil plantations, and on fishing vessels
throughout the Indian and Pacific Oceans. Malaysia remains the
top destination for Indonesian migrant workers; the government
estimates more than one million of the 1.9 million Indonesian
workers in irregular status are in Malaysia. Undocumented
workers are at greater risk for trafficking. During the reporting
period, Indonesian victims were also identified in the Pacific
Islands, Africa, Europe, and North America (including the
United States). Indonesian women and girls are subjected to sex
trafficking primarily in Malaysia, Taiwan, and the Middle East.

RECOMMENDATIONS FOR IRAN

Cease coercing individuals into combat in Syria and cease
support for armed militias that recruit and use children in Iraq;
ensure sex and labor trafficking victims are not punished for
unlawful acts committed as a direct result of being subjected
to trafficking; while respecting due process, investigate and
prosecute sex trafficking and forced labor cases; institute
procedures to identify trafficking victims, particularly among
vulnerable populations such as persons in prostitution, street
children, and undocumented migrants; offer specialized
protection services to trafficking victims, including shelter
and medical, psychological, and legal assistance; develop
partnerships with international organizations to combat
trafficking; increase transparency of anti-trafficking policies
and activities; and become a party to the 2000 UN TIP Protocol.

PROSECUTION

The government did not report anti-trafficking law enforcement
efforts and officials continued to be complicit in trafficking
crimes. Human rights activists reported the government did not
initiate anti-trafficking investigations due to a lack of political
will and widespread corruption. Iranian law does not prohibit all
forms of trafficking. A 2004 law prohibits trafficking in persons
by means of threat or use of force, coercion, abuse of power,
or abuse of a victim’s position of vulnerability for purposes
of prostitution, slavery, or forced marriage. The prescribed
penalty under this law is up to 10 years imprisonment for the
trafficking of adults and capital punishment for offenses against
children. Both penalties are sufficiently stringent. The penalty
for the trafficking of adults, however, is not commensurate with
penalties prescribed under Iranian law for rape. The constitution
and labor code prohibit forced labor and debt bondage, but the

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prescribed penalty of a fine and up to a one-year imprisonment
is not sufficiently stringent. Courts accord legal testimony by
women only half the weight accorded to the testimony by
men, thereby restricting female trafficking victims’ access to
justice. Moreover, female victims of sexual abuse, including
sex trafficking victims, were subject to prosecution for adultery,
which is defined as sexual relations outside of marriage and is
punishable by death. The government did not report statistics
on investigations, prosecutions, or convictions of traffickers.
There is no evidence the government held complicit officials
accountable for trafficking offenses, despite widespread reports
of Iranian officials alleged complicity in the coerced recruitment
and use of Afghan men for combat. The government did not
report providing anti-trafficking training to its officials.

PROTECTION

The government made few efforts to protect trafficking victims.
There was no evidence the government identified or provided
appropriate protection services to any trafficking victims during
the reporting period. The government reportedly continued
to punish trafficking victims for unlawful acts committed
as a direct result of being subjected to human trafficking,
such as adultery, prostitution, and illegal immigration. The
government did not distinguish between trafficking victims,
those seeking refugee status, and undocumented immigrants,
and held foreign trafficking victims in detention centers and
jails pending deportation, where some experienced severe
physical abuse that sometimes led to death. The government
did not protect Afghan refugees from coerced recruitment by
Iranian officials for combat in Syria; authorities detained and
deported refugees who refused recruitment.
The government did not operate shelters for trafficking victims.
However, the Iranian state welfare organization reportedly
operated emergency centers for persons at risk of trafficking,
which offered counseling, legal services, and healthcare;
however, it was unknown whether the government assisted
trafficking victims at these centers in 2016 because it did not
report this data. Though government-operated health clinics
also reportedly offered health services to potential trafficking
victims, it was unknown whether the government provided
services to any victims in these clinics in 2016 because it did
not report this data. The government did not appear to provide
other social or legal protection services for trafficking victims
and it was not clear if it provided support to NGOs providing
limited services to victims. The government did not encourage
trafficking victims to assist in the investigation or prosecution
of traffickers and did not provide witness support services. It
did not provide foreign trafficking victims legal alternatives to
their removal to countries in which they may face hardship
or retribution.

PREVENTION

212

The government made negligible efforts to prevent human
trafficking. The government made no efforts to prevent its
officials from coercing Afghan refugees to serve in combat
brigades deployed to Syria. The government did not have a
national coordinating body or agency leading its anti-trafficking
efforts, nor did it dedicate resources to address human trafficking
in the country. The government did not improve transparency
on its anti-trafficking policies or activities, nor did it make
discernible efforts to partner with NGOs or international
organizations to combat human trafficking. In 2016, the
government agreed to improve cooperation to combat trafficking
with Poland, Spain, and Turkey in 2016. The government made

no discernible efforts to reduce the demand for commercial
sex acts, forced labor, or child sex tourism by Iranian citizens
traveling abroad. The government did not implement antitrafficking awareness campaigns. Children of Afghan refugees—
either registered or unregistered—continued to have difficulty
obtaining legal documentation, while children born to Iranian
mothers and non-Iranian fathers were not Iranian citizens under
law and therefore remained undocumented; these policies
increased these populations’ vulnerability to exploitation.
There was no evidence the government provided anti-trafficking
training for its diplomatic personnel. The government has not
ratified the UN Convention against Transnational Organized
Crime, and Iran is not a party to the 2000 UN TIP Protocol.

TRAFFICKING PROFILE

As reported over the past five years, Iran is a source, transit, and
destination country for men, women, and children subjected to
sex trafficking and forced labor. Organized groups reportedly
subject Iranian women, boys, and girls to sex trafficking in Iran,
Afghanistan, the Iraqi Kurdistan Region (IKR), Pakistan, United
Arab Emirates (UAE), and Europe. Some Iranian women, who
seek employment to support their families in Iran, are vulnerable
to sex trafficking. Iranian girls between the ages of 13 and 17
are targeted by traffickers for sale abroad; younger girls may be
forced into domestic service until their traffickers consider them
old enough to be subjected to child sex trafficking. In 2016, there
was a reported increase in young Iranian women in prostitution
in Dubai; some of these women may be trafficking victims. From
2009-2015, the transport of girls from and through Iran en route
to other Persian Gulf states for sexual exploitation reportedly
increased. Iranian girls were subjected to sex trafficking in
brothels in the IKR, especially Sulaimaniya; in some cases this
exploitation was facilitated by Iranian trafficking networks.
In 2015, the media reported Kurdistan Regional Government
officials were among the clients of these brothels. In Tehran,
Tabriz, and Astara, the number of teenage girls exploited in
sex trafficking reportedly continues to increase. “Temporary” or
“short-term” marriages lasting from one hour to one week—for
the purpose of commercial sexual exploitation—are reportedly
increasing in Iran. Trafficking rings reportedly use Shiraz, Iran,
as a transit point to bring ethnic Azeri girls from Azerbaijan to
the UAE for commercial sexual exploitation. Street children in
Iran are highly vulnerable to trafficking. Organized criminal
groups kidnap or purchase and force Iranian and migrant
children, especially Afghan refugee children, to work as beggars
and street vendors in cities, including Tehran. These children,
who may be as young as three years old, are coerced through
physical and sexual abuse and drug addiction.
Afghan migrants and refugees, including children, are highly
vulnerable to forced labor, debt bondage, and sex trafficking,
while Pakistani migrants are also vulnerable to forced labor
in Iran. Afghan boys in Iran are vulnerable to sexual abuse by
their employers and harassment or blackmailing by the Iranian
security service and other government officials. Traffickers
subject Afghan migrants, including children, to forced labor
in construction and agriculture in Iran. Trafficking networks
smuggle Afghan nationals living in Iran to Europe and force
them to work in restaurants to pay off debts incurred by
smuggling fees. Pakistani men and women migrants in lowskilled employment, such as domestic work and construction,
are targeted by organized groups and subjected to forced labor,
debt bondage, restriction of movement, non-payment of wages,
and physical or sexual abuse. Increasingly, despite labor code
protections for registered foreign workers, employers seek
adjustable contracts that increase these workers’ vulnerability

In 2016, an international organization and the media reported
the Iranian government and the Islamic Revolutionary Guards
Corps (IRGC) coerced male Afghans resident in Iran, including
migrants and refugees, to fight in military brigades deployed
to Syria by threatening them with arrest and deportation to
Afghanistan. In 2015 and 2016, the Iranian government provided
funding to the militia Asa’ib Ahl al-Haq—also known as the
League of the Righteous—which reportedly organized training
camps for high school and university students, some of whom
may be under the age of 18, in southern Iraq. According to
an Iraq-based source, the Iranian government also provides
funding to the militia Abu Fadhl al-Abbas Brigades, which
used children in combat on the front-line in Fallujah, Iraq.

IRAQ: TIER 2 WATCH LIST
The Government of Iraq does not fully meet the minimum
standards for the elimination of trafficking; however, it is making
significant efforts to do so. The government demonstrated
significant efforts during the reporting period by providing
financial compensation to trafficking victims taken captive
and exploited by ISIS, while the Defeat-ISIS Campaign—
led by the Iraqi government—contributed to the release of
women and children held captive by ISIS, most of whom were
likely trafficking victims. The government also improved its
institutional capacity to investigate trafficking crimes. However,
the government did not demonstrate increasing efforts compared
to the previous reporting period. There continued to be reports
alleging the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF) and tribal forces
recruited and used child soldiers; some PMF units received
financial and material support from the Iraqi government in
2016. The government did not provide protection services to
children recruited and used as soldiers by various armed groups,
including ISIS, rendering these children vulnerable to abuse and
arrest by security forces. There were some reports indicating the
government continued to punish and deport victims of forced
labor and sex trafficking. In addition, the government did not
report identifying any trafficking victims, which was a decline
from the previous reporting period. NGOs were not legally
permitted to operate trafficking shelters, and some that did
so were subject to legal action by the government. Therefore,
Iraq was downgraded to Tier 2 Watch List.

RECOMMENDATIONS FOR IRAQ

Continue to make efforts to stop the recruitment and use of child
soldiers by the PMF and tribal forces, hold complicit individuals
accountable for child soldiering, and provide protection services
to child soldiers; ensure trafficking victims are not punished
for crimes committed as a direct result of being subjected to
human trafficking, such as prostitution, immigration violations,
and child soldiering; increase adequate and unhindered access

to protection services for victims of all forms of trafficking and
their children, including trauma and psycho-social counseling,
and medical care, long-term shelter, reintegration services,
employment training, and financial assistance in Iraq and the
Iraqi Kurdistan Region (IKR); finalize regulations to enable full
implementation of the anti-trafficking law; make significant
efforts to investigate, prosecute, convict, and stringently sentence
traffickers, including complicit government officials, even when
victims do not press charges or participate in legal proceedings
against their trafficker; develop and institute guidelines for
proactive victim identification and referral to protection services,
and train government officials on these procedures; ensure
staff at the government-run shelter in Baghdad are adequately
trained on victim identification and protection; establish a
legal framework for NGOs to operate shelters for victims and
provide in-kind support to such organizations; amend the antitrafficking law to prohibit and punish all forms of trafficking
consistent with the 2000 UN TIP Protocol; and establish and
implement a legal framework in the IKR that criminalizes all
forms of human trafficking and prescribes sufficiently stringent
penalties.

IRAQ

to exploitative work practices such as coerced overtime and
denial of work benefits.

PROSECUTION

The government maintained law enforcement efforts, but it did
not adequately prosecute those complicit in the recruitment
and use of children within the PMF. Iraq’s 2012 anti-trafficking
law does not prohibit all forms of human trafficking. The
law’s definition of human trafficking is not consistent with
the 2000 UN TIP Protocol; it requires a monetary transaction
and does not consider the facilitation of “child prostitution” a
trafficking crime. An article in the penal code does criminalize
“the prostitution of a child” and provides a penalty of up to
10 years imprisonment, which is sufficiently stringent to deter
the crime, although not commensurate with the penalties
prescribed for rape. The anti-trafficking law prescribes penalties
for sex trafficking that range from temporary imprisonment
and a fine to the death penalty, which are sufficiently stringent
and commensurate with those prescribed for other serious
crimes, such as rape. Penalties for labor trafficking range from
temporary imprisonment and a fine to the death penalty, which
are sufficiently stringent. The labor law conflicts with the antitrafficking law, as its penalties include a fine and imprisonment
not exceeding six months, which are not sufficiently stringent.
The government continued to lack implementing regulations
for the anti-trafficking law, hindering its ability to enforce
the law, bring traffickers to justice, and protect victims. The
Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) did not have a law that
specifically prohibited all forms of human trafficking, nor did
it endorse or adopt the Iraqi government’s anti-trafficking law.
The government reported investigating 314 potential trafficking
cases, 17 of which were prosecuted and received a final verdict;
however, it did not report the details of these cases. Nineteen
of the 314 cases were still under investigation at the end of the
reporting period. The government reported that Iraqi courts
upheld the convictions in 221 trafficking cases, some of which
were initiated in previous reporting periods, but it did not
provide the details of these cases to determine if any trafficking
offenders received adequate and stringent sentences to deter the
crime. In comparison, in 2015 the government prosecuted 113
offenders and convicted 29 traffickers. According to NGOs, the
government did not initiate a trafficking prosecution unless a
victim pressed charges, yet most victims did not do so because
they did not know the identity of their trafficker or were fearful
of retaliation. From March 2015 to January 2017—a timeframe
that partially runs outside of the reporting period—the KRG

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IRAQ

reported conducting 71 investigations of employment firms
allegedly involved in abuses of foreign workers, and issued
financial penalties or suspended operations of 22 companies;
however, none of these investigations resulted in criminal
prosecution. In August 2016, KRG authorities conducted an
investigation into 2015 allegations that some Asayish officials
allegedly ignored, or may have accepted bribes to ignore,
cases of “temporary” marriages among girls in Domiz refugee
camp. Although the investigation reportedly found cases of
“temporary” marriage, it did not uncover any cases of sex
trafficking inside the camp nor hold criminally accountable
officials for their alleged involvement in these arrangements,
which can lead to sexual exploitation. The Iraqi government
denied allegations reported over several years that officials
were complicit in trafficking crimes, including among law
enforcement, internal security forces, and paramilitary forces
in Iraq or the IKR; however, the government did not receive
reports of officials complicit in trafficking crimes in 2016.
The Iraqi government did not provide information on efforts
to prosecute members of the PMF for credible reports of
recruitment and use of children. The PMF are composed
primarily of Shia militias that generally support government
security objectives, but also include Sunni and other tribal
volunteers. Many PMF elements were formed in response to
Grand Ayatollah Sistani’s 2014 fatwa to defend Iraq against
ISIS, though a large segment instead represent pre-2014 Shia
militias—many of which are partially supported by Iran—
that have taken on the PMF moniker. In 2016, some PMF
units received financial and material support from the Iraqi
government, and a February 2016 order from the Iraqi prime
minister declared the PMF to be formally affiliated with the Iraqi
armed forces. In December 2016, the Iraqi prime minister signed
a law that formalized the status of the Popular Mobilization
Commission, an umbrella organization for the PMF, as a
component of the Iraqi armed services. This law is intended
to bring the PMF under government control once the law is
fully implemented. In August 2016, the Iraqi government
conducted an investigation into credible allegations that
government-supported local tribal forces recruited children
out of Debaga IDP camp. The government, however, did not
provide information of the result of this investigation and
whether it prosecuted the alleged perpetrators for child soldier
recruitment.
Violence and security challenges, lack of control over parts
of the country, budget constraints, and an influx of IDPs
and refugees, particularly in the IKR, continued to severely
hinder the Iraqi government’s ability to combat trafficking.
Nevertheless, the Ministry of Interior’s (MOI) anti-trafficking
department remained active during the reporting period. In
June 2016, the KRG designated sub-committees of police and
judicial officials focused on investigating sex trafficking in each
IKR province. In December 2016, the IKR Judicial Council
created investigative courts in each province to handle human
trafficking cases; however, the KRG did not report how many
investigations these sub-committees or courts conducted.
The Iraqi government, in partnership with NGOs, continued
to provide anti-trafficking trainings to officials. However, the
government’s inter-ministerial anti-trafficking committee, which
included a representative from the KRG MOI, reported judges
and first responders lacked understanding of the anti-trafficking
law and did not adequately implement it or protect victims
during legal proceedings. Iraqi police continued to conflate
human trafficking with crimes of prostitution, begging, and
illegal migration.

214

PROTECTION

The government continued to identify and provide protection
services to women and children exploited by ISIS, but it did not
provide information on efforts to identify and provide adequate
protection services to victims of other forms of trafficking,
including child soldiers. The Iraqi government did not report
identifying any trafficking victims in 2016, which was a decline
from the 40 identified in the previous reporting period. In 2016,
the KRG facilitated the release of approximately 900 Yezidis
held captive by ISIS, out of a cumulative total of 2,900 freed
since 2014, most of whom were likely trafficking victims. The
KRG also reported receiving an unknown number of victim
referrals from the embassies of the Philippines and Indonesia
requesting assistance, and the KRG provided the victims with
temporary shelter and repatriation. The Iraqi government did
not have formal procedures for proactively identifying trafficking
victims among vulnerable groups, including undocumented
foreign migrants and persons in prostitution, or for the referral
of victims to appropriate protection services. However, NGOs
reported that some Iraqi law enforcement officials referred
victims to protection services. The KRG continued to rely on
victims identifying themselves to authorities, referring for
services only those who participated in legal proceedings against
their traffickers. Throughout the reporting period, trafficking
victims continued to be vulnerable to arrest, imprisonment,
abuse, and deportation for unlawful acts committed as a
direct result of being subjected to human trafficking, such as
prostitution, immigration violations, and child soldiering.
An international organization reported that KRG authorities
arrested, detained, and interrogated approximately 180 child
soldiers between the ages of 11 and 17 years old for their alleged
association to ISIS; 17 of those interviewed reported torture
during interrogation. Sentences for prostitution violations in
Iraqi courts—including for children—were excessive, ranging
from 15 years to life imprisonment. Iraqi authorities continued
to forcibly deport foreign migrant workers for overstaying their
visas, with no effort to screen this vulnerable population for
trafficking. However, an international organization reported
the government provided repatriation services to an unknown
number of forced labor victims in 2016.
The Iraqi government and the KRG provided limited protection
services to victims of all forms of trafficking, and victim care
varied by location. No facilities in Iraq or the IKR offered
specialized services to child trafficking victims, including
those recruited and used by armed groups—including ISIS,
PMF, and tribal militias—or victims with disabilities. The
Iraqi government continued to operate a trafficking shelter in
Baghdad and trained shelter staff on psycho-social counseling
and legal assistance; however, the shelter remained unused
during the entire reporting period due to security concerns
and a lack of funding to pay staff salaries. The government
continued to operate some temporary shelters and holding
facilities for foreign workers awaiting repatriation; however,
these facilities did not provide appropriate services for victims
and may have operated as detention centers. The Ministry of
Health (MOH) continued to oversee the provision of medical
and psychological assistance to trafficking victims in provincial
health facilities, but it was unclear how many victims received
these services during the reporting period. MOH hired and
trained an unknown number of mental health professionals
during the reporting period and provided private, confidential
spaces in health facilities for patients to discuss their trauma.
The government continued to operate 16 family protection
units located in police stations around the country, which were
responsible for assisting women and child victims of abuse and

The Iraqi parliament continued to make use of its emergency
plan—initiated in May 2015—to implement UN Security
Council Resolution 1325, which established a coordination
mechanism to recover victims exploited by ISIS and provide
survivors with protection, rehabilitation, compensation, and
other forms of support. In 2016, the Iraqi government provided
financial compensation to more than 700 Yezidis who were
former ISIS captives through this compensation program.
The KRG also continued to provide limited essential services
to victims of ISIS, including shelter, rehabilitation, medical
care, and psycho-social assistance. While the KRG continued
to operate three women’s shelters in the IKR that offered some
assistance for trafficking victims—where space was limited
and service delivery was poor—most victims at the shelters
were victims of domestic violence. Syrian victims were denied
access to these shelters unless they reported trafficking or other
crimes to the police first, which prevented most Syrians from
receiving assistance at the shelters.
The Iraqi government did not provide funding or in-kind
assistance to NGOs providing victim care, but government
officials cooperated with NGOs in limited cases to provide
support to victims. NGOs were not allowed to legally operate
shelters, but some continued operation without official
approval; these facilities remained vulnerable to legal action
by the government and threats of violence by extremist groups.
Neither the Iraqi government nor the KRG encouraged victims to
assist in investigations and prosecutions of trafficking offenders.
NGOs reported that trafficking victims often did not pursue
legal action against their traffickers due to lack of awareness of
their legal rights or fear of retaliation. The government and the
KRG did not provide foreign victims relief from deportation or
offer legal alternatives to their removal to countries in which
they may face hardship or retribution. The KRG did not offer
special residency status benefits to foreign trafficking victims,
but it reportedly did not deport victims unless they committed
a crime.

PREVENTION

The government made some efforts to prevent human trafficking,
including making efforts to dissuade some PMF factions from
recruiting children; however, the PMF reportedly continued
to recruit and use children under the age of 18. Iraqi law
prohibits voluntary recruitment of any person under age 18
into the governmental armed forces, including governmental
paramilitary forces, militia groups, or other armed groups;
however, in most cases the government faced security challenges
to successfully prevent the recruitment and use of children by
the PMF or other armed groups that received support from
the government. The government also did not prevent PMF
factions in southern Iraq from child recruitment and sponsoring
military training camps for high school students, which included
some children under the age of 18. However, to dissuade PMF
commanders from accepting children who volunteer to fight
for the PMF, the government refused to enroll child volunteers
in payment programs and did not provide salaries for any child
volunteers. Although there were no reports of child soldiers
used within the Iraqi military including KRG Peshmerga or
MOI forces, the government continued to provide training to
military officers on child soldier issues.

The government’s inter-ministerial anti-trafficking committee
met several times in 2016. In 2016, the government did not have
the financial resources to fund new anti-trafficking awareness
campaigns, but it continued to work with NGOs on awareness
campaigns. The anti-trafficking committee continued efforts
to raise awareness about trafficking issues among religious
organizations, NGOs, universities, and airports; it also made
public statements on radio and television. The KRG also
conducted several outreach events with foreign domestic workers
to improve awareness of their rights. The Iraqi government
continued to fund, operate, and publicize its anti-trafficking
hotline, but it was unclear if it facilitated the identification of any
victims during the reporting period. Similarly, the KRG operated
a hotline where trafficking victims could seek assistance and
report labor abuses. The Iraqi government took some efforts
to reduce the demand for commercial sex acts; however, it did
not take efforts to reduce the demand for forced labor or child
sex tourism. The KRG took efforts to reduce the demand for
forced labor. The government did not report if it provided antitrafficking training or guidance for its diplomatic personnel.

IRAQ

trafficking. The units focused primarily on family reconciliation
instead of victim protection and did not have a regular referral
system; the government did not report if the units referred any
trafficking victims to appropriate protective services in 2016.

TRAFFICKING PROFILE

As reported over the past five years, Iraq is a source and
destination country for women and children subjected to sex
trafficking and men, women, and children subjected to forced
labor. The ongoing violent conflict with ISIS continues to
gravely increase the population’s vulnerability to trafficking,
in particular women and children. As of January 2017, more
than 3.03 million Iraqis were displaced across the country,
and more than 225,000 Syrian refugees remained displaced
in the IKR. ISIS militants have kidnapped and held captive
thousands of women and children from a wide range of ethnic
and religious groups, especially from the Yezidi community and
continue to sell them to ISIS fighters in Iraq and Syria, where
they are subjected to forced marriage, sexual slavery, rape, and
domestic servitude. There are reports ISIS executed captives if
they refused to marry fighters. The media has reported that ISIS
sold some captives to wealthy individuals in Gulf countries,
while unverified reports suggested that some Yezidi captives
have been moved to Syria, Turkey, and Saudi Arabia. ISIS
maintained an organized system to buy and sell women and
girls for sexual slavery, including sales contracts notarized by
ISIS-run courts. In 2015 and 2016, thousands of women and
children escaped ISIS captivity—many of whom were pregnant
as a result of rape and sex trafficking—and became IDPs because
ISIS still controlled their homelands; these victims remain
highly vulnerable to various forms of exploitation, including
re-trafficking.
Children remain highly vulnerable to forcible recruitment and
use by multiple armed groups operating in Iraq, including—
but not limited to—ISIS, the PMF, tribal forces, the Kurdistan
Worker’s Party (PKK), and Iran-backed militias. ISIS continued
to abduct and forcibly recruit and use children in combat
and support roles, including as human shields, informants,
bomb makers, and suicide bombers; some of these children
are as young as 8 years old and some are mentally disabled.
In 2015 and 2016, an international organization and media
reported that ISIS forced hundreds of boys from the Ninewa
Governorate to guard checkpoints and serve as informants and
suicide bombers. ISIS continued to train children at military
training and indoctrination camps; numerous media reports
and public videos show children attending these camps. In
January 2017, international media and KRG sources reported
that ISIS abducted 400 Yezidi children and trained them for
combat roles, including as suicide bombers, while in the same

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IRELAND

month ISIS abducted 150 children from Tal Afar and forcibly
recruited them into a training camp.
NGOs, an international organization, and the media report
factions of the PMF recruit and use children under the age of
18 in operations in Fallujah and other areas of the country,
while PMF-affiliated media continue to celebrate the service
and sacrifice of child soldiers. In April 2016, an international
organization verified 12 reported cases of recruitment and use
of children by militias affiliated with the PMF, and noted that
some of those children had been killed in combat. In July 2016,
an international organization also verified five additional cases
of recruitment and use of children by militias affiliated with
PMF units who took direct part in hostilities. Some PMF groups
accepted children into their ranks from poor neighborhoods in
Basrah, who leave school to “volunteer” for the PMF; many of
them view this as fulfilling a religious duty, while others view it
as a way to earn a living and gain greater social status. According
to NGOs and tribal force commanders, children fighting with
the PMF are unregistered and do not receive state benefits or
regular salaries. In August 2016, an international NGO reported
that Sunni tribal militias affiliated with the PMF had recruited
at least seven children from the Debaga IDP camp in northern
Iraq. Witness accounts reported that Iraqi Security Forces (ISF)
members facilitated the recruitment of children from the camp.
The PKK and Sinjar Resistance Units (YBS)—a Yezidi armed
militia group—forcibly recruited and used Kurdish and Yezidi
boys and girls, some as young as 12 years old, in combat and
support roles in northern Iraq. According to an international
organization and the media, the Iraqi government reportedly
pays the salaries of the YBS.
Refugees and IDPs face heightened risk of trafficking due to
their economic and social vulnerability. NGOs report trafficking
networks in the IKR target refugees and IDPs, operating with
assistance from local officials, including judges, officials from
the Asayish forces, and border agents. In 2015, members of
the IKR Parliament and NGOs reported some personnel from
the Asayish forces facilitated the sex trafficking of women and
girls in Syrian refugee camps in the IKR, primarily in Domiz
refugee camp, as well as sex trafficking of girls outside of the
camps. NGOs report Asayish guards not only allowed men to
enter a camp to solicit commercial sex with refugee girls, but
the guards also solicited sex from the refugee girls, including
granting them permission to leave the camp in exchange
for sex. Reports from 2015 indicated IDPs and some Syrian
refugee women were forced into prostitution by a trafficking
network in hotels and brothels in Baghdad, Basrah, and other
cities in southern Iraq after agents of the network promised to
resettle them from the IKR; the women’s children were also
forced to beg on the street. Some Syrian refugee men entered
into employment without legal work contracts in Iraq, which
increased their vulnerability to trafficking. Some displaced
Iraqi families reportedly sell their children to other families
to secure better futures; these children are at risk of trafficking.

216

Traditional practices, including child forced and “temporary”
marriages and fasliya—the exchange of family members to
settle tribal disputes—also place women and girls at increased
risk of trafficking within the country. For example, in October
2016, the media reported a girl from the Nada tribe in Maysan
Province was forced to marry a man of another tribe as a
resolution for the killing of a man by someone in the Nada tribe.
Child protection organizations continue to report incidents of
child marriage—which could increase a child’s vulnerability
to exploitation—increased among IDPs and Syrian refugees
in the IKR, as heads of households sought ways to generate

income and reduce the family’s economic burden. Syrian
girls from refugee camps in the IKR are forced into early or
“temporary marriages” with Iraqi or other refugee men; some
KRG authorities allegedly ignore, or may accept bribes to
ignore, such cases, including those in which girls are sold
multiple times. Anecdotal reports also suggest some Iraqi law
enforcement officials have allegedly frequented brothels known
for sex trafficking or accepted bribes to allow sex trafficking
in locations openly facilitating prostitution. Media and other
observers reported in 2015 that an Iranian sex trafficking network
operated brothels in Erbil where Iranian girls were exploited
in commercial sex; the media reported a KRG official allegedly
paid $3,000 for an Iranian sex trafficking victim. There were
anecdotal reports, including from a June 2016 local television
station, of child sex trafficking of girls primarily from Iran and
Syria, as well as some from the IKR, in Sulaimaniya. Criminal
gangs force children to beg and sell drugs in Iraq, while gangs
also exploit teenage girls—including refugee women and
girls from camps—throughout the country in sex trafficking.
NGOs also report cases in which girls who have run away
from their families out of fear of honor killings are exploited
in commercial sex by criminal networks. Trafficking networks
also reportedly sell Iraqi children in neighboring countries
and Europe for commercial sexual exploitation. Iraqi women
and girls are also subjected to sex and labor trafficking in the
Middle East and Turkey.
Some men and women from throughout Asia and East Africa
who migrate to Iraq are subjected to forced labor as construction
workers, security guards, cleaners, handymen, and domestic
workers. Some foreign migrants are recruited for work in other
countries in the region but are forced, coerced, or deceived into
working in Iraq and the IKR. In January 2016, the Ministry of
Labor and Social Affairs reported approximately 140,000 foreign
workers lacked formal work permits; NGOs reported some
employers and recruitment agents exploit workers’ illegal status
by withholding salaries and subjecting workers to substandard
living conditions. The Kurdistan Independent Human Rights
Commission reported 69 percent of 480 foreign workers
surveyed in the IKR in January 2016 were not paid their agreed
salaries and 18 percent reported violent acts their employers
committed against them.

IRELAND: TIER 1
The Government of Ireland fully meets the minimum standards
for the elimination of trafficking. The government continued to
demonstrate serious and sustained efforts during the reporting
period; therefore, Ireland remained on Tier 1. The government
demonstrated serious and sustained efforts by implementing
its second national action plan, significantly increasing its
prosecutions, including prosecuting the country’s first case of
forced labor under the trafficking law, and increasing funding for
victim services. Although the government meets the minimum
standards, it has not obtained a trafficking conviction since 2013,
and had deficiencies in certain areas of victim identification,
suitable housing for victims that prevent re-traumatization,
and viable avenues for victim compensation.

Vigorously investigate, prosecute, and convict suspected
offenders of both sex and labor trafficking using the trafficking
law; improve victim identification and referral mechanisms, and
in particular, increase efforts to identify and protect victims of
labor trafficking, forced criminality, and asylum-seekers; exempt
victims from penalization for crimes committed as a result of
being subjected to trafficking; offer specialized accommodation
to victims, particularly for women and traumatized victims;
establish an independent national rapporteur to help identify
and address gaps in anti-trafficking strategy and efforts; and
explore new possibilities for victim compensation, particularly
for those involved in sex trafficking.

PROSECUTION

The government increased law enforcement efforts. The 2008
Human Trafficking Act, amended in 2013, criminalizes all forms
of trafficking and prescribes penalties up to life imprisonment,
which are sufficiently stringent and commensurate with
punishments prescribed for other serious crimes, such as
rape. The law broadly defines sexual exploitation to include
the sexual abuse of children, and conflates possession or
creation of child pornography with human trafficking, making
it inconsistent with the 2000 UN TIP Protocol. The Criminal
Justices (Sexual Offences) Bill 2015 was enacted in February
2017 and criminalizes the purchase of sexual services from a
trafficked person, for which it prescribes significant penalties.
In such cases, the burden of proof shifts to the accused, who
must prove they were unaware the victim was trafficked. The
Criminal Justice Bill includes measures against child grooming
and includes additional support and protection for victims
during the criminal trial process.
Authorities initiated investigations of 90 new trafficking-related
cases in 2016, compared to 91 in 2015 and 79 in 2014. Of
the 90 cases, 61 involved sexual exploitation, 17 were labor
exploitation, four were forced criminality, two were for both
sexual and labor exploitation, and six were uncategorized. Police
continued pre-trial reviews of at least 13 cases for possible
trafficking indicators related to cannabis sector arrests. During
the calendar year, the government prosecuted nine individuals
for human trafficking crimes; this is a significant increase
from previous reporting periods (zero prosecutions in 2015;
one prosecution in 2014; two prosecutions in 2013). The
government prosecuted three of the individuals under the
2013 amended trafficking act, marking the first forced labor
case to proceed to prosecution under that law. There were 29
trafficking cases pending prosecution, 18 of which were new
suspected trafficking cases. The government did not report
any criminal convictions in 2016 for sex trafficking or forced
labor under the anti-trafficking act, and there have been no
convictions under this law since 2013.
In late 2015, the government moved its human trafficking
investigation and coordination unit into a new national
protective services bureau to consolidate specialized expertise

IRELAND

RECOMMENDATIONS FOR IRELAND

on human trafficking. During the reporting period, 69 police
officers and 300 new probationer police officers received a threeday training course on trafficking awareness and 68 national
police who work as immigration officers received trafficking
awareness training. An additional 18 senior investigating officers
received trafficking training. The government did not report
any investigations, prosecutions, convictions, or sentencing
of government officials, diplomats, or peacekeeping officials
for alleged complicity in trafficking offenses. Law enforcement
cooperated with various foreign governments on trafficking
investigations, including extraditions.

PROTECTION

The government maintained victim protection efforts, but
lacked specialized accommodation for female victims and
had deficiencies in its victim identification, referral, and
compensation process. Authorities identified 95 suspected
trafficking victims in 2016, compared with 78 in 2015 and 46
in 2014. Of the victims identified in 2016, 52 were exploited
in sex trafficking, 38 in labor trafficking, one in both sex and
labor trafficking, and four in forced criminality in the selling
of heroin; 50 were female and 45 were male. The increase in
male victims compared to last year was driven by one case
involving 23 Romanian male victims. Victims identified in
2016 in Ireland included 39 individuals from Romania, 19 Irish
children, 10 from Nigeria, and the rest from Eastern Europe,
Africa, South Asia, and South America. Seventy percent of
victims were EU nationals.
Experts raised concerns about the government’s ability and
efficiency to identify human trafficking victims and its efficiency
in doing so. NGOs noted only non-European nationals are
officially recognized by the government as suspected human
trafficking victims. Observers reported concerns the existing
identification system does not capture trafficking victims
who are asylum-seekers. Asylum-seekers cannot be identified
as victims of trafficking if they have an asylum proceeding
pending and in general asylum-seekers are not permitted to
work. NGOs reported the victim identification framework is
lacking coherence, making it difficult for NGOs to work with
the interagency on identifying victims. Due to deficiencies in
the victim identification and referral process, the government
continued reviewing the current system to identify areas for
improvement and planned to examine a new model for victim
identification and issue a revised national referral mechanism
in 2017.
The current national referral mechanism requires victims
be referred by law enforcement before shelter, health, and
legal services can be provided. The government and NGOs
provided victims with a wide range of services, including
health services (physical and psychological), immigration,
legal, accommodation, welfare and rent allowance, police
assistance, residence permits, repatriation, translation and
interpretation assistance, and access to education for dependent
children. The government provided €275,000 ($289,779) to an
NGO for assistance for sex trafficking victims, compared with
€225,000 ($237,092) in 2015. The government also provided
€41,428 ($43,654) to another NGO to assist labor trafficking
victims, with a substantial increase from €9,564 ($10,078) in
2015. The government also provided €200,000 ($210,748) to
five NGOs for vulnerable populations, including those more
susceptible to trafficking.
According to the government, in practice, domestic and foreign
victims have equal access to all state services. Experts, however,

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ISRAEL

are of the view that victims who are European nationals (nonIrish citizens) were excluded from accessing social assistance
support until they are granted an exemption of the Habitual
Residence Condition. Although the government was responsive
in emergency situations and provided short-term residency
arrangements for victims, NGOs stated these accommodations
in the direct provision system, a generally criticized system
which have been established for asylum-seekers and were mixedgender housing, had inadequate privacy, were unsuitable and
potentially unsafe for traumatized victims, and undermined
victim recovery. Experts also noted a lack of specialized services
in the centers for female victims who have been traumatized
due to psychological, physical, or sexual violence. In 2016, the
government granted two trafficking victims a 60-day period of
recovery and reflection, to recover and escape the influence of
traffickers, and decide whether to assist law enforcement, during
which victims were prohibited from working. Experts were
concerned a potential victim must be identified by the police
in order to avail of the 60-day recovery and reflection period.
The government gives suspected foreign trafficking victims
temporary relief from deportation, pending an investigation;
police can request an extension of a temporary residence
permit and extensions are granted by the immigration and
naturalization service within 24-48 hours. Seven victims were
granted a six-month temporary residence permit; two of these
were granted a reflection period before receiving this permit and
the remaining five victims received the permit without requiring
a prior reflection period. In addition, three suspected trafficking
victims were granted a change of status in immigration. The
temporary protection can evolve into a permanent residency
status in Ireland, and residency benefits are not linked to a
successful conviction of the case. Experts, however, have noted
gaps in the government’s immigration policies to protect
undocumented migrants (including undocumented fisherman)
who are vulnerable to trafficking. A labor focused NGO said
a government’s immigration scheme launched in February
2016 for crew members of the Irish commercial sea-fishing
fleets helped alleviate some of the concerns for undocumented
fisherman but criticized the scheme as being specifically time
bound and not available on a rolling basis.
Victims could obtain compensation through a court order,
civil action, state bodies dealing specifically with work-related
rights, and the criminal injuries compensation tribunal.
NGOs, however, criticized the lack of viable avenues for victim
compensation, particularly those involved in sex trafficking.
The trafficking law did not protect victims from prosecution for
crimes committed as a result of being subjected to trafficking.
NGOs noted the process for victims to seek immunity from
punishment from criminal activity as a result of their trafficking
is complex and required early legal representation. If authorities
prosecuted an individual before he or she is formally identified
as a trafficking victim, the criminal record cannot be expunged.
The national police revised their protocols and increased
regional training on identifying trafficking in cannabis
cultivation; the police began including a human trafficking
specialist in teams conducting these arrests to ensure trafficking
victims were identified as such.

PREVENTION

218

The government increased anti-trafficking prevention efforts. The
justice ministry’s anti-trafficking unit coordinated interagency
efforts, including the high-level interagency group and five
working groups that included NGOs. The working groups, which
provide a platform for consultation and civil society, increased
their meetings during the reporting period. In October 2016, the

government launched its second national action plan, which
included analysis of the possible appointment of a national
rapporteur and other independent monitoring mechanisms. The
government-funded a consortium of NGOs to develop trafficking
training materials for staff of the Reception and Integration
Agency (RIA) centers for asylum-seekers and conducted a study
group to the United Kingdom to improve victim identification
practices. The government-funded an NGO to look at effective
implementation of legislative measures targeting demand for
trafficking victims. The government hosted a conference on
trafficking for labor exploitation and the private sector, and
provided advice to companies to prevent labor exploitation
in their businesses and supply chains. The government and
national police continued their active involvement in the
Santa Marta Group, including the national police leading the
North Atlantic Maritime Project and hosting an international
conference on trafficking in the maritime industry.
The government conducted awareness-raising for a variety of
targeted groups, which included university students, social
workers, diplomats, labor inspectors, migrant workers, and
women’s groups. The government also produced a new
information booklet on the rights of domestic workers that
was available in multiple languages, and is available publicly,
as well as through Ireland’s diplomatic network. The Ministry
for Foreign Affairs and Trade provided €28,000 ($29,505) in
funding to support capacity-building anti-trafficking work in
Nigeria, Cameroon, Ghana, Uganda, Kenya, South Africa, and
Zambia. The government provided anti-trafficking training to its
diplomatic personnel, peacekeeping, and defense forces prior
to their deployment abroad on international peacekeeping
missions. The national police also provided training to
international officers at the UN Army School in Ireland.

TRAFFICKING PROFILE

As reported over the past five years, Ireland is a destination and
source country for women, men, and children subjected to sex
trafficking and forced labor, including forced criminal activity.
Irish children are subjected to sex trafficking within the country.
Foreign trafficking victims identified in Ireland are from Africa,
Asia, and Eastern Europe. Authorities have reported an increase
in suspected victims from Nigeria (some related to upheavals
from Boko Haram attacking villages), Romania, Brazil, and
Pakistan. The Romani community and undocumented migrant
workers are high-risk groups susceptible to human trafficking.
Victims of forced labor have been identified in domestic work,
the restaurant industry, waste management, fishing, seasonal
agriculture, and car washing services. Vietnamese and Chinese
men who have been prosecuted and sentenced for cannabis
cultivation report indicators of forced labor, such as document
retention, restriction of movement, and non-payment of wages.
The government reported the problem of forced labor in the
country is growing. Women from Eastern Europe who are
forced into marriage in Ireland are at risk for sex trafficking
and forced labor.

ISRAEL: TIER 1
The Government of Israel fully meets the minimum standards
for the elimination of trafficking. The government continued
to demonstrate serious and sustained efforts during the
reporting period; therefore, Israel remained on Tier 1. The
government demonstrated serious and sustained efforts by

convicted 16 individuals for sex trafficking—including eight
for “purchasing prostitution services from a minor,” two of
which were also convicted for “facilitating prostitution of a
minor”—and one for forced labor, compared to three for sex
trafficking and none for forced labor in 2015. Some courts issued
sentences as high as seven years imprisonment; however, many
traffickers received sentences of ‘community service’ similar to
probation and financial penalties, which provide inadequate
deterrent effect given the serious nature of the crime. In 2016,
eight offenders were given sentences under the trafficking
statutes that ranged from “service to the community” to seven
years imprisonment, while three convictions awaited sentencing
at the end of the reporting season.

ISRAEL

identifying and providing protective services to victims of all
forms of trafficking. It continued to operate shelters and other
facilities that provided victims a wide variety of immediate and
long-term care and rehabilitative services. The government
obtained more convictions of traffickers and its trafficking
victim compensation fund began to disburse funds in 2016.
The government continued to implement strong anti-trafficking
prevention measures. Although the government meets the
minimum standards, it issued sentences that were inadequate
based on the nature of the crime to some convicted traffickers.
While the government identified and provided some care to
trafficking victims among the detained irregular African migrant
population, because of inadequate screening, it continued to
detain unidentified victims for long periods for immigration
violations.

The government continued to report challenges in prosecuting
trafficking cases, as many victims preferred repatriation and
were unwilling to remain in Israel to serve as witnesses in
criminal cases against their traffickers. In 2016, the government
coordinated with Ukraine on a sex trafficking case. The
government reported two investigations of government officials
suspected of trafficking-related complicity. The government
continued to provide extensive anti-trafficking training,
awareness-raising workshops, and seminars to more than
360 officials in various ministries, including training for police
officers on procedures for appropriately handling child sex
trafficking cases.

RECOMMENDATIONS FOR ISRAEL

Impose stricter sentences on convicted traffickers, consistent
with the seriousness of the crime; proactively screen irregular
migrants who endured abuses in Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula to
ensure trafficking victims are not penalized, including by
detention, for unlawful acts committed as a direct result of
being subjected to human trafficking, such as immigration
violations; continue to provide protection for all trafficking
victims, including shelter and medical and psycho-social
treatment; increase and train the number of labor inspectors,
social workers, and interpreters in the agricultural, construction,
and caregiving sectors; increase training for law enforcement,
including police and prison officials, in victim identification,
and enforcement of labor and sex trafficking laws; negotiate
full-scale bilateral labor agreements in the caregiving sector;
and increase enforcement of foreign worker labor rights.

PROTECTION

PROSECUTION

The government maintained efforts to identify and protect
victims of all forms of trafficking, but unidentified victims
among the African migrant population remained vulnerable
to detention for immigration violations and therefore could
not access full government services appropriate for victims
of trafficking crimes. The government continued to circulate
victim identification guidelines widely to relevant ministries,
which regularly referred potential victims to the police to open
investigations and ensure provision of protective services.
Authorities continued to cooperate with NGOs on victim
identification and referral. However, only one police officer in the
country is authorized to interview and adjudicate applications
for status as a victim of trafficking, leading to significant delays.
Partly as a result of this understaffing, authorities identified
only 47 trafficking victims and referred them to shelters in
2016, compared to 63 identified victims in 2015.

In 2016, police initiated 310 investigations of potential
trafficking crimes (279 for sex trafficking and 31 for forced
labor), compared to 392 investigations (234 sex trafficking and
158 forced labor) in 2015. In 2016, the government initiated
three prosecutions for suspected sex traffickers and none for
forced labor, compared with nine sex trafficking and no forced
labor prosecutions in 2015. It continued 18 prosecutions that
were initiated in previous reporting periods, including 17 for
sex trafficking and one for forced labor. In 2016, the government

The government continued to provide a wide range of protective
services for victims of all forms of trafficking. The government
continued operating a 35-bed shelter for female trafficking
victims and a 35-bed shelter for male trafficking victims; shelter
residents were provided work permits and allowed to leave
freely. These shelters offered one year of rehabilitation services,
including job training, psycho-social support, medical treatment,
language training, and legal assistance. The government also
funded transitional apartments with 18 beds for trafficking
victims, and a six-bed transitional apartment for male trafficking
victims. In 2016, the female shelter assisted 29 victims, including
19 victims newly referred to the shelter. In 2016, the men’s
shelter assisted 23 newly referred trafficking victims, including
12 male sex trafficking victims, and continued to assist 28
victims who entered the shelter in 2015. Twelve Eritrean men
resided in the men’s transitional apartments during the reporting
period. The Ministry of Social Affairs continued to operate a
day center in Tel Aviv for male and female trafficking victims
who chose not to reside at a shelter and to assist with victims’
transition from the shelter to the community. The day center
provided psycho-social services and food aid, and social workers

The government maintained efforts to prosecute traffickers, but
several convicted traffickers received lenient sentences. The 2006
anti-trafficking law criminalizes all forms of human trafficking
and prescribes penalties of up to 16 years imprisonment for
the trafficking of an adult, up to 20 years imprisonment for
the trafficking of a child, up to 16 years imprisonment for
slavery, and up to seven years imprisonment for forced labor.
These penalties are sufficiently stringent and those pertaining
to sex trafficking are commensurate with those prescribed for
other serious crimes, such as rape. Under 376A of the Penal
Law 5737-1977, holding a person’s passport against their will
carries a penalty of three to five years imprisonment.

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at the center were trained to identify individuals at risk of
trafficking and refer them to shelter services. In 2016, the
center provided services to 182 men and women, primarily
Eritrean. The government also operated six centers for child
sex trafficking victims and at-risk youth vulnerable to sex
trafficking, which provided medical and rehabilitation services
to children; the government assisted 450 minors at these centers
in 2016, but reported that none of them were trafficking victims.
Additionally, for identified trafficking victims who opted not
to stay in shelters, the government provided an official letter
that protected them from potential arrest for immigration
violations and emergency contact numbers for shelters and
relevant ministries. Identified trafficking victims living outside
of shelters were also entitled to receive free emergency medical
and psychiatric treatment at various government-funded health
facilities; authorities continued to train medical care providers
in identification and treatment of trafficking victims.
The government forfeiture fund established in 2006 to use
property and money confiscated from traffickers to assist
victims began disbursing funds, allocating 518,306 shekels
($134,940) in 2016. The Ministry of Justice (MOJ) legal
aid branch continued to provide free legal aid to trafficking
victims. In 2016, the branch received 150 legal aid requests
from victims, including 77 irregular migrants who may have
been subjected to trafficking in the Sinai and 14 victims with
disabilities. In 2016, the government issued victims 36 initial
B1 visas—unrestricted work visas—and 38 extensions. By law,
all victims residing in the shelters were provided B1 visas. The
government coordinated with Canadian officials to organize a
deposition via videoconference from an Israeli sex trafficking
victim, although the victim ultimately decided not to testify.
The government continued to encourage victims to assist in the
investigation and prosecution of their traffickers, but did not
require their participation as a condition for receiving visas and
protective assistance; victims could also opt to leave the country
pending trial proceedings. The government allowed trafficking
victims to work during the investigation and prosecution of
their traffickers. In total, the government provided medical
care to 122 identified trafficking victims, including 11 children.

220

Although trafficking victims were not punished for acts
committed as a direct result of being subjected to human
trafficking, the government lacked a formal process to identify
or proactively screen for victims among irregular migrants,
who may have been exploited in Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula,
detained for immigration violations. As a result, authorities
regularly detained unidentified trafficking victims among the
irregular African migrant population—including those who
were abused in the Sinai—for immigration violations under
the Law of Infiltration for one year without trial or conviction.
Although the government characterized Holot as an open facility
to house irregular migrants, an international organization
and Holot residents claimed it is a de facto detention center
due to its remote location in the desert and restrictions on
movement. NGOs and the MOJ struggled to identify and gain
the release of victims from Holot, and from the Saharonim
and Giv’on prisons, and reported non-responsiveness on the
part of the Population Immigration and Border Authority
(PIBA) to claims that a detainee is a victim of trafficking. The
National Anti-Trafficking Unit (NATU) reported it conducted
an inter-ministerial visit to Holot in February 2017 to improve
identification of trafficking victims among detainees. Following
the inspection, the government began to plan a training for
all Israeli Prisons Service workers at Holot, Saharonim, and
Giv’on facilities. The government released one trafficking victim
from Holot and 13 from the Giv’on prison and referred them

to protective services during the reporting period.

PREVENTION

The government maintained strong efforts to prevent and
raise awareness of human trafficking among the public and
government officials. NATU continued to coordinate antitrafficking efforts effectively among relevant ministries and
NGOs during the reporting period and NATU officials appeared
regularly in the media to raise awareness of trafficking. NATU
created a new inter-ministerial forum to facilitate knowledgesharing within the legal departments of each ministry; the forum
met twice during the reporting period. NATU continued to chair
an inter-ministerial committee appointed to study women and
children in commercial sex in Israel. The Knesset Committee
on Trafficking in Women and Prostitution met regularly and
coordinated with various ministries to address sex trafficking
issues and policies during the reporting period. The government
provided anti-trafficking training for its diplomatic personnel.
PIBA, under the Ministry of Interior, continued to monitor
recruitment agencies and manpower companies for labor law
violations. The Ministry of Labor, Social Affairs, and Social
Services (MLSS) which employed 261 labor inspectors and
contracted translators during routine inspections, issued 1,518
administrative warnings and imposed seven fines on employers
for labor violations in 2016. MLSS’s ombudswoman for foreign
workers’ rights received and responded to 1,500 complaints of
labor law violations and referred these complaints to relevant
authorities for follow-up or investigation. The government
partnered with the Ministry of Health to produce and distribute
an informational brochure on victim identification and
relevant anti-trafficking resources, translated into Hebrew,
Arabic, English, and Russian, to health services companies,
hospitals, manpower companies, local authorities, and other
government officials. In accordance with PIBA procedures for
recruitment agencies in the caregiving sector, it continued to
require every agency to hire a licensed social worker responsible
for supervising the conditions of foreign caregivers, including
home visits, and for informing relevant authorities about
labor violations. The government, in collaboration with a
NGO, continued to operate a 24-hour hotline to assist foreign
workers who are in Israel under bilateral agreements. The
hotline employed nine translators in six languages: Thai,
Bulgarian, Russian, Nepalese, Sinhalese, and Romanian. In
2016 the hotline received 1,026 calls, the majority from Thai
agricultural workers.
The government continued efforts to reduce the demand for
commercial sex acts and to address sex tourism. In 2016, law
enforcement collaborated to shut down six brothels for a period
of 30 to 90 days. The anti-trafficking unit worked with tourism
organizations to promote awareness of sex trafficking in the
hotel and hospitality sector.

TRAFFICKING PROFILE

As reported over the past five years, Israel is a destination
country for men and women subjected to forced labor and
sex trafficking as well as, to a lesser extent, a source country
for men and women subjected to sex trafficking within Israel.
Foreign workers, primarily from Southeast Asia, Eastern Europe,
and the former Soviet Union, migrate to Israel for temporary
contract labor in construction, agriculture, and caregiving; some
of these workers are subjected to forced labor. An international
organization reported in 2015 that some Thai men and women
are subjected to forced labor in Israel’s agricultural sector,

ITALY: TIER 1
The Government of Italy fully meets the minimum standards
for the elimination of trafficking. The government continued
to demonstrate serious and sustained efforts during the
reporting period; therefore, Italy remained on Tier 1. The
government demonstrated serious and sustained efforts by
publishing guidelines for the identification of trafficking
victims among the large influx of irregular migrants, asylumseekers, and unaccompanied children, increasing funding for
NGOs providing shelter and other assistance to victims, and
increasing the number of investigations of trafficking cases
and convictions of traffickers compared to the previous year.
Although the government meets the minimum standards, it
did not indict any trafficking suspects in 2016 under the 2003
Measures Against Trafficking in Persons law according to partial
data for the year, and did not report data on the specific length
of sentences imposed on convicted traffickers. Governmentsupported NGOs remained underfunded in light of the need,
and many victims among vulnerable groups went unidentified,
especially at reception centers charged with screening and
processing the large number of migrants and refugees. The
government also did not implement any nationwide public
awareness campaigns.

ITALY

where their passports were withheld, and they experience long
working hours, no breaks or rest days, and difficulty changing
employers due to limitations on work permits. A 2013 report
noted men from the Philippines, Sri Lanka, and India worked on
fishing boats under harsh conditions, some of which constitute
human trafficking, distinguished by isolation, long working
hours, and withheld salaries. Caregivers are highly vulnerable
to forced labor due to their isolation inside private residences,
high recruitment fees, and their lack of protection under the
labor law. The Philippine Embassy reports Filipino workers pay
recruiters in the Philippines high fees to secure work in Israel
and the requirement to repay this amount results in significant
hardship for the workers and increases their vulnerability to
forced labor. Persons with disabilities, particularly foreigners,
are vulnerable to forced labor, in particular in street begging.
Women from Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union,
Uzbekistan, China, and Ghana, as well as Eritrean men and
women, are subjected to sex trafficking in Israel; some women
arrive on tourist visas to work willingly in prostitution, but
are subsequently exploited by sex traffickers. NGOs report
some Palestinian LGBTI persons are vulnerable to abuse and
exploitation, due to their legal status and restrictions on work
eligibility for Palestinian nationals in Israel. Some Israeli
women and girls may be victims of sex trafficking in Israel. Since
2007, thousands of African migrants have entered Israel from
Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula. Although the flow of these migrants
arriving in Israel has dramatically decreased from more than
17,000 in 2011, at least 18 irregular migrants arrived in Israel
in 2016. Many of these migrants were kidnapped in the Sinai
Peninsula and subjected to severe abuse, including forced labor
and sex trafficking, at the hands of criminal groups in the Sinai
before reaching Israel. Eritrean and Sudanese male and female
migrants and asylum-seekers are highly vulnerable to sex and
labor trafficking in Israel.

RECOMMENDATIONS FOR ITALY

Vigorously investigate and prosecute trafficking cases, including
of allegedly complicit government officials, and convict and
sentence traffickers with dissuasive sanctions; implement
guidelines under the national plan to improve identification
of possible trafficking victims among both migrants and
asylum-seekers; increase efforts to screen foreigners working
in prostitution as possible trafficking victims; consistently train
law enforcement, migration officers, first responders, and other
officials across all regions and localities on identification and
referral procedures; provide adequate long-term funding to
NGOs assisting victims; improve specialized services for child
trafficking victims and expand accommodation for male victims;
establish a national coordination structure that involves all
relevant public bodies and NGOs, compiles comprehensive
data that disaggregates between sex and labor trafficking cases,
monitors efforts, and discloses the information to the public;
allow asylum-seekers to obtain legal employment while their
applications are reviewed; simplify applications for victim
compensation to encourage more victims to report trafficking
crimes; increase international cooperation with source and
transit countries, especially Nigeria, to counter trafficking rings;
make efforts to reduce the demand for child sex tourism and
increase prosecutions of participants, in particular Italians who
purchase sex from children abroad; implement nationwide
awareness-raising activities on all forms of trafficking; and
address demand for commercial sex and availability of
inexpensive goods that drive trafficking, including through
supply chain and government procurement policies.

PROSECUTION

The government increased law enforcement efforts. The
2003 Measures Against Trafficking in Persons law prohibits
all forms of trafficking and prescribes penalties of eight to
20 years imprisonment, which are sufficiently stringent and
commensurate with penalties prescribed for other serious
offenses, such as rape. The government reported disaggregated
statistics to identify trafficking crimes versus crimes related
to prostitution. The government did not disaggregate law
enforcement statistics involving labor trafficking crimes. Under
the Measures Against Trafficking in Persons law (trafficking
law), authorities investigated 102 cases of trafficking in 2016,
compared with 65 in 2015 and 44 in 2014. The government
did not indict any defendants under the trafficking law in
2016, compared with 17 in 2015 and 16 in 2014. Trial courts
convicted nine traffickers under the trafficking law in 2016,
compared to one in 2015 and 11 in 2014. Appellate courts
reported convictions of 23 defendants in 2016, compared
to 11 in 2015 and 11 in 2014. Data for 2016 was partial, a
compilation of reports from 80 percent of prosecutors and 60
percent of courts. The government did not report specific data
on sentences imposed under the trafficking law in 2016 or in
years prior, and stated only that convicted traffickers generally
received prison sentences ranging from six to nine years. The
government also prosecuted cases under laws relating to slavery
and exploitation to prostitution, outside of the definitions

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ITALY

within the trafficking law, and statistics for those cases are not
included above.
The training curriculum for law enforcement agencies included
victim identification and investigation of trafficking crimes; the
government did not report how many officers received training.
There were isolated reports of government officials complicit
in human trafficking. Authorities launched one investigation
involving a police officer and his wife accused of providing
apartments to Brazilian workers, who were suspected trafficking
victims, and demanding excessive rent.

PROTECTION

The government increased funding for trafficking victim
assistance, but overall protection remained weak and
uncoordinated given the number of victims in need. The
government did not report how many victims it identified
or statistics on the form of trafficking or the age, gender, or
nationality of victims identified or assisted. Police reported
assisting 101 trafficking victims. The Department of Equal
Opportunity (DEO), the entity responsible for coordinating
protection efforts, reported government-supported NGOs
assisted 851 potential victims in 2016 (which likely included
the 101 assisted by police), similar to the 800 victims assisted in
2015; however, this figure did not clearly differentiate between
victims of trafficking and other forms of exploitation. Of the
total, 172 were men and seven were transgender. Children
represented nearly 10 percent of the trafficking victims receiving
assistance, mostly boys forced to beg or commit robbery.
Approximately 45 percent were from Nigeria, although an
international organization estimated up to 75 percent of
the more than 11,000 Nigerian women and unaccompanied
children who arrived in Italy in 2016 were trafficking victims. The
government relied predominantly on NGOs and international
organizations to provide shelter and services to victims, which
continued to cite insufficient funding and lack of a formal
referral mechanism as serious problems. Experts reported the
reception centers were too few, unsuited for trafficking victims,
and accessible to traffickers to recruit victims. These issues
persisted in reception areas where migrants and refugees waited
for shelter and contributed to increased instances of labor and
sex trafficking. The government allotted €14.5 million ($15.28
million) exclusively to trafficking victim assistance programs
implemented by NGOs in 2016, a significant increase from €8
million ($8.43 million) allocated in 2015. Local governments
provided additional funds to victim assistance programs,
although figures were not available. Government-funded
NGOs provided separate facilities for men and unaccompanied
children.

222

Article 13 of the Law on Trafficking in Persons (228/2003)
provides for three to six months of victim assistance, and after
initial assistance, victims may be eligible for temporary residency
and work permit. Adult victims were entitled to a six-month
temporary residence permit that was renewable if the victim
found employment or enrolled in a job training program,
and the government granted 340 such permits to victims in
2016. Child victims automatically received a residence permit
until age 18 and were accommodated in generalized children’s
centers or in open centers established for trafficking victims
who were also asylum-seekers. Children received counseling
and were enrolled in local public schools with the support of
mentors. However, by November 2016, an estimated 38 percent
of unaccompanied children identified by authorities had left
the centers. The government granted 324 temporary residence
permits for victims of exploitation in 2015; it was unclear how

many recipients were trafficking victims. Although victims were
not required to cooperate with law enforcement to obtain a
residence permit, some NGOs and international organizations
reported authorities gave preference to those who cooperated.
Police worked in collaboration with NGOs and international
organizations to screen for trafficking victims as part of standard
registration procedures at most ports of entry. NGOs reported,
however, many trafficking victims went unidentified among
the irregular migrants, asylum-seekers, and unaccompanied
children due to officials’ inconsistent use of identification
criteria. Therefore, although the law protects victims from
being penalized for unlawful acts committed as a result of
being subjected to trafficking, unidentified victims may have
been treated as regular asylum-seekers or illegal migrants, the
latter sometimes subject to prosecution and deportation. To
address the need for better identification on entry, the Ministry
of Interior published guidelines in December 2016 for the
identification of trafficking victims among asylum-seekers to
be used by the regional committees that adjudicate asylum
applications.

PREVENTION

The government maintained limited trafficking prevention
efforts. In October 2016, the government began implementation
of the anti-trafficking national action plan through an
interagency committee representing multiple government
agencies, and which included grants for 18 NGO-run projects
to assist victims and promote their social inclusion. The DEO,
under the leadership of the Undersecretary of State to the
Presidency of the Council of Ministers, was the designated
coordinator of the interagency steering committee on trafficking
and also monitored and evaluated protection and prevention
programs. Government officials, NGOs, and international
organizations cited insufficient coordination on anti-trafficking
efforts. During the first three quarters of 2016, the government
inspected 94,025 companies, identified over 30,000 unregistered
workers, and found 1,124 workers without residence permits;
the government did not report whether it screened or identified
potential trafficking cases as a part of their inspection process.
The government did not implement any nationwide public
awareness campaigns. Local authorities and NGOs continued
to distribute brochures, posters, bumper stickers, and media
advertisements providing information on victim assistance.
The government’s hotline for victims of trafficking received
more than 2,900 calls for information, of which 899 related to
trafficking. Local municipalities and police supported education
campaigns led by NGOs aimed at reducing the demand for
commercial sex. Although Italians engaged in child sex tourism
in various countries abroad, the government did not address
the demand for child sex tourism or prosecute Italian citizens
who participated, nor did it make any tangible efforts to reduce
the demand for forced labor. The government expanded its
international anti-trafficking efforts focusing on assistance to
vulnerable youth populations, including a communication
campaign in the Horn of Africa and West Africa to inform
potential migrants of the risks of trafficking. The government
provided anti-trafficking training to diplomats, as well as troops
prior to deployment with international peacekeeping missions.

TRAFFICKING PROFILE

As reported over the past five years, Italy is a destination, transit,
and source country for women, children, and men subjected to
sex trafficking and forced labor. Victims originate from Nigeria,
Romania, Morocco, China, and other countries. Female victims

The estimated number of trafficking victims in Italy increased
significantly due to the continued dramatic flow of migrants
and asylum-seekers arriving by boat from sub-Saharan Africa.
Italy received 181,436 irregular arrivals by sea in 2016, added
to the 154,000 arrivals in 2015. More than one-half requested
asylum, demonstrating possible vulnerability to trafficking. One
international organization estimated more than 7,500 likely
trafficking victims arrived from Nigeria alone in 2016, compared
to an estimated 2,800 in 2015. Most rely on smugglers at some
point during their journey and in some instances are subjected
to human trafficking en route or upon arrival in Italy. Although
the government operated temporary centers throughout the
country to house asylum-seekers, the system was stretched
beyond capacity; international organizations reported increased
incidents of labor and sex trafficking of asylum-seekers as a
result of the reception centers being unsuited for victims of
trafficking and too accessible to traffickers who recruit victims.
A shortage of shelters also resulted in less capacity to adequately
monitor conditions. Under Italian law, asylum-seekers are not
allowed to work while their applications are under review, and
migrants often sought illegal employment in informal sectors,
increasing their vulnerability to trafficking. Of total arrivals in
2016, 25,846 were unaccompanied children, mostly boys and
a majority from Africa. Many went north to other European
countries, while others looked for employment outside protected
shelters. Children remaining in Italy were particularly vulnerable
to trafficking in the informal agriculture, hospitality, and
construction sectors, or were forced by traffickers into begging.

JAMAICA: TIER 2
The Government of Jamaica does not fully meet the minimum
standards for the elimination of trafficking; however, it is making
significant efforts to do so. The government demonstrated
increasing efforts compared to the previous reporting period;
therefore, Jamaica remained on Tier 2. The government
demonstrated increasing efforts by securing two convictions,
prosecuting nine trafficking cases against 13 alleged traffickers,
and investigating 40 potential new trafficking cases. The
government developed a new victim protection protocol
for health, labor, and child welfare officials, identified eight

trafficking victims who were provided government shelter and
services, and increased awareness-raising efforts. However, the
government did not meet the minimum standards in several
key areas. The government did not hold complicit officials
accountable, publish a standard victim protection protocol,
or publish an annual report monitoring its efforts.

JAMAICA

are often subjected to sex trafficking in Italy after accepting
promises of employment as dancers, singers, models, restaurant
servers, or caregivers. Romanian and Albanian criminal groups
force Eastern European women and girls into commercial sex.
Nigerians represent 21 percent of victims, with numbers nearly
doubling in 2016 to approximately 7,500 victims. Nigerian
women and girls are subjected to sex and labor trafficking
through debt bondage and coercion through voodoo rituals.
Men from Africa, Asia, and Eastern Europe are subjected to
forced labor through debt bondage in agriculture in southern
Italy and in construction, house cleaning, hotels, and restaurants
in the north. Chinese men and women are forced to work in
textile factories in Milan, Prato, Rome, and Naples. Children
subjected to sex trafficking, forced begging, and forced criminal
activities are from Romania, Nigeria, Brazil, Morocco, and Italy,
particularly Romani and Sinti boys who may have been born
in Italy. Transgender individuals from Brazil and Argentina are
subjected to sex trafficking in Italy. Unaccompanied children
are at risk of trafficking, particularly boys from Somalia, Eritrea,
Bangladesh, Egypt, and Afghanistan, who often work in shops,
bars, restaurants, and bakeries to repay smuggling debts. Italian
men engage in child sex tourism abroad, including in countries
across Africa, Latin America, and East Asia.

RECOMMENDATIONS FOR JAMAICA

Vigorously prosecute, convict, and punish traffickers, including
any officials complicit in sex or labor trafficking; increase
efforts to identify and assist victims of forced labor and sex
trafficking, including sex trafficking of Jamaican children;
dedicate adequate funding to implement the national action
plan; fully implement government-wide standard operating
procedures to guide police, labor inspectors, child welfare
officials, and health workers in the proactive identification of
local and foreign victims of forced labor and sex trafficking,
including children exploited in commercial sex in night clubs,
bars, and massage parlors; continue to support victims during
the criminal justice process whether the victim resides in
Jamaica or abroad to ensure the admissibility of testimony;
implement the national rapporteur’s mandate to investigate
reports of human trafficking, report on violations of the rights
of victims, and provide an annual report to the government;
and continue efforts to raise awareness about human trafficking
of both Jamaican citizens and foreign nationals.

PROSECUTION

The government maintained efforts to investigate, prosecute,
and convict traffickers. The government prohibits all forms of
trafficking through its comprehensive Trafficking in Persons
(Prevention, Suppression, and Punishment) Act. The sentence
for trafficking in persons and conspiracy to commit trafficking
is up to 20 years imprisonment, a fine, or both. The sentence
for aggravated trafficking in persons—in cases of serious injury,
repeat offenses, or by a person in a position of authority
among other factors—is up to 30 years imprisonment, a fine,
or both. These penalties are sufficiently stringent; however,
when allowing for a fine in lieu of imprisonment, the prescribed
punishment is not commensurate with those for other serious
crimes, such as rape. In April 2014, officials enacted the Criminal
Justice Act, which may be used to prosecute traffickers who are
members of a “criminal organization” with penalties of five
to 15 years imprisonment or a fine or both. A number of new
laws, including most notably the Evidence (Amendment) Act of
2015, the DNA Evidence Act of 2015, and the Jury (Amendment)
Act of 2016, are expected to strengthen the judicial system’s
ability to admit relevant evidence in trafficking cases and
improve the jury system. The Jamaican cabinet approved an
amendment to the Trafficking Act to allow such cases to be
tried by a judge rather than a jury; the parliament will consider
the amendment in 2017.
Authorities initiated 40 new trafficking investigations compared
with 30 in 2015; 30 of these investigations led to police
operations in search of traffickers, victims, and evidence. Officials

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JAMAICA

prosecuted three new trafficking cases and continued prosecuting
six trafficking cases against 10 alleged traffickers compared to
nine cases against 10 alleged traffickers in the previous reporting
period. The government secured two convictions, compared
to two in the previous reporting period. The primary trafficker
received concurrent sentences of 16 years for rape, 14 years for
trafficking in persons, and 10 years for facilitating trafficking in
persons and was ordered to pay two million Jamaican dollars
($15,630) in restitution to the victim. The other trafficker
received a three-year suspended sentence. The independent
commission of investigations had authority to investigate all
alleged abuses by police officers and government officials, but
in practice does not pursue allegations of trafficking. The former
deputy chairman of Jamaica’s anti-doping committee faced
charges of living off the earnings of prostitution, a crime under
the Sexual Offenses Act; the prosecution remained ongoing at
the close of the reporting period.
The Ministry of Justice allocated $32.5 million Jamaican dollars
($253,900) for anti-trafficking efforts in fiscal year 2016-2017.
The government trained 1,063 police officers on trafficking,
compared to 563 in the previous reporting period. The Jamaican
Constabulary Force (JCF) trained 70 judges and approximately
2,000 justices of the peace responsible for deciding whether
a minor can leave the country with a non-parent custodian.
Jamaican officials also participated in trafficking in persons
trainings funded by foreign government and international
organization sources. The government cooperated with the
governments of the United Kingdom, Antigua, Guyana, and
Trinidad and Tobago on trafficking cases.

PROTECTION

The government maintained efforts to protect victims.
Authorities identified eight confirmed trafficking victims—
all females—during the reporting period, compared to four
confirmed victims—three men and one girl—in 2015. The
government developed a victim protection protocol and a
standard operating procedure for health, labor, and child welfare
officials, but these had not been published. Other government
officials continued to use a standard operating procedure for
victim identification and granting temporary immigration status;
these procedures recently led to the identification of two minor
trafficking victims and a referral to the JCF anti-trafficking unit.
The JCF anti-trafficking unit, when taking trafficking victims
into protective custody, was required to notify the taskforce,
partner NGOs, and, in some cases, the Child Development
Agency. The JCF anti-trafficking unit then made arrangements
for the transportation and transfer of victims to a shelter care
facility, either NGO- or government-run, which provided services
regardless of whether or not the victim cooperated with law
enforcement. Immigration officials continued to screen and
conduct risk assessments of potential victims. The children’s
registry did not report reports received of suspected trafficking
cases for this reporting period compared to 52 reports of
suspected trafficking in the previous reporting period.

224

The government offered protection to the eight identified victims
and referred them to government or NGO care facilities for
medical services, psychological services, and financial assistance
for basic necessities. The government’s trafficking shelter, which
could house 12 people, assisted two female victims, who
received medical and dental care, psychological counseling, food
and basic necessities, legal services, and access to recreation. The
government reportedly provided support to victims after their
departure from government shelters on a case-by-case basis,
including medical and psychological care. The government had

difficulty securing witness testimony of victims who had been
repatriated and of those who feared reprisal. The government
encouraged victim testimony by providing victims an orientation
to the criminal justice process and equipping some courtrooms
for remote video testimony to enable testimony from abroad.
Authorities provided 6.3 million Jamaican dollars ($49,220) for
victim assistance in 2016, compared with 13 million Jamaican
dollars ($101,600) for victim assistance in 2015. In accordance
with Jamaica’s anti-trafficking law, the government provided
relief from deportation for one foreign national victim identified
in the previous reporting period; this relief also included food,
long-term shelter, education, and counseling. The government
coordinated with another Caribbean government in preparation
for the repatriation of a Jamaican victim, including by preparing
relevant documents. There were no reports of the government
punishing victims for unlawful acts committed as a direct result
of being subjected to human trafficking.

PREVENTION

The government increased efforts to prevent trafficking. The
national anti-trafficking taskforce, through sub-committees
on prevention, protection, and prosecution, continued to
implement its national anti-trafficking plan valid through
2018. The Ministry of National Security spent 813,000 Jamaican
dollars ($6,350) toward anti-trafficking prevention efforts
in fiscal year 2016-2017. The cabinet appointed a national
rapporteur on trafficking in persons in early 2015 to investigate
reports of trafficking, report on violations of the rights of
victims, and provide an annual report to the government;
the rapporteur planned to release this report in 2017. The
government engaged in public awareness activities on all
forms of trafficking, including a campaign in schools and the
media, a film screening, a comic book, an animated miniseries, and the distribution of 70,000 copies of a pamphlet
in a leading newspaper. The government’s efforts resulted
in the sensitization of more than 17,000 students, teachers,
government officials, and community members. The labor
ministry, prior to the departure of Jamaican participants in an
overseas seasonal agricultural program, educated them about
the risks of trafficking. The taskforce educated members of the
tourism industry in major resort areas on indicators of trafficking
and encouraged them to report suspected sex tourism. The
government did not report any child sex tourism investigations,
prosecutions, or convictions. Police conducted operations in
an area known for the commercial sex trade, which resulted in
the screening of 23 individuals for trafficking indicators and
detention of several purchasers of commercial sexual services.
The government did not report efforts to reduce the demand
for forced labor. The government provided anti-trafficking
training to diplomatic personnel, including the requirement
for such personnel to enter into employment contracts with
their domestic workers.

TRAFFICKING PROFILE

As reported over the past five years, Jamaica is a source and
destination country for adults and children subjected to sex
trafficking and forced labor. Sex trafficking of Jamaican women
and children reportedly occurs on streets and in night clubs,
bars, massage parlors, and private homes, including in resort
towns. Traffickers increasingly use social media platforms
to recruit victims. Jamaican citizens have been subjected to
sex trafficking and forced labor abroad, including in other
Caribbean countries, Canada, the United States, and the United
Kingdom. Communities vulnerable to sex trafficking and forced
labor include young women and girls from poor and single-

victims, including but not limited to migrant workers under
the TITP program and children, are properly identified and
referred to services, and not detained or forcibly deported for
unlawful acts committed as a direct result of being subjected to
trafficking; increase resources to provide specialized care and
assistance to trafficking victims, including designated shelters for
trafficking victims; aggressively investigate, prosecute, convict,
and punish Japanese citizens who engage in child sex tourism
overseas; and accede to the 2000 UN Transnational Organized
Crime Convention and the 2000 TIP Protocol.

JAPAN

parent households, residents of Jamaica’s poverty-stricken areas
effectively controlled by criminal “dons,” migrant workers, and
workers in the informal sector, particularly on family farms and
in markets and shops. Child domestic workers may be subject
to domestic servitude. Many children are reported missing in
Jamaica; some of these children are subjected to forced labor
or sex trafficking. Foreign nationals are subjected to forced
labor in Jamaica and aboard foreign-flagged fishing vessels
operating in Jamaican waters. NGOs and other local observers
report child sex tourism is a problem in Jamaica’s resort areas.

PROSECUTION

JAPAN: TIER 2
The Government of Japan does not fully meet the minimum
standards for the elimination of trafficking; however, it is making
significant efforts to do so. The government demonstrated
increasing efforts compared to the previous reporting
period; therefore, Japan remained on Tier 2. The government
demonstrated increasing efforts by passing legislation in
November 2016 enhancing oversight of the Technical Intern
Training Program (TITP) to protect program participants from
exploitation; prosecuting and convicting more traffickers
compared to the previous year; and identifying 50 trafficking
victims, including four labor trafficking victims. However, the
government did not meet the minimum standards in several
key areas. There appear to be significant gaps in the laws
Japan relies on to prosecute human trafficking cases, which
hamper the government’s ability to investigate, prosecute,
and convict the full range of trafficking crimes identified in
international law. In addition, the treatment of some child
sex trafficking victims as delinquents rather than victims left
them without proper services and the crimes of their traffickers
uninvestigated and unpunished. Despite reports and allegations
from NGOs of possible labor trafficking offenses under the
TITP, the government did not identify any TITP participants
as trafficking victims or prosecute traffickers involved in the
use of TITP labor as traffickers.

RECOMMENDATIONS FOR JAPAN

Update the legal framework to fully criminalize all forms of
trafficking in accordance with the definition in international
law, including to criminalize those who recruit, transport,
transfer, or receive individuals for forced labor or sex trafficking;
increase the penalties for crimes used to prosecute trafficking
crimes to a maximum of no less than four years imprisonment
and disallow the alternative of a fine; for sex trafficking crimes,
ensure penalties are commensurate with those in place for other
serious crimes, such as rape; significantly increase efforts to
investigate and prosecute labor trafficking cases; fully implement
the oversight and enforcement measures contained in the TITP
reform law; increase enforcement of bans on excessive deposits,
“punishment” agreements, withholding of passports, and other
practices by organizations and employers that contribute to
forced labor; enhance victim screening to ensure trafficking

The government increased anti-trafficking law enforcement
efforts. Japan’s criminal code does not prohibit all forms of
trafficking in persons as defined by international law; the
government relies on various provisions of laws relating to
prostitution, abduction, child welfare, and employment
to prosecute trafficking in persons crimes. Article 7 of the
Prostitution Prevention Law criminalizes forced prostitution,
including by threat or the use of violence and inducing a person
into prostitution by deception, embarrassment, or taking
advantage of influence through kinship. When deception is used,
the punishment is a maximum of three years imprisonment
or a fine; when violence or threats are used, the punishment
is a maximum of three years imprisonment, or three years
imprisonment and a fine, respectively. Other related provisions
such as articles 10 and 12 make it a crime to conclude a contract
or to own a business in which a person is made to engage in
prostitution, and violations of these articles carry respective
punishments of a maximum of three years imprisonment
or a fine of ¥10,000 ($85), and a maximum of 10 years
imprisonment and a fine up to ¥300,000 ($2,560). An act
related to sexual exploitation of children criminalizes the
“trafficking of children for the purpose of child prostitution”
and prescribes sentences of up to 10 years imprisonment. When
prosecuting child sex trafficking cases that do not meet the
conditions of this act, the government frequently relies upon
the 1947 Child Welfare Act, which broadly criminalizes harming
a child—to include causing a child to commit an obscene act,
delivering a child to another knowing that the other is likely
to cause the child to commit such an act, or keeping a child
with the intent of causing a child to commit an act harmful
to the child. The Child Welfare Act prescribes sentences of up
to 10 years imprisonment, fines, or both for causing a child
to commit an obscene act, or up to three years imprisonment,
fines, or both for other acts. Article 226-2 of the penal code
criminalizes the buying and selling of human beings for profit
or indecency, and prescribes a maximum sentence of up to 10
years imprisonment. It also criminalizes buying and selling
a person for the purpose of transporting him or her across
international borders, and prescribes a penalty that ranges from
two years to 20 years imprisonment. The Employment Security
Act makes it a crime for a person to engage in labor placement or
recruitment “by means of violence, intimidation, confinement,
or other unjust restraint on mental or physical freedom” or to
recruit laborers for “work harmful to public health or morals.”
It prescribes sentences of up to 10 years imprisonment or
a fine not exceeding ¥3 million ($25,630). Article 5 of the
Labor Standards Act prohibits forced labor through the use
of physical violence, intimidation, confinement, or any other
means which unfairly restrict the mental or physical freedom
of workers. While the law criminalizes the recruitment of labor
by force, it does not clearly criminalize using fraud or coercion
to compel a person to labor. The government states that acts
such as transporting, transferring, or receiving someone for the
purpose of forced labor are implicitly criminalized under article

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227 paragraph 3 of the penal code. To the extent that Japan’s
laws criminalizing trafficking offenses provide penalties of at
least four years imprisonment, they are sufficiently stringent
and commensurate with penalties for other serious crimes.
However, to the extent that they allow for a fine in lieu of
imprisonment, the punishment for sex trafficking offenses is
not commensurate with those for other serious crime, such
as rape. Civil society organizations cited the absence of a
comprehensive trafficking law as hindering the government’s
ability to identify and prosecute trafficking cases.
The government reported investigating 44 cases for crimes
related to human trafficking in 2016, the same as in 2015. It
initiated prosecution of 43 suspected traffickers in 2016 (26
in 2015) and convicted 37 traffickers (27 in 2015) during the
reporting period. Ten of the 37 convicted traffickers received
only fines. The government did not prosecute or convict any
suspected traffickers involved in the use of TITP labor. However,
as a result of labor inspections in TITP work places, it referred
40 cases for prosecution as labor violations that carry lesser
penalties. The government reported investigating 809 cases of
“children in prostitution,” which is a form of sex trafficking,
compared with 728 in 2015. In 2015, the most recent year
statistics were available, the government prosecuted 495
people and convicted 409 defendants (including defendants
prosecuted before 2015) under article 4 (Child Prostitution)
of the “Act on Punishment of Activities Relating to Child
Prostitution and Child Pornography, and the Protection of
Children.” The government continued to conduct numerous
anti-trafficking trainings for police officers, prosecutors, judges,
and immigration bureau officers on identifying victims and
investigating trafficking cases. The government did not report
any investigations, prosecutions, or convictions of government
employees complicit in human trafficking offenses.

PROTECTION

226

The government maintained efforts to protect trafficking victims.
The government identified 50 trafficking victims, compared with
54 in 2015. Of these, the government identified 37 female sex
trafficking victims (20 in 2015) and four labor trafficking victims
(seven in 2015), as well as nine victims of labor trafficking who
may also have been exploited in sex trafficking (27 in 2015).
National Police Agency (NPA) officials used an IOM-developed
handbook and the Inter-Ministerial Liaison Committee’s
manuals to identify victims and refer victims to available
services. The NPA also distributed a handbill for potential
victims with emergency contact information in 10 languages.
The government did not adequately screen for and identify
victims among vulnerable groups, which continued to hamper
protection efforts. Only two victims identified in 2016 were male,
and the government has never identified a forced labor victim
in TITP, despite substantial evidence of trafficking indicators,
including debt bondage, passport confiscation, imposition of
exorbitant fines, arbitrary deduction of salaries resulting from
non-contractual infractions, attempted forceful deportation by
both sending and receiving organizations, and confinement.
Despite 577 children identified as involved in commercial sex by
police, the government officially identified only 10 children as
sex trafficking victims. Some victims were reluctant to approach
authorities, fearing reprisals from traffickers or concerns over
the government’s ability to aid them. Police treated some
potential child sex trafficking victims as delinquents, counseling
them on their behavior instead of investigating their cases for
possible trafficking crimes. Consequently, the children were
not formally identified as trafficking victims, and were not
referred to specialized services.

The government continued to lack trafficking-specific victim
services but funded Japan’s Women’s Consulting Center (WCC)
shelters and domestic violence shelters, which assisted 15 of
the identified victims (21 in 2015). Other victims received
assistance in NGO shelters, where they are eligible for
government subsidized medical care, or returned to their homes;
however, it was unclear how many received assistance at NGO
shelters. The government allocated ¥3.5 million ($29,840) for
shelter protection for male victims during 2016 and assisted
two male victims during the reporting period. WCC shelters
provided food, basic needs, psychological care, and coverage of
medical expenses, and allowed the victims to leave the facilities
when accompanied by facility personnel. The availability and
quality of victim services varied by location; prefectures where
government officials had more experience with trafficking cases
had more know-how for services.
According to a local NGO, foreign trafficking victims were
not eligible for the entire range of social services available
to Japanese victims. The government-funded legal support
center provided pro bono legal services to destitute victims of
crime for both criminal and civil cases; it was unclear whether
any trafficking victims applied for or received such services.
The government continued to fund a program through an
international organization to provide counseling, temporary
refuge, social reintegration, and repatriation services to foreign
victims. Twenty-three victims, including one labor trafficking
victim, received services and returned to their home countries
through this program during the reporting period. A local
NGO reported some police attempted to delay the repatriation
of some victims against their will in order to persuade them
to testify in cases against their traffickers. Although the law
prohibits trafficking victims from being denied entry into Japan
or deported, inadequate screening of vulnerable groups meant
some unidentified victims were likely arrested and deported
for crimes committed as a direct result of being subjected to
human trafficking, including immigration violations. Temporary,
long-term, and permanent residence benefits were available
to victims who feared returning to their home country. The
government did not report granting any long-term residence
visas to victims in 2016 but did provide short-term visas to
24 victims. Victims had the right to file civil suits to seek
compensation from their traffickers; some foreign workers,
including potentially unidentified trafficking victims, and sex
trafficking victims filed civil suits for non-payment of wages.
However, given that companies ordered to provide restitution
often declared bankruptcy, receiving restitution remained
nearly impossible.

PREVENTION

The government increased efforts to prevent trafficking. It
issued its second annual report on government actions to
combat trafficking and tracked measures against the stated
goals of its anti-trafficking action plan. In November 2016, the
government passed the Act on Proper Technical Intern Training
and Protection of Technical Intern Trainees (TITP reform law),
which seeks to strengthen protections for TITP participants
by establishing criminal penalties for violations such as
withholding of passports. The TITP reform law established a
new oversight organization in January 2017 that will provide a
reporting system for workers experiencing abuse and conduct
inspections of employment and supervising organizations. To
reduce debts incurred by TITP participants through recruiting
organizations in source countries, the government plans
to pursue bilateral memoranda of cooperation with those
countries. Labor and immigration officials conducted joint

The government continued to advertise the multilingual
emergency contact hotline number at local police and
immigration offices and with NGOs and governments of
source countries. It conducted trafficking awareness campaigns
by disseminating information online, through radio programs,
posters, and brochures and by disseminating leaflets to NGOs,
immigration and labor offices, and diplomatic missions in
Japan and overseas. To reduce demand for commercial sex,
including child sex tourism, the government continued to
distribute posters and brochures, including in transportation
hubs, and distribute a handbook to travelers with warnings
about the government’s ability to prosecute Japanese citizens
who engage in child sex tourism abroad. The government has
extraterritorial jurisdiction to prosecute Japanese nationals who
engage in child sexual exploitation abroad; however, it did not
report any such prosecutions during the reporting period. The
government provided anti-trafficking training for troops prior
to their deployment abroad on international peacekeeping
missions and to its diplomatic personnel. Japan is the only
G-7 country that is not a party to the 2000 UN TIP Protocol;
however, the Cabinet submitted draft legislation to the Diet
in March 2017 that, if passed, would allow the government to
become a party to the protocol.

TRAFFICKING PROFILE

As reported over the past five years, Japan is a destination,
source, and transit country for men and women subjected to
forced labor and sex trafficking, and for children subjected to
sex trafficking. Male and female migrant workers, mainly from
Asia, are subjected to conditions of forced labor, including
some cases through the government’s TITP. Some men, women,
and children from Northeast Asia, Southeast Asia, South Asia,
South America, and Africa travel to Japan for employment
or fraudulent marriage and are subjected to sex trafficking.
Traffickers use fraudulent marriages between foreign women
and Japanese men to facilitate the entry of women into Japan
for forced prostitution in bars, clubs, brothels, and massage
parlors. Traffickers strictly control the movement of victims using
debt bondage, threats of violence or deportation, blackmail,
passport retention, and other coercive psychological methods;
victims of forced prostitution sometimes also face debts upon
commencement of their contracts. Most victims are required to
pay employers fees for living expenses, medical care, and other
necessities, leaving them vulnerable to debt bondage. Brothel
operators may add “fines” for alleged misbehavior to victims’
original debt, and the process used to calculate these debts is
typically not transparent. Trafficking victims may transit Japan
before enduring exploitation in onward destinations, including
East Asia and North America.
Japanese citizens, particularly runaway teenage girls, children
of foreign and Japanese citizens who have acquired citizenship,
and their foreign mothers, are also subjected to sex trafficking.
Enjo kosai, also known as “compensated dating,” and variants

of the “JK business” continue to facilitate the sex trafficking
of Japanese children. Sophisticated and organized prostitution
networks target vulnerable Japanese women and girls—often
in poverty or with mental disabilities—in public areas such
as subways, popular youth hangouts, schools, and online;
some of these women and girls become trafficking victims.
Some model and actor placement agencies use fraudulent
recruitment techniques to coerce Japanese women and men into
signing vague contracts, and then force them through threats
of breach of contract or other legal action to engage in sexual
acts to produce pornographic materials. Organizations in Japan
contact children of Japanese fathers and Filipino mothers to
assist them and their mothers to acquire citizenship and move
to Japan for a fee; once in Japan, some mothers and children
are exploited in sex trafficking to pay off the debt incurred for
the organizations’ services. Reports continue that Japanese
men remain a source of demand for child sex tourism in Asia.

JORDAN

inspections at 23 organizations associated with employing TITP
participants in 2016 and detected violations of labor laws at
21 organizations; correction orders were issued in these cases
and four were referred for prosecution. The MOJ banned two
companies, 35 supervising organizations, and 202 implementing
organizations from receiving TITP interns in 2016. A government
council issued a report on the phenomenon of enjo kosai, also
known as “compensated dating” or the “JK business” (JK stands
for joshi-kosei, or high school girl), and on the issue of coerced
participation in pornographic materials, in consultation with
local NGOs and experts.

Cases of forced labor occur within TITP, a government-run
program originally designed to foster basic technical skills
among foreign workers that has effectively become a guestworker program. During the “internship,” many migrant workers
are placed in jobs that do not teach or develop technical skills—
the original intention of TITP; some of these workers continued
to experience conditions of forced labor. Many technical
interns are Chinese, Cambodian, and Vietnamese citizens,
some of whom pay up to $10,000 for jobs and are employed
under contracts that mandate forfeiture of the equivalent of
thousands of dollars if they leave. Reports continue of sending
organizations in the interns’ host countries under this program
charging participants excessive fees and deposits, and requiring
contracts subjecting participants to fines if they fail to comply
with their labor contract or other term of agreement. Some
employers confiscate trainees’ passports and other personal
identity documents and control the movements of interns to
prevent their escape or communication with persons outside
the program.

JORDAN: TIER 2
The Government of Jordan does not fully meet the minimum
standards for the elimination of trafficking; however, it is making
significant efforts to do so. The government demonstrated
increasing efforts compared to the previous reporting period;
therefore, Jordan remained on Tier 2. The government
demonstrated increasing efforts by assisting an increased
number of victims in 2016, compared to the previous year,
including providing services at a shelter dedicated to victims of
all forms of trafficking, including men, women, and children. It
made efforts to improve implementation of a national victim
referral mechanism for authorities to systematically identify
and refer victims to protection services. The government also
continued to work in cooperation with NGOs and international
organizations to investigate potential trafficking crimes,
identify and protect trafficking victims, and train officials.
The government demonstrated continued strong efforts to
investigate, prosecute, and convict traffickers. However, the
government did not meet the minimum standards in a few key
areas. In particular, under Jordan’s anti-trafficking law, penalties
for some trafficking offenses are neither sufficiently stringent nor
commensurate with other grave crimes. During the reporting
period, the government sought to improve this weakness
and drafted amendments to the penal code to strengthen
available sentences for trafficking offenses; these draft provisions

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remained pending review at the end of the reporting period.
Additionally, victims continued to be vulnerable to arrest and
imprisonment for acts committed as a direct result of being
subjected to trafficking, such as immigration violations, while
government efforts to identify potential trafficking victims
among those in detention remained weak.

RECOMMENDATIONS FOR JORDAN

Enact and implement draft amendments to the anti-trafficking
law to ensure penalties for sex trafficking and forced labor of
adults are sufficiently stringent and commensurate with other
serious crimes; ensure victims are not punished for unlawful acts
committed as a direct result of being subjected to trafficking,
such as immigration or prostitution violations or escaping
from an abusive employer; significantly increase training
for law enforcement, prison officials, and labor inspectors
throughout the country to proactively screen for, identify,
and refer to protection services trafficking victims among
vulnerable populations, such as detained foreign migrants,
domestic workers, workers in the agricultural sector, and women
in prostitution; fully implement the national victim referral
mechanism; continue to prosecute, convict, and punish sex
trafficking and forced labor offenses with adequate jail time
and investigate and punish individuals for withholding workers’
passports under Jordan’s passport law; continue to regularly
cooperate with NGOs to identify and refer victims to protection
services; continue to allocate adequate funding for operation
of the government’s trafficking shelter and train shelter staff to
identify and provide specialized care to victims; issue regulations
governing work in the agricultural sector and increase labor
inspections in this sector; and regulate and investigate fraudulent
labor and recruitment practices.

PROSECUTION

228

The government maintained robust anti-trafficking law
enforcement efforts. The 2009 anti-human trafficking law
criminalizes all forms of sex and labor trafficking. Penalties for
sex trafficking and forced labor of adults are a minimum of six
months imprisonment and/or a fine ranging from 1,000-5,000
Jordanian Dinars ($1,410-$7,060). Penalties of less than one
year imprisonment are not sufficiently stringent, and by allowing
for a fine in lieu of imprisonment, the prescribed punishment
is not commensurate with those for other serious crime, such
as rape. The law imposes penalties of not more than 10 years
imprisonment and a fine ranging between 5,000 and 20,000
Jordanian dinars ($7,060-$28,250) for the sex trafficking and
forced labor of children, as well as for the sex trafficking of
adults and other forms of adult trafficking in certain specified
circumstances. Such circumstances include when the crime is
transnational in nature or committed by an organized criminal
group or a spouse, parent, guardian or public servant, if a
weapon is used, or if the victim is a female with a disability
or is injured. These penalties are sufficiently stringent and
commensurate with those prescribed for other grave crimes,
such as rape or kidnapping. In keeping with international law,

means of force, fraud, or coercion are not required to prove a
crime of sex trafficking of children. The withholding of passports
by an employer—a potential indicator of trafficking—is a crime
under Jordan’s passport law with six months to three years
imprisonment and financial penalties. During the reporting
period, the government drafted amendments to the penal
code that would enhance sentences for trafficking offenses
and establish a fund to be used to protect trafficking victims.
The draft amendments were submitted to the prime minister
for review in January 2017 and remained pending at the end
of the reporting period.
The government continued strong efforts to investigate
potential trafficking cases and prosecute and convict trafficking
offenders in 2016, on par with efforts in 2015. The Public
Security Directorate and Ministry of Labor (MOL) joint antitrafficking unit continued to investigate potential trafficking
crimes. In 2016, the anti-trafficking unit investigated a total
of 366 potential trafficking cases, 290 of which included
labor violations involving domestic workers; the unit also
inspected six recruitment agencies for mistreatment of foreign
workers. Of the 366 investigations, the unit determined that
30 of these cases—involving 51 alleged traffickers—met the
criteria for potential trafficking crimes, including sexual
exploitation, forced labor of domestic workers, and other
forced labor crimes. The government continued its effort from
the previous year to investigate potential trafficking cases in
the garment sector. For example, in July 2016, the MOL and
an international organization jointly conducted inspections
of two garment factories in the Qualified Industrial Zone in
Irbid after allegations of abuse and other labor violations were
reported by an NGO; although the investigations concluded
labor violations took place, there was inadequate evidence to
prove trafficking crimes occurred. Furthermore in February
2017, following allegations of labor abuses in another garment
factory, the government ordered its immediate closure; it did
not, however, investigate this factory for trafficking crimes.
The Ministry of Justice reported it initiated the prosecution of
39 new trafficking cases in 2016 and continued prosecution
of 19 trafficking cases initiated in previous years. Of these 58
cases, 32 remained pending at the end of the reporting period.
Of the 26 cases concluded in 2016, the government convicted
10 traffickers; in eight cases, offenders received sentences
ranging from one to 15 years imprisonment, while offenders
in two cases received sentences of six months imprisonment.
Additionally, of the cases concluded in 2016, six resulted in full
acquittals and three in convictions for lesser crimes, including
fraud and passport withholding. NGOs and foreign embassy
representatives continued to report the government preferred to
settle potential cases of domestic servitude through mediation,
rather than referring them for criminal prosecution. NGOs also
raised concerns that the long litigation process for trafficking
cases gave employers time to pressure victims to drop their cases.
The government did not report any investigations, prosecutions,
or convictions of government officials complicit in trafficking
offenses during the reporting period; it did not report updated
information on two members of the General Intelligence
Directorate who were charged with trafficking crimes in 2015.
The anti-trafficking unit continued to place specially trained
officials in cities outside the capital, including Aqaba, Irbid,
and Ramtha, but resources were primarily concentrated in
Amman. The anti-trafficking unit reported conducting 30 antitrafficking training workshops for hundreds of police, border
guards, and labor inspectors; some of these trainings were held
in coordination with NGOs and international organizations.

The government maintained efforts to proactively identify
trafficking victims, provide protection services to victims, and
work in partnership with civil society organizations in these
efforts. During the course of investigations, the government
identified and referred to protection services 65 potential victims
of sexual exploitation, domestic servitude, and forced labor. This
was a decline from the 124 victims the government identified
in 2015. During the reporting period, the anti-trafficking unit
continued to receive referrals of potential trafficking victims
from NGOs, an international organization, and police stations
in Amman. Government officials and civil society organizations
acknowledged that labor inspectors, police, and detention center
officials—particularly those outside of Amman—lacked the
specialized training to proactively identify and refer trafficking
victims to protection services. Nevertheless, the government
continued to use and improve the national victim referral
mechanism, which it finalized and launched in 2015. In 2016,
the government worked in cooperation with an international
organization to develop detailed standard operating procedures
for stronger implementation of the referral mechanism.
The government continued to operate and provide assistance
to victims at a shelter solely dedicated to protecting trafficking
victims, which provided a wide range of services, including
psycho-social care, medical treatment, legal assistance,
vocational training, and specialized services for children.
The shelter’s staff included specialists in psychology, social
work, nursing, and education. The facility had the capacity to
serve 35 male and female victims, including children, with a
separate wing and entrance for male victims; it was the only
shelter in the country available for men. In 2016, the shelter
served a total of 56 trafficking victims, the majority of whom
were women; this represents an increase from 18 victims in the
previous reporting period. The anti-trafficking unit referred the
majority of the victims to the shelter, but NGOs also referred
some victims. Other facilities that served female victims of
gender-based violence also served potential trafficking victims.
Despite the government’s protection efforts, some foreign
trafficking victims—including domestic workers—remained
vulnerable to financial penalties, arrest, and detention if found
without valid residence documents, or if their employers or
recruitment agencies filed false claims of theft against them.
Many foreign workers were unable to return to their home
countries, while some remained in Jordanian detention, due
to pending criminal charges against them or their inability
to pay overstay penalties or plane fare home. NGOs reported
law enforcement and prison officials were not sufficiently
trained to effectively screen for, identify, and refer to care
victims among foreign migrant workers in administrative
detention or charged with crimes. To address this problem,
the Public Security Directorate (PSD) continued to work in
cooperation with a local NGO to identify and assist victims at
police stations and prison rehabilitation centers, as well as to
train PSD personnel and assist in the repatriation of victims.
Victims were not able to file civil suits against their traffickers
for restitution. However, the government encouraged victims
to assist in the prosecution of their traffickers by providing
legal and reintegration assistance. The government did not
provide foreign victims with legal alternatives to their removal
to countries where they faced retribution or hardship.

PREVENTION

The government maintained strong prevention efforts. The
inter-ministerial anti-trafficking committee continued to meet
regularly during the reporting period. The government continued

to draft a new national anti-trafficking action plan and strategy,
but it was not finalized at the end of the reporting period. The
government continued to raise awareness about trafficking
crimes. For example, the anti-trafficking unit cooperated with
the Ministry of Education and an international organization
to raise awareness of trafficking in public universities and high
schools in various cities in the country. In addition, the director
of the anti-trafficking unit held awareness-raising discussions
on three radio and television shows in 2016. The government
distributed anti-trafficking brochures to foreign migrants at
border crossings, police stations, in the garment sector, and
at the MOL unit in charge of domestic worker issues. MOL
continued to operate a hotline to receive labor complaints,
which offered interpretation services in some source-country
languages.

JORDAN

PROTECTION

The government continued to take efforts to reduce the demand
for forced labor and commercial sex acts. The government
continued to make efforts to address and prevent forced
marriages among the Syrian refugee population, which
put women and girls at risk of abuse and exploitation, by
conducting awareness campaigns on the dangers of forced
marriage, establishing Sharia courts in Syrian refugee camps,
and requiring Ministry of Interior approval for all marriages of
Syrians to people of other nationalities, including Jordanians.
Since adopting a policy in March 2016 that eased restrictions
on Syrian refugees’ legal work status, the government issued
38,000 work permits to Syrian refugees. Under a policy initiated
in February 2016, the government continued to allow Syrian
refugees access to education in public schools during the
reporting period, including an additional 50,000 Syrian refugee
children. MOL hired 11 new labor inspectors in 2016, increasing
the total number to 237; they are responsible for enforcing the
labor code, including inspecting child labor violations across
the country; this continued a steady increase of inspectors over
the past several years. In 2016, MOL conducted 85,253 labor
inspections in the formal and informal sectors. The government
also conducted labor inspections in the agricultural sector in
2016, but found no labor violations or potential trafficking
crimes; nevertheless, MOL officials continued to report that
there was not a clear regulatory framework for inspections of
this sector, while it also lacked sufficient resources to monitor
this sector. The MOL inspected 2,681 recruitment centers in
2016, but it did not report how many it closed or suspended
for labor violations. In January 2017, MOL raised the fees
for work permits for foreign workers, which could increase
workers’ vulnerabilities to trafficking if employers attempt to
charge workers the amount of the increased fees. The Ministry
of Foreign Affairs continued to report its finance department
directly paid locally-hired domestic staff of Jordanian diplomats
posted abroad, in accordance with labor laws and wage rates
in the host country. The government did not provide specific
anti-trafficking training for its diplomatic personnel, nor troops
or police before their deployment abroad as peacekeepers.

TRAFFICKING PROFILE

As reported over the past five years, Jordan is a source and
destination country for adults and children subjected to forced
labor and sex trafficking. Trafficking victims in Jordan are
primarily from South and Southeast Asia, East Africa, Egypt,
and Syria. Jordan relies on foreign migrant workers—many
of whom are undocumented—in several industries, including
construction, agriculture, textiles, and domestic work. Jordan’s
sponsorship system prevents foreign workers from switching
employers or receiving adequate access to legal recourse in
response to abuse. Some migrant workers from Egypt—the

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KAZAKHSTAN

largest source of foreign labor in Jordan—experience forced
labor in the construction, service, and agricultural sectors. In
2015, the government estimated there were 53,000 foreign
female domestic workers in Jordan, primarily from Southeast
Asia and East Africa; some are subjected to forced labor and
experience withheld or non-payment of wages, confiscation of
identity documents, restricted freedom of movement, long hours
without rest, and verbal and physical abuse. The publicized
case of a recruitment agent’s beating of a Bangladeshi domestic
worker, which was caught on camera in December 2015,
exemplifies the abuse suffered by some domestic workers in
Jordan. Men and women from throughout Asia migrate to work
in factories in Jordan’s garment industry, where some workers
experience withholding of passports, unpaid or withheld wages,
forced overtime, unsafe living conditions, verbal abuse and
harassment, and restricted movement. As of 2015, workers
in 47 percent of the factories in the garment industry pay
unauthorized fees to recruitment agents in their country of
origin, making them vulnerable to debt bondage.
Syrian refugees in Jordan continue to be highly vulnerable to
trafficking. Women and children—in particular—among the
refugee population often work illegally and informally in the
Jordanian economy, which puts them at risk of trafficking;
however, the Jordanian government adopted a policy in March
2016 that allows Syrian refugees legal work permits. Prior
to adopting this policy, the government estimated 160,000
Syrians were working outside the formal labor market. NGOs
have observed an increase in child labor and potential forced
child labor among Syrian refugee children working alongside
their families in the agricultural and service industries, as well
as peddling goods and begging. Because the agricultural sector
in Jordan is poorly regulated, children working in this sector
may be susceptible to exploitation. There have been reported
cases of Syrian refugee women and girls sold into “temporary”
or forced marriages to Jordanians and men from the Persian
Gulf for the purpose of forced commercial sex. For example,
in 2016 the government reported a case involving three Syrian
girls and one Syrian woman who were forced by their father into
temporary marriages—for the purpose of sexual exploitation—
with a national from Saudi Arabia. In addition, international
organizations and NGOs reported an increase in early marriages
among Syrian refugees in 2015, which may place girls at risk of
sexual exploitation and forced labor. Syrian, Lebanese, North
African, and Eastern European women may be forced into
prostitution after migrating to Jordan to work in restaurants
and nightclubs; some Jordanian women working in nightclubs
may also be forced into prostitution. As reported by an NGO
in 2016, some Egyptian women are forced to beg or forced into
prostitution by their Jordanian husbands. Some out-of-status
domestic workers from Indonesia, the Philippines, Bangladesh,
and Sri Lanka have been reportedly forced into prostitution after
fleeing their employers. Jordanian children employed within
the country as mechanics, agricultural laborers, and beggars
may be victims of forced labor. There are reports of organized
child begging rings involving Jordanian and Syrian children.
Some Jordanian and Syrian girls are forced to drop out of
school to perform domestic service in their families’ homes;
some of these girls are vulnerable to trafficking.

KAZAKHSTAN: TIER 2
230

The Government of Kazakhstan does not fully meet the
minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking; however,

it is making significant efforts to do so. The government
demonstrated increasing efforts compared to the previous
reporting period; therefore, Kazakhstan remained on Tier 2.
The government demonstrated increasing efforts by significantly
increasing prosecution and conviction of human traffickers,
expanding protection of victims by opening four new shelters
for human trafficking victims, and approving a budget for
shelter and victim assistance. The government also convicted
and sentenced a former police officer for collusion in human
trafficking. The government continued to fund and implement
awareness-raising events. However, the government did not
meet the minimum standards in several key areas. Legislative
norms allow for “conciliation of parties,” which allows alleged
traffickers to pay a settlement to victims to withdraw their
criminal cases. Media continued to report allegations of police
officers’ complicity in human trafficking, but the government
reported few investigations or prosecutions of police or other
government officials suspected of trafficking crimes.

RECOMMENDATIONS FOR KAZAKHSTAN

Update laws to align with international standards and exclude
exemption from criminal liability due to conciliation of parties
under human trafficking crimes or otherwise ensure such crimes
are subject to criminal investigation and prosecution; increase
efforts to identify trafficking victims—particularly foreign forced
labor victims—among vulnerable populations and refer these
victims for assistance; vigorously investigate, prosecute, and
convict suspected trafficking cases, respecting due process,
including allegedly complicit government officials and police
officers; increase funding and resources for anti-trafficking
police units; ensure victim identification and assistance is
not contingent on successful investigation and prosecution
efforts; cease deporting victims and provide legal alternatives
to forced repatriation; train labor inspectors to identify victims
of forced labor and report potential trafficking cases to the
police; and provide anti-trafficking training or guidance for
diplomatic personnel to prevent their engagement or facilitation
of trafficking crimes.

PROSECUTION

The government increased anti-trafficking law enforcement
efforts. Articles 128, 135, 125(3b), 126(3b), 308, and 134 of the
penal code criminalize all forms of sex and labor trafficking and
prescribe penalties of up to 15 years imprisonment, which are
sufficiently stringent and commensurate with those prescribed
for other serious crimes, such as rape. Amendments to the
penal code that went into effect in 2015 increased penalties for
crimes committed against children, including sex trafficking.
Article 68 of the criminal code allows defendants to pursue
settlements by paying monetary compensation to the victim
in exchange for having the criminal case withdrawn. Although
2016 amendments preclude the possibility of invoking article
68 in cases of sexual crimes against minors, it still is an option
in cases involving other forms of trafficking.
Police investigated 147 trafficking cases, compared to 104 in

The government continued to provide a variety of specialized
training courses for police, prosecutors, and judges in the
identification, investigation, and prosecution of trafficking
crimes and funded police participation in international antitrafficking conferences. In 2016, the judicial institute and
Ministry of Internal Affairs (MVD) conducted 13 training
sessions for 166 judges and 133 police officers on the protection
of trafficking victims during the criminal process and victim
identification. More than 170 law enforcement officers and
social workers participated in anti-trafficking conferences to
exchange best practices in combating human trafficking and
training on victim assistance. In all training programs, the
government covered participant costs and the venue while
international organizations, NGOs, and international donors
contributed the expert fees and training materials. During the
reporting period, the government jointly investigated 13 cases
related to trafficking in cooperation with foreign governments,
including Azerbaijan, Belarus, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, and the
United Kingdom. In December 2016, the National Commission
for Human Rights released the report “On the Protection
of Rights of Migrants and Victims of Human Trafficking.”
The report provided analysis of the implementation of the
recommendations from two reports previously published by
the National Commission Special Reports “On the Rights of
Migrants in Kazakhstan” and “On Current Issues Affecting
Human Rights Protection in Combating Trafficking in Persons
in the Republic of Kazakhstan.”

PROTECTION

The government increased efforts to protect victims. The
government identified 110 trafficking victims, an increase from
92 in 2015. Of those, 82 were victims of sex trafficking and 21
of forced labor. All but 15 of the identified victims were from
Kazakhstan; three of the Kazakhstani victims were subjected to
trafficking in South Korea and the United Arab Emirates, while
the rest were subjected to trafficking in Kazakhstan, recruited
from rural to urban areas for both labor and sexual exploitation.
All 82 Kazakhstani victims identified by the government received
assistance from government-funded programs, however, foreign
victims are not eligible for assistance in government-funded
shelters. In 2016, NGOs reported assisting 167 trafficking
victims (162 in 2015); among these, police referred 55 and
international organizations, embassies, NGOs, and self-referrals
were responsible for the additional 112. Of all 167 trafficking
victims assisted by NGOs, 65 were Kazakhstani and 102 were
foreigners; 33 were victims of sex trafficking, 134 of forced
labor, 57 were female, 107 male, and three transgender. The

government-funded and NGO-operated trafficking hotline
received 841 phone calls in 2016, the vast majority of which
were requests for information while six were referred to antitrafficking police units.
In addition to one government-funded NGO-operated shelter in
Astana, the government-funded the opening of three new NGOoperated trafficking shelters in Shymkent, Kostanay, and Almaty
in 2016. The four NGO-operated trafficking shelters provide
legal, psychological, and medical assistance and are accessible to
all trafficking victims, regardless of gender or age. In 2016, the
government allocated at least 25.97 million Kazakhstani Tenge
(KZT) ($77,918) to direct victim assistance, including 24 million
KZT ($72,007) for shelter assistance and 1.97 million KZT
($5,911) for victim assistance during investigations, an increase
from 4.7 million KZT ($14,101) in 2015. The government special
social services law entitles trafficking victims to care as “victims
of violence.” In 2015, the government finalized standard criteria
for determining eligibility for a wide range of social services,
and in 2016, the government implemented the new standards
in the operation of shelters for trafficking victims. Amendments
to the penal procedural code made in 2015 allow victims to
seek compensation from a government fund; however, the
fund has not yet been established, as it requires the adoption
of implementing regulations. NGOs reported effective victim
referral and police cooperation with anti-trafficking units
assigned to each region. Law enforcement units mandated to
address migration or trafficking issues have a formal system
to identify trafficking victims among at-risk persons, such
as undocumented migrants or persons in prostitution. The
government encouraged victims to participate in investigations
and prosecutions by providing witness protection during
court proceedings, access to pre-trial shelter services, and
basic provisions such as food, clothing, and medical and
legal assistance. In 2016, the government provided 15 foreign
victims legal protection, including suspension of deportation
proceedings, and special temporary residency throughout the
criminal investigation. However, if a criminal case was not
initiated, authorities did not recognize and give protective status
to foreign victims. NGOs reported foreign victims sometimes
experienced problems in accessing local medical care due to a
lack of health insurance or residence permits. The government
did not offer legal alternatives to removal of foreign victims
and forcibly repatriated all victims after expiration of their
temporary residency rights. In 2016, there were no reports of
authorities criminally punishing victims for crimes as a direct
result of being subjected to trafficking.

KAZAKHSTAN

2015. In 2016, law enforcement officials initiated 110 new
prosecutions for trafficking offenses (97 in 2015), including
92 sex trafficking cases and 18 labor trafficking cases. The
government convicted 45 offenders (12 in 2015); of which,
40 sex traffickers received sentences ranging from three to 10
years imprisonment and five labor traffickers received sentences
of one to six years. In addition, the government opened 228
investigations of trafficking-related crimes, including pimping
and brothel maintenance. NGOs continued to suspect traffickers
bribed low-ranking police officials to avoid these charges. Media
reported several cases in which police officers were accused of
trafficking or sentenced for other offenses that may have involved
trafficking. Such cases included a former deputy head of the
regional counternarcotic department who allegedly recruited and
facilitated sex trafficking and a former police officer convicted
for collusion in human trafficking. The government sentenced
the former police officer to 10 years in prison with a lifetime
ban for work in law enforcement agencies in November 2016.

PREVENTION

The government maintained prevention efforts, under the
direction of the Interagency Trafficking in Person Working
Group, led by the Ministry of Health and Social Development
in 2016. The government continued implementing a national
action plan for 2015-2017, which includes activities to improve
anti-trafficking legislation; investigation and prosecution of
human trafficking cases; victim identification and assistance;
cooperation with international and non-governmental
organizations; and prevention efforts such as public awareness
programs. The government continued to fund anti-trafficking
information and education campaigns targeting potential
trafficking victims, including children. The Ministry of Culture
and Information funded radio and television programs, as well
as the publication of newspaper articles and web-publications,
designed to prevent trafficking by raising public awareness.
In July 2016, the MVD began a 25-day public information
campaign in commemoration of International Day against

231

KENYA

Human Trafficking. During the campaign, police participated
in TV and radio programs, conducted presentations at hospitals
and tourist information and construction offices, and organized
flash mobs at sporting events to raise public awareness of human
trafficking. The MVD also distributed information in parks,
shopping malls, rail stations, airports, hotels, and markets that
included the number for the national anti-trafficking hotline.
The hotline received more than 841 calls in 2016, which led
to the investigation of six cases of human trafficking. The
government allocated an undisclosed amount of funding to
NGOs for prevention projects, including public awareness
campaigns. The government allocated 9.8 million KZT ($29,403)
during the previous year. The government did not take any
action to reduce the demand for commercial sex or forced labor.
The government did not provide anti-trafficking training to
its diplomatic personnel; however, Ministry of Foreign Affairs
personnel attended trafficking in persons awareness training
conducted by an international organization.

in those countries. However, the government did not meet the
minimum standards in several key areas. It did not allocate
any new funding to the victim assistance fund, compared to
seven million Kenyan shillings ($68,326) it allotted during the
previous reporting period. Kenyan authorities continued to treat
some victims as criminals, and the availability of protective
services for adult victims remained negligible. Corruption in
sectors of the government perpetuated traffickers’ ability to
obtain fraudulent identity documents from complicit officials.
The government did not conduct nationwide anti-trafficking
awareness campaigns.

TRAFFICKING PROFILE

As reported over the past five years, Kazakhstan is a destination
and, to a lesser extent, a source and transit country for men,
women, and children subjected to sex trafficking and forced
labor. Domestic trafficking remains a consistent problem,
accounting for most identified victims. Kazakhstani men but
also women are subjected to labor exploitation mostly in Russia,
but also in the Republic of Korea. Kazakhstani women and girls
are subjected to sex trafficking in the Middle East, Europe, East
Asia, and the United States. Women and girls from neighboring
Central Asian and Eastern European countries, as well as from
rural areas in Kazakhstan, are subjected to sex trafficking in
Kazakhstan; in most cases, traffickers target young girls and
women, luring them with promises of employment as waitresses,
models, or nannies in large cities. Some children are forced
to beg and others may be coerced into criminal behavior. The
relative economic prosperity in the government capital Astana,
the financial capital Almaty, and the western oil cities Aktau and
Atyrau, attract large numbers of Kazakhstanis from rural villages,
some of whom become victims of labor trafficking and sexual
exploitation. Chinese, Filipino, Kazakhstani, and other Central
Asian citizens, in particular Uzbekistani men and women, are
subjected to forced labor in domestic service, construction, and
agriculture in Kazakhstan. Since Russia banned re-entry for an
estimated one million Uzbek migrants, many of them have
sought temporary work and residence in Kazakhstan where they
remained vulnerable to trafficking. Many victims of trafficking
in Kazakhstan indicate they were lured through fraud and
deceit, sometimes by friends or acquaintances, and, at times,
exploited by small organized criminal groups in Kazakhstan.

KENYA: TIER 2

232

The Government of Kenya does not fully meet the minimum
standards for the elimination of trafficking; however, it is making
significant efforts to do so. The government demonstrated
increasing efforts compared to the previous reporting period;
therefore, Kenya remained on Tier 2. The government
demonstrated increasing efforts by launching a national referral
mechanism, issuing new registration requirements and a code
of conduct for private labor recruitment agencies, and including
human trafficking and the anti-trafficking law in its basic police
training curricula. The Ministry of Labor (MOL) assigned
labor attachés to Kenyan missions in Qatar, the United Arab
Emirates (UAE), and Saudi Arabia to protect citizens employed

RECOMMENDATIONS FOR KENYA

Increase protective services available to adult trafficking victims,
particularly those identified and repatriated from overseas;
implement the formal process for law enforcement officials to
refer trafficking victims for assistance, including adult trafficking
victims and repatriated Kenyans; allocate sufficient resources
toward the victim assistance fund; vigorously investigate and
prosecute trafficking offenses and convict and punish traffickers,
including government officials suspected of complicity in human
trafficking; expand training to all levels of the government,
particularly front-line responders, on identifying and handling
trafficking crimes; increase oversight of overseas recruitment
agencies; use formal procedures to encourage victims’
cooperation in the investigation and prosecution of trafficking
crimes; and conduct awareness campaigns throughout the
country, including rural areas.

PROSECUTION

The government continued law enforcement efforts, but
incomplete data from the government and conflation of
trafficking and smuggling crimes made it difficult to assess
those efforts. Section 1 of the Counter-Trafficking in Persons
Act of 2010 criminalizes all forms of trafficking and section 3(5)
prescribes a sufficiently stringent punishment of no less than 30
years imprisonment or a fine of not less than 30 million shillings
($292,826). When allowing for a fine in lieu of imprisonment,
the prescribed punishment is not commensurate with those
for other serious crimes, such as rape. Sections 14 and 15 of
the Sexual Offenses Act of 2006 criminalize the facilitation
of child sex tourism and “child prostitution,” and prescribe
punishment of no less than 10 years imprisonment penalties
that are also sufficiently stringent and commensurate with
those prescribed for other serious crimes. The government did
not report the specific laws under which it prosecuted specific
trafficking cases during the reporting period, although it more
commonly utilized the 2006 Sexual Offenses Act.
In 2016, around half of Kenya’s 47 counties reported antitrafficking law enforcement data, whereas all counties reported
such data in 2015; however, conflation of smuggling and other
crimes with trafficking also contributed to the significant increase
in law enforcement data that was difficult to disaggregate. The
government reported 530 investigations of potential trafficking
cases in 2016, of which 59 were for forced labor and 28 for sex

PROTECTION

The government made modest efforts to protect children,
while protection services for adult victims remained negligible.
Authorities reported identifying and referring to care 530
trafficking victims in 2016, some of whom were likely involved
in smuggling; during the previous year, it reported identifying
153 victims, all of which were internal child trafficking victims.
The government placed some child victims in child-specific
rescue centers, supported the familial reunification of others,
and assisted with the repatriation of non-Kenyan nationals.
During the reporting period, the government did not allocate
funding for the victim assistance fund; in 2015, the government
provided funds for the first time, allocating 7 million Kenyan
shillings ($68,326). NGOs and international organizations
played a significant role in victim identification and referral
to the Department of Children’s Services (DCS). DCS officers
participated in police investigations, identification of child
trafficking victims, counseling provisions, and referrals to service
providers. DCS and a local NGO continued to jointly operate
a national 24-hour toll-free hotline for reporting cases of child
trafficking, labor exploitation, and domestic abuse; the hotline’s
main call center was located in a government-owned building
in Nairobi. The government reported the hotline received
1,195 reports of child trafficking in 2016, the same number it
reported in the previous reporting period. In December 2016,
the government issued guidelines, developed the previous year,
for implementing the national referral mechanism; however,
it did not employ them during the reporting period or train
stakeholders on their implementation.
The government’s services for adult trafficking victims identified
within the country remained negligible. Some NGOs noted the
government-maintained list of assistance providers was not
comprehensive and contact information for some organizations
was not made publicly available, precluding victims from

effectively reaching them. DCS continued to operate eight
drop-in referral centers in Eldoret, Garissa, Malindi, Siaya,
Kakamega, Nairobi, Nakuru, and Mombasa, and four rescue
centers in Garissa, Malindi, Thika, and Machakos, where child
victims of violence, including trafficking victims, could stay for
up to three months before returning home or being referred to
NGO facilities. The government and NGOs provided medical
help, psycho-social support, rehabilitation and reintegration
services, food and clothing, and referrals to other centers for
an unknown number of children, which may have included
trafficking victims. NGOs provided protective provisions at
times without government support.

KENYA

trafficking; the government did not report types of trafficking
for the remainder. Investigation data was not reported in 2015.
The government reported initiating 281 prosecutions during
the reporting year, compared with 762 in 2015 and 65 in 2014.
The government reported convicting 105 traffickers, compared
to 456 in 2015 and 33 in 2014; however, some convictions
may have been for smuggling crimes rather than trafficking.
Corruption remained endemic at all levels of government, and
traffickers were able to fraudulently obtain identity documents
from complicit officials. The government did not report any
investigations, prosecutions, or convictions of government
employees complicit in human trafficking. As reported in 2016,
a federal district court in California issued a default judgment
against a Kenyan consular officer awarding more than $288,000
in damages and attorney fees to that officer’s former domestic
worker who had sued for exploitation. The parties subsequently
agreed to a confidential settlement. The national police service,
in partnership with an international organization, included
content on human trafficking and the anti-trafficking law in
its basic training curricula. In January 2017, the government
supported training for the anti-trafficking advisory committee
members on how to execute the committee’s mandate. In
conjunction with an international organization, it trained
34 front-line law enforcement officers and investigators on
combating trafficking. In addition, the government-funded and
conducted a train-the-trainers program for 50 stakeholders from
the judiciary, departments of immigration and social protection,
and law enforcement agencies; this program focused primarily
on national laws and mechanisms for victim identification
and referral.

To address the exploitation of Kenyan nationals abroad, the MOL
assigned labor attachés to Kenyan missions in Qatar, the UAE,
and Saudi Arabia to assist citizens employed in those countries.
The government also signed a bilateral labor agreement with
Qatar to coordinate efforts to reduce cases of exploitative
labor and other abuses against Kenyans abroad, to include
trafficking. It provided ad hoc repatriation assistance, including
housing placement, medical care, psycho-social support, and
reintegration services, for its citizens subjected to trafficking
outside Kenya; in some cases NGOs and destination-country
governments coordinated and funded the repatriation of Kenyan
nationals without government support. The government’s
diplomatic missions worked to improve consular services to
victims abroad, although serious gaps remained. Immigration
officials continued to conflate smuggling with trafficking and
arrested, without screening, potential trafficking victims for
traveling with forged documents. Reports alleged authorities
treated some victims as criminals, sometimes charging them
with labor violations. The government had formal procedures
to encourage victims’ cooperation in the investigation and
prosecution of trafficking crimes; however, there were no
reports such procedures were used during the reporting period.
Under the anti-trafficking act, officials may grant permission
for foreign trafficking victims to remain indefinitely in Kenya
if it is believed they would face hardship or retribution upon
repatriation; the government did not report using this provision
during the reporting period.

PREVENTION

The government maintained uneven efforts to prevent trafficking.
Authorities partially implemented the 2013-2017 national action
plan, through limited capacity building for officials and the
launch of the referral mechanism. The advisory committee —
the governing body for anti-trafficking efforts—convened five
times during the reporting period and submitted to the MOL
cabinet secretary for review its second annual national action
plan to cover years 2017-2022. The government-funded the
committee with seven million Kenyan shillings ($68,326) for
anti-trafficking activities. Progress on the advisory committee’s
database to share relevant ministry information across all 47
counties stalled during the reporting period. The advisory
committee reported publishing trafficking posters for DCS
offices. The government’s anti-trafficking awareness efforts were
largely limited due to resource constraints. During the year, it
promoted the national 24-hour toll-free hotline for reporting
cases of child trafficking, labor exploitation, and domestic abuse.
Following the MOL’s revocation of accreditation certificates
for hundreds of private employment agencies to conduct
robust vetting in the previous reporting period, in June 2016
the government put into force new rules outlining registration
requirements and a code of conduct for such agencies. These
requirements included informing Kenyan employees seeking

233

KOREA, DEMOCRATIC PEOPLE’S REPUBLIC OF
234

work abroad about their prospective wages, visa fees, airfare, and
medical examinations, and specifying that any administrative
costs imposed on the employee should not exceed one month’s
salary. Since the new rules were gazetted, the MOL certified
25 private employment agencies, although the list of certified
companies was not publicly available at the close of the
reporting period. The MOL continued to require employment
agencies sourcing jobs abroad in the hospitality and service
sectors to obtain MOL approval of all employment contracts.
The MOL required contracts deemed credible to be signed in
the presence of a labor ministry officer, and required applicants
to register with the Kenyan embassy in the host country. The
government did not report efforts to reduce the demand for
commercial sex acts. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs provided
anti-trafficking training for its diplomatic personnel and vetted
employment contracts between Kenyan diplomats posted
abroad and their domestic workers to ensure their legality.
The government’s training for troops deployed overseas on
international peacekeeping missions included a module that
addressed human trafficking.

TRAFFICKING PROFILE

As reported over the past five years, Kenya is a source, transit, and
destination country for men, women, and children subjected
to forced labor and sex trafficking. Within the country, children
are subjected to forced labor in domestic service, agriculture,
fishing, cattle herding, street vending, and begging. Boys were
increasingly subjected to trafficking. Girls and boys are exploited
in commercial sex throughout Kenya, including in sex tourism
in Nairobi, Kisumu, and on the coast, particularly in informal
settlements; at times, their exploitation is facilitated by family
members. Children are also exploited in sex trafficking by people
working in khat (a mild narcotic) cultivation areas, near gold
mines in western Kenya, by truck drivers along major highways,
and by fishermen on Lake Victoria. Kenyans are recruited by
legal or illegal employment agencies or voluntarily migrate to
Europe, the United States, Southeast Asia, and the Middle East
—particularly Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, Kuwait, Qatar, the UAE,
and Oman—in search of employment, where at times they are
exploited in domestic servitude, massage parlors and brothels,
or forced manual labor. NGOs reported that IDPs who live close
to a major highway or local trading center are more vulnerable
to trafficking than persons in settled communities. Previous
reports allege gay and bisexual Kenyan men are deceptively
recruited from universities with promises of overseas jobs, but
are forced into prostitution in Qatar and UAE. Nairobi-based
labor recruiters maintain networks in Uganda and Ethiopia that
recruit Rwandan, Ethiopian, and Ugandan workers through
fraudulent offers of employment in the Middle East and Asia.
Kenyan women are subjected to forced prostitution in Thailand
by Ugandan and Nigerian traffickers. Men and boys are lured
to Somalia to join criminal and terrorist networks, sometimes
with fraudulent promises of lucrative employment elsewhere.
Kenya’s largest refugee camp complex, Dadaab, hosts
approximately 250,000 refugees and asylum-seekers, and
the security situation inhibits some humanitarian access,
assistance, and protective services. Some children in Dadaab
and Kakuma refugee camps may be subjected to sex trafficking,
while others are taken from the camps and forced to work on
tobacco farms. Children from East Africa and South Sudan are
subjected to forced labor and sex trafficking in Kenya. Reports
assert domestic workers from Uganda, herders from Ethiopia,
and others from Somalia, South Sudan, and Burundi are
subjected to forced labor in Kenya. Trucks transporting goods
from Kenya to Somalia returned to Kenya with girls and women

subsequently exploited in brothels in Nairobi or Mombasa.
Nepalese and Indian women recruited to work in mujra dance
clubs in Nairobi and Mombasa face debt bondage, which they
are forced to pay off by dancing and forced prostitution.

KOREA, DEMOCRATIC PEOPLE’S
REPUBLIC OF: TIER 3
The Government of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea
(DPRK or North Korea) does not fully meet the minimum
standards for the elimination of trafficking and is not making
significant efforts to do so; therefore, the DPRK remained on
Tier 3. The government did not demonstrate any efforts to
address human trafficking through prosecution, protection,
or prevention measures. The government sponsored human
trafficking through its use of forced labor in prison camps and
labor training centers, facilitation of forced labor of students,
and its provision of forced labor to foreign companies through
bilateral contracts. It failed to protect potential trafficking
victims when they were forcibly repatriated from China or
other countries.

RECOMMENDATIONS FOR THE DEMOCRATIC PEOPLE’S
REPUBLIC OF KOREA

End the use of forced labor in prison camps and among North
Korean workers abroad; end the use of the death penalty and
other harsh sentences for victims who are forcibly repatriated
from destination countries, and provide assistance to trafficking
victims in the DPRK and to North Korean victims forcibly
repatriated from abroad; criminalize human trafficking and
recognize it as a distinct crime from human smuggling;
investigate and prosecute trafficking cases, and convict
traffickers; establish transparent, bilateral work contracts used
to deploy North Korean laborers to neighboring countries;
eliminate coercion tactics used to monitor the movements
and communications of workers in these contracts; increase
transparency by allowing international human rights monitors
to evaluate living and working conditions of these overseas
workers; forge partnerships with international organizations
and NGOs to combat human trafficking; allow North Koreans
to receive fair wages, choose their form of work, and leave their
employment at will; and accede to the 2000 UN TIP Protocol.

PROSECUTION

The government made no known anti-trafficking law
enforcement efforts. North Korean laws do not prohibit all
forms of human trafficking. Fair trials did not occur in the
DPRK, and the government did not provide transparent law
enforcement data during the reporting period. The government
did not explain what provisions of law, if any, were used to
prosecute trafficking offenses or protect victims. An unconfirmed
NGO report indicated traffickers are sentenced based on the
number of people they exploit: one to three victims results

During the reporting period, there were no known investigations,
prosecutions, or convictions of traffickers. The government did
not report whether it provided any anti-trafficking training to
its officials. The government did not report any investigations
or prosecutions of government officials for alleged complicity
in human trafficking offenses.

PROTECTION

The government did not report any efforts to identify or assist
trafficking victims. Government authorities did not provide
protective services to trafficking victims and did not permit
NGOs to provide these services. The government did not exempt
victims from being penalized for unlawful acts committed as a
direct result of being subjected to trafficking, and there was no
screening of forcibly repatriated North Koreans to determine
if they were trafficking victims.
North Koreans forcibly repatriated by Chinese authorities,
including potential trafficking victims, were sent to prison
camps, where they were subjected to forced labor, and possible
torture and sexual abuse by prison guards. North Korean
defectors reported instances of the government executing
trafficking victims forcibly repatriated from China. Article 30
of the criminal code partially suspends civil rights of prison
camp inmates; government officials used this provision to
abuse victims in prison camps. The government reportedly
subjected some forcibly repatriated victims who were pregnant
to forced abortions, and reports indicate infants born to forcibly
repatriated victims while in prison were killed. An estimated
20,000 to 30,000 children born to women from the DPRK live
in China, and reports show some are unable to be registered
upon birth, rendering them stateless and vulnerable to possible
exploitation.

PREVENTION

The government did not report any efforts to prevent human
trafficking. Government oppression in the DPRK prompted
many North Koreans to flee the country in ways that made them
vulnerable to human trafficking in destination countries. The
DPRK made no efforts to raise awareness of human trafficking,
train government officials, or screen migrants along the border
for signs of trafficking. The government did not make efforts
to reduce the demand for commercial sex acts or forced labor,
nor did it provide anti-trafficking training to its diplomatic
personnel. The DPRK is not a party to the 2000 UN TIP Protocol.

TRAFFICKING PROFILE

As reported over the past five years, the DPRK is a source
country for men, women, and children who are subjected to
forced labor and sex trafficking. Government oppression in
the DPRK prompts many North Koreans to flee the country
in ways that make them vulnerable to human trafficking
in destination countries. Within North Korea, forced labor
is part of an established system of political repression. The
government subjects its nationals to forced labor through
mass mobilizations and in North Korean prison camps. The
DPRK holds an estimated 80,000 to 120,000 prisoners in
political prison camps in remote areas of the country. In many
cases, these prisoners have not been charged with a crime or

prosecuted, convicted, or sentenced in a fair judicial hearing.
In prison camps, all prisoners, including children, are subject
to forced labor, including logging, mining, or farming for long
hours under harsh conditions. Political prisoners are subjected
to unhygienic living conditions, beatings, torture, rape, a lack
of medical care, and insufficient food. Many prisoners do not
survive. Furnaces and mass graves are used to dispose the bodies
of those who die in these prison camps.
The North Korean government operates regional, local, or subdistrict level “labor training centers” and forces detainees to
work for short periods doing hard labor, receiving little food,
and subject to abuse, including regular beatings. Authorities
reportedly send people to such centers if they are suspected
of engaging in simple trading schemes or are unemployed. At
the direction of the government, schools force students older
than 14 years of age, including those in universities, to work
without pay on farms for periods up to a month, twice a year;
students who do not meet work quotas set out by the schools
face physical abuse. In addition, school principals and teachers
exploit students for personal gain by forcing them to work on
farms or construction sites.
Many North Korean laborers sent by the government to work
abroad under bilateral contracts with foreign governments
also face conditions of forced labor. Estimates of the number
of overseas workers dispatched and the amount of revenue
those workers generated for the DPRK government vary widely;
some estimates indicate the number of workers is in the tens of
thousands in total. The majority work in Russia and China, but
Middle Eastern, African, and other European and Asian countries
also host North Korean laborers. Credible reports show many
North Koreans working under these contracts are subjected to
conditions indicative of forced labor, such as working excessively
long hours in hazardous temperatures with restricted pay, for up
to three years at a time. North Korean government “minders”
restrict and monitor their movement and communications.
North Koreans sent overseas do not have a choice in the work
the government ultimately assigns them and are not free to
change jobs. These workers face threats of government reprisals
against them or their relatives in the DPRK if they attempt to
escape or complain to outside parties. Workers’ salaries are
appropriated and deposited into accounts controlled by the
North Korean government, which justifies its retention of most
of the money by claiming various “voluntary” contributions
to government endeavors. Workers receive only a fraction of
the money paid to the North Korean government for their
work and face punishment if they fail to meet production or
work targets. Wages of some North Korean workers employed
abroad reportedly are withheld until the laborers return home,
increasing their vulnerability to coercion and exploitation by
authorities. Other reports note these laborers work on average
between 12 and 16 hours a day, and sometimes up to 20 hours
per day, and are allowed only one or two rest days per month.

KOREA, DEMOCRATIC PEOPLE’S REPUBLIC OF

in 10 years or more in forced labor camps, four to six victims
results in an unlimited period in forced labor camps, and seven
or more victims results in the death penalty.

The North Korean government system of harsh punishment
through forced labor camps or the death penalty can fuel
trafficking in neighboring China. Many of the estimated
10,000 North Korean women and girls who have migrated
illegally to China to flee abuse and human rights violations are
particularly vulnerable to trafficking, and traffickers reportedly
lure, drug, detain, or kidnap some North Korean women
upon their arrival. Others offer jobs but subsequently force
the women into prostitution, domestic service, or agricultural
work through forced marriages. These women are subjected
to sexual exploitation by Chinese or Korean-Chinese men,

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forced prostitution in brothels or through internet sex sites, or
compelled service as hostesses in nightclubs or karaoke bars.
These victims often lack identification documents and bear
children with Chinese men, which further hinders their ability
to escape. If found by Chinese authorities, victims are often
forcibly repatriated to the DPRK where they are subject to harsh
punishment, including forced labor in labor camps or death.

KOREA, REPUBLIC OF: TIER 1
The Government of the Republic of Korea (ROK or South
Korea) fully meets the minimum standards for the elimination
of trafficking. The government continued to demonstrate
serious and sustained efforts during the reporting period;
therefore, South Korea remained on Tier 1. The government
demonstrated serious and sustained efforts by increasing
the number of trafficking investigations, prosecutions, and
convictions compared to the previous reporting period;
conducting numerous awareness raising campaigns; providing
services to 7,397 potential trafficking victims; and strengthening
procedures to prevent trafficking among entertainment visa
holders. Although the government meets the minimum
standards, it continued to prosecute trafficking crimes under laws
with lower penalties, and did not establish formal guidelines
to refer victims to services. The lack of sensitivity among some
police officials to victim experiences may have re-traumatized
victims or put them at further risk. Some potential trafficking
victims, including foreign women in prostitution, were detained
or deported for crimes committed as a result of being subjected
to trafficking.

labor on South Korean-flagged fishing vessels.

PROSECUTION

The government increased law enforcement efforts. Chapter
31 of the criminal code prohibits all forms of trafficking and
prescribes up to 15 years imprisonment for trafficking crimes;
these penalties are sufficiently stringent and commensurate
with penalties prescribed for other serious crimes, such as
rape. In 2016, the government reported investigating 562
reported trafficking cases (421 in 2015), indicting 426 suspects
(347 in 2015), and convicting 213 offenders (64 in 2015);
however, only 33 were convicted under trafficking statutes. The
government prescribed sentences ranging from fines of KRW
8 million ($6,649) to seven years imprisonment; instances in
which fines are used in lieu of imprisonment are inadequate
to deter trafficking crimes. The Ministry of Justice (MOJ) held
numerous trainings throughout the year for prosecutors and
law enforcement officers on anti-trafficking issues and victim
protection. Nonetheless, officials’ understanding of human
trafficking was sometimes limited and inconsistent; there
remained widespread, false perceptions that kidnapping, buying
and selling, physical force, or confinement were required to
qualify a case as trafficking. As a result, some prosecutors and
judges applied trafficking charges to only the most serious
cases, and prosecuted and punished most trafficking offenses
under the less stringent 2004 Act on the Punishment of Acts of
Arranging Sexual Trafficking, the Labor Standards Act, and the
Act on the Protection of Children and Juveniles against Sexual
Abuse. Five police officers reportedly engaged in commercial
sex acts, including with children, during the reporting period.
The government ordered one officer to pay a fine of $2,000
and trial proceedings were ongoing for a second officer at the
end of the reporting period; the three others were not subject
to prosecution.

PROTECTION

RECOMMENDATIONS FOR THE REPUBLIC OF KOREA

236

Increase efforts to investigate, prosecute, and convict traffickers
under the criminal code and ensure convicted offenders receive
sentences proportionate to the crime committed; train law
enforcement officers, prosecutors, and judicial officials to
understand “trafficking” as defined in the criminal code which
does not require kidnapping, buying and selling, force, or
confinement; proactively identify trafficking victims among
vulnerable populations—including individuals arrested
for prostitution, disabled persons, and migrant workers
in all visa categories—using standard victim identification
guidelines; establish and implement formal guidelines to refer
trafficking victims to services; designate a government entity
responsible for coordinating anti-trafficking efforts; actively
inspect industries with high potential for exploitation rather
than relying on self-reporting of abuse by victims; draft and
implement a trafficking-specific national action plan to guide
governmental anti-trafficking efforts; proactively investigate
and prosecute South Koreans engaging in sex acts with child
sex trafficking victims in South Korea and abroad; increase
monitoring of trafficking vulnerabilities in South Korean
government-issued entertainment visas, including verifying
contracts and monitoring sponsoring establishments; and
continue to investigate and prosecute those who use forced

The government maintained efforts to protect and assist
trafficking victims. The government identified and assisted
82 foreign sex trafficking victims, compared with 58 in 2015;
the government did not report statistics for South Korean or
foreign labor trafficking victims. The government continued to
use sex trafficking victim identification guidelines established in
2013. In August 2016, the National Human Rights Commission
distributed updated identification guidelines to the MOJ,
Ministry of Employment and Labor (MOEL), Ministry of
Gender Equality and Family (MOGEF), National Police
Agency (NPA) and 17 local governments to encourage more
consistent, standardized criteria for victim identification. NPA
was responsible for guiding crime victims, including trafficking
victims, from the initial point of contact with law enforcement
to protection and support systems; however, the government
did not issue or use formal guidelines for referring victims
to services. NGOs noted that without a government body
designated to coordinate anti-trafficking efforts, establishing
standards for conducting proactive victim identification among
vulnerable groups remained a challenge. MOGEF supported
92 facilities that provide services specifically to sex trafficking
victims and MOEL operated 39 foreign workers’ support centers.
In 2016, the government assisted 7,397 potential trafficking
victims through counseling services, shelter, education, and
rehabilitation support. NPA continued to work with social
workers when screening women involved in prostitution to
identify and assist potential trafficking victims. Although the law
provides trafficking victims with protection from prosecution,
authorities detained women in prostitution, particularly foreign

PREVENTION

The government increased efforts to prevent trafficking. To raise
awareness of human trafficking, the government conducted
public service announcements, advertising campaigns, and
events; distributed materials online; publicized its antitrafficking hotline; and supported sex trafficking awareness
programs in schools. In an effort to prevent exploitation among
E6-2 entertainment visa holders, the government began to
require applicants to submit evidence of more than three years
of experience in the field and required applicants from countries
with high overstay rates to apply through in-person interviews.
MOEL inspected 20,000 workplaces for labor exploitation,
including 3,200 businesses with foreign workers. In addition,
the government surveyed the conditions of workers, including
working hours, living conditions, non-payment of wages, and
abuse in 1,720 workplaces and found 3,337 violations; MOEL
instructed businesses to address violations, but it was unclear if
charges were brought against law violators. MOGEF continued
to operate hotlines in 13 languages accessible to trafficking
victims, and the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries continued to
operate a hotline for foreign crew members on South Korean
fishing vessels. After a South Korean man with intellectual
disabilities who was subjected to forced labor on a cattle farm
was identified, the government investigated the whereabouts
of 13,776 individuals with registered intellectual disabilities
in the same province in an effort to prevent additional cases
of forced labor. They were unable to locate 10 individuals
and received 17 reports of suspected forced labor; all 27
cases were forwarded to the police. The government lacked
a trafficking-specific national plan of action, but included
proposed anti-trafficking efforts in its human rights national
action plan. To curb the demand for commercial sex acts,
the government carried out awareness campaigns at airports,
railroad stations, and with travel agencies; launched a campaign
targeting government employees and certain private companies
to prevent Korean tourists from engaging in sex tourism overseas;
and, in partnership with the Philippines embassy, distributed
leaflets to inform Korean travelers of local sex trafficking laws.
South Korean men remained a source of demand for child
sex tourism in Southeast Asia and the Pacific Islands. The
government denied passport issuance to four South Koreans
(15 in 2015) for engagement in sex tourism abroad; however,
it did not prosecute or convict any South Korean sex tourists.
The government continued to provide anti-trafficking training
to troops prior to their deployment abroad on international
peacekeeping missions and anti-trafficking training to its
diplomatic personnel.

TRAFFICKING PROFILE

As reported over the past five years, the ROK is a source,

transit, and destination country for men, women, and children
subjected to sex trafficking and forced labor. South Korean
women are subjected to forced prostitution in South Korea
and abroad. Some South Korean women enter destination
countries on tourist, work, or student visas, and are forced
into prostitution in massage parlors, salons, bars, restaurants,
or through internet-advertised escort services. Some victims
who owe debts to entertainment establishment owners or
loan sharks are forced into prostitution. Some disabled or
intellectually disabled South Korean men are vulnerable to
exploitation and have been forced to work on salt and cattle
farms where they experience verbal and physical abuse, nonpayment of wages, long work hours, and poor working and
living conditions. Traffickers utilize smartphone applications
to exploit victims and South Korean children are vulnerable
to sex trafficking and commercial sexual exploitation through
online recruitment. In need of money for living expenses and
shelter, some runaway girls are subjected to sex trafficking.

KOSOVO

women, during investigations and deported many victims
without screening them for indicators of trafficking. Police and
other government officials often treated female South Korean
sex trafficking victims as criminals, rather than identifying
them as trafficking victims. The government maintained an
extensive network of support centers for foreign-born spouses
and runaway teenagers, two groups vulnerable to trafficking.
The government offered foreign victims legal alternatives to
their removal to countries in which they may face hardship
or retribution. As an incentive to encourage foreign trafficking
victims to participate in investigations and prosecutions, the
government issued G-1 visas with permission to work for up
to one year. Victims could file a civil suit to receive restitution,
but it is unclear how many victims pursued this option.

Men and women from China, the Philippines, Vietnam,
Indonesia, and other countries in Asia, the Middle East, and
South America are subjected to forced labor in South Korea
and on fishing vessels registered and operated by South
Koreans; some women from these regions are subjected to
forced prostitution. Migrant workers, especially those from
Vietnam, China, and Indonesia, can incur thousands of
dollars in debt, contributing to their vulnerability to debt
bondage. Approximately 400,000 low-skilled migrant workers,
many employed under the government’s employment permit
system, work in fishing, agriculture, livestock, restaurants, and
manufacturing; some of these workers face conditions indicative
of forced labor. The ROK is a transit point for Southeast Asian
fishermen subjected to forced labor on fishing ships bound
for Fiji and other ports in the Pacific. Foreign fishermen
aboard small fishing vessels operating beyond the purview
of the government or owners’ cooperatives are vulnerable to
exploitation, including forced labor. Some foreign women
on E6-2 entertainment visas—mostly from the Philippines,
China, and Kyrgyzstan—are subjected to forced prostitution
in entertainment establishments near ports and U.S. military
bases. Some women from China, Vietnam, Thailand, the
Philippines, and Cambodia, who are recruited for marriage
to South Korean men through international marriage brokers,
are subjected to forced prostitution or forced labor after their
arrival. Some South Korean men engage in child sex tourism
in Vietnam, Cambodia, Mongolia, and the Philippines.

KOSOVO: TIER 2
The Government of Kosovo does not fully meet the minimum
standards for the elimination of trafficking; however, it is making
significant efforts to do so. The government demonstrated
increasing efforts compared to the previous reporting period;
therefore, Kosovo remained on Tier 2. The government
demonstrated increasing efforts by identifying more victims and
prosecuting and convicting more traffickers than the previous
year. Law enforcement conducted proactive investigations,
including joint investigations with the Labor Inspectorate.
The government-funded the crime victim compensation fund
and established a compensation committee to review claims.
However, the government did not meet the minimum standards
in several key areas. Judges imposed lenient sentences on
convicted traffickers, and prosecutors continued to downgrade
trafficking cases to a lesser crime. The government decreased

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funding for NGO-run shelters, and official complicity in
trafficking offenses remained a significant concern.

RECOMMENDATIONS FOR KOSOVO

Vigorously investigate, prosecute, and convict traffickers,
including complicit officials, and impose sufficiently stringent
sentences, including imprisonment; designate specific
prosecutors and judges to handle trafficking cases, provide
advanced training to judges, prosecutors, and law enforcement
on trafficking investigations and prosecutions; provide adequate
funding for NGO-run shelters; train officials on screening for
trafficking among individuals in prostitution, migrants, refugees,
and other at-risk populations, and uniformly implement
such protocols; enhance the efforts of social welfare offices,
in coordination with police, to identify and assist children
subjected to forced begging; reduce the backlog of trafficking
cases to ensure thorough investigation of all suspected trafficking
cases; establish shelters in the northern municipalities to assist
trafficking victims in this region of the country; standardize data
collection and create a database that disaggregate statistics for
trafficking and trafficking-related prosecutions and convictions;
and fully implement the provisions of the 2015 Law on Crime
Victims Compensation, by reviewing claims and disbursing
funds to trafficking victims.

PROSECUTION

238

The government increased anti-trafficking law enforcement
efforts. Article 171 of the criminal code prohibits all forms
of trafficking and prescribes punishments of five to 12 years
imprisonment and a fine of up to €500,000 ($526,870). These
punishments are sufficiently stringent and commensurate with
those prescribed for other serious crimes, such as rape. When
sex trafficking offenses involve minors or a group of victims
subjected to sex trafficking, the penalties increase to 15 to 20
years imprisonment and a fine. Other articles in the criminal
code prohibit various types of trafficking: article 169 prohibits
slavery, slavery-like conditions, and forced labor; and article
231, taking sexual services from a trafficking victim. Authorities
filed 31 criminal reports for trafficking during the reporting
period, compared to 24 reports in 2015. Law enforcement
arrested 62 trafficking suspects (74 in 2015) and 18 additional
suspects for “utilizing sexual services from a trafficking victim”
(11 in 2015). The government did not disaggregate trafficking
and trafficking-related offenses for prosecution and conviction
statistics, likely incorporating cases that were not trafficking,
such as “enabling prostitution,” “facilitating or compelling
prostitution,” sexual abuse of children, and child pornography.
The government indicted 56 defendants (53 in 2015), and courts
convicted 24 individuals for trafficking-related cases (13 in
2015). Judges continued to issue sentences below the minimum
penalty of five years imprisonment. One individual received
five years and six months imprisonment, but other sentences
were between three years and six months to a fine of €1,200
($1,260). The government did not adequately disaggregate
law enforcement statistics to demonstrate action against both

sex and labor trafficking. Courts did not reduce the backlog
of trafficking cases; 95 cases from 2016 and previous years
remained open at the end of 2016. Observers reported the
non-specialization of prosecutors and judges resulted in lenient
sentences or cases downgraded to a lesser crime, especially
cases involving emotional control or psychological coercion of
a victim. Observers reported many prosecutors trained under
the Yugoslav criminal code and required further training on
the Kosovo criminal code.
The Trafficking in Human Beings Directorate (THBD) within
the Kosovo Police (KP) investigated all trafficking cases and
consisted of 55 investigators, with four investigators specialized
in child trafficking, divided into eight regional units. The
THBD established a unit in the four northern municipalities, a
region that was recently restricted. The THBD conducted joint
investigations with prosecutors and social workers on children
forced to beg and coordinated with the Labor Inspectorate to
conduct 120 joint inspections of bars, night-clubs, restaurants,
and massage parlors. The Kosovo Academy for Public Safety,
in cooperation with foreign governments and international
organizations, held 25 separate training workshops for 41
investigators from the THBD. The Office of the Chief State
Prosecutor (OCSP) trained prosecutors, judges, and victim
advocates on trafficking issues. Official complicity in trafficking
offenses remained a significant concern. Prosecutors indicted
two police officers on separate cases of suspected abuse of an
official position and sexual exploitation of trafficking victims.
In 2014, courts convicted two labor ministry officials for abuse
of an official position for issuing work permits to 22 foreign
workers, later identified as trafficking victims, and fined each
official €3,000 ($3,160); however, the Basic Court acquitted
the two officials and allowed them to resume their official
duties. In 2016, prosecutors appealed the acquittal; however,
the Court of Appeals refused this appeal and confirmed the case
as a final verdict. The government continued law enforcement
cooperation with foreign governments. The government signed a
tri-lateral agreement with Albania and Montenegro that unified
standard operating procedures on identifying trafficking victims
and providing support services. The government exchanged
information with eight foreign governments on 16 trafficking
cases, conducted joint investigations with Albania, and signed
bilateral law enforcement agreements with seven foreign
governments and the European Border and Coast Guard Agency.

PROTECTION

The government increased victim protection efforts. The
government identified 36 trafficking victims, compared to
28 in 2015. Of these 36 victims, 26 were subjected to sex
trafficking, nine to forced labor, and one victim to “slavery
and servitude” (17 to sex trafficking and 11 to forced labor
in 2015); 18 were children (11 in 2015); 34 were female and
two were male (28 and two, respectively, in 2015); and 32
were from Kosovo and four from Albania. Eighteen victims
accepted support services in 2016 and 2015. The government
allocated €171,010 ($180,200) for victim protection, compared
to €181,925 ($191,700) in 2015. NGO-run shelters received
€91,010 ($95,900) and the state-run Interim Security Facility
(ISF) received €80,000 ($84,300), compared to €101,930
($107,410) for NGO-run shelters and €80,000 ($84,300) for
ISF in 2015. NGO-run shelters reported government funding
was inadequate and operations could not continue without
funding assistance from foreign embassies. NGOs reported the
Ministry of Labor and Social Welfare (MLSW) required funding
applications every six months, causing a gap in funding while
applications were processed and approved. One NGO-run

First responders followed standard operating procedures (SOPs)
for identifying and referring victims to services. SOPs required
a team consisting of an investigator from the THBD, a social
worker, and a victim’s advocate from the Victims Assistance
and Advocacy Office to convene and assess the victim as low,
medium, or high risk and coordinate victim care and placement.
The team assessed the victim based on their level of danger
and if the suspected trafficker was not known or at large, the
level of risk for the victim was “high.” Observers reported the
national referral mechanism functioned well and highlighted
good cooperation amongst actors; however, observers reported a
lack of guidance and proactive identification efforts for victims
of forced begging, especially children.
In 2015, the government licensed two NGO-run shelters to
exclusively provide services to trafficking victims, along with
the ISF. These shelters provided legal assistance, medical and
psychological services, counseling, education, recreational
services, and other rehabilitative support. Victims also had
access to nine MLSW care facilities. The government did not
have a care facility in the country’s four northern municipalities.
ISF temporarily accommodated victims of trafficking assessed
as high risk. Due to the high-risk assessment from police,
authorities required victims to have a police escort outside of
the shelter while court proceedings were ongoing for the victim’s
protection. Victims required an approval from a prosecutor
and the KP to permanently leave the ISF while assessed as high
risk. The facility had the capacity to shelter 40 individuals with
separate rooms for females, males, and families. Victims stayed
at the ISF for an average of 90 days before transferring to a
NGO-run shelter. The two NGO-run shelters provided support
services to victims assessed as low- to medium-risk. One of
these NGO-run shelters was solely for children. Authorities did
not detain, fine, or otherwise penalize trafficking victims for
unlawful acts committed as a direct result of being subjected
to human trafficking. The government encouraged victims to
participate in investigative and judicial processes by providing
protection at ISF, accommodation and care at other facilities, and
participation in the witness protection program, if necessary. All
36 victims participated in investigations and court proceedings.
The law entitles foreign victims to a 30- to 90-day reflection
period after identification in which victims can recover before
deciding whether to cooperate with law enforcement. The
government ensured suspected traffickers were not present
when victims provided statements and foreign victims could
return to their countries of origin after testifying without
waiting for the conclusion of the trial. The law entitles foreign
victims to a temporary residence permit for at least six months;
two victims received a permit during the reporting period.
The government allocated €100,000 ($105,370) to the crime
victim compensation fund and established a compensation
committee to review claims.

PREVENTION

The government maintained efforts to prevent trafficking.
The National Agency Against Trafficking in Persons (NAATIP)
coordinated interagency efforts and held monthly meetings to
monitor the implementation of the 2015-2019 anti-trafficking
national action plan (NAP). The government did not report
the amount of funds allocated towards implementation of the
NAP, compared to €288,000 ($303,480) in 2015. The NAATIP
partnered with a mobile operator to send text messages to
all its subscribers with the text “open your eyes, fight human

trafficking” and the number to the national hotline. OCSP
held a two day conference on crime victimization, including
how to provide assistance to trafficking victims. The Ministry
of Education, Science, and Technology organized awareness
campaigns for students and teachers including art and essay
contests. The government continued an annual monthlong campaign aimed at potential child trafficking victims
and organized additional campaigns targeting vulnerable
populations. The government did not make efforts to reduce
the demand for commercial sex acts or forced labor. The
government provided anti-trafficking training for its diplomatic
personnel and provided them a manual to aid in identifying
trafficking victims.

KUWAIT

shelter temporarily closed due to the MLSW delaying calls for
funding applications.

TRAFFICKING PROFILE

As reported over the past five years, Kosovo is a source and
destination country for men, women, and children subjected
to sex trafficking and forced labor. Most victims are internally
trafficked for sexual exploitation. Traffickers recruit victims
through false promises of marriage or employment offers
in cafes, night-clubs, and restaurants. Most sex trafficking
victims in Kosovo are girls, although Kosovo criminal groups
also force women from Albania, Moldova, Romania, Serbia,
and other European countries into prostitution. Women and
girls are subjected to sex trafficking in private homes and
apartments, night-clubs, and massage parlors. Children from
Kosovo, Albania, and other neighboring countries are forced
to beg within the country. Children used as dancers and escorts
are vulnerable to sex trafficking. Traffickers subject Kosovo
citizens to forced prostitution and forced labor throughout
Europe. Economically marginalized Roma, Ashkali, and
Egyptians communities are vulnerable to forced begging and
sex trafficking. Government corruption creates an environment
that enables some trafficking crimes. Several police officers,
labor ministry employees, and other government officials have
been charged with or convicted of trafficking crimes.

KUWAIT: TIER 2 WATCH LIST
The Government of Kuwait does not fully meet the minimum
standards for the elimination of trafficking; however, it is making
significant efforts to do so. The government demonstrated
significant efforts during the reporting period by passing by-laws
to implement the 2015 domestic labor law, and co-sponsoring
the future establishment of a centralized recruitment company,
that, once operational, will reduce recruitment costs and serve
to combat illegal recruiting fees. Officials also referred 39 cases
of illegal recruitment for criminal investigation under the 2015
domestic labor law, and prosecuted 15 individuals under the
2013 anti-trafficking law, which resulted in nine convictions.
The government also amended the 2010 labor law that increases
penalties for employers who engage in unscrupulous recruiting
practices. To curb the prevalence of North Korean workers
subjected to trafficking, the government halted Air Koryo flights
and ceased issuing new work visas to North Koreans. However,
the government did not demonstrate increasing efforts compared
to the previous reporting period. Many officials continued
to use arbitration and administrative penalties as the main
avenues of resolving grievances filed by domestic workers,
instead of investigating such cases as human trafficking crimes,
and protracted litigation and subsequent appeals processes led
most workers to decline to file court cases. Corruption at all
levels dissuaded workers from reporting trafficking cases to

239

KUWAIT

law enforcement. The government did not regularly use formal
established procedures for identifying victims, and foreign
workers who quit their jobs without permission were often
subjected to criminal penalties, detention, and deportation.
Therefore, Kuwait remained on Tier 2 Watch List for the second
consecutive year.

RECOMMENDATIONS FOR KUWAIT

Increase law enforcement efforts to investigate, prosecute, and
convict traffickers, including Kuwaiti citizens, under the 2013
anti-trafficking law, and prosecute and convict sponsors who
subject foreign domestic workers to involuntary servitude;
stringently enforce the domestic labor law (law68/15) to ensure
domestic workers receive appropriate rights and protections;
operationalize the centralized recruitment company; uphold
laws against sponsors and employers who illegally hold migrant
workers’ passports; establish standard operating procedures for
investigations and prosecutions of trafficking crimes; routinely
employ formal established procedures to proactively identify
and refer to protection services all victims of human trafficking;
continue to train law enforcement officials and social workers
to identify trafficking victims among vulnerable populations,
and screen for human trafficking victims during migrant roundups; establish linkages between emerging victim care efforts
and law enforcement activities; continue to train shelter staff
in providing services to potential trafficking victims; ensure
the availability of shelter and services to male victims, sex
trafficking victims, and forced labor victims outside of the
domestic worker context; finalize and implement a multi-year
national anti-trafficking strategy and action plan; and expand
efforts to raise awareness and prevent trafficking.

PROSECUTION

The government sustained law enforcement efforts and took
steps to strengthen its legal infrastructure. Anti-trafficking
legislation enacted in 2013 prohibits all forms of trafficking and
prescribes penalties ranging from 15 years to life imprisonment,
which are sufficiently stringent and commensurate with those
prescribed for other serious crimes, such as rape. The domestic
labor law (law68 /15) guarantees domestic workers one day
off per week, a maximum 12-hour workday, minimum wage
paid per month, paid annual leave, and access to file formal
grievances at the Ministry of Interior (MOI), among other
protections. In 2016, MOI issued by-laws to commence
implementation of the domestic labor law. In June 2016,
parliament passed numerous amendments to the 2010 labor
law, to increase penalties for non-payment of wages, make
mandatory documentation of all paid wages, and require
prison time and fines for employers and government officials
who fail to adhere to provisions of this law.

240

In 2016, the government investigated six potential trafficking
cases and prosecuted 15 suspects, compared to six cases
investigated and 20 suspects prosecuted during the previous
reporting period. Seven prosecutions from 2015 remained
pending at the close of the reporting year. The government

achieved nine convictions— including one Kuwaiti citizen—
under the anti-trafficking law, on par with eight convictions the
previous year; five accused traffickers were acquitted. All cases
put forth for criminal prosecution under the anti-trafficking
law involved sex trafficking. The MOI’s anti-trafficking and
public morals department continued to investigate suspected
trafficking cases and referred an unknown number to the public
prosecutor’s office in 2016; it referred one forced labor case
for prosecution during the previous reporting year. Domestic
worker labor authorities from the MOI began investigating
domestic worker labor recruitment agencies and residences to
ensure compliance with the 2015 domestic labor law. During
the reporting period, officials conducted 1,806 such inspections,
referred 39 recruiters for criminal investigation under the
domestic labor law for illegal practices, and permanently
shut down 90 recruitment agencies for domestic labor law
contraventions. The MOI’s Domestic Labor Department (DLD)
investigates employers and recruiting agencies, in addition
to grievances filed by employees, NGOs, embassies of laborsending countries, and private citizens, and subsequently
arbitrates such grievances. If a settlement cannot be agreed upon,
DLD officials refer the case to the courts, and if the complaint
involves a gross violation, such as assault or domestic abuse,
authorities transfer the case directly to the public prosecutor’s
office. Many Kuwaiti law enforcement officials did not categorize
or investigate the exploitation or forced labor of domestic
workers as human trafficking and continued to treat such cases
as administrative infractions, using official arbitration resulting
in monetary compensation and repayment of back-wages to
victims, application of administrative fines, and closure of
recruitment firms to resolve such cases; such approaches do not
provide adequate deterrence to the commission of forced labor
crimes. In some cases, characterized by local media as showing
indicators of trafficking, the government sought prosecution for
abuse or simple assault rather than under anti-trafficking laws.
Although the withholding of workers’ passports is prohibited
under Kuwaiti law, this practice remained common among
sponsors and employers of foreign workers; the government
demonstrated no efforts to enforce this prohibition. Reports
claimed some government officials sold work permits to illegal
recruiters or even directly to migrant workers, potentially
facilitating trafficking; however, the government did not report
efforts to prosecute and convict officials complicit in trafficking
or trafficking-related offenses. The MOI’s anti-trafficking unit
conducted five anti-trafficking training programs during the
reporting year, which covered signs of trafficking and a victimcentered approach to law enforcement efforts, and targeted
approximately 35 trainees from all MOI departments. In
addition, in conjunction with an international organization, it
facilitated two training programs for MOI front-line personnel.
The DLD developed and launched 12 training programs for
MOI investigators and labor inspectors.

PROTECTION

The government maintained efforts to protect trafficking
victims. It provided shelter over the course of the reporting
period to a total of 5,000 domestic workers, including some
potential forced labor victims, in its 500-bed shelter dedicated
to runaway domestic workers. The shelter served as a one-stop
facility, providing medical and psychological care, repatriation
assistance, and access to officials from various ministries
to facilitate legal assistance, including filing cases against
employers. The government allocated an annual budget of 1.9
million Kuwaiti dinar ($6.23 million) for shelter operations,
an increase from 260,000 Kuwaiti dinar ($852,460) the prior
year. During the reporting period, the government identified

Systemic challenges, including threat of criminalization and
limited access to legal support, remained an impediment to
the government’s protection efforts. The 2013 anti-trafficking
law does not stipulate that victims who flee abusive employers
should be immune from prosecution. Therefore, workers who
fled their employers without permission risked criminal penalties
and arrest, detention at police stations, and deportation, even
if they were fleeing an abusive sponsor; following round-ups,
the government reported deporting 1,118 domestic workers
who allegedly violated residency and local laws. The risk of
penalization, coupled with protracted litigation processes
and expensive legal fees, discouraged workers from appealing
to police or other authorities for protection and adequate
legal redress for their exploitation. As such, trafficking victims
rarely filed cases against their employers. In addition, it was
not uncommon for sponsors to file counter-grievances against
trafficking victims who reported their own, which often resulted
in administrative deportation or detention of the employees.
In February 2016, the DLD announced that employers would
only be allowed to file desertion charges against workers at
the DLD, as opposed to any MOI facility, which is intended
to deter employers from filing such initial charges; however,
it was unclear how readily the nascent policy was employed
during the reporting period. The government reported public
prosecutors sometimes tried cases on victims’ behalf using
their oral and written statements; however, it lacked privacy
laws to protect victims against potential retribution, and often
was unable to provide adequate care for victims throughout
the duration of legal proceedings.

PREVENTION

The government continued efforts to prevent human trafficking.
The government began drafting a national action plan to
address trafficking. Several ministries, in collaboration with
IOM, printed and disseminated anti-trafficking pamphlets and
actively participated in public awareness campaigns that warned

against using illegal domestic worker recruitment companies.
In June 2016, IOM partnered with the MOI to conduct a fiveday anti-trafficking awareness campaign, with an emphasis on
domestic workers, at three of Kuwait’s major retail shopping
malls. Various officials also took part in awareness messages
on local television outlets and continued to disseminate
pamphlets to educate migrant workers on their rights, which
were published in multiple languages, in airports, embassies,
and labor-recruitment agencies.

KUWAIT

76 female trafficking victims. While victims were permitted to
leave the facility unescorted, there continued to be no shelter
or other protective services for male trafficking victims. The
shelter received referrals from embassies, NGOs, international
organizations, churches, private citizens, and migrant workers.
An international organization provided assistance to 120
domestic workers, primarily from African countries without
diplomatic representation in Kuwait, who needed to procure
travel documentation. Embassies of the Philippines, India,
and Sri Lanka maintained their own domestic worker shelters
and sought compensation and legal redress for their nationals
subjected to exploitative working conditions in Kuwait. During
the reporting year, IOM helped the government develop and
implement a screening process to identify potential trafficking
victims among vulnerable populations, such as foreign migrant
workers, domestic workers, and women in prostitution. During
the government’s migrant round-ups, the extent to which the
government employed this proactive screening mechanism
was unknown. The MOI provided repatriation and transition
assistance to approximately 200 foreign domestic workers
during the reporting period; however, it was unclear whether
authorities sought a refund of travel costs from the employers
who sponsored the workers. To assist embassies in repatriating
trafficking victims, the government, in partnership with IOM
and in coordination with recruitment agencies, funded airline
tickets and repatriation services for 20 victims of trafficking.
The government did not offer foreign trafficking victims legal
alternatives to removal to countries where they may face
hardship or retribution.

As directed by the new domestic worker law, the government
sponsored development of a centralized recruitment company
that, once operational, will reduce recruitment costs and
serve to combat illegal recruiting fees. During the reporting
period, the government received approximately 24,200 official
grievances from foreign workers, the most common included pay
discrepancies, requests for sponsor and employment transfers,
and overtime pay disputes; of these, 3,800 of the employment
transfer grievances were resolved via arbitration, roughly 2,000
in favor of the employee, and more than 10,800 were sent to the
labor courts. The government did not report outcomes of the
cases referred for criminal investigation or which, if any, would
be considered for prosecution under the anti-trafficking law. In
January 2017, authorities investigated a Kuwaiti company on
suspicion of labor law violations against its foreign workers;
at the close of the reporting year, the government was still
negotiating with the company and employees to determine
punitive charges or fines to levy on the former and adequate
compensation for the latter. To curb exploitation of North
Korean laborers, the government halted all Air Koryo flights in
August 2016. In September 2016, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs
ceased issuance of work visas for North Koreans. To reduce the
demand for commercial sex acts, the government prosecuted
and deported individuals guilty of exploiting potential sex
trafficking victims in prostitution. The government provided
anti-trafficking training for its diplomatic personnel.

TRAFFICKING PROFILE

As reported over the past five years, 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 South and Southeast Asia, Egypt, the Middle East, and
increasingly throughout Africa to work in Kuwait, predominantly
in the domestic service, construction, hospitality, and sanitation
sectors. Several labor-sending countries, including India, Nepal,
Indonesia, Ethiopia, Zimbabwe, and Bangladesh, restrict
their female nationals from domestic employment in Kuwait.
Kuwait also banned the issuance of domestic worker visas from
Kenya, Uganda, Nigeria, Togo, Ethiopia, Malawi, Tanzania, The
Gambia, Ghana, and Zimbabwe, which resulted in additional
recruitment of domestic employees from other African laborsending countries, including Sierra Leone, Cameroon, Niger,
Djibouti, and Liberia, among others. The vast majority of
migrant workers arrive voluntarily; however, upon arrival
some sponsors subject migrants to forced labor, including
through non-payment of wages, protracted working hours
without rest, deprivation of food, threats, physical or sexual
abuse, and restrictions on movement, such as confinement
to the workplace and the withholding of passports. Many of
the migrant workers arriving in Kuwait have paid exorbitant
fees to labor recruiters in their home countries or are coerced
into paying labor broker fees in Kuwait which, according
to Kuwaiti law, should be paid by the employer—a practice
making workers highly vulnerable to forced labor, including
debt bondage. Some labor recruiting companies have facilitated
trafficking through the use of deceptive techniques to bring in

241

KYRGYZ REPUBLIC

migrant workers on the basis of unenforceable contracts and
nonexistent positions. Reports allege officials take bribes or
overtly sell work permits to illegal labor recruiting companies
or directly to migrant workers. Since 2008, reports indicate
the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK or North
Korea) has sent over 4,000 North Korean laborers to Kuwait
for forced labor on construction projects, sourced by a North
Korean company operated by the Workers’ Party of Korea and
the North Korean military. According to these reports, employees
work 14 to 16 hours a day while the company retains 80 to 90
percent of the workers’ wages, and monitors and confines the
workers, who live in impoverished conditions and are in very
poor health due to lack of adequate nutrition and health care.
Kuwait’s sponsorship law—which ties a migrant worker’s legal
residence and valid immigration status to an employer—restricts
workers’ movements and penalizes them for leaving abusive
workplaces; as a result, domestic workers are particularly
vulnerable to forced labor inside private homes. Many workers
report experiencing work conditions substantially different
from those described in the contract; some workers never see
the contract at all and others receive Arabic or English-language
contracts they are unable to read. In addition, sources report
runaway domestic workers are sometimes exploited in forced
prostitution by agents or criminals, who manipulate their
illegal status. Albeit illegal, passport confiscation by employers
continues to be a common practice in Kuwait.

KYRGYZ REPUBLIC: TIER 2
The Government of the Kyrgyz Republic (or Kyrgyzstan) does
not fully meet the minimum standards for the elimination of
trafficking; however, it is making significant efforts to do so. The
government demonstrated increasing efforts compared to the
previous reporting period; therefore, Kyrgyz Republic remained
on Tier 2. The government demonstrated increasing efforts
during the reporting period by beginning to draft a new national
action plan for 2017-2020 and passing amendments to bring the
anti-trafficking article in its criminal code up to international
standards. It worked to implement recommendations from
a parliamentary committee that previously evaluated the
government’s anti-trafficking efforts, and the committee
provided further evaluation and recommendations for
improvements during the reporting period. The government
approved criteria for victim identification, including measures
to prevent unfair criminalization of victims, and created an
inter-ministerial body to coordinate anti-trafficking efforts.
However, the government did not meet the minimum standards
in several key areas. The government largely relied on NGOs and
international organizations to train law enforcement personnel,
who continued to lack training on victim identification. It did
not address alleged complicity in trafficking and traffickingrelated offenses, despite credible reports of serious and endemic
corruption that contributes to trafficking and official complicity
in detaining and exploiting trafficking victims.

242

RECOMMENDATIONS FOR KYRGYZ REPUBLIC

Vigorously investigate and prosecute government officials
allegedly complicit in trafficking or who engage in abuse and
exploitation of trafficking victims, and convict and punish
those found guilty; investigate and prosecute suspected
trafficking crimes, respecting due process, and convict and
punish trafficking offenders, ensuring the majority of those
convicted serve time in prison; enact legislation consistent
with international law to ensure prosecuting the prostitution
of minors does not require proof of force, fraud, or coercion;
increase efforts to identify trafficking victims proactively among
vulnerable groups, particularly persons in prostitution, and
refer victims to protection services; approve and implement
guidelines on victim identification and train officials on their
use; implement child-sensitive investigation and prosecution
procedures for cases in which children may be human trafficking
victims; increase trafficking-specific training for law enforcement,
including through contributing to efforts by international
organizations to train police, prosecutors, and judges; ensure
identified trafficking victims are exempt from punishment for
unlawful acts committed as a direct result of being subjected
to trafficking; and continue to contribute to NGOs providing
assistance to victims.

PROSECUTION

The government maintained law enforcement efforts but did not
address serious allegations of official complicity. Article 124 of
the criminal code, entitled “Trafficking in Persons,” criminalizes
both sex and labor trafficking of adults and children and covers
a non-trafficking offense, “child adoption for commercial
purposes.” Contrary to international law, article 124 requires the
prosecutor to prove the offender used force, blackmail, fraud,
deception, or abduction for cases of sex trafficking regardless
of whether the victim is a child or adult. However, to address
these deficiencies, the president signed into law an update to
the existing criminal code that will bring article 124 in line
with international standards during the reporting period but
the government has not yet implemented the amendments.
Article 124 prescribes penalties of five to 20 years imprisonment,
which are sufficiently stringent and commensurate with those
prescribed for other serious crimes, such as rape. Prosecutors
may also charge traffickers using article 260 for engaging a
person in prostitution through the use of force or the threat of
force or fraud, which is punishable by a fine or imprisonment
of three to five years, or longer in the presence of aggravating
circumstances. When the victim is a child aged 14-17 years,
the penalty is five to 10 years imprisonment, and when the
victim is younger than 14 years, the penalty is 10 to 15 years
imprisonment. Article 261 criminalizes organizing others into
prostitution or maintaining a brothel without the use or threat
of physical violence, and imposes the same penalties for child
victims as are set forth in article 260. Article 15 of the code on
children prohibits forced child labor.
The government initiated eight trafficking investigations under
article 124 in 2016, including five sex trafficking cases and two
child forced labor cases; it is unknown whether the remaining
case was sex or labor trafficking. In comparison, in 2015 the
government conducted four trafficking investigations. Authorities
did not report additional investigations under other articles
that involved inducing minors into prostitution compared to
18 additional investigations in 2015. The prosecutor general’s
office (PGO) initiated five prosecutions of criminal cases under
article 124—two of the five for labor trafficking—involving an
unknown number of suspects in 2016, compared with six cases
involving an unknown number of suspects in 2015. In the five

Advocates for victims reported there was a general lack of
proactive investigation. Such advocates indicate police generally
did not pursue investigations unless victims made a specific,
well-supported complaint. During the reporting period, a
national-level department in the Ministry of Internal Affairs
(MVD) continued to oversee national anti-trafficking law
enforcement efforts; however, a major restructuring of the MVD
was ongoing and future staffing levels remained unknown.
Despite the uncertainty, the unit developed criteria to identify
victims and participated in interagency working groups. Civil
society actors reported the need for systemic training for law
enforcement, prosecutors, and judges, particularly on how to
identify victims and work with them as witnesses. Authorities
cooperated with civil society and foreign partners to train
police, prosecutors, and judges; based on a 2016 MOU, an
international organization and the government collaborated
on a three-day training for 24 judges in January 2017 and a
training for 23 prosecutors in February 2017. The Supreme
Court and PGO provided trainers for both trainings.
Corruption continued to be a systemic problem in the Kyrgyz
Republic. NGOs and international organizations reported
law enforcement officials accepted bribes to drop cases and
sometimes warned suspects prior to raids. Traffickers were
reportedly also able to avoid punishment by offering victims
payment to drop cases. The UN special rapporteur on the
sale of children, child sex trafficking, and child pornography
documented allegations of law enforcement officials’ complicity
in human trafficking in a 2013 report; police officers allegedly
threatened, extorted, and raped child sex trafficking victims.
However, the government has never investigated the allegations
from this report, nor did it report the investigation, prosecution,
or convictions of government employees complicit in human
trafficking offenses.

PROTECTION

The government maintained efforts to identify and assist
trafficking victims and worked to improve its identification and
referral mechanisms. Based on recommendations from a 2015
Parliamentary Monitoring Report, authorities partnered with
civil society and foreign partners to develop a national referral
mechanism and standard operating procedures for assisting
trafficking victims. The government drafted amendments
to the anti-trafficking law to implement these mechanisms;
however, the updates were not finalized or implemented by
the close of the reporting period. International organizations
and NGOs reported assisting 86 victims in 2016, 68 of whom
were subjected to forced labor, 11 to sex trafficking, and seven
to both labor and sex trafficking; one of the victims was a
child and 47 victims were male. Local governments in Osh
and Bishkek continued to provide rent-free facilities used by
three NGO-run shelters that provided services for trafficking
victims. MVD’s witness protection unit did not report assisting
any trafficking victims. In 2015, the unit assisted seven victims
and provided physical protection for them and their family
members and helped them to obtain a state attorney. Consular
officials assisted an unknown number of victims abroad by
providing no-cost travel documents.
Police did not use child-sensitive procedures when dealing

with child victims during case investigation and courts did not
provide safeguards to ensure children’s privacy and protection;
however, the newly drafted referral mechanism would address
the treatment and proper provision of assistance to children
if implemented. Although the law provides for the proper
treatment of witnesses, authorities rarely followed it. The
government required witnesses to attend multiple public
hearings and sit next to their alleged traffickers at trial, which
deterred victims from cooperating with police. Governmentprovided attorneys reportedly lacked knowledge on handling
trafficking cases. While the law provides the opportunity to
seize traffickers’ assets and compensate victims, authorities
did not report granting such restitution. According to the 2013
UN special rapporteur report, police officers allegedly detained
child sex trafficking victims, releasing them only after they
performed sexual acts; the government has not yet responded
to the report’s allegations. Police allegedly extorted bribes
from child sex trafficking victims through threats of arrest for
commercial sex, even though commercial sex was neither illegal
nor an administrative offense. The police’s increased interaction
with international and local trafficking experts has reportedly
led to officers’ increased sensitivity toward children found in
brothels. However, the continued lack of training and formal
written procedures for the identification and protection of
potential sex trafficking victims increased victims’ vulnerability
to arrest and penalization during brothel raids.

KYRGYZ REPUBLIC

prosecuted criminal cases, involving nine victims of trafficking,
the government convicted 10 offenders under article 124 in
2016, compared with four offenders convicted in two cases in
2015. The government did not report on sentences or whether
the convicted offenders were sentenced to prison.

PREVENTION

The government increased efforts to prevent trafficking. In May
2016, the government created the Coordination Council on
Migration which coordinates government efforts on migration
issues, including combating trafficking in persons. The council
includes representatives from the Office of the President, relevant
government ministries, international organizations, and NGOs.
During the reporting period, the Council devoted one session
to trafficking in persons and met three times. In October, the
prime minister issued a decree to create a temporary interagency
working group, which met during the reporting period to
analyze the former National Action Plan to Combat Trafficking
in Persons for 2013-2016 and to draft a new national action
plan for 2017-2020. An international organization estimated the
government completed roughly 70 percent of its objectives in the
National Action Plan to Combat Trafficking in Persons for 20132016. In January 2017, a parliamentary commission completed
an evaluation of the government’s overall anti-trafficking
efforts in conjunction with an international organization and
NGOs, the second such analysis of implementation of the
2005 national anti-trafficking law; however, the commission
had not yet published the report. The government, with
the support of an international organization, continued to
operate two information consultation centers—formerly called
employment centers—that in 2016 provided an unknown
number of people employment services, vacancy advertisements,
a list of licensed foreign labor recruitment agencies, and predeparture orientation (which included trafficking prevention)
for job seekers to ensure safer migration and employment.
The government also continued to provide a national toll-free
telephone line and office space to an NGO-run hotline that
provided legal advice and assistance on working abroad; the
hotline received 2,979 calls in 2016, which resulted in the
identification of three victims. During the reporting period,
the State Migration Service (SMS) drafted a bill that would
regulate private employment agencies by requiring SMS-issued
licenses in order to operate in the country. The Parliamentary
Working Group on Trafficking in Persons and a local NGO
launched an awareness project in September 2016 called

243

LAOS

“Caravan of Art Against Trafficking in Persons” in the provinces
of Talas, Naryn, Issyk-Kul, and the outskirts of Bishkek. In
January 2017, the SMS introduced a mobile phone application
that provided information on the rights of migrant workers
and contact telephone numbers including anti-trafficking
hotlines and local Kyrgyz embassies to Kyrgyz migrants. The
government did not report providing anti-trafficking guidance
for its diplomatic personnel or making efforts to reduce the
demand for commercial sex acts or forced labor.

services to victims. Because the government has devoted
sufficient resources to a written plan that, if implemented,
would constitute significant efforts to meet the minimum
standards, Laos was granted a waiver per the Trafficking Victims
Protection Act from an otherwise required downgrade to Tier
3. Therefore, Laos remained on Tier 2 Watch List for the fourth
consecutive year.

TRAFFICKING PROFILE

As reported over the past five years, the Kyrgyz Republic is
a source, transit, and destination country for men, women,
and children subjected to forced labor, and for women and
children subjected to sex trafficking. Adult male labor migrants
working abroad are reportedly at the highest risk of trafficking.
Kyrgyz men, women, and children are subjected to forced labor
in Russia and Kazakhstan, and to a lesser extent in Turkey
and other European countries, as well as within the Kyrgyz
Republic, specifically in the agricultural, construction, and
textile industries and in domestic service and forced childcare.
Kyrgyz children also are subjected to forced labor in cotton,
the selling and distribution of drugs within the country, and
hauling cargo both in the Kyrgyz Republic and neighboring
countries. Women and girls are subjected to sex trafficking
abroad, reportedly in Turkey, the United Arab Emirates (UAE),
India, Russia, Kazakhstan, South Korea, and within the country.
Kyrgyz police officers allegedly exploit female trafficking victims,
including some younger than age 18, for sex both in saunas
and on the street. Concerns persist about police misconduct
and corruption, including allegations that police threaten and
extort sex trafficking victims, including minors, and reports
that police accept bribes from alleged traffickers to drop cases.
Street children who engage in begging and children engaged
in domestic work (often in the homes of extended family
members) are vulnerable to human trafficking. Women and
underage teenaged girls from Uzbekistan increasingly are
subjected to sex trafficking in the southern region of the Kyrgyz
Republic. Some men and women from Uzbekistan, Tajikistan,
and Turkmenistan transit the country as they migrate to Russia,
the UAE, and Turkey, where they may be subjected to sex
and labor trafficking. International organizations and NGOs
reported some Kyrgyz individuals who join extremist fighters
in Syria are forced to remain against their will and recruiters
may deceive others, including minors, promising jobs in Turkey,
before extremist groups force them to fight, work, or suffer
sexual servitude in Syria.

LAOS: TIER 2 WATCH LIST

244

The Government of Laos does not fully meet the minimum
standards for the elimination of trafficking; however, it is making
significant efforts to do so. The government demonstrated
significant efforts during the reporting period by expanding
training for provincial law enforcement, strengthening processes
for the identification of internal trafficking victims, and initiating
an increased number of trafficking prosecutions. However, the
government did not demonstrate increasing efforts compared
to the previous reporting period. Inter-ministerial efforts and
coordination on trafficking prevention remained insufficient.
The government employed ineffective victim identification
and referral methods abroad due to lack of awareness among
front-line officers, and it did not provide or fund protective

RECOMMENDATIONS FOR LAOS

Collaborate with civil society to implement the 2016-2020
national action plan; strengthen efforts to implement the
2016 anti-trafficking law by investigating, prosecuting, and
convicting traffickers, including complicit officials, as well
as child sex tourists; disseminate, implement, and train
police and border officials on formal victim identification
procedures, including domestically and among such vulnerable
communities as undocumented migrant workers in special or
specific economic zones, men and boys in forced labor in the
maritime industries, children subjected to forced labor in the
commercial agricultural sector, and foreign women and girls
facing deportation; increase expenditures from the government
anti-trafficking budget for service provisions and assistance
programs for victims, including restitution awards from courts
and incentive mechanisms for victims to participate in formal
legal proceedings, and expand these services for male victims; in
partnership with local and international organizations, increase
resources and vocational training to support victims, including
male victims, to reintegrate into their home communities;
improve transparency by collecting information on government
anti-trafficking activities, including case details and financial
allocations, and share this information among ministries and
with nongovernmental stakeholders; consider legislation to
penalize knowingly soliciting or patronizing a sex trafficking
victim; and strengthen efforts at diplomatic missions overseas
to assist in victim identification and protection.

PROSECUTION

The government maintained modest law enforcement efforts. It
promulgated an anti-trafficking law passed in 2015; article 134
of this law generally prohibits all forms of human trafficking and
prescribes penalties ranging from five years to life imprisonment,
fines ranging from 10 to 100 million kip ($1,224 to $12,240),
and confiscation of assets; these penalties are sufficiently
stringent and commensurate with those prescribed for other
serious crimes, such as rape. In 2016, authorities reported
investigating 37 individuals and prosecuting at least 11 for
suspected trafficking offenses, leading to the conviction of seven
traffickers. This compares to 41 individuals investigated, nine
individuals prosecuted, and 13 individuals convicted in 2015
(31 prosecutions and 21 convictions in 2014). The government
provided no information on sentencing for the convicted
individuals; an international organization reported one of
the cases was under appeal at the end of the reporting period.
The government provided no information on prosecutions of
foreign nationals in Laos who engaged in child sex tourism.
The Ministry of Public Security (MOPS) collaborated with the

Anti-trafficking organizations and media reported some lowlevel officials might have contributed to trafficking vulnerabilities
by accepting bribes for the facilitation of immigration and
transportation of girls to China. Despite these reports, the
government did not report any investigations, prosecutions,
or convictions of officials for complicity in human trafficking
or trafficking-related activities during the year.

PROTECTION

The government maintained inadequate victim protection
efforts. The government adopted the Coordinated Mekong
Ministerial Initiative Against Trafficking, provisions of which
outline robust victim identification and referral procedures,
and established a national referral mechanism in accordance
with the 2016 anti-trafficking law. The government; however,
did not implement these or other previously developed
standards in the identification of victims among vulnerable
groups. Authorities did not systematically screen for trafficking
indicators among deportees from Thailand, nor among the
20 individuals deported from Laos to Vietnam during the
reporting period, likely leaving some victims unidentified.
Front-line officers’ lack of awareness often led to conflation
between trafficking and smuggling, which may have resulted
in the penalization of victims. The government reported
identifying 85 Lao victims of internal trafficking, an increase
from 46 in 2015. The government also reported receiving 99
Lao trafficking victims returned from Thailand, China, and
Indonesia—including 84 sex trafficking victims and 15 labor
trafficking victims—compared to 143 victims in the previous
year. The vast majority of external victims were identified by the
authorities in neighboring countries. International organizations
reported identifying a higher number of Lao trafficking victims
exploited in other countries, and it was unclear if these figures
were captured in the government statistics. NGOs experienced
difficulties contacting Lao embassies and consulates abroad to
report trafficking incidents. The government did not provide
any information about protective services supplied to victims,
including restitution awards or other incentives to facilitate
victims’ participation in formal legal proceedings, and it
continued to rely heavily on neighboring countries to identify
and refer victims, according to NGOs and MOPS.
Victims could receive temporary accommodation, legal advice,
health care, and education or job training, with most of these
services provided and funded by NGOs and international
organizations; however, the government did not report how
many victims benefitted from these services during the reporting
period. The government cooperated with several international
organizations to run transit centers in Vientiane, where victims
returned from Thailand could stay for approximately one week
before being reintroduced to their home communities. A quasigovernmental women’s union operated a short-term shelter

for victims of abuse that also offered services to trafficking
victims. For the first time, MOPS reported providing training
on victim identification and assistance to 95 anti-trafficking law
enforcement personnel in all 18 provinces during the reporting
period. Authorities reported conducting victim-screening
interviews at these shelters, as well as at a series of referral
offices at international ports of entry, although it was unclear if
these interviews culminated in any victim identification or law
enforcement efforts. A lack of adequate long-term support due
to limited resources made victims vulnerable to re-trafficking.
Although a significant number of victims identified in 2016
were male, and despite their particular vulnerabilities to labor
trafficking in the maritime sector, the vast majority of services
were available only for women.

LAOS

Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA), domestic civil society groups
focusing on women’s issues, and international organizations
to coordinate with local officials on provincial anti-trafficking
efforts and to disseminate information to 174 officials about
the 2016 anti-trafficking law. The Secretariat assigned the Office
of the Supreme People’s Prosecutor to develop a trafficking
investigation manual clearly defining the types of offenses,
but it is unclear if the work was completed, or if authorities
employed it as part of their investigations. Law enforcement
also collaborated with Thailand on a number of investigative
processes, including victim interviews and criminal pursuit. They
also met with Chinese authorities nine times to collaborate
and assist with several trafficking issues.

PREVENTION

The government maintained prevention efforts. Governmentcontrolled print, television, and radio media continued to
promote anti-trafficking awareness; with the help of foreign
donors, public officials expanded distribution of materials on
the dangers of human trafficking to provincial leaders, local
community members, and civil society groups. Authorities
distributed 30,000 calendars featuring trafficking-related content
in particularly high-risk border areas. Delays in securing final
approval of its draft action plan for 2016-2020 prevented full
realization of inter-ministerial efforts and coordination on
trafficking prevention. The government reported maintaining
funding for anti-trafficking activities in its annual budget, but
did not provide specific information on how it allocated this
funding. The national steering committee for anti-trafficking
efforts continued to coordinate activities; however, civil society
organizations reported a lack of government transparency,
which, in conjunction with insufficient planning and resources,
severely obstructed coordination between relevant ministries and
international partners. At times, authorities may have impeded
the work of NGOs by requiring prior government approval of
all anti-trafficking activities. The government did not provide
anti-trafficking training for its diplomatic personnel, nor did it
take any discernible measures to reduce the demand for forced
labor or commercial sex acts.

TRAFFICKING PROFILE

As reported over the last five years, Laos is a source and, to
a much lesser extent, a transit and destination country for
women, children, and men subjected to sex trafficking and
forced labor. Lao trafficking victims often are migrants seeking
better opportunities outside the country who experience labor
or sexual exploitation in destination countries—most often
Thailand, as well as Vietnam, Malaysia, China, Taiwan, and
Japan. Some migrate with the assistance of brokers charging
fees, but many also cross borders independently with valid travel
documents. Traffickers, including victims’ family members, are
often known to those in the rural communities where they lure
victims with false promises of legitimate work abroad.
A large number of victims, particularly women and girls,
are exploited in Thailand’s commercial sex industry and in
forced labor in domestic service, factories, or agriculture.
Lao men and boys are victims of forced labor in Thailand’s
fishing, construction, and agricultural industries. Lao victims
of forced labor in the Thai fishing industry have been
identified in Indonesian waters. NGOs report individuals
offering transportation services near the Thai border facilitate
the placement of economic migrants into forced labor or
sex trafficking in Thailand. Foreign traffickers increasingly

245

LATVIA

collaborate with local Lao middlemen to facilitate trafficking.
Many trafficking victims may be among the more than 10,000
migrants deported or “pushed back” annually from Thailand
without official notification, often by way of boats across the
Mekong River. Vehicle drivers sometimes intercept these migrants
when they return to Laos and facilitate their re-trafficking. A
small number of women and girls from Laos are sold as brides
in China and subjected to sex trafficking; according to the UN,
this trend may have spiked during the reporting period due to
the sharp increase of Chinese men registering marriages with
Lao women in 2016. Some local officials reportedly contributed
to trafficking vulnerabilities by accepting payments to facilitate
the immigration or transportation of girls to China.
Laos is reportedly a transit country for some Vietnamese and
Chinese women and girls who are subjected to sex trafficking
and forced labor in neighboring countries, particularly Thailand.
Local organizations reported concerns that some of the
Vietnamese men and women working in or near (often illegal)
logging and construction areas along the Laos-Vietnam border
may be trafficking victims. They reported similar concerns about
Burmese nationals working as manual laborers or involved
in the sex trade near the “Golden Triangle”—the geographic
area marked by the intersection of the Lao, Burmese, and Thai
borders.
There remained little data on the scope of trafficking within
Laos. International organizations reported a high number of
undocumented migrant workers in Lao Special or Specific
Economic Zones might be vulnerable to trafficking or other
labor abuses. Some Vietnamese, Chinese, and Lao women and
children are subjected to sex trafficking in the country, usually
in larger cities or in close proximity to borders, casinos, or
special economic zones, reportedly to meet the demand of Asian
tourists and migrant workers. Some Lao adults and children
are subjected to forced labor in the agricultural sector within
Laos. Populations in villages resettled due to the construction of
dams and other large infrastructure projects may be especially
vulnerable. Reports indicate child sex tourists from the United
Kingdom, Australia, and the United States travel to Laos
intending to exploit child sex trafficking victims.

LATVIA: TIER 2
The Government of Latvia does not fully meet the minimum
standards for the elimination of trafficking; however, it is making
significant efforts to do so. The government demonstrated
increasing efforts compared to the previous reporting period;
therefore, Latvia remained on Tier 2. The government
demonstrated increasing efforts by certifying more victims
for the state-funded victim assistance program, leading two
international anti-trafficking projects, and initiating the first
investigation of forced labor within its borders in at least
five years. However, despite these efforts, the government
did not meet the minimum standards in several key areas.
Courts continued to give convicted traffickers lenient sentences,
usually resulting in no jail time. Officials’ lack of knowledge of
trafficking indicators impaired proactive victim identification,
particularly among women and children in commercial sex,
and forced labor victims.

246

RECOMMENDATIONS FOR LATVIA

Vigorously investigate and prosecute trafficking cases under
the trafficking statute (section 154-1 of the criminal law) and
punish convicted traffickers with stringent sentences; increase
efforts to proactively identify victims, particularly minors in
the state welfare system induced into commercial sex, victims
of sexual exploitation in Latvia’s legal prostitution industry,
and labor trafficking victims exploited within the country and
abroad; increase training for police, prosecutors, and judges on
all forms of trafficking beyond those related to sham marriages;
increase financial and human resources for trafficking prevention
efforts; encourage more victims to assist law enforcement by
training officials on providing appropriate protections to all
victims, such as witness protection; provide more victims with
compensation from their traffickers and the state agency for
judicial assistance; and fully fund and implement the 2014-2020
National Trafficking Prevention Program (national action plan).

PROSECUTION

The government maintained weak law enforcement efforts.
Sections 154-1 and 154-2 of its criminal law prohibit all forms
of trafficking and prescribe a maximum penalty of up to 15 years
imprisonment, which is sufficiently stringent and commensurate
with those prescribed for other serious crimes, such as rape.
Judges and prosecutors have the power to reclassify cases
from section 154-1 to lesser crimes. Trafficking crimes could
be charged under section 164, which criminalizes exploiting
individuals’ vulnerability or using deceit to involve them in
prostitution—a scenario very similar to sex trafficking—but
prescribes punishments as lenient as community service or a
fine. A 20-officer state police unit specialized in investigating
trafficking, sham marriages, and related crimes.
Police investigated four new cases involving three suspects under
section 154-1 in 2016, compared with three new cases involving
nine suspects in 2015. The government initiated prosecutions
of 11 sex trafficking suspects under section 154 1 in 2016 (eight
in 2015). Courts convicted four traffickers under section 154-1;
all received conditional sentences resulting in no prison time.
Courts concluded a 2011 case involving a police officer charged
with facilitating pimping and taking bribes; he was sentenced
to four years in prison. A case from 2014 involving two Riga
police officers charged with facilitating pimping remained in
pre-trial investigation at the end of the reporting period.
In 2016, the specialized unit reported one new domestic labor
trafficking case in which four Latvian men allegedly were coerced
into working on a local farm and committing criminal acts in
exchange for alcohol. This was the first domestic forced labor
investigation reported in at least five years; the case remained
under investigation at the end of the reporting period. Courts
concluded the country’s first-ever labor trafficking case, which
began in 2009; the court dropped the labor trafficking charges,
convicted the defendant of facilitating sex trafficking, and
sentenced her to a fine without prison time. Latvia has never
convicted a criminal defendant of labor trafficking.

PROTECTION

The government maintained efforts to protect trafficking victims.
The Ministry of Welfare signed an agreement allowing a second
NGO to assist victims in the state-funded, NGO-run victim
assistance program for 2017-2018. The program offered victims
psychological assistance, legal representation, housing, and
reintegration services. The government certified victims for
enrollment in the program based on decisions by either law
enforcement or an NGO-led panel of experts. The government
enrolled 14 new victims into the program, an increase from
eight victims in 2015. All new victims enrolled were female,
four of whom were minors subjected to sexual exploitation
in Latvia and four of whom were exploited abroad. The four
male victims from the labor trafficking case declined assistance.
NGOs represented on the government’s working group for
coordinating the enforcement of the national action plan,
reported most government agencies lack either the practical
experience or willingness to identify victims. Local victim
advocates reported the number of victims certified for state
assistance did not accurately reflect the scope of trafficking
in Latvia because of victims’ hesitation or inability to report
abuses. Observers noted identifying child sex trafficking victims
domestically remained a challenge. Experts raised concerns
that state orphanages often did not report suspected child sex
trafficking cases and instead provided victims with limited
on-site assistance. Experts also raised concerns about sexual
exploitation in Latvia’s legal prostitution industry, noting law
enforcement’s focus on fining individuals not in compliance
with prostitution regulations or other criminal statutes rather
than on identifying potential trafficking victims. Experts noted
agencies tasked primarily with non-trafficking issues, such
as the state border guard and the Office of Citizenship and
Migration Affairs, made little effort to recognize trafficking
cases for investigation or refer victims for assistance. In 2016,
the government decreased funding for the victim assistance
program to €133,275 ($140,437) from €162,562 ($171,393)
in 2015. Only 37 percent of the 2016 funding was spent because
of the low number of victims in the program.
NGOs reported that, on a practical level, cooperation improved
with law enforcement on trafficking investigations. Only six of
the 14 registered victims cooperated with law enforcement in
2016, amid reports officials did not gain victims’ trust or take
sufficient efforts to encourage victims to cooperate. The four
male victims from the labor trafficking case cooperated with
authorities. All courts had digital video capabilities and audio
recording equipment to protect victims from trafficker-victim

confrontation. In 2016, Latvia amended section 96-1 of the
criminal law, which pertains to special protection measures
for crime victims, including victims of trafficking. The special
protection measures included questioning victims in private
rooms; ensuring the questioning was conducted by a prosecutor
or judge of the same gender as the victim; the right to a closed
court hearing; and the right to court-recorded testimony. In
the past six years, only four victims received court-ordered
restitution payments from their traffickers. In 2016, three
trafficking victims received compensation from the state agency
for judicial assistance, which administers a crime victims’
compensation program.

LATVIA

Authorities collaborated with several foreign governments on
transnational trafficking investigations. Observers reported the
need for more training for law enforcement, particularly on
working with victims, evidence collection, and understanding
psychological coercion. Law enforcement reportedly were
inclined to investigate and charge suspected traffickers for crimes
other than trafficking, such as money laundering, pimping,
and transfer for sexual exploitation, rather than trafficking.
Charging traffickers with these lesser crimes, particularly those
often resulting in suspended sentences, permits traffickers
to commit a serious crime with impunity, endangers the
victims they exploited, diminishes the deterrent effect, and
prevents policymakers from effectively evaluating the trafficking
situation and calibrating policies and resources to fight this
crime. The government collaborated with international and
non-governmental partners to provide training for police,
prosecutors, and judges.

PREVENTION

The government maintained prevention efforts. Authorities
continued to use section 165-1, which prohibits the transfer of
individuals for the purpose of sexual exploitation, to prevent
potential cases of trafficking. In 2016, the government began
prosecutions of four defendants under section 165-1 and
courts convicted 10 suspects, although only two convicted
offenders received prison sentences of less than a year, while
the others received conditional sentences. The anti-trafficking
working group composed of national and local governments
and civil society monitored the domestic and international
anti-trafficking situation, facilitated information exchange, and
implemented the 2014-2020 national action plan. Authorities
reported the national budget did not allocate funding for several
of the action plan’s activities, including training and state
police activities. The Ministry of Interior led two international
anti-trafficking projects on preventing human trafficking and
sham marriages and strengthening the role of municipalities in
combating trafficking. The Office of the Ombudsman conducted
a survey to determine how well agencies understood trafficking
issues, analyzed victim identification measures, and issued
recommendations. The office solicited information from 126
orphan courts, 107 social services agencies, 26 state employment
agency offices, and local NGOs. Recommendations included
the creation of a national victim referral mechanism with
uniform procedures, specialized anti-trafficking guidelines for
orphan courts, outreach to government employees, education
at the local level and at state employment agency offices,
and improved interagency cooperation with municipalities.
Various ministries contributed to a number of awareness-raising
activities, including programs for schools. The government
maintained emergency hotlines that received calls on potential
trafficking situations. The government provided anti-trafficking
training for Latvian diplomatic personnel. The government
did not report any specific measures to reduce the demand for
commercial sex or forced labor.

TRAFFICKING PROFILE

As reported over the past five years, Latvia is a source country for
men, women, and children subjected to sex and labor trafficking.
Latvian women and girls are subjected to sex trafficking in
Latvia and other parts of Europe. Government agencies note
an increase in child sex trafficking cases over the past few
years. Latvian men and women are subjected to forced labor,
particularly in other parts of Europe. Latvian women recruited
for brokered marriages in Western Europe, particularly Ireland,
are vulnerable to sex trafficking, domestic servitude, and forced
labor. To a lesser extent, Latvia is a source and destination
country for exploitation in forced criminality.

247

LEBANON

LEBANON: TIER 2
The Government of Lebanon does not fully meet the minimum
standards for the elimination of trafficking; however, it is making
significant efforts to do so. The government demonstrated
increasing efforts compared to the previous reporting period;
therefore, Lebanon remained on Tier 2. The government
demonstrated increasing efforts by prosecuting and convicting
more traffickers and identifying and referring to protective
services an increased number of victims. The government
continued to partner with NGOs to provide essential services
to victims, and it took proactive steps to address the demand
for commercial sex acts and prevent incidents of sex trafficking.
However, the government did not meet the minimum standards
in several key areas. The government did not directly protect
victims nor implement victim identification and referral
procedures, which resulted in authorities arresting, detaining,
and deporting trafficking victims among vulnerable groups
for crimes committed as a direct result of being subjected to
trafficking. Moreover, Lebanon’s sponsorship system, which
places a significant amount of power in the hands of employers
of foreign workers, remained a significant impediment to
authorities identifying and protecting trafficking victims.

RECOMMENDATIONS FOR LEBANON

Ensure trafficking victims are not arrested, detained, deported, or
prosecuted for unlawful acts committed as a direct result of being
subjected to trafficking, such as immigration or prostitution
violations; screen all detained domestic workers for potential
trafficking victims in detention centers; take steps to establish
greater oversight over artiste visa holders allowed in the country,
a program that contributes to the vulnerability of women to
sexual exploitation; increase investigations, prosecutions, and
convictions of offenders under the anti-trafficking law, and
investigate employers and recruitment agents who withhold
workers’ passports, travel documents, or wages for potential
trafficking crimes; implement procedures to identify and refer
to protection services trafficking victims among vulnerable
populations, such as illegal migrants, women holding artiste
visas, domestic workers, and Syrian refugees; continue to work
in partnership with NGOs to screen for, identify, and provide
protection services to victims, including witness support during
criminal proceedings; provide training for judges, prosecutors,
law enforcement officials, and diplomatic personnel about the
crime of trafficking and application of the anti-trafficking law;
prohibit and penalize the withholding of workers’ passports and
travel documents, and reform the sponsorship system to ensure
workers are not bound to abusive employers and allow workers,
including artiste visa holders, freedom of movement; formally
establish the victim assistance fund; adopt and implement the
draft national action plan; and enact the labor law amendment
extending legal protections to foreign workers and the draft
law providing increased labor protections to domestic workers.

248

PROSECUTION

The government increased its law enforcement efforts. The 2011
anti-trafficking law prohibits all forms of human trafficking.
Prescribed penalties for sex trafficking and forced labor range
from five to 15 years imprisonment, which are sufficiently
stringent and commensurate with those prescribed for other
serious crimes, such as rape. Nevertheless, government officials
and NGOs reported most judges lacked understanding of
the anti-trafficking law and knowledge of best practices for
handling trafficking cases. The government lacked a law that
prohibited or penalized confiscation of workers’ passports or
travel documents by employers or labor agents.
In 2016, the internal security forces (ISF) anti-trafficking unit
investigated 20 cases of suspected trafficking, involving 87
victims of sexual exploitation and child trafficking, and referred
26 suspected traffickers to the judiciary; this was an increase from
14 ISF investigations in 2015. The directorate of general security
(DGS) investigated 51 potential trafficking cases, the same as in
2015. Among the 51 cases, 14 involved artiste visa holders and
four were referred to judicial or law enforcement authorities for
further investigation. The Ministry of Justice (MOJ) reported
the public prosecutor’s office referred to investigative judges 98
alleged traffickers for further investigation; investigative judges
charged and prosecuted 71 of these individuals, resulting in 33
convictions under the anti-trafficking law during the reporting
period. These cases involved forced prostitution, forced labor
of children and adults, including forced child street begging.
Among these cases, four individuals received sentences ranging
from five to 10 years imprisonment for sex trafficking and
three individuals received sentences ranging from two to 15
years imprisonment for forced child begging. Despite these
efforts, officials generally sought to resolve trafficking cases
involving foreign workers through mediation between the
employer and worker, rather than refer them for criminal
prosecution. Additionally, government officials continued
to report security forces were reluctant to arrest parents for
trafficking their children due to a lack of social services available
should the child be removed from the family. The government
did not report investigations, prosecutions, or convictions of
government officials complicit in human trafficking offenses
during the reporting period; however, NGOs continued to
report a common perception that DGS officers accepted bribes
to protect adult nightclubs or issue artiste visas.
DGS established an anti-trafficking unit within its human rights
department in November 2016. The government did not directly
provide anti-trafficking training for officials, but it encouraged
officials to participate in trainings provided by NGOs. The army
continued to require anti-trafficking training for soldiers, while
widely distributed military publications featuring articles on
human trafficking to raise awareness among military officers.

PROTECTION

The government increased efforts to identify and refer trafficking
victims to protection services and continued to work with
NGOs to provide services to victims; however, victims remained
highly vulnerable to punishment for crimes committed as a
direct result of being subjected to trafficking. The government
did not formally adopt draft procedures for the identification
and referral of victims to NGO services; in practice, officials
continued to identify and refer trafficking victims to care on an
ad hoc basis. During the course of investigations in 2016, the
ISF identified 87 victims of sex trafficking and child trafficking,
46 of whom were referred to NGO-run shelters; this was an
increase from 78 victims identified in 2015. The government

The government continued to arrest, detain, or deport victims
for crimes committed as a direct result of being subjected to
human trafficking, such as domestic workers who fled abusive
employers, out-of-status migrant workers, women holding
artiste visas, and persons in prostitution, without screening
these vulnerable persons for trafficking. Women holding artiste
visas were subject to immediate deportation upon arrest for
prostitution violations, and foreign workers without valid
residence and work permits were subject to detention for one
to two months—or longer in some instances—followed by
deportation. Some children involved in criminal activity, who
may have been trafficking victims, faced arrest and prosecution.
Authorities also detained foreign domestic workers for violating
the terms of their work contracts or visas in a new 750-person
detention center, which opened in August 2016. However, the
DGS actively worked to identify trafficking victims and permitted
an NGO to screen for victims in the new and old detention
centers; the NGO identified six victims in the new detention
center during the reporting period. The NGO also continued
to report an increased level of professionalism and sensitivity
among DGS officials and investigators. The government did
not adopt the draft labor law amendment extending legal
protections to foreign workers nor the draft law to increase
labor protections for domestic workers.
Officials did not encourage victims to file criminal charges
against their traffickers, although victims were permitted to file
civil suits. Victims were allowed to reside in Lebanon during
an investigation of a trafficking case upon a judge’s decision,
but the government did not report if any judges issued such
a decision during the reporting period. The government did
not provide legal redress for victims who chose voluntary
repatriation because they were not present in the country to
testify against their traffickers. NGOs reported foreign victims
prefer quick administrative settlements followed by repatriation
rather than long criminal prosecutions because of the lack of
protection services during the criminal proceedings. The antitrafficking law stipulates that money earned from trafficking
crimes will be confiscated and deposited into a special fund to
assist trafficking victims, but the government had not issued an
implementing decree to create such a fund. The government
did not provide temporary or permanent residency status or
other relief from deportation for foreign trafficking victims
who faced retribution or hardship in the countries to which
they would be deported.

PREVENTION

The government sustained efforts to prevent trafficking. In April
2016, the ISF closed 13 unlicensed brothels, and a judge issued a
permanent judicial order to close all “super nightclubs” —which
operate as brothels—in Jounieh city, which was a well-known
location for multiple nightclubs of this type. The national antitrafficking steering committee continued its monthly meetings
throughout 2016. The government did not adopt the draft

national anti-trafficking action plan, but relevant ministries
continued to take efforts to implement the plan. The government
did not organize any anti-trafficking public awareness campaigns
during the reporting period. DGS and MOL continued to
operate hotlines to receive complaints, including for trafficking
crimes, but the government did not report how many trafficking
victims were identified through these hotlines; anecdotal reports
suggest employers use the MOL hotline to file complaints
against foreign domestic workers rather than report potential
cases of trafficking. DGS continued a program to inform artiste
visa holders about restrictions and obligations of their visa
status upon arrival to Beirut International Airport. Under the
program, if the visa holder objects to the visa’s terms, she is
free to return to her home country. The government made
efforts to reduce the demand for forced labor. MOL closed 36
employment agencies for committing employment violations
against foreign workers in 2016, and maintained a blacklist of
an unknown number of recruitment agencies for committing
fraudulent recruitment practices; however, the government
did not report prosecuting any recruitment or employment
agencies for potential trafficking crimes. The MOL and ISF
continued to require Syrian nationals to hold work permits in
order to work in the formal sector, which bound these refugees
to their employers. However, the government eased the ability
of UNHCR-registered refugees to work in three sectors without
any work permit—agriculture, sanitation, and construction. The
government also waived the fee for residency permit renewals,
increasing the number of Syrians legally in the country, allowing
them to move about more freely, and allowing them to seek
employment opportunities. The government did not take steps
to reduce the demand for commercial sex acts or address child
sex tourism by Lebanese nationals abroad. The government did
not provide anti-trafficking training for its diplomatic personnel.

LEBANON

did not directly provide protection services to trafficking victims
but continued to work in cooperation with NGOs to provide
essential victim services. A longstanding MOU between the
government and an NGO required DGS to refer victims to an
NGO-run safe house and provide security for the location.
In 2016, the safe house assisted 226 trafficking victims, 14
of whom the government referred. In 2016, the MOJ signed
contracts with two NGOs to provide protection services for atrisk youth, including child trafficking victims. The Ministry of
Social Affairs also signed contracts with NGOs for the NGOs
to provide protection to vulnerable children.

TRAFFICKING PROFILE

As reported over the past five years, Lebanon is a source and
destination country for women and children subjected to
forced labor and sex trafficking and a transit country for Eastern
European women and children subjected to sex trafficking
in other Middle Eastern countries. Women and girls from
South and Southeast Asia and an increasing number from
East and West Africa are subjected to domestic servitude in
Lebanon, facilitated by recruitment agencies that at times
engage in fraudulent recruitment. Under Lebanon’s sponsorship
system, foreign workers who leave their employers’ houses
without permission forfeit their legal status, increasing their
vulnerability to re-trafficking. Lebanese government officials
and NGOs report most employers withhold their workers’
passports, putting workers at risk of trafficking. Women from
Eastern Europe and North Africa enter Lebanon to work in
the adult entertainment industry through Lebanon’s artiste
visa program, which sustains a significant commercial sex
industry and enables sex trafficking; 11,284 women entered
Lebanon under this program in 2016, more than double the
number of women that entered under this program in 2015.
The terms of the artiste visa prohibit foreign women working
in adult nightclubs to leave the hotel where they reside, except
to “perform,” and nightclub owners withhold the women’s
passports and control their movement; these women also
experience physical and sexual abuse, withheld wages, and
domestic servitude. Some women from East and West Africa
also are subjected to sex trafficking in Lebanon. An increasing
number of children, including Lebanese and Syrian children,
are observed in the streets begging and selling trinkets; some
of them may be victims of forced labor.

249

LESOTHO

Men, women, and children among the estimated 1.5 million
registered Syrian refugees in Lebanon are at risk of sex trafficking
and forced labor. Restrictions on Syrians’ ability to work legally
in Lebanon, as well as strict enforcement of visas and residence
permits, increase this population’s vulnerability to trafficking.
Child labor among the Syrian refugee population continues
to increase, particularly in agriculture, construction, and street
vending and begging; these children are highly vulnerable to
forced labor, especially in the agricultural sector of Bekaa and
Akkar and on the streets of main urban areas such as Beirut and
Tripoli. NGOs report that some children are forced or coerced to
conduct criminal activity. An international organization reported
in 2015 evidence of bonded labor within refugee communities
where child labor is used in exchange for living in informal
tented settlements. Syrian gangs force Syrian refugee men,
women, and children to work in the agricultural sector in the
Bekaa Valley. Syrian women and girls are highly vulnerable to
sex trafficking. The Lebanese government and media reported
in late March 2016 an extensive sex trafficking ring exploiting
primarily Syrian women and girls in Beirut; the majority of the
women and girls were recruited from Syria with false promises
of work and subjected to commercial sexual exploitation where
they experienced mental, physical, and sexual abuse and forced
abortions. Syrian girls are brought to Lebanon for sex trafficking,
sometimes through the guise of early marriage. Lebanese
pimps coerce some Syrian LGBTI refugees into prostitution. An
international organization reported in 2016 that some Lebanese
children are involved in armed tribal violence in Bekaa and
Tripoli, some of whom may be forced to conduct such activity.
There is also evidence of children within the Syrian refugee
community in Lebanon that are associated with armed groups,
who have either fought in the Syrian conflict or intend to fight
in Syria as child soldiers.

LESOTHO: TIER 2
The Government of Lesotho does not fully meet the minimum
standards for the elimination of trafficking; however, it is making
significant efforts to do so. The government demonstrated
increasing efforts compared to the previous reporting period;
therefore, Lesotho remained on Tier 2. The government
demonstrated increasing efforts by formally implementing
a MOU to support the re-establishment of the one NGOrun shelter that provided care for trafficking victims. The
multi-sectoral committee met four times and the government
conducted public awareness activities. However, the government
did not meet the minimum standards in several key areas. The
government did not convict any traffickers during the reporting
period, as compared to the previous year when it convicted
one. The government did not address the legal framework for
addressing human trafficking, which include definitions that are
inconsistent with the 2000 UN TIP Protocol and penalties that
are not sufficiently stringent to deter the crime. Furthermore,
the 2011 Anti-Trafficking in Persons Act required the use of
deception, threat, force, or other means of coercion for a child
to be considered a trafficking victim, which is inconsistent with
international law. The government identified and referred fewer
potential victims of trafficking. For the majority of the reporting
period, the NGO-run shelter providing care was closed due to
a lack of victim referrals.

250

RECOMMENDATIONS FOR LESOTHO

Address jurisdictional issues impeding the adjudication of
trafficking cases and increase efforts to investigate and prosecute
trafficking crimes, including complicit officials; provide financial
support for the Victims of Trafficking Trust Fund and implement
procedures for administering the funds; finalize and implement
guidelines for proactive victim identification and standard
operating procedures (SOPs) for referring identified victims to
care, in line with the anti-trafficking act regulations; allocate
funding to support operation of the multi-agency anti-trafficking
taskforce; expand efforts to provide trafficking-specific training to
investigators, prosecutors, judges, and social service personnel;
continue to work with NGOs to ensure the availability of a
suitable facility for the care of victims of trafficking; amend
the anti-trafficking and child welfare laws so that force, fraud,
or coercion are not required for cases involving children
younger than age 18 to be considered trafficking crimes and
penalties for trafficking crimes are sufficiently stringent to
deter potential traffickers; provide anti-trafficking training
to diplomatic personnel; increase efforts to systematically
collect and analyze anti-trafficking law enforcement and victim
protection data; and increase oversight of labor recruitment
agencies licensed in Lesotho.

PROSECUTION

The government made uneven anti-trafficking law enforcement
efforts and the human trafficking law lacks clarity in how it
defines the crime. The 2011 Anti-Trafficking in Persons Act
defines the term “trafficking” essentially in line with the 2000
UN TIP Protocol; however, it sets for the crime of trafficking
without reference to that definition, describing trafficking as
the acts of recruiting, transporting, transferring, harboring,
providing or receiving a person “by any means” for the purpose
of prostitution, pornography, sexual exploitation, forced labor,
drug trafficking, slavery, involuntary servitude or debt bondage
as well as for other ends, such as marriage with a foreign person,
tourism packages for the purposes of sexual exploitation,
adoptions or organ removal. While the acts and some of the
purposes of the acts are similar to the definition of the 2000
UN TIP Protocol, that international law definition of trafficking
turns on the use of means of force, fraud and coercion, whereas
this law appears to criminalize as trafficking the use of any
means for the listed purposes. The law prescribes penalties of
up to 25 years imprisonment or a fine of one million maloti
($72,955) under section 5(1) for the trafficking of adults
and up to life imprisonment or a fine of two million maloti
($145,911) under section 5(2) for the trafficking of children.
While the maximum sentence is sufficiently stringent and
commensurate with penalties prescribed for other serious
crimes such as rape, the option of paying a fine in lieu of
imprisonment is not commensurate with the penalty for other
serious offenses, such as rape. The definition of trafficking in
the 2011 children’s protection and welfare act also requires the
use of deception, threat, force, or other means of coercion for
a child to be considered a trafficking victim. Section 67 of this

During the reporting period, the government initiated
investigation of four cases of labor trafficking and one sex
trafficking case and prosecuted six cases; two sex trafficking
cases, and four labor trafficking cases, which were all tried under
the anti-trafficking act. At the close of the previous reporting
period, five prosecutions were pending. The government did
not obtain convictions of any traffickers during the reporting
period, as compared to the previous year, when there was
one. The government investigated an immigration official for
alleged complicity and collusion in forced labor crimes, for
which the government prosecuted her husband during the
reporting period. Many law enforcement officials reportedly
had limited understanding of trafficking and how to protect
victims from potential intimidation. The government did not
address a jurisdictional issue impeding efforts to hold traffickers
accountable: the magistrate courts, which are the court of first
instance for trafficking cases, lack authority to impose the
maximum penalties allowed in trafficking crimes. The primary
magistrate responsible for hearing trafficking cases at the high
court was transferred during the reporting period; two additional
magistrates who were available to hear trafficking cases in the
interim, however, lacked adequate experience and training to
preside over such cases.

PROTECTION

The government made inadequate efforts to protect victims.
It identified fewer potential victims of human trafficking and
did not allocate funding for the Victims of Trafficking Trust
Fund; however, it provided financial support to a crisis care
shelter for protective services for female victims of trafficking.
The Child and Gender Protection Unit (CGPU) within the
Lesotho Mounted Police Service (LMPS) identified nine potential
trafficking victims, compared with 18 the previous reporting
period. CGPU referred one potential victim to an NGO that
provided counseling and assistance to trafficking victims,
compared with six referrals during the previous period. The
government continued to rely on NGOs to assist victims, and
formally began the implementation of an MOU signed during
the previous reporting period, to support the re-establishment
of the one NGO-run shelter that provided care for trafficking
victims; the government provided financial support, including
back rent and utilities. Nonetheless, for the majority of the
reporting period, the NGO shelter providing care was closed
due to a lack of victim referrals. The government made limited
efforts to provide protective services for the period during
which the shelter was closed. The Multi-Sectoral Committee
on Combating Trafficking in Persons (MSC) drafted SOPs and
a national referral mechanism and circulated them for input
from relevant ministries. Government hospitals and clinics
offered free medical, psychological, legal, and life skills services
to victims of crime, including trafficking and at least one victim
accessed such services during the year. The anti-trafficking act

and its implementing regulations prohibit the prosecution
of victims for unlawful acts committed as a direct result of
being subjected to trafficking, provide foreign victims with
permanent residency as a legal alternative to their removal, and
encourage victims to assist in the investigation of traffickers;
however, it was unclear whether the government implemented
these provisions.

PREVENTION

LIBERIA

act provides penalties of life imprisonment and a fine of up to 1
million maloti ($72,955) for child trafficking by false pretenses,
fraud, or deceit. However, section 77 of the children’s welfare
act prescribes penalties of a fine not to exceed 30,000 maloti
($2,188) or 30 months imprisonment or both. Allowing a fine
in lieu of imprisonment does not provide an adequate deterrent
to potential perpetrators of child sex trafficking. Persons who
knowingly and unlawfully buy or engage the services of a
trafficking victim are considered to have committed a trafficking
offense with the same penalties. The government provided an
increased penalty when a member of the police or military is
convicted of engaging a person subjected to trafficking for the
purposes of prostitution.

The government maintained its efforts to prevent trafficking
through public awareness activities and measures to protect
Basotho workers in South Africa. The multi-sectoral committee
met four times, and its member ministries conducted public
awareness activities, including radio spots, public rallies, a
walk, posting and distribution of printed material in public
areas, presentations for high school students, and outreach at
border posts.
During the reporting period, the Ministry of Labor and
Employment conducted approximately 1,773 inspections of
formal sector work sites; however, it did not inspect informal
work settings, where forced labor is more prevalent. The number
of labor inspectors decreased by six, from 38 to 32; labor
inspectors did not identify any child labor violations in 2016.
In 2016, the government implemented an agreement signed
during the previous reporting period with the Government of
South Africa that increased protections for Basotho workers,
including domestic workers, employed in South Africa, by
authorizing the issuance of long-term work permits, requiring
signed employment contracts, and allowing Basotho to register
for unemployment insurance in South Africa. The government
made no efforts to reduce the demand for commercial sex or
forced labor. The regulations for the anti-trafficking act directed
the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to provide anti-trafficking training
to diplomatic personnel, but it did not conduct such training
during the reporting period.

TRAFFICKING PROFILE

As reported over the past five years, 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. In Lesotho, Basotho children are subjected to
domestic servitude and forced labor in animal herding; children,
especially orphans who migrate to urban areas, increasingly are
subjected to sex trafficking. Basotho women and girls seeking
work in domestic service voluntarily migrate to South Africa,
where some are detained in prison-like conditions or exploited
in sex trafficking. Some Basotho men who migrate voluntarily,
although illegally and often without identity documents,
to South Africa for work in agriculture and mining become
victims of forced labor; many work for weeks or months before
their employers turn them over to South African authorities
for deportation on immigration violations to avoid paying
them. Basotho are also coerced into committing crimes in
South Africa, including theft, drug dealing, and smuggling
under threat of violence or through forced drug use. Foreign
nationals, including Chinese, subject their compatriots to sex
trafficking in Lesotho.

LIBERIA: TIER 2 WATCH LIST
The Government of Liberia does not fully meet the minimum
standards for the elimination of trafficking; however, it is making

251

LIBERIA

significant efforts to do so. The government provided emergency
funding to temporarily shelter 25 potential child trafficking
victims and prosecuted one trafficking case. However, the
government did not demonstrate increasing efforts compared to
the previous reporting period. The government did not provide
training or basic resources to law enforcement or prosecutors
to allow them to effectively identify, investigate, and prosecute
trafficking cases; complicity and corruption continued to
inhibit anti-trafficking law enforcement action; and for the
third consecutive year, the government did not convict any
traffickers. Victim care remained sparse and provided primarily
by NGOs without government support, and the government
did not allocate any funding specifically for anti-trafficking
activities in its 2016 budget. Therefore, Liberia was downgraded
to Tier 2 Watch List.

RECOMMENDATIONS FOR LIBERIA

Increase efforts to investigate, prosecute, and convict traffickers,
including complicit officials and cases against Liberian nationals;
provide training and resources to enable law enforcement,
immigration officials, social workers, prosecutors, and
magistrates to identify, investigate, and prosecute trafficking
offenses; increase collaboration with NGOs to ensure all
victims receive services and that NGOs refer all alleged
trafficking cases to law enforcement for investigation; finalize
and implement the national referral mechanism and train law
enforcement and social service workers and sensitize NGOs on
its implementation; enact legislation that prescribes sufficiently
stringent penalties for adult trafficking and penalties for sex
trafficking commensurate with the penalties for rape; expand
victim services—particularly for male victims, victims outside
the capital, and long-term care—through the provision of
increased financial or in-kind support to NGOs; create measures
to identify trafficking victims among vulnerable populations,
such as people in prostitution, and train officials on such
procedures; provide the anti-trafficking taskforce with an
operating budget, a victim protection budget, and resources
to effectively implement the 2014-2019 national action plan;
staff the anti-trafficking hotline in the evenings and at night;
increase efforts to educate the public, particularly in rural areas,
about human trafficking; and assist citizens with registering
births and obtaining identity documents.

PROSECUTION

The government maintained minimal anti-trafficking law
enforcement efforts. The 2005 Act to Ban Trafficking in Persons
prohibits all forms of trafficking and prescribes a minimum
sentence of one year’s imprisonment for the trafficking of adults
and six years imprisonment for the trafficking of children,
but does not include a maximum sentence for the trafficking
of adults. The prescribed penalties for child sex and labor
trafficking are sufficiently stringent, but those prescribed for
trafficking of adults are not. The penalties for adult and child
sex trafficking are not commensurate with those for other
serious crimes, such as rape.

252

The government reported four investigations, two prosecutions,

and no convictions during the reporting period, compared
with two investigations, two prosecutions, and no convictions
the previous reporting period. It initiated two potential
trafficking investigations and continued two investigations and
prosecutions initiated during previous reporting periods. One
prosecution involved a foreigner residing in Liberia allegedly
responsible for the exploitation of 16 Liberian women in
Lebanon. The first trial began in September 2015 and resulted
in a hung jury in January 2016; the second trial began in March
2016 and the judge acquitted the defendant of all charges in
September 2016. The alleged middleman in the case remained
at large. The second prosecution involving four defendants,
including two Liberians, charged with migrant smuggling
and human trafficking for attempting to sell a Sierra Leonean
girl was ongoing at the end of the reporting period. Despite
the identification of four trafficking victims through a joint
government-NGO hotline, the absence of collaboration between
government entities and some victims’ reluctance to press
charges against alleged traffickers resulted in law enforcement
not investigating any traffickers in connection with the cases.
The government has not convicted any traffickers in three
consecutive years and has never convicted a Liberian trafficker
under the 2005 law, despite the prevalence of internal trafficking.
The Women and Children Protection Section (WACPS)
of the Liberian National Police (LNP) was responsible for
investigating trafficking cases. LNP did not receive any dedicated
anti-trafficking funding or in-kind support, and therefore
lacked the basic resources and investigative equipment to fully
respond to and investigate allegations of trafficking, especially
outside the capital. The government did not provide or support
anti-trafficking training for officials, and labor inspectors,
police, prosecutors, and judges lacked the skills and knowledge
necessary to identify, investigate, and prosecute trafficking
offenses. Unlike in previous years, LNP section heads did
not receive training on reporting suspected trafficking cases
to the WACPS. Anti-trafficking training was a component of
the WACPS mandatory orientation for new officers, but it
was unclear how many WACPS officers received this training
during the reporting period. The government did not report
any investigations, prosecutions, or convictions of government
employees complicit in human trafficking offenses; however,
serious complicity allegations and judicial corruption remained,
inhibiting anti-trafficking law enforcement action during the
reporting period. NGOs and officials alleged some government
employees had child domestic servants and exploited children
in street hawking.

PROTECTION

The government maintained modest efforts to identify and
protect trafficking victims. The government and NGOs identified
five potential trafficking victims, compared with two identified
the previous reporting period, and provided assistance to 25
suspected trafficking victims repatriated from Guinea and one
victim identified the previous reporting period. The taskforce,
in coordination with the Ministry of Gender, Children, and
Social Protection (MOGCSP), was responsible for coordinating
victim care. It did not receive a budget for victim protection, so
it either referred victims to NGOs or requested emergency funds
from MOGCSP to care for specific trafficking victims. MOGCSP
provided emergency funding to shelter 25 potential Liberian
child trafficking victims after their repatriation from Guinea. The
government had one shelter for victims of sexual and genderbased violence run by MOGCSP that could also accommodate
trafficking victims. It could not provide trafficking-specific
services or accommodate long-term stays, however, so authorities

The draft national referral mechanism to direct victims towards
services, developed by the taskforce in the previous reporting
period, did not receive approval by the ministries of labor
and justice for the second year. As a result, the government
remained without a formal referral process, and agencies
responsible for referring victims to services rarely coordinated
such efforts, which may have resulted in delayed care for
victims. Authorities reported the majority of law enforcement,
immigration, and social services personnel lacked training on
victim identification and interim referral procedures, which
they cited as one of the greatest challenges to successfully
investigating and prosecuting cases and ensuring victims received
care. Despite this shortcoming, the government did not provide
or support training on such measures during the reporting
period. The government did not systematically encourage
victims to participate in investigations and prosecutions of
their traffickers, but it sometimes provided victims with shelter,
transportation, and food allocations to offset the costs of
participating in a trial; 10 trafficking victims received this
assistance during the reporting period. The anti-trafficking law
provides for restitution and victims could file civil suits against
their traffickers, although no victims filed such suits during the
reporting period. While the government did not have a formal
policy that provides alternatives to removal to countries in
which victims would face retribution or hardship, it could offer
alternatives, including temporary residency, on a case-by-case
basis. There were no reports the government detained, fined,
or jailed victims for unlawful acts committed as a direct result
of being subjected to trafficking; however, due to a lack of
training on victim identification and the absence of measures
to screen for trafficking among vulnerable populations, such
as people in prostitution, it was possible that victims remained
unidentified in the system.

was responsible for coordinating anti-trafficking efforts across
the government, did not hold regular meetings or have an
operational budget to fund activities, which severely hampered
inter-ministerial coordination and the government’s overall
ability to combat trafficking. Due to a continued lack of
funding and poor logistical coordination, the taskforce did
not implement any activities in the 2014-2019 anti-trafficking
national action plan. The government did not allocate any
funding specifically for anti-trafficking activities. During the
reporting period, the government and an NGO established a
hotline to report trafficking cases, and the government trained
and paid the salaries of six Ministry of Labor employees to run
the hotline 24 hours a day; in practice, however, only two of
the six employees staffed the hotline during the day, and no
employees staffed the hotline during the evenings or at night.
Through reports to the hotline, the government and an NGO
identified and referred to assistance four trafficking victims; due
to a lack of communication between entities, however, officials
did not investigate any alleged traffickers in connection with
those victims. The national legislature passed the National
Migration Policy, which aims to manage and mitigate the risk
of transnational crimes, including trafficking, and proposes
expanding rehabilitation and reintegration services for trafficking
victims and implementing a referral system for trafficking
victims to legal services; authorities launched the policy in
January 2017. LNP, with funding from and in collaboration
with an international organization, conducted human trafficking
awareness classes for students in the capital; the government
did not sponsor any outreach or awareness activities during the
reporting period. The government did not make any discernible
efforts to reduce the demand for forced labor or commercial
sex acts. The government provided anti-trafficking training for
its diplomatic personnel.

LIBERIA

referred most victims to NGO shelters or private facilities for
abused women and girls. NGO shelters and MOGCSP facilities
could in theory care for male victims, although none reported
having a male trafficking victim requiring care. The Ministry of
Health provided some medical and psycho-social support to
the 2015 victim and the 25 potential trafficking victims. In part
due to a lack of communication between the government and
NGOs, the government did not report providing services to the
five potential trafficking victims identified during the reporting
period. An NGO referred four potential trafficking victims to an
NGO shelter and one potential victim to a community member
for temporary shelter because the NGO and government shelters
were full. The government relied on one NGO shelter for
sexual and gender-based violence victims to provide all other
trafficking victim care, including shelter, legal representation,
food, vocational training, and family reunification. The NGO
shelter could care for both foreign and domestic trafficking
victims, among other victims of crime. Shelters often limited
victims’ stays to three months, due to a lack of space. Shelter
and services for males and services specifically for victims with
disabilities were extremely limited or unavailable in most of
the country. Adult victims were sometimes allowed to leave
the shelters at will; in some cases, however, shelter workers
restricted victims from leaving, citing concerns reportedly for
their safety and/or to protect the integrity of the testimony
at trial. Shelters often could not protect victims’ identities.
The government did not provide any financial assistance to
trafficking victims.

TRAFFICKING PROFILE

As reported over the past five years, Liberia is a source and
destination country for men, women, and children subjected to
forced labor and sex trafficking. Trafficking within the country
from rural to urban areas is more prevalent than transnational
trafficking, and the majority of victims are children. Most
trafficking victims originate from and are exploited within
the country’s borders, where they are subjected to domestic
servitude, forced begging, sex trafficking, or forced labor in street
vending, alluvial diamond mines, and on rubber plantations.
Traffickers typically operate independently and are commonly
family members who promise poorer relatives a better life
for their children or promise young women a better life for
themselves, take the children or women to urban areas, and
exploit them in forced street vending, domestic servitude, or
sex trafficking. While Liberian law requires parents to register
children within 14 days of birth, fewer than five percent of births
are registered; lack of birth registration and identity documents
increase vulnerability to trafficking. Orphaned children are
vulnerable to exploitation, including in street selling and child
sex trafficking. A small number of Liberian men, women, and
children are subjected to human trafficking in other West African
countries, including Cote d’Ivoire, Guinea, Sierra Leone, and
Nigeria. Women from Tunisia and Morocco have been subjected
to sex trafficking in Liberia, and Liberian women have been
subjected to forced labor in Lebanon. Authorities identified
Liberians in forced labor in small businesses and restaurants
in Finland during the reporting period.

PREVENTION

The government maintained minimal efforts to prevent
trafficking in persons. The anti-trafficking taskforce, which

253

LITHUANIA

LITHUANIA: TIER 1
The Government of Lithuania fully meets the minimum
standards for the elimination of trafficking. The government
continued to demonstrate serious and sustained efforts during
the reporting period; therefore, Lithuania remained on Tier 1.
The government demonstrated serious and sustained efforts
by greatly increasing funding to NGOs for victim assistance
programs, thereby providing support to more victims and atrisk individuals. The government established an interagency
commission to coordinate national and local efforts and
approved its 2017-2019 national action plan against trafficking.
The government also appointed a national trafficking rapporteur
to collect information and report on human trafficking.
Although the government meets the minimum standards, a lack
of victim protection during the investigation and trial process
and a lack of knowledge within relevant agencies in recognizing
indicators of child trafficking remained. The government
provided training to law enforcement officials in collaboration
with NGOs, but some police officers did not recognize sex
trafficking among women coerced into prostitution and child
trafficking. Children in state-run orphanages were vulnerable
to human trafficking and some investigations were ongoing.
The government continued to phase out these institutions in
favor of the foster care system.

RECOMMENDATIONS FOR LITHUANIA

Increase proactive identification of child trafficking victims, and
adults particularly in forced prostitution, through increased
training for police officers on victim identification integrated
into basic training and for child protective services officials;
prevent the sex trafficking of children in state-run orphanages
by investigating and prosecuting complicit or negligent
orphanage authorities and ensuring ongoing reforms to the
orphanage system to improve protection of vulnerable children;
protect victims from threats and re-victimization during the
investigation and trial of trafficking cases; provide specialized
services to child victims in foster homes and mixed-use shelters;
further improve training of investigators and prosecutors on
building trafficking cases, including developing evidence beyond
victim testimony; equip courtrooms with the capacity to allow
victims to provide testimony outside the presence of their
alleged traffickers; and conduct awareness campaigns targeting
low-income and socially at-risk communities.

PROSECUTION

254

The government increased law enforcement efforts. Articles 147
and 157 of the criminal code prohibit all forms of trafficking and
prescribe penalties ranging from two to 12 years imprisonment,
which are sufficiently stringent and commensurate with
penalties prescribed for other serious crimes, such as rape.
In June 2016, the government passed amendments to articles
147 and 157 to include forced and sham marriages as a
form of human trafficking; although sham marriages were

not a form of human trafficking under international law.
Authorities initiated investigations of 29 trafficking cases in
2016, compared with 25 in 2015. The government initiated
prosecutions of 64 suspected traffickers (27 in 2015 and 40
in 2014) and convicted 23 traffickers under articles 147 and
157 (17 in 2015). All 23 traffickers received prison sentences,
with terms ranging from two to nine years. The government
collaborated with foreign counterparts in 18 international
trafficking investigations, compared with 17 in 2015 and two
in 2014. The general prosecutor’s office received no requests
for extradition, but issued six European arrest orders in human
trafficking cases. In March 2015, prosecutors announced an
investigation into allegations that the director of an orphanage
sexually exploited boys and operated a sex trafficking ring
inside the institution, offering young boys to pedophiles. The
investigation remained ongoing during the reporting period.
In January 2015, prosecutors announced the investigation of a
state-run residential institution for children with special needs;
teenage residents allegedly had been subjecting girl residents to
sex trafficking. The orphanage’s director defended her institution
by saying such activity is common at all Lithuanian orphanages.
In March 2017, the court sentenced four men to two to four
and a half years in jail for sex with juvenile residents of this
orphanage and imposed one to three years probation sentences
to four girls for facilitating prostitution. Prosecutors will appeal
the decision asking the higher instance court to sentence the
criminals for human trafficking.
The government demonstrated its commitment to train
personnel throughout the reporting period. Although the
basic training for police cadets includes only one hour on
trafficking, the national police organized two two-day antitrafficking training sessions for 32 police officers on victim
identification and assistance. In March and April 2016, the
national court administration held training for 84 judges and
their assistants on communication during court procedures
with victims, including children, and in May organized training
for 43 judges and their assistants on psychological support
to victims and witnesses during court process. In December,
the prison department coordinated anti-trafficking training
for 29 representatives of detention facilities and probation
services, the state border guard service organized a two-day
training for 29 state border officials, and the general prosecutor’s
office organized training for 166 prosecutors and their staff.
Prosecutors reported collecting adequate evidence continued
to be a problem in proving trafficking cases. Observers reported
prosecutors relied on victims’ testimony to prove trafficking
cases.

PROTECTION

The government increased efforts to assist victims, including
almost doubling funding for services. Law enforcement identified
41 victims in 2016, compared with 79 in 2015. Authorities
identified fewer child victims: from 18 in 2015 to four in 2016.
Government-funded NGOs provided support to 179 trafficking
victims and at-risk individuals, including 88 male victims of
labor trafficking and trafficking for criminal activities; NGOs
assisted 139 victims in 2015. The central government allocated
NGOs approximately €81,000 ($85,353) for victim assistance
programs, compared to approximately €43,000 ($45,311) in
2015. NGOs noted additional funding was necessary to address
all needs, such as securing staff salaries and implementing
prevention work. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs assisted 11
trafficking victims in obtaining legal documents and providing
consultations, and spent €1,360 ($1,433) in repatriation. Six
publicly funded men’s crisis centers had the capacity to provide

Law enforcement could offer foreign trafficking victims a 30day reflection period to decide whether to cooperate with law
enforcement. Foreign victims cooperating with law enforcement
could receive temporary residency. Authorities identified one
foreign victim in 2016 and one in 2015. The criminal code
requires victims to testify. The law permits authorities to use
video conferencing and other technologies in the courtroom,
which could prevent re-traumatization of trafficking victims,
but courts had limited technical capabilities and preferred
traditional testimony to video. The government provided
legal representation to victims; however, observers reported
the attorneys had little experience with trafficking issues.
NGOs often hired private attorneys for victims. Prosecutors
noted victims continued to be reluctant to testify, specifically
male trafficking victims who were also reluctant to receive
NGO assistance. NGOs reported this often happened because
traffickers threatened victims as they were entering or exiting
the courtroom. Experts noted deficiencies in victim protection
during the investigation and the trial process. In most cases
in 2016, victims received compensation. Observers reported
shortcomings in police identification of trafficking among
individuals in prostitution; as a result, authorities subjected sex
trafficking victims to administrative sanctions for prostitution
and some police officers treated child victims trafficked for
criminal activities as criminals rather than victims. Experts
noted child protective services lacked knowledge in recognizing
indicators of child trafficking.

PREVENTION

The government increased prevention efforts. In August,
the government established an interagency commission for
coordinating anti-trafficking efforts and approved a national
action plan for 2017-2019 with approximately €183,000
($192,835) for implementation at national and local
levels. The government appointed a national rapporteur for
trafficking issues to collect information and report on the
status of trafficking and anti-trafficking measures, and provide
recommendations to the government for further progress by
March 1 each year. A public research institute presented to
government institutions, NGOs, and the diplomatic community
its research on preventing sham marriages and its nexus to
trafficking. The interior ministry continued to publish an annual
report covering the government’s anti-trafficking law efforts.
Following concerns that large orphanages are unable to provide
adequate care and prevent risks, including sex trafficking, the
government worked to phase out large institutions and increase
support for foster care. Public officials participated in NGOorganized prevention activities. Law enforcement authorities
raised awareness in the media, and the police advertised and
managed an email account that the public could use to report
potential human trafficking situations and ask for advice. The
government provided anti-trafficking training for its diplomatic
personnel. The government continued to fine individuals who
contributed to the demand for commercial sexual acts. Labor
inspection published on its website information about forced

labor and a list of organizations that provide support to labor
trafficking victims.

TRAFFICKING PROFILE

Lithuania is a source, transit, and destination country for
women and girls subjected to sex trafficking, as well as a
source and destination country for men subjected to labor
trafficking. Observers estimate 40 percent of identified
Lithuanian trafficking victims are women and girls subjected
to sex trafficking within the country. Lithuanian women are also
subjected to sex trafficking in Western Europe and Scandinavia.
Lithuanian children and adults are increasingly forced to engage
in criminal activities, such as shoplifting and drug selling,
in Nordic countries and Western Europe. Some Lithuanian
men are subjected to forced labor, including in agriculture, in
Ireland, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Men from
neighboring countries, as well as China, may be subjected to
labor trafficking in Lithuania. Vietnamese adults and children
transiting through Lithuania may be trafficking victims. The
approximately 4,000 boys and girls institutionalized in more
than 95 orphanages are especially vulnerable to trafficking.

LUXEMBOURG

assistance including finding shelter. Authorities placed child
victims in foster homes and mixed-use shelters; although,
these facilities were not dedicated exclusively to and may not
have provided specialized care for child trafficking victims.
In June, authorities established a national support center for
sexually abused children in Vilnius. The government had a
formal procedure to refer identified victims to care facilities
for assistance, although it was underutilized in some parts of
the country.

LUXEMBOURG: TIER 1
The Government of Luxembourg fully meets the minimum
standards for the elimination of trafficking. The government
made key achievements to do so during the reporting
period; therefore, Luxembourg was upgraded to Tier 1. These
achievements included increasing the number of prosecutions
and convictions, finalizing and adopting a written national
referral mechanism, enhancing the number of dedicated
personnel to anti-trafficking positions, funding and launching
an awareness campaign, and adopting a national action plan.
Although the government meets the minimum standards,
courts suspended the majority of sentences for convicted
traffickers, creating potential safety problems for trafficking
victims, weakening deterrence, and undercutting efforts of
police and prosecutors.

RECOMMENDATIONS FOR LUXEMBOURG

Vigorously prosecute, convict, and sentence labor and sex
traffickers with sufficiently stringent prison sentences; revise
the trafficking law, including article 382-1, to clarify that
force, fraud, or coercion are core elements of the crime of
trafficking of adults; continue to partner with and increase
funding to NGOs to provide expedient victim assistance;
ease requirements for non-EU trafficking victims to work in
Luxembourg; continue to make resources available to law
enforcement and government officials to proactively identify
and assist victims and investigate labor and sex trafficking cases;
and continue to work collaboratively with, and make resources
available to, the national rapporteur to critically assess efforts
and make recommendations to improve the government’s
response to human trafficking.

255

LUXEMBOURG

PROSECUTION

The government increased law enforcement efforts. Luxembourg
prohibits all forms of sex and labor trafficking through articles
382-1 and 382-2 of the criminal code, although article 3821 is broader than the international definition and could be
used to prosecute non-trafficking cases, as force, fraud, and
coercion are aggravating factors that increase penalties rather
than a means to commit the offense. The prescribed penalties
range from three to 10 years imprisonment for adult trafficking
and 10 to 20 years imprisonment for child trafficking. These
penalties are sufficiently stringent and commensurate with
penalties prescribed for other serious crimes, such as rape.
During the reporting period, the government reported initiating
10 investigations, the same number as the previous reporting
period; eight cases were for sex trafficking and two for forced
labor. The government initiated five new prosecutions, compared
with two prosecutions in 2015. The government convicted 11
traffickers for sex trafficking in 2016, an increase compared
with five in 2015. The courts suspended the majority of prison
sentences in 2016, resulting in insufficiently stringent penalties
which weaken deterrence of trafficking offenses. Six traffickers
received fully suspended sentences and fines ranging from
€1,000 to €10,000 ($1,050 to $10,530). Four traffickers received
partially suspended sentences and were ordered to serve between
six and 25 months in prison. Three of these four traffickers
were also ordered to pay up to €15,000 ($15,810) in fines. One
trafficker had a prior criminal record and received a full sentence
of two years imprisonment and a fine of €10,000 ($10,530).
During the reporting period, Luxembourg, in partnership
with Belgium and the Netherlands, hosted three trainings and
conferences for government officials, including police and
prosecutors, and victim assistance NGOs to increase regional
cooperation. The government did not report any investigations,
prosecutions, or convictions of government officials complicit
in human trafficking offenses.

PROTECTION

256

The government increased efforts to protect trafficking victims.
Authorities identified three victims of forced labor, compared
with two female victims of sex trafficking in the previous
reporting period. All of the victims were foreign citizens; two of
the victims were adult males and the third victim was a minor
female. The government increased dedicated anti-trafficking
personnel with one new staff member at the Directorate of
Immigration and a part-time position within the police for
victim identification. The government finalized and adopted a
written national referral mechanism for front-line responders in
December 2016. The government launched a quarterly training at
the National Institute for Public Administration for government
officials and NGOs to raise awareness on trafficking indicators
and the national referral mechanism; during the reporting
period, the government trained 52 officials. The government
continued to fund victim assistance. For the first time, the
government reported disaggregated funding data of €142,000
($149,600) provided to two NGOs to coordinate trafficking
victim care and €6.4million ($6.7 million) to assistance
centers that provided shelter and assistance to adult female and
child victims of crime, including trafficking victims. Through
government funding, the two NGOs were able to increase their
joint availability to receive victims from 30 to 40 hours per
week. If victims were identified outside of these hours, police
could directly refer adult female and child victims to shelters
for care; however, adult male victims identified outside of the
NGOs’ work hours were temporarily housed in hotels until
longer-term housing could be identified. Adult male victims

received the same access to long-term accommodation and
other victim services as adult female and child victims. During
the reporting period, all three newly identified victims and
four victims identified in an earlier period received assistance.
The government had policies in place to encourage trafficking
victims to assist in the prosecution of traffickers, including legal
alternatives to removal to countries in which victims would face
retribution or hardship. Trafficking victims were entitled to a
90-day reflection period to decide whether they wanted to testify,
during which EU citizens could work. Upon expiration of the
reflection period, the government could issue a foreign victim
either temporary or permanent residency status, which confers
the right to work, depending upon the victim’s willingness to
cooperate with law enforcement and whether the victim was an
EU national. Victims were entitled to participate in a witness
protection program to ensure their security before, during, and
after a trial, and in February 2017 Parliament enacted a law
on judicial protection of victims guaranteeing standards on
rights and support. There were no reports authorities penalized
victims for unlawful acts committed as a direct result of being
subjected to human trafficking.

PREVENTION

The government increased its prevention efforts. During the
reporting period, the government adopted national action
plans on human trafficking and also on prostitution, which
included actions against sex trafficking. The government’s interministerial committee, chaired by the Ministry of Justice, met
six times in 2016 to coordinate its anti-trafficking efforts. The
government-funded a public audiovisual awareness campaign
for €90,000 ($94,840), which was launched in December 2016.
The government collaborated with regional partners on an
initiative against forced labor, including through the launch
of a website in February 2017 that provided suggestions for
government action and best practices. The national rapporteur
on trafficking in persons finalized its first biannual report and
presented it to a parliamentary justice commission in March
2017. The government provided €30,000 ($31,610) to the UN
voluntary trust fund on contemporary forms of slavery for 2016
and 2017 and provided funding for multiple development
assistance programs in other countries, some of which contained
anti-trafficking components. The government did not make
efforts to reduce the demand for commercial sex acts or forced
labor. The government provided funding for an NGO-run
website focused on the prevention of child sex tourism. The
government provided anti-trafficking training for its diplomatic
personnel; however, participation in the course is voluntary.

TRAFFICKING PROFILE

As reported over the past five years, Luxembourg is a
destination country for men, women, and children subjected
to sex trafficking and forced labor. Victims of sex trafficking
from Europe, Africa, Asia, and South America are exploited
in prostitution in cabarets, private apartments, and on the
street. Forced labor, sometimes involving Chinese or eastern or
southern European men, women, and children, occurs in various
sectors, including restaurants and construction. Traffickers
reportedly transport an unknown number of Romani children
from neighboring countries for forced begging in Luxembourg.
Groups vulnerable to trafficking include migrant workers in
domestic work, catering, construction, and begging, as well as
unaccompanied foreign children and people in Luxembourg’s
legal and illegal commercial sex industry.

The Government of the Macau Special Administrative Region
(MSAR) of the People’s Republic of China does not fully meet
the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking;
however, it is making significant efforts to do so. The government
demonstrated significant efforts during the reporting period
by inspecting employment agencies, construction sites, and
companies with gaming licenses for indicators of trafficking;
conducting numerous anti-trafficking trainings and public
awareness campaigns, including through new online videos
available in eight languages; and providing services to all victims
identified during the reporting period. However, the government
did not demonstrate increasing efforts compared to the previous
reporting period. Although authorities investigated four cases of
potential labor trafficking in 2016, the government concluded
they were not forced labor cases, and pursued prosecutions
under other charges. Authorities have never identified labor
trafficking victims in Macau. The government initiated eight
trafficking investigations and two prosecutions, but did not
obtain any trafficking convictions for the second consecutive
year. Macau authorities identified four sex trafficking victims—
the lowest number in the past five years. Therefore, Macau was
downgraded to Tier 2 Watch List.

MACAU

MACAU: TIER 2 WATCH LIST

trafficking cases in 2016, the same number investigated in 2015.
Two investigations resulted in trafficking prosecutions during
the reporting period, compared to four in 2015. Four of the
investigations involved suspected labor trafficking, but police
officials referred three cases for prosecution on other charges
after determining none exhibited elements of forced labor (zero
labor trafficking prosecutions in 2015). Of four suspected cases
of sex trafficking investigated by authorities, the government
initiated two prosecutions on trafficking charges, which were
ongoing at the end of the reporting period (four sex trafficking
prosecutions in 2015). The other two cases were prosecuted
under procurement statutes even though one victim was a child
and thus, by international definition, a sex trafficking victim.
The government did not obtain any sex trafficking convictions
for the second consecutive year and has never obtained a labor
trafficking conviction.
Authorities organized numerous anti-trafficking law enforcement
and awareness trainings for police, social welfare officials,
labor inspectors, and public security police officers during the
year. Authorities reported cooperating with mainland Chinese
and Hong Kong authorities on anti-trafficking efforts through
intelligence exchanges and joint investigations. Authorities did
not report any investigations, prosecutions, or convictions of
officials complicit in human trafficking offenses.

PROTECTION

RECOMMENDATIONS FOR MACAU

Significantly increase efforts to investigate, prosecute, and
convict sex and labor traffickers; improve and consistently
implement proactive victim identification methods, especially
among vulnerable populations such as migrant workers and
children exploited in commercial sex, and increase efforts to
identify labor trafficking and male victims; institute a minimum
wage for foreign domestic workers; continue to educate law
enforcement and other officials and the public on forced labor
and sex trafficking; conduct sex trafficking awareness campaigns
so visitors in Macau understand purchasing sex with children is
a crime; and conduct a survey of the migrant labor population
to identify its vulnerabilities to trafficking.

PROSECUTION

Authorities maintained minimal anti-trafficking law enforcement
efforts. The anti-trafficking law, law number 6/2008 within the
penal code, criminalizes all forms of trafficking in persons
and prescribes penalties of three to 15 years imprisonment,
which are sufficiently stringent and commensurate with those
prescribed for other serious crimes, such as rape. The more
than 30 million annual tourists to MSAR continued to pose
major challenges in addressing trafficking crimes. Prosecutors
continued to use the “procuring of prostitution” provision for
some cases with elements of trafficking; this crime has simpler
evidentiary standards but carries lighter penalties than Macau’s
trafficking law.
Authorities conducted investigations of eight suspected human

Authorities decreased efforts to identify and protect trafficking
victims. Authorities identified four victims of sex trafficking,
including three children and one adult, compared to six in
2015, five in 2014, and 38 in 2013. Authorities have never
identified labor trafficking victims in Macau. The social
welfare bureau (SWB) reported offering shelter and providing
economic, counseling, and medical assistance to all four
identified victims in cooperation with local NGOs; local NGOs
applauded the government’s cooperative efforts in providing
victim support services. Authorities designated 21 beds for
female trafficking victims at a shelter managed by SWB, which
assisted the one adult victim identified in 2016. The government
provided financial assistance to improve the facilities of an
NGO-run home that housed all identified child victims and
provided access to educational resources. SWB continued
to operate a shelter for male victims, although, as in prior
years, authorities did not identify any male victims during the
reporting period. The government spent approximately 1.6
million pataca ($200,000) on victim protection services and
prevention programs across multiple government agencies,
including allocations to NGOs for service provision at shelters,
compared to 1.5 million pataca ($187,500) allocated in 2015.
The government allocated an additional 39,700 patacas
($4,960) to an international organization to provide services
to foreign victims of trafficking. Authorities had a formal
victim identification process, operational referral process,
and standardized screening questionnaire that guided law
enforcement, immigration, and social services personnel to
screen 1,132 individuals vulnerable to trafficking. Authorities
sustained an existing partnership with local NGOs to provide
interpreters to assist in interviewing foreign trafficking victims
and to operate a 24-hour general hotline that could be used
by trafficking victims. Authorities encouraged victims to assist
in the investigation and prosecution of trafficking crimes
by providing temporary shelter and assistance, but reported
difficulty persuading victims to cooperate and therefore courts
generally accepted a written statement in lieu of oral testimony.
A new law allowing the government to pay workers’ salaries in
advance while they pursue legal cases against their employers

257

MACEDONIA

came into force during the reporting period. Authorities reported
that Macau law provides trafficking victims with permanent
residency as a legal alternative to removal to countries in
which they would face retribution or hardship, and authorities
reported a policy allowing foreign victims to reside and work
in Macau during criminal proceedings against their traffickers;
authorities did not report providing any trafficking victims
these immigration reliefs during the reporting period. The legal
system allows for civil remedies, but no victim was known to
have pursued this option in 2016.

PREVENTION

Authorities maintained efforts to prevent forced labor and
sex trafficking. The interagency Human Trafficking Deterrent
Measures Concern Committee, led by the security bureau,
coordinated Macau’s anti-trafficking efforts. The labor affairs
bureau (LAB) and law enforcement agencies continued to
disseminate thousands of leaflets, pamphlets, video clips, radio
and television advertisements, and posters to raise awareness
of labor trafficking in eight different languages. Authorities
ran trafficking awareness videos at all border checkpoints.
Authorities continued a trafficking awareness education project
in local schools, held seminars with foreign consulates general
and NGOs regarding labor rights for foreign domestic workers,
and held 112 seminars for approximately 13,000 migrant
construction workers. The government registered 2,713 labor
dispute cases involving nearly 6,000 workers, most of whom
were non-residents; the government found 56 percent of these
complaints were substantiated, and approved 89 out of 93
applications for claims against their employers; it was unclear
how many of these cases were related to human trafficking
crimes. Authorities conducted 58 inspections on the premises of
six casinos with gaming licenses and inspected construction sites
and 132 employment agencies for labor trafficking, resulting
in the investigation of five complaints of overcharging by
employment agencies. Despite these efforts, the government
did not identify any labor trafficking victims. The government
introduced draft legislation that seeks to increase regulatory
requirements for employment agencies and clarify the usage of
recruitment fees. The government continued to work with local
hotels and casinos to promote awareness among hotel staff of
trafficking crimes and utilize a mechanism that required hotel
employees to immediately report to police any suspected case
of trafficking. The government reported it enforced regulations
preventing individuals under the age of 21 from entering a
casino. The government made efforts to reduce the demand for
commercial sex acts, including sex tourism. Authorities did not
report any investigations or prosecutions for child sex tourism.

TRAFFICKING PROFILE

258

As reported over the past five years, Macau is primarily a
destination and, to a much lesser extent, a transit territory
for women and children subjected to sex trafficking and
forced labor. Sex trafficking victims originate primarily from
mainland China; many are from inland Chinese provinces
and travel to the border province of Guangdong in search of
more lucrative employment. Some are from Asia, Russia, Africa,
and South America. Many trafficking victims respond to false
advertisements for jobs, including in casinos in Macau, but
upon arrival are forced into prostitution. Traffickers sometimes
confine victims in massage parlors and illegal brothels, where
they are closely monitored, threatened with violence, forced to
work long hours, and have their identity documents confiscated.
Minors are reportedly subjected to sex trafficking in connection
with the gambling and entertainment industry in Macau.

Migrant construction and domestic workers may be vulnerable
to labor exploitation. Some brokers who bring foreign men
and women to Macau to renew work visas to other countries
restrict these workers’ movements and withhold their passports
in conditions indicative of debt bondage and forced labor.

MACEDONIA: TIER 2
The Government of Macedonia does not fully meet the
minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking; however,
it is making significant efforts to do so. The government
demonstrated increasing efforts compared to the previous
reporting period; therefore, Macedonia remained on Tier 2.
The government demonstrated increasing efforts by drafting
and adopting the 2017-2020 national strategy and national
action plan and appointing a national rapporteur and a national
coordinator for trafficking. The government developed indicators
for potential trafficking victims in mixed migration flows
and standardized victim identification procedures for first
responders. The government increased funding for trafficking
victims sheltered at the government-run transit/reception
center for foreigners. However, the government did not meet
the minimum standards in several key areas. The government
prosecuted and convicted the fewest number of traffickers ever
reported. The government did not award any grants to antitrafficking NGOs as it had done in past years and discontinued
its partnership with NGOs that provided support services at
the government-run shelter.

RECOMMENDATIONS FOR MACEDONIA

Vigorously investigate, prosecute, and convict traffickers,
including complicit officials, and impose sentences adequate
to deter trafficking; provide advanced training to judges,
prosecutors, and law enforcement on trafficking investigations
and prosecutions; allocate increased resources for the protection
of victims; train law enforcement officials, labor inspectors,
diplomatic personnel, and other officials on proactive victim
identification, particularly among child beggars, irregular
migrants, refugees, and asylum-seekers; reactivate joint mobile
identification units with formalized partnerships with NGOs;
adopt and allocate funding for the national action plan; provide
accommodation to foreign trafficking victims in safe and
appropriately rehabilitative settings and allow victims to leave
shelters at will; provide specialized services for male trafficking
victims; improve compensation mechanisms for victims and
inform them of their right to seek restitution; and make public
government anti-trafficking efforts.

PROSECUTION

The government decreased law enforcement efforts. Articles
418(a) and (d) of the criminal code prohibit all forms of
trafficking, including forced begging and forced criminality,
and prescribe a minimum penalty of four years imprisonment

The Combating Trafficking in Human Beings and Migrant
Smuggling Unit (CTHBMSU) within the Ministry of Interior
(MOI) continued specialized investigations and led international
investigations for trafficking. Corruption and official complicity
in trafficking crimes remained concerns. The government
charged a municipal inspector for trafficking of adults
during the reporting period. Three police officers remained
under investigation since 2014 for suspected involvement
in organizations engaged in trafficking; the government did
not provide an update on those cases. Observers reported
some police and labor inspectors allegedly accepted bribes
from traffickers. Authorities suspected bar and brothel owners
received warnings ahead of time before police raids. The MOI,
in cooperation with international organizations, trained 180
border police officers on trafficking issues. The Academy for
Judges and Prosecutors, also in cooperation with international
organizations and NGOs, trained 36 judges and 21 public
prosecutors on trafficking issues.

PROTECTION

The government slightly increased victim protection efforts.
The government identified six victims, compared to four in
2015; all six were female sex trafficking victims, compared
to four female victims of sex and labor trafficking in 2015.
Three victims were children and one was a foreign citizen. The
government-run shelter for trafficking victims accommodated
the three child victims and the Ministry of Labor and Social
Policy (MLSP) provided psycho-social services to the other
two domestic victims. The government repatriated the foreign
victim voluntarily to Serbia. The government allocated a total
of 4,822,000 denars ($82,966) to combat trafficking, compared
to 1,606,036 denars ($27,633) in 2015. The government
allocated 1,000,000 denars ($17,206) to the government-run
shelter, compared to 1,061,036 denars ($18,256) in 2015. The
government allocated 4,822,000 denars ($82,966) for services
for potential trafficking victims housed at the transit/reception
center for foreigners, compared to 545,000 denars ($9,377) in
2015. Unlike in previous years, the government did not award
NGOs any grants for the 2016 fiscal year; NGOs reported their
reliance on these grants to assist victims and thus reduced their
services. NGOs reported the government relied heavily on
funding from the international community and on NGOs to
provide assistance, including rehabilitation and re-socialization
services to potential and officially recognized victims.
The government, in cooperation with international
organizations, developed indicators for potential trafficking
victims in mixed migration flows and standardized victim

identification procedures. The government trained first
responders, including police officers, labor inspectors,
immigration officials, NGO workers, and social workers,
on initial screening procedures for migrants, refugees, and
unaccompanied children. MLSP provided advanced training
to social workers on victim identification and dispatched
99 social workers to conduct proactive victim identification
efforts at border crossings and migrant and refugee camps.
The government and NGOs together identified 120 migrants
as potential trafficking victims (78 adults and 42 children).
The government did not revive its partnership with NGOs to
operate six joint mobile identification units due to a lack of
resources and political commitment. Macedonia experienced a
significant decrease in migrants transiting through the country,
and NGOs reported officials screened regularly for indicators
of trafficking at border crossings; however, experts reported
border agents were still unable to properly identify trafficking
victims. MLSP social workers and police identified potential
forced labor victims among predominately Romani children
engaged in street begging and street vending. The government
placed them in daycare centers and warned, fined, or jailed their
parents; in cases where courts deemed parents unfit to care for
their children, the state placed the children in orphanages.

MACEDONIA

for trafficking adults and 12 years imprisonment for trafficking
children. This is sufficiently stringent and commensurate with
penalties prescribed for other serious crimes, such as rape.
In December 2015, the government deleted article 191(a)
on child prostitution, which had allowed the prosecution of
child sex traffickers for a lesser offense, and amended article
418(d), explicitly criminalizing forced begging of minors and
increasing the minimum prison sentence for that crime. The
government investigated two trafficking cases, compared to zero
investigations in 2015; one case involved a labor trafficking
suspect and the other case involved six suspects for sex and
labor trafficking of children. The government prosecuted
two alleged traffickers (seven in 2015). Courts convicted one
trafficker (seven in 2015); the trafficker received probation, but
prosecutors appealed the sentence. Additionally, an appellate
court ruling for a 2012 case sentenced a trafficker to eight years
in prison during the reporting period.

First responders identified a total of 125 potential trafficking
victims, compared to 94 in 2015. First responders referred
potential victims to CTHBMSU and MLSP, who made the official
identification. The government recognized six official victims in
2016. The government and NGOs provided potential victims and
officially recognized victims protection and assistance, including
psycho-social support, rehabilitation, and reintegration services;
however, potential trafficking victims did not have access to the
government-run shelter and its support services until officially
identified by the government. The government ran a shelter for
trafficking victims and a transit center for irregular migrants
that offered separate facilities for foreign trafficking victims;
both facilities could house male, female, and child victims. The
government-run shelter opened only when authorities identified
an official trafficking victim. The government-run shelter allowed
victims freedom of movement, but the migrant facility did not
permit foreign victims to leave without a temporary residence
permit. In 2015, the government discontinued its partnership
with NGOs that provided support services at the government-run
shelter. Domestic victims could receive reintegration support,
including education and job placement. Specialized assistance
was not available for male victims, and the government did
not provide services accessible for victims with disabilities.
The law permits foreign victims a two-month reflection period
to decide whether to testify against their traffickers, followed by
a six-month temporary residence permit, regardless of whether
they testify; no foreign victims requested residence permits in
2016. MLSP reported 12 of the 125 potential victims assisted
in initial investigations and two of the six officially identified
victims gave statements against their alleged traffickers. The
government reported no victims required witness protection
services in 2016. While victims can claim restitution through
civil proceedings, no victims have ever successfully completed
a claim due to the complexity of the process. The government
continued efforts to develop a victim compensation fund that
allowed authorities to allocate compensation to victims from
seized criminal assets. NGOs submitted a draft law allowing
victims to receive compensation without having to file civil
proceedings. Although there were no reports of trafficking
victims being penalized for unlawful acts committed as a direct
result of being subjected to human trafficking, in previous
years police did not contact the anti-trafficking unit to screen

259

MADAGASCAR

for potential victims of trafficking among dancers and other
individuals found when conducting operations in nightclubs
where sex trafficking was prevalent.

PREVENTION

The government increased prevention efforts. The National
Commission, comprising government agencies, international
organizations, and NGOs, met regularly and drafted and
adopted the 2017-2020 national strategy and action plan.
The national strategy and action plan prioritizes increasing
institutional efficiency and preventive measures; however, the
government did not yet allocate funding for implementation.
The government appointed a national rapporteur in April, who
is responsible for reporting and monitoring the implementation
of anti-trafficking policies. The government also appointed
a national coordinator in August, who heads the National
Commission and coordinates anti-trafficking efforts. The
government established three local anti-trafficking commissions
(Prilep, Gevgelija, and Veles) and assisted a local commission’s
development of the first local action plan for trafficking. The
government reported monitoring its anti-trafficking efforts but
did not make assessment reports available to the public. The
government did not fund awareness campaigns but partnered
with NGOs to organize campaigns and provided venues,
transportation, and logistical support. The helpline received 219
calls reporting information about trafficking; none of the calls
resulted in an investigation or identification of a victim. The
government, in partnership with NGOs, conducted seminars
for Romani students, teachers, and NGOs on the risks of forced
marriages of minors. The government did not make efforts to
reduce the demand for commercial sex acts or forced labor.
The government warned citizens traveling abroad regarding
fraudulent offers of employment within the Schengen zone.
The government provided diplomats basic training on human
trafficking and distributed a handbook on preventing trafficking
for domestic servitude in diplomatic households.

TRAFFICKING PROFILE

As reported over the past five years, Macedonia is a source,
transit, and destination country for men, women, and children
subjected to sex trafficking and forced labor. Women and girls
in Macedonia are subjected to sex trafficking and forced labor
within the country in restaurants, bars, and nightclubs. Foreign
victims subjected to sex trafficking in Macedonia typically
originate from Eastern Europe, particularly Albania, Bosnia and
Herzegovina, Kosovo, Romania, Serbia, and Ukraine. Citizens
of Macedonia and foreign victims transiting Macedonia are
subjected to sex trafficking and forced labor in construction and
agricultural sectors in Southern, Central, and Western Europe.
Children, primarily Roma, are subjected to forced begging and
sex trafficking through forced marriages. Migrants and refugees,
particularly women and unaccompanied minors, traveling or
being smuggled through Macedonia are vulnerable to trafficking.
Students are vulnerable to false employment promises in other
European countries. Traffickers frequently bribe police and
labor inspectors. Police have been investigated and convicted
for complicity in human trafficking.

MADAGASCAR: TIER 2 WATCH LIST
260

The Government of Madagascar does not fully meet the
minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking; however,

it is making significant efforts to do so. The government
demonstrated significant efforts during the reporting period
by expanding the child protection network and by working at
the regional level to combat child sex trafficking. However, the
government did not demonstrate increasing efforts compared to
the previous reporting period. The government decreased efforts
to prosecute and convict suspected traffickers. Despite increased
reports of alleged complicity during the year, it did not hold any
complicit officials accountable, and did not investigate reports
of officials facilitating child sex trafficking. The government
continued to lack formal procedures to proactively identify
trafficking victims among vulnerable populations, did not
systematically provide services to all victims, and did not make
efforts to raise awareness. The government did not provide
funding to the National Office to Combat Trafficking, the
agency designated to lead national efforts, raise awareness, or
operationalize the national action plan. Therefore, Madagascar
was downgraded to Tier 2 Watch List.

RECOMMENDATIONS FOR MADAGASCAR

Increase efforts to prosecute and convict suspected trafficking
offenders, including complicit officials; develop formal
procedures for, and provide training to officials on, proactive
measures to identify victims, investigate cases, and refer victims
to appropriate services; adequately fund the National Office
to Combat Trafficking and relevant agencies supporting antitrafficking efforts; implement the five-year national action plan
to combat trafficking; increase monitoring and regulation of
recruitment agencies sending migrant workers to the Middle
East; negotiate an agreement between the government, training
centers, and recruiters for prospective migrant workers;
collaborate with destination country governments to protect
Malagasy migrant workers and jointly address cases of abuse;
increase efforts to raise public awareness of labor trafficking,
including of adults subjected to forced labor; and, improve data
collection on law enforcement efforts, including the number
of victims identified, cases investigated and prosecuted, and
the number of convictions.

PROSECUTION

The government decreased anti-trafficking law enforcement
efforts, while reports of alleged complicity increased during the
year. Anti-Trafficking Law No. 2007-038 prescribes punishments
for sex trafficking, ranging from two years to life imprisonment,
which is sufficiently stringent and commensurate with those
prescribed for other serious crimes such as rape. Law No.
2014-040, effective 2014, broadened the scope of the 2007 antitrafficking law and prohibits all forms of human trafficking,
to cover sexual exploitation, labor trafficking, forced labor,
forced begging, and debt bondage. The 2014 anti-trafficking law
imposes sufficiently stringent penalties for trafficking offenses,
ranging from two to five years imprisonment and a one million
to 10 million aria ($298-$2,986) fine, and stiffer penalties
of five to 10 years imprisonment and fines ranging from two
million to 10 million aria ($597-$2,986) for trafficking crimes
committed against children.

PROTECTION

The government continued modest efforts to protect victims.
The government reportedly identified 117 victims, compared
to 35 identified in the previous reporting period, and referred
at least 41 to care. An NGO identified and assisted 415 victims;
however, due to a lack of coordinated data collection at the
national level, these numbers may be inexact. The government
reported housing 35 child trafficking victims in a children’s
shelter and repatriating 70 transnational trafficking victims, six
of whom received additional care; this compared to 35 sheltered
and 60 repatriated in the previous year. The Government of
Seychelles reported intercepting 16 potential female trafficking
victims from Madagascar en route to Kuwait and coordinated
with Malagasy authorities to repatriate them to Madagascar. The
police reported identifying 56 victims, to whom they provided
temporary shelter in police stations, given the lack of alternative
options for adequate accommodation. The government also
reported identifying 20 child trafficking victims from a list of
777 complaints lodged during the reporting period.
The government remained without formal procedures to
proactively identify trafficking victims or refer victims for
care. While the government offered some protection services,
it is unclear how many victims received these benefits. The
Ministry of Population and Social Affairs, in collaboration
with an international organization, continued to coordinate
approximately 780 child protection networks across the country,
a significant increase from 450 in the prior reporting period.
These networks are mandated to protect children from various
forms of abuse and exploitation, as well as to ensure access
to medical and psychological services for victims. However,
the networks’ protective services were at times inadequate,
the standard of care was inconsistent across regions, and
the government did not report whether any of the networks
provided services to trafficking victims during the reporting year.
A government hospital offered assistance to child victims of
various abuses, including sex trafficking, in Antananarivo and
another in Toamasina that opened in 2016. The government

continued to operate and fund the Manjary Soa Center in
Antananarivo, which received 35 children who had been
removed from situations of forced labor and sex trafficking.
This center provided vocational training or reintegration into
the public school system. The city of Antananarivo continued
to manage an emergency center for child victims of domestic
servitude, generally referred by the Morals and Protection of
Minors Police Service (PMPM). Expenses, including food,
lodging, psychological and medical aid, and educational
services, and the salaries of personnel were funded by the city,
in partnership with an international organization.
The Ministry of Population offers transnational trafficking
victims psychological support through a social worker employed
by the ministry, and financial and socio-economic support for
re-integration in partnership with an international organization,
as well as medical care and legal assistance. During the reporting
period, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs facilitated, but did not
fund, the repatriation of 70 transnational victims from Saudi
Arabia, Kuwait, China, Comoros, and Thailand. The Ministry
of Population provided six of the transnational victims with
psychological and medical care, with one victim referred to a
vocational training center and the other five receiving financial
support, it is unclear if the remainder of repatriated victims
received assistance. Such efforts represent an increase from
60 victims repatriated in the previous reporting period. In
addition, the Honorary Malagasy Consul in Lebanon reportedly
inflated the cost of passport renewal for Malagasy workers
who had completed their work contracts or were detained in
prisons for being undocumented after passport confiscation
by their employers and took no action to facilitate their release
and return to Madagascar. While the government initiated
diplomatic discussions with Kuwait for the purpose of assisting
transnational trafficking victims in domestic servitude, such
efforts had limited effect in facilitating the protection of and
legal remedies for exploited Malagasy workers in Kuwait and
other destination countries. An NGO reported that trafficking
victims continued to return from the Middle East, where they
had been subjected to various forms of abuse while working
in domestic service. Upon repatriation, the vast majority of
Malagasy trafficking victims arrived destitute and in need of
psychological and medical services. The Ministry of Foreign
Affairs systematically informs the Ministry of Population of the
repatriated victims, who will contact the victims upon return
and refer them to NGOs for assistance, but reports indicate
most victims are reluctant to accept assistance.

MADAGASCAR

National statistics on prosecutions and convictions remained
difficult to obtain and verify. The media reported that the
government took action to prosecute 32 trafficking offenses;
however, as the government did not confirm these reports
or provide details on these cases, it is unclear whether they
definitively involved sex or labor trafficking crimes. The
government did not report the number of investigations,
compared to 14 prosecutions and eight trafficking-related
investigations in the prior reporting period. The media reported
the government convicted at least three traffickers in 2016 for
child sexual abuse crimes, a decrease from 10 in 2015. During
the reporting year, judges and prosecutors in Fianarantsoa
and Antsiranana met to discuss the anti-trafficking law. The
government facilitated and led workshops, funded by an
international organization, to educate judges, police, and
gendarmes in Antananarivo, Morondava, and Fort Dauphin on
the anti-trafficking law and to build law enforcement capacity
for the investigation and prosecution of trafficking crimes.
However, there remained a lack of coordination between
agencies combating trafficking in persons and a reluctance of
victims to file charges for fear of reprisals. The government did
not report any investigations, prosecutions, or convictions of
government officials complicit in trafficking offenses despite
allegations of corruption and complicity, including reports
of an alleged network of government officials involved in
falsification of identity documents utilized to facilitate child
sex trafficking in Madagascar.

The 2014 anti-trafficking law provides foreign trafficking victims
with legal alternatives to their removal to countries where they
may face hardship or retribution. There were no reports the
government arrested or punished trafficking victims for unlawful
acts committed as a direct result of being subjected to trafficking;
however, without formal procedures to identify trafficking
victims, it is likely. As a legal matter, trafficking trials may be
held in private for the sake of the victim’s confidentiality and
privacy; however, the government did not report doing so in
the reporting period and most cases were not prosecuted under
the trafficking laws. Further, while the 2014 anti-trafficking law
provides that victims are entitled to restitution for the third
consecutive year this provision was not implemented.

PREVENTION

The government demonstrated limited efforts to prevent
trafficking and coordinate national-level anti-trafficking
measures. The PMPM, despite resource constraints, worked at
the regional level to combat child sex trafficking in Toamasina,

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Nosy Be, Toliara, and the Sava and Amoron’i Mania regions. The
National Office to Combat Trafficking, intended to lead national
efforts, did not receive funding or demonstrate leadership
in driving national efforts or raising awareness and did not
undertake steps to operationalize the national action plan nor
allocate funds to do so, unlike prior years. The government
continued to employ a national toll-free hotline to report child
abuse, including child trafficking; during the reporting period,
the hotline received 1,475 calls related to child abuse, but it
was unclear if any of these related to child trafficking crimes.
The Ministry of Justice continued its anti-trafficking awareness
campaign through weekly national radio broadcasts and in
person in Mahajanga, Antsiranana, and Nosy Be, to educate
the public on the 2014 anti-trafficking law. The Ministry of
Tourism regional authorities, during routine hotel inspections,
continued to include specific reminders and information on
the fight against child sexual exploitation and required that
posters against child sexual exploitation be visible in the hotel
reception area.
The government did not make any discernable efforts to reduce
the demand for forced labor or commercial sex acts during the
reporting period. A 2013 ban on domestic worker travel to Gulf
countries remained in place; however, illicit recruitment agencies
circumvented the ban by sending workers through Mauritius,
Kenya, Comoros, and South Africa. In an attempt to address this
issue and identify agencies involved in fraudulent recruitment,
in April 2016, the Ministry of Employment suspended all
existing accreditations for placement agencies and established
new conditions for placement agencies to become accredited.
While nine agencies have completed applications under the
new process, the government had not issued any accreditations
by the close of the reporting period, consequently inhibiting
legal recruitment of migrant workers. Ministry of Employment
officials reported ongoing efforts to set up a tripartite agreement
between the ministry, placement agencies, and vocational
training centers that would encourage training centers to develop
training programs for departing migrant workers, with the costs
to be borne by the placement agencies. In partnership with
an international organization, the government held several
working group meetings with stakeholders, reviewed labor
migration assessments, and began development of a training
program for departing migrant workers.
In 2016, the Ministry of Tourism, in partnership with
international organizations, disseminated the Tourism Code of
Conduct against Commercial Child Sexual Exploitation and Sex
Tourism to approximately 900 tourism operators in 12 regions
who signed onto the Code and regional/tourism authorities
in eight of the 12 regions created regional action plans to
address child sexual exploitation and sex tourism. However, the
government did not operationalize the tourist police branch in
Ranohira Isalo, established in the previous reporting period,
to protect against commercial sexual exploitation of children.
The government provided general guidance to diplomatic
personnel on preventing trafficking.

TRAFFICKING PROFILE

262

As reported over the past five years, Madagascar is a source and
destination country for men, women, and children subjected
to forced labor and women and children subjected to sex
trafficking. Malagasy children, mostly from rural and coastal
regions, and from impoverished families in urban areas, are
exploited in child sex trafficking, domestic servitude, and
forced labor in mining, fishing, and agriculture across the
country. Most child sex trafficking occurs with the involvement

and encouragement of family members; however, tourist
operators, hotels, taxi drivers, massage centers, and local adults
in prostitution also facilitate this crime. Some children are
fraudulently recruited for work in Antananarivo as waitresses and
masseuses before being exploited in child sex trafficking. Reports
suggest child sexual exploitation is most prevalent in tourist
destinations and surrounding formal and informal mining sites.
NGOs previously reported government officials’ complicity in
obtaining falsified national identity cards facilitates the child
sex trafficking in Madagascar and forced labor in domestic
servitude of Malagasy women abroad. Previous reports indicated
child sex trafficking of boys was becoming more prevalent.
Child domestic labor continues to be a problem and informal
employment agencies recruit child domestic workers who
Malagasy men exploit as child sex trafficking victims, while
most child sex tourists are French and Italian nationals, and
to a lesser extent, other Westerners and Comorians.
Many Malagasy women are employed as domestic workers in
Lebanon, Kuwait, and Saudi Arabia, and the media reports that
informal placement agencies are still attempting to circumvent
the 2013 ban against sending workers to the Middle East by
routing them via Mauritius, Seychelles, Comoros, and Kenya
using tourist visas. Malagasy women are sent by persons acting as
informal placement agents to China with falsified identity cards
and exploited in forced labor and sold as brides. Reports state
that Malagasy men in the Middle East may endure forced labor
in the service and construction sectors and may endure forced
domestic servitude in China. Recently, migrant workers are
increasingly targets for blackmail or solicitation of bribes, largely
consequences of the suspension of accreditation of placement
agencies. Reports indicate Malagasy workers in Lebanon are
victims of various forms of abuse by their employers, such as
physical violence and confiscation of passports, which might
have been a factor in their subsequent imprisonment.

MALAWI: TIER 2
The Government of Malawi does not fully meet the minimum
standards for the elimination of trafficking; however, it is making
significant efforts to do so. The government demonstrated
increasing efforts compared to the previous reporting period;
therefore, Malawi remained on Tier 2. The government
demonstrated increasing efforts by working with a foreign
government to repatriate a larger number of trafficking victims
than in the previous reporting period; drafting a national action
plan; convening the first meeting of the National Coordination
Committee; using the 2015 anti-trafficking act to prosecute all
trafficking crimes during the reporting period; and increasing
cooperation between district-level police stations and the
national police service. However, the government did not meet
the minimum standards in several key areas. The government
continued to lack standardized procedures to effectively identify
and refer victims. It did not provide victims adequate protection
and continued to rely on international organizations and NGOs
to fund most anti-trafficking programs.

Enter lists of enforcement and protection officers and shelters
for trafficking victims in the official gazette in order for the
law to be fully operational; fully implement the prosecution
and protection provisions in the 2015 anti-trafficking law;
vigorously prosecute and sentence both sex and labor trafficking
offenses under the 2015 law; ensure all convicted traffickers
receive jail time by consistently applying sufficiently stringent
punishments; support training and increase funding for judges,
prosecutors, labor inspectors, and police to identify, investigate,
and prosecute trafficking crimes; develop formal guidelines
to identify trafficking victims, especially among vulnerable
populations, and refer them to available services; increase
the availability of shelters and protection services for victims,
including through in-kind or material support to NGOs for
expansion of direct service provisions; improve and expand
the collection of national prosecution and protection data;
and increase awareness and monitoring of trafficking crimes,
as well as efforts to identify traffickers and victims at border
crossings and internal police checkpoints.

PROSECUTION

The government demonstrated uneven anti-trafficking law
enforcement efforts. The 2015 Trafficking in Persons Act prohibits
all forms of trafficking and prescribes punishments of up to life
imprisonment, without the option of fines. Penalties prescribed
under other relevant statutes range from small fines to 14 years
of imprisonment. The use of fines in lieu of imprisonment is an
ineffective deterrent against trafficking crimes. These penalties
are sufficiently stringent and commensurate with punishment
prescribed for other serious crimes, such as rape.
In 2016, the Malawi Police Service (MPS) reported antitrafficking law enforcement data from seven of Malawi’s 34
district-level police stations. Officers in seven districts sent
trafficking information and statistics to police headquarters every
month via a text messaging application and the MPS analyzed
that data to assess trafficking trends. MPS reported it arrested
and prosecuted at least 30 alleged traffickers and convicted 18,
a significant decrease from 68 traffickers prosecuted and 58
convicted during the previous reporting period. All cases were
prosecuted under the 2015 anti-trafficking act. During the year,
the courts sentenced some traffickers to 14 years imprisonment;
others, however, were suspended resulting in no jail time for
convicted traffickers. The Ministry of Home Affairs, which
includes MPS and immigration officials, maintained primary
responsibility for the prosecution of trafficking crimes and
enforcement of trafficking laws.
The MPS retained anti-trafficking training in its curricula for
the Limbe, Mtakata and Mlangeni Police Training School and
Zomba Police College. The Department for Immigration trained
an unknown number of new immigration officers on victim
identification and assistance to potential trafficking victims.
A high court judge, in partnership with the Women Judges
Association of Malawi, trained magistrates on the prevalence of
trafficking in the country and on the 2015 anti-trafficking law
with a particular focus on sentencing guidelines for offenders.
In October, the Ministry of Gender and the Southern Africa
Development Community (SADC) Secretariat conducted a
training for 39 law enforcement officers, including police,
immigration officials, social workers, and prosecutors on the
legal instruments available to counter trafficking. Despite media
reports that several police, health, and immigration officials
were complicit in trafficking young women to Kuwait, the
government did not report any investigations, prosecutions,

or convictions of government officials complicit in human
trafficking offenses. In November 2016, a United States District
Court for the District of Maryland issued a default judgement
awarding more than $1 million in damages to a domestic
worker who sued her former employer, a Malawian diplomat
for trafficking; the diplomat left the United States in 2012 and
remains in the Malawian Foreign Service. The government did
not take any action during the reporting period to hold the
diplomat accountable.

MALAWI

RECOMMENDATIONS FOR MALAWI

PROTECTION

The government maintained inadequate protection efforts.
The government continued to lack systematic procedures for
the proactive identification of victims and their referral to care.
Given severe resource constraints, the government relied largely
on NGOs to identify victims and provide long-term care. The
government did not provide in-kind or financial support for
most NGO services, including those offered at the only dedicated
shelter for trafficking victims in the country, which is operated
by an international NGO. The national government lacked
comprehensive data on the number of victims it identified,
referred, or assisted during the reporting period; however, MPS
reported it identified at least 168 trafficking victims, a decrease
from 197 identified during the previous reporting period. The
government actively worked with officials in Kuwait to repatriate
53 women victims of domestic servitude. The government ran
one social rehabilitation center in Lilongwe for vulnerable
children, orphans, and child trafficking and gender-based
violence victims, providing counseling and rehabilitation
services. The center is chronically underfunded and poor
conditions there reportedly led some child sex trafficking victims
to leave the shelter and return to the brothels from which
they had been removed. The lack of adequate and sustained
assistance left victims vulnerable to re-trafficking.
Some of the approximately 300 police sub-stations at the
village level housed victim support units (VSUs) to respond
to gender-based violence and trafficking crimes; however, the
VSUs lacked capacity to respond adequately and the quality
of services remained variable throughout the country. Some
foreign victims avoided these centers due to fear of deportation.
Malawian law does not provide foreign victims with temporary
residency or other legal alternatives to their removal to their
countries of origin; foreign victims faced deportation unless
they challenged their immigration status in court. In 2016, there
were no credible reports of trafficking victims being detained,
fined, or jailed for unlawful acts committed as a direct result
of their being subjected to trafficking; however, due to a lack
of formal victim identification procedures during the reporting
period, and the absence of alternatives to deportation for
trafficking victims, some unidentified trafficking victims may
have remained in the criminal justice system or been deported.

PREVENTION

The government maintained modest efforts to prevent trafficking.
The National Coordination Committee, established under the
anti-trafficking act which came into force in November 2015,
held its first meeting during the reporting period. The Malawi
Network Against Child Trafficking, comprised of government
officials, NGOs, and international stakeholders, convened
two national level meetings, compared with zero the previous
year. The government drafted a national action plan to combat
trafficking, which is now awaiting final ministerial approval.
As a member of SADC, the government adopted the ten-year
SADC Regional Plan of Action on Trafficking in Persons. The

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MALAYSIA

government conducted awareness campaigns by placing antitrafficking messages on billboards throughout urban areas
and the inspector general of police spoke publicly on several
occasions about the dangers of trafficking. Nonetheless, most
public awareness campaigns continued to be spearheaded by
NGOs. Compulsory universal birth registration, enacted in
2012, became effective during the reporting period.
Malawian officials worked with the Government of Kuwait to
negotiate a modified visa regime whereby Malawians could no
longer receive visas for unskilled household work positions,
which traffickers used to recruit at least 53 women who they
later exploited. The government did not conduct any labor
inspections for the second consecutive year; however, the
Ministry of Labor recruited and trained 21 new labor inspectors
during the reporting period. Due to lack of funding, more than
sixty percent of positions within the Ministry of Labor were
vacant, impeding efforts to identify and penalize fraudulent
labor recruitment during the year. The government did not
demonstrate efforts to reduce the demand for commercial sex
acts or forced labor. Malawi did not provide anti-trafficking
training for its diplomatic personnel. With support and
assistance from foreign entities, the government ensured
Malawian troops received anti-trafficking training prior to their
deployment abroad on international peacekeeping missions.

TRAFFICKING PROFILE

As reported over the past five years, Malawi is a source country
for men, women, and children subjected to forced labor and
sex trafficking. To a lesser extent, it is a destination country for
men, women, and children from Zambia, Mozambique, the
Great Lakes region, and the Horn of Africa who are subjected
to labor and sex trafficking, and a transit country for people
from these countries exploited in South Africa. Most Malawian
trafficking victims are exploited within the country, generally
transported from the southern part of the country to the
central and northern regions for forced labor in agriculture
(predominantly the tobacco industry), goat and cattle herding,
and brickmaking. Many cases of child labor external to the family
involve fraudulent recruitment and physical or sexual abuse,
indicative of forced labor. Traffickers—primarily facilitators
or brothel owners—typically lure children from their families
in rural areas under pretenses of employment opportunities,
clothing, or lodging for which they are sometimes charged
exorbitant fees, resulting in prostitution coerced through debts.
Traffickers subject teenage boys to forced labor on farms and
young girls to sexual exploitation in nightclubs or bars. Children
are subjected to forced labor in begging, small businesses, and
potentially in the fishing industry; in past years, some were
coerced to commit crimes. Adult tenant farmers are vulnerable
to exploitation, as they incur debts to landowners and may not
receive payment during poor harvests. Malawian victims of sex
and labor trafficking have been identified in Mozambique,
South Africa, Zambia, and Tanzania. Some young girls are
drugged, gang-raped, and exploited in commercial sex. Some
girls recruited for domestic service are instead forced to marry
and subsequently subjected to child sex trafficking by their
“husbands”. Fraudulent employment agencies lure women
and girls to Gulf states where they are exploited in sex and
labor trafficking.

MALAYSIA: TIER 2
264

The Government of Malaysia does not fully meet the minimum

standards for the elimination of trafficking; however, it is
making significant efforts to do so. The government
demonstrated increasing efforts compared to the previous
reporting period; therefore, Malaysia was upgraded to Tier 2.
The government demonstrated increasing efforts by expanding
trafficking investigations, prosecutions, and convictions.
Officials strengthened enforcement of the law prohibiting
passport retention, convicting 17 employers for unauthorized
retention of passports, compared to zero during the previous
year. To galvanize coordinated anti-trafficking operations, the
government established a new interagency law enforcement
taskforce, to which 17 officers from seven agencies were assigned
and trained on investigative tactics. The government approved an
updated national action plan spanning 2016-2020 and allocated
sufficient resources towards its implementation. However, the
government did not meet the minimum standards in several
key areas. The government’s victim protection efforts remained
largely inadequate. Newly implemented laws created a process
for shelter residents to move freely and to work if they are
cleared by medical, security, and mental health professionals
and approved by the anti-trafficking council (MAPO). However,
bureaucratic delays, including a lack of counselors able to
complete required mental health evaluations; risk-averse and
paternalistic attitudes towards victims; and lack of victim
interest in available work opportunities resulted in a very low
number of victims being granted the right to work and/or to
move freely. Of the 1,558 victims identified, the government
conducted only 106 risk assessments and ultimately granted
six victims work visas and 12 special immigration passes for
freedom of movement. An additional 28 victims were approved
for freedom of movement, but delays in obtaining required
passports from their home countries meant that they either had
returned home or remained waiting at the end of the reporting
period. Complicity among law enforcement officials, in the form
of accepting bribes to allow undocumented border crossings,
hampered some anti-trafficking efforts. While authorities
investigated these crimes, culpable officials typically avoided
punishment. However, the government arrested at least fortytwo officials during the reporting period for smuggling and
trafficking-related offenses, although it is unclear how many
they charged with trafficking-related crimes.

RECOMMENDATIONS FOR MALAYSIA

Improve implementation of the regulations for the 2015
amendments to the anti-trafficking law to increase the number
of trafficking victims who obtain employment and routinely
authorize victims of trafficking freedom of movement; increase
the number and effectiveness of trafficking prosecutions
and convictions, including of complicit officials, through
improved collaboration across law enforcement agencies,
stronger cooperation between law enforcement officials and
prosecutors, more effective investigations, reduced court
delays, and increased judicial familiarity with the full range
of trafficking crimes, particularly forced labor; make public the
results of investigations involving corrupt officials to increase
transparency and deterrence and hold officials criminally
accountable when they violate the law; increase the capacity of

PROSECUTION

The government expanded law enforcement efforts. The
2007 Anti-Trafficking in Persons Act—amended in 2010 and
2015—prohibits all forms of human trafficking and prescribes
punishments of up to 20 years imprisonment, which are
sufficiently stringent and commensurate with those prescribed
for other serious offenses, such as rape. During the 2016
reporting period, the government conducted 581 investigations
of potential trafficking cases, a significant increase from 158
in 2015. Investigations resulted from police raids or reactive
labor inspections from employee tips. The government initiated
prosecutions against 175 alleged traffickers, up from 38 initiated
the previous year. The government convicted 35 traffickers—18
for labor trafficking and 17 for sex trafficking—representing the
highest number of convictions achieved annually and a notable
improvement from seven traffickers convicted in 2015. Of the
35 convicted, 29 were prosecuted under the Anti-trafficking
Act, and six others under other laws such as the Immigration
Act and the penal code. Fourteen traffickers received prison
sentences of at least four years, and some were as high as ten
years. Of the remaining 21, eight traffickers received sentences
of between one and three years imprisonment, nine received
sentences of less than one year, and four received no jail time
and were fined. The attorney general’s chambers filed appeals
for cases involving 13 individuals who received insufficiently
stringent sentences. The attorney general’s chambers reported
a majority of prosecutors maintained compliance with the
2014 written directive requiring them to engage with victims at
least two weeks prior to trial to better understand and address
victims’ concerns about the inner workings of trials; however,
the limited availability of certified interpreters and Malaysia’s
decentralized jurisdictions made routine compliance difficult.
The government strengthened its enforcement of the law against
unauthorized passport retention by securing 17 convictions
of employers who contravened the Malaysian Passport Act
of 1966; it did not prosecute any employers for this crime in
2015, and only one in 2014.
The government established a new interagency law enforcement

taskforce, to which 17 officers from seven agencies were assigned
and trained on investigative tactics and the identification of
high-value targets; the taskforce officially launched operations
in January 2017. Between its inception and the end of the
reporting period, the taskforce successfully conducted four
operations, including a raid on a bird’s nest factory, which led
to the arrests of two senior and two working-level staff members
and the identification of 172 victims. The government expanded
the initial six-month mandate of the taskforce to December
2018. The Royal Malaysia Police continued to serve as the
lead enforcement agency under the anti-trafficking act and
maintained a specialized anti-trafficking unit comprised of 235
officers posted throughout the country. The labor department
also had a specialized trafficking enforcement team composed
of 30 officers. The attorney general’s chambers appointed ten
additional trafficking-specialist deputy public prosecutors
throughout Malaysia, raising the total to 52, an increase from
the 42 on staff in 2015.

MALAYSIA

labor inspectors to identify trafficking victims among vulnerable
groups, such as migrant workers, and to effectively investigate
labor trafficking; implement planned changes to the foreign
worker levy schedule to make employers, not employees,
responsible for recruitment fees; improve case management
and communication with trafficking victims, including through
increased prosecutor-victim interaction at least two weeks prior
to trial in compliance with the attorney general’s directive;
continue collaboration with credible and effective NGOs and
implement plans to provide more services for victims, including
the construction of new shelters; continue to inform workers,
including domestic workers, of their rights to maintain access
to their passports at any time, without delay or approval, and
without consequence to their status and relationship with their
employer, and include language explicitly stating passports will
remain in the employee’s possession in model contracts and
future bilateral memoranda of understanding with labor source
countries; effectively enforce the law prohibiting employers
from retaining passports without employees’ consent, educate
workers and employers on foreign worker rights, including legal
recourses and remedies against traffickers, and ensure employers
provide lockers or other secure passport storage facilities; expand
labor protections for domestic workers, continue investigating
allegations of domestic worker abuse, and educate employers
about domestic workers’ rights; and fully implement the 20162020 national plan to combat trafficking.

The government continued to conduct anti-trafficking trainings,
this year reaching more than 1,600 officers, focusing on victim
protection, law enforcement, and prosecution, among other
topics. Home affairs officials continued to provide antitrafficking training opportunities for their own officers and those
from other relevant agencies, and the anti-trafficking council
conducted eight sessions for a total of 125 government officials
focusing on sensitization to trafficking issues and amendments
to the law. During the year, a total of 99 prosecutors at the
attorney general’s chambers participated in 10 training programs,
three internationally-based and seven in Malaysia.
The May and August 2015 discoveries of migrant camps and
mass graves along the border with Thailand fueled reports
corrupt officials facilitated migrant smuggling, which may have
included trafficking crimes. In 2016, investigations into these
camps and graves yielded four migrant smuggling convictions in
Malaysia; no Malaysian nationals were among those convicted.
During the reporting period, the investigations remained
ongoing and Malaysia and Thailand continued to cooperate
in the search for additional suspects and extradition of 10
identified targets, none of whom were Malaysian citizens.
Malaysian officials have also requested that Bangladesh locate
and extradite one suspect in the case.
Complicity among law enforcement officials, in the form of
accepting bribes to allow undocumented border crossings,
hampered some anti-trafficking efforts. The government detained
42 immigration and police officers for their involvement
in facilitating smuggling and trafficking crimes; authorities
prosecuted five of these officers and the cases remained ongoing
at the end of the reporting period. In June 2016, the government
unveiled a scheme organized by an unknown number of
immigration officials to manipulate the country’s passport
control system at various points of entry, ostensibly to allow
smugglers and traffickers to operate undetected; ensuing, the
government fired 15 culpable officers, suspended 14, froze the
salaries of eight, and reassigned more than 60 others. There
were no reports of criminal prosecutions of these officials.

PROTECTION

The government increased efforts to identify trafficking victims,
but protection measures remained inadequate. Not all victims
of trafficking were granted freedom of movement and the ability
to work while their investigations were pending in the judicial
system. The government reported law enforcement agencies
followed standardized procedures to identify trafficking victims.

265

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Identification of labor trafficking cases continued to rely on
reactive labor inspections in response to workers’ complaints
of non-payment of wages and other violations. In 2016, the
government reported identifying 3,411 potential trafficking
victims, of which it confirmed 1,558 as trafficking victims,
a marked increase over the 305 victims confirmed in 2015.
However, enforcement agencies employed the anti-trafficking law
broadly by indiscriminately labeling all foreign women during
bar or massage parlor roundups as potential trafficking victims
without screening for indicators. The government did not always
proactively screen the vulnerable migrant worker population
for indicators of trafficking, which left an unknown number
of potential victims without proper care. The anti-trafficking
law provides trafficking victims immunity from immigrationrelated offenses, such as illegal entry, unlawful presence, and
possession of fraudulent travel documents. Potential trafficking
victims who denied they had been subjected to trafficking or
whose employers confiscated their documents were sometimes
detained, deported, or charged with immigration offenses
during the reporting period.
During the reporting period, the attorney general approved and
the deputy prime minister enforced implementing regulations
for the amendments to the anti-trafficking law. The amendments
allow victims—at the discretion of the anti-trafficking council—
to work and to move freely in and out of government facilities,
pending a security risk assessment, medical screening, and
mental health evaluation; allow the court to order convicted
traffickers to pay restitution to their victims and provide an
avenue for victims to bring civil suits against their abusers;
expand interim protection orders from 14 to 21 days to allow
for more thorough investigations; allow NGOs to serve as
designated protection officers; and institutionalize a highlevel anti-trafficking committee. During the reporting period,
the government continued its collaboration with civil society
stakeholders, most notably by co-developing a set of standard
operating procedures for granting freedom of movement for
victims, which was used to approve applications for freedom
of movement and work permits. Several operational issues
remained, however, including limitations on certain nationalities
working in specific sectors; accountability for providing security
risk assessments, psychological evaluations, and medical
screenings; and a lack of trained mental health professionals
to administer them. Near the end of the reporting period, the
government expanded the pool of trained counselors—from
three to 146—available to conduct psychological evaluations
by authorizing counselors working with domestic abuse victims
and other vulnerable populations to also evaluate trafficking
victims.

266

Of the 1,558 victims identified, authorities completed 106 risk
assessments to consider whether to grant freedom of movement;
authorities denied 60 victims freedom of movement based on
alleged medical or security concerns. The medical screenings
were conducted by trained physicians. During the reporting
period, the government issued six work visas to trafficking
victims—compared to four issued the previous year. The
government authorized freedom of movement for an additional
40 foreign victims, but delays in obtaining passports from
victims’ respective embassies stymied the issuance process of
special immigration passes, which are prerequisite for freedom
of movement. Ultimately, the government issued 12 special
immigration passes during the reporting period. The remaining
28 victims awaited their passports at the end of the reporting
period or decided to return to their home countries as soon
as their passports were ready. Malaysian officials continued to
streamline the normally arduous administrative processes for

linking victims interested in employment with a luxury hotel
chain by waiving some requirements for new job applicants,
focusing mostly on the risk assessment process. However, the
remaining six eligible participants declined to participate in
the employment program, citing preferences to return to their
respective countries of origin or dissatisfaction with the offered
salary, which was significantly above the minimum wage. The
government commenced monthly allowance payments of
120 Malaysian ringgit (RM) ($27) to victims for incidental
expenditures, and appointed 12 individuals to form the first
NGO protection officer cohort.
During the year, most trafficking victims were housed
in government facilities as part of a court-ordered 21-day
interim protection order (for suspected trafficking victims) or
a subsequent 90-day protection order (for certified trafficking
victims). Some victims, however, remained in the shelters for
up to six months. Shelters became severely over-crowded as
increased police efforts to identify victims led to more shelter
residents. For example, the largest shelter has a capacity of
approximately 70 residents but occasionally housed up to
two hundred individuals or more. Most victims who stayed
in government shelters did so without freedom of movement
or the right to work, in contravention of global best practices.
As in past years, many victims preferred to immediately return
to their home countries. Although the law permits victims to
testify remotely, authorities generally expected victims to remain
in-country pending trial proceedings. During the reporting
period, many victims were unwilling to testify. The reluctance
of victims to provide witness testimony reportedly stemmed
from a desire to avoid protracted criminal proceedings, to return
home more quickly, and bribes or intimidation from traffickers.
The Ministry of Women, Family, and Community Development
maintained seven facilities specifically to house trafficking
victims—four for women, one for men, and two for child
trafficking victims. During the reporting period, the government
allocated 3.06 million RM ($682,270) to open three new
trafficking shelters in the states of Kedah, Kelantan, and Sarawak.
The government provided basic services for all victims staying
in its facilities, including food, shelter, medical care, social and
religious activities, and security; NGOs provided some victim
rehabilitation and counseling services in most shelters, typically
without government-allocated funding. Victims could make
phone calls at least once per month, and shelter staff provided
opportunities for victims to engage in handicrafts and other
income-generating activities. In general, NGOs were understaffed
and expressed that they had difficulty in maintaining adequate
resources to provide consistent services for victims. During the
reporting period, Malaysian officials provided three NGOs with
483,000 RM ($107,690) —ten times more than was provided in
the previous year—to conduct various programs and activities
with trafficking shelter residents, and also increased its funding
allocation to 5.3 million RM ($1.18 million), up from 4.6
million RM ($1.03 million) the previous year, to the Ministry
of Women, Family, and Community Development to operate
government facilities for trafficking victims.

PREVENTION

The government maintained modest efforts to prevent
trafficking. MAPO was headed by the home affairs ministry
and included representation from five enforcement bodies,
other government entities, and two NGO representatives. It
met on a quasi-monthly basis and was active in coordinating
interagency anti-trafficking efforts and conducting trainings for
government ministries, in addition to consultation sessions

The government had existing MOUs with the governments of
Sri Lanka, Vietnam, Thailand, China, Pakistan, Bangladesh,
India, Indonesia, and Cambodia to improve regulation of
foreign worker contracts and rights. In 2016, the government
expanded its MOU with Cambodia—enacted in 2015 to
govern Cambodian domestic workers in Malaysia—to include
factory, plantation, and construction workers. Employment
law continued to exclude domestic workers from a number
of protections, including the country’s minimum wage. Labor
inspectorates conducted 49,610 labor inspections, which resulted
in the issuance of 5,297 correction notices and the referral of
27,063 labor disputes to the labor courts. Labor officials referred
two cases to the attorney general’s chambers for prosecution,
while the rest were resolved through back-payment for exploited
workers and levied fines for noncompliant employers; in 2015
the government reported 47,000 labor inspections, 6,500
citations issued for contraventions of the Employment Act,
and seven cases of exploitative labor referred for criminal
proceedings—the outcomes of the seven cases were unknown
at the end of the current reporting period. Following claims that
one of its labor suppliers misled migrant workers about wages
and housed them in poor conditions, McDonald’s Malaysia
discontinued its work with that labor supplier. The government
did not demonstrate efforts to reduce demand for commercial
sex. The government provided anti-trafficking training for its
diplomatic personnel and its troops prior to their deployment
abroad on international peacekeeping missions.

TRAFFICKING PROFILE

As reported over the past five years, Malaysia is a destination
and, to a much lesser extent, source and transit country for men,
women, and children subjected to forced labor and women and
children subjected to sex trafficking. The overwhelming majority
of trafficking victims are among the estimated two million
documented and an even greater number of undocumented
migrant laborers in Malaysia. Foreign workers constitute more
than 20 percent of the Malaysian workforce and typically migrate
voluntarily—often illegally—to Malaysia from Bangladesh,
India, Nepal, Burma, Indonesia, the Philippines, and other
Southeast Asian countries, mostly in pursuit of better economic
opportunities. Some of these migrants are subjected to forced
labor or debt bondage by their employers, employment agents,

or informal labor recruiters when they are unable to pay the
fees for recruitment and associated travel. Foreign workers
employed by outsourcing or contract labor companies, which
may or may not have oversight of personnel issues or day-today working conditions, have heightened vulnerabilities to
exploitative labor conditions and a reduced ability to resolve
disputes. Agents in labor source countries may impose onerous
fees on workers before they arrive in Malaysia, in some cases
causing debt bondage. Foreign workers in Malaysia and the
companies that employ them are subject to a complex system
of government fees for immigration processing, foreign worker
levies, and other administrative processes. The law allows
many of the fees, which are initially paid by employers, to
be deducted from workers’ wages, incentivizing employers to
prevent workers from ending their employment before fees are
recouped. Authorities report large organized crime syndicates are
responsible for some instances of trafficking. Official complicity
and corruption among immigration and police officers remains
a problem and impedes some efforts to address trafficking.
Discoveries of migrant camps and mass graves along the border
with Thailand in 2015 generated reports some officials were
complicit in facilitating migrant smuggling, which may have
included trafficking crimes; however, no Malaysian official was
held criminally accountable.

MALDIVES

with NGO partners to strengthen victim protection. In 2016,
the government maintained its allocation of 4 million RM
($891,860) to operate the MAPO secretariat. The deputy prime
minister approved an updated national action plan spanning
2016-2020, which outlined the government’s objectives to
combat trafficking by strengthening laws, improving cooperation
and investigation skills among law enforcement agencies,
raising public awareness, and increasing partnerships with
NGOs on victim protection. The government produced and
aired 6,492 public service radio broadcasts and 1,648 television
segments during the reporting period, compared to 6,447
and 1,347 announcements, respectively, in 2015. It also
disseminated 20,000 informational booklets on trafficking
via 139 information centers around the country; it distributed
50,000 the year prior. Labor officials also provided banners
and other signage at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport
in holding lounges for newly arrived migrant workers in a
range of languages to help educate foreign workers about their
rights in Malaysia. During the reporting period, the government
organized 11 awareness-raising programs with the plantation
industry to sensitize them to forced labor indicators; the
government organized similar outreach activities in the previous
reporting period in the electronics sector.

Some migrant workers on palm oil and agricultural plantations,
at construction sites, in the electronics industry, and in homes
as domestic workers are subjected to practices that can indicate
forced labor, such as passport retention—both authorized and
unauthorized—and contract violations, restricted movement,
wage fraud, and imposition of significant debts by recruitment
agents or employers. Contract violations remain widespread
in Malaysia. Passport retention remained widespread and
problematic; Malaysian law allows employers to hold workers’
passports with the workers’ permission, but it is difficult
to determine if workers have freely given permission, and
some employers may retain the passports to prevent workers
from changing jobs. In efforts to circumvent anti-trafficking
protections established by the Indonesian government, some
Indonesian workers may transit Malaysia legally en route to
Middle Eastern countries, where some may be subjected to
domestic servitude. Although significantly fewer than the
number of forced laborers, some young foreign women—mainly
from Southeast Asia—are recruited ostensibly for legal work in
Malaysian restaurants, hotels, and beauty salons, but are instead
forced or coerced into the commercial sex trade. Vietnamese
women and girls enter into brokered marriages in Malaysia
and are subsequently forced into prostitution.
The more than 150,000 registered refugees and asylum-seekers
in Malaysia lack formal status and the ability to obtain legal
work permits, leaving them vulnerable to trafficking. Many
refugees incur large smuggling debts, which traffickers use to
subject some refugees to debt bondage. Children from refugee
communities in peninsular Malaysia are reportedly subjected
to forced begging. A large population of Filipino Muslims
resides illegally in Sabah, some of whom are vulnerable to
trafficking. Few Malaysian citizens are subjected to trafficking
internally and abroad.

MALDIVES: TIER 2
The Government of Maldives does not fully meet the minimum
standards for the elimination of trafficking; however, it is making
significant efforts to do so. The government demonstrated

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MALDIVES

increasing efforts compared to the previous reporting period;
therefore, Maldives was upgraded to Tier 2. The government
demonstrated increasing efforts by convicting traffickers under
its trafficking law for the first time. The government increased
investigations, prosecutions, and the identification of trafficking
victims. The government acceded to the 2000 UN TIP Protocol,
launched awareness campaigns and amended its employment
act to require employers to establish and pay employees’
salaries through bank accounts. However, the government
did not meet the minimum standards in several key areas.
The government’s trafficking law does not conform to the
2000 UN TIP Protocol as its definition of human trafficking
is generally predicated on the movement of the victim. The
government did not adopt standard operating procedures
(SOPs) for victim identification, protection, and referral,
thereby preventing proactive identification of victims. Dedicated
trafficking victim protection services were limited—while the
government allocated funds for the construction of a trafficking
victim shelter, construction had not begun by the end of the
reporting period. Victims lacked regular access to medical and
psycho-social support and dedicated translators.

RECOMMENDATIONS FOR MALDIVES

Amend the Prevention of Human Trafficking Act (PHTA) to
refine the definition of human trafficking to conform with
the 2000 UN TIP Protocol; while respecting due process,
increase efforts to investigate and prosecute suspected traffickers,
including allegedly complicit officials; formally adopt SOPs for
proactive identification of trafficking victims and referral to
protection services, and train officials on their use; re-establish
the state-run shelter and consistent rehabilitation services;
finalize and implement the standard operating procedures
for shelter operations and victim services; increase efforts
to monitor and punish labor recruitment agents and firms
engaging in fraudulent practices; enforce prohibitions against
passport retention by employers, including government agencies;
provide translators to law enforcement and labor authorities
to ensure foreign workers are able to participate in inspections,
investigations, and prosecutions of their alleged traffickers;
and continue to raise public awareness of human trafficking
through media campaigns.

PROSECUTION

268

The government increased anti-trafficking law enforcement
efforts. The PHTA criminalizes some, but not all forms, of
sex and labor trafficking. In a departure from the 2000 UN
TIP Protocol definition, articles 11 through 16 define human
trafficking to require the act of transporting a person, either
transnationally or internally, “through unlawful coercive means,”
or in a conspiracy with others. To constitute trafficking under
the PHTA, the transportation must be done for the purpose
of compelling a person to provide work or a service, marry,
or undergo an unnecessary medical procedure or test, which
are forms of exploitation different from those in the 2000 UN
TIP Protocol. It is not clear whether its reference to “work or
service” includes “the exploitation of the prostitution of others”
which is central to the 2000 UN TIP Protocol. With regard to

children, however, article 14 criminalizes “exploitative conduct,”
which explicitly is defined to include prostitution. Consistent
with international law, articles 14 and 15 provide that when
children are transported for the purpose of forced labor or
services, the child will be presumed to not have consented to
the exploitation. The PHTA does include forced labor—but only
if a person is transported. Article 16 criminalizes debt bondage
without reference to transportation. The penalty for violation
of the PHTA is from seven to 15 years imprisonment, which is
sufficiently stringent and commensurate with those prescribed
for other serious crimes, such as rape. The Maldives Police Service
(MPS) reported investigating 11 trafficking cases, 10 forced
labor and one sex trafficking, during the reporting period, an
increase from six in 2015. The government reported prosecuting
four new cases, an increase from zero prosecutions in the three
previous reporting periods. The prosecutor general’s office
(PGO) and Maldives immigration stated the disproportionately
small number of prosecutions is due to courts not accepting
electronic documents as evidence, including employment visas
for migrant workers. For the first time, the government secured
a conviction under the PHTA. Three foreign nationals were each
sentenced to 10 years imprisonment in a sex trafficking case
prosecuted during previous reporting periods.
Maldives immigration continued to implement mandatory
training curriculum on trafficking for new recruits. MPS
conducted several anti-trafficking trainings for officers during the
reporting period. An international organization partnered with
the government to conduct multiple anti-trafficking trainings
for various agencies, including a training of trainers for law
enforcement and training for 35 judges that resulted in a formal
commitment by the judges to combat human trafficking. Despite
these trainings, officials continued to conflate human trafficking
with human smuggling and the presence of undocumented
migrants in Maldives. Officials also acknowledged government
efforts were mainly focused on transnational labor trafficking
to the possible detriment of addressing sex trafficking cases.
Private employers and some government agencies frequently
held the passports of foreign workers they employed, including
the ministries of education and health who held the passports of
foreign teachers and health care workers. Maldives immigration
reported it investigated cases of employer passport retention
and negotiated the return of documents to employees; however
the government did not report whether it penalized employers
for such acts. Authorities did not report collaborating on
transnational investigations with other governments, even
though victims were referred to MPS by their foreign high
commissions during the reporting period. Law enforcement
efforts continued to be hampered by the absence of dedicated
foreign language interpreters for victim-witnesses. International
experts stated some traffickers operated with impunity because
of their connections with influential Maldivians. Observers
reported some judges were reluctant to hear trafficking cases,
and in some cases police were unable to obtain warrants to
arrest traffickers. NGOs reported some officials warn businesses
in advance of planned raids for suspected trafficking offenses
or other labor abuses, and officials may have been involved
in labor recruiting practices that can lead to trafficking. The
government did not report any investigations, prosecutions,
or convictions of government officials complicit in human
trafficking offenses.

PROTECTION

The government slightly increased its victim protection efforts
through increased efforts to identify victims. The government

The government did not formally adopt the SOPs for victim
identification, protection, and referral that had been finalized
in the previous reporting period. MPS reported it disseminated
the SOPs to officers and that police followed the SOPs, resulting
in an increase in victims identified; however, other agencies
reported they had no knowledge of the SOPs. Immigration
officials reported they screened all foreign workers detained for
deportation for trafficking indicators and referred one suspected
case to the police; however, officials also stated some potential
victims may have been deported. Foreign victims may be granted
a special visa allowing them to remain in Maldives and work
during the course of the investigation and prosecution; however,
identified victims who voluntarily entered Maldives illegally
were subject to deportation. Maldives immigration funded the
voluntary repatriation of all 18 identified trafficking victims
during the reporting period.

PREVENTION

The government increased its efforts to prevent human
trafficking. The government acceded to the 2000 UN TIP Protocol
in September 2016. The Ministry of Economic Development
(MED) coordinated government and NGO anti-trafficking
efforts through the national steering committee (NSC); while
the NSC met during the reporting period, several agencies
reported the meetings were infrequent and overall coordination
was weak. The Ministry of Law and Gender, a former chair
of the steering committee, was largely excluded from the
government’s anti-trafficking infrastructure, subsequently
increasing coordination challenges. The government continued
to implement its 2015-2019 national action plan. In April 2016,
MED published a booklet outlining the government’s antitrafficking efforts and during the reporting period, MED held
two media briefings to inform the public about government
activities to combat trafficking. The government developed and
ran a public awareness campaign covering 13 anti-trafficking
topics via television and radio programming from June through
August 2016, and another campaign in January through March

2017 disseminated information to media, students, and the
general public. The government also promoted its trafficking
hotline with assistance from an international organization,
at airport and ferry terminals, fairs, and a youth career event.
The government’s revised regulations on foreign employment
agencies came into force in March 2016 and require agencies to
be licensed and fully compliant with regulations by July 2017.
MED made 158 inspection visits to agencies in 2016. In August
2016, the Employment Act was amended to require employers
to open a bank account for each migrant worker in the worker’s
name and deposit all payments into the account. Employers
who do not deposit the salary of their migrant workers into
their bank accounts may be penalized between 10,000 and
50,000 Maldivian rufiyaa ($661-$3,305). Maldives immigration
implemented pre-departure and health screening of potential
migrant workers in Bangladesh during 2016, in part to mitigate
fraudulent recruitment. Maldives immigration conducted
radio and television programs focused on safe migration and
human trafficking. Immigration officials reported blacklisting
2,073 labor-recruiting companies and individuals for various
labor-related infractions; however, officials noted blacklisting
was ineffective as companies could register under a new name
to continue operations. Maldives immigration continued to
implement a program allowing undocumented victims of labor
law violations to be employed by a local company and given
legal status to remain in the country; during the reporting period
1,186 undocumented workers enrolled in this program. The
government provided anti-trafficking training for its diplomatic
personnel. The government did not report any efforts to reduce
the demand for commercial sex acts or forced labor.

MALI

identified 18 victims during the reporting period, an increase
from nine in the previous reporting period. One victim was a
woman exploited in sex trafficking, and 17 were men subjected
to forced labor; all victims were foreign national adults—most
were from Bangladesh. The PHTA provides in article 32 a
90-day reflection period during which victims are eligible to
receive services while deciding whether to assist authorities
in a criminal case. The police reported two victims received
extensions of the reflection period. Victims are entitled to receive
rehabilitative services, including shelter, health care, counseling,
translation services, and police protection; however, in practice,
victim care services were limited. Victims lacked regular access
to medical and psycho-social support. PGO’s victim support
officer, assigned to ensure victims’ needs were met, was only
available to trafficking victims whose cases would be prosecuted.
The government provided 17 of the identified victims with
rehabilitation services; one victim declined services and was
voluntarily repatriated. Two victims identified in a previous
reporting period continued to receive rehabilitation services
from the government. The government allocated funding in
2016 for the construction of a shelter for trafficking victims;
however, construction had not commenced by the end of the
reporting period. The government placed victims in guest
house facilities. Maldives Immigration maintained a shelter
for undocumented male migrant workers, but this shelter did
not provide trafficking-specific services. There were no local
NGOs providing services to trafficking victims during the
reporting period.

TRAFFICKING PROFILE

As reported over the past five years, Maldives is a destination
country for men, women, and children subjected to forced
labor and sex trafficking, and a source country for women and
children subjected to labor and sex trafficking. An unknown
number of the approximately 130,000 documented and
60,000 undocumented foreign workers in Maldives—primarily
Bangladeshi and Indian men in the construction and service
sectors—are subjected to practices indicative of forced labor,
including fraudulent recruitment, confiscation of identity and
travel documents, withholding or non-payment of wages, and
debt bondage. Migrant workers pay approximately $2,500 to
$4,000 in recruitment fees to work in Maldives, contributing
to their risk of debt bondage upon arrival. In addition to
Bangladeshis and Indians, some workers from Sri Lanka,
Pakistan, and Nepal reportedly experience recruitment fraud
before arriving in Maldives; recruitment agents in source
countries collude with employers and agents in Maldives to
facilitate fraudulent recruitment and forced labor of migrant
workers. A small number of women from Asia, Central Asia, and
Eastern Europe, as well as girls from Bangladesh and Maldives,
are subjected to sex trafficking in Maldives. Maldivian children
are transported to the capital, Male, from other islands for
domestic service; some of these children are also reportedly
subjected to sexual abuse and may be victims of forced labor.
Maldivian women may be subjected to sex trafficking in Sri
Lanka.

MALI: TIER 3
The Government of Mali does not fully meet the minimum
standards for the elimination of trafficking and did not

269

MALI

demonstrate overall increasing efforts to do so compared to
the previous reporting period. Although Mali meets the criteria
for Tier 2 Watch List, because it has been on Tier 2 Watch List
for four years, it is no longer eligible for that ranking and is
therefore ranked Tier 3. Despite a lack of overall increasing
efforts, the government took some steps to address trafficking,
including convicting its first traffickers under the 2012 antitrafficking law and sending one trafficker to jail. In addition, the
government allocated a line item for anti-trafficking activities
in its annual budget and disbursed funding to support training
on the anti-trafficking law, in-kind support to victim shelters,
and awareness-raising activities. However, there were reports
the government also provided some in-kind support to and on
some occasions collaborated with the Imghad Tuareg and Allies
Self-Defense Group (GATIA), a non-government militia headed
by a Malian general that used and recruited child soldiers. It did
not investigate any government officials for complicity in child
soldiering. Moreover, contrary to government protocol, officials
transferred four ex-child combatants whom international
authorities had removed from GATIA back to a government
official with ties to GATIA to facilitate family reintegration; it
is unclear if the victims were reunited with their families. The
government did not have standard procedures to identify and
refer victims to care and continued to detain some former
child soldiers in adult prison facilities for alleged association
with militias. Furthermore, many judicial personnel were still
unaware of the 2012 anti-trafficking law, and police lacked
funding and resources to investigate trafficking cases.

RECOMMENDATIONS FOR MALI

270

Cease support to groups that use and recruit child soldiers;
follow the established protocol for referring children allegedly
associated with armed groups to care, and cease detaining such
children; vigorously investigate and prosecute trafficking offenses
and convict and punish traffickers, including those who recruit
and use child soldiers and allegedly complicit officials, and
prescribe penalties with terms of imprisonment; further train
judges and prosecutors on the 2012 anti-trafficking law; develop
standardized mechanisms to identify potential trafficking
victims, including children among armed groups, and refer
them to care, and train government officials on such procedures;
train law enforcement on effective case investigation techniques
and provide them with the necessary resources to investigate
trafficking cases; expand and strengthen implementation
of programs for the disarmament, demobilization, and
reintegration of former child combatants that address specific
needs of child ex-combatants; continue funding or in-kind
support to NGOs that assist trafficking victims to expand shelters
and services for victims, including outside the capital; enact
legislation to criminalize hereditary slavery, and investigate and
prosecute cases of it, especially in the north; fully implement the
2015-2017 national action plan to combat trafficking, including
by formalizing the roles and responsibilities of various antitrafficking committee members; and increase efforts to raise
public awareness of trafficking, including child forced begging
in Quranic schools.

PROSECUTION

The government modestly increased anti-trafficking law
enforcement efforts. Law 2012-023 Relating to the Combat
against Trafficking in Persons and Similar Practices criminalizes
all forms of trafficking of adults and children. The law prescribes
penalties of five to 10 years imprisonment, and a maximum of 20
year imprisonment for cases involving aggravating circumstances,
which are sufficiently stringent and commensurate with those for
other serious crimes, such as rape. Forced begging is considered
a crime under articles 10 and 11 of the 2012 law, and carries
penalties of two to five years imprisonment and a fine of
500,000 to 2 million West African CFA francs (FCFA) ($800 $3,200), which is sufficiently stringent. The 2012 law does not
criminalize hereditary slavery, however, and reports indicated
this practice was increasing in the north.
As in the previous reporting period, the justice minister issued a
decree instructing all judicial personnel to prioritize prosecutions
of cases under the 2012 law. Although the government did
not have a centralized mechanism to collect or maintain
comprehensive anti-trafficking law enforcement and victim
identification statistics, it reported investigating 11 trafficking
cases, prosecuting at least seven traffickers in six cases, and
convicting four traffickers in three cases. This is compared
with investigating three potential cases and not prosecuting
or convicting any traffickers in the previous reporting period.
Nine investigations, three prosecutions, and the appeal of the
acquittal of one trafficker remained ongoing at the end of the
reporting period. The judge sentenced one trafficker to one
year imprisonment for transporting eight Ivoirian children to
a Quranic school where they would have been exploited in
forced begging or other forced labor; this was the government’s
first conviction under the trafficking article of the 2012 law,
although the judge found mitigating circumstances so the
prescribed sentence was below the minimum of five years
imprisonment specified in the law. Judges also sentenced three
traffickers under the forced begging article of the 2012 law in
two additional cases. Although the law prescribes a penalty of
five years imprisonment and a fine, the judge used mitigating
circumstances to impose sentences of one year imprisonment,
suspended, for one individual and two years imprisonment,
suspended, and fines of 25,000 FCFA ($40) for the other two
traffickers. Penalties without imprisonment are inadequate to
deter the crime.
The Ministry of Justice trained more than 180 law enforcement,
prosecutors, and judges on victim identification, trafficking case
investigations, and prosecuting alleged traffickers under the
2012 law. The ministry also distributed 200 copies of the law
to judges, police, and magistrates during the trainings. Despite
these efforts, continued lack of awareness of the 2012 law
stymied law enforcement action, and the police’s system-wide
lack of funding and resources, including vehicles and equipment
necessary to investigate trafficking crimes, remained serious
concerns. Reports alleged pervasive corruption throughout
government security forces and the judiciary impeded efforts
to prosecute crimes, including trafficking. There were reports
corruption and complicity in trafficking offenses among local
police and gendarmes in Farako may have facilitated forced
labor and sex trafficking in mining communities. The nongovernment militia GATIA, led by a Malian general, used and
recruited child soldiers during the reporting period, but the
government did not report any investigations, prosecutions, or
convictions of traffickers for child soldiering offenses, nor did it
investigate any officials for complicity in such acts. During the
reporting period, authorities arrested a former diplomat from
Democratic Republic of the Congo for allegedly facilitating the

PROTECTION

The government increased efforts to identify and protect some
trafficking victims but continued to detain some former child
soldiers recruited by non-government militias. Government
officials and NGO partners identified 108 trafficking victims,
primarily Nigerians and other West Africans exploited in Mali,
and 35 potential child trafficking victims, compared with 48
victims identified in the previous reporting period. The National
Police’s Brigade for the Protection of Morals and Children
(BPMC) identified the 35 potential trafficking victims, two
of whom it found working in nightclubs and 33 who were
mistreated child domestic workers; it is unclear if the BPMC
referred any of the children to services or investigated the
cases. The government did not have standardized mechanisms
to identify potential trafficking victims and refer them to
care. The government provided nominal assistance to victims,
including familial reunification and travel documentation, but
primarily relied on privately-funded NGOs and international
organizations to provide shelter, counseling, food, repatriation,
and reintegration services. The Ministry for the Advancement
of Children, Women, and Families had some facilities for
vulnerable victims that trafficking victims could access, although
it did not report if any did so during the reporting period.
The government did not provide financial support to NGOs
that assisted victims, although it did provide significant inkind support to these facilities during the reporting period,
including 270 beds, mattresses, mosquito nets, and blankets;
18 refrigerators; nine televisions; and food for 10 shelters. The
government continued to rely on private and international
donors to provide the majority of funding for the centers.
Shelters and services for victims outside the capital remained
limited, especially in the north. Foreign and domestic victims
received the same services, and while some facilities could
offer specialized services for females, there were no such
services for males. The government did not report identifying
or assisting any victims of hereditary slavery in areas where this
practice was prevalent. During the reporting period, authorities
provided transportation assistance to assist the repatriation
of five Congolese trafficking victims. In collaboration with
an NGO, the government also coordinated the repatriation
of Malian nationals exploited abroad and the provision of
food, shelter, and medical assistance upon repatriation. The
government offered legal alternatives to removal to countries
in which victims would face retribution or hardship. The
government does not have formal policies to encourage victims
to participate in trials against their traffickers. Victims may legally
file civil suits against their traffickers, although the government
did not report that any did so during the reporting period.
International organizations continued to report viewing children
among the ranks of rebel militias and terrorist organizations
in the north. Despite the government’s 2013 inter-ministerial
protocol that requires authorities to direct former child soldiers
to rehabilitation centers, at least seven children remained
in state-run detention facilities, including adult prisons, for
association with armed groups; some of the children had
been in detention since 2014. An international organization
identified and referred to the National Directorate for the
Promotion of Children and Families for care four ex-child
combatants associated with GATIA, aged 14 to 17 years old; in
violation of the 2013 protocol, however, the directorate gave
the children to a government official who had ties to GATIA

to facilitate family reunification; it is unclear if the children
were reunited with their families.

PREVENTION

The government increased efforts to prevent trafficking.
Officials continued modest efforts to implement the 20152017 anti-trafficking national action plan. For the first time, the
government created a line item in its annual budget specifically
for anti-trafficking efforts and allocated an additional 200
million FCFA ($319,930) for such efforts during the reporting
period, bringing the total funding allocated for anti-trafficking
efforts in 2016 to 450 million FCFA ($719,840). It used this
funding for trainings on the 2012 law, awareness-raising
activities, and in-kind support for NGO victim shelters. The
government also conducted an awareness-raising session on
child forced begging for 30 Quranic school teachers, known as
marabouts. The national committee, charged with coordinating
government anti-trafficking efforts, met infrequently during the
reporting period. The lack of coordination among committee
members and ownership for individual responsibilities impeded
its effectiveness and delayed the disbursement of funding for
anti-trafficking activities. Labor inspectors remained without
sufficient capacity or resources to regulate the informal sector,
where most cases of forced labor occurred. The government did
not make efforts to decrease the demand for forced labor or
commercial sex acts. It did not provide anti-trafficking training
for its diplomatic personnel or peacekeepers deployed abroad.

MALI

transportation of Congolese girls to African, European, and
Asian countries for exploitation. Authorities also arrested two
Malian police officers who were alleged accomplices, and the
investigation was ongoing at the end of the reporting period.

TRAFFICKING PROFILE

As reported over the past five years, Mali is a source, transit, and
destination country for men, women, and children subjected
to forced labor and sex trafficking. Internal trafficking is more
prevalent than transnational trafficking; boys from Guinea and
Burkina Faso, however, are subjected to forced labor in artisanal
gold mines, and women and girls from other West African
countries, particularly Nigeria, are exploited in prostitution and
sex trafficking throughout Mali. Nigerian authorities estimate
more than 5,000 Nigerian girls are victims of sex trafficking
in Mali. Women and girls are forced into domestic servitude,
agricultural labor, and support roles in artisanal gold mines.
Men and boys are subjected to forced labor in agriculture—
especially rice production—artisanal gold mines, domestic
work, transportation, begging, and the informal commercial
sector. NGOs reported concerns that high unemployment, food
insecurity, and security threats are driving some families to sell
their children into domestic servitude or forced labor in gold
mines. Some members of Mali’s black Tuareg community are
subjected to slavery practices rooted in traditional relationships
of hereditary servitude, including in salt mines in Taoudeni
in northern Mali, and reports indicate it is worsening. Malian
boys and other West African nationals are forced to beg or
perform agricultural work by unscrupulous marabouts in Mali
and neighboring countries, including Senegal and Guinea.
NGO reports indicate Malian children endure forced labor
on cotton and cocoa farms in Cote d’Ivoire. Other Africans
transiting Mali to Europe, primarily via Algeria and Libya and
less so via Mauritania, are vulnerable to trafficking. Nigerian
traffickers fraudulently recruit Nigerian women and girls with
promises of taking them to Europe but exploit them in sex
trafficking in Mali. Malian women and girls are victims of sex
trafficking in Gabon, Libya, Lebanon, and Tunisia.
In early 2012, rebel and Islamic extremist groups occupied
northern Mali. During their 2012-2013 occupation of the
north, these terrorist organizations and armed groups recruited

271

MALTA

and used children, mostly boys, in combat, requiring children
to carry weapons, staff checkpoints, guard prisoners, and
conduct patrols. These groups reportedly used girls for sexual
exploitation, including sex slavery through forced marriages to
members of these militias. The armed groups purportedly forced
some families to sell their children to the groups. Reports also
indicate some parents collaborate with armed groups to insert
their children into the group’s ranks so the parents can benefit
from possible disarmament, demobilization, and reintegration
assistance. During the reporting period, an international
organization identified six Malian former child soldiers in a
Mauritanian refugee camp; due to porous borders and families
living on both sides of the border, it is possible Malian armed
groups have also forcibly recruited some Mauritanian children
to be child soldiers in Mali. The government provided some inkind support to and collaborated with GATIA, a non-government
militia led by a Malian general that used and recruited at least
76 children in 2016, including children as young as 11 years
old and at least 14 girls. Although there is no evidence the
Malian military recruits or uses child soldiers, poor military
recordkeeping systems and the ready availability of fraudulent
birth certificates impeded the government’s ability to verify
the precise age of all Malian soldiers. The United Nations
Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali
(MINUSMA) investigated 23 cases of conflict-related sexual
violence, including forced prostitution and sexual slavery, in
Gao, Timbuktu, Kidal, and a refugee camp in Mauritania in 2016.
MINUSMA investigated four members of GATIA, three members
of the Mali Defense and Security Forces (MDSF), and civilians
in these cases, although it did not report any prosecutions
or convictions for trafficking offenses. The unstable security
environment in and extremely restricted access to northern and
central Mali, where the government exercises limited territorial
control, limited the availability of comprehensive reporting.
Furthermore, the security situation prevented government
officials—including judges—from operating in certain regions
of the country, limiting victims’ access to justice.

MALTA: TIER 2
The Government of Malta does not fully meet the minimum
standards for the elimination of trafficking; however, it is making
significant efforts to do so. The government demonstrated
increasing efforts compared to the previous reporting
period; therefore, Malta remained on Tier 2. The government
demonstrated increasing efforts by identifying significantly
more victims and providing all of them with shelter and
services and funding training for police recruits and officers,
border agents, and diplomats. However, the government did
not meet the minimum standards, as it has not secured any
trafficking convictions since 2012.

RECOMMENDATIONS FOR MALTA
272

Vigorously investigate and prosecute trafficking offenses and

pursue adequate sentencing for convicted trafficking offenders;
increase efforts and training of relevant staff and officials
to proactively identify trafficking victims among vulnerable
immigrant populations, particularly migrant workers, child
trafficking victims, and women in prostitution; use antitrafficking training for police officers, prosecutors, and judges
to increase focus on working with victims and procedures for
appropriate referral for care; increase funding to the interministerial committee for implementing the national action
plan; increase funding for both short- and long-term shelter and
assistance adapted to the needs of trafficking victims, including
male victims and minors; provide adequate availability of
translators for victims; and increase awareness campaigns.

PROSECUTION

The government maintained law enforcement efforts. Article
248A-G of the criminal code prohibits both sex and labor
trafficking and prescribes penalties of four to 12 years
imprisonment. These penalties are sufficiently stringent and
commensurate with those prescribed for other serious crimes,
such as rape. The government has not obtained a conviction
since early 2012. The government conducted three investigations
and initiated prosecution of four defendants in one case,
which remained pending at the close of the reporting period.
These efforts were on par with the previous reporting period
when the government initiated investigation of two cases
and prosecution of two defendants. Three labor trafficking
prosecutions initiated in 2014 remained pending at the close
of the reporting period. Both the appeal of a 2012 conviction
of a police officer for alleged collusion with a trafficker, and the
prosecution of a 2004 case involving a police official, remained
pending. There were no new investigations or prosecutions of
government employees complicit in human trafficking offenses.
The slow pace of court proceedings hampered prosecutions
relying on victims to provide testimony in court. The government,
in collaboration with an international organization and a
foreign embassy, completed a six-month research and training
program for police officers, prosecutors, and judges, to raise
awareness of trafficking within the judiciary. Frequent turnover
of vice unit investigators, who also served as prosecutors,
presented a challenge to authorities working to ensure all
stakeholders receive specialized training.

PROTECTION

The government demonstrated modest efforts to protect
trafficking victims. Police identified 35 foreign trafficking
victims, including 32 Filipino labor trafficking victims in a
single case involving a cleaning company (18 males and 14
females), two female domestic servitude victims, and one
female sex trafficking victim; such efforts were an increase
from two victims identified in the previous reporting period.
The government had standard operating procedures in place
for victim identification, and that allowed a range of entities
to refer victims to the government’s social welfare agency
for care, which offered emergency shelter, medical care, and
counseling. NGOs also provided this support, either funded by
the government or other donors; one NGO received €33,000
($34,773) in government funds for this purpose during the
reporting period. All 35 victims received care services. NGOs
continued to provide support and services to 10 trafficking
victims identified in 2014, some of whom also continued to
receive financial support from the government. While NGOs
reported assisting victims who are children, the government
has never formally identified a child trafficking victim.

MARSHALL ISLANDS: TIER 2 WATCH LIST
The Government of the Republic of the Marshall Islands (RMI)
does not fully meet the minimum standards for the elimination
of trafficking; however, it is making significant efforts to do so.
The government made key achievements during the reporting
period; therefore, RMI was upgraded to Tier 2 Watch List.
These achievements included drafting a new trafficking law,
approval of the National Action Plan to Combat Trafficking,
and continued implementation of parts of the plan begun
prior to its approval in 2015. The government also provided
funding for victim services and targeted awareness-raising efforts
conducted by the National Taskforce on Human Trafficking
(NTHT), initiated two investigations into allegations of labor
trafficking, and assisted in the protection and repatriation of
a foreign labor trafficking victim. The government also made
modest efforts to identify trafficking victims, notably among
foreign men working on fishing vessels in Marshallese waters.
Despite these achievements, the government did not prosecute
or convict any individuals for trafficking offenses, nor did it
strengthen its efforts to identify trafficking victims among
foreign and local women in prostitution.

PREVENTION

The government maintained prevention efforts. The interministerial anti-trafficking committee continued to implement
a national action plan, and it published a new action plan for
2017 to 2020. For a third consecutive year, the government
maintained an anti-trafficking budget of €20,000 ($21,075),
which did not include government funds provided to agencies
for victim support. The government conducted awareness-raising
efforts at schools and through dissemination of materials at
Maltese diplomatic missions abroad regarding employment
standards. The inter-ministerial anti-trafficking committee
charged with implementing the national action plan remained
unable to fully implement the plan due to a lack of funding.
Nonetheless, the committee publicly released semi-annual
reports in July and December monitoring the government’s antitrafficking efforts in 2016. Authorities conducted 1,159 labor
inspections and increased the number of inspectors, although
the government did not make efforts to reduce the demand for
commercial sex acts or forced labor. The social welfare agency
continued to run a hotline for individuals in need of social
services, including potential trafficking victims. The government
provided anti-trafficking training for its diplomatic personnel.

TRAFFICKING PROFILE

As reported over the past five years, Malta is a source and
destination country for women and children subjected to sex
trafficking and a destination for women, men, and children
subjected to labor trafficking. Women and children from Malta
have also been subjected to sex trafficking within the country.
Forced labor victims largely originate from China, and Southeast
Asia. Women from Southeast Asia working as domestic workers,
Chinese nationals working in massage parlors, and women from
Central and Eastern Europe, Russia, and Ukraine working in
nightclubs represent populations vulnerable to exploitation.
The approximately 5,000 irregular migrants from African
countries residing in Malta may be vulnerable to trafficking
in the country’s informal labor market, including within the
construction, hospitality, and domestic sectors.

MARSHALL ISLANDS

The government encouraged, but did not require, victims to assist
in the investigation and prosecution of their alleged traffickers
and provided them with protective support, including the option
to testify via video. The law provides victims a two-month
reflection period to recover and contemplate cooperation with
law enforcement. Foreign victims who decided to assist police
in prosecuting trafficking cases were entitled to a temporary
residence permit, police protection, legal assistance, and the
right to work. The government provided these entitlements to
all 35 of the trafficking victims identified during the reporting
period. There were no reports the government penalized victims
for unlawful acts committed as a direct result of being subjected
to trafficking. Courts, however, have convicted some minors for
prostitution in recent years, who may have been unidentified
sex trafficking victims. Additionally, migrants who entered the
country illegally, some of whom may have been trafficking
victims, were routinely held in detention centers. In December
2015 the government issued new guidance that limited the
circumstances under which irregular migrants could be detained,
although implementation of the new procedures remained
pending at the close of the reporting period. There was also
inadequate availability of translators for victims.

RECOMMENDATIONS FOR THE MARSHALL ISLANDS

Increase efforts to investigate, prosecute, convict, and sentence
traffickers under amended provisions of the criminal code
prescribing stringent penalties commensurate with other serious
crimes; adopt proactive procedures to identify trafficking
victims among vulnerable groups, such as foreign workers
and women in prostitution, and train officials on their use;
strengthen efforts to implement the National Action Plan to
Combat Trafficking in Persons; train law enforcement and
prosecution officials to implement the anti-trafficking laws;
adopt comprehensive labor codes to govern workers’ rights
and employers’ responsibilities; strengthen efforts to fund and
administer protective services for victims, in cooperation with
NGOs and international organizations; develop and conduct
anti-trafficking education and awareness-raising campaigns;
undertake research to study human trafficking in the country;
and accede to the 2000 UN TIP Protocol.

PROSECUTION

The government increased some of its law enforcement efforts;
however, other law enforcement efforts remained inadequate.
The Parliament introduced the Prohibition of Trafficking
in Persons Act in January 2017, which had not yet been
promulgated at the end of the reporting period. Article 251 of the
criminal code prohibited only transnational forms of trafficking
and prescribed penalties of up to 35 months imprisonment for
the trafficking of adults, and up to 10 years imprisonment for
the trafficking of children. The 2015 Child Rights Protection
Act prohibited the domestic and transnational trafficking of
children. The legal definition of trafficking did not include all
forms of the crime. The penalties for subjecting children to

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trafficking were sufficiently stringent and commensurate with
those prescribed for other serious crimes, such as rape, but the
penalties for adult trafficking were not.
The government did not prosecute or convict any individuals for
trafficking offenses in 2016, but it initiated two new trafficking
investigations—an increase from none in the previous reporting
period. In one case, a Cambodian man was recruited to work
as a translator on a ship, but upon boarding the vessel was
subjected to forced labor as a fisherman. When the vessel
docked in Majuro, he attempted to leave, at which point the
captain told him he must pay $4,000 for his freedom. He
managed to obtain an internet connection and file a report with
an international organization, which notified the NTHT. The
division of immigration located the individual and discussed
the situation with him in a safe location, then helped him to
contact his family to ensure they could receive him in Cambodia.
The shipping agent agreed to fund his repatriation, but there
were no reports of government efforts to secure back payment
of his salary. Authorities closed the investigation after the victim
chose not to press charges. In Ebeye, local law enforcement
collaborated with the FBI regarding a potential trafficking
case, but details were not available at the end of the reporting
period. The government did not report any investigations,
prosecutions, or convictions of government officials complicit
in human trafficking offenses.

PROTECTION

The government slightly increased its efforts to identify
trafficking victims and to ensure their access to protective
services. Unlike the previous five years, the government identified
at least one trafficking victim. Law enforcement and social
services personnel did not employ systematic procedures to
identify trafficking victims among women in prostitution
and child sex trafficking, but did so in the fishing sector;
during the reporting period, law enforcement implemented a
newly formulated standard operating procedure to screen 79
crew members aboard a fishing vessel for indicators of labor
trafficking. The government provided $137,000 to an NGO to
support protective services for victims of gender-based violence
and human trafficking—an increase from no contributions
in 2015. The NGO also signed an MOU with the Marshall
Islands police department on victim assistance during the
reporting period.

PREVENTION

274

The government increased efforts to prevent trafficking. The
NTHT held monthly meetings with participation by the director
of immigration, assistant attorney general, law enforcement
authorities, NGOs, and faith-based organizations, and briefed
the Office of the President and Cabinet on multiple occasions
throughout the reporting period. The NTHT held 17 meetings
and conducted awareness-raising sessions and training
workshops for more than 2,600 individuals from schools,
government, law enforcement, and civil society—an increase
of more than 1,000 from the previous reporting period. Ebeye
leadership also established the Kwajalein Atoll Counter Human
Trafficking (KACHT) Working Group, which aimed to leverage
tribal leadership to increase awareness about and prevent
trafficking among vulnerable traditional communities living
in a high-travel geographic region. KACHT helped to facilitate
a 16-day awareness-raising campaign, educating more than 500
people on trafficking issues. During the reporting period, RMI
law enforcement hosted the Guam Attorney General’s Office
for discussions with the NTHT on trafficking cooperation

and aimed to increase its investigative partnership with the
Guam Coalition Against Human Trafficking. The RMI Cabinet
endorsed the National Action Plan to Combat Trafficking in
July 2016. Authorities enforced fishing regulations barring
individuals from boarding licensed foreign fishing vessels
docked in Majuro in an attempt to mitigate the potential for
the commercial sexual exploitation of women and underage
girls. The government did not provide anti-trafficking training
for its diplomatic personnel, nor did it take steps to reduce the
demand for commercial sex acts or forced labor. The RMI is
not a party to the 2000 UN TIP Protocol.

TRAFFICKING PROFILE

As reported in the last three years, RMI is a source and destination
country for RMI women and children and a destination for
women from East Asia subjected to sex trafficking. RMI girls
are recruited by foreign business owners and are subjected
to sex trafficking with crew members of foreign fishing and
transshipping vessels that dock in Majuro. Some of these foreign
fisherman themselves are subjected to conditions indicative of
forced labor on ships in Marshallese waters. Foreign women,
most of whom are long-term residents, are subjected to forced
prostitution in establishments frequented by crew members
of Chinese and other foreign fishing vessels; some Chinese
women are recruited with the promise of other work and,
after paying large recruitment fees, are forced into prostitution.
Limited reports indicate some Marshallese searching for work
in the United States experience indicators of trafficking, such
as passport confiscation, excessive work hours, and fraudulent
recruitment. Some Marshallese children are transported to the
United States, where they are subjected to situations of sexual
abuse with indicators of sex trafficking.

MAURITANIA: TIER 3
The Government of Mauritania does not fully meet the minimum
standards for the elimination of trafficking and is not making
significant efforts to do so; therefore, Mauritania remained on
Tier 3. Despite the lack of significant efforts, the government
took some steps to address trafficking. As mandated by the
2015 anti-slavery law, the government opened three regional
courts to exercise exclusive jurisdiction over human trafficking
and hereditary slavery cases and prosecuted and convicted two
slaveholders—its first convictions under the 2015 anti-slavery
law and its first two convictions for any trafficking offense since
2011. The anti-slavery courts did not receive adequate funding,
however, and the government did not train judges on the
2003 anti-trafficking or 2015 anti-slavery laws, which limited
the government’s overall effectiveness in investigating and
prosecuting such cases. The government continued to prevent
certain anti-slavery groups from bringing forward criminal
charges against slaveholders by not officially recognizing such
organizations, and it allegedly tortured some of those advocates.
Despite long-standing reports that prosecutors and judges
refused to prosecute alleged slaveholders or prosecuted them
for lesser offenses to avoid bringing a slavery case to trial, the
government did not investigate these claims. Although NGOs
documented over 7,100 cases of child domestic workers with
indicators of forced labor and police identified more than 649
child slavery and forced begging victims in 2016, the government
did not investigate any of those cases or remove the victims
from their situations of exploitation. Tadamoun, the government
agency mandated to address poverty and the “vestiges of
slavery,” continued to make efforts to reduce socio-economic

RECOMMENDATIONS FOR MAURITANIA

Significantly increase efforts to investigate, prosecute, and convict
traffickers and slaveholders with sufficiently stringent sentences
using the 2003 anti-trafficking and 2015 anti-slavery laws;
hold government officials accountable for trafficking-related
complicity, including the failure to investigate alleged slavery
offenses and efforts to interfere with ongoing investigations;
sufficiently fund the anti-slavery courts and train prosecutors
and judicial officials on the 2003 anti-trafficking and 2015
anti-slavery laws; provide victims with easier access to legal
assistance, and enhance Tadamoun’s efforts to submit criminal
claims on behalf of victims; protect victims who participate in
legal investigations from intimidation and threats from their
alleged traffickers or slaveholders; develop standard procedures
to identify and refer trafficking and slavery victims to services,
and train law enforcement on such measures; in partnership
with NGOs, increase efforts to provide protective services
and vocational training to victims; investigate and prosecute
individuals accused of fraudulently recruiting Mauritanians
abroad for exploitation; with input from civil society, develop
and implement a plan to provide economic resources—through
monetary or property allotment—to former slaves and members
of traditional slave castes to allow them the opportunity to
leave their communities of enslavement, if they so choose;
devote staff to implement the national anti-trafficking action
plan; raise public awareness of trafficking, including hereditary
slavery and the 2015 anti-slavery law; and legally recognize all
legitimate anti-trafficking and anti-slavery NGOs, including
the Initiative for the Resurgence of the Abolitionist Movement.

PROSECUTION

The government modestly increased anti-trafficking law
enforcement efforts. The 2003 Law Against Trafficking in
Persons prohibits almost all forms of trafficking and prescribes
penalties of five to 10 years imprisonment, which are sufficiently
stringent and exceed those prescribed for other serious crimes,
such as rape. The 2015 anti-slavery law criminalizes hereditary
slavery and prescribes sufficiently stringent penalties of five
to 20 years imprisonment, which exceed penalties for other
serious crimes. The law also includes prohibitions on forced
marriage. The 2015 anti-slavery law mandated the creation of
regional anti-slavery courts with exclusive jurisdiction over
trafficking and slavery cases, and the government opened and
made operational all three courts during the reporting period;
the courts are located in Nema, Nouakchott, and Nouadhibou.
The courts lacked the staff, funding, and resources to investigate
and prosecute trafficking and slavery crimes throughout their

regions, and none of the appointed judges were specifically
trained to address the unique challenges of investigating slavery
cases, including how to prevent slaveholders from intimidating
victims and victims from withdrawing their cases.
The anti-slavery courts received 47 cases for investigation under
the 2015 anti-slavery law involving at least 53 suspects and
prosecuted and convicted two slaveholders, compared with two
investigations and no prosecutions or convictions the previous
reporting period. The Nema anti-slavery court completed one
investigation from the previous reporting period that led to
the conviction of two defendants for slaveholding; the court
sentenced them to five years imprisonment, with one year to
be served and four years suspended. Each defendant also had
to pay a fine of 100,000 Mauritanian ouguiya (MRO) ($282)
and one million MRO ($2,817) in damages to each of the two
victims. These were the government’s first convictions under the
2015 anti-slavery law and its first convictions for a trafficking
or slavery offense since 2011; with the suspension of most of
the prison time for both convicted slaveholders, however, the
judge minimized the deterrent effect of these law enforcement
measures. Forty-six slavery investigations remained pending
among the three regional courts, including 17 cases from the
previous reporting period. The special brigade for minors
identified more than 649 child slavery and child forced begging
victims in 2016; the government did not report launching
investigations into suspected traffickers or slaveholders in any of
the cases. During the reporting period, the Nouakchott Court of
Appeals ruled in favor of two former slaves who were appealing
the leniency of their slaveholder’s 2011 sentence. While the court
upheld the original prison sentence of two years with release
after three months, which the defendant had already served, it
increased the victims’ compensation, ordering the defendant
to pay a total of 2,248,000 MRO ($6,332).
Efforts to address hereditary slavery remained weak. Despite
its directive to do so, Tadamoun did not submit any criminal
claims on behalf of victims during the reporting period. The
2015 anti-slavery law authorizes human rights associations that
have been legally established and operating for at least five years
to bring forward criminal charges on behalf of victims; however,
this authorization bars one of the country’s leading anti-slavery
NGOs—which the government has not legally recognized—from
bringing forward such claims. During the reporting period,
reports emerged that authorities tortured members of this
anti-slavery organization while they were in police custody
for alleged participation in a riot; several of the members were
acquitted of all charges or had convictions overturned, and
some advocates claimed the alleged torture was intended to
discourage them from future anti-slavery advocacy. During the
previous reporting period, the government had sentenced three
activists to two years imprisonment for anti-slavery advocacy.
In May 2016, the government reduced the sentences of the two
activists who were still in prison from two years to one year
imprisonment—after they had already served 18 months—
and released them from prison, but it did not overturn their
convictions. The government continued investigations from
previous reporting periods into a tribal leader and former
military colonel for alleged complicity in human trafficking; it
did not report any prosecutions or convictions of government
officials complicit in human trafficking offenses. Serious
corruption and complicity concerns remained, including reports
of police, prosecutors, and judges who refused to investigate
and try cases of hereditary slavery and heavy governmental
influence over the judiciary, which restricted its independence.
Reports persisted that prosecutors and judges often prosecuted
alleged slave owners for lesser offenses to avoid bringing a

MAURITANIA

inequality but did not fulfill its role to submit criminal cases
on behalf of victims and represent victims in cases against their
alleged traffickers or slaveholders. Government agencies charged
with combating trafficking and slavery continued to lack the
resources, personnel, and political will to prosecute politically
connected offenders, and there remained a fundamental lack of
commitment to make serious and sustained efforts to combat
hereditary slavery.

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slavery case to trial, calling into question the political will of
law enforcement and judiciary officials to address such crimes.
Despite the government’s recognition that law enforcement
and judicial officials lacked critical understanding of how to
conduct trafficking investigations and the 2015 anti-slavery
law, it did not provide training during the reporting period.

PROTECTION

The government maintained minimal efforts to protect
trafficking victims, including those exploited in hereditary
slavery. The special brigade for minors identified more than
649 child slavery and child forced begging victims, and courts
reported at least 46 victims were involved in 46 investigations.
NGOs did not collect comprehensive trafficking victim statistics,
but several reported identifying significant numbers of potential
child trafficking victims in 2016. NGOs identified 6,353 cases
of abuse of child domestic workers—an indicator of forced
labor, and a second identified 1,258 child labor victims who
were deprived of proper care or public services, marginalized, or
living in difficult conditions and isolated areas—which increased
their vulnerability to human trafficking. The government did
not report removing any children from exploitative situations,
referring them to care, or investigating the potential forced labor
offenses. Twenty-four Mauritanian females were identified in
domestic servitude in the Gulf states during the reporting period.
The government did not provide financial or in-kind support
to NGOs that continued to provide the majority of protective
services to trafficking victims. The Ministry of Social Affairs,
Childhood, and the Family (MASEF) continued to manage
seven public centers for the protection and social integration of
children, which child trafficking victims could access. The centers
provided services to 540 children during the reporting period,
an increase from 373 children the previous reporting period;
however, it is unclear how many were trafficking victims. The
special brigade for minors had the authority to refer children
to the centers, but it is unclear if they did so in practice and if
other law enforcement knew these procedures. The government
allocated 35 million MRO ($98,600) to these facilities to fund
staff and psycho-social assistance—a significant decrease from
76.9 million MRO ($217,000) allocated the previous reporting
period. The facilities only provided short-term protections,
and even in situations of trafficking, staff generally returned
children to their families or the imams who had facilitated
their exploitation. MASEF sometimes referred children to other
government centers or NGO facilities for additional care and
vocational training; it is unclear how this referral mechanism
worked and if any trafficking victims received additional services.
There are no shelters dedicated specifically to trafficking victims,
nor are there shelters available for adult trafficking victims;
victims must depart MASEF centers at age 18. Tadamoun could
offer assistance to slavery victims, commonly in the form of
income-generating activities; it reported providing assistance
to 61 slavery victims since 2013, although it was unclear how
many—if any—received assistance during the reporting period
and how victims could access this assistance. The lack of
long-term rehabilitative care rendered victims vulnerable to
re-trafficking after identification.

276

The 2015 anti-slavery law provides for comprehensive legal
assistance for victims of hereditary slavery, requiring officials
to provide them information on their rights and exempt them
from judicial fees; however, it is unclear whether the government
applied such provisions during the reporting period. The law
also mandated the creation of support centers to facilitate such
assistance in each province, but no such centers were established

during the reporting period. The law allows for the government
to provide victim compensation, but officials did not report if
any victims received compensation during the reporting period.
While victims may seek restitution from their traffickers, the
complex and opaque legal system made such efforts extremely
difficult. There were no reports the government detained, fined,
or jailed victims for unlawful acts committed as a direct result
of being subjected to trafficking, but the absence of measures
to identify trafficking victims among vulnerable populations
was likely to have led to some victims being penalized. For
example, officials often jailed women suspected of prostitution
and held illegal migrants in detention until their refugee status
had been resolved. In 2016, the Ministry of Interior deported
5,800 foreign residents to their countries of origin and did not
screen for indicators of trafficking. Mauritania does not provide
legal alternatives to the removal of foreign victims to countries
where they may face hardship or retribution.

PREVENTION

The government maintained modest efforts to prevent human
trafficking. No single government agency was responsible for
leading national anti-trafficking efforts, which hampered the
government’s effectiveness. The government did not finalize its
draft national action plan. It did not provide staff to implement
its 2014-2017 roadmap to fight the vestiges of slavery—a
separate plan drafted in collaboration with an international
organization—as it had committed to doing the previous
reporting period. The inter-ministerial anti-trafficking committee,
which reports to the prime minister and was responsible for the
implementation of the action plan, met three times during the
reporting period, compared with twice the previous reporting
period, but did not make tangible efforts to implement the
plan. Tadamoun continued to construct schools and provide
income-generating activities in poverty-stricken areas, focusing
particularly on communities of slave descendants and groups
vulnerable to exploitation. In partnership with international
organizations, the government organized two workshops on
trafficking. The first workshop addressed the rights of children in
Quranic schools, encouraging the modernization of the schools’
learning methods and underlining legal protections available to
students, in an attempt to reduce occurrences of forced begging.
The second workshop trained 50 magistrates and 50 court clerks
on the definition of trafficking, the difference between human
trafficking and illegal immigration, and a review of international
and national frameworks that address trafficking; the training
did not address the 2015 anti-slavery law. The government
continued its campaign to register all citizens and foreign
residents and to issue secure biometric identity documents;
despite these efforts, however, a significant portion of children
continued to lack identity documents, which prevented some
from enrolling in school and increased their vulnerability to
trafficking. The government did not make efforts to reduce
the demand for forced labor or commercial sex acts. Despite
large groups of Mauritanians fraudulently recruited for work
abroad, the government did not make efforts to oversee labor
recruitment or investigate labor recruiters or brokers allegedly
involved in fraudulent recruitment. The government did not
provide anti-trafficking training for its diplomatic personnel.
A foreign donor provided human rights training that included
an anti-trafficking element to Mauritanian troops before their
deployment abroad on international peacekeeping missions.

TRAFFICKING PROFILE

As reported over the past five years, Mauritania is a source,
transit, and destination country for men, women, and children

MAURITIUS: TIER 2
The Government of Mauritius does not fully meet the minimum
standards for the elimination of trafficking; however, it is making
significant efforts to do so. The government demonstrated
increasing efforts compared to the previous reporting period;
therefore, Mauritius remained on Tier 2. The government
demonstrated increasing efforts by prosecuting a trafficking
suspect under the anti-trafficking law for the first time and
opening a new shelter for trafficking victims. The government
increased efforts to identify and provide protective services for
adult and child trafficking victims, including adult migrant
workers, and increased investigations of employers who retained
employee’s passports. The government continued to conduct
public awareness campaigns and train front-line officers.
However, the government did not meet the minimum standards
in several key areas. Protection services for adults remained

lacking, with neither specialized shelters nor systematic
provision of medical, psychological, and financial assistance
for adult victims. Coordination between law enforcement and
prosecutors remained weak and the judicial process was slow,
discouraging some victims from pursuing legal redress. There
also was no clear government agency responsible for assisting
adult sex trafficking victims.

MAURITIUS

subjected to forced labor and sex trafficking. Adults and children
from traditional slave castes in the Black Moor and AfroMauritanian communities are subjected to hereditary slavery
practices rooted in ancestral master-slave relationships, where
they are often forced to work without pay as cattle herders and
domestic servants. Although reliable data on the total number
of slaves does not exist, local and international experts agree
hereditary slavery continues to affect a significant portion of the
country’s population in both rural and urban settings. Separately,
some boys from Mauritania and other West African countries
who study at Quranic schools are forced to beg for food and
money to pay corrupt imams. Boys from low-income families
in the Halpulaar community are most vulnerable to forced
begging by unethical imams. Street gangs force Mauritanian
children to beg and sell drugs in Nouakchott. Approximately
41 percent of Mauritanian children lack birth certificates and
are thus generally not permitted to enroll in school, which
increases their risk for trafficking. Mauritanian women and
girls—especially those from the traditional slave castes and
Afro-Mauritanian communities, as well as women and girls
from Mali, Senegal, The Gambia, and other West African
countries—are forced into domestic servitude in Mauritania,
sometimes by recruiters who fraudulently promise parents
they will provide shelter and education for the children.
West African women and girls are vulnerable to domestic
servitude and sex trafficking in Mauritania. Sub-Saharan African
migrants transit Mauritania en route to Morocco and Europe,
where some are exploited in forced labor and sex trafficking.
Mauritanian women and girls are fraudulently recruited by
foreign recruitment agencies and Mauritanian middlemen for
nursing and teaching jobs abroad and exploited in forced labor
and sex trafficking in the Gulf, including Saudi Arabia. Men
from Middle Eastern and North African countries use legally
contracted temporary marriages to sexually exploit Mauritanian
girls and young women. Mauritanian women and girls from
poor families enter into these forced marriages, facilitated
by brokers and travel agencies in both Mauritania and in the
Middle East promising substantial payment, and are exploited
as sex slaves in Saudi Arabia and other Gulf countries. During
the reporting period, international authorities identified and
removed from a refugee camp in southeastern Mauritania six
Malian child soldiers who had been forced to work as cooks,
porters, servants, and messengers for rebel groups in Mali.
Due to the proximity between the countries and their porous
borders, it is possible that Malian armed groups also forcibly
recruited some Mauritanian children.

RECOMMENDATIONS FOR MAURITIUS

Improve coordination between law enforcement and
prosecutors to decrease the length of the judicial process;
improve protection services for adult trafficking victims by
implementing standardized procedures for victim identification
and referral to protective services, including adequate assistance
once identified; empower an inter-ministerial coordination
committee to address all forms of trafficking, not just child
trafficking; vigorously investigate and prosecute trafficking
offenses, and convict and punish traffickers under the antitrafficking law, including cases involving forced labor or forced
prostitution of adults; increase monitoring of employers of
migrant workers to identify and investigate indicators of
trafficking; establish procedures to guide officials in proactive
victim identification and referral among at-risk populations,
specifically for women in prostitution and migrant workers;
continue to provide specific anti-trafficking training to law
enforcement officials and labor inspectors, social workers,
prosecutors, and magistrates to improve case investigation and
victim identification and referral to appropriate care; finalize the
national action plan to combat trafficking, allocate sufficient
funding to its implementation, and ensure clear roles and
responsibilities in its implementation; and conduct a national
awareness campaign on all forms of trafficking.

PROSECUTION

The government slightly increased anti-trafficking law
enforcement efforts. The Combating of Trafficking in Persons
Act of 2009 criminalizes all forms of trafficking of adults and
children, prescribing penalties of up to 15 years imprisonment
for convicted offenders. The law prohibits the recruitment
of workers by using fraudulent or deceptive offers; however,
it does not appear to reach foreign recruiters who operate
outside Mauritius. In addition, the Child Protection Act of 2005
prohibits all forms of child trafficking and the Judicial Provisions
Act of 2008 prescribes punishment for child trafficking offenses
of up to 30 years imprisonment. These penalties are sufficiently
stringent and commensurate with those prescribed for other
serious crimes, such as rape.
The government initiated three trafficking investigations
and prosecution of one suspect in 2016, compared to six
investigations and no prosecutions in 2015. For the first time,
the government charged a suspect under the anti-trafficking
law, initiating prosecution of the alleged trafficker for child
sex trafficking. However, there were no convictions in 2016,
similar to the previous reporting period, and the government
has never convicted an offender under the anti-trafficking law.
The judicial process is prohibitively long, frequently many

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years, which can dissuade victims from seeking legal redress;
lack of coordination among law enforcement and prosecutors
contributed to this and remained weak during the reporting
period. Historically, the Ministry of Labor, Industrial Relations,
Employment, and Training (MOL) has addressed potential
labor trafficking cases through arbitration and mediation,
rather than criminal investigation and prosecution, allowing
traffickers to repeatedly commit trafficking offenses and face
only administrative penalties. Despite the illegality of passport
seizure, this practice remained widespread. However, beginning
this reporting period, in collaboration with the Bangladeshi
High Commission in Mauritius, the MOL identified and referred
cases of passport retention to the passport and immigration
authorities; nonetheless, the government did not report
prosecution of employers for this crime.
During the reporting period, the Mauritius Police Training
School provided anti-trafficking courses to 551 senior police
officers, 26 fisheries officers, and 194 police recruits and
the MOL conducted an in-house trafficking training for 102
labor officers and inspectors, including the Special Migrants
Unit. The government led an anti-trafficking training at the
University of Mauritius on the legal framework for combating
trafficking, attended by 50 law students. The government
trained an unknown number of officials from the Passport and
Immigration Office (PIO) on victim identification measures.
The government did not report any investigations, prosecutions,
or convictions of government officials complicit in human
trafficking.

PROTECTION

The government increased efforts to identify and protect victims
of sex and labor trafficking, but the availability of services for
adult trafficking victims remained lacking. The government
identified three child sex trafficking victims and eight adult
forced labor victims during the reporting period, compared to 10
victims identified in total in 2015. The Child Development Unit
(CDU) of the Ministry of Gender Equality, Child Development,
and Family Welfare continued to employ the standard referral
procedure after identifying child trafficking victims. In May
2016, the government opened and initiated management of a
new shelter for child trafficking victims that assisted 24 girls
exploited in sex trafficking, including the three it identified.
Child victims could leave the shelter to attend school and
received shelter as well as medical and psychological assistance.
The government provided funding for several anti-trafficking
NGOs in the amount of approximately 11,000 rupees ($307)
per month per child, and also funded several NGO-run daycare
centers for trafficking victims.
There were no standard referral procedures for adult sex or
labor trafficking victims, nor was there a clear government
agency responsible for assisting adult sex trafficking victims.
There was neither specialized shelter, nor systematic provision
of medical, psychological, or financial assistance for adult
trafficking victims. In February of 2017, the PIO of the Mauritius
Police Force conducted a raid to identify foreign persons with
expired visas, during which officials identified eight men from
Nepal as potential forced labor victims, who reported having
paid recruiters in Nepal and India for work in Mauritius. The
government provided assistance to two victims that remained
in Mauritius as prosecution witnesses; however, it is unclear
whether the remaining victims received assistance before the
government facilitated their repatriation.

278

There were no reports the government arrested or punished

trafficking victims for unlawful acts committed as a direct result
of being subjected to human trafficking. However, due to the
lack of identification measures and gaps in understanding of
human trafficking among some law enforcement officers, some
adult victims of forced prostitution and forced labor may have
been penalized for unlawful acts committed as a direct result
of being subjected to trafficking. For example, law enforcement
officers generally did not screen women in prostitution for
trafficking indicators. During the reporting period, immigration
officials continued to regularly turn back single Malagasy
women, traveling on their own, with less than 4,200 rupees
($117) who attempted to enter the country on tourist visas
on the grounds that they might be coming to Mauritius to
engage in prostitution. The 2009 anti-trafficking law provides
legal alternatives, including temporary residency, to removal
to countries in which trafficking victims would face retribution
or hardship; however, in the past, the government sometimes
deported trafficking victims. The law allows for victims to file
civil suits against their alleged traffickers for restitution; however,
civil suits can be prohibitively expensive and lengthy. There
were no reports trafficking victims filed any civil suits during
the reporting period. The government generally encourages,
but does not require, victim cooperation in investigations and
prosecutions. In an effort to encourage cooperation, victims
and witnesses could request police protection by contacting
their local police.

PREVENTION

The government increased prevention efforts. While the
government did have an inter-ministerial coordination
committee to address trafficking as a whole, the committee
only met once during the reporting period and there was still
confusion among agencies which department was responsible
for addressing adult trafficking. The government conducted
several awareness-raising campaigns during the report period.
The police’s family protection unit and the minors brigade
continued extensive public awareness campaigns on child abuse
and child rights at schools and community centers that included
information on the dangers and consequences of facilitating
child sex trafficking, which reached an estimated 13,600 people.
The police continued to hold the annual police security and
safety day which included presentations on anti-trafficking,
reaching 34,400 people. The Ministry of Tourism and External
Communication continued to distribute pamphlets warning
tourism industry operators of the consequences of engaging
in or facilitating child sex trafficking. The crime prevention
unit distributed anti-trafficking posters to police stations, high
schools, and community centers. The government continued
to run the drop-in center that promoted its services through
bumper stickers, a toll-free number, and community outreach,
and a social worker continued to promote the services in
communities and schools.
The MOL conducted nearly 300 sessions to sensitize migrant
workers of their rights, including producing relevant documents
in the native language of the migrant worker. The government
increased the number of inspectors within the MOL’s Special
Migrant Workers Unit—responsible for monitoring and
protecting all migrant workers and conducting routine
inspections of their employment sites—from six to nine during
the reporting period. The unit conducted 402 inspections,
compared to 72 in the previous reporting period; however,
this number of inspections remained inadequate relative
to the approximately 37,000 migrant workers employed in
Mauritius and the government did not report suspending any
labor recruitment licenses for trafficking-related crimes during

TRAFFICKING PROFILE

As reported over the past five years, Mauritius is a source,
transit, and destination country for men, women, and children
subjected to forced labor and sex trafficking. Girls from all areas
of the country are induced or sold into sex trafficking, often
by their peers, family members, or by businessmen offering
other forms of employment. Taxi drivers allegedly transport
child sex traffickers to their victims with whom they engage
in commercial sex acts. Girls and boys whose mothers engage
in prostitution reportedly are vulnerable to sex trafficking at
a young age. Small numbers of Mauritian adults have been
identified as labor trafficking victims in the United Kingdom,
Belgium, and Canada. Malagasy women transit Mauritius en
route to employment as domestic workers in the Middle East,
where many are subjected to forced labor and sex trafficking.
Mauritius’ manufacturing and construction sectors employ
approximately 37,000 foreign migrant workers from India,
China, Sri Lanka, and Madagascar, with the vast majority from
Bangladesh, some of whom are subjected to forced labor.

MEXICO: TIER 2
The Government of Mexico does not fully meet the minimum
standards for the elimination of trafficking; however, it is making
significant efforts to do so. The government demonstrated
increasing efforts compared to the previous reporting period;
therefore, Mexico remained on Tier 2. The government
demonstrated increasing efforts by convicting more traffickers
than in the previous year; identifying and providing support
to trafficking victims subjected to forced labor in Mexico and
abroad; and engaging in new anti-trafficking prevention efforts
in the travel and tourism sector. However, the government did
not meet the minimum standards in several key areas. Official
complicity continued to be a serious and largely unaddressed
problem. The government identified fewer victims and provided
limited specialized services for identified trafficking victims.
Shelters remained inadequate compared to the scale of the
problem and victim services were unavailable in much of
the country, leaving many reported victims vulnerable to retrafficking.

RECOMMENDATIONS FOR MEXICO

Strengthen efforts to investigate and prosecute trafficking
offenses and convict traffickers, especially for forced labor

crimes; increase efforts to hold public officials complicit in
trafficking accountable through effective prosecutions and
stringent sentences; develop and implement a national strategic
action plan on victim services in consultation with international
organizations and NGOs to include specialized trafficking
victim services and shelters funded by the government; finalize
and implement victim identification and referral protocols;
amend anti-trafficking laws at the federal and state levels to
incorporate the definition of trafficking in international law;
increase the capacity of state-level anti-trafficking committees
and specialized anti-trafficking units to respond more effectively
to trafficking cases, through increased funding and staff
training; verify, through increased training and monitoring,
that victims are not coerced into testifying against traffickers
or inappropriately misidentified as traffickers; continue to
strengthen data collection efforts; provide effective protection
for witnesses and victims testifying against traffickers; and
continue to improve coordination mechanisms among federal,
state, and local authorities.

MEXICO

the reporting period. Although the MOL is required to approve
all employment contracts before migrant laborers enter the
country, some migrant laborers reportedly enter the country
with contracts that are incomplete or have not been translated
into languages the workers understand. The government did
not make any discernable efforts to reduce the demand for
commercial sex acts or forced labor. The government provided
anti-trafficking training for its diplomatic personnel.

PROSECUTION

The government decreased investigations and prosecutions, but
convicted more traffickers than in 2015. Law enforcement efforts
were undermined by significant official complicity in trafficking
crimes, mainly by local police and other local authorities.
The general anti-trafficking law of 2012 prohibits all forms of
human trafficking, prescribing penalties ranging from five to 30
years imprisonment; these penalties are sufficiently stringent
and commensurate with those prescribed for other serious
crimes, such as rape. However, in contrast to the international
definition, the law establishes the use of force, fraud, or coercion
as an aggravating factor rather than an essential element of
the crime and defines illegal adoption without the purpose of
exploitation as a form of human trafficking. Federal officials
have jurisdiction over all international trafficking cases, all cases
that take place on federally administered territory involving
organized crime, and all cases involving allegations against
government officials. States investigate other internal trafficking
cases. Fourteen of 31 states have aligned their trafficking laws
with the federal law, which may address inconsistencies among
those states’ laws and improve interstate investigations and
prosecutions. In October 2016, the Mexican Senate approved
amendments to the 2012 law that would align it more closely
with international law; however, the reforms remained under
consideration in the Chamber of Deputies. In December 2016,
the Mexican Congress approved a Crime Victim’s Law, which
includes but is not limited to trafficking victims; and mandates
the creation of a federal fund for crime victim assistance and
mandates the states also create such funds.
Data based on the broad definition of trafficking in the 2012
law indicated authorities initiated 188 federal and 288 state
investigations in 2016, compared with 250 federal and 415
state investigations for trafficking in 2015. Authorities initiated
prosecutions against 479 individuals in federal and state cases
in 2016 compared to 578 individuals in federal and state
cases in 2015. Mexican authorities reported convicting 228
traffickers involved in 127 federal and state cases in 2016,
compared to 86 traffickers involved in 36 federal and state cases
in 2015. However, it was unclear how many of these convictions
were for trafficking crimes as defined by international law.
The government did not report the range of sentences, but
media reported sentences ranged from 15 years to 60 years
imprisonment. Investigations and prosecutions were sometimes
delayed while authorities determined which prosecutors had
jurisdiction or coordinated with officials in other parts of the

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MEXICO

country, which hindered prosecutions and caused additional
stress for victims. Authorities did not treat cases involving
individuals who may have been forced by criminal groups to
engage in illicit activities as potential trafficking cases, despite
indicators of force or coercion. In June 2016, the government
completed a lengthy transition to an accusatory criminal justice
system at the federal and state level. Notable cases included
the conviction of a notoriously violent trafficker who had
exploited dozens of trafficking victims over a period of years
to a sentence of more than 22 years in prison and a fine of 1.3
million pesos ($62,947); the arrest of 10 alleged traffickers in
a multi-country trafficking network and the identification of
11 child trafficking victims; and, with the assistance of United
States law enforcement, the arrest and indictment of several
members of a family for operating a sex trafficking network
over the past decade in Mexico and New York.
In 2016, the federal government decreased overall funding
for investigations and prosecutions, impeding its ability to
investigate and prosecute all crime, including trafficking
crimes. The 2012 law obligated states to have a dedicated
human trafficking prosecutor; 24 of 31 states have specialized
prosecutors or units, but some states lacked funding to employ
one. Some judges’ and prosecutors’ lack of understanding of
trafficking led to traffickers being prosecuted for more minor
offenses or to being acquitted when prosecuted for human
trafficking. Authorities maintained strong law enforcement
cooperation with the United States, partnering on three joint
law enforcement operations, which resulted in the identification
of nearly 56 victims and the arrest of 29 alleged traffickers.
Mexican authorities continued to exchange information on
human trafficking and migrant smuggling investigations through
an ongoing working group. Some federal government agencies
hosted anti-trafficking training with foreign donor support and
funding; foreign governments and civil society provided the
majority of specialized training.
Despite persistent reports of extensive official complicity,
authorities did not report any investigations, prosecutions, or
convictions of government employees complicit in trafficking
in 2016; the government has not convicted a complicit official
since 2010. Some officials extort bribes and sexual services from
adults in prostitution and child sex trafficking victims; extort
irregular migrants, including trafficking victims; falsify victims’
documents; threaten victims with prosecution to compel them
to file official complaints against their traffickers; accept bribes
from traffickers; facilitate movement of victims across borders;
operate or patronize brothels where victims are exploited; or
fail to respond to trafficking crimes, including in commercial
sex locations. The government did not report on the status of
investigations opened in previous years, including a municipal
employee arrested for trafficking in Oaxaca in 2014, the 2013
investigation of two Tijuana police officers for exploiting a sex
trafficking victim, or the 2012 investigation of a Chihuahua
state employee charged with forced labor.

PROTECTION

280

The government decreased protection efforts, as it identified
fewer victims and provided limited specialized services for
identified trafficking victims. The government reported
identifying 740 trafficking victims in 2016—707 for sex
trafficking, 15 for forced labor, 14 for forced criminality, two
for slave-like conditions, one for slavery, and one for forced
begging—compared with 1,814 trafficking victims in 2015. The
federal government identified 179 victims—58 children and
136 adults; 37 male victims and 157 female victims compared

with 876 victims in 2015. The state governments identified 561
victims—173 children and 518 adults; 93 male victims and
598 female victims compared with 938 victims in 2015. The
Ministry of Foreign Relations identified and provided support
to 20 Mexicans subjected to forced labor abroad. In addition
to the number of victims identified by the states, the press
reported a case of 81 workers exploited in the tomato fields
of Queretaro in which authorities arrested seven suspected
traffickers for forced labor and provided services to the victims.
The inter-secretarial anti-trafficking commission continued to
use a victim identification and referral protocol developed in
2015, but did not report whether it led to increased identification
and referral. The government reported 14 states used victim
identification and referral protocols, but state governments did
not report whether the protocols led to increased identification
and referral. The Executive Commission for the Attention
to Victims (CEAV) reported it provided officials a protocol
outlining provision of assistance to victims; however, NGOs
reported the protocol was ineffective. While immigration agents
used a lengthy human rights questionnaire to identify potential
trafficking victims, and some government institutions had
informal victim referral procedures, most officials lacked clear
guidelines for identifying and referring victims to services. An
international organization worked with the National Migration
Institute (INM) to develop a victim identification and referral
protocol, which had not been implemented. NGOs questioned
the government’s ability to accurately identify trafficking victims
among vulnerable populations, such as migrant workers and
persons in prostitution.
In 2016, the CEAV did not report how much it spent for victim
assistance, compared to 47 million pesos ($2.3 million) for
assistance to crime victims, including trafficking victims, in
2015. Federal and state entities offer victims emergency services,
such as medical care, food, and temporary lodging, which
some victims received during the year. Longer term victim
services vary in scope and quality overall, but may include
medical, psychological, legal, and educational services. The
government did not report how many identified victims received
particular services such as shelter. Services in most parts of
the country remained inadequate compared to the significant
number of trafficking victims identified by NGOs and officials.
Government-funded services for male and forced labor victims
were particularly weak. Shelters for vulnerable children younger
than age 13 and for female victims of violence did not report
how many trafficking victims they assisted in 2016. The Special
Prosecutor’s Office for Violence Against Women and Trafficking
in Persons (FEVIMTRA) continued to operate a high-security
shelter in Mexico City for up to 50 female victims of violence,
including trafficking victims, who were participating in the
legal process against their exploiters. The government did not
report whether the shelter housed trafficking victims in 2016.
Women were allowed to have their children with them at the
shelter. Women were not allowed to leave the shelter alone;
NGOs expressed concern this arrangement re-traumatized some
victims. In addition to shelters, there are two publically funded
women justice centers in the states of Hidalgo and Guanajuato
that work jointly with the Specialized State District Attorneys
for Trafficking in Persons to provide a temporary shelter to TIP
victims. FEVIMTRA received 71.6 million pesos ($3.5 million)
in 2016, compared with 93.4 million pesos ($4.5 million)
in 2015, to provide assistance to female victims of extreme
violence, including trafficking. The State of Puebla continued
to operate the country’s only public-private shelter, funded by
the state government and private entities. The State of Mexico
opened three trafficking-specific shelters in 2016; and the City
of Mexico opened a trafficking-specific shelter, which could

individuals to the issue of trafficking. The Mexico City
government provided funding to an NGO-run anti-trafficking
hotline for the capital that provided referrals to appropriate
Mexican agencies for victim assistance. The NGO hotline received
646 calls in 2016, resulting in the identification of 71 individual
trafficking victims and 21 groups. The National Human Rights
Commission, with the support of the government, promoted
a national awareness campaign in airports and bus terminals,
and conducted anti-trafficking training and awareness sessions
for a range of audiences.

Many victims were afraid to identify themselves as trafficking
victims, and few filed complaints or assisted in investigations
and prosecutions due to their fear of retribution from traffickers,
the lack of specialized services, or distrust of authorities. The
law has provisions to protect victims from punishment for
unlawful acts committed as a direct result of being subjected
to trafficking, but NGOs reported that in practice some officials
unlawfully detained or punished victims. NGOs reported the
government did not properly identify trafficking victims, but
instead conducted anti-trafficking raids for the purpose of
detaining individuals in prostitution and irregular migrants.
Some public officials misunderstood the legal definition
of trafficking and conflated it with migrant smuggling and
prostitution. Some officials transferred victims to the INM for
detention and deportation due to their immigration status and
lack of formal identification as trafficking victims. Individuals
in prostitution in Mexico City alleged officials detained and
forced them to sign declarations accusing detained individuals of
trafficking, which raised serious concerns about law enforcement
tactics to secure evidence. NGOs also reported officials often retraumatized trafficking victims due to lack of sensitivity. Foreign
trafficking victims could receive refugee status independent of
any decision to testify against suspected traffickers, but civil
society reported few victims received this legal alternative
to deportation in practice. Many foreign trafficking victims
returned to their countries of origin after giving testimony, in
some cases due to a lack of adequate shelter or information
about their rights. INM reported providing food and assistance
to six foreign trafficking victims in 2016 and issued temporary
immigration relief to four victims renewable yearly depending
on the victims’ specific circumstances—compared with 14
victims assisted and 12 victims issued temporary immigration
relief in 2015. In some cases, authorities shared victims’ names
and case details with the press. The national anti-trafficking
law provides for restitution to be paid from a victims’ fund,
but the government did not report whether the courts awarded
any trafficking victims restitution.

The inter-secretarial anti-trafficking commission continued to
work with an international organization to develop a national
information system, which could track the number of victims
identified, referred, and assisted across the country. The Secretary
of Labor and Social Welfare published an inspection protocol
for use in federal job centers with agricultural activities, which
included a requirement to identify victims of forced labor and to
report such crimes to law enforcement officials. The government
conducted outreach to foreign migrant workers to inform
them of their rights and responsibilities and inspections of
worksites to detect irregular activity, including underage workers
who may be vulnerable to trafficking. However, according
to NGOs, authorities did not conduct enough inspections,
investigate complaints, or audit supply chains; and inspectors
lacked resources and faced technical difficulties in carrying out
inspections. Authorities did not report efforts to regulate or
hold accountable fraudulent labor recruiters.

PREVENTION

The government increased prevention efforts. The intersecretarial anti-trafficking commission met once in 2016 to
coordinate federal government efforts and reported on 2016
national anti-trafficking efforts. The government continued to
implement the national action plan for 2014-2018, but did not
report dedicating funds to implement the plan. Twenty-five out
of 31 states had state-level anti-trafficking committees, which
varied in effectiveness. Experts reported uneven interagency
coordination at the federal and state levels.
The federal government provided anti-trafficking training to
16,639 public servants in 2016. Nineteen federal government
agencies hosted nearly 800 trainings; engaged in 443 awarenessraising activities across the country, such as workshops and
conferences, theater productions, and videos; and distributed
296,000 educational materials sensitizing over 100,000

MEXICO

provide medical, legal, psychological, legal, and social services,
but lacked dedicated funding. NGOs, many with foreign donor
or private funding, provided the majority of specialized shelters
and assistance. Some shelters relied on the prosecutor’s office to
identify victims and received funding based on the number of
victims housed, which observers suggested created an incentive
to hold victims pending the conclusion of a case and could
compromise the shelter’s independence and sustainability of
operations. Coordination between federal, state, and local
officials on victim services and case management was weak.

The Secretary of Tourism instituted a new program to prevent
trafficking in the travel and tourism sector; secured 692
signatures to its “code of conduct” from travel agencies, hotels,
restaurants, tourist guides, training centers, and transportation
providers; trained students pursuing careers in this sector; and
distributed awareness materials to prevent trafficking and reduce
the demand for sexual exploitation of children in tourism
destinations. Despite sex tourism being an increasing problem,
the government did not report investigating, prosecuting,
or convicting child sex tourists; some NGOs alleged some
corrupt local officials allowed child sex tourism to occur. The
government did not report efforts to reduce the demand for
commercial sex acts or forced labor. The government provided
anti-trafficking training for its diplomatic personnel. Consular
officials signed an agreement with an international organization
to develop a consular protocol for the protection of Mexican
national trafficking victims.

TRAFFICKING PROFILE

As reported over the past five years, Mexico is a source, transit,
and destination country for men, women, and children subjected
to sex trafficking and forced labor. Groups considered most
vulnerable to human trafficking in Mexico include women,
children, indigenous persons, persons with mental and physical
disabilities, migrants, and LGBTI individuals. Mexican women
and children, and to a lesser extent men and transgender
individuals, are exploited in sex trafficking in Mexico and
the United States. Mexican men, women, and children are
exploited in forced labor in agriculture, domestic servitude, child
care, manufacturing, mining, food processing, construction,
tourism, forced begging, and street vending in Mexico and
the United States. Traffickers used fraudulent labor recruiters
or deceptive offers of romantic relationships; or extorted
through the retention of identity documents, threats to notify
immigration officials of victims’ immigration status, or threats
to harm family members to enslave individuals. Transgender
Mexicans in commercial sex are vulnerable to sex trafficking.

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MICRONESIA, FEDERATED STATES OF

Some Mexicans are held in debt bondage in agriculture, and
are indebted to recruiters or to the company itself. Residents at
some substance addiction rehabilitation centers and women’s
shelters have been subjected to forced labor and sex trafficking.
The vast majority of foreign victims of forced labor and sex
trafficking in Mexico are from Central and South America; some
of these victims are exploited along Mexico’s southern border.
Victims from the Caribbean, Eastern Europe, Asia, and Africa
have also been identified in Mexico, some en route to the United
States. Child sex tourism remains a problem and continues to
expand, especially in tourist areas and in northern border cities.
Many child sex tourists are from the United States, Canada,
and Western Europe; Mexicans also purchase sex from child sex
trafficking victims. Organized criminal groups profit from sex
trafficking and force Mexican and foreign men, women, and
children to engage in illicit activities, including as assassins;
lookouts; and in the production, transportation, and sale of
drugs. Trafficking-related corruption among public officials,
especially local law enforcement, judicial, and immigration
officials, is a significant concern.

MICRONESIA, FEDERATED STATES OF:
TIER 2
The Government of the Federated States of Micronesia (FSM)
does not fully meet the minimum standards for the elimination
of trafficking; however, it is making significant efforts to do so.
The government demonstrated increasing efforts compared
to the previous reporting period; therefore, FSM remained on
Tier 2. The government increased the number of investigations
into alleged trafficking cases, leading to the conviction of
one offender, and strengthened its efforts to raise trafficking
awareness among law enforcement and government officials.
It established new mechanisms—including the creation of an
anti-trafficking coordinator position—to oversee government
anti-trafficking work, and two out of four states approved
state-level action plans to implement the FSM National Action
Plan. Despite these efforts, the government did not meet
the minimum standards in several key areas. Although the
government prosecuted and convicted a trafficker, the courts
allowed the individual to pay restitution and repatriation
costs in lieu of a prison sentence. Authorities did not follow
an established procedure to identify victims among vulnerable
populations or refer them to protective services, which remained
undeveloped and under-resourced.

RECOMMENDATIONS FOR THE FEDERATED
STATES OF MICRONESIA

282

Increase efforts to investigate, prosecute, and convict trafficking
offenders, and sentence them to penalties commensurate
with the seriousness of the crime, and cease the practice of
allowing offenders to pay fines or restitution in lieu of being
sentenced to prison; develop and implement procedures

for the proactive identification of trafficking victims among
vulnerable populations, including in the legal commercial
sex industry; develop and implement a victim referral
system and establish and allocate funding for specialized
protective services for trafficking victims, including shelters;
strengthen efforts to implement the National Action Plan,
including through establishment of state-level anti-trafficking
taskforces in all four states; and strengthen efforts to conduct
anti-trafficking awareness campaigns targeted to government
and law enforcement officials, traditional leaders, healthcare
professionals, and the public.

PROSECUTION

The government increased investigations and training, but it
convicted only one offender, who was allowed to pay restitution
to his victims in lieu of a prison sentence. The national antitrafficking law criminalizes all forms of trafficking, and each of
the four states has its own trafficking law prescribing penalties.
The national and state laws prescribe prison sentences that
are sufficiently stringent. However, when allowing for a fine
in lieu of imprisonment, the prescribed punishment is not
commensurate with those for other serious crimes, such as rape.
In lieu of prison time, offenders convicted in Chuuk, Yap, and
Kosrae states can elect to pay a fine as low as $5,000; offenders
may face even lower fines in Pohnpei State. Courts may also
approve plea bargains requiring the payment of restitution
costs to victims in lieu of prison sentences. The national law
prescribes penalties of up to 15 years imprisonment or fines
up to $25,000 for adult trafficking, and 30 years imprisonment
or fines up to $50,000 for child trafficking. Pohnpei State’s law
prohibits sex trafficking of children and forced labor of adults
and prescribes penalties of up to 10 years imprisonment or
fines up to $10,000, or both; however, it does not explicitly
prohibit sex trafficking of adults. Chuuk State’s law includes
the same prohibitions, but prescribes penalties of up to 15
years imprisonment for forced labor, 25 years imprisonment
for child sex trafficking, or fines up to $10,000, or both. Kosrae
State’s law prohibits all forms of trafficking and prescribes
penalties of 10 years imprisonment or fines up to $20,000,
or both. Yap State’s law prohibits all forms of trafficking and
prescribes penalties of up to 15 years imprisonment or fines
up to $1 million, or both.
In 2016, the government reported conducting investigations
into eight alleged trafficking cases in Chuuk, Pohnpei, and
Yap, compared to five in 2015 and two in 2014. Of these
investigations, only one led to a prosecution culminating
in a conviction, compared to one conviction in 2015 and
none in 2014. Yap State convicted a local restaurant owner
for subjecting two Filipino citizens to forced labor, but the
courts approved a plea bargain that obligated the trafficker to
pay full repatriation costs and $7,000 in restitution for each
victim. Two other cases identified in 2016 were pending a trial
date at the end of the reporting period. In partnership with
an international organization and a foreign government, the
government conducted anti-trafficking training for 70 law
enforcement officials and 75 service providers—an increase
from 30 law enforcement and government officials in 2015.
Authorities did not report any investigations, prosecutions,
or convictions of government officials complicit in trafficking
offenses.

PROTECTION

The government maintained inadequate efforts to identify and
protect trafficking victims. Law enforcement, health care, and

MOLDOVA: TIER 2 WATCH LIST
The Government of Moldova does not fully meet the minimum
standards for the elimination of trafficking; however, it is making
significant efforts to do so. The government demonstrated
significant efforts during the reporting period by convicting more
traffickers and amending its laws to codify victim protection
standards. However, the government did not demonstrate
increasing efforts compared to the previous reporting period.
Pervasive corruption, particularly in law enforcement and the
judiciary, impeded prosecutions and influenced the outcomes
of cases, including cases against complicit officials. Law
enforcement efforts were hampered by worsening legal and
organizational obstacles, including changes in the national antitrafficking investigative body. Authorities identified and assisted
fewer victims, and victims continued to suffer from intimidation
from traffickers. Although convictions increased, investigations
and prosecutions of traffickers decreased. Therefore, Moldova
was downgraded to Tier 2 Watch List.

MOLDOVA

labor inspection entities did not employ standard procedures
for identifying victims in the commercial sex industry, which
was legal in all but Kosrae State. The government did not
allocate any funding for protective services or establish shelters
dedicated to trafficking victims. Authorities reported providing
physical security and psychological counseling to an unspecified
number of trafficking victims during the reporting period. The
Department of Justice continued to work with state governments
on development of a directory listing churches, NGOs, and
local government bodies that may be able to provide limited
additional protective services to trafficking victims. However,
the government did not report how many victims benefited
from any of these services. Authorities did not provide legal
alternatives to the removal of foreign trafficking victims to
countries where they may face hardship or retribution, nor did
it provide incentives for victims to participate in trials. Although
there were no reports of victims punished for crimes committed
as a direct result of having been subjected to trafficking, some
potential victims may have been detained due to a lack of
formal victim identification procedures.

PREVENTION

The government increased efforts to prevent trafficking.
Authorities continued to dedicate a small amount of funding
for anti-trafficking activities but did not provide details on how
these funds were allocated. In January 2017, the government
opened an office dedicated to anti-trafficking efforts under
the direction of a newly appointed coordinator and staffed by
two investigators; the office opened too late in the reporting
period to generate any notable progress. Officials reported
continued efforts to raise trafficking awareness in furtherance
of the National Action Plan—including among traditional
leaders whose communities may be at higher risk—but did not
provide statistics or specific information about the nature of
awareness raising campaigns. Two of the four states established
anti-trafficking taskforces guided by respective state action plans
during the reporting period; the remaining two were in the
process of creating taskforces at the end of the reporting period.
The government did not develop campaigns or disseminate
informational materials aimed at reducing the demand for
commercial sex acts or forced labor. The government did not
provide anti-trafficking training for its diplomatic personnel.

TRAFFICKING PROFILE

As reported over the past five years, the Federated States of
Micronesia is a source, transit and, to a lesser extent, destination
country for men, women, and children subjected to forced labor
and sex trafficking. The groups most vulnerable to trafficking
in FSM include foreign migrant workers, especially from the
Philippines, and Micronesian women in prostitution. Women
and girls are allegedly exploited in prostitution (child sex
trafficking for girls) by the crew members of docked Asian
fishing vessels and by foreign construction workers. FSM women
recruited with promises of well-paying jobs in the United States
and its territories are subsequently forced into prostitution or
domestic labor upon arrival. Local authorities claim many sex
trafficking cases are unreported due to social stigma and victims’
fear of possible repercussions in their home communities.
Foreign migrants from Southeast Asian countries report working
in conditions indicative of human trafficking on Asian fishing
vessels in FSM or its territorial waters.

RECOMMENDATIONS FOR MOLDOVA

Vigorously investigate, prosecute, and convict traffickers,
including government officials complicit in human trafficking,
and impose sufficiently stringent sentences; implement measures
to address corruption in the judicial sector; exempt trafficking
victims from the requirement of in-person confrontations with
their accused traffickers before an investigation can begin; shield
trafficking investigators and prosecutors from external influence
and internal corruption; improve protection of victims and
witnesses during court proceedings, including prosecutions for
witness tampering and intimidation; train police, judges, and
prosecutors on a victim-centered approach to investigations
and prosecutions; seek restitution for victims in criminal cases;
improve cooperation with non-governmental care providers,
including coordination on policy development and assisting
victims cooperating with investigations; and fund and maintain
data for the hotline on child abuse and exploitation.

PROSECUTION

The government decreased law enforcement efforts. Articles
165 (trafficking in persons) and 206 (trafficking of children)
of the criminal code prohibit all forms of trafficking and
prescribe penalties of five to 20 years imprisonment, which
are sufficiently stringent and commensurate with those for
other serious crimes, such as rape. Article 168 of the criminal
code was amended to increase fines for forced labor offenses.
Corruption in the judicial system remained an acute impediment
to bringing traffickers to justice. Courts frequently reversed
convictions on appeal, sometimes without explanation or on
weak grounds, although comprehensive statistics on the rate of
appeal were not available. Criminal cases against public officials
for complicity rarely resulted in conviction, in large part due
to corruption and weaknesses in the judicial system. Several
government officials were investigated in 2016 for complicity in

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trafficking. Two police officers were indicted for sex trafficking.
A village mayor was indicted for labor trafficking. Several
Moldovan diplomats and the head of the foreign ministry’s
consular affairs department were investigated, arrested, or
indicted for extorting or accepting bribes to facilitate illegal
migration. However, none of the criminal investigations of
public officials initiated in 2014, 2015, or 2016 were finalized,
and most remained pending in court.
Prosecutions against the head of a human rights agency for
forcing children to beg in Russia and a bailiff for compelling two
persons into prostitution remained ongoing. A 2014 trafficking
conviction against a public official and his accomplices remained
pending appeal. A court acquitted the former head of the
Biathlon Federation of Moldova of child trafficking charges in
2014 and instead issued a 3,000 lei ($151) fine for organizing
illegal migration; an appeal remained pending. A court still had
not issued a verdict in a 2013 case against a police officer who
allegedly accepted a bribe to convince his colleagues to close
the investigation of a trafficking case. A case against the former
head of the interior ministry’s division to combat organized
crime for involvement in human trafficking remained ongoing.
There were allegations of corruption by officers assigned to the
interior affairs ministry’s investigatory Center for Combating
Trafficking in Persons (CCTIP); the Deputy Director of CCTIP
and one of his trafficking investigators were arrested in February
on corruption charges.
Law enforcement efforts continued to face institutional obstacles
in 2016. CCTIP did not have a director from May to November
2015 and from February to November 2016. Due to the lack of
effective direction, cooperation between CCTIP and some civil
society actors and international partners continued to deteriorate
for much of the reporting period, hampering the center’s ability
to conduct complex international operations. Observers reported
CCTIP focused on simpler domestic sex trafficking cases rather
than complex international cases, potentially to boost the
center’s statistics. This focus on statistics moved CCTIP away
from its traditional strength of resource intensive victim-centered
investigations. The appointment of a new CCTIP director in
November 2016 led to improved working relationships with
civil society and international partners and an initial shift
back to investigating complex cases of international sex and
labor trafficking. However, CCTIP continued to lack sufficient
resources, particularly financial resources and experienced
investigative staff. Reforms to the Prosecutor General’s Office
(PGO) in August eliminated the use of specialized prosecutors,
disbanded the specialized anti-trafficking prosecutorial unit,
ended the taskforce approach to investigations, and reduced
institutional knowledge regarding the use of victim-centered
approaches to investigations and prosecutions. Although the
PGO hired four new prosecutors in November 2016 to cover
trafficking cases, observers expressed concern the reforms
had weakened the office’s ability to prevent corruption and
increased both the mistreatment of trafficking victims and the
arbitrary dismissal of cases. Observers further noted the new
unit was not dedicated only to trafficking cases, prosecutors
had not received comprehensive training, and the new unit
was vulnerable to corruption and political influence.

284

Developing investigative techniques that corroborate testimony
and employing a victim-centered approach to cases are key
to successful prosecutions. Prosecutors’ reliance on victim
testimony can hinder successful prosecutions and result in
acquittals. A February 2016 Constitutional Court decision
limited the time suspects may be detained to 12 months.

Because it often takes years before a final verdict is issued in
trafficking cases, this ruling would allow suspected traffickers
to be released before trials conclude, enabling them to flee
the country or retaliate against witnesses. The National
Investigative Inspectorate (INI) maintained a policy requiring
CCTIP to regularly inform the INI of the suspects in CCTIP’s
investigations, to include subjects of search warrants before
searches are executed, which increased the risk of corrupt
officers warning suspects ahead of raids or intervening in
ongoing investigations.
Authorities decreased investigations in 2016, carrying out 151
trafficking cases, compared to 189 in 2015. The government
decreased prosecutions, completing 33 cases in 2016, compared
to 76 in 2015. The government increased convictions in 2016,
convicting 56 traffickers, compared to 39 in 2015. Of the
56 convicted traffickers, 47 received prison terms, with one
suspended sentence. The average jail sentence was 7.5 years for
trafficking in persons and 9.5 years for trafficking in children.
Moldovan authorities cooperated with foreign counterparts
on multiple trafficking investigations. Mostly using donor
funding, the government and international organizations
trained police, border guards, prosecutors, and judges in 2016.
Judges and prosecutors were required to complete a 40-hour
course on trafficking.

PROTECTION

The government decreased victim protection efforts. Two
provisions of the criminal code, articles 165 (4) and 220 (4),
were amended to absolve victims and minors of responsibility
for all acts committed as a result of being subjected to trafficking.
In addition, a new law established a legal framework for the
rehabilitation of victims of violent crimes, including trafficking
victims, providing them with a right to specified public services.
However, implementation of its protection mechanisms often
fell short in practice, due to pervasive corruption and a lack
of funding. The government identified 232 trafficking victims
in 2016, a decrease from 310 in 2015. Of these identified
victims, 35 were children, a decrease from 68 in 2015. Some
law enforcement officials may have intentionally avoided taking
action on victim identification and investigation of trafficking
crimes. The law requires adult trafficking victims confront their
alleged traffickers in person at a police station to begin an
investigation, and sometimes on multiple occasions over the
course of an investigation and trial; this requirement likely deters
victims from reporting crimes and can re-traumatize victims.
The government maintained funding levels for victim protection,
budgeting approximately 8.6 million lei ($430,151) to
repatriation assistance and seven shelters for victims of crime
and family violence, with increased funding for some shelters
and programs offset by decreases to others. The government
did not disburse all of the budgeted funds, with shelters
and protection programs generally receiving 66 percent to
78 percent of the allocated fund amounts. The government
often relied on NGOs and international organizations to
supplement government employee salaries and fund victim
services; government contributions are often insufficient to
cover basic living expenses for both employees and victims.
The government assisted 124 victims with repatriation assistance
or shelter care, compared with 132 in 2015. Teams of local
officials and NGOs in all regions of Moldova coordinated
victim identification and assistance; observers noted some
teams were less effective than others in assisting identified
victims. Through the Chisinau and regional centers, victims

The government did not adequately protect victims participating
in investigations and prosecutions. Victims were seldom fully
informed of their rights. At times, police may have done so
intentionally attempting to secure victims’ cooperation. Shelters
had little security and corruption undermined police protection.
Prosecutors did not maintain regular contact with victims or
adequately prepare them for trial. Judges disregarded laws and
regulations designed to protect victims during trial proceedings
thereby violating victims’ rights and allowing traffickers to
intimidate some victims in the courtroom so that the victims
felt pressured to change their testimony.
Victims had the right to sue traffickers for damages, but most
did not due to threats from perpetrators, inability to present
proof required by courts, and perceived corruption in the
judiciary. There were no civil suits against traffickers in 2016;
and seven cases in which prosecutors froze suspected traffickers’
assets remained pending from the previous year. While the law
provides for restitution awards to trafficking victims in criminal
cases, none were reported. It is unclear whether prosecutors do
not seek restitution or judges do not award it when requested.
The criminal code exempts trafficking victims from criminal
liability for committing offenses related to their exploitation.
However, when authorities classified cases under related statutes,
such as the article criminalizing forced labor, victims were
no longer exempt from criminal liability. The government
punished trafficking victims for unlawful acts committed as
a direct result of being subject to trafficking. Similarly, when
authorities reclassify sex trafficking cases to pimping cases,
victims were no longer exempted from punishment and could
be charged with prostitution offenses. Victims can be fined or
imprisoned for making false statements if they change their
testimony, whether deliberately due to bribes or intimidation,
or unintentionally due to the traumatization experienced.
Observers reported some cases of authorities charging child
sex trafficking victims with prostitution or other offenses, in
violation of Moldovan and international law. In one case, police
detained a child sex trafficking victim for theft and extortion after
she refused her trafficker’s demand to have sex with a purchaser
of commercial sex. Police terminated the investigation only
after an international organization interceded for the victim.

PREVENTION

The government decreased efforts to prevent human trafficking.
The national anti-trafficking committee (NCCTIP) and its
secretariat coordinated the government’s anti-trafficking

response. The government eliminated a coordinator staff
position on the secretariat, reducing the committee’s ability
to coordinate public awareness campaigns and advocacy. As
prescribed in the national action plan for 2014-2016, which
was extended for an additional year, NCCTIP implemented
programs to raise awareness among students and Moldovan
citizens abroad, as well as the general public through a website
and a national anti-trafficking week. In 2015, the government
ceased state funding to the specialists running a hotline on
child abuse and exploitation; the hotline continued to operate
with funding from an international organization in 2016. The
government provided training for its diplomatic personnel
on identifying trafficking victims. The government did not
make efforts to reduce the demand for commercial sex acts
or forced labor.

MONGOLIA

could receive shelter and medical, legal, and psychological
assistance, regardless of their cooperation with law enforcement.
Psychological assistance, legal aid, and long-term reintegration
support were insufficient, however, and victims were unable
to obtain the free medical insurance that is afforded under
Moldovan law. Trafficking victims often struggled to find
pro bono legal representation. The weak capacity of social
workers in outlying regions led to inefficient and poor quality
services offered to victims. These deficiencies contributed to the
continued vulnerability of trafficking victims to re-victimization.
Authorities placed child victims with relatives, in foster care,
or in rehabilitation clinics that provided specialized medical
and psychological care. Officials interviewed victims 14 years
old or younger in specialized hearing rooms with recording
equipment with the assistance of a psychologist. Male victims
were entitled to all forms of assistance, but lacked access to
shelters, which were designed for female victims. Care providers
reported bureaucratic impediments to moving victims with
severe mental health needs to state-run psychiatric institutions.

TRAFFICKING PROFILE

As reported over the past five years, Moldova is primarily a
source country for men, women, and children subjected to sex
trafficking and forced labor. Moldovan victims are subjected
to sex and labor trafficking within Moldova and in Russia,
Ukraine, and other countries in Europe, the Middle East,
Africa, and East Asia. Women and children are subjected to sex
trafficking in Moldova in brothels, saunas, and massage parlors.
Increasingly, girls aged 13 to 15 are victims of sex trafficking.
Child sex tourists, including from the EU, Turkey, Australia,
Israel, Thailand, and the United States, subject Moldovan
children to commercial sexual exploitation. The breakaway
region of Transnistria remains a source for victims of both sex
and labor trafficking. Official complicity in trafficking continues
to be a significant problem in Moldova.

MONGOLIA: TIER 2
The Government of Mongolia does not fully meet the minimum
standards for the elimination of trafficking; however, it is making
significant efforts to do so. The government demonstrated
increasing efforts compared to the previous reporting period;
therefore, Mongolia remained on Tier 2. The government
demonstrated increasing efforts by prosecuting more cases,
adopting an action plan on victim protection, and facilitating
trainings for government entities and stakeholders. However,
the government did not meet the minimum standards in
several key areas. The government did not proactively identify
trafficking victims from vulnerable populations, and authorities
arrested or detained potential victims for acts committed as a
direct result of being subjected to trafficking. The government
did not fund victim shelters or services during the year.

RECOMMENDATIONS FOR MONGOLIA

Develop and implement formal procedures to guide government
officials, including police, immigration, and labor authorities,
in victim identification and referral to protective services; cease
penalizing trafficking victims for offenses committed as a result

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of being subjected to trafficking; allocate funding to support
both government and NGO-run shelters and other forms of
victim assistance and protection; increase efforts to investigate
and prosecute all trafficking offenses using article 113 of the
criminal code; continue to monitor working conditions and
investigate claims of labor exploitation of foreign contractors
employed in Mongolia; implement the national action plans to
combat trafficking and protect victims; and engage in efforts to
reduce demand for commercial sex acts, particularly throughout
major transportation hubs.

PROSECUTION

The government increased law enforcement efforts. The
government adopted the last of six implementing regulations
required by the 2012 anti-trafficking law. Article 113 of the
criminal code prohibits all forms of human trafficking, defines
trafficking in accordance with international law, and prescribes
penalties of up to 15 years imprisonment. These penalties are
sufficiently stringent and commensurate with those prescribed
for other serious crimes, such as rape. In 2016, under article
113, authorities investigated three potential trafficking cases,
(14 in 2015), prosecuted 14 defendants (five in 2015), and
convicted nine traffickers (eight in 2015). The government
did not provide sentencing details or disaggregate ongoing
prosecutions initiated in prior years from new cases in 2016.
Authorities frequently charged suspected sex traffickers under
article 124, which criminalizes inducing others into and
organizing prostitution but does not require the element of
force, fraud, or coercion that defines a trafficking crime and
prescribes smaller penalties of up to five years imprisonment.
Authorities prosecuted 37 defendants and convicted eight
under article 124 in 2016; however, it was unclear how many
of these cases had direct links to sex trafficking. In addition,
due to the misconception among many government officials
that only females can be sex trafficking victims, authorities
rarely used articles 113 or 124 to prosecute cases in which
males were the victims but instead used provisions with less
stringent penalties. The government-funded training courses
for over 500 law enforcement officers and social workers on
topics including human trafficking, child protection, and labor
exploitation. The government also provided in-kind support,
including trainers and a venue, for trainings aimed at NGOs,
prosecutors, judges, and police, as well as social, health,
education, and employment officers. The government did
not report any investigations, prosecutions, or convictions of
government employees complicit in human trafficking offenses.

PROTECTION

286

The government decreased efforts to protect victims. NGOs
provided the vast majority of protection services for victims,
including long-term resources, without support from the
government. Victims’ services continued to be available
principally at two shelters run by the Mongolian Gender
Equality Center (GEC). For the second consecutive year, the
government did not report funding GEC facilities. In 2016, the
GEC assisted a total of one potential labor and 43 potential
sex trafficking victims, compared with 36 sex trafficking victims
the previous year; 20 referrals originated from law enforcement
agencies. All identified victims were female, and one was a
child. Of the 44 potential victims assisted by the GEC, 22
chose to report their cases to law enforcement. National police
agency investigators reported using an 11-question trafficking
risk assessment checklist to identify victims proactively among
vulnerable populations; however, NGOs indicated identification
and referrals were not systematic but rather depended on the

initiative of individual officers. Mongolian authorities fined,
arrested, and detained trafficking victims, including children,
for crimes committed as a direct result of being subjected
to trafficking during the reporting period. The government
adopted implementing regulations for an action plan for
2016-2024 on the protection and assistance of victims and
witnesses. Mongolian officials maintained operation of a private
victim and witness room at the First District First Instance
Criminal Court in Ulaanbaatar. The government assisted in
the repatriation of four Mongolian trafficking victims from
China in 2016. The government did not identify foreign
victims during the reporting period. Mongolian law does not
provide legal alternatives to the removal of foreign victims to
countries in which they could face retribution or hardship.

PREVENTION

The government maintained modest efforts to prevent
trafficking. Although the Anti-Trafficking sub-council did
not meet regularly in 2016, the government re-established
its Crime Prevention Coordinating Council, which held the
first of regular meetings in December and effectively fulfills
the sub-council’s role of coordinating anti-trafficking efforts.
Justice officials submitted to the cabinet a national action
plan for 2017-2021; the plan remained under review at the
end of the reporting period. The government continued work
with an international organization to establish an integrated
statistical database, which will be publicly accessible in the
future. In 2016, government officials conducted a study on
the working conditions of foreign laborers in Mongolia; the
report was not yet finalized at the end of the reporting period.
Officials continued to disseminate a daily public service
announcement (PSA) on social media and television, in
addition to distributing a PSA to police stations in all provinces.
Authorities, with assistance from an international organization,
funded and distributed passport inserts to Mongolian citizens
traveling abroad that provided emergency information for
trafficking situations at major transportation hubs and in
areas with high population density; however, this activity
ceased in June 2016 while the inserts underwent revision. The
government inspected labor contracts of Mongolians recruited
to work abroad to ensure their compliance with the law,
including adequate wages; authorities collected fines from four
companies for visa violations and to recover underpaid wages
of foreign workers. The government did not take measures to
reduce the demand for forced labor or commercial sex acts.
In 2016, the government provided anti-trafficking training for
all peacekeepers in advance of their deployment abroad and
required its diplomatic personnel to be familiar with antitrafficking laws prior to assignment abroad.

TRAFFICKING PROFILE

As reported over the past five years, Mongolia is a source
and destination country for men, women, and children
subjected to forced labor and sex trafficking. Mongolian
men, women, and children are subjected to forced labor in
Turkey, Kazakhstan, Israel, Norway, and Sweden and to sex
trafficking in South Korea, Japan, China, Hong Kong, Macau,
Malaysia, Germany, Sweden, Belgium, Turkey, and the United
States. Women and girls are subjected to sex trafficking in
Mongolian massage parlors, hotels, bars, and karaoke clubs.
Mongolian girls employed as contortionists—often under
contractual agreements signed by their parents—are subjected
to forced labor primarily in Mongolia and Turkey and less so in
Hong Kong and Singapore. Women are subjected to domestic
servitude or forced prostitution after entering into commercially

The continued development of the mining industry in southern
Mongolia led to an increase in internal and international
migration, increasing the risk of trafficking, particularly along
the China-Mongolian border. Increasing their vulnerability to
exploitation, truck drivers transporting coal across the border
often have their passports confiscated as collateral for their
vehicles; young women are also at risk of being exploited in
prostitution by drivers who are awaiting border crossing. Some
Mongolian children are forced to beg, steal, or work in the
informal sectors of the economy, such as horse racing, mining,
herding, and construction, and are sometimes subjected to
sex trafficking—often with familial complicity. North Korean
and Chinese workers employed in Mongolia are vulnerable
to trafficking as contract laborers in construction, production,
agriculture, forestry, fishing, hunting, wholesale and retail trade,
automobile maintenance, and mining. Purportedly, North
Korean laborers do not have freedom of movement or choice
of employment and are allowed to keep only a small portion of
their wages while being subjected to harsh working and living
conditions. Chinese workers have reported non-payment of
wages. Previous reports allege corruption among Mongolian
officials impedes the government’s anti-trafficking efforts.

MONTENEGRO: TIER 2 WATCH LIST
The Government of Montenegro does not fully meet the
minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking; however,
it is making significant efforts to do so. The government
demonstrated significant efforts during the reporting period
by increasing funds for the NGO-run shelter and the Office for
the Fight against Trafficking in Persons (OFTIP). The government
adopted a 2017 action plan for the implementation of its 20122018 anti-trafficking strategy. However, the government did
not demonstrate increasing efforts compared to the previous
reporting period. The government did not prosecute or convict
any traffickers for the second consecutive year and tried several
potential trafficking cases as lesser crimes. The government
identified fewer victims overall and did not identify any sex
trafficking victims. The lack of convictions prevented victims
from obtaining restitution from their traffickers. Therefore,
Montenegro was downgraded to Tier 2 Watch List.

RECOMMENDATIONS FOR MONTENEGRO

Vigorously investigate, prosecute, and convict traffickers,
including complicit officials, for trafficking crimes under
article 444 of the criminal code; encourage trafficking victims’
participation in prosecutions in a manner that protects victims;

increase proactive screening of potential victims, especially for
children engaged in begging and women in prostitution; train
first responders on victim identification and referral and provide
advanced training to judges, prosecutors, and law enforcement
on trafficking investigations and prosecutions; make efforts
to ensure raids of prostitution establishments do not lead to
the arrest of trafficking victims, minimize harm to potential
victims and include arrangements to segregate traffickers from
such victims; conduct victim-centered interviews, and quickly
transition identified victims to post-rescue care and shelter;
create a compensation fund, allocate adequate funds towards
a compensation fund, and inform victims of their right to
compensation; and integrate Romani groups into decisionmaking processes regarding victim protection.

PROSECUTION

The government continued to decrease anti-trafficking law
enforcement efforts. Article 444 of the criminal code prohibits
sex and labor trafficking and prescribes penalties of up to 12
years imprisonment, with longer sentences possible for cases
involving child trafficking, which are sufficiently stringent and
commensurate with those prescribed for other serious crimes,
such as rape. The government did not initiate any prosecutions
under article 444 in 2016 or 2015. The government did not
secure any convictions under article 444 in 2016, 2015, or 2014.
The government did, however, investigate seven suspected
trafficking cases, compared with four in 2015. Two of the 2016
cases led to the arrest and prosecution of three suspects for
brokering in prostitution, a crime of promoting prostitution
or leading or inciting another to engage in prostitution, and
six suspects for migrant smuggling, not trafficking. Observers
reported authorities investigated and prosecuted many possible
sex trafficking cases under other offenses, such as brokering in
prostitution (article 210), due to a lack of evidence or reluctance
of victims to act as a witness. Brokering in prostitution prescribes
a penalty of up to one year imprisonment, and if against a
minor imprisonment for one to ten years. However, in one
case involving brokering in prostitution of three children
and four adults, the basic court convicted the perpetrator and
sentenced her to one year and seven months imprisonment,
lower than the prescribed minimum of three years for trafficking
of children under article 444. The government did not report
any investigations, prosecutions, or convictions of government
officials complicit in human trafficking offenses.
Law enforcement continued proactive investigations through
two taskforces targeting forced child begging and sex trafficking.
A specialized trafficking unit within the Department for the
Fight against Organized Crime and Corruption of the Police
Directorate also investigated trafficking cases. Law enforcement
conducted regular raids on bars, night clubs, commercial
sex sites, escort agencies, and businesses suspected of illegal
employment practices, but these raids did not result in any
trafficking investigations. In 2015, the government established a
new Office of the Special State Prosecutor to expand its capacity
to prosecute cases of organized crime, including trafficking;
however, the last suspect prosecuted under article 444 was in
2014. The Ministry of Interior (MOI), in cooperation with an
international organization, trained 91 border police officers
in eight separate sessions. The government also trained 41
members of local parliaments, 16 prosecutors, and 30 judges.
MOI, OFTIP, and the police academy trained 17 representatives
from the police directorate on trafficking issues. The police
academy also trained new police cadets on trafficking issues.
The government slightly increased cooperation with foreign
governments and signed a trilateral agreement with Albania and

MONTENEGRO

brokered marriages to Chinese men and, with decreased
frequency, South Korean men. Traffickers sometimes use drugs,
fraudulent social networking, online job opportunities, or
English language programs to lure Mongolian victims into sex
trafficking. A significant number of Mongolian victims from
rural and poor economic areas are subjected to sex trafficking
in Ulaanbaatar and border areas. Japanese and South Korean
tourists engage in child sex tourism in Mongolia.

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Kosovo that unified standard operating procedures (SOPs) on
identifying trafficking victims and providing support services.
The government also extradited to Serbia two Serbians suspected
of trafficking.

PROTECTION

The government decreased victim protection efforts. The
government identified one potential trafficking victim, compared
to 16 potential victims in 2015. The potential victim was a child
forced to beg. The government did not identify any sex trafficking
victims (16 sex trafficking victims in 2015). The government
also identified two female Romani children forced into marriage
and vulnerable to domestic servitude (four children forced
into marriage in 2015). The government-funded NGO-run
shelter accommodated the only child victim, compared to
four victims in 2015. OFTIP allocated €27,000 ($28,451) to
the NGO-run shelter, compared to €26,000 ($27,397) in 2015.
Police identified 75 child beggars in 2016, compared to 122
in 2015 and 156 in 2014, but did not identify any of them as
trafficking victims. The government accommodated most of
the children identified as beggars at local social welfare centers
until being released to their parents or guardians.
A multi-disciplinary national referral mechanism provided
SOPs for identifying and referring victims to services. First
responders carried out the preliminary identification of potential
victims and then contacted police who formally recognized the
individuals as potential trafficking victims. The government
identified potential victims as an official trafficking victim
only in cases with a final conviction; however, the government
provided the same services to potential victims and officially
recognized victims. The government, in cooperation with
international organizations, continued to disseminate a victim
identification checklist containing trafficking indicators to
all law enforcement agencies, prosecutors, health and social
workers, and school directors; however, police still conducted the
majority of proactive identification efforts. For example, police
officers proactively screened foreign nationals and seasonal
workers during the summer tourist season for indicators of
trafficking. Observers reported the low number of identified
victims illustrates victim identification procedures remained
an area for improvement.
The government-funded NGO-run shelter makes available
specialized services for trafficking victims, including medical,
psychological, and social assistance; legal assistance; and
vocational training and reintegration assistance. Male victims
can be accommodated in separate living quarters in the shelter,
as were children from adults. Victims can leave the shelter
after assessment by police, or by the social welfare centers in
the case of children. The Ministry of Labor and Social Welfare
(MLSW) operated local and social welfare centers and two
regional institutions, which provide general services for victims
of abuse, including trafficking victims. Although MLSW did not
provide specialized services for trafficking victims, MLSW can
provide separate facilities for males and females. MLSW trained
112 staff on trafficking indicators and interview techniques.

288

The law provides witness protection, free legal aid, and a
psychologist to encourage victims to participate in prosecutions;
however, observers reported the government assigned lawyers
with little or no experience in trafficking. The law also provides
for the possibility for victim restitution and entitles foreign
trafficking victims to receive a temporary residence permit,
lasting from three months to one year, and work authorization.
No victims applied for temporary residence permits in 2016 or

2015. Additionally, no victims participated in the prosecution
of their traffickers or requested restitution in 2016 and 2015.
The Law on Compensation of Victims is intended to provide
financial assistance to victims of intentional violent crimes
leading to severe physical injuries or emotional distress; however,
this law will not go into effect until Montenegro becomes a
member of the European Union. Montenegrin law prohibits the
detention or arrest of persons believed to be human trafficking
victims for crimes related to the trafficking. However, in October
2014, the high court confirmed the guilty verdict of a Moldovan
trafficking victim and sentenced her in absentia to one year
in prison for perjury for her testimony in a high profile 2002
trafficking case in which she accused high-level officials of
being involved in human trafficking. NGO representatives
strongly condemned the verdict for its weak legal reasoning
and its chilling effect on possible future cases.

PREVENTION

The government increased prevention efforts. The government
adopted a 2017 action plan to implement its 2012-2018 antitrafficking strategy. The government produced semiannual
reports on progress implementing the strategy and action
plan and allocated €174,860 ($184,260) to OFTIP, compared
to €151,165 ($159,289) in 2015. OFTIP led overall antitrafficking efforts and the head of OFTIP was the national
coordinator for the anti-trafficking taskforce, comprised of
government agencies, NGOs, international organizations, and
the international community. The coordination team monitored
the implementation of the national referral mechanism and
met twice a year and when a potential victim was identified.
The government organized seminars for healthcare workers,
municipality representatives, social workers, and inspectors,
on their respective roles and responsibilities in anti-trafficking
efforts. The government also conducted a joint training on a
multi-disciplinary approach to combating trafficking of children
with police, prosecutors, judges, social workers, NGO and
international organization representatives, and local government
officials. The government, in coordination with the Roma
Council and NGOs, organized awareness campaigns targeting
the Romani community on trafficking issues. The government
continued to support two hotlines for victims of abuse and
domestic violence, including trafficking victims. One hotline
received 414 calls of which 15 were potential trafficking cases.
The other hotline received 3,384 calls but only a small portion
involved trafficking. In addition, the government conducted a
national awareness campaign that included an awareness-raising
video shown on television stations; and increased cooperation
with media outlets to advertise the SOS hotline. Authorities
provided specialized training to labor inspectors, although
inspectors did not identify any cases of forced labor during
the reporting period. The government did not make efforts to
reduce the demand for commercial sex acts or forced labor.
The national action plan included providing anti-trafficking
training for diplomats; however, the government did not report
providing training or guidance for its diplomatic personnel.
The government required nationals deployed abroad as part
of peacekeeping or similar missions to attend lectures on
trafficking. The government trained 52 soldiers on trafficking
before their deployment.

TRAFFICKING PROFILE

As reported over the past five years, Montenegro is a source,
transit, and destination country for men, women, and children
subjected to sex trafficking and forced labor. Victims of sex

MOROCCO: TIER 2
The Government of Morocco does not fully meet the minimum
standards for the elimination of trafficking; however, it is making
significant efforts to do so. The government demonstrated
increasing efforts compared to the previous reporting period;
therefore, Morocco remained on Tier 2. The government
demonstrated increasing efforts by enacting a new anti-trafficking
law prohibiting all forms of trafficking and establishing an
inter-ministerial anti-trafficking commission. It also worked to
reduce vulnerability to trafficking by enacting a new law limiting
child domestic work and by extending legal protections and
social services to irregular migrants. However, the government
did not meet the minimum standards in several key areas. The
government reported limited efforts to investigate and prosecute
potential trafficking crimes, and it did not report screening for
or proactively identifying trafficking victims, especially among
irregular migrants, who remained highly vulnerable to trafficking
in Morocco. As a result, unidentified victims among vulnerable
populations remained at risk of penalization and re-trafficking.
The government also did not provide specialized protection
services specifically catered to the needs of trafficking victims.

RECOMMENDATIONS FOR MOROCCO

Implement the 2016 anti-trafficking law and train judicial and
law enforcement authorities on its application; significantly
increase investigations, prosecutions, and convictions of
traffickers, and impose sufficiently stringent sentences; develop
procedures for officials to proactively identify trafficking victims,
especially among irregular migrants; ensure victims are not
punished for crimes committed as a direct result of being
subjected to human trafficking, such as immigration and
prostitution violations; provide adequate protection services
for trafficking victims via funding or in-kind support to NGOs
that provide specialized services for victims of all forms of
trafficking; develop and implement formal procedures for
victim identification and referral to care using a victim-centered
approach; significantly improve law enforcement data collection
and reporting, including the disaggregation of data between
human trafficking and human smuggling crimes; and enhance
public awareness campaigns addressing all forms of trafficking
of men, women, and children.

PROSECUTION

The government improved its law enforcement capacity by
enacting an anti-trafficking law, but it made limited efforts
to investigate and prosecute potential trafficking crimes. The
government enacted anti-trafficking law 27.14 in September
2016, which prohibits all forms of trafficking. The law
prescribes penalties of five to 30 years imprisonment, which
are sufficiently stringent, consistent with the UN Convention
Against Transnational Organized Crime, and commensurate
with other serious crimes, such as rape. Several pre-existing laws
used during the reporting period prohibited some, but not all,
forms of trafficking. Generally, penalties under these laws were
not sufficiently stringent. Morocco’s penal code prohibits forced
child labor through article 467-2, which prescribes penalties
of one to three years imprisonment, which are not sufficiently
stringent. The penal code also prohibits “forced prostitution”
and “child prostitution” through articles 497-499, which
prescribe penalties of up to 10 years or life imprisonment for
crimes found to have occurred with aggravated circumstances;
these penalties are sufficiently stringent and commensurate
with other serious crimes such as rape. The penal code does
not specifically define and penalize sex trafficking. Article 10
of Morocco’s labor code prohibits forced labor of a worker;
this offense is punishable by a fine for the first offense and a
jail term of up to three months for subsequent offenses; these
penalties are not sufficiently stringent.
The government did not make arrest or prosecution data public.
Some media outlets and diplomatic missions reported that
the government maintained close cooperation with Spain to
arrest, prosecute, and convict international human traffickers.
In February 2017, the Moroccan government cooperated with
the Spanish government in the arrest of a 10-member human
trafficking ring moving trafficking victims between Morocco
and Spain. The government also reported cooperating with the
governments of the Netherlands and Turkey on international
trafficking cases during the reporting period. In 2016, the
government reported two convictions of forced child begging
in which the two perpetrators each received sentences of onemonth probation, which advocates consider inadequate to
deter the commission of these serious crimes. The government
also reported disbanding 33 human smuggling and trafficking
networks in 2016, but it did not report prosecuting the
perpetrators operating these networks for alleged trafficking
crimes. The government initiated separate investigations of
and arrested three Saudi Arabian nationals and one American
on charges of child sex trafficking and child sex tourism. In
2016, the government continued to investigate seven Moroccan
peacekeepers accused of sexual exploitation in the Central
African Republic and the Democratic Republic of the Congo,
as reported by an international organization. At the end of
this reporting period, the international organization reported
three of these investigations remained pending, two were
found unsubstantiated, and two were found substantiated.
In the two substantiated cases, the government reportedly
handed down a prison sentence to one former peacekeeper
and the other was repatriated with further updates pending.
In 2016, the government held three roundtable discussions
for officials on victim identification, referral, and protection,
which aimed to strengthen the capacity and coordination of
anti-trafficking personnel in seven departments throughout
the country. Additionally, authorities from various ministries,
including the police, met regularly to coordinate various antitrafficking efforts. The Ministry of Justice organized regular
training programs on human trafficking for judges and other
judicial officials in 2016. After the government enacted the
2016 anti-trafficking law, an international organization—with

MOROCCO

trafficking identified in Montenegro are primarily women
and girls from Montenegro, neighboring Balkan countries,
and, to a lesser extent, other countries in Eastern Europe. Sex
trafficking victims are exploited in hospitality facilities, bars,
restaurants, night clubs, and cafes. Children, particularly Roma
and Albanian, are subjected to forced begging. Romani girls
from Montenegro reportedly have been sold into marriages in
Romani communities in Montenegro and, to a lesser extent,
in Kosovo, and forced into domestic servitude. International
organized criminal groups occasionally subject Montenegrin
women and girls to sex trafficking in other Balkan countries.

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MOROCCO

in-kind assistance from the government—trained a group of
judges on its provisions and implementation.

PROTECTION

The government sustained minimal efforts to identify and protect
trafficking victims. As in past years, the government did not
report proactive efforts to identify trafficking victims, including
within vulnerable populations such as irregular migrants.
International organizations and NGOs reported some local law
enforcement officials informally referred cases of vulnerable
women, children, and migrants, including potential trafficking
victims, to them for social services. Although the government
drastically decreased forced deportations of migrants over the
last couple of years, it continued to regularly conduct forced
internal relocations of irregular migrants, particularly in Nador.
The government did not make efforts to identify potential
trafficking victims among the vulnerable irregular migrant
population, and therefore some unidentified victims may
have been penalized for unlawful acts committed as a direct
result of being subjected to trafficking, such as immigration
and prostitution violations. While the government continued
efforts to regularize various types of irregular migrants, it did
not make efforts to identify potential trafficking victims among
those whose stay was regularized through this program.
The government did not provide protection services designed
or funded specifically to assist trafficking victims. Civil society
organizations and some foreign embassies continued to be the
primary providers of protection services for trafficking victims,
and the government did provide limited funding or in-kind
support. Additionally, some police officials reportedly helped
foreign embassies recover migrants’ passports confiscated by
their employers. The government continued to provide a wide
variety of legal protections and social and health services to
vulnerable women and children, including victims of crime and
abuse, some of whom may have been unidentified trafficking
victims. In 2016, the Ministry in Charge of Residents Abroad and
Migration Affairs (MCRAMA) offered financial assistance to 231
projects dedicated to providing integration programs including
social, medical, and legal services to vulnerable migrants,
refugees, and trafficking victims, but it did not report how many
trafficking victims received this assistance during the reporting
period. By the end of this reporting period, MCRAMA expanded
this civil society partnership program to 124 organizations
in ten different regions throughout Morocco. MCRAMA had
a plan of action to protect Moroccan migrants abroad; it did
not provide specialized care during the reporting period for
repatriated Moroccans exploited abroad. The government
reportedly encouraged victims to cooperate in investigations
against their traffickers, yet the government did not report that
any victims testified in 2016. Decree No. 1-11-164 and the
anti-trafficking law 27.14 provide some protections to victims
and witnesses who testify against traffickers. The government
provided legal alternatives to the removal of foreign victims
of trafficking to countries where they might face retribution
or hardship.

PREVENTION

290

The government increased efforts to prevent human trafficking.
The new anti-trafficking law stipulates the formation of a
national inter-ministerial anti-trafficking commission to
coordinate efforts to combat and prevent trafficking. In 2016,
the government drafted guidelines and responsibilities for the
new commission, but did not finalize them by the end of the
reporting period or establish the committee. In August 2016,

the government enacted a law that prohibits the employment
of domestic workers under the age of 16 and strictly limits
the employment of children between the ages of 16 and 18
for domestic work; to give employers time to comply, the
law was not implemented during the reporting period but is
scheduled to enter into force in August 2017. In December
2016, the government announced and adopted a plan to
implement the second phase of its 2014 migrant regularization
campaign, which granted legal status to various types of irregular
migrants and allowed them access to jobs, employment services,
education, legal protections, and some social services; as of
March 2017, more than 18,000 migrants had already applied
for regularization. The government continued to take some
measures to reduce the demand for commercial sex acts and
child sex tourism. In November 2016, in partnership with
an international organization, the government developed a
program to raise awareness about child exploitation on the
internet. In addition, the government made efforts to reduce the
demand for forced labor. In 2016, the Ministry of Employment
and Social Affairs conducted 543 child labor inspections,
resulting in 79 formal notices addressed to unlawful employers.
Labor inspectors also withdrew 80 children under the age of
15 from work sites and 166 children between the ages of 15
and 18 from hazardous work sites. The government did not
report if it imposed any financial penalties on these employers,
nor if inspectors identified any trafficking victims among
these children. As in previous years, inspectors continued to
be hindered by inadequate staffing and did not have the legal
authority to enter homes, preventing them from identifying
children or adults in domestic servitude. The government
provided its diplomatic personnel human rights training, which
included background on human trafficking issues. Moroccan
peacekeeping forces continued to operate under a “no tolerance”
policy, and the government provided training on the issue of
sexual exploitation, but not specifically human trafficking, to
Moroccan soldiers prior to their deployment abroad on UN
peacekeeping missions.

TRAFFICKING PROFILE

As reported over the past five years, Morocco is a source,
destination, and transit country for men, women, and children
subjected to forced labor and sex trafficking. According to a
November 2015 study conducted by the Moroccan government,
with support by an international organization, children are
exploited in Morocco for labor, domestic work, begging, and
sex trafficking. Although the incidence of child domestic work
has reportedly decreased since 2005, girls are recruited from
rural areas for work in domestic service in cities and become
victims of forced labor. Some Moroccan boys endure forced
labor while employed as apprentices in the artisanal and
construction industries and in mechanic shops. The 2015 study
also found that some women are forced into prostitution in
Morocco by members of their families or other intermediaries.
Some female undocumented migrants, primarily from subSaharan Africa and a small but growing number from South
Asia, are coerced into prostitution and forced labor. Criminal
networks operating in Oujda on the Algerian border and in
the northern coastal town of Nador force undocumented
migrant women into prostitution and begging; networks in
Oujda also reportedly force children of migrants to beg. Some
female migrants, particularly Nigerians, who transit Oujda are
forced into prostitution once they reach Europe. International
organizations, local NGOs, and migrants report unaccompanied
children and women from Cote d’Ivoire, Democratic Republic
of the Congo, Nigeria, and Cameroon are highly vulnerable
to sex trafficking and forced labor in Morocco. Some reports

Moroccan men, women, and children are exploited in forced
labor and sex trafficking, primarily in Europe and the Middle
East. Moroccan women forced into prostitution abroad
experience restrictions on movement, threats, and emotional
and physical abuse. Some foreigners, primarily from Europe
and the Middle East, engage in child sex tourism in major
Moroccan cities.

MOZAMBIQUE: TIER 2 WATCH LIST
The Government of Mozambique does not fully meet the
minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking; however,
it is making significant efforts to do so. The government
demonstrated significant efforts during the reporting period
by continuing to prosecute and convict traffickers; identifying
victims and referring them to care; developing a draft national
referral mechanism (NRM); training front-line responders; and
coordinating awareness-raising events. However, the government
did not demonstrate increasing efforts compared to the previous
reporting period. While the number of investigations decreased,
the numbers of prosecutions and convictions increased. The
government did not finalize implementing regulations for the
2008 anti-trafficking law and the government’s funding for and
provision of protective services remained inadequate. The labor
ministry employed an insufficient number of labor inspectors,
and they lacked training and resources to effectively monitor
for child trafficking and other labor violations. Therefore,
Mozambique remained on Tier 2 Watch List for the second
consecutive year.

RECOMMENDATIONS FOR MOZAMBIQUE

Increase efforts to prosecute and convict traffickers; finalize
and implement the national action plan, and issue regulations
necessary to implement the protection and prevention provisions
of the 2008 anti-trafficking law; expand the availability of
protective services for victims via increased funding or in-kind
support to relevant partners in the National Group to Protect
Children and Combat Trafficking in Persons; build the capacity
of the labor inspectorate and the Women and Children’s Victim
Assistance Units to investigate trafficking cases and provide
short-term protection to victims; develop a formal system
to proactively identify trafficking victims among vulnerable
populations and finalize and implement the national referral
mechanism; institute a unified system for collecting trafficking

case data; monitor the reported growth of commercial sex and
train officials to investigate and prosecute those facilitating
child sex trafficking or adult forced prostitution; and expand
training for law enforcement officers in victim identification,
particularly at border points.

PROSECUTION

The government made uneven anti-trafficking law enforcement
efforts. The Law on Preventing and Combating the Trafficking
of People, enacted in 2008, prohibits recruiting or facilitating
the exploitation of a person for purposes of prostitution, forced
labor, slavery, or involuntary debt servitude. Article 10 prescribes
penalties of 16 to 20 years imprisonment for these offenses,
which are sufficiently stringent and exceed those prescribed
for other serious crimes, such as rape. The 2014 penal code
prohibits involuntary commercial sexual exploitation and
forced labor of men and women.

MOZAMBIQUE

suggest Cameroonian and Nigerian networks force women into
prostitution, while Nigerian networks also force women to beg
in the streets by threatening the victims and their families; the
victims are typically the same nationality as the traffickers. Some
women from the Philippines and Indonesia are recruited for
employment as domestic workers in Morocco; upon arrival,
some are subjected to forced labor, experiencing non-payment
of wages, withholding of passports, and physical abuse at the
hands of their employers.

The government continued to manually compile anti-trafficking
law enforcement data; however, it did not provide case-specific
details. In 2016, the government reported initiating investigations
of 20 suspected trafficking cases, compared with 35 the previous
year and prosecutions of 17 defendants, compared with 10
the previous year. It reported convicting 16 traffickers under
the 2008 anti-trafficking law, all of whom received prison
terms, ranging from eight to 20 years imprisonment; the
number of convictions represents an increase from 11 offenders
convicted in 2015. As the 2008 anti-trafficking law criminalizes
trafficking for the purpose of organ removal, law enforcement
statistics likely included such cases, in addition to sex and
labor trafficking cases. The government did not report any
investigations, prosecutions, or convictions of government
officials complicit in human trafficking offenses.
In partnership with international organizations, the government
trained 30 members of the National Reference Group for Child
Protection and Combating Trafficking in Persons (NRG), an
inter-ministerial body responsible for coordination of national
anti-trafficking efforts, on victim identification. An international
organization trained approximately two dozen members of the
Maputo Province Reference Group, consisting of officials from
the provincial administrative office, attorney general’s office,
police, border guards, social workers, and NGOs, trained 24
provincial reference group members on victim identification
twice during the reporting period. An international organization
also provided training for the Maputo City Reference Group on
victim identification. The attorney general’s office worked with
an international organization to train 100 provincial reference
group members in Gaza, Nampula, and Tete provinces. The
Ministry of the Interior trained 60 of its personnel from Gaza,
Inhambane, and Maputo on victim identification. Expert reports
allege traffickers commonly bribe police and immigration
officials to facilitate trafficking crimes both domestically and
across international borders.

PROTECTION

The government maintained inadequate protection efforts.
The government reported referring 11 trafficking victims,
including 10 children, to an international organization for
protective services. An international organization reported
identifying one additional child victim. Officials continued
to rely on technical and financial support from NGOs
and international organizations to provide protection and
rehabilitation services for victims and offered limited shelter,
medical, and psychological assistance. In partnership with an

291

NAMIBIA

international organization, the government developed a draft
NRM during the reporting period. The drafting process involved
significant coordination among multiple government agencies,
law enforcement, and civil society. However, it did not finalize
implementing regulations for the protection and prevention
provisions of the 2008 anti-trafficking law. Draft implementing
regulations for trafficking victim and witness protection were
not finalized by the end of the reporting period.
Officials continued to operate facilities in more than 215 police
stations and 22 “Victims of Violence” centers throughout the
country offering temporary shelter, food, limited counseling,
and monitoring following reintegration for victims of crime;
however, it remained unclear whether trafficking victims
benefited from these services in 2016. The anti-trafficking
law requires police protection for victims who participate
as witnesses in criminal proceedings against traffickers. The
multi-sectoral care mechanism, which coordinates referrals and
protective provisions for female victims of violence, remained
inadequate and inoperative in 2016. Although Mozambican law
provides for temporary residency status or legal alternatives to
the removal of foreign victims to countries where they might
face hardship or retribution, the government did not use this
provision during the reporting period.

PREVENTION

The government made modest efforts to prevent trafficking.
The NRG met at least twice during the reporting period to
coordinate anti-trafficking efforts at the national level and
to draft an updated national action plan; however, the
plan was not finalized by the end of the reporting period.
Provincial-level “reference groups,” consisting of local officials,
police, border guards, social workers, NGOs, and faith-based
organizations, continued to coordinate regional efforts to
address trafficking and other crimes. These groups carried out
awareness campaigns throughout the country with support
from an international NGO. The labor ministry employed an
inadequate number of labor inspectors who lacked training
and resources to effectively monitor for child trafficking and
other labor violations, especially on farms in rural areas.
Mozambican officials remained without effective policies or
laws regulating foreign recruiters and holding them civilly and
criminally liable for fraudulent recruiting. The government
did not demonstrate tangible efforts to reduce the demand for
commercial sex acts or forced labor during the year. It did not
provide anti-trafficking training for its diplomatic personnel.

increase the demand for sexual services, potentially including
child sex trafficking. Mozambican men and boys are subjected
to forced labor on South African farms and mines where they
often labor for months without pay under coercive conditions
before being turned over to police for deportation as illegal
migrants. Mozambican boys migrate to Swaziland to wash
cars, herd livestock, and sell goods; some subsequently become
victims of forced labor. Mozambican adults and girls are
subjected to forced labor and sex trafficking in Angola, Italy,
and Portugal. Persons with albinism, including children, are
increasingly vulnerable to trafficking for the purpose of organ
removal. Informal networks typically comprise Mozambican
or South African traffickers. South Asian smugglers who move
undocumented South Asian migrants throughout Africa also
reportedly transport trafficking victims through Mozambique.
Previous reports allege traffickers bribe officials to move victims
within the country and across national borders to South Africa
and Swaziland.

NAMIBIA: TIER 2
The Government of Namibia does not fully meet the minimum
standards for the elimination of trafficking; however, it is making
significant efforts to do so. The government demonstrated
increasing efforts compared to the previous reporting period,
therefore, Namibia remained on Tier 2. The government
demonstrated increasing efforts by identifying and referring to
care more trafficking victims, by drafting a national mechanism
to refer victims to care, and by establishing a multi-sectoral
steering committee, the TIP National Coordinating Body
(TNCB), and signing a memorandum of understanding to
strengthen inter-ministerial coordination on trafficking cases.
However, the government did not meet the minimum standards
in several key areas. The government did not convict any
traffickers. Government-funded shelters lacked personnel and
resources to assist victims. The government did not conduct
awareness activities.

TRAFFICKING PROFILE

292

As reported over the past five years, Mozambique is a source,
transit, and, to a lesser extent, destination country for men,
women, and children subjected to forced labor and sex
trafficking. The use of forced child labor occurs in agriculture,
mining, and market vending in rural areas, often with the
complicity of family members. In addition to voluntary migrants
from neighboring countries, women and girls from rural areas,
lured to cities in Mozambique or South Africa with promises of
employment or education, are exploited in domestic servitude
and sex trafficking. Mozambican girls are exploited in bars,
roadside clubs, overnight stopping points, and restaurants
along the southern transport corridor that links Maputo with
Swaziland and South Africa. Child sex trafficking is of growing
concern in Maputo, Beira, Chimoio, Tete, and Nacala, which
have highly mobile populations and large numbers of truck
drivers. As workers and economic migrants seek employment in
the growing extractive industries in Tete and Cabo Delgado, they

RECOMMENDATIONS FOR NAMIBIA

Finalize and enact comprehensive anti-trafficking legislation;
increase efforts to investigate, prosecute, and convict traffickers,
including for forced labor; adopt and implement the draft
national mechanism to identify victims and refer them to care;
allocate additional resources for shelter services, including to
develop a plan to fully operationalize renovated safe houses
specifically for trafficking victims; finalize and implement
a new national action plan to guide anti-trafficking efforts;
train officials on relevant legislation; institute a unified system
for collecting trafficking case data for use by all stakeholders;
strengthen coordination among government ministries at both
the ministerial and working level; and increase efforts to raise
awareness, especially in rural areas.

The government maintained anti-trafficking law enforcement
efforts. The 2009 Prevention of Organized Crime Act criminalizes
all forms of trafficking and prescribes sentences of up to 50
years imprisonment and a fine for persons who participate in
trafficking offenses or aid and abet traffickers, penalties that
are sufficiently stringent and commensurate with punishments
prescribed for other serious crimes, such as rape. In April
2015, the government enacted the Child Care and Protection
Act, which includes provisions explicitly criminalizing child
trafficking and providing protection measures for victims of
child trafficking; however, the bill will not enter into force
until regulations related to other parts of the law have been
promulgated. The government continued to review the National
Human Trafficking Bill, which is meant to provide a single point
of reference for all trafficking cases and also includes protection
and prevention measures; however, it was not enacted at the
end of the reporting period.
In 2016, the government conducted eight trafficking
investigations, three for sex trafficking and five for forced
labor, compared to seven in 2015. The government initiated
prosecution in two trafficking cases of seven defendants, the
same as in 2015. The government did not convict any traffickers,
compared to one conviction in the previous reporting period.
One prosecution initiated in 2014 resulted in acquittal during
the reporting period. The government continued implementing
its training curriculum for new immigration officers and inservice personnel, with three of 14 regions trained in the
reporting period. The government provided anti-trafficking
training to an unknown number of law enforcement officers in
three police colleges during the reporting period. The curriculum
included a new overview on identifying and assisting trafficking
victims; however, the training was not comprehensive. The
government did not report any investigations, prosecutions,
or convictions of government employees complicit in human
trafficking offenses.

PROTECTION

The government maintained modest efforts to protect trafficking
victims. It identified 12 trafficking victims, including eight
foreign nationals, and referred all victims to care facilities for
assistance, although the government did not report what specific
services it provided. This was compared to five victims identified
and referred in 2015. However, the government did not have
formal written procedures for use by all officials on victim
identification and referral to care. The TNCB drafted but did not
adopt a national referral mechanism to formalize identification
and referral procedures. In practice, when police identified a
woman or child victim of crime, including trafficking, they
transferred the victim to the Gender-Based Violence Protection
Units (GBVPU), which refer victims of all crimes to temporary
shelter and medical assistance. GBVPU facilities offered initial
psycho-social, legal, and medical support to crime victims, in
cooperation with the police, the Ministry of Gender Equality
and Child Welfare (MGECW), the Ministry of Health, and
NGOs. Government shelters for victims of gender-based violence
(GBV), including trafficking, were not fully operational, and
were used as a last resort to provide emergency short-term
shelter in limited cases. A government-funded NGO shelter in
Windhoek provides care for women and child victims of GBV
and trafficking; during the reporting period, it provided care to
60 women and 85 child victims of GBV and trafficking, including
four identified trafficking victims. The government lacked
standard operating procedures for shelters, which remained
under development by MGECW. The Ministry of Home Affairs

and Immigration continued to provide immigration officials
a printed manual to guide identification of trafficking victims.
The government did not have a policy to encourage victims’
participation in investigations; the law provides for witness
protection or other accommodations for vulnerable witnesses
that in principle would be available for trafficking victims.
There were no reports that the government detained, fined,
or jailed victims for unlawful acts committed as a direct result
of being subjected to trafficking; however, without uniform
victim identification measures, victims may be left unidentified
in the law enforcement system. Street children remained
vulnerable to detention as police and immigration officials
did not always screen for indicators of trafficking. The police
and prosecutor general began implementing a formal policy to
screen individuals who have been identified for deportation for
trafficking before deportation. While the government had no
formal policy to provide residence permits to foreign victims
of trafficking, during previous reporting periods government
officials made ad-hoc arrangements for victims to remain in
Namibia.

NAMIBIA

PROSECUTION

PREVENTION

The government maintained prevention efforts. The ministeriallevel national committee to combat trafficking and its technical
committee did not hold any official meetings during the
reporting period. The national action plan to combat trafficking
in persons expired at the end of 2016; reportedly, members of
the technical committee continued work on a new plan. In April
2016, the government signed a memorandum of understanding
with an international organization to launch an anti-trafficking
program; however, implementation of the awareness-raising
component of the project remained pending at the end of the
reporting period. The government conducted awareness-raising
events through the Ministry of Education in schools throughout
the fourteen regions as well as outreach to religious leaders in
the capital. The Ministry of Labor and Social Welfare employed
97 labor and occupational health and safety inspectors, who
were responsible for enforcing laws against child labor. The
government did not make efforts to reduce the demand for
commercial sex acts or forced labor. The government provided
anti-trafficking training to its diplomatic personnel.

TRAFFICKING PROFILE

As reported over the past five years, Namibia is a source and
destination country for children, and to a lesser extent women,
subjected to forced labor and sex trafficking. Some victims
are initially offered legitimate work for adequate wages, but
are then subjected to forced labor in urban centers and on
commercial farms. Namibian children are subjected to forced
labor in agriculture, cattle herding, and domestic service,
and to sex trafficking in Windhoek and Walvis Bay. A 2015
media report alleged foreign sex tourists from southern Africa
and Europe exploit child sex trafficking victims. Namibians
commonly house and care for children of distant relatives
to provide expanded educational opportunities; however, in
some instances, these children are exploited in forced labor.
Among Namibia’s ethnic groups, San and Zemba children are
particularly vulnerable to forced labor on farms or in homes. In
2014, an NGO reported persons in prostitution, some of whom
may have been trafficking victims, were taken aboard foreign
vessels off the Namibian coast. Children from less affluent
neighboring countries may be subjected to sex trafficking and
forced labor, including in street vending in Windhoek and
other cities as well as in the fishing sector. Angolan children

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may be brought to Namibia for forced labor in cattle herding.
There were reports in 2013 of labor violations—potentially
including forced labor—involving foreign adults and Namibian
adults and children in Chinese-owned retail, construction, and
fishing operations.

NEPAL: TIER 2
The Government of Nepal does not fully meet the minimum
standards for the elimination of trafficking; however, it is making
significant efforts to do so. The government demonstrated
increasing efforts compared to the previous reporting period;
therefore, Nepal remained on Tier 2. The government
demonstrated increasing efforts through a rise in both the
number of trafficking investigations and victims identified,
and by doubling its budget to provide victim care services to
female victims of violence, including trafficking victims. The
government conducted awareness activities around the country
and revoked the licenses of more than 400 foreign employment
agents located outside of Kathmandu, reportedly to reduce the
exploitation of migrant workers. However, the government did
not meet the minimum standards in several key areas. Its laws
do not prohibit all forms of trafficking and it lacks standard
operating procedures (SOPs) on victim identification. The
government stated its notable decrease in prosecutions from
341 cases in the previous Nepali fiscal year to 218 was due in
part to poor investigative technique by the police resulting
in insufficient evidence. While the government revised its
policies preventing female migration in several ways, observers
continued to report the revised policies compelled women to
use illegal methods to migrate which subsequently increased
their vulnerability to human trafficking. Many government
officials continued to lack understanding of trafficking crimes;
officials continued to register cases of labor exploitation abroad
under the Foreign Employment Act without investigation into
whether the abuse constituted a trafficking crime.

RECOMMENDATIONS FOR NEPAL

294

Respecting due process, increase investigations, prosecutions,
and convictions against all forms of trafficking, including
bonded labor, transnational labor trafficking of Nepali males,
sex trafficking of Nepali females within Nepal, and against
officials complicit in trafficking-related crimes; institute formal
procedures for proactive identification and referral of trafficking
victims to protection services; amend the Human Trafficking and
Transportation (Control) Act (HTTCA) to bring the definition
of human trafficking in line with the 2000 UN TIP Protocol;
expand access to and availability of victim care, including to
male victims; penalize licensed labor recruiters who engage
in fraudulent recruitment or charge excessive fees; implement
victim witness protection provisions in the HTTCA; enforce
the low-cost recruitment policy and continue to take steps to
eliminate all recruitment fees charged to workers; ensure victims
are not punished for unlawful acts committed as a direct result

of being subjected to trafficking; lift current bans on female
migration to discourage migration through undocumented
channels; and accede to the 2000 UN TIP Protocol.

PROSECUTION

The government maintained anti-trafficking law enforcement
efforts. The 2007 HTTCA and the 2008 regulation prohibit
most, but not all, forms of trafficking in persons. The HTTCA
criminalizes slavery and bonded labor but does not criminalize
the recruitment, transportation, harboring, or receipt of persons
by force, fraud, or coercion for the purpose of forced labor.
It criminalizes forced prostitution but, in a departure from
the 2000 UN TIP Protocol definition, does not consider the
prostitution of children as a form of trafficking absent force,
fraud, or coercion. The law also criminalizes facilitating
prostitution and removal of human organs. Prescribed
penalties range from 10 to 20 years imprisonment, which are
sufficiently stringent and commensurate with those prescribed
for other serious crimes, such as rape. The 2002 Bonded Labor
(Prohibition) Act prohibits bonded labor and the Child Labor
Act prohibits forced child labor. The Foreign Employment Act
(FEA) criminalizes fraudulent and deceptive labor recruitment.
The National Committee for Controlling Human Trafficking
(NCCHT) continued to work on draft revisions to the HTTCA
to bring the definition of human trafficking closer in line with
international law; however, the government did not complete
the revision process by the end of the reporting period.
The Nepal Police Women’s Cells conducted 212 investigations
under the HTTCA during the Nepali fiscal year compared with
181 cases in the previous fiscal year. The 212 cases involved
447 alleged traffickers of whom 192 were suspected of sex
trafficking and 140 of forced labor. The remaining 115 were
uncategorized, and it is unknown what proportion of cases were
transnational. These investigations involved crimes in which
women and girls were the primary victims. Crimes involving
male victims are handled by other police investigative units. The
Central Investigative Bureau investigated 20 transnational and
six internal trafficking cases between April and December 2016
compared with six transnational cases during the same time
period in 2015. In collaboration with the Sri Lankan police,
the Nepali government sent a team of police and ministry
officials from labor, foreign affairs, and women, child, and
social welfare (MWCSW) to Colombo to investigate allegations
traffickers and smugglers were increasingly using Sri Lanka as a
transit point to send Nepali women migrant workers to other
destinations. The government prosecuted 218 cases during the
fiscal year compared with 341 cases in the previous year. This
data was not disaggregated to distinguish between sex and
labor trafficking cases. The government stated the decrease in
prosecutions was related to a combination of poor investigative
techniques by the police, insufficient evidence for prosecution in
some cases, and other cases taking priority. At the district level,
courts convicted 262 traffickers during the fiscal year, compared
with 260 traffickers in the previous year, and acquitted 232
accused. Department of Foreign Employment (DFE) officials
continued to advise abused migrant workers returning to
Nepal to register complaints under the FEA rather than notify
police. Victims of transnational labor trafficking preferred to
submit claims for compensation through the FEA rather than
pursue lengthy criminal prosecutions under the HTTCA, often
to avoid the stigma associated with being labeled a trafficking
victim (assumed to insinuate sex trafficking) and because the
potential to be awarded compensation was higher.
The Women and Children Services Directorate conducted a

PROTECTION

The government increased modest efforts to protect victims.
Authorities did not systematically track the total number of
victims identified. Police identified 419 victims of sex and labor
trafficking connected to the 238 investigations initiated during
the Nepali fiscal year compared with 327 victims identified
through investigations the previous year. Of the 419 victims, 109
were under age 18 and almost all were female—only two of the
identified victims were male. It is unknown how many of the
victims were exploited abroad. Officials’ poor understanding of
the crime, a lack of formal SOPs for identification, and victims’
reluctance to be identified due to stigma hindered proper and
proactive identification, especially among returning male labor
migrants who reported exploitation abroad. NGOs reported
government efforts to identify domestic sex trafficking victims
improved during the reporting period; police increased the
number of raids on Kathmandu adult entertainment businesses
and more consistently worked to identify sex trafficking victims
to avoid penalizing them for prostitution crimes. When properly
identified, victims were not detained, fined, or jailed for crimes
committed as a result of being subjected to human trafficking.
The government has national minimum standards for victim
care and referring identified victims to services. Despite these
standards and the government’s continued drafting of victim
identification and referral SOPs, referral efforts remained ad hoc
and inadequate. It is unclear how many victims were referred
to and able to utilize services during the year. The government
increased its budget to provide services for female victims of
violence, including trafficking, from 12.6 million Nepali rupees
(NPR) ($115,915) during the 2015-2016 fiscal year to 25 million
NPR ($229,991) for the 2016-2017 fiscal year. With support
from MWCSW, NGOs maintained eight rehabilitation homes,
17 emergency shelters, and one long-term shelter for female
victims of gender-based violence, including trafficking. MWCSW
provided the NGOs funding for three staff members per shelter,
some facility expenses, and victim assistance, including legal
assistance, psychological support, transportation, medical
expenses, and skills training. The government continued to
allocate 40,000 NPR ($386) for the protection of adult male
trafficking victims but did not fund shelter services. An NGO
ran one shelter for men in Kathmandu. In July 2016, MWCSW
launched an online directory to catalog service providers for
victims of human trafficking and migration-related exploitation.

At the close of the reporting period, the directory cataloged
services in 16 districts. Victims may seek compensation from a
rehabilitation fund if the government is unable to collect fines
from traffickers. During the reporting period, the government
paid a total of 50,000 NPR ($368) to the victim in one case. The
government established nine victim-witness protection rooms
in district courts during the reporting period. Overall victimwitness protection mechanisms remained insufficient. They
also were impeded by a 2015 amendment to the HTTCA that
reinstated a provision allowing victims to be fined if they failed
to appear in court or criminally liable for providing testimony
contradicting their previous statements. The government did not
have established procedures for alternatives to the deportation
of foreign victims.

NEPAL

course on trafficking investigations for 190 police officers and
continued to conduct psycho-social victim-centered training
during the reporting period. An NGO, in partnership with the
government, provided a 30-day, crime scene training course to
police officials, which included information on how to identify
and protect trafficking victims. Despite this training, police
officers’ lack of awareness of the anti-trafficking law, challenges in
evidence collection, and poor investigative techniques impeded
prosecution efforts. The Attorney General’s office trained public
prosecutors on prosecuting traffickers and utilizing a victimcentered approach to improve victim protection during legal
proceedings. In 2013 the anti-corruption commission indicted
46 officials from the DFE and Immigration for issuing fraudulent
documents; criminal proceedings were ongoing at the close of
the reporting period. Observers alleged some traffickers enjoy
impunity due to personal connections with politicians or by
bribing police. Despite continued allegations local officials
facilitated the falsification of age documents for child sex
trafficking victims, the government did not report initiating any
new investigations, prosecutions, or convictions of government
officials complicit in human trafficking offenses.

While Nepali embassies in Kuwait, Oman, Saudi Arabia,
Qatar, Bahrain, and United Arab Emirates provided emergency
shelters for vulnerable female workers, some of whom were
trafficking victims, the Foreign Employment Promotion Board
(FEPB) acknowledged the shelters lacked sufficient space
and resources to meet the high demand for assistance. FEPB
collected fees from departing registered migrant workers for a
welfare fund to provide repatriation and one year of financial
support to families of injured or deceased workers, which
could include trafficking victims. During the fiscal year, the
fund provided financial support to the families of 173 injured
and 690 deceased migrant workers, and paid to repatriate 535
workers, an increase from 216 workers in the previous year.
FEBP may also repatriate unregistered migrant workers by
requesting funds through the finance ministry on an ad hoc
basis. It is unknown if unregistered workers were repatriated
during the reporting period.

PREVENTION

The government maintained efforts to prevent human trafficking.
The government continued to conduct training and coordination
sessions with officials from the district committees for controlling
human trafficking (DCCHTs) to clarify responsibilities in the
implementation of the 2012-2022 national action plan. The
NCCHT allocated approximately 98,900 NPR ($910) to each
of the 75 DCCHTs to support awareness campaigns, meeting
expenses, and emergency victim services. This marked a decrease
from the 250,400 NPR ($2,304) allocated last fiscal year. The
government, with partial funding from a foreign government,
continued to establish local committees for controlling human
trafficking (LCCHTs). As of December 2016, 420 LCCHTs were
in operation. Observers continued to note the need for improved
coordination between the NCCHT, DCCHTs, and LCCHTs. The
government conducted and participated in public awareness
campaigns throughout the country, including a week-long series
of street plays, programs for media, and workshops in September
2016. During the week MWCSW issued awards to four journalists
for their coverage of human trafficking. The police continued to
implement post-2015 earthquake orders to maintain vigilance
against human trafficking of women and children in displaced
persons camps, border crossings, and transportation hubs. In
nine districts, special committees continued to monitor the
adult entertainment sector for abuses. Observers stated their
effectiveness was limited, however, due to a lack of funding and
legislation to establish the committees’ formal role. MWCSW
issued its fourth report on the government’s anti-trafficking
efforts, and the National Human Rights Commission’s Office of
the Special Rapporteur on Trafficking in Women and Children
issued its seventh report on human trafficking.
The government’s 2015 labor migration guidelines include

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a policy requiring foreign employers to pay for visa and
transportation costs for Nepali migrant workers bound for
Malaysia and the Gulf states and restrict agency-charged
recruitment fees to 10,000 NPR ($92). Both NGOs and
government officials noted enforcement of this policy was
difficult and reported employment agencies regularly charged
migrant workers for visa and transportation costs and fees
above the 10,000 NPR limit. In July 2016 DFE revoked the
licenses of more than 400 agents located outside of Kathmandu,
reportedly to reduce the exploitation of migrant workers. In
May 2016 the government formally lifted the suspension on
all exit permits for female domestic work and lowered the age
limit from 30 to 24 years for domestic worker migration to the
Gulf states while simultaneously instituting a migration ban
for mothers with children under age two. Observers continued
to argue any ban on female migration increased the likelihood
such women would migrate illegally and therefore heightened
their vulnerability to human trafficking. The government did
not make efforts to reduce the demand for commercial sex
acts or forced labor. The government provided anti-trafficking
training for all Nepali peacekeeping forces before deployment
and for its diplomatic personnel. Nepal is not a party to the
2000 UN TIP Protocol. During the reporting period, however,
the government-funded an NGO to study the costs of acceding
to the protocol.

continue to be vulnerable to trafficking. Traffickers increasingly
utilize social media and mobile technologies to lure and
deceive their victims.

NETHERLANDS: TIER 1
The Government of the Netherlands fully meets the minimum
standards for the elimination of trafficking. The government
continued to demonstrate serious and sustained efforts during
the reporting period; therefore, the Netherlands remained on
Tier 1. The government demonstrated serious and sustained
efforts by investigating, prosecuting, and convicting a significant
number of traffickers and providing care for a significant number
of victims. The government released a national action plan on
child sex tourism and signed the first of 12 industry-specific
covenants aimed at reducing the risk of human trafficking in
supply chains. Although the government meets the minimum
standards, the number of prosecutions, convictions, and victims
identified reported by the government declined from the
previous year; the government did not report complete statistics
for the reporting period.

TRAFFICKING PROFILE

296

As reported over the past five years, Nepal is a source, transit, and
destination country for men, women, and children subjected
to forced labor and sex trafficking. Nepali women and girls are
subjected to sex trafficking in Nepal, India, the Middle East,
Asia, and sub-Saharan Africa. Nepali men, women, and children
are subjected to forced labor in Nepal, India, the Middle East,
and Asia in construction, factories, mines, domestic work,
and begging. Manpower agencies or individual employment
brokers who engage in fraudulent recruitment practices and
impose high fees may facilitate forced labor. Unregistered
migrants—including the large number of Nepalis who travel
through India or rely on unregistered recruiting agents—are
particularly vulnerable to forced labor and sex trafficking.
Some Nepali women who agree to arranged marriages through
Nepali companies to men in China and South Korea may
experience fraud and be vulnerable to domestic servitude in
which their freedom of movement is restricted. Some migrants
from Bangladesh and possibly other countries transit Nepal
en route to employment in the Middle East, using potentially
falsified Nepali travel documents, and may be subjected to
human trafficking. Some government officials reportedly accept
bribes to include false information in Nepali identity documents
or provide fraudulent documents to prospective labor migrants,
a tactic used by unscrupulous recruiters to evade recruitment
regulations. Within Nepal, bonded labor exists in agriculture,
brick kilns, the stone-breaking industry, and domestic work.
Sex trafficking of Nepali women and girls increasingly takes
place in private apartments, rented rooms, guest houses, and
restaurants. Nepali and Indian children are subjected to forced
labor in the country, especially in domestic work, brick kilns, and
the embroidered textile, or zari, industry. Under false promises
of education and work opportunities, Nepali parents give
their children to brokers who instead take them to frequently
unregistered children’s homes in urban locations, where they
are forced to pretend to be orphans to garner donations from
tourists and volunteers; some of the children are also forced
to beg on the street. Many Nepalis, including children, whose
home or livelihood was destroyed by the 2015 earthquakes

RECOMMENDATIONS FOR THE NETHERLANDS

Increase efforts to investigate, prosecute, convict, and sentence
traffickers to penalties proportionate to the seriousness of
the crime; provide adequate funding to NGOs to provide
victim services; provide all potential trafficking victims with
care services, regardless of their ability to cooperate with an
investigation; continue outreach to potential victims in labor
sectors and identify forced labor; remove the requirement
that a trafficker needs to be formally convicted for the official
identification of trafficking victims; improve mentoring
of officials in Bonaire, St. Eustatius, and Saba to increase
identification of victims and prosecution of traffickers; improve
data collection on investigations, prosecutions, convictions,
sentences, and victim identification; and continue to pursue
covenants with companies in 12 identified industry sectors to
reduce the risk of human trafficking in supply chains.

PROSECUTION

The government maintained law enforcement efforts. Article
273f of the criminal code prohibits all forms of trafficking,
including forced begging and forced criminality, and prescribes
punishments of up to 12 years imprisonment. The penalty
is 15 years if the victim is a minor, or perpetrators act in a
group, or there are acts of violence. The sentence for aggravated
human trafficking is 18 years to life imprisonment. These
penalties are sufficiently stringent and commensurate with those
prescribed for other serious crimes, such as rape. According
to the prosecutor’s office, authorities did not keep data on
trafficking investigations that did not result in arrests; in 2016
the police arrested 220 individuals suspected of trafficking,
compared with 215 in 2015, the first annual increase since 2011.

In 2015, the most recent year full data was available, the average
sentence for traffickers was 18.3 months; this was shorter than
the average sentence for individuals convicted of a single count
of rape, which in 2015 was 20.5 months. The average sentencing
for traffickers has dropped since 2013, in line with trends for
sentencing of other significant crimes. Prosecutorial statistics
did not disaggregate labor and sex trafficking cases, but statistics
on victims indicated approximately 25 percent of victims
identified in the first six months of 2016 were forced labor
victims. A September 2016 report by the national rapporteur
found judges’ rulings and sentences in sexual offenses, which
included sentences for sex trafficking crimes, were inconsistent,
with 40 percent of suspects receiving no sentence, and 20
percent serving more than one year in prison. However, judges
continued to sentence some convicted traffickers to prison,
including a man sentenced to 15 years in prison for exploiting
his daughter and foster daughters in child sex trafficking,
the longest sentence ever handed down in the Netherlands
for human trafficking. In November 2016, for the first time
in the Netherlands, a district court convicted a company of
human trafficking, fining a mushroom farming company
€75,000 ($79,030) and sentencing the director to two years
in prison for the labor trafficking of six Polish workers. Judges
with trafficking-specific training heard all trafficking cases in
2016. Judges, prosecutors, and defense attorneys continued
to receive specialized training in applying the anti-trafficking
law and dealing with traumatized victims. In 2016, labor
inspectors referred 17 cases for prosecution for forced labor,
an increase from 10 in 2015. The government did not report
any investigations, prosecutions, or convictions of government
employees complicit in trafficking in 2016. Police officers’ basic
training included anti-trafficking courses, and anti-trafficking
police officers were required to pass examinations in a training
course focused on policing commercial sex.

PROTECTION

The government maintained efforts to protect victims. The
government reports its protection data through the independent
anti-trafficking rapporteur, who monitors government efforts
and released five reports during the year. In the first six months
of 2016—the most recent reports available—the governmentfunded national victim registration center and assistance
coordinator registered 486 possible trafficking victims, a
decrease from 648 in the first six months of 2015. Of the 486
identified, 304 were victims of sex trafficking, 124 of labor
trafficking and forced crime, and 69 of uncategorized trafficking;
many individuals were identified as victims of multiple forms
of trafficking. One-hundred and fifteen of the victims were
children. The top countries of origin during the first six months
were the Netherlands (30 percent of victims), Bulgaria, Poland,
Romania, and Nigeria. Eighty-three of the identified potential
trafficking victims elected to stay in shelters in 2016, compared
with 146 in 2015; during the first six months of 2016 police
identified 45 percent of human trafficking victims; military
police, nine percent; labor inspectors, four percent; and other
organizations, 42 percent. During 2016, reportedly six potential
victims were identified in detention and referred to shelters.
The government continued to fund an extensive network of
facilities providing specialized services for child, adult female,
and adult male victims. However, the government reduced
funding for civil society organizations in 2016. NGOs that
coordinate victim assistance have reported increased challenges

due to decreased government funding.
For victims to be officially designated as trafficking victims, their
trafficker must be sentenced in court; without this status, foreign
victims could not obtain permanent residency, with some
exceptions. Potential victims had access to three governmentfunded shelters dedicated to human trafficking victims, one of
which was dedicated to male victims, as well as various other
shelters funded by local governments that catered to domestic
violence victims, which also had dedicated beds for trafficking
victims. Potential victims were allowed to stay for a three month
reflection period to decide whether to assist law enforcement
in prosecuting their traffickers. However, this three-month
period could be reduced if a potential victim decided not to
assist the police, or if the police determined not to file a case.
The government did not release information on the number
of potential trafficking victims who made use of this reflection
period during 2015; this information will be released by the
national rapporteur in October, along with the numbers for
2016. In 2014, the most recent year data was available, 174
victims made use of the reflection period. During a reflection
period, non-EU victims were not allowed to work. After the
reflection period, victims who agreed to assist police could
stay in available shelters. All shelters provided medical and
psychological care, schooling, language and skills training,
and legal assistance; some also provided self-defense classes
and most had facilities accessible to disabled individuals.
Adult victims were permitted to leave shelters at will and
unchaperoned, and child victims were placed in special shelters
for children or in specialized foster homes. Seven shelters were
specially designated for “lover-boy” trafficking victims, one of
which was opened during the reporting period. The government
worked with and funded NGOs to provide information on
available services over the internet and to operate an interpreter
fund to enable shelters to hire interpreters to assist with foreign
victims. The government did not disclose the amount of funding
for the shelters.
Victims willing to testify against their alleged trafficker were
eligible to receive a B-8 permit, a temporary residence permit
for trafficking victims, if authorities decided to prosecute a
suspected trafficker. The government did not release information
on the number of potential trafficking victims who applied for
B-8 status during 2015; this information will be released by
the national rapporteur in October along with the numbers
for 2016. In 2014, the most recent year data was available, 251
victims applied for B-8 status, compared with 268 in 2013.
Victims were granted permanent residency if the trafficker in
their case was convicted or when they maintained B-8 status
for three or more years. Authorities worked with civil society to
repatriate foreign victims unable to acquire residency permits.
If a trafficker was not prosecuted or was acquitted in a victim’s
case, or if a potential victim did not want to assist the police
investigation, the victim could apply for asylum. While NGOs
reported this was a regular occurrence, the government did
not collect statistics on the number of potential victims who
applied for asylum. A procedure also existed to circumvent B-8
eligibility requirements for residency in cases where victims were
seriously threatened or had serious medical or psychological
conditions. In January 2017, the government implemented
measures from a 2012 pilot program to reduce potential B-8
fraud by shortening authorities’ decision time to launch a
criminal investigation to within 10 days of a report. Some
experts contended this program forced victims in a vulnerable
state to decide whether to press charges too quickly, possibly
before they had met with an attorney. While the anti-trafficking
law contains a non-punishment clause, defense attorneys

NETHERLANDS

In 2016, the government prosecuted 174 trafficking defendants
and convicted 103, compared with 189 prosecuted and 140
convicted in 2015.

297

NEW ZEALAND

reported instances in which the clause was not always properly
understood or implemented.

PREVENTION

The government maintained efforts to prevent trafficking.
The government’s Human Trafficking Taskforce continued
implementation of the 2014-2017 national anti-trafficking action
plan, the full text of which was classified and only the main
priorities were publicly available. During 2016, the taskforce,
comprised of local and national government authorities, the
private sector, and NGO representatives, expanded to include a
representative from the shelter community. The national antitrafficking rapporteur published five reports during the reporting
period addressing human trafficking trends and the government’s
response, and the Ministry of Security and Justice published
two studies on connections between human trafficking and the
criminalization of prostitution. The foreign ministry funded
an international study on child sex tourism. The government
announced a €1 million ($1,053,740) increase to the 2017
anti-trafficking budget, and a €2 million ($2,107,480) increase
for the budget for 2018 onwards; authorities primarily assigned
these funds for hiring more police detectives and analysts.
The government continued several awareness campaigns to
educate the public about all forms of trafficking with videos,
websites, handouts, and school prevention curricula; the labor
inspectorate continued to focus inspection efforts on sectors
with an elevated risk of exploitation. Local government officials
continued to conduct brothel inspections, which included close
observation for any signs of trafficking. Authorities trained
immigration, hotel, aviation, customs, and labor inspection
staff in methods to identify possible human trafficking victims
and signs of child sex tourism. In July, the government signed
the first “Covenant on Reducing Human Rights Violations
in Supply Chains” with the textile and clothing sector, with
signatories representing 35 percent of the Dutch clothing and
textile market. The government did not demonstrate efforts to
reduce the demand for commercial sex. The Anonymous Crime
Reporting Center received 279 tips on sex trafficking in 2016,
compared with 182 tips on human trafficking and smuggling
(joint category) in 2015. The government, in cooperation with
NGOs and foreign governments, continued its campaign against
child sex tourism aimed at screening potential foreign child
sex tourists at airports. In September, the government released
a national action plan against child sex tourism, focusing on
prevention, prosecution, and international cooperation.
The foreign ministry continued to conduct outreach to foreign
diplomats’ domestic workers, without their employers present,
on how to report cases of abuse. In the last five years, the
Netherlands has registered 26 reports of labor exploitation
by foreign diplomats. The government provided human rights
training, including trafficking in persons training, during
orientation for its diplomatic personnel. The government
provided training on human rights and humanitarian law of
war, including trafficking in persons, to Dutch troops prior to
their deployment abroad as part of international peacekeeping
missions.

TRAFFICKING PROFILE

298

As reported over the past five years, the Netherlands is a source,
destination, and transit country for men, women, and children
subjected to sex trafficking and forced labor. The largest group
of identified trafficking victims are Dutch girls enticed by young
male traffickers, “lover boys,” who establish sham romantic
relationships with vulnerable girls before intimidating them

into sexual exploitation. Women and child refugees and asylumseekers are vulnerable to sex trafficking and child sex trafficking,
respectively. Men and women from Eastern Europe, Africa,
and South and East Asia are subjected to labor trafficking in
industries such as inland shipping, agriculture, horticulture,
hospitality, domestic servitude, and forced criminal activity.
Foreign workers who are dependent upon recruitment agencies
are particularly vulnerable to labor trafficking and sexual
exploitation. Media reported that over the last five years, 26
reports have been made to officials of labor exploitation of
domestic workers from East Asia, South America and Africa by
foreign diplomats representing countries in the Middle East,
Africa, South America, and European Union offices. Roma
children are forced into pickpocketing and shoplifting rings,
and refugees and asylum-seekers, including unaccompanied
children, are vulnerable to labor trafficking. The Netherlands
is a source country for child sex tourists.

BONAIRE, ST. EUSTATIUS, AND SABA (BES)

The BES islands are municipalities of the Netherlands and a
transit and destination area for men, women, and children
subjected to sex trafficking and forced labor. Women in
prostitution in regulated and illegal commercial sex and
unaccompanied children are highly vulnerable to trafficking.
Local authorities believe men and women have been subjected
to domestic servitude and forced labor in the agricultural and
construction sectors. Some migrants in restaurants and local
businesses may be vulnerable to debt bondage.
The BES criminal code criminalizes both sex and labor
trafficking under article 286f, prescribing penalties ranging
from six to 15 years imprisonment. Authorities did not initiate
any new trafficking investigations or prosecutions in 2016.
The prosecution of Bonaire’s first trafficking case, involving
Colombian women in forced prostitution, was initiated in
October 2012 and remained ongoing at the close of the reporting
period. The mandate of the Netherlands’ national rapporteur
did not extend to the BES islands, so the office could not do
local research. Local governments on the BES islands ran
multidisciplinary anti-trafficking teams, which cooperated
with each other and with Dutch counterparts. In January 2017,
the Dutch government announced that in 2018, victims of
violence, including human trafficking, would be eligible for
compensation from the Violent Offenses Compensation Fund.

NEW ZEALAND: TIER 1
The Government of New Zealand fully meets the minimum
standards for the elimination of trafficking. The government
continued to demonstrate serious and sustained efforts during
the reporting period; therefore, New Zealand remained on Tier
1. The government demonstrated serious and sustained efforts
by convicting a trafficker under its human trafficking statute for
the first time, training police and labor inspectors on victim
identification, and providing services to trafficking victims
and potential victims. Although the government meets the
minimum standards, it did not consistently identify victims in
vulnerable sectors, provide shelter services designed specifically
for trafficking victims, or adequately conduct campaigns to
raise general awareness of human trafficking.

Increase resources for robust victim protection services and
establish procedures to refer all trafficking victims, including
boys and men, to such services; significantly increase efforts
to investigate and prosecute trafficking offenses and sentence
traffickers to penalties commensurate with the seriousness of
the crime; increase efforts to identify victims through proactive
screening of vulnerable populations, including women and
children in prostitution, foreign workers, and illegal migrants;
amend the law to define the sex trafficking of children as not
requiring the use of force, fraud, or coercion and to remove
the possibility of a fine alone as a sentence; provide human
trafficking training to judges and prosecutors; update the
national action plan to address current trafficking trends in
the country; expand anti-trafficking awareness campaigns; and
engage in efforts to reduce demand of forced labor, including in
supply chains, and sexual commercial exploitation, especially
of children and foreign women.

PROSECUTION

The government increased law enforcement efforts. The
Crime Act of 1961, as amended by the Omnibus Crime Bill,
criminalizes most forms of human trafficking. Under the Crime
Act, the human trafficking provision includes the reception,
recruitment, transport, transfer, concealment or harboring of a
person for the purpose of exploitation, defined as the deception
or coercion causing a person to be involved in prostitution or
other sexual services, slavery and practices similar to slavery,
servitude, forced labor or other forced services, or the removal
of organs. It requires elements of deception or coercion in
its provision criminalizing sex trafficking of a child, which is
inconsistent with international law. The law prescribes sentences
of up to 20 years imprisonment, a fine not exceeding $500,000,
or both; these penalties are sufficiently stringent. By allowing
for a fine in lieu of imprisonment, the prescribed punishment
is not commensurate with those for other serious crime, such
as rape. The government initiated seven investigations and
began prosecutions of four defendants in 2016. The government
convicted a trafficker under the human trafficking provision
of the Crime Act for the first time. The court sentenced the
trafficker to nine years and six months imprisonment and
ordered the offender to pay $28,167 in restitution for exploiting
15 migrant workers in forced labor; a second offender pleaded
guilty to immigration violations and was sentenced to one year
of home detention and ordered to pay $55,000 in restitution.
The government reported cooperating with foreign governments
to investigate trafficking crimes. The government continued
to train police on human trafficking, victim identification,
and indicators of trafficking, but it did not report training
prosecutors or judiciary officials. The government did not report
any investigations, prosecutions, or convictions of government
officials complicit in human trafficking offenses.

PROTECTION

The government maintained moderate victim protection efforts.

NEW ZEALAND

RECOMMENDATIONS FOR NEW ZEALAND

It reported having standardized guidance to identify trafficking
victims, but it identified only a small number of victims. The
government reported using a certification process by which
police formally certify a person as a suspected trafficking victim
based on reasonable suspicion, enabling potential victims to
access a range of services. During the reporting period, the
government made two new certifications of labor trafficking
victims, (34 in 2015) and provided services such as shelter
referrals and obtaining employment for 37 victims of labor
trafficking, in addition to 11 potential victims, compared to
34 victims assisted in 2015. The government reported referring
women and child victims of crime to services; on a case-by-case
basis the government provided assistance, such as food and
shelter, to victims of crimes and referred them to NGOs or
other service providers. The government did not operate any
shelters specifically for trafficking victims. The law authorizes the
extension of temporary residency to foreign trafficking victims
for up to 12 months and makes them eligible for a variety of
government-provided or -funded services while their cases are
under investigation; the government provided temporary work
visas for all foreign victims identified in 2016. Immigration
officials began developing a comprehensive framework to guide
the process of identification, referral, and provision of services
of victims. In addition to police, the government provided
training for labor inspectors on victim identification as well
as referral of victims to services. Labor inspectors reported
inspecting legal brothels to ensure working conditions were
in compliance with the law, but this did not result in the
identification of any sex trafficking victims. Labor inspectors
reported conducting routine audits in work places that employ
migrant workers; they identified breaches of labor standards,
but these did not result in investigations or prosecutions of
forced or coerced labor exploitation. There were no reports
of victims being detained, fined, or jailed for unlawful acts
committed as trafficking victims; however, some may have
been as a result of inadequate government efforts to identify
victims. The government reported providing legal alternatives
to the removal of foreign victims of crime to countries where
they may face hardship or retribution, but no trafficking victims
received this benefit in 2016. Victims could seek restitution
through civil claims; although no such civil claims were filed
in 2016, some labor exploitation cases resulted in restitution
for labor violations.

PREVENTION

The government maintained efforts to prevent trafficking. Police,
labor, and immigration officials led the government’s antitrafficking efforts under an anti-trafficking coordinator. During
the reporting period, Immigration New Zealand established a
consultation group including NGOs and other stakeholders to
further its anti-trafficking efforts. The government continued to
implement the Fisheries Foreign Charter Vessels Amendment,
which came into effect May 1, 2016, and requires all foreign
charter vessels fishing in New Zealand waters to operate as
New Zealand-flagged vessels and abide by its health and labor
laws. Under the immigration act, the government convicted an
employer and the employer’s company, separately, for failing
to adequately compensate migrants working excessive hours;
the employer and company were collectively fined a total of
$15,000 and ordered to pay $5,000 to the victims.
The government continued to collaborate with the Philippines
as part of a bilateral agreement to reduce the vulnerability
of Filipino migrant workers to exploitation in New Zealand.
Immigration officials issued guidance for employing Filipino
workers including legal obligations under both New Zealand

299

NICARAGUA

and Philippine law, and requirements for the licensing of
recruitment agents. The government continued to send welcome
emails with workers’ rights information to all approved
residence, work, and student visa holders and issued guides
for migrant dairy farm workers and their employers on workers’
rights, employers’ responsibilities, and support services. In an
attempt to reduce the demand for forced labor, the government
conducted compliance tests of employment contracts used in
work visa applications and issued media statements about
labor compliance audit results and prosecutions of labor
exploitation cases. The government did not make efforts to
reduce the demand for commercial sex acts; New Zealand
decriminalized commercial sex in 2003 under the Prostitution
Reform Act. The government required diplomatic personnel
to sign a code of conduct requiring they comply with all New
Zealand laws, but it did not report providing them with antitrafficking training. The government continued to cooperate
with foreign governments to identify child sex tourists in New
Zealand and to prioritize the prevention of child sex tourism
abroad by its residents, although these efforts did not result
in any investigations or prosecutions.

TRAFFICKING PROFILE

As reported over the past five years, New Zealand is a destination
country for foreign men and women subjected to forced labor
and sex trafficking and a source country for children subjected to
sex trafficking within the country. Foreign men and women from
China, India, the Philippines, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, countries
in the Pacific and Latin America, and South Africa, are vulnerable
to forced labor in New Zealand’s agricultural, construction,
viticulture, food service, and hospitality sectors, and as domestic
workers. Unregulated immigration brokers operating in India
and the Philippines reportedly assisted some victims of labor
exploitation in New Zealand obtain visas. Some foreign workers
are charged excessive recruitment fees and experience unjustified
salary deductions, non- or underpayment of wages, excessively
long working hours, restrictions on their movement, passport
retention, and contract alteration. Some migrant workers are
forced to work in job conditions different from those promised
during recruitment but do not file complaints due to fear of
losing their temporary visas. Foreign men aboard foreign-flagged
fishing vessels in New Zealand waters are vulnerable to forced
labor. Foreign women from Asia are at risk of sex trafficking.
Some international students and temporary visa holders are
vulnerable to forced labor or prostitution. A small number
of Pacific island and New Zealand (often of Maori descent)
girls and boys are at risk of sex trafficking. Some children are
recruited by other girls or compelled by family members into
sex trafficking.

NICARAGUA: TIER 2 WATCH LIST

300

The Government of Nicaragua does not fully meet the minimum
standards for the elimination of trafficking; however, it is making
significant efforts to do so. The government demonstrated
significant efforts during the reporting period by increasing
national awareness raising efforts. However, the government did
not demonstrate increasing efforts compared to the previous
reporting period. The government identified significantly fewer
victims for the second consecutive year and did not provide or
fund adequate services for victims. The government-led antitrafficking coalition and regional working groups were largely
ineffective during the year, and key elements of the trafficking

law—such as a dedicated anti-trafficking fund—were not
implemented for the second year. Prosecution, protection, and
prevention efforts in the two Caribbean autonomous regions
of Nicaragua continued to be much weaker than in the rest
of the country. Therefore, Nicaragua was downgraded to Tier
2 Watch List.

RECOMMENDATIONS FOR NICARAGUA

Increase efforts to investigate and prosecute cases involving
all forms of human trafficking, and convict and punish
traffickers, including child sex tourists; provide specialized
services for trafficking victims or dedicate resources for civil
society organizations to do so; increase funding for victim
protection, including through financing the trafficking fund;
implement operating procedures to effectively refer victims to
appropriate services; partner with civil society organizations
to ensure that victims receive long-term care and reintegration
services; amend the 2014 anti-trafficking law to include a
definition of human trafficking consistent with international
law; increase training for government officials—including social
workers, labor inspectors, and law enforcement officials—to
facilitate increased victim identification and assistance, including
securing restitution; institute formal procedures for proactively
identifying victims among vulnerable populations in the
autonomous regions and those in forced labor; strengthen law
enforcement and victim protection efforts in the Caribbean
Autonomous Regions, including through increased staff and
funding; improve trafficking data collection and coordination
across agencies, and improve measures to track anti-trafficking
efforts among government entities and share with external
stakeholders; reinvigorate the work of the national and local
anti-trafficking coalitions, including by appointing a national
executive secretariat; and invite a diverse range of civil society
organizations to hold formal membership on both the national
and local anti-trafficking coalitions.

PROSECUTION

The government maintained uneven law enforcement efforts,
which focused largely on sex trafficking. Law 896 of 2015
criminalizes all forms of trafficking and prescribes penalties
ranging from 16 to 18 years imprisonment; these penalties
are sufficiently stringent and commensurate with penalties
prescribed for other serious crimes, such as rape. However, the
law’s definition of trafficking is inconsistent with international
law; it conflates human trafficking with other crimes, such as
illegal adoption, and establishes the use of force, coercion, or
deceit as an aggravating factor rather than an essential element
of most trafficking crimes.
Authorities reported initiating eight sex trafficking investigations
and prosecuting 13 suspected sex trafficking offenders in seven
cases in 2016, compared to 23 suspects prosecuted in eight cases
in 2015. Under law 896, courts of first instance convicted nine
sex traffickers in six cases, most of which included child victims,
compared to10 sex traffickers convicted in six cases in 2015; in
one case, the government reported convicting two individuals
for knowingly soliciting a 14 year old to perform commercial sex

PROTECTION

The government decreased efforts to identify victims and
it maintained limited protection efforts focused solely on
Nicaraguan female sex trafficking victims. The government
identified 13 Nicaraguan female sex trafficking victims,
including four adults and nine children, a decline from 30
victims identified by the government in 2015 and 51 in 2014.
The government provided these victims with legal assistance
and temporary shelter, food, and medical services. An NGO
reported identifying and assisting 11 additional victims,
including Nicaraguan and foreign men, women, and children
exploited in both sex and labor trafficking. Authorities did
not have formal procedures for identifying victims among
vulnerable populations, such as individuals in prostitution
or working children. The government had an internal victim
referral process for trafficking cases, but it is unclear if it used
the tool to refer any victims during the reporting period. Rather,
the government reported referral of six trafficking victims on
an ad hoc basis for long-term care to NGO shelters for at-risk
children or victims of domestic abuse. Local officials were
not adequately trained to recognize all forms of trafficking
and identified fewer victims in the autonomous regions than
other regions, where identification and referral mechanisms
were lacking. There were few specialized services for trafficking
victims in Nicaragua. The government maintained two policeoperated short-term shelters for victims of domestic violence
and human trafficking that served an unknown number of
victims; the government closed the offices of the specialized
women’s unit that previously operated these shelters, which
led to challenges in coordination between the shelters and
NGOs. The government did not provide funding to NGOs
that provided the majority of victim protection. Services and
shelter for boys remained limited and there were no shelters
available for men. The government did not provide long-term
care, and the availability of extended services from NGOs was
limited. The government put some child victims at risk of
re-victimization by placing them with family members who
may have been complicit in their exploitation. Regions outside
Managua most affected by human trafficking largely lacked
adequate services.
Law 896 established a dedicated fund—to be financed through
budget allocation, donations, and seized assets from traffickers—
for victim protection and prevention activities. However, for
the second year, the government did not finance it or make
it operational. Victims may obtain damages by filing civil
suits against traffickers; however, the government and NGOs

reported that in practice victims had never exercised this right.
The government did not report assisting Nicaraguan victims
through its diplomatic missions overseas. There were no reports
of victims being penalized for unlawful acts committed as a
direct result of being subjected to human trafficking, but this
may have occurred due to weak identification efforts. The
government reported screening for indicators of trafficking
among migrant populations and those involved in prostitution,
but failed to identify any labor trafficking victims or foreign
victims. Humanitarian visas were available to foreign trafficking
victims, although the government did not report any requests
for visas.

PREVENTION

NICARAGUA

acts. Convicted traffickers appealed the verdicts and sentences in
four of these six cases; appellate courts upheld the convictions
in two cases, overturned in one case involving two defendants,
and one appeal remained pending. All convicted and sentenced
traffickers were sentenced to 10 to 20 years imprisonment.
The government did not provide information on the number
of prosecutions ongoing from previous years, and reported
no labor trafficking investigations or prosecutions. An NGO
reported referring an additional four cases for investigation,
none of which the government investigated. The government
did not identify or prosecute any cases of forced labor, including
child domestic servitude during the reporting period. Corruption
is widespread in Nicaragua. There were no investigations,
prosecutions, or convictions of government employees complicit
in human trafficking offenses. The government reported that its
programs to improve awareness of trafficking crimes reached
743 government officials, including investigators, prosecutors,
judges, and other law enforcement officials.

The government maintained minimal efforts to prevent
trafficking. While the government reported that its antitrafficking coalition was active during the reporting period, for
the second year it remained without an executive secretariat to
lead and coordinate its efforts. Furthermore, NGOs reported for
a second consecutive year the coalition and its regional working
groups did not meet with NGOs, despite requirements under
law 896 that the coalition include an NGO representative.
The government reported it conducted research on human
trafficking and met to track trends, cases, and prevention efforts;
however, NGOs and former members of the coalition reported
they were not aware of these efforts. The government reported
it conducted and fully funded 443 prevention campaigns
during the reporting period targeting students, faculty, parents,
indigenous communities, and community leaders along border
towns and tourism destinations. Some Nicaraguans could not
easily obtain national identification cards, which increased
their vulnerability to trafficking. The Ministry of Labor reported
that it monitored private employment agencies, which must be
registered under Nicaraguan law. The government reported it
provided anti-trafficking training for its diplomatic personnel.
Authorities did not investigate, prosecute, or convict any tourists
for the purchase of commercial sex acts from children in 2016,
although NGOs report that child sex tourism continues to be
an issue in the country. The government made limited efforts
to reduce the demand for commercial sex acts and forced labor.

TRAFFICKING PROFILE

As reported over the past five years, Nicaragua is principally
a source and transit country for men, women, and children
subjected to sex trafficking and forced labor. Nicaraguan women
and children are subjected to sex trafficking within the country
and in other Central American countries, Mexico, and the United
States. Many trafficking victims are recruited in rural areas or
border regions with false promises of high-paying jobs in urban
centers and tourist locales, where they are subjected to sex or
labor trafficking. Victims’ family members are often complicit
in their exploitation, and traffickers have reportedly increased
recruitment activity on social media sites. Nicaraguan women
and children are subjected to sex and labor trafficking in the
two Caribbean Autonomous Regions, where the lack of strong
law enforcement institutions and a higher crime rate increase
the vulnerability of the local population. Nicaraguans from
Northern-Central departments who migrate to other Central
American countries and Europe are reportedly vulnerable to sex
and labor trafficking. During the reporting period, Nicaraguans
were reported as among the primary nationalities of victims
identified in Guatemala. In addition, children left by these
migrants in Nicaragua reportedly become vulnerable to sex and
labor trafficking. Nicaraguan adults and children are subjected
to forced labor in agriculture, construction, mining, the informal

301

NIGER

sector, and domestic service within the country and in Costa
Rica, Panama, the United States, and other countries. Children
in artisanal mining and quarrying are vulnerable to forced
labor. NGOs report children and persons with disabilities are
subjected to forced begging, particularly in Managua and near
tourist centers. Male migrants from Central American countries
transit Nicaragua en route to Panama in search of employment;
some are subjected to labor trafficking in Panama. Nicaragua
is a destination for child sex tourists from the United States,
Canada, and Western Europe.

NIGER: TIER 2 WATCH LIST
The Government of Niger does not fully meet the minimum
standards for the elimination of trafficking; however, it is making
significant efforts to do so. The government demonstrated
significant efforts during the reporting period by providing
in-kind assistance to NGOs and international organizations
that provided shelter to trafficking victims and training law
enforcement officials on victim identification. However, the
government did not demonstrate increasing efforts compared to
the previous reporting period. The government did not report
the number of investigations, prosecutions, and convictions
or the number of victims identified or referred for protective
services for the second consecutive year. Therefore, Niger
remained on Tier 2 Watch List for the second consecutive year.

RECOMMENDATIONS FOR NIGER

302

Vigorously investigate, prosecute, and convict traffickers,
including those engaged in slavery and child soldiering, using
the anti-trafficking law; train law enforcement and judicial
officials throughout the country on the anti-trafficking law;
fully adopt and implement systematic procedures for the
proactive identification of trafficking victims—especially
among vulnerable populations, such as children exploited
in sex trafficking, girls born into slave castes, and children
at worksites—and their subsequent referral to care; train law
enforcement officials on victim identification procedures;
provide financial or in-kind support to NGO partners providing
victim care; provide victims with legal assistance and awareness
of their rights and support victims, including victims of forced
labor and caste-based slavery, in seeking redress from, and
participating in the prosecution of, their traffickers; amend
the law to increase penalties in the 2010 anti-trafficking law
for trafficking of adults and in the penal code for forced child
begging and child sex trafficking, and remove the option of
imposing a fine in lieu of jail time for forced labor crimes in the
labor code; increase the quantity and quality of services available
to victims; increase efforts to rescue victims of traditional
slavery practices and adult victims; implement programs for
the disarmament, demobilization, and reintegration of former
child combatants that take into account the specific needs of
child ex-combatants; raise public awareness about the antitrafficking law, specifically targeting vulnerable populations,
religious leaders, and traditional chiefs; and develop a system

among law enforcement, judicial officials and social welfare
personnel to track suspected human trafficking cases and
prosecution and protection data.

PROSECUTION

The government maintained minimal prosecution efforts; it
did not report undertaking anti-trafficking law enforcement
efforts for the second consecutive year. Order No. 201286 on Combating Trafficking in Persons, enacted in 2010,
criminalizes all forms of trafficking, including slavery and
practices similar to slavery as well as exploitative begging. This
law prescribes sufficiently stringent punishments of five to 10
years imprisonment for committing trafficking offenses against
adults and 10 to 30 years when the victim is a child. Penalties
for child trafficking are commensurate with those prescribed
for other serious offenses, such as rape, but those prescribed for
trafficking of adults are not. Other statutes prohibit certain forms
of trafficking; the penal code criminalizes slavery, procurement of
a child for sex trafficking, and the encouragement of, or profiting
from, child begging in articles 270 (as amended in 2003), 292293, and 181, respectively. The prescribed penalties for slavery in
the penal code are 10 to 30 years imprisonment and sufficiently
stringent. However, penalties of five million to 10 million CFA
($7,998 to $15,996) and two to five years imprisonment for
child sex trafficking and six months to one year imprisonment
for child begging are neither commensurate nor sufficiently
stringent; such punishments are well below those required by
the 2010 anti-trafficking act for child trafficking crimes. The
labor code, enacted in September 2012, outlaws forced labor,
prescribing penalties of two to five years imprisonment with
the option of a fine. The penalties for slavery and forced labor
offenses are sufficiently stringent and reflect the serious nature
of the crime; however, forced labor penalties are inadequate
when there is the option of a fine in lieu of jail time.
The government did not report the number of investigations,
prosecutions, and convictions for the second consecutive year,
contrasted with 144 investigations of trafficking offenses, five
prosecutions of defendants, and five convictions of traffickers
in 2014. The government did not make progress in ending
impunity for marabouts, teachers at Quaranic schools, who
force children to beg or traditional chiefs who facilitate the
enslavement of children. There is a lack of access to justice
for victims, as they were often uninformed about their legal
rights and lacked the necessary capacities and resources to
seek punitive action against their exploiters. There were no
reported developments in pending slavery cases, some of
which have reportedly been ongoing for years, although several
new cases were reportedly filed in 2016. NGOs reported the
government was slow to prosecute trafficking crimes. In 2016,
the government trained police, prosecutors, and judges on the
national trafficking law and victim protection. There were no
investigations, prosecutions, or convictions of government
officials for complicity in trafficking or trafficking-related
criminal activities.

PROTECTION

The government maintained minimal protection efforts; the
government did not report the number of victims it identified or
referred for protective services for the second consecutive year.
There were no specialized services available in Niger for adult
victims or victims of hereditary slavery. The National Agency
for the Fight against Trafficking in Persons (ANLTP) provided
training and written materials to law enforcement personnel
on proactive identification of victims of trafficking. There

period, some which were covered by the media. With the
help of an international donor, the government conducted
awareness-raising on forced begging. In 2016, the Ministry of
Employment, Labor and Social Security (MELSS) increased the
number of labor inspectors by 13 to 73, although the number
of labor inspectors remained insufficient for the size of Niger’s
workforce. The government did not punish labor recruiters or
brokers who recruited workers with knowingly fraudulent offers
of employment or job placement, although it did temporarily
halt a program to place Nigerien workers for employment in
Saudi Arabia and provided assistance with travel documents to
workers who wished to return to Niger after workers complained
of exploitative working conditions. As part of its strategy to
reduce illegal migration and associated human trafficking, the
government continued a repatriation program with Algeria and
restricted migratory routes through Niger. The government took
no discernible measures to address the demand for forced labor
or commercial sex acts. Bylaws governing the armed forces
require troops to receive anti-trafficking training prior to their
deployment abroad on international peacekeeping missions
and the government addressed such requirements through a
program conducted by a foreign donor. The government did not
provide anti-trafficking training for its diplomatic personnel.

While the government reported it would encourage adult victims
to assist in the investigation and prosecution of trafficking cases,
victims’ lack of awareness of the legal options available to them,
fears of retaliation by traffickers, and lack of adequate shelter
and protective services impeded their efforts to do so. Victims
of forced labor and caste-based servitude could file civil and
criminal complaints simultaneously; however, there were no
reports they routinely did so. While the government announced
plans to establish demobilization and reintegration programs
for children forcibly recruited by the terrorist organization
Boko Haram, during the reporting period no such mechanisms
were in place. An international organization reported that
the government detained some children on suspicion of
involvement with Boko Haram. The law provides for the
possibility of granting victims legal residency in Niger if it is
unsafe for them to return to their countries of origin, including
the ability to obtain employment. During the reporting period,
several thousand Nigeriens were deported from Algeria and
several dozen voluntarily returned from Saudi Arabia; the
Ministry of Interior has a program to welcome and shelter
returning Nigeriens and facilitated the return of those Nigeriens
who wished to do so.

TRAFFICKING PROFILE

PREVENTION

The government maintained modest efforts to prevent
trafficking. The CNCLTP continued to serve as the coordinating
body for the government’s anti-trafficking efforts, and the
ANLTP was the government’s permanent implementing body
to address trafficking in persons. Although the CNCLTP and
the ANLTP submitted budgets of $8.7 million and $877,000
to the government, respectively, the agencies did not expect
to receive the full amounts. A surge in enforcement efforts
targeting illicit migration in Agadez region, a major transit point
to North Africa, resulted in a sharp decrease in smuggling of
migrants, a group vulnerable to trafficking, through northern
Niger. The government conducted an investigative mission
and drafted and released a report documenting Nigerien
citizens’ understanding of trafficking. Senior officials publicly
recognized the problem of human trafficking and Niger’s
policies to combat it at the opening of several anti-trafficking
information and education campaigns during the reporting

NIGER

were no formal written procedures for identifying victims and
referring them to protective services, although generally police,
prosecutors, and the ANLTP refer trafficking victims to local
NGOs on an ad hoc basis. However, in August 2016, the National
Coordination Commission for the Fight against Trafficking in
Persons (CNCLTP) and the ANLTP met to agree and finalize
identification procedures and a referral mechanism, which
remained pending ratification by the National Assembly. The
government relied almost exclusively on NGOs and international
organizations to provide services to victims, although NGOs’
capacity to provide shelter or long-term services to victims
was inadequate. NGOs provided shelter to approximately
6,000 trafficking victims, including victims subjected to forced
begging and caste-based slavery; the government provided
in-kind support to the victim assistance programs of NGOs
and international organizations including temporary shelter,
food, and primary health care for an unknown number of
these victims. The Ministry of Women’s Promotion and Child
Protection provided limited social services to an unknown
number of victims, including some returned to their home
villages. Authorities did not employ systematic measures to
identify trafficking victims among vulnerable populations,
such as women and girls born into traditional slave castes or
children at worksites.

As reported over the past five years, Niger is a source, transit, and
destination country for men, women, and children subjected
to forced labor and sex trafficking. Caste-based slavery practices
continue primarily in the northern part of the country and
affect some 44,000 people. Victims from Benin, Burkina Faso,
Cameroon, Ghana, Mali, Nigeria, and Togo are exploited in sex
and labor trafficking in Niger. Nigerien boys are subjected to
forced labor, including forced begging, within the country and
in Mali and Nigeria by corrupt marabouts. Corrupt marabouts
or loosely organized clandestine networks may also place
Nigerien girls into domestic servitude or commercial sex.
Nigerien children are subjected to forced labor in gold, salt,
trona, and gypsum mines; agriculture; stone quarries; and
manufacturing within the country. Girls are subjected to sex
trafficking along the border with Nigeria, sometimes with the
complicity of their families. In the Tahoua region of Niger,
girls born into slavery are forced to marry men who buy them
as “fifth wives” and subject them to forced labor and sexual
servitude, a practice known as wahaya; their children are born
into slave castes. “Fifth wives” are typically sold between the age
of 9 and 11 years old. Traditional chiefs play a primary role in
this form of exploitation, either through enslaving children in
their own families or arranging “marriages” for other powerful
individuals. Some girls in forced marriages may be exploited in
commercial sex after fleeing these nominal unions. Nigerien girls
reportedly travel abroad to enter into “marriages” with Nigerian
men or foreign citizens living in Saudi Arabia and the United
Arab Emirates and are subjected to domestic servitude in these
countries. In Algeria, Nigerien children were forced to beg and
Nigerien women and girls were vulnerable to sex trafficking.
Nigerien women and children are recruited from Niger and
transported to Nigeria, North Africa, the Middle East, and
Europe where they are subjected to domestic servitude, sex
trafficking, or forced labor in agriculture or animal herding.
Some migrants were suspected to be traffickers, particularly
Nigerien migrants to Algeria. Traffickers operated primarily
small, freelance operations in loosely organized networks of
individuals, including some marabouts. Some women have
been accused of managing trafficking rings, although they may
have been trafficking victims themselves. Some women are

303

NIGERIA

complicit in the exploitation of children, accepting payment
from traffickers who run forced street-begging operations.
There have been reports of freelance businesspeople (both men
and women) and informal travel agencies that recruit women
to the Middle East or to northern Nigeria for sex trafficking
or domestic servitude. Niger is a transit country for men,
women, and children from West and Central Africa migrating
to North Africa and Western Europe, where some are subjected
to forced labor or sex trafficking. Additionally, some migrants
are subjected to forced labor in Niger as domestic servants,
mechanics, welders, laborers in mines and on farms, or as staff
in bars and restaurants. The terrorist organization Boko Haram
forcibly recruited Nigerien children during the reporting period.
In some instances, law enforcement and border officials have
accepted bribes from traffickers to facilitate the transportation
of victims through the country.

NIGERIA: TIER 2 WATCH LIST
The Government of Nigeria does not fully meet the minimum
standards for the elimination of trafficking; however, it is making
significant efforts to do so. The government demonstrated
significant efforts during the reporting period by investigating,
prosecuting, and convicting traffickers; conducting antitrafficking training for law enforcement officials; and repatriating
some Nigerian trafficking victims identified abroad. However,
the government did not demonstrate increasing efforts compared
to the previous reporting period. During the reporting period,
credible observers reported for the first time that some elements
of the Nigerian security forces (NSF) used children as young
as 12 years old in support roles, and NSF continued to detain
and arrest children for alleged association with Boko Haram,
some of whom may have been forcibly recruited. The Nigerian
military also conducted on the ground coordination with the
Civilian Joint Taskforce (CJTF), non-governmental self-defense
militias that continued to recruit and use children—possibly
unwillingly and mostly in support roles—and at least one
of which received state government funding. Government
officials—including military, police, and federal and state
officials—were involved in widespread sexual exploitation of
Borno State women and girls displaced by Boko Haram, at times
forcing women and girls in IDP camps to provide commercial
sex acts in exchange for food. Furthermore, despite identifying
a large number of labor trafficking victims, the government
only convicted two labor traffickers and it decreased funding
for the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in
Persons and Other Related Matters (NAPTIP), including its
budget for victim services. Therefore, Nigeria was downgraded
to Tier 2 Watch List.

RECOMMENDATIONS FOR NIGERIA

304

Cease NSF elements’ use of children; cease provision of
financial and in-kind support to armed groups that recruit
and use children; vigorously investigate, prosecute, and convict
traffickers—including complicit officials, labor traffickers,

and those who recruit and use child soldiers—and impose
sufficiently stringent sentences; cease detaining former confirmed
or suspected child soldiers, and ensure such children are not
penalized for crimes committed as a result of being subjected
to trafficking; implement programs for the disarmament,
demobilization, and reintegration of former child combatants
that take into account the specific needs of child ex-combatants,
and work with NSF and CJTF to implement these plans; increase
funding for NAPTIP, particularly to provide adequate victim
care; continue efforts to provide regular training to police and
immigration officials to identify trafficking victims and screen for
trafficking among vulnerable populations; provide pre-departure
information for migrants on how to find assistance if exploited
abroad; expand ongoing police and immigration training
to include identifying trafficking victims among vulnerable
populations, such as women in prostitution and young females
traveling with non-family members; increase efforts to identify
trafficking victims among IDPs, investigate cases, and implement
preventive measures; increase efforts to investigate allegations of
child forced begging in Quranic schools; continue to integrate
anti-trafficking responsibilities into the work of other law
enforcement agencies, especially the Nigerian police force;
fully integrate anti-trafficking responsibilities in the work of
the Ministry of Labor; and increase the capacity of Nigerian
embassies to identify and provide assistance to victims abroad,
including by implementing a mechanism that allows embassies
to reissue passports to trafficking victims who lack identity
documents.

PROSECUTION

The government maintained anti-trafficking law enforcement
efforts, but there were increased reports of government
complicity in human trafficking. The Trafficking in Persons
Law Enforcement and Administration Act, as amended in 2015,
criminalizes all forms of trafficking and prescribes a minimum
penalty of five years imprisonment and a minimum fine of one
million naira ($3,290) for sex and labor trafficking offenses;
the minimum penalty for sex trafficking increases to seven years
imprisonment if the case involves a child. These penalties are
sufficiently stringent and commensurate with those prescribed
for other serious crimes, such as rape. Enforcement of the law
remained ineffective in many parts of the country, and while
officials made efforts to address trafficking cases, insufficient
resources and jurisdictional problems between state and federal
governments hampered efforts.
NAPTIP reported 654 investigations, 24 prosecutions, and
23 convictions for trafficking offenses, compared with 507
investigations, 32 prosecutions, and 24 convictions the previous
reporting period. It was unclear how many investigations
were pending and how many had been dismissed at the end
of the reporting period. Most convictions took place under
the 2015 amended anti-trafficking law, although some judges
also convicted traffickers under the 2003 anti-trafficking law
and its amendments and other laws for employing a child
with force, fraud, or coercion; transporting or attempting
to transport women and girls abroad for exploitation; and
knowingly soliciting or patronizing a sex trafficking victim.
Prison sentences upon conviction ranged from 18 months to
14 years imprisonment; of the 23 convictions, 22 resulted in
imprisonment without the option of paying a fine. Despite
a 2015 amendment that removed judges’ ability to sentence
traffickers to pay fines in lieu of prison time, Nigerian
courts penalized one trafficker with the option of a fine or
imprisonment. Furthermore, despite the identification of 599
forced labor and child labor victims, the government only

Corruption affected all levels of government and the security
forces and there were reports of official complicity in trafficking
offenses. The government took few steps to investigate or
prosecute officials who committed violations, whether in
the security forces or elsewhere in the government. In April
2016, an international organization reported that more than
half of the areas surveyed to assess the treatment of IDPs
in Maiduguri—including IDP camps, settlements, and host
communities—reported instances in which camp authorities,
including government officials and security forces, forced or
coerced women to exchange sex acts for food or freedom to
move in and out of IDP camps. A second NGO also reported
sexual exploitation of IDPs by camp officials. In response to
these allegations, the president instructed the inspector general
to create a special panel to investigate cases of sexual exploitation
reported by the second NGO, which resulted in the arrest of
seven government officials and two CJTF members for alleged
sexual misconduct towards IDPs, including sex trafficking. The
investigations were ongoing at the end of the reporting period.
During the reporting period, NSF elements used children
as young as 12 years old rescued or arrested during military
operations in support roles such as cooks, porters, cleaners,
messengers between barracks and between camps, and guards.
Reports also indicate NSF interrogated children in detention
for later use as collaborators to identify Boko Haram members
among newly arrested persons. The government did not
report any investigations, prosecutions, or convictions for
child soldiering offenses, including of government officials
complicit in such offenses. NAPTIP investigated two officials
allegedly complicit in trafficking offenses. In one case, an official
attempted to take a domestic servant with him to the United
States but NAPTIP did not find indicators of trafficking; the
second investigation was ongoing at the end of the reporting
period. A Nigerian official reported some immigration officials
knowingly facilitated the issuance of falsified passports to
enable traffickers to make minors appear 18 years of age for
foreign travel; the government did not report investigating
these claims. The government did not report if it continued the
prosecution from the previous reporting period of a Ministry
of Foreign Affairs official who allegedly facilitated a trafficking
crime abroad.
The government conducted extensive training throughout the
reporting period. NAPTIP, in collaboration with international
partners, provided specialized training to approximately 243
government employees, including judges, prosecutors, NAPTIP
officials, and other law enforcement on victim identification;
investigation and prosecution of trafficking cases; counseling;
and disarmament, demobilization, and reintegration. NAPTIP
developed and distributed a manual to law enforcement agencies
on identifying trafficking victims and referring cases to NAPTIP
and conducted train-the-trainer training on the procedures
across agencies. In addition, it assisted 14 countries with their
anti-trafficking efforts through training courses, joint intelligence
sharing, and mutual legal assistance. The government dismissed
the director general of NAPTIP in February 2016 and did
not nominate a replacement until March 2017. While in the
interim the agency had an acting director, the lack of permanent

leadership hampered the agency’s effectiveness.

PROTECTION

The government maintained efforts to identify trafficking victims
but decreased funding for victim protection. It identified 1,128
potential trafficking victims: 529 sex trafficking victims, 426
child labor victims—some of whom were forced, including
261 children in domestic servitude—and 173 adult forced
labor victims, an increase from 943 victims identified in
the previous reporting period. The Nigerian guards brigade
intercepted a convoy of 69 children between 6 and 10 years
old allegedly destined for forced begging in a Quranic school.
Nationwide, NAPTIP officers were often concentrated in state
capitals, inhibiting efforts to identify victims and investigate
trafficking in rural areas. NAPTIP provided initial screening for
all victims and referred all identified victims to government
facilities for medical care, vocational training, education, and
shelter. It also referred 302 victims to NGOs for additional
care. The government had formal written procedures to guide
law enforcement, immigration, and social services personnel
in proactive identification of trafficking victims among highrisk populations, and NAPTIP trained police, immigration,
and social services personnel with specialized training on
identifying trafficking victims and directing them to NAPTIP.
Additionally, the government’s national referral mechanism
provided formal guidelines for law enforcement, immigration
officials, and service providers to improve protection and
assistance to trafficking victims, both within Nigeria and abroad.
In partnership with an international organization, NAPTIP
developed and disseminated guidelines on implementing the
national referral mechanism for caregivers and service providers.
The government allocated approximately 1.69 billion naira
($5.56 million) to NAPTIP in 2016, which was a significant
decrease from 2.5 billion naira ($8.22 million) allocated in
2015. As of December 2016, the national assembly had only
reported disbursing 1.27 billion naira ($4.17 million) of the
2016 funding to NAPTIP, and NAPTIP required approximately
1.3 billion naira ($4.27 million) for personnel costs alone. The
national assembly allocated an additional 208 million naira
($683,760) to NAPTIP in 2016 specifically to assist trafficking
victims and other vulnerable people in eight states; it was unclear
how much of this funding was disbursed during the reporting
period. Because this amount was significantly less than the 581
million naira ($1.91 million) allocated for victim protection in
2015 and the government identified more trafficking victims
than the previous reporting period, it was unclear how NAPTIP
maintained the same quality of victim services. Although
NAPTIP is mandated to care only for victims of trafficking
crimes under the 2015 anti-trafficking law, the government often
referred victims of other crimes to NAPTIP, which reduced its
capacity to care for trafficking victims. NAPTIP continued to
operate nine shelters specifically for trafficking victims, with a
total capacity of 313 people. Through these shelters, NAPTIP
provided access to legal, medical, and psychological services,
as well as vocational training, financial empowerment, and
business management skills. These shelters were also available to
Nigerian trafficking victims exploited abroad upon repatriation,
but it was unclear if authorities referred any such victims to
these shelters. NAPTIP had agreements with certain hospitals
and clinics to provide additional medical and psychological
treatment for victims, as needed. NAPTIP shelters offered shortterm care, generally limiting victims’ stays to six weeks, although
victims could extend their stays under special circumstances;
both men and women received specialized care. If victims
needed longer-term care, NAPTIP collaborated with two shelters

NIGERIA

convicted two labor traffickers. The government only convicted
one trafficker for child forced begging, despite the prevalence
of the practice. The government conducted joint investigations
or cooperated with authorities from eight countries on 19
cases involving Nigerian nationals during the reporting period,
compared with cooperating with foreign governments on 43
cases in the previous reporting period.

305

NIGERIA

operated by the Ministry of Women’s Affairs and NGO-run
shelters. Victims in NAPTIP shelters were not permitted to
leave without a chaperone, reportedly for security. Additional
shelters existed and provided services to vulnerable children
and victims of crime, including trafficking, although it is unclear
if any trafficking victims received those other services during
the reporting period. Foreign victims had access to the same
services as domestic victims. In contrast with previous years,
NAPTIP did not report providing funding, in-kind donations,
or services to NGOs and other organizations that afforded
protective services to trafficking victims. Nigerian embassies in
Benin, Cote d’Ivoire, the Democratic Republic of the Congo,
and Togo provided repatriation assistance to Nigerian trafficking
victims identified in those countries. At least one Nigerian
embassy, however, required trafficking victims to pay for passport
reissuance fees—as many victims had received falsified passports
from traffickers or had their passports stolen—and prove their
citizenship with documentation victims often did not have,
such as a birth certificate or old passport number, which caused
delays in repatriation.
Although provisions of the anti-trafficking law prohibit the
penalization of identified victims for unlawful acts committed
as a result of being subjected to trafficking, the government
arrested and detained children for alleged association with
Boko Haram, some of whom may have been forcibly recruited.
During the reporting period the military began cooperating with
an international organization to release children in military
detention, some of whom were child soldiers, and released
876 by October 2016. However, it continued to detain child
trafficking victims removed from or allegedly associated with
Boko Haram, including at least 78 ex-child combatants, who
did not receive trafficking victim care. NSF detained, reportedly
for prolonged screening, some women and girls following their
release from forced marriages and sexual slavery by Boko Haram
militants. NAPTIP authorities sometimes deemed adults in
prostitution, who claimed to be working voluntarily, trafficking
victims and detained them in shelter facilities against their
will. Officials encouraged victims to assist in the investigation
and prosecution of trafficking cases, and NAPTIP reported 43
victims served as witnesses or gave evidence during trial in
the reporting period, 10 more than in the previous reporting
period. While the government did not have long-term legal
alternatives to prevent the removal of victims to countries
where they would face hardship or retribution, it guaranteed
trafficking victims temporary residence visas during any criminal,
civil, or other legal action. The victims’ trust fund, which was
financed primarily through confiscated assets of convicted
traffickers, was available to all victims. During the reporting
period, the government allocated an additional 2.5 million
naira ($8,220) to the fund and disbursed 5.6 million naira
($18,410) to an unknown number of trafficking victims for
various purposes, including vocational training and school
tuition, although not necessarily in equal amounts; this is
comparable to 5.6 million naira ($18,410) disbursed among
25 victims the previous reporting period.

PREVENTION

306

The government increased efforts to prevent human trafficking.
NAPTIP continued to conduct awareness campaigns to educate
the public about the dangers of human trafficking and how
traffickers operate. It also conducted stakeholder and town
hall meetings in areas with particularly high incidences of
trafficking. The inter-ministerial committee on trafficking
continued to meet, but in contrast with previous years did not
take any significant anti-trafficking action. The government

had a national action plan and a (2012-2017) strategic plan to
implement the national action plan, and NAPTIP implemented
some of the plan’s objectives during the reporting period; the
government began drafting a new national action plan in 2017.
The government did not provide sufficient protections for
workers employed in the informal economy—including children
working in agriculture, domestic work, and artisanal mining—
rendering such workers vulnerable to trafficking. The Ministry
of Labor and Productivity continued to implement the national
policy and action plan on labor migration and manage the
licensing requirement for all private labor recruitment agencies.
NAPTIP conducted anti-trafficking awareness campaigns in
areas where trafficking victims were known to originate to
educate the public about the dangers of human trafficking. The
government did not report providing pre-departure information
to migrants on how to obtain assistance if exploited abroad,
and authorities identified Nigerian trafficking victims in more
than 29 countries during the reporting period. To reduce the
demand for commercial sex acts, several states continued
to outlaw soliciting commercial sex, and judges convicted
four individuals for knowingly soliciting or patronizing a sex
trafficking victim.
In response to reports that government officials sexually
exploited female IDPs, including in IDP camps, the government
deployed 100 female police officers to the Borno State IDP camps
during the reporting period. NAPTIP officials reportedly screened
for trafficking in IDP camps in Borno State; it was unclear in
how many camps NAPTIP screened and how regularly, however,
and the agency did not report identifying any trafficking victims
in IDP camps during the reporting period. The Borno State
government made public announcements of the prohibition
against the recruitment and use of child soldiers but continued
to provide financial and in-kind resources to one of the CJTF
self-defense militias, which according to credible observers
continued to use and recruit children. The government provided
anti-trafficking training for its diplomatic personnel and,
with foreign donor support, to Nigerian troops prior to their
deployment abroad on international peacekeeping missions.

TRAFFICKING PROFILE

As reported over the past five years, Nigeria is a source, transit,
and destination country for women and children subjected to
forced labor and sex trafficking. Nigerian trafficking victims are
recruited from rural areas—especially the country’s southern
regions—and, to a lesser extent, urban areas. Women and
girls are victims of domestic servitude and sex trafficking and
boys are victims of forced and bonded labor in street vending,
domestic service, mining, stone quarrying, agriculture, textile
manufacturing, and begging. Many of the more than 9.5 million
young boys studying in Quranic schools, commonly known
as Almajiri, are subjected to forced begging. Traffickers operate
“baby factories”—often disguised as orphanages, maternity
homes, or religious centers—where women are held against
their will, raped, and forced to carry and deliver a child. The
children are then sold, sometimes with the intent to exploit
them in forced labor and sex trafficking. Nigerian traffickers
take women and children to other West and Central African
countries—including Mali, Cote d’Ivoire, and Cabo Verde—as
well as to South Africa, where they are exploited in forced labor
and sex trafficking. Nigerian women and children are recruited
and transported to destinations in North Africa, the Middle
East, and Central Asia, and held captive in the commercial sex
industry or forced labor, including forced begging in Morocco.
West African children are subjected to forced labor in Nigeria,
including in granite and gold mines. Women from West African

Authorities identified Nigerian trafficking victims—often
exploited by Nigerian traffickers—in more than 29 countries
during the reporting period. Officials report an increase in
Nigerian women and girls subjected to sex trafficking within
Nigeria and throughout Europe, including in Italy, Austria, and
Russia; an international organization estimated 80 percent of
all female Nigerian migrants in Italy are or will become sex
trafficking victims. Nigerian sex traffickers operate in highly
organized criminal webs throughout Europe, and many sex
trafficking victims begin to work for their traffickers in exchange
for leaving sex trafficking themselves. Nigerians are subjected to
sex trafficking and forced labor in Finland. During the reporting
period, Spanish and Moroccan officials dismantled a Nigerianled criminal group that subjected at least 39 Nigerian women
and girls to sex trafficking in southeastern Spain. Nigerians
are increasingly exploited in Libya; lured by the promise of
reaching Europe, traffickers keep victims in “control houses”
or “prostitution camps” located on the outskirts of Tripoli
and Misrata and subject them to sex trafficking and—to a
lesser extent—domestic servitude until they can repay travel
debts; before victims repay the debt, traffickers sell them
again. During the reporting period, ISIS captured at least seven
Nigerian women and girls in Libya and exploited them in
sexual slavery; some of the victims had been transiting Libya
en route to Europe. Before departure for work abroad, many
Nigerian women participate in a traditional ceremony with a
juju priest; some traffickers exploit this tradition and tell the
women they must obey every order or a curse will harm them,
which prevents victims from seeking assistance or cooperating
with law enforcement. Some victims’ parents encourage them
to obey their traffickers and endure exploitation to earn money.
During the reporting period, authorities observed criminal
gangs—some of whom might have had ties to so-called student
cults—partner with organized crime networks to transport
Nigerians to Europe for exploitation.
Reports indicate government officials and security forces
committed sexual exploitation—including sex trafficking—and
such exploitation is a major concern in nearly all of the 13 IDP
camps and local communities in and around Maiduguri, the
Borno State capital, which hosts IDPs affected by the ongoing
conflict with Boko Haram. “Gatekeepers” in control of some
IDP camps, at times in collusion with Nigerian policemen
and soldiers, reportedly force women and girls to provide sex
acts in exchange for food and services in the camps; in July
2016, an NGO reported camp leaders, policemen, soldiers,
and vigilante groups exploited 37 women and children in sex
trafficking among seven IDP camps in Maiduguri. In July 2016, a
Nigerian research organization surveyed 400 IDPs in Adamawa,
Borno, and Yobe states, and 66 percent said camp officials
sexually abused women and girls, some of which constitutes
sex trafficking. Various NGOs and news outlets continued to
report that children in IDP camps are victims of labor and sex
trafficking, and some alleged government officials managing
the camps are complicit in these activities.
During the reporting period, Boko Haram continued to forcibly
recruit and use child soldiers as young as 12 years old and
abduct women and girls in the northern region of Nigeria, some
of whom it subjected to domestic servitude, forced labor—
including in suicide attacks in Nigeria, Cameroon, and Chad—

and sexual slavery through forced marriages to its militants.
International organizations continued to express concerns
about the arrest and detention by the Nigerian government and
security forces of children for alleged association with Boko
Haram. Authorities arrested more than 1,365 children between
January 2015 and October 2016 for their or their parents’ alleged
association with Boko Haram and did not report screening them
for trafficking. Among the more than 1,365 children detained,
455 remained in detention as of December 2016, including
78 boys aged 13-17 whom NSF determined to be combatants;
in one case, authorities kept 58 children in military detention
for four months. The government prohibited the recruitment
and use of child soldiers, but NSF used children as young as
12 years old in support roles such as messengers, porters, and
guards. Credible observers reported NSF interrogated children in
detention for later use as collaborators to identify Boko Haram
members among newly arrested persons. The Nigerian military
also conducted on-the-ground coordination with elements
of the CJTF —a self-defense militia involved in fighting Boko
Haram that is not part of the Nigerian government—including
the Government of Borno State-funded, Maiduguri-based CJTF.
An NGO noted the term CJTF is now used to describe a number
of self-defense vigilante groups operating in northeast Nigeria,
some of which have tenuous ties to the Maiduguri-based CJTF.
Credible observers, including NGOs and an intergovernmental
organization, reported CJTF continued to recruit and use
children, possibly compulsorily, and used children as young
as 12 years old mostly to man check points, conduct patrols,
spy, and apprehend suspected insurgents.

NORWAY

countries transit Nigeria en route to Europe and the Middle
East, where they are subjected to forced prostitution. Nigeria’s
ports and waterways around Calabar are transit points for
West African children subjected to forced labor in Cameroon,
Equatorial Guinea, and Gabon.

NORWAY: TIER 1
The Government of Norway fully meets the minimum standards
for the elimination of trafficking. The government continued
to demonstrate serious and sustained efforts during the
reporting period; therefore, Norway remained on Tier 1. The
government demonstrated serious and sustained efforts by
signing a new anti-trafficking action plan and devoting more
resources to victim protection. Although the government meets
the minimum standards, it did not report a high level of law
enforcement efforts relative to the number of victims identified;
from 2007 to 2016, approximately 2,800 potential trafficking
victims received assistance in Norway, yet authorities have
secured only 50 convictions since 2003.

RECOMMENDATIONS FOR NORWAY

Train investigators on compiling evidence additional to
victims’ testimonies; train prosecutors on the application of
the trafficking law; vigorously prosecute and convict sex and
labor traffickers; adequately resource police departments to
investigate trafficking crimes; enhance communication between
police and immigration authorities and proactively screen
foreigners in detention for indicators of trafficking prior to their
deportation; continue collaborative efforts to combat labor

307

NORWAY
308

trafficking offenses; and produce public awareness campaigns
on trafficking.

PROSECUTION

The government maintained law enforcement efforts. The penal
code was amended in October 2015; section 257 defines human
trafficking consistent with the 2000 UN Protocol to include
all forms of sex and labor trafficking; it criminalizes the use of
force, fraud or coercion for the purpose of prostitution, labor,
army recruitment or organ removal and specifies that with
regard to the trafficking of children, the use of force, fraud
or coercion is not a required element of the crime. Section
258 in the amended penal code criminalizes “gross human
trafficking,” which includes those trafficking offenses in which
the victim was a child or gross violence or coercion was used, the
maximum penalty under section 257 is six years imprisonment
and for section 258, 10 years. This punishment is sufficiently
stringent and commensurate with punishments prescribed for
other serious offenses, such as rape. Authorities initiated 46
investigations (42 sex trafficking cases and four labor trafficking
cases), compared with 61 (43 sex trafficking cases and 18 labor
trafficking cases) in 2015. The government prosecuted seven
suspects in four different cases (three sex trafficking and one
labor trafficking suspects), compared with 11 suspects (six
sex trafficking and five labor trafficking suspects) in 2015.
Authorities obtained four convictions (three sex traffickers and
one labor trafficker), compared with 11 (six sex traffickers and
five labor traffickers) in 2015. All of the convicted traffickers
under the 2016 reporting period received prison sentences.
In 2016, the National Criminal Investigation Service began
developing a standardized training curriculum for use in all
police districts. The government organized a national seminar
on human trafficking for law enforcement and others, which
focused on victim identification and prosecution; the 300
attendees included police officers, prosecutors, immigration
officials, asylum and reception center representatives,
health care professionals, NGOs, and others from across
the country. The government earmarked 15 million kroner
($1.7 million) annually for the establishment of specialized
anti-trafficking units in Norway’s five largest police districts,
under the supervision of the police directorate. The Bergen
police maintained a specialized unit dedicated to combating
trafficking. In 2015, Parliament mandated that all 12 police
districts in Norway have a trafficking unit—funds have been
allocated for five of these police districts as of April 2017.
The national police directorate and Ministry of Justice were
in dialogue about proper funding with Parliament. Many
municipalities did not have prosecutors with specialized training
in trafficking cases; as a result, prosecutors sometimes brought
pimping charges in trafficking cases when the accused trafficker
used forms of force, fraud, or coercion other than physical
violence. In these cases, victims were not automatically provided
the benefits given under the trafficking laws, and convicted
offenders could receive penalties that were not dissuasive or
proportionate to the crime. Even when trafficking perpetrators
were prosecuted for pimping, if authorities believed there may
have been elements of trafficking associated with the crime,
the victims have sometimes been eligible for a resident permit.
With a residence permit, victims are entitled to social benefits
such as financial support and welfare services. A government
report found that a large number of trafficking cases that were
investigated were not prosecuted, due in part to limitation on
prosecutorial capacity and training to deal with trafficking cases,
as well as investigators relying solely on victims’ testimony
without additional evidence that would help support successful

prosecutions. The government did not report any investigations,
prosecutions, or convictions of government officials complicit
in human trafficking offenses.

PROTECTION

The government maintained protection efforts. In 2016, the
government reported identifying and providing services for
262 trafficking victims, including 46 men, 199 women, and 17
children, compared with approximately 290 victims overall in
2015. Within the total number of trafficking victims reported
in 2016, 185 were sex trafficking victims, 60 were forced labor
victims, and 17 were a combination of both. The government
provided protection to trafficking victims through municipal
crisis centers and government-funded NGOs. These NGOs
provided foreign and domestic victims with shelter, legal aid,
stipends for food, psychological care, medical assistance, fitness
facilities, and Norwegian language classes. Additionally, the
government’s ROSA project (Re-establishment, Organizing safe
places to stay, Security, Assistance) managed a 24-hour hotline
for potential victims saw an increase in calls, particularly from
potential labor trafficking victims, after additional funding
allowed the hotline to stay open outside of business hours. In
2015, Parliament established a new grant scheme of providing
seven million kroner ($811,971) exclusively for measures to
prevent trafficking in persons and support victims. In 2016,
two NGOs received grants of 5.9 million kroner ($684,375)
and 2.25 million kroner ($260,991), respectively, to operate
shelters, including one for male victims. ROSA remained the
largest project exclusively intended to assist victims of trafficking
and received 3.75 million kroner ($434,984) in government
funding. ROSA received 97 initial contacts from possible victims
through their hotline, in contrast with 125 contacts in 2015.
The contrast in numbers is a result of the type of assistance
needed once contact is made with ROSA. Of the 97 making
initial contact, 40 ultimately accepted shelter, compared to
38 in 2015. Another publicly supported NGO assisted sex
trafficking victims who had been granted a reflection period
with vocational programs and sponsored internships. Child
Welfare Services provided specialized care to child victims,
including accommodation in a child protection institution or
a foster home. GRETA previously reported Norwegian border
officials did not adequately identify potential victims. Experts
observed the police were under pressure to deport individuals
without legal status and often pursued deportation without
screening for indicators of trafficking, particularly among
individuals in prostitution.
Authorities granted a six-month reflection period to 24 victims
and temporary residence permits to 23 victims in 2016,
compared with 22 and 41, respectively, in 2015. Observers
expressed concern over the lack of communication between
police and immigration authorities, resulting in the deportation
of victims who may have merited temporary residency. Victims
could receive a longer-term residence permit if they made a
formal complaint to the police and the authorities decided
they needed the victims’ assistance for the investigation and
prosecution. Victims facing retribution or hardship in their
countries of origin could apply for asylum after law enforcement
no longer required their assistance; 17 victims received asylum
status in 2016 (11 in 2015). There were isolated incidents of
potential victims being inappropriately detained or fined for
unlawful acts committed as a direct result of being subjected
to human trafficking.

The government maintained modest prevention efforts. Norway
introduced a new anti-trafficking action plan, effective in
January 2017, which was developed with NGO consultation.
The government did not fund any information campaigns
targeted towards potential trafficking victims in 2016. The
government raised awareness among employers of regulations
around employing migrants, as well as notifying the public
to refrain from using abnormally cheap services, in attempt
to combat forced labor. The government did not report any
specific measures to reduce the demand for commercial sex. The
government provided anti-trafficking training for its diplomatic
personnel. The government provided anti-trafficking training to
troops prior to their deployment abroad as part of international
peacekeeping missions.

TRAFFICKING PROFILE

As reported over the past five years, Norway is a destination
and, to a lesser extent, transit and source country for women
and girls subjected to sex trafficking, and for men and women
subjected to forced labor in domestic service, car washing, and
construction. Children are subjected to domestic servitude,
forced begging, and forced criminal activity, such as shoplifting
and drug sales. Trafficking victims identified in Norway primarily
originate from Eastern Europe and Africa—particularly Albania,
Bulgaria, Lithuania, Nigeria, and Romania, as well as victims
from Pakistan. Foreign au pairs, including those from the
Philippines, are vulnerable to trafficking in Norway. Some
children, who had disappeared or had been recruited from
asylum centers were subsequently subjected to trafficking by
organized trafficking groups.

OMAN: TIER 2 WATCH LIST
The Government of Oman does not fully meet the minimum
standards for the elimination of trafficking; however, it is making
significant efforts to do so. The government demonstrated
significant efforts during the reporting period by prosecuting
traffickers and conducting trainings for law enforcement and
prosecutorial and judicial personnel. It identified more victims
and provided them with basic care, and continued to fund and
operate an all-purpose shelter. The government also hired a
full-time consultant to liaise between relevant agencies to create
a whole-of-government approach to countering trafficking
in Oman. However, the government did not demonstrate
increasing efforts compared to the previous reporting period. The
government conducted fewer investigations, and prosecutions
and convictions remained disproportionately low compared
to the known trafficking problem in Oman. The government
generally continued to process potential labor trafficking cases
through mediation in labor courts rather than criminally
investigating and prosecuting them. Officials remained without
standardized mechanisms for the proactive identification of
trafficking victims among vulnerable groups, and they relied on
victims to self-identify. The government only referred victims to
protective services if they filed cases with the public prosecutor.
Therefore, Oman remained on Tier 2 Watch List for the second
consecutive year.

OMAN

PREVENTION

RECOMMENDATIONS FOR OMAN

Significantly increase efforts to investigate, prosecute, and convict
traffickers, especially for forced labor offenses; expand labor
law protections to and enforce legal protections for domestic
workers; amend the sponsorship-based employment scheme
that renders expatriate workers vulnerable to exploitative labor;
institute formal procedures to identify trafficking victims among
vulnerable populations, such as migrant workers and people
in prostitution; develop and institute a formal mechanism for
cooperation between the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) and
the public prosecutor to investigate and prosecute cases of labor
trafficking, including those involving labor recruitment agencies;
refer suspected trafficking victims to the government shelter,
regardless of whether there is a corresponding prosecution of
an alleged offender; repeal the restrictions on victim referrals
to allow broader victim access to shelter care; offer shelter and
specialized services to male victims and labor trafficking victims;
cease penalization of trafficking victims for acts committed as
a direct result of being subjected to human trafficking, such as
immigration violations or prostitution; enable the development
and support the operations of a holistic victim care network
run by civil society stakeholders; impose dissuasive penalties
on employers who withhold their employees’ passports; expand
training for officials involved in criminal investigations and
judicial proceedings; update and fully implement the national
action plan; and broaden public awareness efforts to reduce
the demand for forced labor.

PROSECUTION

The government maintained limited anti-trafficking law
enforcement efforts. Oman’s 2008 anti-trafficking law
criminalizes all forms of trafficking and prescribes punishments
of three to 15 years imprisonment, in addition to financial
penalties; these punishments are sufficiently stringent and
commensurate with penalties prescribed for other serious
crimes, such as rape. The May 2014 Child’s Law prohibits
holding a child in slavery. MOM circular No. 2/2006 prohibits
employers from withholding migrant workers’ passports but
does not specify penalties for noncompliance.
The government reported investigating one sex trafficking
case and one forced labor case, compared to five and none,
respectively, during the previous year. It prosecuted nine
defendants—three for sex trafficking and six for forced labor—all
of whom awaited a final verdict at the close of the reporting
period; in 2015, the government initiated three prosecutions
involving nine suspects and did not convict any traffickers.
However, the government generally treated forced labor cases,
including involving domestic workers, as labor law violations
rather than criminal offenses. The government did not report
any investigations, prosecutions, or convictions of government
officials complicit in human trafficking. The MOM received
332 cases of passport retention during the reporting year, in
comparison to 432 cases in 2015; 44 were referred to the lower
court, 12 referred for further investigation, eight remained
pending at the close of the reporting period, and the other 268

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OMAN

were settled via mediation. The MOM did not refer any cases
of passport retention for criminal investigation as potential
labor trafficking offenses. The Royal Oman Police continued to
train all incoming cadets on the legal framework for trafficking
and related crimes, victim identification, and mechanisms
for transferring potential cases to court. In 2016, the MOM
and Ministry of Justice (MOJ) conducted various workshops
on trafficking for judicial and prosecutorial personnel across
the Sultanate on the intricacies of the anti-trafficking law and
processing trafficking cases. Additionally, a cadre of Omani
officials visited the United States for one month to study best
practices in combating trafficking and victim service provisions.
The MOJ included the anti-trafficking law as a mandatory
course for all prospective lawyers, judges, and prosecutor
generals in Oman.

PROTECTION

The government demonstrated modest efforts to identify
and protect victims. The government reported identifying 36
potential trafficking victims, 15 of whom it referred to the
government-run shelter, an increase from five in the previous
reporting period. The government repatriated the remaining
21 victims to their respective countries of origin. However, it
largely relied on victims to self-identify and report abuses to
authorities, and victims could only obtain government-provided
services if the public prosecutor filed a case and issued a referral
for them. Some source-country embassies in Oman operated
shelter services for their nationals, including men. As the labor
law does not cover domestic workers, authorities continued
to treat potential domestic servitude cases as labor violations,
and did not identify as victims, or provide protection services
to, potential victims of domestic servitude. The government’s
lack of formal identification and referral procedures left victims
vulnerable to being incarcerated, fined, or otherwise penalized
for unlawful acts committed as a direct result of being subjected
to trafficking. The government reaffirmed its policy that foreign
workers are required to adhere to the terms of employment
contracts or leave the country for a minimum of two years before
returning to Oman to work for a new employer. Without a legal
mechanism by which potential trafficking victims can avoid
deportation or seek employment outside existing contracts, this
policy may compel workers to stay in exploitative situations in
which they may be deterred from taking legal actions against
traffickers.
During the reporting period, the government operated, and
allocated 191,860 Omani rial ($498,350) to its permanent
shelter, which could accommodate up to 50 women and
child victims of forced labor or sex trafficking. The shelter
provided lodging, psychological counseling, legal support,
monetary stipends, rehabilitation activities, and medical care
to victims. Victims in the shelter were only permitted to leave
the premises with a chaperone, allegedly to deter reprisal from
traffickers. The government did not provide shelter services
for male victims. Victims were permitted to stay in Oman on
a case-by-case basis but not permitted to work while awaiting
court proceedings. The government provided foreign victims
with legal alternatives to removal to countries in which they
may face retribution or hardship; however, it did not report if
any victims benefited from this policy.

PREVENTION
310

The government continued efforts to prevent human trafficking.
In October 2016, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs hired an
international expert on combating trafficking to assist the

government in creating a taskforce focused on victim-centered
investigations and to guide Omani interagency entities on
training, legislative improvements, and enhanced information
gathering techniques. The government has maintained an
action plan since 2009. In conjunction with an international
organization, the anti-trafficking committee organized two
workshops for 80 officials on the front-lines of policymaking
or implementation of the national action plan. In 2016, the
MOM produced 625 individual awareness campaigns and 60
group outreaches; it also sent more than 140,000 anti-trafficking
related text messages to unknown recipients and disseminated
pamphlets in 14 languages documenting worker protections
and grievance filing guidelines. The Ministry of Social Services
maintained a hotline in Dar al Wifaq, operated by police and
staffed with Arabic, English, Urdu, Hindi, French, and Swahili
translators; the government did not report the number of calls
received during the reporting period. The government required
employers to post labor law regulations in the languages of
their workers in prominent locations at worksites. Oman ceased
the issuance of domestic worker visas from numerous African
countries during the previous reporting year and extended
the ban into the current year in an effort to curb recruiter
malfeasance. The government reported having memoranda
of understanding with Iran, India, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka,
Vietnam, Syria, Palestine, Egypt, and Morocco; some included
articles prohibiting unlawful labor recruitment and trafficking.
The government continued to monitor employment agencies
through 21,946 labor inspections; 558 labor complaints were
registered in 2016, of which 443 were settled through mediation,
91 were referred to the court system, and 24 cases remained
pending at the close of the reporting period. Grieving workers
filed the majority of these complaints through the MOM’s
website or hotline. The government did not report efforts to
reduce the demand for forced labor or commercial sex acts. It
provided anti-trafficking training to its diplomatic personnel.

TRAFFICKING PROFILE

As reported over the past five years, Oman is a destination and
transit country for men and women, primarily from South
and East Asia and East and North Africa, subjected to forced
labor and, to a lesser extent, sex trafficking. Expatriate workers
migrate to Oman willingly and legally with the expectation
of employment in domestic service or in the construction,
agricultural, and service sectors; some are subjected to conditions
of forced labor, including excessive work hours, passport
confiscation, non-payment of wages, food deprivation, and
psychological and sexual abuse. Oman’s migrant worker
community hails primarily from Bangladesh, India, Pakistan,
Sri Lanka, and the Philippines. Male laborers transit Oman en
route to the United Arab Emirates, where some are subjected
to forced labor. Oman is a destination and transit country for
some women from South Asia, North Africa, and East Africa
who are exploited in sex trafficking, often by nationals of their
own countries. Unscrupulous labor recruitment agencies in
Oman and their sub-agents in labor-sending countries, as
well as labor brokers in neighboring countries, deceive some
workers into accepting work that constitutes forced labor.
Such dishonest agencies provide fraudulent employment
contracts with fictitious wage rates and charge workers exorbitant
recruitment fees with high interest rates. Employers sometimes
compel the foreign worker to repay the hiring costs, such as
recruitment fees, and are reluctant to release them until such
costs are recouped. These practices can render workers vulnerable
to trafficking. There have been anecdotal reports that female
domestic workers from countries without a diplomatic presence
in Oman are especially vulnerable to sex trafficking. Some

PAKISTAN: TIER 2 WATCH LIST
The Government of Pakistan does not fully meet the minimum
standards for the elimination of trafficking; however, it is making
significant efforts to do so. The government demonstrated
significant efforts during the reporting period by increasing
investigations, prosecutions, and convictions of sex trafficking.
The government amended its national strategic framework
against trafficking in persons and human smuggling to extend it
through 2020 and ratified the UN Convention on the Rights of
the Child Optional Protocol on Armed Conflict. The province
of Sindh adopted a law prohibiting bonded labor and both the
Sindh and Punjab provincial governments passed legislation
criminalizing child sex trafficking and forced labor with
sufficiently stringent sentences. In November 2016, the province
of Balochistan passed legislation establishing District Child
Protection Units, charged with providing case management
and ensuring abused children including trafficking victims,
receive appropriate government services. The province of Punjab
opened its first wholly-integrated women’s shelter for victims of
violence and Sindh increased its budget for women’s shelters.
Punjab reported it identified and removed approximately
79,000 children working in brick kilns, some of whom may
have been victims of bonded labor. However, the government
did not demonstrate increasing efforts compared to the previous
reporting period. Overall, government law enforcement efforts
on labor trafficking remained inadequate. Despite bonded labor
being Pakistan’s largest trafficking problem, only the government
of Punjab reported convictions for bonded labor and the total
number was low—10 convictions in 2016 compared with seven
in 2015. Official complicity in trafficking crimes remained a
serious problem, yet the government reported no prosecutions
or convictions of complicit officials. Government protection
efforts were weak. Provincial governments’ identification of
victims decreased sharply and only a small number of the
total victims identified were referred to rehabilitation services,
which remained inadequate and inconsistent. Because the
government has devoted sufficient resources to a written plan
that, if implemented, would constitute significant efforts to
meet the minimum standards, Pakistan was granted a waiver
per the Trafficking Victims Protection Act from an otherwise
required downgrade to Tier 3. Therefore, Pakistan remained on
the Tier 2 Watch List for the fourth consecutive year.

RECOMMENDATIONS FOR PAKISTAN

Increase prosecutions and convictions, particularly of forced
and bonded labor, while strictly respecting due process; pass
an anti-trafficking law that prohibits and penalizes all forms of
human trafficking, including sex trafficking of those under 18

without requiring coercive means, and prescribes sufficiently
stringent penalties; provide additional resources to increase
trafficking-specific services for victims, including for men and
boys, and ensure victims are not penalized for acts committed
as a result of being subjected to trafficking; thoroughly
investigate credible allegations of government complicity in
trafficking and stringently prosecute and punish officials who
are complicit; ensure the creation, dissemination, and use of
standard operating procedures (SOPs) for victim identification
and referral to rehabilitation services at the provincial level;
expand ability for freed bonded laborers to obtain identification
documents and gain access to government services; take steps
to eliminate all recruitment fees charged to workers; issue
policies and provide trainings to government officials that clearly
distinguish between human trafficking and human smuggling;
strengthen the capacity of provincial governments to address
human trafficking, including bonded labor, through training,
awareness raising, funding, and encouraging the creation of
coordination taskforces and the adoption of provincial-level
anti-trafficking action plans; improve efforts to collect, analyze,
and accurately report anti-trafficking data, distinct from data
on smuggling; and accede to the 2000 UN TIP Protocol.

PAKISTAN

Tanzanian women are susceptible to exploitative conditions
working for Omani extended family members of ZanzibarTanzanian origin. Domestic workers who flee their employers
are also vulnerable to forced prostitution.

PROSECUTION

The government demonstrated mixed law enforcement efforts
against trafficking. Law enforcement efforts against sex trafficking
increased and the provinces of Sindh, Balochistan, and the
Islamabad Capital Territory reported data for the first time.
However, law enforcement efforts against labor trafficking
remained inadequate compared to the scale of the problem.
The law does not criminalize all forms of trafficking. Section
369A of the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC), amended in March
2016, prohibits transnational and internal forced labor and
transnational and internal sex trafficking of women and
children; however, Section 369A does not define the prostitution
of children younger than age 18 as an act of human trafficking
in the absence of coercive means, the standard of the 2000 UN
TIP Protocol. Section 369A prescribes penalties ranging from
five to seven years imprisonment, or a fine between 500,000 and
700,000 Pakistani rupees (PKR) ($4,790 and $6,710), or both.
These penalties are sufficiently stringent but not commensurate
with those prescribed for other serious crimes, such as rape.
Several other sections of the PPC criminalize some forms of
human trafficking, such as slavery and selling or buying a
person for the purposes of prostitution; maximum penalties
for these offenses range from seven years to life imprisonment.
These prescribed penalties are sufficiently stringent and the
laws criminalizing sex trafficking have penalties commensurate
with those prescribed for other serious crimes, such as rape.
Transnational sex and labor trafficking offenses, as well as
some non-trafficking crimes—such as human smuggling and
fraudulent adoption—are criminalized in the Prevention
and Control of Human Trafficking Ordinance (PACHTO),
which prescribes penalties of seven to 14 years imprisonment.
Prescribed penalties for PACHTO offenses are sufficiently
stringent and commensurate with those prescribed for other
serious crimes, such as rape. The Bonded Labor System
(Abolition) Act (BLSA) prohibits bonded labor, with prescribed
penalties ranging from two to five years imprisonment, a fine, or
both. Fines alone are not sufficiently stringent sentences. Under
a devolution process begun in 2010, some federal laws apply
to provinces until corresponding provincial laws are enacted,
although most of the provinces have adopted their own labor
laws. The provinces of Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa adopted
the BLSA in previous reporting periods and in June 2016 Sindh
adopted the BLSA. In July 2016, the Punjab, and in March

311

PAKISTAN

2017, the Sindh provincial governments, passed legislation
restricting the employment of children; both laws criminalize
“child prostitution” and forced labor. Punjab’s law prescribes
penalties between three and seven years imprisonment, which
are sufficiently stringent but not commensurate with penalties
for other serious crimes. Sindh’s law prescribes between five
and 10 years imprisonment, penalties which are sufficiently
stringent and commensurate with those for other serious crimes.
In September 2016, Punjab also passed a law criminalizing
child labor younger than age 14 at brick kilns and requiring
written contracts between the employer and all brick kiln
employees outlining the amount of the wage, wage advance,
and the advance payback schedule. The contracts must be sent
to a government inspector; if a contract does not exist between
the employer and brick kiln worker, bonded labor is assumed
and the employer is liable under the BLSA. During the reporting
period, both the National Assembly and the Senate drafted
new legislation to distinguish between human smuggling and
trafficking and to prohibit all forms of trafficking; at the end
of the reporting period the bills were in committee for review.
The government reported investigating 98 alleged traffickers,
prosecuting 60, and convicting 25 under PACHTO in 2016,
compared with investigating 158 alleged traffickers, prosecuting
59, and convicting 13 in 2015. Despite efforts to formalize
differentiation in policies, some law enforcement officials
continued to conflate human trafficking and migrant smuggling
and may have reported statistics conflating the two crimes, as
PACHTO criminalizes both trafficking and smuggling. The
government also reported data on trafficking investigations,
prosecutions, and convictions under the penal code by
province and, for the first time, Sindh, Balochistan, and the
Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT) reported data. Overall, the
government reported an increase in sex trafficking investigations,
prosecutions, and convictions. Punjab reported the investigation
of 1,241 sex trafficking cases in 2016, compared with 1,291
cases in 2015. Punjab initiated prosecutions of 1,779 alleged
sex traffickers in 2016 and reported 119 convictions, compared
with 40 convictions in 2015. Khyber Pakhtunkhwa reported
the investigation of 55 sex trafficking cases in 2016, an increase
compared with 27 cases in 2015, and the prosecution of 263
alleged sex traffickers in 2016. Khyber Pakhtunkhwa did not
convict any traffickers in 2016—the same result as in 2015.
Sindh, notably providing data for the first time, reported the
investigation of 35 sex trafficking cases, prosecution of 164
alleged sex traffickers, and zero convictions in 2016. Balochistan,
also notably providing data for the first time, reported the
investigation of six sex trafficking cases, prosecution of 16
alleged sex traffickers, and zero convictions in 2016. The ICT,
also providing data for the first time, reported the investigation
of 22 sex trafficking cases, prosecution of 108 alleged traffickers,
and zero convictions in 2016. Both the semi-autonomous
territories of Azad Jammu and Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan
reported an increase from zero sex trafficking investigations,
prosecutions, and convictions in 2015. Azad Jammu and
Kashmir reported investigation of 12 sex trafficking cases,
prosecution of 19 alleged traffickers, and zero convictions.
Gilgit-Baltistan reported investigation of three sex trafficking
cases, prosecution of four alleged sex traffickers, and conviction
of one trafficker in 2016.

312

The government’s law enforcement action on labor trafficking
remained inadequate for the scale of forced and bonded labor
in Pakistan. Overall, provincial governments reported the
investigation of 11 forced labor cases in 2016, compared with
five in 2015. The governments prosecuted five forced labor
cases in 2016, involving 21 alleged traffickers, compared with

prosecution of four cases in 2015. The governments reported
zero convictions for forced labor in 2016, compared with one
forced labor conviction in 2015. Punjab was the only province to
report legal action on bonded labor in 2016. Punjabi authorities
reported investigating 16 cases, prosecuting 12 traffickers, and
securing convictions of 10 traffickers for bonded labor under the
BLSA, compared with 15 case investigations and prosecutions
and seven convictions during the previous reporting period. The
government did not report sentences for any of the convictions.
The Federal Investigative Agency (FIA) was charged with
reporting and coordinating the government’s response to
human trafficking, despite its statutorily limited jurisdiction
encompassing transnational crimes. Nonetheless, FIA
investigated human trafficking and smuggling cases through
its 27 anti-trafficking law enforcement joint task forces at
the federal, provincial, and local level. FIA’s basic training
for new recruits included information on human trafficking
and migrant smuggling and, in 2016, FIA held two dedicated
trainings for 78 officers to specifically distinguish between the
two crimes. During the reporting period, a special training on
trafficking was also held at the police academy, and police basic
training continued to include information on human trafficking
and the relevant sections of the PPC. FIA also reported 123
officers participated in 11 anti-trafficking trainings in 2016
held by foreign governments or international organizations;
FIA contributed in-kind support to the trainings.
Official complicity in trafficking remained a significant concern.
Some feudal landlords and brick kiln owners were affiliated
with political parties or held official positions and reportedly
used their influence to protect their involvement in bonded
labor. In some cases, when bonded laborers attempted to escape
or seek legal redress, police returned them to their traffickers,
who have been reported to hold laborers and their families in
private jails. NGOs reported some perpetrators of bonded labor
successfully filed false charges against bonded labor victims
leading to their arrest and imprisonment. In May 2016, media
reported a Punjab police officer was investigated for registering
a false case against a bonded laborer and was later terminated.
Some police reportedly acted against trafficking only when
pressured by media and activists and other reports indicated
police accepted bribes to ignore prostitution crimes, some of
which may have included sex trafficking. In November 2016,
Members of the Gilgit-Baltistan Legislative Assembly and senior
officials from Gilgit-Baltistan were accused in media reports of
involvement in a child sex trafficking ring; the investigation was
ongoing at the end of the reporting period. In January 2017, an
Islamabad High Court judge was suspended and referred to a
lower court for prosecution for the alleged torture and domestic
servitude of a 10-year-old girl; at the end of the reporting
period the investigation remained ongoing. In October 2016,
a Pakistani soldier on a peacekeeping mission was accused of
the sexual exploitation of a child; at the end of the reporting
period the investigation was ongoing.

PROTECTION

The government demonstrated mixed efforts to protect and
assist victims. While Punjab opened its first wholly integrated
women’s shelter and Sindh increased its budget for women’s
shelters, provincial governments reported a sharp decrease in
victims identified and continued to only refer a small number
of victims to rehabilitative services, which remained inadequate
and inconsistent. The government reported its use of SOPs for
the identification of trafficking victims at airports and border
crossings; however, it is unknown if provincial officials have

FIA reported it referred the 131 Pakistani victims it identified
to NGOs for shelter and rehabilitation services; however,
the government reported the provincial police referred to
rehabilitative care only 220 of the 4,518 victims they identified.
Civil society continued to provide most victim services, without
provision of government support. Government-run “women’s
shelters” were available to women in a range of difficult
circumstances, including trafficking victims. Punjab reported
all 36 district women’s shelters in the province were operational
and assisted 49 women and 30 child trafficking victims during
2016. Sindh province operated five women’s shelters in its 29
districts and reported its budget for these shelters increased
from 48.4 million PKR ($464,240) in the 2015-2016 fiscal
year to 65.7 million PKR ($629,660) in 2016-2017. Khyber
Pakhtunkhwa reported four of its 26 districts had women’s
shelters and Balochistan reported it operated one women’s
shelter. NGOs noted some of these facilities operated under
prison-like conditions and, in the recent past, traffickers forced
some of the women in shelters into prostitution. In March
2017, Punjab opened the first wholly integrated shelter for
female victims of violence. In addition to housing, the shelter
provided medical and psychological support and facilities for
law enforcement, judicial officials, and a courtroom. Observers
stated there were only a few shelters in all of Pakistan designated
for trafficking victims, which were ill-equipped to deal with
victims’ social, economic, and psychological needs.
Provincial child protection units in Punjab, Sindh, and Khyber
Pakhtunkhwa identified and referred children in exploitative
or vulnerable labor situations to NGO and government care.
Boys could access government shelters; however, there was no
government-funded shelter for males over the age of 18. In
November 2016, Balochistan passed legislation establishing
District Child Protection Units, charged with providing case
management and ensuring abused children including trafficking
victims, receive appropriate government services. The Punjab
Child Protection and Welfare Bureau (CPWB) housed children
in child protection shelters. CPWB operated open reception
centers to identify and register children living on the street;
during 2016, the centers identified and referred 1,457 child
beggars to services, 750 of whom were referred to the child
protection shelters. Authorities did not report how many of
these children, if any, were victims of forced begging. CPWB also
identified and removed 65 children from domestic servitude.
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa continued to fund and operate a 1,000bed shelter for homeless children.
In October 2016, the Sindh labor department ordered each
of its 29 districts to establish bonded labor district vigilance
committees (DVCs) to ensure the implementation of the

BLSA and required the committees to send monthly reports
to the labor department. During the reporting period, two
districts established DVCs and held meetings. Punjab labor
department reported its continued funding and implementation
of programs for vulnerable workers and the elimination of
bonded labor in brick kilns, both of which support bonded
labor DVCs; during 2016 Punjab reported 202 DVC meetings
were held. It is unknown if DVCs set up under the Khyber
Pakhtunkhwa BLSA were operational during the reporting
period. Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa provided free legal
aid to bonded laborers who requested help. Bonded laborers
who were released but lacked identity documents were unable
to access government services, including healthcare and food
stipends, and sometimes returned to brick kilns or farms
and assumed more debt. NGO-run shelters were available to
bonded laborers, including entire families. The government
reported it provided protection to victims to encourage their
cooperation in investigations; however, it did not report how
many it provided such protection in 2016 and it is unclear how
often protection was available or adequate. Victims expressed
reluctance to testify against their traffickers due to threats of
violence against them and their families. The Ministry of Interior
could grant extensions for foreign victims to stay in the country
until a decision was reached on the victims’ repatriation by
the Federal Review Board of the Supreme Court; however, it is
unclear if this policy allowed legal alternatives to removal to
countries in which victims would face retribution or hardship.

PAKISTAN

and use SOPs for identification efforts and referral of victims
to protection services. FIA’s anti-trafficking units reported
identifying 131 Pakistani victims and no foreign victims in
2016, compared with 104 Pakistani victims in 2015. Provincial
police reported identifying 4,518 victims, including 2,134
women, 2,184 men, and 200 children, a decrease compared
with 15,153 victims identified in 2015. The government did
not report which form of trafficking the victims were subjected
to or the identification of victims by province. In part due to
nonexistent SOPs or lack of dissemination and training on
SOPs, authorities may have charged sex trafficking victims
with moral crimes and detained and charged undocumented
foreign nationals for immigration violations. Media and NGOs
accused some law enforcement of being ignorant of trafficking
indicators and allowing false charges against bonded laborers
to be brought by brick kiln or landowners.

PREVENTION

The government increased efforts to prevent trafficking.
In December 2016, the government amended its national
strategic framework against trafficking in persons and human
smuggling to extend through 2020 and assign timelines to the
activities. In November 2016, the government ratified the UN
Convention on the Rights of the Child Optional Protocol on
Armed Conflict, which among other provisions, requires the
government to take all feasible measures to prevent recruitment
and use of children by non-state armed groups. In July 2016,
the Punjab, and in March 2017, the Sindh governments, passed
legislation restricting the employment of children; both laws
specifically prohibit the forced or compulsory recruitment of
children for use in armed conflict as a form of slavery. The FIA
reported provincial governments increased resources allocated
for development-related labor programs, some of which were
specific to the prevention of bonded labor, though at least a
portion of those resources may have been previously allocated to
be distributed over multiple years. Khyber Pakhtunkhwa funded
and implemented a program to prevent child and bonded
labor. Punjab expanded its multi-year project to eliminate
child and bonded labor to include additional districts. In
addition, Punjab reported, after passing a law criminalizing
child labor under age 14 at brick kilns in 2016, it initiated 871
investigations, 819 prosecutions, and 24 convictions for child
labor violations and identified and removed approximately
79,000 children working in brick kilns and admitted them to
school. Punjab prosecuted 3,989 brick kiln owners for lack of
compliance with labor laws, including non-payment and illegal
deductions from wages, and imposed fines totaling 5.1 million
PKR ($49,060). Punjab also established a hotline to report
child labor in brick kilns and issued identification documents
to brick kiln workers and their families, which allowed them
to access government benefits and reduced the probability
of subjection to trafficking. The provincial governments of
Balochistan, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Punjab, and Sindh funded
and implemented multi-year programs focused on combating
the worst forms of child labor and other labor abuses. Sindh

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partnered with an international organization to increase birth
registration in rural areas, and Punjab continued to implement
a birth registration program for brick kiln workers. The Punjab
Department of Labor continued to provide brick kiln workers
interest-free loans. In January 2017, the Lahore High Court
directed the Punjab government to create a domestic worker
policy. FIA’s research and analysis center published quarterly
newsletters with statistics and information on the government’s
efforts to combat trafficking and smuggling. In 2016, Punjab
ran an awareness campaign in all 36 districts for women and
children on human trafficking and smuggling and held seminars
and distributed brochures to school children on bonded labor
in brick kilns.
The Bureau of Emigration and Overseas Employment (BEOE)
monitored overseas migration by issuing licenses to private
employment promoters and monitoring workers who migrate
through their own arrangements. The Emigration Ordinance
of 1979 prohibited the role of unregulated and unregistered
sub-agents; however, sub-agents continued to operate widely
with impunity. The government allowed licensed employment
promoters to charge migrant workers a service fee and workers
to pay all the costs associated with overseas employment.
While the government stipulated a receipt should be issued
to the migrant worker for these costs, the government did
not specify any cost limit and the BEOE did not consistently
review migrant workers’ receipts—in 2016, an international
organization’s research revealed more than 80 percent of
Pakistani workers’ cost for employment in Saudi Arabia and
United Arab Emirates was the result of exorbitant visa fees.
BEOE required migrant workers to attend a pre-departure
briefing at one of its seven offices including on what to do
if they encounter problems; however, observers asserted the
government did not take sufficient steps to inform emigrants
about trafficking even though a number of migrant workers
become trafficking victims. In February 2017, the government
announced 1.4 million registered Afghan refugees living in
Pakistan were granted an extension of residency until December
31, 2017; however, during the reporting period, there were
reports of harassment and extortion of Afghan refugees by
Pakistani provincial authorities, police, and host communities.
Media reported some undocumented Afghan nationals who
returned to Afghanistan due to alleged threats from Pakistani
law enforcement were subjected to bonded labor in brick kilns
in Afghanistan after being unable to pay their transportation
cost from Pakistan. The government reduced the demand
for commercial sex acts by arresting clients and proprietors
of brothels. The government did not make efforts to reduce
the demand for forced labor. The government provided
anti-trafficking training for its diplomatic and peacekeeping
personnel. Pakistan is not a party to the 2000 UN TIP Protocol.

TRAFFICKING PROFILE

314

As reported over the last five years, Pakistan is a source, transit,
and destination country for men, women, and children subjected
to forced labor and sex trafficking. The country’s largest human
trafficking problem is bonded labor, in which an initial debt
assumed by a worker as part of the terms of employment
is exploited, ultimately entrapping other family members,
sometimes for generations. Bonded labor is concentrated in
Sindh and Punjab provinces, but also occurs in Balochistan and
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa provinces, in agriculture and brick-making
and, to a lesser extent, in fisheries, mining, and handicraft- and
carpet-making. Some feudal landlords and brick kiln owners
affiliated with political parties use their influence to protect
their involvement in bonded labor. Children are bought, sold,

rented, or kidnapped and placed in organized begging rings,
domestic servitude, small shops, brick kilns, and sex trafficking.
Begging ringmasters sometimes maim children to earn more
money. NGOs report boys are subjected to sex trafficking
around hotels, truck stops, bus stations, and shrines. Illegal
labor agents charge high recruitment fees to parents in return
for employing their children, some of whom are subjected to
forced labor and sex trafficking. Trafficking experts describe
a structured system for exploiting women, girls, and LGBTI
individuals in sex trafficking, including offering victims for
sale in physical markets. Observers report police accept bribes
to ignore prostitution in general, some of which may include
sex trafficking. Women and girls are sold into forced marriages;
in some cases, their new “husbands” prostitute them in Iran
or Afghanistan. In other cases, including some organized by
extra-judicial courts, girls are used as chattel to settle debts
or disputes. Non-state militant groups kidnap children, buy
them from destitute parents, or coerce parents with threats
or fraudulent promises into giving their children away; these
armed groups force children to spy and fight, in Pakistan and
Afghanistan. Pakistan’s large number of IDPs, due to natural
disasters and domestic military operations, are vulnerable to
trafficking.
Pakistani men and women migrate voluntarily to the Gulf states
and Europe for low-skilled employment—such as domestic
service, driving, and construction work; some become victims
of labor trafficking. False job offers and high recruitment fees
charged by illegal labor agents or sub-agents of licensed Pakistani
overseas employment promoters entrap Pakistanis into sex
trafficking and bonded labor. Some Pakistani children and
adults with disabilities are forced to beg in Iran. Pakistan is a
destination country for men, women, and children subjected
to forced labor—particularly from Afghanistan, Bangladesh,
and Sri Lanka. Women and girls from Afghanistan, China,
Russia, Nepal, Iran, Bangladesh, Uzbekistan, and Azerbaijan
are reportedly subjected to sex trafficking in Pakistan. Refugees
from Afghanistan, Bangladesh, and Burma, as well as religious
and ethnic minorities such as Christians and Hazaras, are
particularly vulnerable to trafficking in Pakistan.

PALAU: TIER 2
The Government of Palau does not fully meet the minimum
standards for the elimination of trafficking; however, it is making
significant efforts to do so. The government demonstrated
increasing efforts compared to the previous reporting period;
therefore, Palau remained on Tier 2. Increasing efforts included
the conviction of a corrupt official whose actions could have
been permissive of trafficking. The government also reconvened
the National Human Rights Working Group intended to
consolidate government efforts in the promotion and protection
of human rights, including through as yet unimplemented
anti-trafficking awareness-raising campaigns. However, the
government did not meet the minimum standards in several
key areas. Courts failed to secure convictions under trafficking
provisions and issued light penalties for trafficking-permissive
violations—a trend that seemed to reflect a failure to treat
trafficking as a serious crime. The government did not increase
funding for or access to victim protective services, nor did it
develop a national action plan to combat trafficking.

Using the 2005 anti-trafficking law and 2014 amendments
to the criminal code, increase efforts to investigate and
criminally prosecute trafficking offenses, convict sex and
labor traffickers, and impose sufficiently stringent penalties on
convicted traffickers—including complicit officials; develop and
implement formal procedures for front-line officers to identify
trafficking victims among vulnerable groups and increase
the availability of protective services for trafficking victims,
including through provision of access to government-funded
trafficking victims’ shelters and to legal counsel; implement
anti-trafficking awareness and education campaigns targeting
vulnerable populations, including labor migrant communities;
use funds obtained from asset seizure or fines imposed on
convicted traffickers to support victims; increase financial
and human resources devoted to victim protection efforts; do
not penalize trafficking victims for illegal acts committed as a
result of trafficking; develop systematic procedures to provide
authorization for foreign victims to remain in the country
and obtain alternate employment; develop a national action
plan to combat trafficking; continue to enforce laws punishing
employment agents and labor officials for illegal practices that
facilitate trafficking, with a focus on penalties that are likely to
deter future offenses; establish a mechanism for the systematic
monitoring of government anti-trafficking efforts; and accede
to the 2000 UN TIP Protocol.

PROSECUTION

The government maintained modest anti-trafficking law
enforcement efforts. The Anti-Smuggling and Trafficking Act of
2005 prohibits all forms of trafficking and prescribes penalties
for these offenses ranging from 10 to 50 years imprisonment and
fines of up to $50,000, or $500,000 for cases with aggravating
circumstances; these penalties are sufficiently stringent and
commensurate with penalties prescribed for other serious
crimes, such as rape. Trafficking victims could file claims with
a government-designated NGO, which registered cases with the
Office of the Attorney General (OAG). The OAG had dedicated
anti-trafficking prosecutors to investigate trafficking allegations
and prosecute cases, and provided training to police academy
recruits on trafficking statutes and indicators.
The OAG received one new report of trafficking for the second
year in a row, though it is unclear if the case—involving a
woman from the Philippines—triggered any law enforcement
action. The government obtained two convictions compared
to three in 2015. However, the courts imposed penalties on
convicted traffickers that reflected a failure to treat trafficking
in persons as a serious crime. In one case, the government
obtained a conviction of a Nepali individual initially prosecuted
in 2015 for labor trafficking along with an accomplice. Courts
sentenced him to six months in prison and fined him $1,600.
However—as was the case for this individual’s accomplice in
2015—they ultimately stayed both penalties contingent on his
voluntary permanent exile within 10 days of the verdict, and on
the conditions that he divulge the identities of any Palauans

PALAU

RECOMMENDATIONS FOR PALAU

involved in his crime and not engage in any further recruitment
activities. He departed Palau per the conditions of the stay. In
a separate case, the government obtained the conviction of a
labor official who accepted bribes to secure a labor permit for
an undocumented Bangladeshi national. Authorities sentenced
the official to one year in prison with five years probation,
ordered him to pay a $2,000 fine, plus $400 in restitution to
the victim, and barred him from holding public office in the
future; however, the courts ultimately allowed him to pay the
$400 restitution amount in lieu of a prison sentence.

PROTECTION

The government maintained limited efforts to identify and
protect victims. It was unclear how many potential trafficking
victims were identified from civil and criminal cases filed.
While identified victims were given access to a government
counselor, the government did not fund or provide any
additional protective services for victims, nor did it report
whether any victims received shelter or support from other
entities. An NGO worked with victims and assisted in their
representation before labor and immigration hearings, but the
general lack of support services reportedly led some potential
trafficking victims to leave the country rather than pursue legal
recourse. The OAG filed and supported several civil lawsuits to
help trafficking victims recover lost wages. Courts could order
restitution be paid to labor trafficking victims regardless of
whether they request it, but it was unclear if any victims were
awarded restitution in 2016. Labor trafficking victims were
entitled to receive repatriation benefits. Some faith-based
organizations reportedly provided shelter for trafficking victims,
but did so without government funding or in-kind support.
There were no reports of trafficking victims facing detentions,
fines, or jail time for acts committed as a result of having been
subjected to trafficking; however, insufficient identification and
referral mechanisms could have made some victims vulnerable
to law enforcement actions.

PREVENTION

The government maintained modest efforts to prevent
trafficking. The government did not conduct educational or
public awareness campaigns, but it took steps to develop them.
The president reconvened the National Human Rights Working
Group in 2016 to focus on the promotion and protection of
human rights, including by raising awareness on trafficking in
persons. The working group comprised members of the OAG
and the Office of the Special Prosecutor. Palau’s 2014 criminal
code amendments contain a labor trafficking law intended to
strengthen employment protections and prevent the unlawful
retention of travel documents. The government did not make
efforts to reduce the demand for commercial sex acts or forced
labor. The government did not develop a national action plan
against trafficking or provide anti-trafficking training for its
diplomatic personnel. There were no reports of systematic
efforts by the government to monitor its own anti-trafficking
efforts. Palau is not a party to the 2000 UN TIP Protocol.

TRAFFICKING PROFILE

As reported over the last five years, Palau is a destination
country for women subjected to sex trafficking and for women
and men subjected to forced labor. Palau’s foreign population,
about one-third of the country’s population of 17,661, is the
most vulnerable to trafficking. Filipino, Bangladeshi, Nepali,
Chinese, and Korean men and women pay thousands of dollars
in recruitment fees and willingly migrate to Palau for jobs in

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domestic service, agriculture, restaurants, or construction; upon
arrival, some are forced to work in conditions substantially
different from what had been presented in contracts or
recruitment offers, and some become trafficking victims. Women
from the Philippines and China are recruited to work in Palau
as waitresses or clerks, but some are subsequently forced into
prostitution in karaoke bars or massage parlors, many operated
by Taiwanese, Filipino, or Palauan nationals. Foreign workers
on fishing boats in Palauan waters experience conditions
indicative of human trafficking. Official complicity plays a role
in facilitating trafficking. Government officials—including labor,
immigration, law enforcement, and elected officials—have been
investigated for complicity during previous reporting periods.

PANAMA: TIER 2
The Government of Panama does not fully meet the minimum
standards for the elimination of trafficking; however, it is making
significant efforts to do so. The government demonstrated
increasing efforts compared to the previous reporting period;
therefore, Panama remained on Tier 2. The government
demonstrated increasing efforts by identifying more trafficking
victims and initiating more trafficking prosecutions than
the previous reporting period, and funding anti-trafficking
training for officials. However, the government did not meet
the minimum standards in several key areas. The government
did not allocate funding to its trafficking victim assistance fund,
and the majority of identified victims did not receive services
beyond an initial medical and psychological evaluation. There
were no specialized shelters or services available for trafficking
victims, with adult male or transgender victims most affected by
this shortcoming. Resource and staffing constraints hampered
the effectiveness of the national anti-trafficking commission.

RECOMMENDATIONS FOR PANAMA

316

Significantly increase funding for specialized victim services,
including by allocating funds to the dedicated victim assistance
fund and civil society organizations; use authorities under Law
79 to adopt a broader practical definition of trafficking that
does not rely on evidence of movement, but rather focuses on
exploitation; eliminate the disparity in penalties between the
trafficking in persons law and statutes concerning commercial
sexual exploitation of children, including sex trafficking crimes;
assist victims to seek restitution; allow adult victims to leave
shelters at will; intensify law enforcement efforts to proactively
investigate and prosecute labor trafficking crimes and trafficking
of children, including cases involving Panamanian victims
exploited within the country; train law enforcement officials
on conviction and sentencing of traffickers under the new
accusatory justice system; institute standardized protocols on
victim identification, referral procedures, and reporting data
to the national commission; train officials—including police,
border and immigration officials—on victim identification and
referral procedures, especially among populations vulnerable
to trafficking including labor trafficking and trafficking of

children; develop and institutionalize government-provided
anti-trafficking training for officials; make specialized services
available to male victims; complete drafting the new action
plan to begin in 2018 and allocate specific funds to the national
commission to implement the plan; and amend the antitrafficking law to adopt a definition of human trafficking
consistent with the 2000 UN TIP Protocol.

PROSECUTION

The government increased its anti-trafficking law enforcement
efforts. Law 79 of 2011 criminalizes all forms of trafficking,
prescribing sentences from six to 30 years imprisonment,
depending on the nature of the offense. These punishments
are sufficiently stringent and commensurate with those
prescribed for other serious crimes, such as rape. This law also
defines human trafficking as moving adults for the purposes
of prostitution (without requiring the use of force, fraud, or
coercion) and illegal adoption (without requiring evidence
of exploitation), which are not considered forms of human
trafficking under the 2000 UN TIP Protocol. In September
2016, the government issued an Executive Decree approving
the issuance of implementing regulations for Law 79, which
provides guidance on implementation of the law on prosecution,
protection and prevention, including on drafting a new action
plan, policy and governance of the National Commission
against Human Trafficking, and the creation of technical units
for prosecution, protection and prevention activities. Other
provisions prohibit various crimes related to child sex trafficking.
Article 180 of the penal code criminalizes the “prostitution
of minors” with penalties of four to six years imprisonment
and a 5,200 balboas ($5,200) fine; these punishments are not
sufficiently stringent and are not commensurate with those
prescribed for other serious crimes, such as rape. Article 186
penalizes, with five to eight years imprisonment, purchasers
of commercial sex acts involving a child. In addition to Law
79, article 89 of Law 3 establishes financial penalties of 1,0005,000 balboas ($1,000-$5,000) for employers who confiscate
foreign workers’ identity documents.
During the reporting period, Panama completed its transition
from the inquisitorial justice system to the accusatory justice
system in all jurisdictions, which temporarily slowed down
processing of trafficking cases. In 2016, with technical
assistance from a foreign government, authorities initiated
seven sex trafficking investigations involving 13 suspects—as
compared to 17 sex trafficking investigations involving 38
suspects during the previous reporting period. The government
prosecuted the 13 suspects under the trafficking law, compared
with three prosecutions the previous reporting period and
obtained convictions for two sex traffickers from pending
prosecutions, compared to one the previous reporting period.
The government sentenced one of the sex traffickers to 18
years in prison, which was the country’s longest sentence for
trafficking to date; it sentenced the other to six years under
the child sexual exploitation law. The government did not
report any investigations, prosecutions, or convictions of
government employees complicit in human trafficking offenses.
The government continued to detain two suspected labor
traffickers in a case from the previous reporting period, pending
additional evidence. At least one sex trafficking investigation
remained ongoing from the previous reporting period. The
government identified five criminal organizations and a
complex sex trafficking operation that exploited 52 men and
women in a Panama City neighborhood. Although Law 79
does not define trafficking to require movement of the victim,
Panamanian officials continued to investigate and prosecute

The Panamanian National Police (PNP) had 28 officers with
specialized training in trafficking investigations and worked
with the Attorney General’s organized crime office to investigate
trafficking cases. During the reporting period, the sex crimes
unit of the PNP established a sub-unit dedicated to trafficking
crimes. Panamanian authorities cooperated with Central and
South American countries on seven sex trafficking operations,
including requesting INTERPOL Red Notices on suspects wanted
by Panamanian authorities. The government increased training
on human trafficking for officials, utilizing a train-the-trainer
model that reached more than two-dozen officials from eight
ministries.

PROTECTION

The government increased protection efforts, but it did not
identify labor trafficking victims and victim services remained
inadequate. The government identified 84 suspected adult sex
trafficking victims—82 foreigners and two Panamanians—a
significant increase from 56 victims identified the previous
reporting period. Of these victims, 51 were women and 33
were transgender individuals reported as men. In nearly all
cases, traffickers exploited victims in illegal brothels run out
of apartment buildings and were often involved in organized
criminal networks. Traffickers often promised victims from
Colombia, Venezuela, Nicaragua, and the Dominican Republic
high wages to work in various industries in Panama; upon
arrival traffickers paid victims very little and subjected them
to sex trafficking and debt bondage, by requiring them to pay
back loans taken to cover transport, housing, food and clothing
at exorbitant interest rates. Officials referred all victims to the
Technical Unit for Attention and Protection of Victims and
Witnesses (UPAVIT), which provides assistance and protection
to victims, witnesses and experts, for psycho-social treatment,
but the government did not provide or fund trafficking-specific
shelters or services. Authorities placed a small number of
victims in a government facility for female victims of domestic
and sexual abuse. Officials did not permit victims to leave the
shelter unescorted, reportedly due to safety concerns, and such
departures were limited to official purposes, such as to assist
with law enforcement investigations. Such strictures could
re-traumatize victims and prevent victims from reintegrating
and earning income. For this reason, many victims chose to
return to their home countries or reside with family or friends
rather than stay in the shelter, potentially inhibiting victimwitness support in pending trafficking cases. Authorities used
government funds to house victims at hotels for several days
when the number of victims strained the capacity of the shelters.
The government did not dedicate funds for anti-trafficking
efforts and did not allocate sufficient resources for victim care.
The government uses specially designed interview rooms that
separate trafficking victims from the court room, allowing
them to provide testimony privately in order to minimize the
risk of re-victimization during the judicial process. In 2016,
the government transferred to the Ministry of Public Security
land outside the capital for construction of a shelter dedicated
to trafficking victims, but did not begin construction or secure
funding for the shelter’s operation and maintenance. There were
no government shelters or NGO shelters available for adult male
or transgender victims, although the government placed some

male victims in hotels for short-term shelter. Specialized services
remained lacking for all trafficking victims. The government
provided neither long-term services nor permanent residency
to any trafficking victims. Due to the lack of shelters and victim
services, many victims requested repatriation, which limited
the provision of follow-up assistance.
The UPAVIT units implemented protocols to protect victims
during the judicial process. However, the government did not
have systematic procedures to proactively identify victims among
some vulnerable populations, such as people in prostitution and
undocumented migrants in detention. The government did not
implement guidelines for victim identification and protection
developed by an international organization, although the recent
regulations for the trafficking law included a provision for the
implementation of these guidelines. Panamanian authorities
encouraged, but did not require, victims to participate in the
legal process; no victims assisted in the legal process during
the reporting period. While victims could file civil suits against
traffickers, no victim had ever done so. The government did not
fully implement a 2013 law mandating any seized assets derived
from human trafficking activities be allocated to services for
trafficking victims, although it began efforts to do so through
seized bank accounts. Panamanian law provides short-term
alternatives to the removal of foreign victims to countries where
they might face hardship or retribution, including provisional
residency for between three and 12 months; the government
provided temporary housing to one foreign victim, although
she returned home shortly after. While there were no reports
of victims penalized for unlawful acts committed as a direct
result of being subjected to trafficking, insufficient efforts to
screen for indicators of trafficking may have led to some victims
being penalized.

PANAMA

human trafficking cases that did not involve the displacement
of individuals, usually across borders, as other crimes, such as
commercial sexual exploitation. For example, the government
charged some child sex traffickers with child sexual exploitation,
which carries lighter sentences.

PREVENTION

The government maintained prevention efforts. Government
ministries continued to implement the 2012-2017 antitrafficking national action plan; the September 2016 regulations
for the trafficking law include a provision for drafting a new
action plan, which the government had not begun. The national
commission against human trafficking met at the director
level one time and at the technical level twice during the
reporting period, but lacked funding and dedicated staff, which
hampered its overall effectiveness. Interagency coordination
remained weak, due in large part to the lack of standardized
protocols for conducting and reporting activities across
agencies. Panama assumed the presidency of the regional
coalition against human trafficking and smuggling and
helped to coordinate regional anti-trafficking activities. The
government worked with an international organization to
update the multilateral Protocol for International Information
Exchange at Border Areas, an information exchange mechanism
for authorities in the region to share information on cases,
to include trafficking information. Individual government
institutions and international organizations used their own
funds to conduct anti-trafficking activities. Several government
ministries conducted awareness-raising events, primarily in
conjunction with the government’s anti-trafficking awareness
month and with support from an international organization.
Events included radio programs, concerts, marches, and press
conferences to promote reporting of commercial sex trafficking
by citizens; the government also targeted efforts toward the
hospitality industry. The government made no new efforts to
reduce the demand for forced labor and commercial sex acts. In
response to a surge in irregular, undocumented migrants arriving
from Colombia, officials used biometric information and data

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sharing to attempt to identify and document migrants. There
were no reports of child sex tourism during the reporting period,
but the Panamanian Commission against Sexual Exploitation
Crimes continued its campaign against the sexual exploitation of
minors—including child sex trafficking—in collaboration with
tourism authorities. The government provided anti-trafficking
training for its diplomatic personnel.

TRAFFICKING PROFILE

As reported over the past five years, Panama is a source, transit,
and destination country for men and women subjected to
sex trafficking and forced labor. Child victims of trafficking
are typically Panamanian nationals subjected to commercial
sex acts inside Panama. Panamanian women are subjected to
sex trafficking in other countries, including The Bahamas and
Guyana. In Panama, most identified trafficking victims are
foreign adults exploited in sex trafficking, especially women
from Brazil, Colombia, Venezuela, Cuba, the Dominican
Republic, Honduras, and Nicaragua. In 2016, the number of
foreign transgender victims subjected to sex trafficking increased.
Transgender individuals are discriminated against in Panama,
making them more vulnerable to trafficking, especially given
the high demand in Panama for sexual services from this
population. Traffickers recruit female victims with promises of
good jobs and high salaries in the housekeeping and restaurant
industries, as well as for modeling and prostitution, but exploit
them in sex trafficking or, to a lesser extent, domestic servitude.
Nicaraguan and, to a lesser extent, Colombian, Venezuelan, and
Chinese men are subjected to labor trafficking in construction,
agriculture, mining, and other sectors; most labor trafficking
victims come from Nicaragua via bus and enter Panama from
Costa Rica. Colombian refugees are also vulnerable to trafficking
due to their lack of knowledge of the refugee process and
irregular status. In recent years, men and women from China
have been subjected to debt bondage in supermarkets, laundries,
and other small businesses operated by Chinese citizens;
traffickers have subjected Colombian men to forced labor in
restaurants; an international organization has identified cases
of debt bondage among Indian men in door-to-door peddling;
and authorities have identified potential sex trafficking victims
among Eastern European women working in nightclubs. Men
from the United States have been investigated as child sex
tourists in Panama. Panamanian and European officials report
some men and women from Central America who transit
Panama en route to the Caribbean or Europe are subjected to
sex or labor trafficking in their destination countries.
Traffickers often charge foreign victims exorbitant travel and
lodging fees to keep them in debt bondage, often restricting
victims’ movement until they pay off such debts. Victims report
traffickers threaten to harm family members in their countries
of origin if they do not comply. Traffickers increasingly exploit
sex trafficking victims in private residences, as opposed to
brothels or bars, and recruit victims through websites, which
makes such offenses harder to detect. Traffickers from Brazil,
Colombia, Cuba, Ecuador, El Salvador, Venezuela, and Panama
operated in Panama during the reporting period. In previous
years, government officials reported more traffickers created legal
businesses as facades to mask their income from trafficking.
In addition, reports indicated that identified traffickers had
links to international organized criminal groups. In a change
from previous years, police reported that victims were forced to
consume illegal drugs by their traffickers as a coercive measure.

318

PAPUA NEW GUINEA: TIER 2 WATCH LIST
The Government of Papua New Guinea does not fully meet the
minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking; however, it
is making significant efforts to do so. The government made key
achievements during the reporting period; therefore, Papua New
Guinea was upgraded to Tier 2 Watch List. These achievements
included approving the long-awaited national action plan on
combating human trafficking and standard operating procedures
for the identification, referral, and protection of victims and
initiating the first three prosecutions under the country’s antitrafficking law. Despite these achievements, the government
did not begin implementation of the national action plan and
standard operating procedures or allocate resources to do so.
An acute lack of financial and human resources dedicated to
trafficking, as well as very low awareness among government
officials and the public, hindered progress. The government
did not systematically implement its new victim identification
procedures, nor did it provide or fund protective services to
victims. Officials reportedly self-limited investigations into
wealthy or influential suspects. Papua New Guinea has never
convicted a trafficking offender.

RECOMMENDATIONS FOR PAPUA NEW GUINEA

Train law enforcement officers, prosecutors, and judges on
human trafficking and the criminal code’s trafficking provisions;
disseminate, implement, and widely train police, immigration,
and customs enforcement officers on the standard operating
procedures for victim identification, referral, and protection;
investigate and prosecute trafficking offenses and convict
and apply stringent sentences to traffickers, including family
members and officials who facilitate or directly benefit from
trafficking; in collaboration with civil society, screen for
indicators of trafficking among fishermen apprehended for
illegal fishing or immigration crimes; to protect victims from
arrest, deportation, or other punishment for acts committed
as a direct result of being subjected to trafficking, clarify who
has the authority to designate an individual as a trafficking
victim and simplify the process for doing so; allocate resources,
including dedicated staff, to government agencies to implement
the national action plan and standard operating procedures;
increase collaboration with civil society, private sector, religious,
and community leaders to raise awareness of and reduce
demand for forced labor and commercial sex acts, especially of
children; work with NGOs and international organizations to
increase protective services for victims of trafficking; strengthen
the National Human Trafficking Committee by designating
senior officials to represent their agencies; and accede to the
2000 UN TIP Protocol.

PROSECUTION

The government increased law enforcement efforts. The Criminal
Code Amendment of 2013 prohibits all forms of trafficking and
prescribes penalties for adult sex and labor trafficking of up to

An international organization conducted trainings for
government officials and NGOs with support from the
Department of Justice and Attorney General. Provincial
officials’ limited understanding of trafficking hindered effective
law enforcement activity. Many public officials, even within
Port Moresby, remained unaware of the anti-trafficking law.
Enforcement agencies and most government offices remained
weak as a result of underfunding, corruption, cronyism, a lack
of accountability, and a promotion system based on patronage.
The government did not report any investigations, prosecutions,
or convictions of government officials complicit in human
trafficking offenses.

PROTECTION

The government maintained minimal efforts to protect
trafficking victims. Authorities and civil society organizations
identified six Papua New Guinean victims—two women, three
girls, and one boy—compared with 31 victims identified in 2015
and none in 2014. NGOs and an international organization
identified the majority of these individuals, although a police
officer identified two of the girls—the first recorded instance
of an official independently identifying trafficking victims.
All six victims were subjected to domestic servitude, in some
instances through forced marriage. Officials referred three
cases of foreign vessels apprehended for illegal fishing to an
international organization to screen for indicators of trafficking
among the crew, but no trafficking victims were identified.
Logging and mining sites primarily operated in remote regions
with negligible government oversight, and authorities did not
make efforts to identify sex or labor trafficking victims at these
sites. The government finalized standard operating procedures
for victim identification and referral. These were not fully
implemented during the year, though some officials who
received specialized training from civil society began conducting
rapid screening procedures prior to referring suspected victims
to an international organization. These measures led to the
identification and referral of the two girl victims by a police
officer. Civil society organizations provided medical and shortterm shelter services to victims without financial or in-kind
support from the government. Male victims received ad hoc
services and female victims received services through genderbased violence programs; there were no services specifically
tailored to the needs of trafficking victims.

A lack of long-term protective services or witness protection
hindered law enforcement efforts, as victims who returned to
their home communities often feared for their safety or faced
pressure to withdraw criminal charges. Nine victims assisted
in the case under prosecution, with support from civil society
organizations to facilitate their testimonies. The new standard
operating procedures included guidance for protecting foreign
victims from punishment for immigration crimes committed
as a result of trafficking, but some victims remained at risk of
punishment for such crimes due to challenges in interagency
coordination and a lack of clarity over who had the authority to
verify an individual as a victim of trafficking. The law provides
legal alternatives to the removal of foreign victims of trafficking
to countries where they may face hardship or retribution, but
no victim was afforded this protection in 2016. The government
allowed “ongoing stay” for trafficking victims, but lacked
provisions for victims to seek compensation through civil suits.

PREVENTION

The government took few steps to prevent human trafficking.
It formally endorsed a national plan of action to combat
human trafficking, although it did not begin to implement its
provisions. The National Human Trafficking Committee met
quarterly in 2016, although its members lacked the authority
to make decisions on behalf of respective agencies and an acute
lack of coordination and resources across agencies hindered
progress. The government did not conduct any awareness-raising
campaigns or community outreach to educate the public about
risks to trafficking. The government took no discernible actions
to decrease the demand for forced labor or commercial sex acts,
nor did it provide anti-trafficking training for its diplomatic
personnel. Papua New Guinea is not a party to the 2000 UN
TIP Protocol.

PAPUA NEW GUINEA

20 years imprisonment and for child sex and labor trafficking
of up to 25 years imprisonment. These penalties are sufficiently
stringent and commensurate with penalties prescribed for other
serious crimes, such as rape. The police initiated investigations
into three individuals suspected of trafficking, compared with
two investigations the previous year, and prosecuted three
suspects (one from a case investigated in 2015). These were the
first prosecutions under Papua New Guinea’s anti-trafficking law.
One suspect remained in pre-trial detention and one was out
on bail, both awaiting commencement of court proceedings.
The third prosecution moved to trial and was ongoing at the
close of the reporting period. Authorities did not pursue charges
against the third suspect, purportedly due to his wealth and
influence, who was suspected of subjecting three sisters to sex
and labor trafficking after they were forced to marry him. The
government did not achieve any trafficking convictions, and
officials often referred trafficking offenses to village courts rather
than pursuing criminal investigations; village courts administer
customary law and do not order imprisonment of offenders.
Some victims or their families who received compensation from
traffickers were reluctant to notify police to pursue criminal
charges or were pressured to withdraw complaints already filed.

TRAFFICKING PROFILE

As reported over the past five years, Papua New Guinea is a
source, transit, and destination country for men, women, and
children subjected to sex trafficking and forced labor. Foreign
and local women and children are subjected to sex trafficking—
including near logging, mining, and palm oil sites—domestic
servitude, forced labor in the tourism sector, and forced begging
or street vending. Foreign and local men are subjected to
forced labor in logging and mining camps as well as on fishing
vessels operating in Papua New Guinea’s exclusive economic
zone. “Mosko Girls”—young girls employed in bars to provide
companionship to patrons and sell an alcoholic drink called
mosko—are vulnerable to human trafficking, especially around
major cities. Boys as young as 12 years old are exploited as
“market taxis” in urban areas and the Highlands and required
to carry extremely heavy loads for low pay; some may be
victims of forced labor. Parents force children to beg or sell
goods on the street as sources of income. Within the country,
children and women from rural areas are deceived—often by
relatives—with promises of legitimate work or education to
travel to different provinces where they are subjected to sex
trafficking or domestic servitude. NGOs report some parents
receive money from traffickers who exploited their teenage
daughters in prostitution, including near mining and logging
sites. Children, including girls as young as 5 years old from
remote rural areas, are reportedly subjected to sex trafficking
or forced labor by members of their immediate family or tribe.
Tribal leaders reportedly trade with each other the exploitative
labor and service of girls and women for guns and to forge
political alliances.

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PARAGUAY

Parents sometimes sell or force their daughters into marriages
—often to wealthy men and politicians—to settle debts or
as peace offerings, leaving the girls vulnerable to domestic
servitude. Marriages in Papua New Guinea commonly involve
a “bride price” of money or chattel paid to the wife’s family
by the husband’s family; this is sometimes used as a debt to
compel women to remain in abusive or servile marriages when
their families are unable to pay back the bride price. Young girls
sold into polygamous marriages may be forced into domestic
service for their husbands’ extended families or exploited in
prostitution. “Informal adoption” arrangements, in which
children are sent to live with relatives, sometimes result in
domestic servitude. In urban areas, parents reportedly exploit
their children in sex trafficking directly or in brothels as a means
to support their families or to pay for school fees. Government
officials reportedly facilitate trafficking by accepting bribes to
allow undocumented migrants to enter the country or ignore
trafficking situations, and some may exploit sex trafficking
victims or procure victims for other individuals in return for
political favors or votes.
Malaysian and Chinese logging companies arrange for some
foreign women to enter the country voluntarily with fraudulently
issued tourist or business visas. After their arrival, many of
these women—from countries including Indonesia, Malaysia,
Thailand, China, and the Philippines—are turned over to
traffickers who transport them to logging and mining camps,
fisheries, and entertainment sites, and exploit them in forced
prostitution and domestic servitude. Chinese, Malaysian, and
local men are subjected to forced labor at commercial mines and
logging camps, where some receive little pay and are compelled
to continue working for the company indefinitely through
debt bondage. Employers exacerbate workers’ indebtedness
by paying extremely low wages, which limits workers’ freedom
of movement and compels them to purchase food and other
necessities from the employers at usurious interest rates.
Vietnamese, Burmese, Cambodian, and local men and boys
are subjected to forced labor on fishing vessels; they face little
to no pay, harsh working conditions, and debt bondage, and
many are compelled to fish illegally, making them vulnerable
to arrest.

PARAGUAY: TIER 2
The Government of Paraguay does not fully meet the minimum
standards for the elimination of trafficking; however, it is making
significant efforts to do so. The government demonstrated
increasing efforts compared to the previous reporting period;
therefore, Paraguay remained on Tier 2. The government
demonstrated increased efforts by vigorously investigating
cases under the 2012 comprehensive anti-trafficking law and
continuing its cooperation with foreign governments. Despite
these efforts, the government provided limited protective
services to female adult and child victims and no services
for male victims. The government did not provide adequate
funding for anti-trafficking efforts and did not begin any new
public awareness efforts.

320

RECOMMENDATIONS FOR PARAGUAY

Develop formal procedures for the proactive identification of
trafficking victims and establish a referral mechanism to ensure
victims receive care services; intensify efforts to investigate,
prosecute and convict traffickers and complicit officials,
including for forced labor; provide adequate funding to the
anti-trafficking secretariat to enhance comprehensive services
and shelter for victims of sex and labor trafficking, including
male victims; increase training for police, labor inspectors,
judges, prosecutors, and social workers; approve the 2014-2018
national action plan; fund awareness campaigns; and improve
data collection and research on human trafficking.

PROSECUTION

The government maintained prosecution efforts. The
Comprehensive Anti-Trafficking Law 4788 of 2012 prohibits
all forms of trafficking and prescribes penalties of up to eight
years imprisonment; these penalties are sufficiently stringent
and commensurate with penalties prescribed for other serious
crimes, such as rape. Inconsistent with international law, law
4788/12 establishes the use of force, fraud, and coercion
as aggravating factors rather than essential elements of the
crime. Articles 129b and 129c of law 3440/08 criminalize
international trafficking for the purpose of sexual exploitation
and forced labor, respectively. Law 3440/08 also criminalizes
pandering, profiting from prostitution, and child pornography,
and prescribes penalties of up to eight years imprisonment.
The Anti-Trafficking Unit (ATU) is the lead agency responsible
for investigating and prosecuting traffickers. In 2016, the ATU
initiated 77 investigations under law 4788/12, compared
with 68 in 2015 and 80 in 2014. Authorities reported 71
prosecutions for trafficking crimes—15 for forced labor and
56 for sex trafficking under Law 4788/12, an increase from
17 prosecutions in 2015 and 10 in 2014. In 2016, authorities
reported 25 convictions for trafficking in persons, (18 for sex
trafficking and seven for labor trafficking) and five for pimping,
compared with nine convictions for trafficking in persons and
five for pimping in 2015. Sentences ranged from seven months
suspended to 10 years, with an average criminal sentence of
two years. In 2016, the ATU cooperated with Argentina, Chile,
France, Germany, EUROPOL, and Interpol in approximately
50 international investigations. In November 2016, the ATU
and representatives of indigenous organizations raided a ranch
in the Chaco region after receiving reports of the forced labor
of indigenous adults and children in a rudimentary charcoal
factory; one person was detained during the operation; the
case was pending at the end of the reporting period. The ATU
conducted 10 anti-trafficking trainings reaching 400 government
officials, including judges, prosecutors, and police officers.
Although the government did not report investigating any
cases of official complicity, several observers reported some
local police chiefs received bribes from massage parlors and
brothels under their jurisdiction to allow the exploitation of
trafficking victims.

PROTECTION

The government decreased protection efforts. The government
provided a total of approximately 5.3 billion guaranies
($920,940) for the efforts of the ATU, the Ministry of Women
Affairs (MWA), and the Secretariat for Children and Adolescents
(SNNA). Authorities reported the budget provided was
insufficient and the government relied heavily on international
partners for financial support. The ATU had three teams to
support and assist trafficking victims; these teams provided
psychological, social, and legal assistance. The overall quality

Authorities encouraged victims to participate in the investigation
and prosecution of their traffickers by offering protection
through a witness protection program. However, because victims
often doubted the government’s ability to protect them and
feared reprisal against themselves and their families, they often
had minimal participation in legal proceedings. During the
reporting period, two victims applied for the witness protection
program. There were no reports that victims were detained,
fined, or otherwise penalized for unlawful acts committed as
a direct result of being subjected to human trafficking . The
government entered into a formal agreement with Argentina
through which victims in each country can obtain restitution
from civil lawsuits filed against traffickers in the other country.
The government helped repatriate trafficking victims and referred
them to care facilities to receive medical, psychological, and
legal services. The MWA conducted six trainings on trafficking
prevention and protection for 328 public sector officials.

PREVENTION

The government maintained prevention efforts. The Directorate
for the Assistance for Paraguayan Communities in the Exterior
(DACPE) is the government agency responsible for coordinating
anti-trafficking programs, including the activities of an
interagency roundtable that consisted of subcommittees on
prevention, prosecution, assistance, and legislation and included
representatives from 16 government agencies. The roundtable
was effective in fostering dialogue and coordination among
government agencies; however, it continued to face challenges
in collecting and reporting statistics. Some NGOs reported they
had not been notified when the roundtable meetings would
take place and their input was not valued when they attended.
The MWA facilitated five trainings through the anti-trafficking
roundtable for 261 public officials, including social service
providers, municipal and department employees and lawyers.
The MWA coordinated regional anti-trafficking meetings in
11 departments in addition to four municipal anti-trafficking
roundtables. During the reporting period, some municipalities
continued to issue certifications allowing ongoing operations of
brothels where the ATU had previously discovered victims. The
2014-2018 National Action Plan remained pending presidential
approval. The government did not start any new prevention
campaigns, but continued to post brochures and posters in bus
terminals, airports, and border crossings. The government did
not make efforts to reduce the demand for commercial sex or
forced labor. Authorities did not identify children purchased for
sex by foreigners in Ciudad Del Este and the Tri-Border area as
victims of child sex tourism or trafficking. The government did
not provide anti-trafficking training to its diplomatic personnel.

The government provided all peacekeepers with UN-approved
training on trafficking in persons prior to their deployment on
international peacekeeping missions.

TRAFFICKING PROFILE

Paraguay is a source, destination, and transit country for
men, women, and children subjected to sex trafficking and
forced labor. Paraguayan women and girls are subjected to sex
trafficking within the country, and transgender Paraguayans are
vulnerable to sex trafficking. An estimated 46,000 Paraguayan
children work as domestic servants in exchange for food,
board, and occasionally education or a small stipend in a
system called criadazgo; many of these children are subjected to
domestic servitude and are highly vulnerable to sex trafficking.
Indigenous persons are particularly at risk for forced labor and
sex trafficking. Children engaged in street vending and begging
and working in agriculture, mining, brick making, and ranching
are vulnerable to human trafficking. International trafficking
rings often rely on local traffickers to recruit victims. Traffickers
offer victims their freedom or pardon of debts if they recruit
other victims and often rely on social media outlets as recruiting
tools. Foreign victims of sex and labor trafficking in Paraguay are
mostly from other South American countries. Paraguayan victims
of sex trafficking and forced labor are found in Argentina, Spain,
Brazil, Chile, Mexico, China, Colombia, and other countries.
Paraguayan women are recruited as couriers of illicit narcotics
to Europe and Africa, where they are often subjected to forced
prostitution. Paraguayan children are reportedly subjected to
forced labor in the cultivation and sale of illicit drugs in Brazil.
NGOs and authorities reported government officials—including
police, border guards, judges, and public registry employees—
facilitated human trafficking, including by taking bribes from
brothel owners in exchange for protection, extorting suspected
traffickers in order to prevent arrest, and producing fraudulent
identity documents. Reports indicated isolated instances of
the Paraguayan People’s Army (EPP) and the Armed Peasant
Association (ACA) forcibly recruiting children and adolescents
from San Pedro, Concepcion, and Amambay to participate in
military operations and serve in logistical and communication
support roles. There were also reports of isolated instances in
which female child soldiers entered into informal marriages
with older EPP and ACA members.

PERU

of care for victims was insufficient due to limited resources
and the lack of qualified personnel. In 2016, the government
identified 82 trafficking victims. Of the identified victims, 47
received assistance, 32 received medical and psychological
care (41 in 2015), and 12 victims who received shelter (24
in 2015). SNNA reported providing shelter for three child
victims in 2016, compared with 50 in 2015. The 35 victims
identified in the Chaco ranch case did not receive any assistance.
Although the government did not have written procedures to
guide officials on the proactive identification of trafficking
victims, the municipality of Asuncion proactively screened for
potential victims at the bus terminal in the capital city, which
was the principal hub for domestic and international land
transportation. There were two shelters in the country, both
located in Asuncion, dedicated to helping female trafficking
victims. One was managed by the MWA and the other comanaged by SNNA and an NGO.

PERU: TIER 2
The Government of Peru does not fully meet the minimum
standards for the elimination of trafficking; however, it
is making significant efforts to do so. The government
demonstrated increasing efforts compared to the previous
reporting period; therefore, Peru remained on Tier 2. The
government demonstrated increasing efforts by investigating
and convicting more traffickers, providing assistance to more
victims, and increasing funding for victim protection. However,
the government did not meet the minimum standards in several
key areas. The government did not report comprehensive data
on its anti-trafficking law enforcement efforts. Government
officials reported the lack of adequate victim protection services
impeded their ability to successfully prosecute traffickers and
address victims’ needs. Complicity of some government officials
undermined efforts to combat trafficking, but the government
did not investigate, prosecute, or convict any complicit officials
in 2016.

321

PERU

more readily provable offenses such as pimping and enabling
prostitution that do not carry penalties commensurate to the
seriousness of the crime, and increases the challenge of collecting
data on cases that would be defined as human trafficking under
international law.

RECOMMENDATIONS FOR PERU

Increase funding for, and access to, specialized, comprehensive
services for all victims, including for adults and those exploited
outside the capital; investigate and prosecute trafficking-related
complicity, and convict and punish complicit officials for
these crimes; increase efforts to prosecute trafficking offenses
and convict and punish traffickers, especially for forced labor;
consistently implement protocols for interagency coordination
and victim-centered investigations and prosecutions; establish
systematic training for government officials to improve
victim identification; ensure police and prosecutors conduct
intelligence-based raids and employ effective victim screening
and referrals; cease holding victims in police stations; train
police, prosecutors, and judges to apply anti-trafficking laws
effectively and issue stringent dissuasive sentences for convicted
traffickers, including in cases involving psychological coercion;
harmonize anti-trafficking laws, including through amending
laws to remove the legal basis for inadequate sentencing; improve
efforts to collect and report comprehensive, disaggregated data
on anti-trafficking law enforcement and victim protection
efforts; dedicate adequate funding in ministry and regional
government budgets to carry out anti-trafficking responsibilities;
and enforce laws against crimes that facilitate trafficking, such
as fraudulent job recruitment.

PROSECUTION

322

The government slightly increased prosecution efforts, although
the lack of comprehensive law enforcement data made it difficult
to assess progress. Article 153 of the penal code prohibits all
forms of trafficking in persons, prescribing penalties of eight
to 15 years imprisonment, which are sufficiently stringent
and commensurate with those prescribed for other serious
crimes, such as rape. The law defines exploitation more broadly
than the international definition by including all forms of
labor exploitation. In January 2017, the government issued an
executive decree that amended the penal code and prescribed a
six year minimum sentence for forced labor. Under the decree, a
victim’s age is an aggravating factor, with a minimum sentence
of 12 years if the victim is aged 14-18 years old and a 15-year
minimum sentence if the victim is younger than 14. Other laws
criminalize elements of sex trafficking: i) profiting from sex
trafficking carries penalties of three to 10 years imprisonment
(or a minimum of 20 years imprisonment if the victim is a child
younger than 14, 15 years if the victim is aged 14-17, or 20 years
if the victim is the spouse or child of the perpetrator); and (ii)
pimping carries penalties of two to five years imprisonment
(increased to four to five years imprisonment if the victim is
younger than 18, the offender uses violence, is a relative of
the victim, or forcibly displaces the victim from home). These
penalties are sufficiently stringent but the penalties for crimes
committed against adult victims are not commensurate with
those prescribed for other serious crimes, such as rape. Peruvian
law also criminalizes child sex tourism and prescribes penalties
ranging from four to eight years imprisonment or eight to 10
years imprisonment under aggravating circumstances. Peru’s
overlapping legal framework on human trafficking and related
crimes causes law enforcement and prosecutors to charge lesser,

The government lacked standard data collection systems for
anti-trafficking law enforcement efforts, making it difficult for
authorities to assess efforts and identify trends. Although the
Ministry of Interior and the public ministry conducted a pilot
program to integrate their data collection systems for trafficking
cases during the year, the government did not report any data on
prosecutions and reported only isolated statistics on convictions.
Police reported conducting 764 “anti-trafficking operations”
for all units in 2016 (85 reported for specialized anti-trafficking
units only in 2015) and arresting 427 suspected traffickers
(206 in 2015). The government did not provide specific details
about the nature of these operations or the number of victims
who were formally identified and received protective services
as a result. Raids on commercial sex establishments were often
conducted with limited intelligence-gathering and ineffective
victim identification procedures. The public ministry reported
receiving 1,144 trafficking-related complaints in 2016, but did
not specify how many cases remained under investigation. The
government did not report the total number of prosecutions
initiated for trafficking offenses or provide updates on the 259
cases opened by the attorney general’s office in 2015. However,
the judiciary reported it issued decisions in 80 trafficking cases
in 2016. Forty-two of these cases resulted in convictions, 27
were suspended for insufficient evidence with the possibility of
future prosecution, and 11 were dismissed. The judiciary also
reported 254 cases remained ongoing at the end of the year.
The government did not report the type of trafficking, age of
victims, or sentences imposed in these cases. Peruvian authorities
worked with United States law enforcement to investigate a
case of suspected child sex tourism. In a separate case—in
which Peruvian authorities had previously cooperated—a
court in the United States sentenced an American citizen to 14
years imprisonment for child sex tourism crimes in Peru. An
additional offender in this case was awaiting sentencing. One
U.S. citizen, arrested for suspected sex tourism in the previous
year, remained in custody awaiting trial in Peru, along with five
Peruvian individuals charged with trafficking crimes.
Peruvian officials reported that judges often reduced trafficking
charges to lesser charges related to promoting prostitution
and frequently failed to sentence traffickers for aggravated
trafficking in cases involving child victims, as required by
law. The government opened an investigation into a judge’s
decision to absolve a bar owner of sex trafficking charges
in a case involving a 14-year-old girl, following a public
outcry that the judge had not applied the law appropriately.
Prosecutors reported challenges obtaining convictions in cases
involving psychological coercion, rather than physical force or
confinement, to compel victims into sex or labor exploitation.
The government operated eight specialized anti-trafficking
regional prosecutor offices, in Callao, Cusco, Lima, Loreto, Puno,
Tacna, and Tumbes. It expanded the number of specialized
anti-trafficking police from 110 officers in 2015 to 143 in
2016, although the Ministry of Interior’s anti-trafficking budget
decreased overall. Poor communication and coordination
between police and prosecutors sometimes compromised
efforts to identify and assist victims and investigate cases.
Inadequate budgets for personnel and logistical support
hindered law enforcement efforts; this was particularly acute
in regions where trafficking occurred in remote locales with

NGOs and government officials reported that widespread
corruption in Peruvian law enforcement and judicial systems
severely hampered anti-trafficking law enforcement efforts.
Government officials, NGOs, and victims reported police were
engaged in extortion and made money by threatening nightclub
and brothel owners with sex trafficking charges; they also
falsely charged victims trying to escape bars or brothels with
crimes such as theft or trafficking and accepted money to close
investigations, drop charges, or exonerate traffickers, including
by compelling victims to sign declarations absolving their
traffickers. Some officials’ involvement in the mining industry
posed a conflict of interest that impeded law enforcement
action against trafficking in mining areas. A former member of
congress remained under investigation for allegedly operating
a hotel where child sex trafficking occurred. The government
did not report any new investigations, or any prosecutions
or convictions of government officials complicit in human
trafficking.

PROTECTION

The government maintained weak victim protection efforts, but
reported providing services to more victims than in the previous
year. Most victims continued to lack access to specialized services.
The anti-trafficking law (law 28950) required the government
to assist and protect victims by providing temporary lodging,
transportation, medical and psychological care, legal assistance,
and re-integration assistance, although the government did
not fulfill this mandate. Police reported identifying 1,134
suspected victims in 2016, compared with 699 identified in
2015, though this number could not be verified. The Ministry
of Women and Vulnerable Populations (MIMP) reported
identifying 216 child victims, including 106 subjected to labor
trafficking, 96 subjected to sex trafficking, and 14 subjected to
both forms of exploitation. The government did not provide
additional data on victims’ ages, genders, or type of trafficking
experienced. Most victims did not receive sufficient protective
services, leaving them at high risk of re-trafficking. Officials cited
the lack of adequate protective services as a key impediment
to their ability to effectively combat human trafficking in
the country as vicitms’ needs and safety concerns were not
addressed sufficiently.
Peru’s anti-trafficking law assigned responsibility to several
ministries for identifying suspected victims among the highrisk populations they served and referring them to appropriate
authorities, but the government did not report whether any
such victims were referred to the police or protective services
during the year. Protocols for identifying adult sex trafficking
victim among individuals in prostitution were inadequate, as
authorities often made such determinations based on whether
an individual had access to identity documents and a required
public health certificate. The government had both inter- and
intra-ministerial protocols for providing protection to trafficking
victims, but implemented them unevenly due to insufficient
resources and poor interagency coordination.
MIMP was responsible for coordinating and providing services

to victims in partnership with regional governments; in 2016 it
provided psychological, legal, and social work services to 557
victims (505 victims in 2015) in coordination with prosecutors.
MIMP dedicated 3,803,270 soles ($1,132,940) to serving
trafficking victims in 2016, an increase from 2,764,900 soles
($823,620) in 2015. The prosecutorial program for victims
and witnesses spent 3,123,600 soles ($930,470) to assist 437
trafficking victims, 27 witnesses, and 12 family members during
the first half of 2016, compared with 505 trafficking victims
assisted in 2015. The government operated two shelters, in
Lima and Mazuko, exclusively for trafficking victims, with a
total capacity of 28 beds. These facilities assisted 28 victims
during the reporting period, compared with 119 victims assisted
during the previous period. While the government operated
48 residential centers for children and adolescents, which
provided some services to 122 child trafficking victims, staff
in these shelters lacked the expertise and resources to provide
adequate protection services to trafficking victims. Many civil
society organizations operated shelters that assisted an unknown
number of victims during the year without government support,
although few offered trafficking-specific services. There were
no facilities that could accommodate adult male victims and
no specialized services for LGBTI victims. Authorities reported
government shelters were often full and services for victims
were often unavailable immediately following law enforcement
operations. At times, the government placed child victims in
police stations among children apprehended for crimes, where
they sometimes remained for extended periods. Shelter and
specialized psychological, employment, and other services
remained unavailable in most areas and for most adults and
labor trafficking victims.

PERU

limited government presence. In partnership with NGOs and an
international organization, officials trained police, prosecutors,
and other officials on trafficking, including how to differentiate
between sex trafficking and other prostitution-related crimes.
Authorities coordinated with foreign governments on trafficking
investigations; in one example, police and prosecutors conducted
a joint operation with the Governments of Colombia and Brazil
that led to the arrest of 12 suspected traffickers.

The law requires the government to provide a public defender
for trafficking victims to safeguard victims’ legal rights and to
use a single-interview process, utilizing specialized equipment
where available. The Ministry of Justice reported it provided
legal assistance to 293 trafficking victims in 2016. Some antitrafficking operations were conducted without adequate
resources, such as safe places to screen potential victims and
provide them immediate care. Peruvian law grants victims the
ability to receive restitution, but the government did not report
any victims receiving restitution in 2016.
According to an international organization, the government
treats foreign national trafficking victims as refugees, referring
them first to the UN which then assists them in filing a complaint
and seeking government services. It was not clear whether all
foreign victims went through this process or how many foreign
victims were identified during the reporting period. Foreign
victims were eligible for temporary and permanent residency
status under Peruvian refugee law, but the government did not
report if any victims received this status in 2016. The government
did not report whether it assisted in the repatriation of any
Peruvian victims exploited abroad.
Due to inadequate victim identification procedures, some
sex trafficking victims may have remained unidentified and
been arrested, detained, or otherwise punished for unlawful
acts committed as a direct result of being subjected to human
trafficking. Child victims who were housed in police stations
faced conditions similar to detention, though they were not
charged with crimes.

PREVENTION

The government maintained prevention efforts. The interagency
commission, which also included NGOs and international

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PHILIPPINES

organizations, met regularly. The commission continued to
implement the 2011-2016 national anti-trafficking action plan
and drafted a new five-year plan that had not been finalized
by the close of the reporting period. Twenty-four regional
governments maintained anti-trafficking working groups, which
varied in effectiveness. The national government provided
technical support and training to some of these groups. The
government did not allocate adequate funding for ministries to
implement their duties as outlined in the national anti-trafficking
action plan. The government had a separate commission, interministerial protocol, and plan for combating forced labor
and child labor. Among other things, this plan established
policies allowing for greater oversight of employment agencies
and strengthened response mechanisms to suspected forced
or child labor. The government did not report whether these
efforts led to the identification of any individuals at risk of
trafficking or resulted in any agencies being punished for
illegal practices that contribute to trafficking. Various ministries
conducted awareness-raising efforts, often in partnership with
international organizations and NGOs and with foreign donor
funding. Some of these efforts focused on preventing child sex
tourism and providing information for reporting suspected
abuses. The transportation authority reported inspecting more
than one million vehicles for indicators of trafficking among
passengers, but these efforts were not effective in identifying any
victims. The government made efforts to reduce the demand
for commercial sex acts involving children by investigating
and assisting in prosecutions of child sex tourists, but did
not report efforts to reduce the demand for forced labor. The
government signed a MOU with the United States to reduce
illegal gold mining and associated crimes, including human
trafficking, in February 2017; however, it did not make significant
efforts to end impunity for the illegal mining and logging that
fuels the demand for trafficking. The government provided
anti-trafficking training for its diplomatic personnel and for
Peruvian peacekeepers prior to their deployment abroad on
international peacekeeping missions.

bondage, restricted freedom of movement, withholding of or
non-payment of wages, and threats and use of physical violence.
Forced child labor occurs in begging, street vending, cocaine
production and transportation, and other criminal activities.
The terrorist group Shining Path recruits children using force
and coercion to serve as combatants or guards, and uses force
and coercion to subject children and adults to forced labor
in agriculture, cultivating or transporting illicit narcotics, and
domestic servitude. Peruvian men, women, and children are
subjected to forced labor in other South American countries,
the United States, and other countries. Migrants from South
America, China, and Senegal transiting Peru to Brazil were
reportedly vulnerable to sex and labor trafficking.

PHILIPPINES: TIER 1
The Government of the Philippines fully meets the minimum
standards for the elimination of trafficking. The government
continued to demonstrate serious and sustained efforts during
the reporting period; therefore, the Philippines remained on Tier
1. The government demonstrated serious and sustained efforts
by convicting and punishing more traffickers, identifying more
victims through proactive screening procedures, and expanding
its efforts to prevent trafficking of Filipino migrant workers.
Although the government meets the minimum standards,
it did not expand the availability and quality of protection
and assistance services for trafficking victims, particularly
mental health care and services for male victims. Further,
the government did not vigorously investigate and prosecute
officials allegedly involved in trafficking crimes or expand its
pilot program to address the backlog of trafficking cases in
the courts.

TRAFFICKING PROFILE

As reported over the past five years, Peru is a source, destination,
and transit country for men, women, and children subjected
to forced labor and sex trafficking. Indigenous Peruvians are
particularly vulnerable to trafficking. Peruvian women and
girls, and to a lesser extent boys, are exploited in sex trafficking
within the country, often recruited through false employment
offers. Women and girls exploited in sex trafficking near mining
communities are often indebted due to the cost of transportation
and unable to leave due to the remoteness of camps. Peruvian
women and children are exploited in sex trafficking in other
countries, particularly within South America, and women and
girls from neighboring countries are subjected to sex trafficking
in Peru. LGBTI Peruvians, especially transgender women, are
vulnerable to sex trafficking. Tourists from the United States
and Europe purchase sex from child trafficking victims in areas
such as Cuzco, Lima, and the Peruvian Amazon. In the Loreto
region, criminal groups facilitate transportation of foreign
tourists by boat to remote locations where women and children
are exploited in sex trafficking in venues on the Amazon River.

324

Peruvian men, women, and children are exploited in forced
labor in the country, principally in illegal and legal gold
mining and related services, logging, agriculture, brick-making,
unregistered factories, organized street begging, and domestic
service. Peruvians working in artisanal gold mines and nearby
makeshift camps that provide services to miners are subjected
to forced labor, including through deceptive recruitment, debt

RECOMMENDATIONS FOR THE PHILIPPINES

Increase the availability of specialized comprehensive services
that address the specific needs of trafficking victims, with a
particular focus on expanding access to mental health care and
services for male victims; increase efforts to achieve expedited
victim-centered prosecution of trafficking cases, especially in
cases involving child victims; increase efforts to investigate
and prosecute officials for trafficking and trafficking-related
offenses; increase efforts to identify internal labor trafficking
victims, especially children, and prosecute labor trafficking cases;
expand the victim and witness protection program to cover an
increased percentage of trafficking victims throughout criminal
justice proceedings; develop and implement programs aimed
at reducing the demand for commercial sex acts, including
child sex tourism and online child sexual exploitation; expand
government support for long-term specialized services for
trafficking victims that may be provided by the government or
NGOs; expand efforts to prevent re-traumatization caused by
multiple interviews and facilitate timely reintegration of child
victim witnesses with community-based follow-up services;
increase training for community members and military and

PROSECUTION

The government maintained law enforcement efforts. The
2003 and 2012 anti-trafficking acts criminalize sex and
labor trafficking and prescribe penalties of six years to life
imprisonment plus fines of up to 5 million pesos ($100,820),
which are sufficiently stringent and commensurate with those
prescribed for other serious crimes, such as rape. The law
defines purchasing commercial sex acts from a child as a
trafficking offense. From April 1 to December 31, 2016, the
National Bureau of Investigation Anti-Human Trafficking
Division (AHTRAD), the Philippine National Police Women and
Children’s Protection Center (WCPC), which has responsibility
for police investigations of trafficking cases, and IACAT
Taskforces investigated 553 suspected trafficking cases, including
conducting 109 surveillance operations and 55 raids, compared
with 329 cases investigated in 2015. These actions led to the
arrest of 272 suspects, an increase from 151 in 2015. During
the reporting period, the government initiated prosecution of
441 alleged traffickers (569 in 2015) and secured convictions of
55 traffickers (42 traffickers in 2015). These cases involved 131
victims, 78 of whom were children. Of the 20 labor trafficking
cases prosecuted, none resulted in a conviction. Sentences
imposed ranged from 15 years to life imprisonment, with most
offenders sentenced to life imprisonment. The government
filed no criminal cases to punish the recruitment and use of
child soldiers by armed groups operating in areas affected by
the ongoing insurgency.
At the close of the reporting period, more than 1,100 trafficking
cases filed in court in 2016 or in previous years remained
pending in the judicial system due to endemic inefficiencies such
as non-continuous trials, large caseloads, limited resources, and
in some cases, corruption. In addition, delays in allocating funds
to IACAT taskforces reportedly reduced the number of raids
during the reporting period. Although the government convicted
four perpetrators of online sexual exploitation of children,
police and prosecutors reported challenges with these cases,
including difficulty in obtaining search warrants, insufficient
personnel, inadequate resources for operations logistics and
computer evidence analysis, and the need for training on
presenting digital evidence in court. During the reporting
period, the government’s investigation and prosecution of these
cases relied substantially on the support and cooperation of
foreign law enforcement and NGOs. Although the government
regularly collected data on law enforcement investigation and
cases filed with prosecutors’ offices and the courts, a lack of
case-specific information impeded analysis of anti-trafficking
enforcement efforts.
The government increased its efforts to provide anti-trafficking
training to its officials. IACAT taskforces conducted 269 trainings
in 2016, including 20 online seminars, reaching more than
6,800 government officials, including investigators, prosecutors,
labor officers, and social service personnel, and more than
14,000 civil society representatives. In addition, the IACAT

Secretariat, the WCPC, the Bureau of Immigration (BI), the
Philippine Judicial Academy, and the Department of Labor and
Employment conducted specialized training on anti-trafficking
topics relevant for judges, prosecutors, law enforcers, social
workers, and labor focal persons; more than 3,400 individuals
attended these sessions, the majority of whom were government
officials. The government also partnered with NGOs and
international organizations on the delivery of numerous training
sessions on human trafficking enforcement and protection in
Manila, Cebu, and in Typhoon Haiyan-affected areas. Philippine
officials continued to cooperate with six other governments to
pursue international law enforcement action against suspected
foreign traffickers in 12 cases, most of which involved sexual
exploitation of children.
During the reporting period, the government charged two police
officers with sex trafficking in a case involving online sexual
exploitation of minors; the trial of a Department of Foreign
Affairs (DFA) official charged with trafficking was pending.
The BI investigated 31 potential trafficking cases involving
allegedly complicit immigration officers; four BI officers were
relieved of their duties and two officers were under preliminary
investigation before the prosecutor’s office.

PHILIPPINES

law enforcement personnel on appropriate methods to protect
children officially disengaged from armed groups and vigorously
investigate allegations of abuse by officials; and develop and
implement a data collection system across Interagency Council
Against Trafficking (IACAT) agencies to facilitate monitoring,
analysis, and reporting of government-wide anti-trafficking
activities, including victim identification, services provided,
investigations, prosecutions, and convictions disaggregated
by common data elements such as type of trafficking and age
and sex of identified victims.

PROTECTION

The government maintained protection efforts. Although the
government did not report comprehensive statistics for the
total number of victims identified and assistance provided,
the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD)
reported serving 1,713 possible trafficking victims, of whom
1,434 were female, compared with 1,465 victims in 2015. DSWD
reported assisting 530 victims of illegal recruitment, 465 victims
of sex trafficking and 232 victims of labor trafficking. DFA, in
collaboration with host governments, NGOs, and international
organizations, assisted 348 Filipino potential victims in the
Middle East, Asia, Africa, Europe, and the Americas. DFA
disbursed 1.6 million pesos ($33,160) from its Assistance to
Nationals Fund exclusively for trafficking victim protection
and assistance and expended 209,700 pesos ($4,230) for
legal assistance to trafficking victims. Through its hotline, the
Commission of Filipinos Overseas (CFO) assisted 20 possible
trafficking victims, of whom 15 were female and five minors.
CFO allocated 800,000 pesos ($16,130) for direct assistance to
trafficking victims and their families. The Philippine Overseas
Employment Administration (POEA) reported identifying 140
adult trafficking victims, all but two of whom were victims
of domestic servitude, but did not report information about
services provided to these victims. The government continued
to implement formal procedures to identify victims in the
Philippines and overseas and to refer them to official agencies
or NGO facilities for care. Philippine officials identified victims
through law enforcement operations, border screenings, reports
to embassies abroad, and calls to the national anti-trafficking
help line.
The government, through its recovery and reintegration
program and in partnership with NGOs, provided victims
with temporary shelter, psycho-social support, medical services,
legal assistance, livelihood assistance, and skills training. It
sustained an allocation of approximately 23 million pesos
($463,790) to implement this program. DSWD continued to
operate 44 residential care facilities and two halfway houses
at border entry points, which provided services to victims of
trafficking and other forms of exploitation, but it did not report
the number of trafficking victims who received temporary
shelter. No DSWD shelter is designated solely for the specialized

325

PHILIPPINES

care of for trafficking victims. Available shelter and other
assistance services remained inadequate to address the specific
needs of victims, including child victims of online sexual
exploitation and male victims. Budget constraints continued
to limit victim access to mental health services. Child sex
trafficking victims who resided in a shelter and participated
as witnesses in prosecutions were often interviewed multiple
times and remained in the shelter through the time required
for the court case, which may have added additional trauma
and delayed reintegration. Adult victims residing in shelters
were permitted to leave unchaperoned, provided there were no
threats to their personal security or psychological care issues.
During the reporting period, Philippine officials maintained a
temporary shelter for male Filipino trafficking victims in Saudi
Arabia. NGOs delivered the vast majority of specialized services
to trafficking victims, although the government provided an
unknown funding amount to one NGO-run shelter. The lack of
long-term care, absence of mental health services, and familial
involvement in facilitating exploitation continued to leave
many victims vulnerable to re-trafficking.
In Mindanao, where protracted armed conflict and reports
of recruitment and use of child soldiers by armed groups
continued, the government, in collaboration with international
organizations, established a hotline and conducted three
Monitoring, Reporting, and Response System (MRRS) workshops
for 83 lawyers, investigators, and human rights advocates to
facilitate reporting of grave human rights violations, including
child soldiering. The national government issued a circular to
local government units, instructing them to adopt the MRRS,
and the military issued a circular on child protection. The
Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) reported the rescue or
surrender of 19 children from the New People’s Army between
January and August 2016, but it did not report information
about services to them. Through an action plan developed
by the UN and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF),
approximately 178 children were disengaged from armed groups
during the reporting period and, in consultation with national
and regional governments, an international organization
initiated a program to assist children disengaged from armed
groups. There were reports soldiers of the AFP detained and
interrogated children, and in one instance tortured a child,
suspected of associating with armed groups. The Commission
on Human Rights is investigating the case of alleged torture.
Also during the reporting period, municipal authorities worked
to reintegrate a child who has been working at an AFP camp
for three years in a non-combat role.
Under its witness protection program, justice officials protected
witnesses from reprisals by providing security, immunity from
criminal prosecution, housing, livelihood and travel expenses,
medical benefits, education, and vocational placement. During
the reporting period this program assisted nine additional
victims of trafficking and continued to provide services to
98 victims enrolled in previous years. Judicial officials used
restitution provisions and awarded damages to victims; however,
these monetary penalties imposed upon offenders often went
unpaid due to perpetrators’ financial incapacity or the complex
legal process required when a convicted trafficker is able to pay.
NGOs confirmed government officials did not punish victims
for unlawful acts committed as a result of being subjected to
trafficking. While the government did not identify foreign
victims in the Philippines during the reporting period, it had
long-term alternatives to deportation of victims to countries
where victims may face hardship or retribution.

326

PREVENTION

The government maintained its robust efforts to prevent
trafficking. The government conducted a multi-stakeholder
assessment of implementation of its 2012-2016 strategic plan
to combat trafficking and drafted, but did not release, its third
strategic plan covering 2017-2021. The IACAT, which includes
three NGO members, and other government anti-trafficking
taskforces met regularly during the reporting period to share
information and coordinate interagency policies. The IACAT’s
budget increased slightly from 93.2 million pesos ($1.88
million) in 2015 to 93.9 million pesos ($1.89 million) in 2016.
The CFO continued its anti-trafficking national prevention
campaign and reached 9,400 individuals in 18 provinces.
The POEA launched a social media campaign to educate
people about illegal recruitment that reached 1,736,818 social
media users and expanded access to its pre-employment
orientation seminars, required for workers hired by licensed
recruitment agencies, by offering them online. During the
reporting period, 851,170 individuals completed seminars that
provided information about worker protection, legal modes
of recruitment, employment procedures for overseas work,
and government services available to overseas foreign workers.
POEA officials investigated 108 cases, involving 245
complainants, of illegal recruitment in 2016; four of 35 cases
referred for prosecution resulted in a conviction, compared with
six illegal recruitment convictions in 2015. AHTRAD separately
reported investigating 248 illegal recruitment cases. The POEA
filed 2,137 administrative charges against licensed agencies
for fraudulent employment offers or collecting exorbitant
fees resulting in the cancellation of 49 agencies’ licenses. The
BI Travel Control and Enforcement Unit continued to screen
departing passengers in accordance with departure requirements
and reported 667 potential cases of human trafficking for
further investigation and identified 601 possible victims of
illegal recruitment. Despite stopping 118 foreign registered sex
offenders from entering the country, local and foreign demand
for the country’s vast commercial sex trade remained high and
the government’s efforts to reduce the demand for commercial
sex acts were negligible. The government provided antitrafficking training to Philippine troops and law enforcement
officers prior to their deployment abroad on international
peacekeeping missions. During the reporting period, the DFA
provided training on human trafficking for its diplomatic
personnel prior to overseas deployment, formally launched
its handbook on trafficking, and issued new guidelines to its
foreign service personnel about employment of personal staff.

TRAFFICKING PROFILE

As reported over the past five years, the Philippines is a source
country and, to a lesser extent, a destination and transit country
for men, women, and children subjected to sex trafficking and
forced labor. An estimated 10 million Filipinos work abroad, and
a significant number of these migrant workers are subjected to
sex and labor trafficking—predominantly via debt bondage—in
the fishing, shipping, construction, education, home health
care, and agricultural industries, as well as in domestic work,
janitorial service, and other hospitality-related jobs, particularly
across the Middle East, Asia, and North America. Traffickers,
typically in partnership with small local networks, engage in
unscrupulous recruitment practices that leave migrant workers
vulnerable to trafficking, such as charging excessive fees and
confiscating identity documents. Illicit recruiters use student,
intern, and exchange program visas to circumvent the Philippine
government and destination countries’ regulatory frameworks
for foreign workers.

Officials, including those in diplomatic missions, law
enforcement agencies, and other government entities, allegedly
have been complicit in trafficking or allowed traffickers to
operate with impunity. Some corrupt officials, particularly those
working in immigration, allegedly accept bribes to facilitate
illegal departures for overseas workers, reduce trafficking charges,
or overlook unscrupulous labor recruiters. Reports in previous
years asserted police conduct indiscriminate or fake raids on
commercial sex establishments to extort money from managers,
clients, and victims. Some personnel working at Philippine
embassies reportedly withhold back wages procured for their
domestic workers, subject them to domestic servitude, or coerce
sexual acts in exchange for government protection services.

POLAND: TIER 1
The Government of Poland fully meets the minimum standards
for the elimination of trafficking. The government continued to
demonstrate serious and sustained efforts during the reporting
period; therefore, Poland remained on Tier 1. The government
demonstrated serious and sustained efforts by increasing
investigations, prosecutions, and convictions, and issuing more
severe sentences for convicted traffickers than in past years. The
government also approved a national action plan and increased
funding for its implementation. Although the government meets
the minimum standards, it still had challenges identifying
forced labor and child trafficking victims and prosecuting
labor trafficking cases.

RECOMMENDATIONS FOR POLAND

POLAND

Forced labor and sex trafficking of men, women, and children
within the country remains a significant problem. Women and
children from indigenous communities and remote areas of the
Philippines are the most vulnerable to sex trafficking, and some
are vulnerable to domestic servitude and other forms of forced
labor. Men are subjected to forced labor and debt bondage in
the agricultural, fishing, and maritime industries. Many people
from impoverished families and conflict areas in Mindanao,
Filipinos returning from abroad without documents, and
internally displaced persons in typhoon-affected communities
are subjected to domestic servitude, forced begging, forced
labor in small factories, and sex trafficking in Metro Manila,
Metro Cebu, central and northern Luzon, and urban areas in
Mindanao. Trafficking also occurs in tourist destinations, such
as Boracay, Angeles City, Olongapo, Puerto Galera, and Surigao,
where there is a high demand for commercial sex acts. Child sex
trafficking remains a pervasive problem, typically abetted by taxi
drivers who have knowledge of clandestine locations. Although
the availability of child sex trafficking victims in commercial
establishments declined in some urban areas, young Filipino
girls, boys, and sibling groups are increasingly coerced to
perform sex acts for live internet broadcast to paying foreigners;
this typically occurs in private residences or small internet
cafes, and may be facilitated by victims’ family members and
neighbors. NGOs report high numbers of child sex tourists in
the Philippines, many of whom are citizens of Australia, Japan,
the United States, Canada, and countries in Europe; Filipino
men also purchase commercial sex acts from child trafficking
victims. Organized crime syndicates allegedly transport sex
trafficking victims from China through the Philippines en route
to other countries. The UN reports armed groups operating
in the Philippines, including the MILF, New People’s Army,
Moro National Liberation Front, the Abu Sayyaf Group, and
the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters, continue to recruit
and use children, at times through force, for combat and
noncombat roles.

Sentence convicted traffickers to penalties proportionate with
the severity of the crime and increase training for prosecutors
and judges; vigorously investigate and prosecute trafficking
crimes, particularly forced labor cases; increase training to law
enforcement on investigating and prosecuting labor trafficking
cases and consider creating specialized prosecution units for
trafficking crimes; improve training and efforts to identify
victims proactively, particularly among unaccompanied children,
migrants, and children exploited in prostitution; improve
measures to identify child victims; educate and incentivize
foreign victims to enroll in the witness protection program and
assist prosecution; facilitate victims’ access to compensation
by encouraging prosecutors to request compensation during
criminal cases and systematically informing victims of their
right to pursue civil suits against their traffickers; and improve
central operational coordination and data collection for antitrafficking activities.

PROSECUTION

The government increased law enforcement efforts, but did not
issue consistently stringent sentences for convicted traffickers
to reflect the heinous nature of the crime and deter future
exploitation. Poland’s penal code defines a trafficking crime
in article 115.22, while article 189a prohibits all forms of
trafficking and prescribes punishments of three to 15 years
imprisonment. These penalties are sufficiently stringent and
commensurate with those prescribed for other serious crimes,
such as rape. In addition, article 203 prohibits inducing an
adult into prostitution through force, fraud, or coercion, and
article 204.3 prohibits inducing a child into prostitution; both
articles prescribe punishments of one to 10 years imprisonment.
The government lacked a central mechanism to cross-reference
and consolidate law enforcement statistics, and it only
considered convictions and sentences issued after appeals to
be final. Authorities reportedly launched 31 investigations under
article 189a in 2016, compared with 30 in 2015, and 28 in 2014.
Authorities reported prosecuting 30 suspected traffickers under
article 189a in 2016 (23 in 2015 and 28 in 2014). In 2016, 12
prosecutorial investigations conducted involved forced labor
(17 in 2015 and eight in 2014). First-level courts issued 33
convictions under article 189a in 2016 (36 in 2015 and 17
in 2014). In addition, first-level courts issued 15 convictions
under article 203 and six convictions under article 253, which
criminalized trafficking prior to article 189a. In 2015, the most
recent year for which post-appeal judgments were available,
judges issued a total of 58 final convictions (37 in 2014 and
41 in 2013). Courts upheld 30 convictions under articles 189a
and 253 (nine in 2014 and 13 in 2013). Courts also upheld
12 convictions under article 204.3 (16 in 2014). In addition,
there were 16 upheld convictions for forced prostitution under
article 203 (12 in 2014). Prison terms imposed ranged from
one year to five years; 58 percent of sentences were for two
years or less, which was a high percentage but an improvement
from 2014 when 78 percent of sentences did not exceed two
years. Authorities suspended a smaller proportion of prison

327

POLAND

sentences for trafficking convictions, decreasing to 45 percent
in 2015 from 62 percent in 2014 and 41 percent in 2013. The
government began drafting new legislation to reduce the number
of suspended sentences on trafficking cases.
The government did not report any investigations, prosecutions,
or convictions of government employees complicit in human
trafficking offenses. Authorities collaborated on investigations
with counterparts in several foreign countries. The government
increased trafficking-specific training for the border guard and
national, regional, and district police. During 2016, authorities
held trafficking training sessions for 236 prosecutors and judges;
during 2015-2016, a total of 670 legal professionals were trained
in prosecuting trafficking cases. Authorities reported there were
very few prosecutions for forced labor for several reasons: the
police had difficulty identifying this type of crime, there is not
a good definition of forced labor in the Polish criminal code,
prosecutors and judges often lacked expertise in labor trafficking
cases, and victims are often unwilling to testify against their
trafficker. This is despite NGOs assisting more than 88 victims
of forced labor, forced begging, and forced criminality during
the reporting period.

PROTECTION

The government maintained protection measures, but did
not improve screening of unaccompanied children, obtaining
victim cooperation with prosecutions, and assisting victims’
efforts to seek compensation. Authorities trained police,
border guards, 189 consular officers, 99 labor inspectors, 79
employees of crisis intervention centers, and 11 officials who
interview asylum-seekers on trafficking victim identification.
Also, the border guard organized training for 2,065 officers
on standard operating procedures for assisting child victims
of trafficking. With the help of an international organization,
the border guard developed and implemented a new e-learning
platform for border officials on methods to identify trafficking
victims and the national referral mechanism. In September
2016, the national police commander issued an updated
regulation on combating human trafficking that included a new
identification tool for police officers. Police and prosecutors,
however, acknowledged authorities lacked the expertise to
identify forced labor victims. Observers considered victim
identification, especially in the cases of children and labor
exploitation, to be a challenge for the government.

328

In 2016, the government allocated 1.1 million zloty ($262,843)
to two NGOs that run the National Intervention-Consultation
Center for Victims of Trafficking (KCIK), which covered the
majority of operating expenses; this is same amount allocated
in 2015. The government identified 144 potential trafficking
victims during the reporting period. KCIK provided assistance to
200 potential victims in 2016, compared with 229 in 2015 and
207 in 2014. KCIK offered victims medical and psychological
care, legal counseling, shelter referrals, and welfare support.
KCIK included two shelters for adult female victims. KCIK
was responsible for finding safe accommodations for male
trafficking victims and used crisis centers, hotels, and hostels
for this purpose. The national system of victim assistance did
not always address the needs of unaccompanied children, as
there was no standardized system of screening unaccompanied
children as potential trafficking victims. The government could
place child victims in orphanages, with foster families, or in
child assistance centers based on their needs. In 2016, the
Children Empowerment Foundation launched a campaign to
build the first children’s assistance center for child victims of
sexual exploitation, physical violence, and other serious crimes.

Observers reported some unaccompanied children, who may
have been trafficking victims, ran away from orphanages and
were not recovered. Local governments also funded and operated
crisis intervention centers; 18 were designated specifically for
trafficking victims in 2015.
The government’s witness protection program provided foreign
victims with a temporary residence permit, medical and
psychological care, legal assistance, and shelter for those who
cooperated with a prosecution; this program also provided for
a victim’s repatriation. The government enrolled 39 trafficking
victims into this program in 2016, compared with 38 in 2015;
in 2012 to 2014, the government enrolled at least 56 victims
each year. Foreign victims were entitled to a three-month
reflection period, during which they could stay legally in
Poland to decide whether to assist in the criminal process;
23 victims used this reflection period in 2016 (33 in 2015).
Foreign victims were eligible for a residency permit valid for
up to three years and were entitled to work; victims could also
apply for permanent residency and were protected against
deportation. Foreign victims were eligible for repatriation
and may receive assistance upon return to their country of
origin; the assistance did not depend on cooperation with
law enforcement. In 2016, the government, in cooperation
with an international organization assisted seven trafficking
victims to return to their home countries. In 2016, 23 foreign
victims who joined the witness protection program agreed to
participate in the prosecution of their traffickers (27 in 2015).
Polish law permits victims to provide testimony via video
or written statements; however, judges in these cases often
request additional testimony which results in a longer and
more complicated legal process.
Although victims could file civil suits against traffickers and
judges could order compensation for victims in criminal cases,
observers reported very few trafficking victims have ever received
compensation from their traffickers. In 2016, no victims received
court ordered restitution in criminal cases. In October 2016,
Poland ratified the 2014 Protocol to the 1930 ILO Forced
Labor Convention, which obligates the government to create
effective measures to combat forced labor, provide protection
and support for labor trafficking victims, allow victims to
receive compensation, and allow sanctions against traffickers.

PREVENTION

The government increased prevention efforts. In 2016, the
government approved the 2016-2018 action plan and allocated
235,000 zloty ($56,153) for its implementation, a 74 percent
increase from 135,000 zloty ($32,258) allocated in 2015 for
the 2013-2015 plan. The interior ministry continued to lead
the inter-ministerial anti-trafficking team, as well as a workinglevel group of experts and NGOs, which met regularly to
coordinate efforts and develop national anti-trafficking policies.
During the reporting period, provincial-level interagency antitrafficking teams in all 16 regions of the country became fully
operational; these units were designed to improve cooperation
and coordination among relevant stakeholders. In 2016, the
interior ministry held an anti-trafficking conference for leaders of
all provincial interagency teams. The interior ministry published
and made publicly available an assessment of the government’s
anti-trafficking activities for three consecutive years; the 2016
report will be published in September 2017. The government
lacked a central mechanism to cross-reference and consolidate
trafficking-related statistics, hindering officials’ ability to assess
the scope of trafficking in Poland and the efficacy of law
enforcement efforts.

TRAFFICKING PROFILE

Poland is a source, transit, and destination country for
men, women, and children subjected to forced labor and
sex trafficking. Labor trafficking is increasing in Poland;
victims originate from Europe, Asia, and Africa. There is an
increasing vulnerability to labor trafficking among Poland’s
growing Ukrainian migrant population and North Korean
migrant workers. Children, particularly Roma, are recruited
for forced begging in Poland. Men and women from Poland
are subjected to forced labor in Europe, primarily Western
and Northern Europe. Women and children from Poland are
subjected to sex trafficking within the country and also in other
European countries. Women and children from Eastern Europe,
particularly Bulgaria, Romania, and Ukraine, are subjected to
sex trafficking in Poland. A growing number of Vietnamese
victims transit Poland en route to Western Europe after being
subjected to labor trafficking in Russia.

PORTUGAL: TIER 1
The Government of Portugal fully meets the minimum standards
for the elimination of trafficking. The government continued to
demonstrate serious and sustained efforts during the reporting
period; therefore, Portugal remained on Tier 1. The government
demonstrated serious and sustained efforts by increasing the
number of investigations, prosecutions, convictions, and victims
identified. The government amended the labor code to expand
responsibility for upholding worker protections and liability for
violating such protections to employment agencies and firms
that hire temporary workers. The government added a fifth
interdisciplinary regional anti-trafficking team to assist victims
and continued to fund three NGO-operated shelters. Although
the government meets the minimum standards, penalties for
convicted traffickers were less severe as compared to prior years,
and in some cases sentences were suspended. While authorities
identified significantly more potential trafficking victims,
they identified few sex trafficking victims. The government
did not make discernable efforts to reduce the demand for
commercial sex.

RECOMMENDATIONS FOR PORTUGAL

Increase identification of adult and child sex trafficking victims;
amend article 175 to clarify that all prostitution of children
is child sex trafficking, regardless of force, fraud, or coercion,
to ensure these crimes are identified and prosecuted under
appropriate statutes; vigorously investigate and prosecute
trafficking offenses and convict traffickers, issuing sufficiently
dissuasive sentences; amend relevant anti-trafficking laws to
include specific provisions to shield victims from prosecution
for unlawful acts committed as a result of being subjected to
trafficking; expand authority beyond police and prosecutors
to confirm whether an individual is a victim of trafficking;
continue training for all police, prosecutors, and judges to
increase trafficking investigations and to encourage the use
of trafficking laws for convictions with dissuasive sentences;
continue to increase and document use of victim services,
such as shelters and residence permits, and ensure availability
of a sufficient number of places to accommodate all victims
in need of shelter; provide specialized shelter and assistance
for child trafficking victims, including Portuguese child sex
trafficking victims; continue to train immigration and social
workers, law enforcement, labor inspectors, and NGOs on victim
identification and referral; strengthen monitoring and regulation
of temporary employment agencies, including employing and
recruiting domestic workers; and increase efforts to reduce the
demand for commercial sex and forced labor, including in
supply chains and government procurement policy.

PORTUGAL

The government-sponsored information campaigns on human
trafficking, several of which focused on forced labor, and
targeted students, migrant workers in Poland, at-risk Polish
communities, and Poles seeking work abroad. The government,
in partnership with an NGO, also provided anti-trafficking
training to labor recruitment agencies. A government-funded
NGO operated a 24-hour hotline for trafficking victims and
witnesses and trained 50 hotline operators on trafficking. The
labor inspectorate pursued investigations into suspected labor
violations. The government provided anti-trafficking training
for its diplomatic and consular personnel. In July 2016, the
government strengthened its law on public procurement to
exclude any entity convicted of human trafficking from public
procurement procedures. To help address experts’ concerns
that Poland may become a destination country for child sex
tourism, the government continued to operate an NGO-designed
internet platform for reporting cases of child sex trafficking.

PROSECUTION

The government increased law enforcement efforts. Article
160 of the penal code prohibits all forms of trafficking and
prescribes penalties of three to 10 years imprisonment (up
to 16 years if there are aggravating circumstances), which are
sufficiently stringent and commensurate with those for other
serious crimes, such as rape. Article 160 also encompasses illegal
adoption and organ removal, crimes that fall outside the U.S.
definition of trafficking in persons. Article 159 prohibits slavery
and prescribes penalties of five to 15 years imprisonment.
Article 175 prohibits child sex trafficking, with penalties of
one to 10 years imprisonment, although it classifies these
crimes as pimping rather than trafficking. Amendments to the
labor code entered into force in September 2016 and extended
liability for violations of labor code worker protections to
employment agencies and subcontractors, including owners
of companies, companies that hire temporary workers, and
contractors supplying workers to companies.
In 2016, the government investigated 83 potential trafficking
cases, compared with 68 total cases in 2015. Authorities did
not report how many cases involved labor or sex trafficking,
but noted the majority of the cases involved labor trafficking
in agriculture. In 2016, authorities prosecuted 77 defendants
in nine cases, a significant increase from the six defendants
prosecuted in 2015. Courts convicted and sentenced 15
traffickers in 2016 (including at least four sex trafficking, one
forced labor, and two domestic servitude cases), compared

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PORTUGAL

with four total convictions in 2015. Sentences for convicted
traffickers in 2016 ranged from 18 months to eight years
imprisonment, compared with eight to 20 years imprisonment
in 2015. Authorities suspended five of the sentences; in three of
those cases they ordered the traffickers to make payments to an
NGO working to address sexual exploitation. The government
did not report any investigations, prosecutions, or convictions
of government employees complicit in human trafficking
offenses. The national police provided training in investigations
and victim identification to 107 officers across four regions, as
well as additional trainings for police, judges, and prosecutors.
The national rapporteur developed training programs for
first responders in districts vulnerable to labor trafficking,
including police, social workers, and health professionals.
In October 2016, the government organized a training and
technical assistance workshop for judges, prosecutors, and
law enforcement personnel in cooperation with a foreign
government.

PROTECTION

The government increased protection efforts. The government’s
national referral system guided victim identification procedures,
and its anti-trafficking agency provided a checklist to law
enforcement and other front-line responders on identifying
trafficking victims. First responders and social service providers
could refer potential victims to services, but only police or
prosecutors could officially “confirm” an individual a victim of
trafficking. GRETA noted, however, the process of confirming
the status of a presumed victim depended on the duration of
the related prosecution, thus making victims’ status in practice
dependent on cooperation with law enforcement. In 2016,
authorities identified 261 potential victims—118 of which were
confirmed victims and 33 of which were Portuguese nationals
exploited abroad—compared with 193 potential and confirmed
victims in 2015. Ninety-three percent of the confirmed victims
exploited in Portugal were victims of forced labor; 32 of the
confirmed and potential victims were children. The government
conducted three large-scale anti-trafficking operations that
resulted in the identification of 81 victims. The government
reported it provided approximately €1 million ($1.05 million)
in 2016 for prosecution and protection activities, including
funding for shelters, repatriation assistance, and support for its
interdisciplinary regional teams’ efforts to identify and assist
victims; the government added a fifth team in 2016. Victims and
their minor children had the right to shelter, health, psychosocial, legal, and language services, as well as education and
employment training. The government-funded three NGOoperated shelters exclusively for trafficking victims—two for
female victims and their minor children and one for adult
male victims. The government reported it referred 62 victims
to these shelters in 2016. GRETA reported the shelters could
each accommodate a limited number of victims and noted a
growing need for additional shelter places as the number of
victims identified annually increased. Adult victims could leave
the shelters at will unless authorities determined victims’ safety
was at risk. There were no specialized services for child trafficking
victims; child victims instead received care under Portugal’s child
protection system and were placed in institutions if they could
not be placed with family members. The government, working
through its five regional anti-trafficking teams, conducted 220
training and awareness sessions for 8,159 first responders,
including health, security, legal, and social services professionals.

330

Authorities encouraged victims to assist with investigations
and prosecutions and informed victims of their right to
protection, assistance, and return to their country of origin.

The government provided comprehensive witness protection to
victims participating in trials; victims could testify by deposition
or videoconference and had access to medical and psychological
services to prevent re-traumatization. The government offered
victims a reflection period of 30 to 60 days, during which they
could recover before deciding whether to cooperate with law
enforcement. The law also provides for a one-year residence
permit for victims cooperating with law enforcement or based
on a personal situation; this permit can be renewed for one year
if authorities determine it is necessary to protect the victim.
Authorities issued 31 residence permits in 2016, compared
with two permits in 2015. The government reported it provided
25 victims with assistance to return to either their countries
of origin or to the country where their immediate family was
located. Portuguese law allows victims to seek compensation
from and file criminal proceedings against their traffickers;
victims may seek compensation from the government if the
convicted trafficker is unable to pay the awarded restitution.
The government did not report whether any victims received
compensation from their traffickers or the government. There
were no reports the government penalized victims for unlawful
acts committed as a result of being subjected to trafficking;
however, GRETA reported the lack of a specific provision in
Portuguese law protecting victims from prosecution for acts
they were coerced to commit could leave victims vulnerable to
individual prosecutors’ decisions to bring charges.

PREVENTION

The government maintained prevention efforts. The government
maintained a multi-stakeholder anti-trafficking network,
including a national rapporteur, representatives from various
government agencies, and three NGOs. The national rapporteur,
who served as the national anti-trafficking coordinator, issued
an annual report on the government’s progress in implementing
the 2014-2017 national action plan. The government’s antitrafficking agency also published an annual and three quarterly
reports detailing the trafficking situation in the country. The
government launched a national awareness campaign in October
2016 that focused on child trafficking and included a hotline
to report suspected trafficking, which resulted in 62 victim
identifications during the year. Labor authorities conducted
inspections of employers and working conditions in an effort
to prevent labor exploitation. The government screened visa
applicants traveling to Portugal for employment to ensure
their job offers were legitimate by vetting work contracts and
travel documents. GRETA noted, however, a need to strengthen
monitoring and regulation of temporary employment and
recruitment agencies, especially those employing and recruiting
domestic workers. The government also conducted a corporate
social responsibility campaign to address labor exploitation and
provided training and capacity building assistance to foreign
governments. The government did not make efforts to reduce the
demand for commercial sex but did make efforts to reduce the
demand for forced labor. Laws prohibiting sexual crimes against
children have extraterritorial reach, allowing the prosecution
of suspected child sex tourists for offenses committed abroad;
there were no reports of Portuguese citizens engaging in child
sex tourism abroad during the year. The government provided
anti-trafficking training to its diplomatic personnel. In 2016, in
preparation for Portuguese troops’ deployment abroad as part
of international peacekeeping missions in 2017, the government
developed anti-trafficking training for peacekeepers.

TRAFFICKING PROFILE

As reported over the past five years, Portugal is a destination and,

QATAR: TIER 2
The Government of Qatar does not fully meet the minimum
standards for the elimination of trafficking; however, it is making
significant efforts to do so. The government demonstrated
increasing efforts compared to the previous reporting period;
therefore, Qatar was upgraded to Tier 2. The government
demonstrated increasing efforts during the reporting period
by establishing a coordinating body to oversee and facilitate
anti-trafficking initiatives and enacting a law that reforms the
sponsorship system to significantly reduce vulnerability to
forced labor. The Wage Protection System (WPS) now covers
over two million workers and substantial progress has been
made towards implementing a new electronic contracting system
and new labor dispute panels designed to greatly accelerate
resolution of labor cases. The government gave Cabinet approval
for new legislation—still awaiting final signature—to better
protect domestic workers and strengthened enforcement against
passport retention. It also increased the number of prosecutions
and convictions for trafficking-related offenses. However,
the government did not meet the minimum standards in
several key areas. It did not prosecute any Qatari employers or
recruitment agencies for forced labor. The government often
did not investigate for trafficking cases that manifest indicators
such as passport retention, labor violations, and complaints of
abuse, and authorities regularly arrested, detained, and deported
potential trafficking victims for immigration violations or for
fleeing their employers or sponsors. The government did not
provide data on the number of victims it identified or assisted,
and it did not hold complicit officials criminally accountable.

QATAR

to a lesser extent, transit and source country for men, women,
and children subjected to forced labor and sex trafficking.
Trafficking victims primarily originate from West Africa, Eastern
Europe, Asia, and, to a lesser extent, Latin America. Most victims
are subjected to forced labor, with seasonal migrant workers
especially vulnerable. Foreign labor trafficking victims are
exploited in agriculture, construction, and domestic service,
while Portuguese victims are exploited in restaurants, agriculture,
and domestic service, primarily in Portugal and Spain. Poor
and uneducated Portuguese in the country’s rural interior are
especially vulnerable to forced labor networks in Spain, which
may extend into Northern and Eastern Europe. Authorities
noted an increase in the number of labor trafficking victims
from Bangladesh, India, Nepal, and Pakistan in 2016. Foreign
women and children, mostly from Africa and Eastern Europe,
and Portuguese women and children are subjected to sex
trafficking within the country. Portuguese victims have also
been subjected to sex trafficking in other countries, mostly
in Europe. Children from Eastern Europe, including those
of Roma descent, are subjected to forced begging and forced
criminal activity in Portugal. Organized criminal networks
operate trafficking rings in the country; some recruit victims
abroad to exploit in Portugal, while others recruit domestically
to exploit both within Portugal and abroad. Authorities report
traffickers bring women and children, many from West Africa,
to Portugal to claim asylum and obtain false documents before
bringing them to other European countries to be exploited in
sex trafficking.

RECOMMENDATIONS FOR QATAR

Significantly increase efforts to investigate indicators of
trafficking, prosecute trafficking offenses, and convict and
punish traffickers, particularly for forced labor crimes, under
the anti-trafficking law; continue to implement reforms to the
sponsorship system so it does not provide excessive power to
sponsors or employers in granting and maintaining the legal
status of migrant workers, adopt reforms to protect migrant
workers from abusive practices and working conditions that
may amount to forced labor; fully implement the electronic
contracting system to reduce instances of contract substitution;
enact and fully implement the new domestic worker law, that
conforms with international standards, and extend labor law
protection to domestic workers; strengthen enforcement of
the law criminalizing passport retention; ensure employers do
not exploit workers using the WPS by collecting money from
them before depositing their salary electronically; implement
the WPS for all companies, including small and medium-sized
companies, joint ventures, and foreign-owned companies;
enforce the law requiring that migrant workers receive residence
cards within one week of arrival; consistently apply formal
procedures to identify victims of all forms of trafficking
proactively among vulnerable groups, such as those arrested
for immigration violations or prostitution or who flee abusive
employers; provide victims comprehensive protection services;
implement the mandate of the newly formed intragovernmental
anti-trafficking committee; collect and report data pertaining to
the number of victims identified and the services provided to
them; provide anti-trafficking training to government officials,
targeting the judicial sector; and continue to conduct antitrafficking public awareness campaigns.

PROSECUTION

The government expanded anti-trafficking law enforcement
efforts. The 2011 anti-trafficking law prohibits all forms of sex
and labor trafficking and prescribes penalties of up to 15 years
imprisonment and/or up to 300,000 Qatari riyal ($82,390) in
fines; heads of recruiting agencies found guilty of trafficking
face up to five years imprisonment and a fine of up to 200,000
Qatari riyal ($54,930). These penalties are sufficiently stringent
and commensurate with those prescribed for other serious
crimes, such as kidnapping. By allowing for a fine in lieu of
imprisonment, the prescribed punishment is not commensurate
with those for other serious crimes, such as rape. Under the
2015 sponsorship reform law, the government criminalizes the
confiscation of workers’ passports, punishable by a maximum
fine of 25,000 Qatari riyal ($6,870).
During the reporting period, the government reported
investigating 93 potential trafficking cases, compared to 24
investigated in 2015, some of which likely involved other crimes
often conflated with trafficking, including smuggling. The
government prosecuted and convicted one suspected trafficker
under the 2011 anti-trafficking law. In addition, the government
achieved 28 trafficking-related convictions, including facilitating
prostitution and unscrupulous employment practices. In

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332

2016, officials did not prosecute any Qatari employers or
recruitment agencies for forced labor under the anti-trafficking
law, as compared to its conviction of two private companies
in 2015. Under various sections of the labor code, the Public
Prosecutor’s Office convicted up to 19 companies for labor
law contraventions, including failure to comply with work
hour limitations, grant a mandatory rest day, or pay overtime.
Labor courts handed down 2,039 judgments in 2016, including
1,201 cases of forced payments of denied or delayed wages and
benefits, in addition to fines, which reached as high as 100,000
Qatari riyal ($27,460), according to news reports. During the
reporting period, a government-run media source reported
that Qatar’s higher criminal court upheld a 2015 trafficking
conviction of a non-Qatari national; however, for another
foreigner, it reduced a sentence for involuntary manslaughter
of a domestic worker and involvement in human trafficking
crimes from eight years imprisonment and a fine of 350,000
Qatari riyal ($96,130) to one year and a 100,000 Qatari riyal
($27,460) fine. The government increased enforcement of its
law prohibiting passport retention by prosecuting 48 cases and
administering fines to the perpetrators of passport retention,
some of which likely occurred outside of the current reporting
year; however, it did not investigate these and other potential
trafficking indicators for trafficking crimes related to these cases.
Qatari labor protections remained biased in favor of the
employer. Several government agencies did not categorize forced
labor or exploitation of domestic workers as human trafficking,
but rather as assault, immigration, or labor law violations. The
government’s primary solution for resolving labor violations
continued to be a transfer of employer sponsorship, mandated
back payment of wages and fines, and blacklisting of companies
without efforts to investigate whether the violations constituted
forced labor. The government did not report investigations,
prosecutions, or convictions of government officials for
complicity in human trafficking offenses. Some Qatari diplomats
were implicated in alleged forced labor of their domestic
workers. In October 2016, two domestic workers filed a civil suit
against a former Qatari diplomat posted in the United States
alleging the official withheld their wages, forced them to work
excessive hours, and threatened deportation and blacklisting,
among other accusations indicative of forced labor; a ruling on
the case remained pending at the close of the reporting period.
In early 2017, a Qatari official formerly posted to the United
States as a diplomat agreed to a confidential settlement after
a federal court in Virginia issued a default judgment in a civil
suit in May 2014 in the amount of nearly $500,000 for claims
the official subjected a domestic worker to forced labor. After
the parties agreed to the settlement, the court set aside the
default judgment. In another case, a Qatari military official and
his spouse were indicted by a federal court in Texas and pled
guilty to visa fraud related to the alleged forced labor of two
domestic workers they had employed when in the United States
on temporary duty. As part of their February 2016 sentence,
the couple was ordered to pay the workers restitution in the
amount of $120,000, which they did. Soon thereafter the
couple departed the United States. The government of Qatar
did not report taking any action to hold the official accountable.
During the year, the government coordinated with several
international organizations and civil society stakeholders to
improve training programs for federal employees. The police
training institute of the Ministry of Interior (MOI) conducted
courses and workshops for an unknown number of officers
and staff who investigate and work on trafficking cases. Judges,
inspectors, and police officers continued participation in a
multi-year training program with an international organization
on combating trafficking.

PROTECTION

The government did not report the number of trafficking
victims it identified, referred for care, or assisted during the
reporting period, and many victims of forced labor likely
remained unidentified and unprotected. The Protection and
Social Rehabilitation Center shelter, to which the government
funded approximately 90 million Qatari riyal ($24.7 million),
provided basic medical care and housing for female workers
who fled their sponsors as well as female and child victims
of violence; shelter officials did not use established protocols
to proactively screen vulnerable individuals for trafficking
indicators. Officials and law enforcement personnel did not
report proactively screening for any trafficking indicators among
domestic workers, a vulnerable population typically isolated
and excluded from protections under labor laws. During the
reporting period, the Cabinet approved legislation governing
the employment of domestic workers. While the text is not
public, the government reported it would enroll domestic
workers in the WPS and require adequate employer-provided
food and accommodation, medical benefits, one day off per
week, limited working hours, guaranteed overtime pay, sick
leave, full end-of-service payments, and use of the formal
contract system. However, at the close of the reporting period,
the legislation awaited the emir’s signature to become law. The
government donated 364,000 Qatari riyal ($99,970) to an
international organization’s trust fund to support trafficking
victims. The government continued to use its national victim
referral system to coordinate victim identification and referral
efforts between government authorities and NGOs. The referral
system included the provision of shelter, health care, and legal
assistance to trafficking victims. During the reporting period,
victims were able to access the shelter even if their employers
filed charges against them and maintained the right to leave
the shelter without supervision.
Systemic hurdles limited victim protection and access to justice.
In 2016, there were no reports of trafficking victims being
prosecuted for unlawful acts committed as a direct result of being
subjected to trafficking; however, authorities arrested, detained,
and deported potential trafficking victims for immigration
violations and fleeing their employers or sponsors. For four
months in 2016, the government offered an amnesty period
during which workers facing charges in Qatar could apply for
repatriation without penalty—13,579 workers utilized this
opportunity. The government occasionally held some victims
in detention centers due to debts allegedly owed or false charges
of theft filed by their employers. The government encouraged
victims to testify against their traffickers by providing free legal
counseling and allowing them to pursue financial compensation;
it was unclear how many victims testified or received these
benefits during the reporting period. The Qatari legal system
lacked adequate privacy laws to protect victims against potential
retribution and often did not provide adequate assistance or
protection for victims during legal proceedings. Victims who
lodged complaints were sometimes the subject of spurious
counter-charges by their respective employers that resulted
in administrative deportation proceedings. While more than
4,000 victims filed official complaints against their employers
for restitution of wages during the year, domestic workers—
who were not covered under the labor law—continued to face
difficulties seeking legal redress for abuses through civil court
action. In practice, victims were only able to change employers
or return to their respective countries of origin with sponsor
permission at the end of their contract, or with assistance from
the MOI or Ministry of Labor. The government is required to
assist workers who wish to prematurely terminate their contracts

PREVENTION

The government increased its efforts to prevent trafficking
in persons. The government formally enacted Law No. 21 of
2015 Regulating the Entry, Exit, and Residence of Foreigners
and developed a new employer contract system applicable to
all expatriate workers in Qatar, including domestic workers.
The new e-contract system could reduce vulnerabilities to
forced labor if fully implemented. Workers still require exit
permits to depart the country. In accordance with Law No. 21,
the government established a formal “Grievance Committee”
that reviews within 72 hours rejected requests for exit permits
to depart the country. In operation since December 2016, this
committee addressed 498 denied exit permits, of which it upheld
five—all of which involved unresolved legal issues. Although
the government offers complimentary legal and translation
assistance during court proceedings, it did not report how
many workers who submitted a grievance received such services.
Also in accordance with the law, the government initiated the
process of converting all contracts into duplicative e-contracts
in order for one contract to be on file in Qatar and the other
in the respective source country. This new contract system
includes standardized language, including in local languages
of major labor-sending countries, and online instructional
guidance in Arabic and English. In addition, under the new law
employees are not required to have a “no objection certificate”
to seek alternate employers upon conclusion of their contracts,
although workers are still required to have this certificate to
change jobs in the midst of an existing contract, which can be
up to five years. Migrant workers are no longer required to leave
the country for two years before seeking new employment in
Qatar, thereby reducing the imperative for laborers seeking
long-term employment in Qatar to reengage in potentially
exploitative recruitment relationships. Since implementation
of Law No. 21, the government has transferred approximately
5,200 workers to new employers. Although the sponsorship
law requires an employer to secure a residence card for laborers
within seven days, reports indicated this sometimes did not
happen; the lack of a residence card essentially restricts their
ability to access health care or lodge complaints with authorities.
In advance of the December 2016 launch of Law 21 of 2015,
officials conducted at least five lectures and town hall meetings
reaching an unknown number of foreign diplomats, community
leaders, business executives, and employers, and produced
media publications to explain the new reforms and how workers
could use these legal changes to more easily change employers
or leave the country.
For most of the reporting period, the government did not
appoint a lead for anti-trafficking efforts after the previous
oversight body was dissolved. Nonetheless, the government
continued to pursue various goals established in the 2016
written plan to combat trafficking. A new anti-trafficking
committee, which includes representatives of both government
offices and NGOs, was approved in October 2016 and members
met unofficially to draft a new strategy for 2017-2022, which

prioritizes prevention, protection, judicial pursuits, and regional
and international cooperation. The government allocated
approximately 7.2 million Qatari riyal ($1.97 million) for
the development and implementation of the draft strategy.
The government-funded Protection and Social Rehabilitation
Center promoted awareness campaigns on various forms of
abuse, including trafficking, and outlined where to receive
help; these campaigns targeted women, domestic workers, and
exploitative employers. In addition, the government sought
to raise awareness among the local population through a
new slavery exhibit as part of a museum consortium in Doha
that showcased information on human trafficking trends in
Qatar. The government published manuals for expatriates
in Arabic, English, and several source country languages on
proactive victim identification, domestic worker rights, and
ways to combat trafficking in Qatar. It continued to publish
and disseminate “worker rights” pamphlets in English, Arabic,
Hindi, Bengali, Nepali, and Tagalog that contained relevant
articles from the labor and sponsorship laws, in addition to
the number for the complaint hotline, which received more
than 4,200 calls during the year. The quasi-government Qatar
Foundation and the Qatar 2022 Supreme Committee copublished mandatory standards documents, which included
workers’ rights and contractual incentives for contractors to
adhere to Qatari labor laws.
In 2016, the government employed 397 labor inspectors, up
from 350 in 2015, who conducted more than 44,500 labor
inspections and filed 1,142 labor violation reports, though
the government did not provide an exact figure on the total
amount of fines placed on companies or how many fines it
administered, and many of the inspections fell outside of
the reporting period. The government canceled the licenses
of 93 recruitment agencies, issued 78 warnings, wrote seven
infringement reports, and revoked the licenses of 24 companies,
compared to 15 in 2015, that MOI’s routine inspection and
monitoring found to be noncompliant with the labor law;
however, it did not report if it referred any companies, or their
owners or staff, for further prosecution or whether it achieved
any convictions for those suspected of illegal recruitment
activities. Officials blacklisted more than 5,500 companies and
2,000 individuals in 2016 for unscrupulous practices, such as
nonpayment of workers’ wages, exceeding the blacklisting of
2,417 companies the previous reporting period. In total, the
government of Qatar took 34,662 decisions against companies
for violations of either the labor law or the WPS. The government
continued its rollout of the WPS, which requires employers to
pay workers electronically and increases penalties for violating
the labor code. In 2016, the system included bank accounts for
over two million migrant workers and allowed for the tracking
of unpaid wages; labor sending embassies reported a decline
in unpaid or delayed wage cases by nearly 60 percent. The
WPS detected more than 600 companies for labor violations;
however, it remained unclear whether the system flagged any
potential trafficking cases for criminal investigation. Allegations
of employees forced to pay employers a certain amount of
money before having their wages transferred electronically
continued to exist, though improved access to ATMs, online
banking mechanisms, and awareness campaigns reduced
reported instances of this potential loophole in the system.
The government continued to address recruitment issues and
worker rights through 36 bilateral agreements and five MOUs
with labor-sending countries. The government did not report
efforts to reduce the demand for commercial sex acts. The
government did not regularly provide anti-trafficking training
for its international peacekeepers or diplomatic personnel.

QATAR

and transfer employers in the event of employment malfeasance.
The government reported the transference of 1,784 workers over
the objections of their employers to new companies, compared
to 1,762 in 2015. MOI’s Search and Follow Up and Human
Rights departments coordinated with embassies to assist in
the repatriation of migrant workers, including an unknown
number of domestic workers. MOI reported providing 7,506
complimentary repatriation tickets in 2016, compared to 10,086
tickets in 2015. The government reported it did not deport those
who faced retaliation or retribution in their country of origin.

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ROMANIA

TRAFFICKING PROFILE

As reported over the past five years, Qatar is a destination
country for men and women subjected to forced labor and,
to a much lesser extent, forced prostitution. Men and women
from Nepal, India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, the Philippines,
Indonesia, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Thailand, Egypt, Syria, Jordan,
Morocco, Tunisia, Kenya, Nigeria, Cameroon, Togo, and
China voluntarily migrate to Qatar as unskilled laborers and
domestic workers, often paying illegal and exorbitant fees to
unscrupulous recruiters in the labor-sending countries, thereby
increasing their vulnerability to debt bondage. Some workers
subsequently face conditions indicative of involuntary servitude,
to include restricted movement, passport confiscation, exit
permit retention, and threats of deportation or abuse. Over
90 percent of the country’s workforce is comprised of men
and women from South and Southeast Asia, Africa, and the
Middle East, who work primarily in construction, oil and gas,
the service industry, transportation, and domestic work sectors;
some are subjected to forced labor. Female domestic workers
are particularly vulnerable to trafficking, because they are not
protected under Qatari labor laws and because officials lack
authority to enter private residences. Some foreign women in
prostitution, including some former domestic workers, are
subjected to sex trafficking in Qatar.
Qatar’s low-skilled migrant workers continue to comprise
the largest group at risk of trafficking. Many migrant workers
arriving in Qatar pay exorbitant fees to recruiters in their home
countries, and some recruitment agencies in labor-sending
countries lure foreign workers with fraudulent employment
contracts. Individuals in Qatar sell visas to migrants, enabling
migrant workers to work illegally and without legal recourse
against their respective sponsors; the sale of such visas may
also lead to debt bondage. Businesses and individuals in Qatar
reportedly falsely promise migrants employment opportunities.
Qatar’s sponsorship system places significant power in the hands
of employers, who have unilateral power to cancel residence
permits, prevent workers from changing employers, and deny
permission to leave the country. Debt-laden migrants who face
abuse or are misled often avoid reporting their exploitation out
of fear of reprisal or deportation, the protracted recourse process,
or lack of knowledge of their legal rights, making them more
vulnerable to forced labor, including debt bondage. Instances
of delayed or unpaid salaries are a leading driver of forced
labor in Qatar. Many migrant workers often live in confined,
unsanitary conditions, and many complain of excessive working
hours and hazardous working conditions; threats of deportation
and physical or financial harm; and physical, mental, or sexual
abuse. According to a 2014 study by Qatar University’s Social
and Economic Survey Research Institute, 76 percent of expatriate
workers’ passports were in their employers’ possession, despite
laws against passport confiscation.

ROMANIA: TIER 2

334

The Government of Romania does not fully meet the minimum
standards for the elimination of trafficking; however, it is making
significant efforts to do so. The government demonstrated
increasing efforts compared to the previous reporting period;
therefore, Romania remained on Tier 2. The government
demonstrated increasing efforts in law enforcement, including
sentencing two complicit officials, as well as its work with NGOs
to identify a large number of victims during the reporting period.
The government began to develop mechanisms to provide

financial support to NGOs but did not finalize this mechanism
during the reporting period. The government did not meet the
minimum standards in several key areas. Judges continued to
lack specialized training on working with trafficking cases and
victims, which had detrimental effects on witness protection,
restitution for victims, and sentencing for perpetrators. The
government’s victim assistance remained limited, leaving most
victims unprotected, susceptible to re-traumatization or without
services, and vulnerable to re-trafficking.

RECOMMENDATIONS FOR ROMANIA

Increase services for victims, including by allocating public
funding for NGOs to provide services; investigate, prosecute,
and convict traffickers, including complicit officials, and
seek and obtain sentences that are sufficiently stringent and
commensurate with the severity of the crime; significantly
increase training on working with victims for police, judges,
state attorneys, and other relevant officials; increase efforts
to identify potential victims proactively among vulnerable
populations, such as undocumented migrants, foreign workers,
Roma, and children involved in begging, including by training
labor inspectors; improve victim access to medical assistance
and increase quality of psychological counseling; exempt victims
from prosecution for crimes committed as a direct result of being
subjected to human trafficking; exempt all trafficking victims
who testify in trials from the online disclosure of their names
to incentivize greater victim participation in prosecutions and
protect participating witnesses from retaliation and stigma;
finalize and adopt the 2018-2022 national action plan; improve
the victim application process for social insurance coverage,
which requires victims to obtain identification documents
from their home districts, presenting subsequent logistical
and financial hurdles; and revise the restitution mechanism to
include consistently informing victims of their rights to apply
for compensation, minimizing victim fees, and increasing
efforts to ensure victims receive compensation.

PROSECUTION

The government increased efforts to prosecute and convict
complicit officials, but otherwise maintained law enforcement
efforts. Articles 210, 211, and 367 of the penal code prohibit
all forms of trafficking and prescribe penalties of three to
10 years imprisonment, which are sufficiently stringent and
commensurate with penalties prescribed for other serious
crimes, such as rape. Authorities opened 864 new trafficking
cases in 2016 (858 in 2015), and prosecutors indicted 358
suspected traffickers in 2016 (480 in 2015). Courts convicted
472 traffickers in 2016 (331 in 2015). Seventy-eight percent
of convicted traffickers were sentenced to time in prison—as
opposed to suspended jail sentences or educational measures—
compared with 68 percent in 2015. Most prison terms in
2016 ranged from one to more than 23 years imprisonment.
Courts levied approximately 200,000 lei ($46,460) against
traffickers in 2016, compared with none in 2015. Authorities
continued to participate in joint investigative teams with several
European counterparts. The government provided training to

PROTECTION

The government maintained minimal efforts in victim
protection, although identification efforts remained sufficient.
Public officials and NGOs identified 757 victims in 2016,
compared with 880 in 2015 and 757 in 2014; these statistics
included victims from ongoing investigations and prosecutions
initiated in previous years. Of these victims, 47 percent were
children, 78 percent were female, and 68 percent were subject
to sex trafficking. Police used the government’s national victim
identification and referral mechanism, although observers noted
inconsistencies in its use across the country. The government
relied on NGOs to assist victims, but did not provide any
financial support due to a legal preclusion of direct funding for
NGOs. In 2016, an effort to change the law to permit funding
to NGOs stalled; however, the government continued to pursue
the change at the end of the reporting period. Additionally, the
government pursued a program to channel a Swiss-funded grant
(approximately $2 million) with the Romanian government
co-financing 15 percent to NGOs for victim assistance efforts.
Nearly 42 percent (314) of registered victims, including 47
repatriated victims, benefited from rehabilitative assistance
provided by public institutions and NGOs. Officials referred
victims to government-run domestic violence or homeless
shelters when NGO-run trafficking shelters were full. Local
governments financed and operated emergency assistance
and transit centers that could assist repatriated victims. Child
trafficking victims were placed in general child facilities or in
facilities for children with disabilities run by the governmental
child protection service, which generally did not offer specialized
assistance and frequently re-traumatized children. The law
entitled all victims to medical and psychological care, legal aid,
and reintegration support; however, observers noted the law
did not necessarily provide for more than one mental health
counseling session. In addition, access to medical care was
impeded by the process for obtaining identity documents, which
required Romanian victims to return to their home districts,
despite the logistical and financial hurdles this presented
for many trafficking victims. For Romanian victims abroad,
Romanian embassies issued free travel documents and the
government, NGOs, or an international organization paid for
transport costs; 47 victims benefited from these services in 2016.
The law permitted foreign victims who cooperate with
authorities to receive a renewable, six-month temporary
residence permit. The law also permitted foreign victims to
request asylum and granted asylum-seekers the right to work
after three months. In 2016, authorities identified one foreign
victim from Italy, and an NGO identified one foreign victim
from Armenia. An independent expert reported there were

many unidentified foreign victims in Romania. Labor inspectors
were neither trained in detecting trafficking indicators nor
allowed to conduct unannounced worksite inspections. In
2016, 923 victims—identified during the reporting period and
in prior years—participating in criminal prosecutions accessed
services available to victims assisting law enforcement; these
services included a police escort to the court or prosecutor’s
office, information on trial procedures, and facilitation of
remote testimony. Some victims reportedly chose not to testify
because the justice ministry published the names of all trial
witnesses, including children, on its public website, putting
victim-witnesses at risk of retaliation and societal or familial
ostracization. Observers reported courtrooms were sometimes
hostile environments in which traffickers and their supporters
in the audience took photos of those pressing charges and
verbalized death threats. The law permitted victims to provide
testimony from a separate room, although this was rarely
done in practice due to judges’ general preference for live
testimony, state-provided lawyers’ lack of experience with
traumatized victims, and a general bias against victims exploited
in prostitution. The law entitled victims to restitution from
their traffickers; however, victims generally could not afford the
fees necessary to initiate civil trials or, in cases in which judges
ordered restitution, pay court officers to collect the money owed
from traffickers. Additionally, NGOs reported victims rarely
received restitution money because when ordered by courts to
pay restitution, traffickers did not do so, noting one NGO had
not received any of the €40,000 ($42,150) it won from cases
finalized in 2016. Prosecutors typically dropped charges and
fines against victims for crimes committed as a direct result of
being subject to human trafficking, but they still charged with
theft some victims forced to steal for traffickers.

ROMANIA

police officers on trafficking detection and referrals, but NGOs
reported a large portion of the police as well as judges lacked
specialized training and sensitivity toward sex trafficking cases
and trafficking issues. Judges typically did not differentiate
between prostitution and sex trafficking as distinct crimes,
which had detrimental effects on compensation for victims and
sentencing for perpetrators. Observers frequently criticized police
for being unaware of the exploitation potential in prostitution,
leading to a failure to check for indicators of force, fraud,
or coercion when encountering individuals in prostitution.
The government reported two cases of official complicity in
2016. In one case, a police officer was sentenced to two years
imprisonment for repeated trafficking of minors and nine
months for establishing a criminal enterprise. In the other
case, a judge received eight months for using the services of an
exploited person and 16 months imprisonment for blackmail.

PREVENTION

The government maintained prevention efforts. The National
Agency against Trafficking in Persons (ANITP) continued to
publish monitoring reports, research reports, and statistics on
the techniques traffickers used to manage victims, trafficking
routes, profiles of traffickers, and the effectiveness of antitrafficking measures. ANITP implemented three large-scale
national prevention campaigns, a separate awareness campaign
targeting the Romanian community in the United Kingdom, and
several other educational prevention campaigns and projects,
including a short film competition in which filmmakers could
promote messages for combating trafficking. ANITP was in the
process of developing a 2018-2022 national action plan at the
close of the reporting period; however, a 2017 action plan was
not developed. The government has never reported punishing
a recruitment company for trafficking-related crimes, despite a
2006 amendment to the criminal code that prohibits Romaniabased recruitment companies from facilitating the exploitation
of citizens abroad. The government continued to operate a
hotline during regular business hours that primarily focused
on informing Romanians about working abroad safely. The
government took steps to reduce demand for commercial sex
acts and forced labor. The government provided anti-trafficking
training for its diplomatic personnel and its troops prior to
their deployment abroad as part of international peacekeeping
missions.

TRAFFICKING PROFILE

As reported over the past five years, Romania is a source,
transit, and destination country for men, women, and children
subjected to forced labor and women and children subjected to
sex trafficking. Romania is a significant source of sex and labor

335

RUSSIA

trafficking victims throughout Europe. Romanian men, women,
and children are subjected to labor trafficking in agriculture,
construction, domestic service, hotels, and manufacturing, as
well as forced begging and theft in Romania and other European
countries. Romanian women and children are victims of sex
trafficking in Romania and other European countries. Romani
children are particularly vulnerable to forced begging and sex
trafficking. Romania is a destination country for a limited
number of foreign trafficking victims, including sex trafficking
victims from Italy and Armenia. Romanians living in privately
run institutions for the mentally disabled were vulnerable to
forced labor. Government officials have been convicted of
human trafficking crimes, and there have been reports of local
officials obstructing trafficking investigations.

operated labor camps; create a national anti-trafficking action
plan and establish a central coordinator for government efforts;
increase efforts to investigate and prosecute trafficking offenses
and convict traffickers including complicit officials, respecting
due process; implement a formal policy to ensure identified
trafficking victims are not punished or detained in deportation
centers for acts committed as a direct result of being subjected
to trafficking; provide victims access to legal alternatives to
deportation to countries where they face hardship or retribution;
create a central repository for publicly available information on
investigation, prosecution, conviction, and sentencing data for
trafficking cases; and increase efforts to raise public awareness
of both sex and labor trafficking.

PROSECUTION

RUSSIA: TIER 3
The Government of Russia does not fully meet the minimum
standards for the elimination of trafficking and is not making
significant efforts to do so; therefore, Russia remained on Tier
3. Despite the lack of significant efforts, there were reports
some authorities took steps to address trafficking, including
the Moscow police issuing informal permits to allow three
victims to stay in Russia while police investigated their cases
and easing the acquisition of work permits for citizens from
select countries to reduce vulnerability to trafficking. However,
the government maintained, and recently expanded, bilateral
contracts with the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK
or North Korea) under which the DPRK operated labor camps on
Russian soil and subjected thousands of North Korean workers
to forced labor. Authorities routinely detained and deported
potential forced labor victims without screening for signs of
exploitation, and prosecuted victims forced into prostitution
for prostitution offenses. The government offered no funding
or programs for trafficking victims’ rehabilitation, while several
privately run shelters remained closed due to lack of funding
and the government’s crackdown on civil society. Authorities
did not report identifying or assisting any victims and lacked a
process for the identification of victims and their referral to care.
The government did not consistently provide comprehensive
information on prosecution efforts, but the limited available
data and media reports indicate prosecutions remained low
compared with the scope of Russia’s trafficking problem. As in
previous years, the government did not draft a national strategy
or assign roles and responsibilities to government agencies.

RECOMMENDATIONS FOR RUSSIA

336

Allocate funding to state bodies and anti-trafficking NGOs
to provide specialized assistance and rehabilitative care to
trafficking victims; develop formal national procedures to
guide law enforcement, labor inspectors, and other government
officials in identifying and referring victims to service
providers, particularly among labor migrants and individuals
in prostitution; investigate allegations and prevent the use
of forced labor in construction projects and North Korean-

The government maintained minimal law enforcement efforts. It
did not consistently collect and share information on trafficking
cases or maintain comprehensive statistics about criminal cases,
making it difficult to assess the adequacy or effectiveness of
law enforcement efforts. Media reports and publicly available
data reveal some details on trafficking cases investigated and
prosecuted during the reporting period, although the limited
number of cases reported did not appear to constitute an
adequate law enforcement response compared to the estimated
prevalence of trafficking in Russia. From the limited available
information, authorities prosecuted trafficking suspects through
articles 127.1 and 127.2 of the criminal code, which criminalizes
“trade in people” and “use of slave labor.” These articles
prescribe punishments of up to 10 years imprisonment, which
are sufficiently stringent and commensurate with punishments
prescribed for other serious crimes, such as rape.
In April 2016, the government disbanded the federal migration
service and transferred most of its responsibilities, including
maintaining statistics, to the Ministry of Internal Affairs. In
2016 Russia’s federal-level investigative committee publicly
reported seven investigations, six under article 127.1 and one
under 127.2 in 2016. The government did not report initiating
any prosecutions. The Supreme Court released statistics showing
authorities convicted 28 traffickers, 24 under article 127.1
and four convictions under article 127.2. Twenty of these
convictions resulted in a prison sentence, although eight served
no prison time due to suspended sentences or parole. Russian
prosecutors may have charged some sex trafficking cases under
articles 240 and 241, which criminalizes the inducement to and
organization of prostitution, and charged some cases under
article 322.1, which criminalizes organized illegal migration,
but the government provided no public information on whether
any of these cases involved force, fraud, or coercion.
As in the previous reporting period, the government met with
NGOs to discuss an amendment to article 151 (Involvement
of a Minor in the Commission of Antisocial Actions) to close
a loophole that allowed adults to avoid criminal liability for
exploiting children for begging—a common practice in many
parts of Russia—but the law was not amended. Law enforcement
training centers provided lectures and courses on trafficking
for investigators and prosecutors. Due to insufficient funding,
NGOs based in St. Petersburg did not conduct trafficking
training for officials; there was no information suggesting
NGOs elsewhere conducted such training. Russian authorities
cooperated in some international investigations involving
foreign nationals trafficked in Russia. The DPRK government
continued to send workers to Russia under bilateral contracts
with Russia and other foreign governments. Despite credible
reports of slave-like conditions of North Koreans working in

PROTECTION

The government generally did not undertake efforts to protect
human trafficking victims and did not publicly report having
identified or assisted victims. The government did not provide
funding or programs for protective services dedicated to
trafficking victims. Without specific legislation differentiating
trafficking victims from victims of other crimes, government
agencies claimed they had neither the means nor authority to
provide assistance programs specifically for trafficking victims.
Two dedicated trafficking shelters that provided protective
services to trafficking victims and operated between 2011 and
2014 remained closed. In Moscow, a shelter run by the Russian
Orthodox Church and an international organization remained
closed due to lack of funding; the shelter cared for dozens of
foreign trafficking victims between 2012 and 2015. During
the reporting period, a homeless shelter run by the Russian
Orthodox Church in Kitezh began accepting trafficking victims
and offered them food and housing, though not medical or
psychological care; the government did not provide financial
support for the shelter. Additionally, an eight-bed shelter for
trafficking victims, run by the Russian Red Cross with foreign
funding in a space granted by the St. Petersburg municipal
government, did not serve any identified victims of trafficking
after it suspended many of its operations in the previous
reporting period. The Red Cross continued to run a hotline,
which primarily served labor migrants and did not identify
any victims of trafficking amongst its callers. A similar shelter
established by an international organization in cooperation
with Vladivostok authorities remained closed following its
loss of funding in the reporting period. Similar to the previous
reporting period, the government took steps to limit or ban the
activities of other civil society groups, including some dedicated
to anti-trafficking activities. Further, the government’s efforts
to exert pressure on NGOs through the implementation of
restrictive laws also targeted those providing protective services
for trafficking victims and at least two locally registered NGOs
working on trafficking issues were designated as “foreign agents.”
The government did not report identifying or assisting any
victims. Experts estimated more than 5,000 cases of trafficking
in 2015. The government did not develop or employ a formal
system to guide officials in proactive identification of victims or
their referral to available services. An international organization
received 157 referrals, from both government and NGOs, for
trafficking victims in 2016, of which 32 were sex trafficking
victims and 77 were victims of forced labor or begging. A second
NGO assisted 25 victims, who were primarily subjected to sex
trafficking. According to media reports, authorities provided
assistance to at least one Russian national victim who had
been repatriated with the assistance of the Russian embassy.
Repatriation costs were reportedly covered by authorities on
a case by case basis. An NGO reported Russian authorities
occasionally prosecuted sex trafficking victims for prostitution

offenses. Authorities routinely detained and deported possible
foreign victims with no effort to screen them as victims or
refer them to care providers. However, during the reporting
period, observers found Moscow city police had informally
begun providing “permit letters” with a validity of one year
to individuals the police determined were trafficking victims;
there were three known beneficiaries as of January 2017.
While the letters offered no official status to the migrants,
they allowed victims to remain in the Moscow region without
risk of deportation or prosecution while police investigated
their trafficking case. A February 2016 agreement between
Russia and DPRK enabled Russian authorities to deport North
Koreans residing “illegally” in Russia, possibly even for those
with refugee status. By potentially removing the protections
associated with refugee status, the new agreement may increase
the risk of labor trafficking for North Koreans working under the
state-to-state agreement. Civil society observers reported some
working-level officials within Russia’s investigative agencies
referred victims to protective services on an ad hoc basis. Police
regularly avoided registering victims in criminal cases that were
unlikely to be solved in order not to risk lower conviction
rates. Authorities did not screen vulnerable populations, such
as migrant workers, DPRK workers, or foreign women entering
Russia on student visas despite evidence of their intention to
work or other vulnerabilities to trafficking.

RUSSIA

Russia, the Russian government did not report any investigations
into those conditions. Additionally, as of January 1, 2017,
compulsory labor within Russian correctional centers was
reintroduced—as written into the Russian criminal codex in
December 2011. The Russian labor code does not include an
article which states that labor performed as part of a judicial
sentence is considered to be forced labor—which is banned
under Russia’s constitution—and therefore could provide a
possible loophole for authorities to use forced labor as an
alternative punishment. The government did not report any
investigations, prosecutions, or convictions of government
employees complicit in human trafficking offenses.

PREVENTION

The government maintained limited efforts to prevent trafficking.
In 2016, the government continued to issue work permits for
citizens of select countries who can travel to Russia without a
visa. By legalizing migrant labor, the system may reduce the
vulnerability of some migrant workers; however, the permits
contained large upfront fees and obtaining them sometimes
required multiple time-consuming trips to the migrant
processing center. Legislation implemented in January 2016
limited the amount of time an employer can send employees to
work for other firms and required these outsourced employees
to earn the same amount as permanent employees. These
regulations may reduce the vulnerability of temporary workers
loaned to other companies, a practice known as “outstaffing”
in Russia. Authorities conducted scheduled and unannounced
audits of firms employing foreign laborers to check for violations
of immigration and labor laws—with penalties in the form of
having foreign worker permits revoked. Despite these efforts,
the government made no efforts to develop public awareness
of forced labor or sex trafficking. Russia did not have a national
action plan, nor is there a designated lead agency to coordinate
anti-trafficking measures; legislation that would implement
such a framework has been stalled at the highest levels within
the presidential administration. The government did not have a
body to monitor its anti-trafficking activities or make periodic
assessments measuring its performance. The government did
not make efforts to reduce the demand for commercial sex
acts or forced labor. The government reported providing antitrafficking training to its diplomatic personnel.

TRAFFICKING PROFILE

As reported over the past five years, Russia is a source, transit,
and destination country for men, women, and children
subjected to forced labor and sex trafficking. Labor trafficking
remains the predominant human trafficking problem within
Russia. Workers from Russia and other countries in Europe,
Central Asia, and Southeast Asia—including Vietnam and
DPRK—are subjected to forced labor in Russia. Instances
of labor trafficking have been reported in the construction,

337

RWANDA

manufacturing, logging, agricultural, brick factories, textile,
grocery store, maritime, and domestic service industries, as well
as in forced begging, waste sorting, and street sweeping. Official
and unofficial statistics estimate there are between five and 12
million foreign workers in Russia, of which the government
estimates 1.5 million are irregular migrants. Foreign laborers
work primarily in construction, housing, and utilities, and as
public transport drivers, seasonal agricultural workers, tailors
and garment workers in underground garment factories, and
vendors at marketplaces and shops. Many of these migrant
workers experience exploitative labor conditions characteristic
of trafficking cases, such as withholding of identity documents,
non-payment for services rendered, physical abuse, lack of safety
measures, or extremely poor living conditions. Subcontracting
practices in Russia’s construction industry result in cases of
non-payment or slow payment of wages, which leave workers
at risk of labor trafficking. Organized crime syndicates from
Russia sometimes play a role in exploiting labor migrants, and
corruption among some government officials and within some
state agencies creates an environment enabling some trafficking
crimes. There are reports of Russian citizens facing forced labor
abroad. There are also reports of increased vulnerability of
children from state and municipal orphanages being lured via
the internet and social networks, to forced criminality, child
pornography, sexual exploitation, and use by armed groups
in the Middle East.
Women and children from Europe (predominantly Ukraine
and Moldova), Southeast Asia (primarily Vietnam), Africa
(particularly Nigeria), and Central Asia are reportedly victims
of sex trafficking in Russia. Forced prostitution occurs in
brothels, hotels, and saunas, among other locations; certain
traffickers advertised the sexual services of children over the
internet. Some children on the streets are exploited in child
sex trafficking. Russian women and children are reportedly
victims of sex trafficking in Russia and abroad, including in
Northeast Asia, Europe, Central Asia, Africa, the United States,
and the Middle East.
In recent years, criminal cases have involved Russian officials
suspected of allegedly facilitating trafficking in Russia by
facilitating victims’ entry into Russia, providing protection to
traffickers, and returning victims to their exploiters. Employers
sometimes bribe Russian officials to avoid enforcement of
penalties for engaging illegal workers. As previously mentioned,
the DPRK sends approximately 20,000 North Korean citizens
to Russia annually for work in a variety of sectors, including
logging in Russia’s Far East—with approximately 30,000 North
Korean citizens officially registered in Russia; reportedly many
of these North Korean citizens are subjected to conditions of
forced labor. A February 2016 agreement between Russia and
DPRK may exacerbate these conditions by enabling Russian
authorities to repatriate North Koreans residing “illegally” in
Russia, potentially even for those with refugee status, despite
reports that DPRK authorities arrest, imprison, subject to forced
labor, torture, and sometimes execute repatriated trafficking
victims.

RWANDA: TIER 2 WATCH LIST

338

The Government of Rwanda does not fully meet the minimum
standards for the elimination of trafficking; however, it is making
significant efforts to do so. The government demonstrated
significant efforts during the reporting period by prosecuting

and convicting perpetrators of cross-border trafficking crimes,
identifying and referring trafficking victims to some protection
services, providing assistance to some former child combatants,
and continuing to implement anti-trafficking awareness
campaigns and other prevention measures. The government
also issued new ministerial guidelines on the civilian nature of
all refugee camps in close collaboration with an international
organization, which clarify criminal penalties for trafficking and
recruitment in the camps. In contrast to the previous year, there
were no credible reports of Rwandan government involvement in
either the recruitment into armed groups or sexual exploitation
of refugees. However, the government did not demonstrate
increasing efforts compared to the previous reporting period.
The government did not investigate, prosecute, or convict any
trafficking offenders for internal trafficking crimes, despite the
presence of sex trafficking and forced labor within the country.
The government did not investigate credible allegations in 2015
that some Rwandan security and military officials were complicit
in facilitating the recruitment of Burundian refugees, including
children, into armed groups, and it did not hold criminally
accountable Rwandan defense forces (RDF) soldiers and refugee
camp staff for allegedly facilitating the sexual exploitation of
Congolese child refugees in 2015. Refugee whistleblowers from
2015 reported ongoing harassment by officials from the Ministry
of Disaster Management and Refugee Affairs (MIDIMAR) in
retaliation for reporting protection concerns in camps. The
government did not adequately screen for trafficking victims
among individuals at government centers that serve vulnerable
populations, and observers stated these centers, which the
government claimed were for rehabilitation, functioned as de
facto detention facilities. Therefore, Rwanda remained on Tier
2 Watch List for the second consecutive year.

RECOMMENDATIONS FOR RWANDA

Proactively investigate, prosecute, and convict perpetrators
of forced labor and sex trafficking, including officials and
individuals involved in sex trafficking and recruitment and
use of refugees into armed groups; implement protection
measures for Rwanda’s refugee population, and effectively train
all MIDIMAR and security officials to identify, screen for, and
protect trafficking victims among refugees; systematically identify
trafficking victims among vulnerable populations, and ensure
potential and identified victims are not arrested, detained, or
punished for unlawful acts committed as a direct result of being
subjected to human trafficking; provide appropriate long-term
protection services, including shelter and psychosocial care, for
all trafficking victims, both foreign and domestic; cooperate with
NGOs and international organizations to proactively identify
and refer victims to adequate protection services; continue
training of law enforcement, judicial officials, labor inspectors,
and social workers on the implementation of trafficking laws and
victim identification procedures; and continue to implement
anti-trafficking awareness campaigns.

The government maintained law enforcement efforts. It
continued to combat cross-border trafficking crimes, but did not
investigate internal trafficking crimes nor did it hold criminally
accountable government officials who were allegedly complicit
in 2015 of sex trafficking and the recruitment of Burundian
refugees, including children, into armed groups. Rwanda’s
penal code criminalizes human trafficking under a variety of
articles, mostly in chapter 8. This chapter, in combination with
forced labor articles and other provisions of law, covers almost
all forms of trafficking, but also includes crimes that are not
defined as trafficking under the UN Palermo Protocol. Chapter
8 prescribes penalties of seven to 10 years imprisonment and
financial penalties for internal trafficking, and up to 15 years
imprisonment for transnational trafficking. Child trafficking
convictions are subject to a minimum five-year prison term,
while slavery convictions carry three- to 12-year prison terms.
These penalties are sufficiently stringent and commensurate
with those prescribed for other serious crimes, such as rape. The
Law Relating to the Rights and Protection of the Child outlaws
child sex and labor trafficking and slavery under article 51.
During the reporting period, the government initiated an
unknown number of trafficking investigations of alleged
perpetrators from Burundi, Uganda, Germany, and Kenya.
The national public prosecution authority (NPPA) reported
initiating 44 cases of cross-border trafficking between July 2015
and October 2016—a 15-month timeframe of which only five
months are in the reporting period; of these cases, it prosecuted
16, while 16 cases were dismissed and 12 remained pending
at the end of this reporting period. The government convicted
seven traffickers during the specified timeframe, but it did not
report the sentences or the laws under which these offenders
were convicted. During the previous 12-month reporting period,
the government reported 19 potential cases of human trafficking
and three convictions under anti-trafficking provisions. In 2016,
the government did not prosecute or convict any perpetrators
of internal sex trafficking or forced labor, despite the prevalence
of trafficking within the country. For example, in August 2016
the Rwandan national police (RNP) arrested and investigated
a hotel owner for allegedly forcing four female employees to
provide commercial sex to the hotel’s customers; however,
authorities dropped the case due to insufficient corroborating
evidence and released the alleged perpetrator in September
2016 despite the four victims proactively pursuing criminal
charges. The government admitted difficulty prosecuting and
convicting trafficking offenders due to a lack of investigative and
prosecutorial anti-trafficking knowledge, extensive trafficking
networks, and lack of victim testimony.
The government did not hold complicit officials accountable
for alleged trafficking offenses that occurred in 2015, despite
credible allegations of such complicity. During the reporting
period, the government continued to deny credible allegations
that security and military officials were complicit in facilitating
the coerced recruitment of Burundian refugees, including
children, in 2015. Moreover, the government did not hold
criminally accountable RDF soldiers and refugee camp staff for
allegedly facilitating the sexual exploitation of Congolese child
refugees in 2015; after conducting an internal investigation, the
government relieved two RDF soldiers and other camp staff
officials of their duties, but did not prosecute or adequately
punish any civilian or military officials for these alleged crimes.
The government continued the investigation of three RNP
officers serving as peacekeepers in Haiti, who were cited in
the UN Secretary-General’s 2016 report on sexual exploitation
and abuse of civilians by international peacekeepers. All three

were paternity cases arising from inappropriate relationships
with adult victims. The officers were placed on administrative
duty and not allowed to perform police duties while under
investigation. The RNP fully cooperated with the UN-led
investigation, which was pending confirmation of paternity
by the UN at the end of the reporting period.
As in the previous reporting period, the RNP continued to
operate a 15-officer anti-trafficking unit within its INTERPOL
directorate. The RNP directorate for anti-gender-based violence
(GBV) also continued to designate three officers in each of
the country’s 78 police stations to serve as points of contact
for domestic trafficking victims; six judicial police officers
specialized in victim identification remained in each of Rwanda’s
police stations. The government continued to provide antitrafficking training as a part of standard training and professional
development for immigration officers, police, labor inspectors,
judicial officials, and social workers. The NPPA also trained 60
prosecutors and judicial police on investigation and prosecuting
trafficking crimes.

RWANDA

PROSECUTION

PROTECTION

The government maintained protection efforts. It continued to
identify and refer to services some trafficking victims; however,
it did not provide protection services specifically catered to
the needs of trafficking victims as distinct from victims of
other crimes, nor did it protect vulnerable populations from
punishment for crimes committed as a result of being subjected
to trafficking. During the reporting period, MIDIMAR and RNP
continued efforts to ensure security at refugee camps and better
register the arrival and departure of refugees, in response to
allegations of the recruitment of child and adult refugees to
fight for Burundian armed groups. Despite this effort, MIDIMAR
officials continued to discourage Burundian refugees from
reporting protection concerns in the camp; some whistleblower
refugees from 2015 reported ongoing harassment by MIDIMAR
staff throughout the reporting period in reprisal for reporting
their concerns. The government continued to operate transit
and vocational training centers intended to rehabilitate street
children, women in prostitution, and individuals detained for
crimes committed as a direct result of trafficking. Following
NGO reports of abuse at the centers, the government adopted
guidelines for improving conditions at the centers. However,
advocacy groups continued to report that the centers operated
without judicial oversight and functioned as de facto detention
facilities in which individuals held were not adequately screened
for trafficking, were held for arbitrary periods of time, and were
at times subjected to physical or sexual abuse.
Law enforcement and immigration officials identified
approximately 60 trafficking victims in 2016, which included
28 Rwandan victims repatriated from Burundi and 15 female
Burundian trafficking victims identified at a border-crossing.
This compares to 25 victims identified in 2015. The government
continued to provide victim identification guidelines to law
enforcement and immigration officials, and social workers
in victim centers also used guidelines to identify and assist
trafficking victims. NGOs reported insufficient coordination
among ministries and lack of collaboration with civil society
hindered the government’s ability to identify and assist
trafficking victims. In one case, the government did not refer
to protective services four potential sex trafficking victims
after the RNP arrested a hotel owner for allegedly forcing
these women to engage in commercial sex with hotel clients.
The government’s 28 “one-stop” centers located in hospitals
and district capitals provided various psychosocial services

339

RWANDA

to GBV and trafficking victims. According to international
organizations, the provision of these services was insufficient due
to funding shortfalls. The government referred the 28 Rwandan
trafficking victims to these centers in 2016 for assistance and
local authorities worked with victims to reintegrate them into
their communities. The RNP also operated four additional safe
houses where foreign trafficking victims could be temporarily
housed prior to repatriation, and the RNP housed 15 Burundian
victims at these facilities during the reporting period. The NPPA
continued to operate four safe houses for witnesses in criminal
cases, which could include trafficking victims; however, in
2016—as in 2014 and 2015—the government did not place
trafficking victims in these safe houses. The national commission
for children (NCC) reported it removed 2,000 children from
exploitative labor in agriculture and construction sectors during
the reporting period, but it did not report screening them
for indicators of trafficking or what assistance—if any—the
children received after removal. In 2016, the government
assisted approximately 30 children in a rehabilitation center
for former child combatants associated with armed groups in
the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), which provided
psycho-social support, education, and reintegration services.
The government reportedly encouraged victims to testify against
perpetrators, but officials noted participation of victims in the
investigation and prosecution of traffickers continued to be a
challenge. Rwandan law does not provide foreign trafficking
victims with legal alternatives to their removal to a country
where they may face hardship or retribution; however, in
practice, the government made efforts not to deport foreign
victims who faced retribution in their home country.

PREVENTION

The government maintained efforts to prevent trafficking. In
response to 2015 allegations that some officials were complicit
in facilitating the coerced recruitment of Burundian adult and
child refugees out of camps, the government—in collaboration
with UNHCR—adopted ministerial guidelines in June 2016
that prohibit refugees from participating in military training
and outline punishments for perpetrators of GBV, organized
prostitution, and human trafficking crimes in refugee camps.
MIDIMAR also partnered with the UN to carry out a gender
assessment in all refugee camps to identify measures to mitigate
the risks of trafficking and GBV. International organizations
and NGOs reported that insufficient coordination among
government agencies and resource constraints continued
to hinder the government’s anti-trafficking efforts. The
government continued to implement its 2014-2017 national
anti-trafficking action plan, and in June 2016 parliament held
a public consultative meeting to address human trafficking and
other crimes and adopt future measures to prevent trafficking.
The government’s interagency anti-trafficking working group
met quarterly in 2016. Throughout the reporting period, the
government conducted multiple national and local awareness
raising anti-trafficking campaigns in schools and community
events, as well as on television and radio. Despite these
awareness-raising efforts, these campaigns focused primarily
on transnational trafficking and did not adequately address
domestic sex trafficking, child sex trafficking, and forced child
labor. RNP continued to operate a national GBV hotline, which
was staffed by social workers trained to identify and refer
trafficking cases, which reportedly identified an unspecified
number of victims in 2016.

340

The government made efforts to reduce the demand for
forced labor, commercial sex acts, and child sex tourism. The
government continued an awareness campaign to discourage

men from paying for commercial sex and requiring men
who were arrested for buying commercial sex acts to perform
community service and receive education on women’s rights.
The government reported closing two labor recruitment agencies
in 2016, but it reported that it had difficulty prosecuting
and convicting recruiters who fraudulently recruited workers.
The government continued to train labor inspectors on
identifying and handling child labor cases, including forced
child labor. The government continued to work in partnership
with an international NGO to remove children from child
labor, including exploitative child labor, in the agriculture
and construction sectors. During the reporting period, the
government partnered with an international organization to
train a corps of approximately 30,000 village-level community
volunteers to address child protection issues, including
child labor. The government trained all Rwandan troops
on gender sensitivity, human rights, and trafficking prior
to their deployment to UN peacekeeping missions abroad.
The government provided anti-trafficking training for all its
diplomatic personnel; diplomats were also required to identify
and assist the repatriation of Rwandan trafficking victims abroad.

TRAFFICKING PROFILE

As reported over the past five years, Rwanda is a source, transit,
and to a lesser extent, destination country for men, women,
and children subjected to forced labor and sex trafficking.
Rwandan girls and boys are exploited in domestic service
through extended family networks; some of these children
experience physical or sexual abuse and non-payment of wages.
Rwandan girls and some boys, some of whom are secondary
school students between the ages of 13 to 18, are exploited in
commercial sex in hotels, at times through the facilitation of
hotel owners. Local human rights groups reported in 2016 that
some Rwandan girls in domestic work, who become pregnant
and thereby terminated by their employers and unable to
return to their home villages, are subsequently exploited in
sex trafficking. Some Rwandan men, women, and children are
subjected to sex trafficking and forced labor in domestic work
and agricultural and industrial sectors in destinations around
the world; the primary destinations for Rwandan victims are
Uganda, the DRC, and other parts of East Africa. Rwandan
victims are also reportedly exploited in domestic servitude in
the Middle East and sex trafficking in China. In previous years,
Rwandan victims were exploited in South Africa, Malaysia,
the United States, and Europe. In 2016, some Rwandan girls
were forced into marriages with men in Tanzania and may
have experienced commercial sexual exploitation through
these marriages. Reporting in 2013 indicated Kampala- and
Nairobi-based labor recruiters and brokers recruited Rwandan
workers through fraudulent offers of employment abroad and
subjected them to sex trafficking and forced labor in agriculture
and domestic work.
Refugees fleeing conflict and political violence in Burundi and
the DRC remained highly vulnerable to trafficking in Rwanda or
are subjected to exploitation in third countries after transiting
Rwanda. According to an international organization, there has
been an increase in sex trafficking of Burundian male and female
teenagers through Rwanda to third countries since 2015. Since
April 2015, approximately 85,000 Burundian refugees fled to
Rwanda. In 2015, Burundian refugee girls transited through
Rwanda and were exploited in sex trafficking in Uganda; some
of these girls may also be subjected to domestic servitude in
Uganda. Separately, female child refugees in a Congolese
refugee camp were reportedly subjected to sex trafficking in
nearby towns in 2015, allegedly facilitated by one civilian and

Between May and September 2015, Burundian refugees residing
in Mahama refugee camp in Rwanda were recruited into nonstate armed groups supporting the Burundian opposition;
Rwandan security forces charged to protect the camp population
reportedly facilitated or tolerated the recruitment activity.
Whistleblower refugees in 2015 alleged that recruiters—including
both Rwandan officials and other refugees—threatened,
intimidated, harassed, and physically assaulted those who
refused recruitment attempts. Most recruits were adult males,
but in three verified cases, Burundian refugee children were
also identified as recruits from Mahama refugee camp. Refugees
reported Burundian recruits, including women and children,
were trained in weaponry by Rwandan military personnel at a
training camp in southwestern Rwanda. There were no reports
of forcible or coerced recruitment out of Mahama refugee camp
by Rwandan government officials in 2016.

ST. LUCIA: TIER 2
The Government of St. Lucia does not fully meet the minimum
standards for the elimination of trafficking; however, it is making
significant efforts to do so. The government demonstrated
increasing efforts compared to the previous reporting period;
therefore, St. Lucia was upgraded to Tier 2. The government
demonstrated increasing efforts by investigating three cases of
potential trafficking and approving a national action plan for
anti-trafficking efforts. The government provided assistance and
restitution to victims in a labor trafficking case. However, the
government did not meet the minimum standards in several key
areas. The government did not approve or implement standard
operating procedures for victim identification and referral.
The government did not initiate new trafficking prosecutions.

RECOMMENDATIONS FOR ST. LUCIA

Prosecute, convict, and punish perpetrators of forced labor and
sex trafficking; increase efforts to identify and provide assistance
to victims; fully implement the 2015-2018 national action plan;
adopt standard operating procedures on a victim-centered
approach to guide police, immigration, labor, child protection,
judicial and social welfare officials on victim identification,
referral, and participation in legal proceedings; train government
officials to implement procedures to proactively identify labor
and sex trafficking victims among vulnerable populations, such
as migrant workers in domestic service and children exploited
in sex trafficking, and refer them to appropriate services; take
measures, respective of due process, to expedite prosecution of
trafficking cases; amend shortcomings in the law so penalties
for trafficking are commensurate with penalties for other
serious crimes, such as rape; and implement a national public
awareness campaign about forced labor and sex trafficking.

PROSECUTION

The government increased law enforcement efforts. The 2010
Counter-Trafficking Act prohibits all forms of trafficking,
punishable by up to five years imprisonment or fines of up to
100,000 Eastern Caribbean dollars ($37,040), or both. These
penalties are sufficiently stringent for labor trafficking, but
with regard to sex trafficking, inadequate because they were
not commensurate with penalties for other serious crimes,
such as rape. The anti-trafficking act also criminalizes the
unlawful holding of identity documents and allows for asset
forfeiture of persons convicted of trafficking. The government
initiated three trafficking investigations during the reporting
period, an increase from one in 2015. The police closed all
three investigations due to a lack of evidence. The police lacked
personnel trained to identify trafficking.

ST. LUCIA

three RDF soldiers assigned to the camp.

The government did not initiate any prosecutions in the
reporting period, compared to four in 2015 and none from
2011 to 2014. The director of public prosecutions retired in
March 2016, and this position was empty until a new director
was appointed in October 2016; this gap prevented any
movement forward on existing cases during this time period.
The government took steps to improve the efficiency of the
justice system by creating a new position for a second high
court judge to hear criminal trials; previously there was only
one high court judge to hear all criminal trials.
The government continued to prosecute a March 2015 labor
trafficking case, in which 70 students from Nepal, India, and
the Philippines each paid an estimated $9,000 to attend a
hospitality training school. Upon arrival, students found the
academy closed, and nine students were forced to provide labor
under the guise of hospitality internships. The government
arrested and indicted four men (three men from India and
one from Bangladesh) for labor trafficking. The prosecution
remained in process at the end of the reporting period. The
government had yet to convict a trafficker.
The government had never reported investigating, prosecuting,
or convicting a public official complicit in trafficking. The
police reported cooperation with the United States and other
Caribbean countries to exchange information on trafficking
cases. The government, in collaboration with an international
organization and Interpol, trained immigration and police
officers in investigative techniques and victim identification,
referral, and assistance. The government provided a separate
training for judicial authorities.

PROTECTION

The government increased protection efforts. The government
did not identify any trafficking victims in the reporting period,
compared with 10 in 2015. However, the government conducted
proactive investigations to identify victims. Police raided one
night club suspected of trafficking or prostitution; however,
the police did not identify any victims in this raid. The
government did not have written procedures to guide officials
on the proactive identification of victims. Starting in 2014, an
international organization assisted the government with drafting
formal procedures to guide law enforcement, health, and
other officials on victim identification and referral to available
protection and assistance services; however, the government
had not finalized them at the close of this reporting period. The
government reported it allocated 371,334 Eastern Caribbean
dollars ($137,530) for victim care during the reporting period,
including the provision of long-term housing, meals, health
care, counseling, and personal care items for up to 20 victims

341

ST. MAARTEN

and witnesses related to an ongoing labor trafficking case. An
international organization also provided airfare for those who
wanted to return home. Notably, a separate court decision in
the labor trafficking case provided funds from the perpetrators
to the victims and their dependents. The amount of restitution
paid to the students was 1 million Eastern Caribbean Dollars
($370,370).
Although there was no dedicated shelter for trafficking victims,
the government had six different facilities available to house
victims. Through the Office of Gender Relations, trafficking
victims could be referred to various organizations to provide
legal, health, advocacy, and crisis services. Authorities referred
victims on an ad hoc basis to legal, advocacy, and crisis services.
Adult victims were able to leave at will, but were not allowed to
work or receive formal residency status because the government
considered victims wards of the state. However, several witnesses
involved in the pending labor trafficking case worked during
the reporting period.
The 2010 anti-trafficking act contains victim protection
provisions, such as privacy and witness protection, to encourage
victims to participate in the investigation and prosecution of
traffickers. The director of public prosecutions met with victims
and witnesses to prepare and encourage them to participate
in a trial. The anti-trafficking act protects trafficking victims
from prosecution for unlawful acts committed as a direct result
of being subjected to trafficking and protects foreign victims
from deportation. The police reported no trafficking victims
were detained or fined as a result of their being subjected to
trafficking. The act also provides for restitution to all victims and
immigration relief to foreign national victims. Students in the
labor trafficking case received restitution from the perpetrators
related to the charge of “obtaining property by deception.”

PREVENTION

The government maintained minimal efforts to prevent
trafficking. The home affairs and national security ministry
led an anti-trafficking taskforce, consisting of relevant agencies
and NGOs, in implementing the national action plan. In
September 2016, the government approved a national action
plan and a national framework for combating trafficking in
persons; the national plan was in force and covered 2015-2018.
The government, however, did not provide financial assistance
to the taskforce to implement the plan, and the taskforce made
little progress in implementing the plan. The government, in
partnership with an international organization and local NGO,
finalized a public education campaign, but it did not print and
distribute the fliers due to a lack of funding. The gender office
conducted awareness campaigns at secondary schools. The
interagency taskforce met six times during the reporting period.
The immigration department presented recommendations
for improving visa documentation based on the mistakes
made in the labor trafficking case. The government-funded
an NGO to run a hotline for victims of violence, including
trafficking victims, but it received zero human trafficking
calls during the reporting period. The government did not
provide anti-trafficking training for its diplomatic personnel,
although the Ministry of External Affairs and the anti-trafficking
taskforce began developing a training curriculum. To help raise
public awareness, on October 2016, the home affairs minister
gave a press conference highlighting the problem of mothers

342

subjecting their children to trafficking. The government did
not take measures to reduce the demand for commercial sex
or forced labor.

TRAFFICKING PROFILE

As reported over the past five years, St. Lucia is a source and
destination country for men, women, and children subjected to
sex trafficking and forced labor. Documented and undocumented
immigrants from the Caribbean and South Asia, including
domestic workers, are the groups most vulnerable to human
trafficking. Local and foreign children are subjected to sex
trafficking. Foreign women who work in strip clubs and in
prostitution are also vulnerable to sex trafficking. NGOs report
disadvantaged young women from rural areas are vulnerable
to sex trafficking. According to the government, business
owners from St. Lucia, India, China, Cuba, and Russia are the
most likely trafficking perpetrators in the country. Civil society
has also reported women, or in some cases older teenagers,
recruiting younger adolescents to provide transactional sex
with adults at street parties.

ST. MAARTEN: TIER 1†
The Government of St. Maarten fully meets the minimum
standards for the elimination of trafficking. The government
continued to demonstrate serious and sustained efforts during
the reporting period; therefore, St. Maarten remained on Tier
1. The government demonstrated serious and sustained efforts
by identifying more victims of trafficking and investigating
alleged traffickers, and holding preliminary hearings in its
largest human trafficking case that was initiated during the
previous reporting period. Although the government meets
the minimum standards, for the second consecutive year it
did not initiate new prosecutions or secure any convictions,
and did not allocate specific funds for anti-trafficking efforts
among government agencies.

RECOMMENDATIONS FOR ST. MAARTEN

Increase efforts to prosecute and convict trafficking offenders;
implement formal standard operating procedures to guide
officials, including health workers, on how to identify and
assist victims among vulnerable populations and refer them
to care; allocate funding to the National Reporting Bureau on
Human Trafficking to improve anti-trafficking efforts; conduct
outreach to all incoming migrants, including domestic workers
and foreign women on temporary entertainment visas, to ensure
they are informed of their rights, the anti-trafficking hotline,
and ways to seek assistance; raise awareness among the general
public and vulnerable groups about trafficking in St. Maarten;
and amend the anti-trafficking penal code to eliminate the

† St. Maarten is an autonomous entity within the Kingdom of the Netherlands. For the purpose of this report, St. Maarten is not a “country” to which the minimum standards for the
elimination of trafficking in the Trafficking Victims Protection Act apply. This narrative reflects how St. Maarten would be assessed if it were a separate, independent country.

PROSECUTION

The government maintained its law enforcement efforts. The
penal code prohibits forced labor and forced prostitution,
prescribing penalties ranging from 12 to 24 years imprisonment
or a fine. These terms of imprisonment are sufficiently stringent
and commensurate with penalties for other serious crimes, such
as rape; however, penalties of a fine in lieu of imprisonment
are inadequate to deter trafficking and are disproportionately
low compared to the seriousness of the crime. The code defines
as trafficking fraudulent labor recruitment for the purpose of
subjecting workers to forced labor or prostitution. The code
also criminalizes unregulated prostitution.
The public prosecutor and the Human Trafficking and
Human Smuggling Unit worked closely with authorities in
the Dominican Republic towards finalizing its largest trafficking
case, which was initiated in the previous reporting period. In
April 2016, a preliminary court heard arguments in that case
against four defendants on charges of exploitation of women
and trafficking in persons; the case remained pending trial with
the suspects in detention. An additional suspect in this case also
remained in jail awaiting trial. The government initiated the
investigation of five alleged traffickers (six in 2015) involved
in one forced labor and two sex trafficking cases; all three cases
remained under investigation at the close of the reporting
period. The government did not initiate new prosecutions
or secure any convictions for the second consecutive year.
The government did not report any new investigations or
prosecutions of officials for complicity in trafficking. At the
annual Dutch Visa Conference, the public prosecutor’s office
presented on the legal framework to address human trafficking
and the risks faced by vulnerable populations, including a
case study.

PROTECTION

The government increased efforts to identify and assist trafficking
victims. The government identified 96 foreign victims of forced
labor and sex trafficking, provided shelter and care for five
victims, and funded the repatriation of 44 victims. These efforts
represent an increase from the government’s identification of 50
victims and assistance or repatriation support for eight victims
in 2015. While the government did not have standard operating
procedures for the identification or referral of victims, informal
agreements between government agencies were in place and
immigration officials and other stakeholders continued to use
an NGO-developed checklist of trafficking indicators. Officials
routinely screened for trafficking victimization among adult
entertainment workers during immigration procedures, labor
inspections, and required medical screenings. The National
Reporting Bureau on Human Trafficking (NRB)—the lead agency
for coordinating the government’s efforts to combat trafficking
and emergency response to cases—periodically conducted
outreach with immigrant communities, businesses, health
officials, and the tourism sector on how to identify potential
victims and report trafficking crimes; and conducted quarterly
inspections of all brothels and dance clubs. Victims received
shelter through the Red Cross and local NGOs. The government
provided one NGO with a subsidy to assist in providing a
wide range of victim services and support, including food,
clothing, shelter, medical and psychological services, assistance
in repatriation, and obtaining residence and work permits.
The temporary residence program serves to encourage victim

assistance in the investigation and prosecution of traffickers;
however, the government did not report granting such benefits
during the year. The government has a formal policy to protect
identified victims from being punished for unlawful acts
committed as a direct result of being subjected to human
trafficking. The anti-trafficking law allows trafficking victims
to request restitution as part of criminal cases or file a civil
suit against traffickers.

PREVENTION

The government maintained efforts to prevent trafficking. The
NRB continued its prevention and outreach campaigns, reaching
brothels and dance clubs, potential purchasers of commercial
sex, work permit applicants, the business community, front-line
responders, community-based organizations and immigrant
communities. The government sustained its ongoing awareness
campaign, publishing anti-trafficking brochures, posters, and
fliers, making public service announcements, generating social
media and news releases, and by participating in radio and
television shows. The military police conducted trainings on
verifying the authenticity of documents for an unknown number
of border protection officials and employed a specialist in
fraudulent documents in St. Maarten. Authorities continued to
implement the 2013-2018 national action plan on trafficking,
in coordination with local NGOs. The government continued
to implement its policy requiring foreign women to apply for
adult entertainment work permits on their own, ending the
practice of brothel owners applying for permits, often with
misleading and fraudulent work agreements. In August 2016,
the government finalized a related policy to prevent brothel
and club owners from providing them monetary loans with
the purpose of creating financial dependency, requiring all
personal documentation be in their possession, and requiring
they be informed of their rights and resources to provide
better protection to individuals in prostitution. This decree
also required all persons in prostitution be at least 21 years
of age, have valid medical insurance for the duration of their
stay, and submit a labor agreement along with the application.
In 2016, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs implemented a policy
that prohibited visa issuance for individuals in prostitution of
an establishment under investigation. The government also
informed employers of migrant workers about applicable laws
and the national hotline, accessible by phone and email. There
were no known reports of child sex tourism in St. Maarten.

ST. MAARTEN

possibility of sentences that result in a trafficker paying a fine
in lieu of serving a prison sentence.

TRAFFICKING PROFILE

As reported over the past five years, St. Maarten is a source,
transit, and destination country for women, children, and
men subjected to sex trafficking and forced labor. Women and
girls from Latin America, the Caribbean, Eastern Europe, and
Russia are the most vulnerable to sex trafficking, including
women working in regulated and unregulated brothels and
dance clubs. There are indications some foreign women in
St. Maarten’s commercial sex industry are subjected to debt
bondage. Government officials’ reports indicate a significant
number of migrant workers are vulnerable to forced domestic
service or forced labor in construction, Chinese-owned markets,
retail shops, landscaping, and housekeeping. Government
officials report workers from Asia and the Caribbean are
subjected to exploitative conditions indicative of forced labor.
Migrants transiting St. Maarten en route to the United States
and Canada may also be vulnerable to human trafficking,
specifically Cuban and Brazilian nationals. There are indicators
Colombian and Venezuelan women may travel to the islands
under false pretenses and are subjected to human trafficking.

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ST. VINCENT AND THE GRENADINES
344

ST. VINCENT AND THE GRENADINES:
TIER 2
The Government of St. Vincent and the Grenadines does not
fully meet the minimum standards for the elimination of
trafficking; however, it is making significant efforts to do so.
The government demonstrated increasing efforts compared
to the previous reporting period; therefore, St. Vincent and
the Grenadines was upgraded to Tier 2. The government
demonstrated increasing efforts by providing assistance to
trafficking victims; increasing anti-trafficking training to relevant
government officials and NGOs; improving public awareness
campaigns; and conducting a baseline assessment of its overall
efforts in order to provide recommendations for improvement.
However, the government did not meet the minimum standards
in several key areas. There remained deficiencies in its national
action plan, investigations, and victim care. The guidelines for
the referral of victims continued to lack the necessary details to
make them effective. The government needed more specialized
services for victims of human trafficking.

specific training seminar. The government also conducted antitrafficking training for 30 law enforcement officials.

PROTECTION

The government increased victim protection efforts. Officials
reported working on three cases in 2016 and the government
increased victim assistance compared to previous years. Officials
assisted one victim, a Vincentian man, who travelled to Trinidad
and Tobago to work as a security guard and was subjected
to forced labor. The government aided in the repatriation
of the victim, provided victim care services, and assisted
the Trinbagonian authorities with the investigation. There
were no other identified victims who required services. The
government did not identify any trafficking victims during
the year. Additionally, no victims were identified by NGOs,
local activists, or other officials. The anti-trafficking police
unit conducted combating human trafficking training for
officers screening airline passengers, park rangers, faith-based
organizations, and NGOs.

Investigate suspected sex and labor trafficking cases; prosecute
and convict traffickers; expand the national action plan to better
articulate the roles for responsible government officials and
NGOs, and timelines for actions; increase trainings for relevant
government officials and NGOs on the 2011 anti-trafficking
act, trafficking indicators, and proper case investigation and
management techniques; develop MOUs between relevant
government ministries and NGOs to improve coordination
and cooperation; raise awareness about forced labor and sex
trafficking; and provide specialized services for trafficking
victims.

Immigration and labor department officials had developed
and implemented victim identification guidelines to identify
trafficking victims, which was an improvement from the last
reporting period when there were no detailed guidelines in
operation. The national anti-trafficking action plan provides
guidelines for the referral of victims to appropriate shelter and
services, but those guidelines continued to lack sufficient detail.
The government had mechanisms to assist in the repatriation
of victims, and the government repatriated one victim. The
government did not fund any trafficking-specific assistance
programs, but its domestic violence shelter could accommodate
adult women and child trafficking victims. There were three
faith-based NGOs that could house children subjected to
trafficking; these NGOs received a small amount of government
support. Some shelters had policies prohibiting residents from
leaving at will. The government did not have the capacity to
provide psychological care. The anti-trafficking law provided
foreign victims with the possibility of temporary and permanent
residence permits. Foreign victims who remain in country are
allowed to work. There were provisions for witness protection
programs and facilities for the victims to testify via video. There
were no reports the government penalized trafficking victims
for unlawful acts committed as a direct result of being subjected
to human trafficking. Victims could obtain restitution via civil
suits from traffickers, however, there were no reported cases of
restitution during the reporting period.

PROSECUTION

PREVENTION

RECOMMENDATIONS FOR ST. VINCENT AND
THE GRENADINES

The government improved anti-trafficking law enforcement
efforts. The Prevention of Trafficking in Persons Act of
2011 prohibits sex trafficking and forced labor, including
bonded labor, and prescribes punishments of up to 20 years
imprisonment and fines. These penalties are sufficiently stringent
and commensurate with penalties for other serious crimes,
such as rape. The government cooperated with investigations of
three trafficking cases in 2016 involving Vincentians exploited
in foreign countries; this compares with investigations of three
potential trafficking cases in 2015 and three in 2014. The
government cooperated with Trinbagonian law enforcement
to investigate one case. There were no prosecutions during the
reporting period and the government had never convicted a
trafficker. The government did not report any investigations or
prosecutions of government employees complicit in human
trafficking offenses. With foreign government and NGO
assistance, the government sent two investigators to a trafficking-

The government maintained efforts to prevent trafficking.
The government launched an anti-trafficking awareness
campaign for 454 students and 44 teachers at primary and
secondary schools; this is a decrease from 1,496 students
and 113 teachers in 2015, but overall remains at a high level
compared to previous reporting periods. The government
conducted sensitization campaigns on human trafficking for
the public via civil society groups, communities, summer
camps (reaching 306 children), radio, churches, and television.
The anti-trafficking unit increased surveillance at the airport
in attempts to detect transnational human trafficking. The
government instituted training for and reached over 90 percent
of its diplomatic and consular staff at its overseas missions on
matters related to human trafficking. With EU funding, the
government commissioned a baseline assessment report from
an independent consultant to assess its anti-trafficking efforts.
The report recommended more specific articulation of the tasks

TRAFFICKING PROFILE

As reported over the past five years, St. Vincent and the
Grenadines is a source and possibly transit country for men,
women, and children subjected to forced labor and sex
trafficking. Foreign women engaged in prostitution may have
been subjected to sex trafficking in the country and foreign
workers from South America and the Caribbean may have been
subjected to trafficking for forced labor both in the country and
while in transit. Foreign workers employed by small, foreignowned companies may be vulnerable to labor trafficking. Men,
women, and children are vulnerable to forced labor, primarily
in agriculture; government officials and civil society suspect drug
traffickers subject workers to forced labor in the production
of marijuana. NGOs and government officials have reported
Vincentians have been subjected to both forced labor and sex
trafficking in foreign countries.

required downgrade to Tier 3. Therefore, Saudi Arabia remained
on the Tier 2 Watch List for a third consecutive year.

RECOMMENDATIONS FOR SAUDI ARABIA

Continue efforts to prosecute, convict, punish, and stringently
sentence trafficking offenders, including abusive employers,
under the anti-trafficking law; reform the sponsorship system
and ensure trafficking victims are able to pursue criminal cases
against their employers in practice; vigorously investigate for
potential trafficking crimes employers who withhold workers’
passports and wages and restrict workers’ movement, and
adequately punish these employers under the anti-trafficking
law; significantly improve efforts to ensure victims among
vulnerable populations, including domestic workers, illegal
foreign migrants, male victims, and persons in prostitution,
are not punished for acts committed as a direct result of
being subjected to human trafficking; ensure victims of
all forms of trafficking can seek assistance and protection
services; implement an expanded formal victim identification
mechanism to proactively identify trafficking victims among
vulnerable populations; amend the law to provide extraterritorial
authority to prosecute Saudi citizens engaged in sex tourism
abroad; train government officials on identifying cases of
sex trafficking; investigate, prosecute, and convict those who
purchase commercial sex from children; and conduct countrywide public awareness campaigns on all forms of trafficking.

SAUDI ARABIA: TIER 2 WATCH LIST

PROSECUTION

The Government of Saudi Arabia does not fully meet the
minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking; however,
it is making significant efforts to do so. The government
demonstrated significant efforts during the reporting period
by adopting a written national anti-trafficking action plan for
2017-2020, and substantially increasing the budget for the
permanent committee on combating trafficking in persons.
The government convicted an increased number of traffickers
compared to the previous reporting period, and it continued
efforts to prevent trafficking. The government also continued to
operate an anti-trafficking hotline, opened an improved “guest
house” for female domestic workers to replace the previous
facility in Riyadh, and conducted labor inspections across
the country. However, the government did not demonstrate
increasing efforts compared to the previous reporting period.
Although the government identified at least 264 victims during
the course of investigations in 2016, a decrease from the previous
reporting period, capturing victim identification data continued
to be a challenge for the government. While the government
continued to operate shelters for some vulnerable populations,
its efforts to proactively identify and protect victims among
illegal foreign migrants, female and male domestic workers,
and women in prostitution remained uneven. Because the
government has devoted sufficient resources to a written plan
that, if implemented, would constitute significant efforts to meet
the minimum standards, Saudi Arabia was granted a waiver
per the Trafficking Victims Protection Act from an otherwise

During the reporting period, the government reported
investigating through the bureau of investigations and public
prosecution 264 human trafficking cases in 2016, which involved
forced labor, practices “similar to slavery,” sexual exploitation,
and forced begging. Of these, it convicted 254 defendants under
the anti-trafficking law, compared to 243 prosecutions and
convictions in the previous reporting period. The government
did not report the penalties imposed on the convicted traffickers
or how many received prison sentences. The government did
not report investigating potential trafficking crimes involving
employers or recruiters withholding foreign workers’ wages
or passports; however, anecdotal evidence suggested the
government investigated and prosecuted allegations of such
crimes as labor violations. The government did not report any

SAUDI ARABIA

and responsibilities among relevant government ministries,
NGOs, and service providers, and timelines for actions under
the national action plan for effective implementation, as well
as more public awareness campaigns developed and targeted
to specific audiences. The assessment recommended training
and reinforcement of training to relevant government officials
and NGOs in the definitions and indicators of trafficking
(particularly related to forced prostitution of adults and child sex
trafficking) and victim-centered investigations. The government
monitored its anti-trafficking efforts through quarterly and
annual reports, submitted to its national taskforce on trafficking
and to the minister of national security. The annual report is
submitted to the House of Assembly and made available to
the public. The government made modest efforts to reduce the
demand for commercial sex acts or forced labor, by conducting
public awareness campaigns on these issues.

The government maintained its law enforcement efforts. The
2009 Anti-Trafficking in Persons Law establishes a system for
combating human trafficking by defining and criminalizing all
forms of human trafficking. The act prescribes punishments of
up to 15 years imprisonment and financial penalties of up to
one million Saudi Arabian riyal (SAR) ($266,670), which may
be increased under certain circumstances, including trafficking
committed by an organized criminal group or against a woman,
child, or person with disabilities. These penalties are sufficiently
stringent and commensurate with those prescribed for other
serious crimes, such as rape. The Council of Ministers’ Decision
166, adopted in 2000, prohibits withholding workers’ passports
as a separate, lesser offense.

345

SAUDI ARABIA
346

investigations, prosecutions, or convictions of government
employees complicit in human trafficking offenses. Because
Saudi jurisprudence limits the jurisdiction of sharia law to Saudi
Arabian territory, authorities did not investigate, prosecute,
or convict Saudi nationals for crimes of commercial sex acts
committed abroad, or report cooperating with law enforcement
officials in countries, where alleged sexual exploitation occurred
in 2016. The public security administration conducted several
anti-trafficking trainings for officials in 2016.

PROTECTION

The government maintained its protection efforts, but
implementation of victim identification and protection
measures remained uneven; some unidentified victims may
have remained vulnerable to punishment for unlawful acts
committed, as a direct result of being subjected to human
trafficking. The government continued to distribute victim
identification criteria to officials and provided training on their
implementation. Although the government did not provide
aggregate information on victims identified during the reporting
period, it identified at least 264 victims during the course
of investigations. In comparison, the government identified
658 trafficking victims in 2015. The government reported
challenges capturing aggregate-level victim identification data.
Government officials continued to arrest, deport, imprison,
and penalize some domestic workers who fled their employers
and undocumented foreign workers, some of whom could be
potential trafficking victims. In mid-2016, the media reported
a Senegalese domestic worker faced the death penalty for
allegedly killing her employer in self-defense; prior to the
incident, the woman complained to her family of abuse and
little rest, indicators of forced labor. Authorities reportedly did
not provide the woman with legal assistance, as required by
law, and there was no evidence that the government took into
consideration the possible element of forced labor in this case,
or recognized the worker as a potential trafficking victim. In
January 2017, the media reported the government arrested and
sentenced an unknown number of migrant construction workers
to four months imprisonment and flogging for protesting
about not receiving their wages from their employer; there was
no evidence the government took into consideration that the
workers’ withheld wages could be an element of forced labor
in this case. The government did not provide legal alternatives
to the removal of foreign victims of trafficking to countries
where they might face retribution or hardship.
The government provided protection services to domestic workers
and child beggars, but it did not provide specialized shelters
for victims of other forms of forced labor or sex trafficking. The
government did not report what types of protection services—if
any—it provided to the 264 victims identified in 2016. The
Ministry of Labor and Social Development (MOLSD) continued
to operate shelters for child beggars, some of whom may have
been trafficking victims, as well as 10 welfare centers for female
domestic workers, some of whom may have been trafficking
victims. The government continued to operate a welfare center
for male domestic workers, but it did not report if any male
trafficking victims received assistance at this facility during the
reporting period. These centers generally provided shelter and
psycho-social, health, and educational services; however, the
condition and quality of victim care services varied across the
Kingdom. The welfare center in Riyadh—which has a capacity
of 230—operated as a full-service facility for female domestic
workers, providing residents with legal assistance, immigration
and passport services, translation, and rehabilitative care by
seven female social workers, as well as trained psychologists and

other medical professionals. The center had a separate living
area for trafficking victims, but it did not report how many
victims received assistance at the center during the reporting
period. Labor source-country diplomatic officials had regular
access to their nationals residing in this center. Many victims
continued to seek refuge at their embassies; source-country
diplomatic missions continued to report complaints by their
citizens of unpaid wages, withholding of passports, physical
or sexual abuse, and poor working conditions.
Although the government reportedly encouraged victims to assist
in the investigation and prosecution of trafficking offenders,
there were few known and public cases of victims successfully
pursuing criminal cases against abusive employers, in part
due to lengthy delays in the immigration and justice system.
During judicial proceedings, trafficking victims reportedly had
the option to remain in the country—predominately in welfare
centers or working for a new employer—or they could request
an immediate exit visa; however, the government did not report
if any victims received these benefits during the reporting
period. The law entitles identified trafficking victims to legal
assistance, translation services, and immediate repatriation
upon the victim’s request; the government did not report
providing any of these benefits to trafficking victims in 2016.
The government reportedly provided protection to witnesses
involved in trafficking cases, but the government did not report
any such cases in this reporting period. In December 2016, the
government signed a MOU with an international organization
to provide technical assistance and expertise to the government’s
human rights commission (HRC) on protection and assistance
to trafficking victims, funded by the HRC.

PREVENTION

The government increased efforts to prevent trafficking. The
government continued to allocate substantial resources for
its interagency anti-trafficking working group, and in January
2017, the government finalized a national anti-trafficking action
plan, which outlined several anti-trafficking activities from
2017-2020. The government allocated 36 million SAR ($9.6
million) to implement the action plan, a substantial increase
from four million SAR ($1.07 million) in 2015. The government
continued to implement the wage protection system, which
required employers to pay foreign workers through bank
transfers, thereby allowing the MOLSD to ensure workers were
paid appropriately. The MOLSD did not, however, effectively
use this system to flag potential trafficking cases among foreign
workers. The government did not take action to reduce the
demand for commercial sex acts, but it made efforts to reduce
the demand for forced labor. MOLSD continued to employ
1,000 labor inspectors, and during the reporting period, it
canceled the licenses of seven recruitment companies, did not
renew the licenses of six, and ordered 126 recruitment offices
to cease the recruitment of domestic workers. MOLSD imposed
fines on 829 work places violating the government’s mid-day
work ban during the summer months. The police continued
to operate an emergency number, which could refer potential
trafficking victims to protection services. The government
reported that from September 2015 to September 2016, the
hotline received 2,151 complaints; 1,411 of the complaints were
resolved through mediation, investigation, or prosecution, and
740 were still in process in September 2016. MOLSD continued
to operate a hotline to receive labor dispute complaints with
operators that spoke a variety of migrant worker languages.
The government did not report if any trafficking victims were
identified through this hotline. MOLSD continued to distribute
a guidebook to all migrant workers entering the country, which

TRAFFICKING PROFILE

As reported over the past five years, Saudi Arabia is a destination
country for men and women subjected to forced labor and,
to a lesser extent, forced prostitution. Men and women—
primarily from South and Southeast Asia and Africa—voluntarily
migrate to Saudi Arabia to work in a variety of sectors, such as
construction and domestic work, including men who work in
private residences as gardeners, handymen, and cleaners, or
low-skilled laborers; some of these workers are subjected to
forced labor. Some migrants are illegally recruited to work in
Saudi Arabia and subsequently forced into domestic servitude
and debt bondage. The foreign worker population is the most
vulnerable to trafficking in Saudi Arabia, particularly female
domestic workers, due to their isolation inside private residences.
An international organization estimated in 2013 that Saudi
Arabia is one of the largest employers of domestic workers in
the world, a sector with the highest average working hours.
Some domestic workers experience severe mental, physical, and
sexual abuse by their employers. Some foreign citizens, who have
experienced indicators of trafficking, have been prosecuted for
crimes and placed on death row. Non-payment of wages is the
most common complaint from foreign workers in the Kingdom,
while employers withholding workers’ passports remains a
significant problem. Due to Saudi Arabia’s requirement under
its sponsorship, or kafala, system that foreign workers obtain
permission from their employers for an exit visa to leave the
country legally, some are forced to work for months or years
beyond their contract term because their employers will not
grant them permission for the visa. Although many migrant
workers sign contracts with their employers, some report work
conditions substantially different from those described in the
contract; other workers never see a work contract at all. Some
migrant workers voluntarily enter into illegal arrangements
and pay a Saudi citizen to sponsor their residence permit while
they seek freelance work, thus becoming vulnerable to possible
extortion by their sponsors. In previous years, criminal gangs
subjected children from Yemen to forced labor as beggars and
street vendors. Some migrants from Yemen and the Horn of
Africa entering Saudi Arabia illegally—sometimes with the help
of smugglers—via the Yemeni border may be trafficking victims.
Some Saudi citizens reportedly engaged in sex tourism abroad,
and there were media reports that some Saudi men traveled
abroad to engage in “summer” or “temporary marriages,”
which include payment for short-term sexual access to children
and others who the purchaser then abandons. For example,
the Jordanian government reported a case in 2016 involving
a Syrian girl who was forced by her father into a “temporary
marriage”—for the purpose of sexual exploitation—for six
months with a Saudi Arabian national.

SENEGAL: TIER 2 WATCH LIST
The Government of Senegal does not fully meet the minimum
standards for the elimination of trafficking; however, it is making
significant efforts to do so. The government demonstrated
significant efforts during the reporting period by convicting
at least five sex traffickers; identifying and providing shortterm services to an increased number of trafficking victims;
allocating funding to its trafficking-specific victim shelter; and
disbursing some funding to the Ministry of Women, Family, and
Childhood (MFFE) to remove vulnerable children, including
forced begging victims, from the streets and refer them to
services. However, the government did not demonstrate overall
increasing efforts compared to the previous reporting period.
Despite identifying more than 1,547 child potential forced
begging victims, the government returned many victims to their
exploitative marabouts (teachers at Quranic schools, known as
daaras) after identification without appropriate monitoring
or follow-up plans to prevent recidivism. Some government
officials’ lack of understanding of human trafficking and others’
lack of political will to address forced begging by marabouts
systematically prevented such cases from moving forward in
the law enforcement and judiciary systems, and the government
did not report investigating, prosecuting, or convicting any
marabouts for forced begging offenses. MFFE’s funding was
insufficient to assist victims in Dakar, let alone nationwide,
and the government did not provide sufficient protections for
workers employed in the informal economy, including children
in mining, rendering such workers vulnerable to trafficking.
Therefore, Senegal remained on Tier 2 Watch List for the second
consecutive year.

SENEGAL

contained MOLSD’s hotline number. The government continued
to operate an online portal providing domestic workers and
employers with information about their legal rights. During
the reporting period, the government finalized domestic worker
agreements with several countries, which aimed to protect
workers’ contracts with their employers. The government
conducted multiple anti-trafficking public awareness campaigns
in 2016. The government provided anti-trafficking training
for its diplomatic personnel. The government did not have
extraterritorial authority to prosecute Saudi citizens engaged in
sex tourism abroad, and the government did not make efforts
to discourage their citizens from engaging in child sex tourism.

RECOMMENDATIONS FOR SENEGAL

Significantly increase efforts to investigate and prosecute
trafficking offenses and convict and punish traffickers,
including those who exploit children in forced begging, with
sufficiently stringent sentences; hold government officials
accountable for trafficking-related complicity, including the
failure to investigate alleged trafficking offenses; ensure law
enforcement, including the gendarmerie criminal research
brigade, investigate forced child begging cases brought to its
attention; expand funding or in-kind support to governmentand NGO-run shelters to increase care options for victims,
especially for adults and long-term care; develop a mechanism
for the MFFE to monitor all identified trafficking victims who are
returned to formerly exploitative marabouts to ensure marabouts
receiving government support do not force children to beg;
train law enforcement, labor, and social welfare officials to
adequately identify trafficking victims, investigate cases, and
refer victims to services; train government officials and sensitize
NGOs to the standardized procedures for referring trafficking
victims to care, and apply the procedures consistently; increase
collaboration with NGOs, community groups, and religious
leaders on anti-trafficking programs and raising awareness;
expand workplace regulations to include labor inspections
and labor trafficking investigations in the informal sectors of

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the economy, including mining, agriculture, and fishing; fully
implement the national action plan on forced child labor and
the 2015-2017 anti-trafficking national action plan, including by
allocating sufficient funding to the taskforce; improve efforts to
collect law enforcement data on trafficking, including traffickingrelated offenses prosecuted under provisions other than the
2005 law; expand the daara mapping project across the country
to provide baseline information for the national database
and the anti-trafficking taskforce to increase coordination of
country-wide government efforts to combat and prevent forced
begging; ensure daaras that force children to beg do not receive
government funding or subsidies; and broaden efforts to raise
public awareness of trafficking, including of adults and forced
child begging.

PROSECUTION

The government made minimal anti-trafficking law enforcement
efforts. Senegal’s 2005 Law to Combat Trafficking in Persons
and Related Practices and to Protect Victims prohibits all
forms of trafficking and prescribes penalties of five to 10
years imprisonment, which are sufficiently stringent and
commensurate with penalties prescribed for other serious
crimes, such as rape. The law has rarely been used to prosecute
alleged traffickers; in the last five years, the government convicted
only two marabouts for forced begging under the 2005 law,
despite a government estimate that at least 30,000 talibes are
forced to beg in Dakar alone. In addition, the lack of government
action to regulate daaras and prosecute those who engaged in or
abetted forced child begging allowed the problem to continue.
After more than two years of negotiations, the government, in
collaboration with religious leaders, finalized the draft text of
a bill to modernize daaras; if passed, the bill would outline
requirements that daaras must meet in order to be declared
“modern” and thus eligible to receive government subsidies.
It remained in draft form at the end of the reporting period.
According to the law’s drafters, daaras that use forced begging
will not be eligible to receive subsidies; however, the text of
the law itself does not explicitly exclude such daaras from
receiving government assistance. Furthermore, participation in
the program to become a “modern daara” and receive subsidies
will be voluntary, so it is unclear if the draft bill, once passed,
would adequately address child forced begging.

348

For the fifth consecutive year, the government did not maintain
or publish comprehensive anti-trafficking law enforcement
statistics. From data collected from three of Senegal’s 14
regions, the government reported 16 trafficking investigations
eight prosecutions and five convictions, compared with one
investigation, prosecution, and conviction for forced begging
in the previous reporting period. Judges convicted four sex
traffickers under the pimping statute, acquitted one alleged sex
trafficker, and convicted a fifth trafficker for an unknown type
of exploitation. Sentences upon conviction ranged from two
to three years imprisonment and fines; all sentences imposed
were below the minimum of five years imprisonment provided
in the law. A presidential decree issued in June 2016 (2016
decree) ordered the removal of all children from the streets,
including students, known as talibes, forced to beg by marabouts.
Although the government removed more than 1,500 children,
authorities did not launch any investigations into marabouts
or other suspected traffickers identified through the decree for
forced begging offenses, and authorities restricted enforcement
of the decree to Dakar. The government did not report any
investigations, prosecutions, or convictions of government
officials complicit in human trafficking offenses; however,
allegations of government inaction to prosecute marabouts

remained a serious concern. Authorities from MFFE and the
government-run Ginddi Center for trafficking victims reported
to law enforcement marabouts suspected of repeatedly violating
the 2005 law, but law enforcement did not adequately investigate
those individuals or refer the cases for prosecution.
The government, in collaboration with international
organizations and donors, developed and partially funded
five training programs on organized crime and trafficking,
identifying and investigating human trafficking cases, and using
data collection systems for human trafficking cases. A total of
124 policemen, labor inspectors, and judicial staff attended
the trainings. Many law enforcement and judicial personnel
remained unaware of the 2005 law, which, coupled with
limited institutional capacity, inhibited efforts to prosecute
and convict traffickers under the law and collect data on such
efforts. Although the taskforce had created a national trafficking
database during the previous reporting period and trained
law enforcement on its usage, the government did not fully
implement it during the reporting period.

PROTECTION

The government maintained modest efforts to identify and
provide initial services to trafficking victims, but it returned
some identified victims to their traffickers. Law enforcement,
immigration, and social services personnel had formal written
procedures to proactively identify trafficking victims among
high-risk populations; however, they made limited efforts to
implement those procedures, especially among gold-mining
communities and children in begging. The 2016 decree that led
to the removal of children from the streets of Dakar resulted in
a significant increase in victims identified. The government and
NGOs identified and removed 1,547 potential child trafficking
victims from the streets of Dakar, including 394 children from
Guinea-Bissau—a significant increase from 142 child trafficking
victims identified and assisted by the government in the previous
reporting period. The majority of these victims were talibes
exploited in forced begging. At least 440 of the children were
found begging with their families, so it was unclear how many
were trafficking victims.
Authorities referred all victims to either NGOs or the
government-run Ginddi Center for care, although they
subsequently returned many of the children to their exploitative
marabouts, significantly increasing their risk of re-trafficking.
The Ginddi Center provided temporary shelter and basic
care to both foreign and domestic victims; the government
provided 85.7 million FCFA ($137,089) to the center for shelter
and basic meals, the same amount allocated in the previous
year. The shelter also provided clothing to 1,545 children
and medical assistance to 777 children. The center lacked
sufficient staff, resources, and specialized training for social
workers and volunteers who counseled and referred potential
trafficking victims to the shelter; the center only had one
volunteer doctor to provide basic medical treatment. Two NGOs
reported identifying and providing services to an additional
198 victims and potential victims, including at least 156 talibes
primarily from Guinea-Bissau. The Ministry of Justice operated
three shelters for child victims of crime, witnesses, and children
in emergency situations, which trafficking victims could access,
and at least three NGOs operated trafficking victim shelters
throughout the country. At the end of the reporting period,
91 of the 1,547 children remained at the Ginddi Center and
NGO shelters, while MFFE and NGOs had returned the other
1,456 to a parent or other adult, including marabouts. Shelters
lacked space to care for all trafficking victims, which limited

Authorities inconsistently applied the victim referral system, and
it was not available in all regions of the country. Authorities sent
victims identified along Senegal’s borders to an international
organization and government center for questioning before
referring them to NGOs for protective services. The government
allocated 100 million FCFA ($159,964) to MFFE to implement
the 2016 decree, which was inadequate to fund all of MFFE’s
planned activities in Dakar, let alone nationwide. MFFE used the
funding to remove children from the street; provide 50,000 FCFA
($80) monthly to 60 families potentially exploited in forced
begging; and provide monthly funding for food and incominggenerating activities to 16 daaras where it had identified child
forced begging to discourage future forced begging. Because
authorities failed to arrest any marabouts while implementing
the 2016 decree and returned identified trafficking victims to
their exploitative marabouts without adequately monitoring
the marabouts and children for recidivism, the government
may have provided support to daaras that continued to force
children to beg. The Ginddi Center did not report if its child
protection hotline received any reports of trafficking during
the reporting period. The taskforce trained police and social
workers on identifying and protecting trafficking victims. The
government continued to establish child protection committees
to refer vulnerable children to social services, increasing the
number of active committees from 31 to 40 during the reporting
period; an international organization funded the committees.
The committees did not always coordinate with local law
enforcement, however, which hampered their efficacy.
The anti-trafficking law provides alternatives to the removal
of foreign victims who may face hardship or retribution
upon return, including the option to apply for temporary or
permanent residency and seek restitution; the government
did not report offering this relief to any victims during the
reporting period. Victims can legally obtain restitution and
file civil suits against their traffickers, although the government
did not report that any did so during the reporting period. The
2005 law absolves victims from responsibility for unlawful acts
committed as a result of being subjected to trafficking, and
there were no reports officials penalized victims for such acts.

better understand trafficking in Senegal. Through ECOWAS,
the taskforce and five other West African governments created
a working group to coordinate regional anti-trafficking efforts;
the taskforce chaired two meetings during the reporting period.
In addition, it provided capacity-building training to Cote
d’Ivoire’s anti-trafficking committee. The taskforce, with support
from international partners, continued implementation of the
national action plan on child forced begging.
Approximately 70 percent of Senegal’s economy operated in
the informal sector, where most forced child labor occurred,
yet the government did not improve regulation of this sector or
provide adequate protections for workers. The government did
not make discernible efforts to reduce the demand for forced
labor or commercial sex acts. The taskforce’s tourism police
forces continued to monitor Saly and Cap Skirring for indicators
of child sex tourism and other abuses, although it did not
report identifying any cases of sex trafficking. The government,
in cooperation with international partners, provided antitrafficking training to Senegalese troops before their deployment
abroad on international peacekeeping missions. The government
warned diplomatic personnel of the criminal penalties for
domestic servitude.

SERBIA

the number of victims MFFE could remove from exploitation;
MFFE could not remove children unless a shelter had space.
Some shelters accommodated adult potential forced begging
victims during the reporting period.

TRAFFICKING PROFILE

As reported over the past five years, Senegal is a source, transit,
and destination country for women and children subjected
to forced labor and sex trafficking. Certain corrupt marabouts
force talibes to beg throughout Senegal; a 2014 government
study reported in Dakar alone, approximately 30,000 talibes
are forced to beg in the streets, and more than 9,000 are
forced to beg in the St. Louis region. Senegalese boys and
girls are also subjected to domestic servitude, forced labor in
gold mines, and sex trafficking. Internal trafficking is more
prevalent than transnational trafficking, although boys from
The Gambia, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, and Mali are subjected
to forced begging and forced labor in artisanal gold mines in
Senegal. Senegalese women and girls are subjected to domestic
servitude in neighboring countries, Europe, and the Middle
East. Reports indicate most Senegalese sex trafficking victims
are exploited within Senegal, particularly in the southeastern
gold-mining region of Kedougou. West African women and
girls are subjected to domestic servitude and sex trafficking in
Senegal, including for child sex tourism for sex tourists from
France, Belgium, and Germany, among other countries.

PREVENTION

The government made uneven efforts to prevent human
trafficking. The anti-trafficking taskforce made modest efforts
to implement the 2015-2017 anti-trafficking national action
plan. Although the government allocated significantly more
funding to the taskforce in 2016—50 million FCFA ($79,982),
compared with 30 million FCFA ($47,989) in 2015—the
amount was inadequate to cover most of the taskforce’s activities.
The lack of interagency coordination remained a problem. In
addition, NGOs noted the government’s lack of collaboration
with NGOs, community groups, and religious leaders on
anti-trafficking awareness programs impeded such efforts.
The taskforce and MFFE jointly implemented the 2016 decree,
including raising awareness of the decree in seven languages via
radio, television, print media, and the internet. In collaboration
with an international organization, the taskforce also conducted
a forum on sexual exploitation and sensitized 50 students
on identifying human trafficking. The taskforce conducted
studies on implementation of the 2005 law and the scope of
women and children’s involvement in domestic servitude to

SERBIA: TIER 2 WATCH LIST
The Government of Serbia does not fully meet the minimum
standards for the elimination of trafficking; however, it
is making significant efforts to do so. The government
demonstrated significant efforts during the reporting period by
operationalizing a permanent human smuggling and trafficking
law enforcement taskforce. The government identified more
victims and provided guidelines to prosecutors and judges
on non-penalization of trafficking victims. The government
developed and distributed guidance on trafficking indicators
and trained 630 first responders on applying these indicators.
However, the government did not demonstrate increasing efforts
compared to the previous reporting period. The government
did not provide sufficient protection to victims participating
in criminal proceedings, which exposed them to intimidation
and secondary traumatization. The absence of formalized

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SERBIA

victim identification procedures and an outdated national
referral mechanism hindered victim protection efforts. The
government did not adopt the strategy and national action plan
for 2015-2016 and the anti-trafficking council did not convene.
The influx of migrants during the reporting period placed a
significant strain on government resources, especially among
agencies that combat trafficking in persons. Therefore, Serbia
remained on Tier 2 Watch List for the second consecutive year.

largely focused on countering smuggling and responding to
the influx of migrants and refugees. Seventeen directorates
had multidisciplinary anti-trafficking teams that included
prosecutors, social workers, and health officials; however,
observers reported none of these teams were used in 2016. The
government continued to train police, immigration officials,
and border police on anti-trafficking issues. The government
did not report any investigations, prosecutions, or convictions
of government officials complicit in human trafficking offenses.

PROTECTION

RECOMMENDATIONS FOR SERBIA

Vigorously investigate, prosecute, and convict traffickers and
sentence them to stringent penalties; provide victims testifying in
court protection to diminish intimidation and re-traumatization;
train investigators, prosecutors, and judges on victim-centered
approaches to trafficking cases; formalize victim identification
procedures and update the national referral mechanism, to
include formalizing cooperation with NGOs to ensure victims
have access to and receive all necessary support services; increase
efforts to identify victims, including among migrants, refugees
and asylum-seekers, and unaccompanied children engaged in
street begging; amend the law to mandate non-penalization of
victims for acts committed as a direct result of being subjected to
human trafficking; improve training for government personnel
on victim assistance and referral; adopt the national antitrafficking strategy and action plan and involve NGOs in
implementation; allocate adequate staff and resources for the
Office for Coordination against Trafficking in Persons and
existing coordination structures to ensure effectiveness; and
elevate the national coordinator for combating trafficking in
persons to a full-time position with independent authority.

PROSECUTION

The government maintained law enforcement efforts.
Article 388 of the criminal code prohibits all forms of
trafficking and prescribes penalties ranging from three to
15 years imprisonment, which are sufficiently stringent and
commensurate with those prescribed for other serious crimes,
such as rape. The government investigated 14 individuals,
compared to 10 cases of sex trafficking and one case of forced
labor in 2015. The government prosecuted 23 defendants (18 in
2015). Courts convicted 22 traffickers (11 in 2015). Traffickers
received sentences between two years and eight months and
seven years and four months imprisonment.

350

Observers reported the government did not adequately
implement anti-trafficking laws and prosecutors often chose
to prosecute trafficking crimes under other statutes with lesser
penalties that were easier to prosecute. For instance, in one
trafficking case concluded in 2016 that lasted six years, the
trafficker agreed to plead guilty to a lesser charge of facilitating
prostitution and was sentenced to seven months imprisonment.
The government operationalized a permanent human smuggling
and trafficking criminal taskforce. Each police directorate had
an anti-trafficking unit in addition to the specialized antitrafficking units within the organized crime police and border
police forces; however, during the reporting period, these units

The government maintained efforts in victim protection. The
government identified 49 trafficking victims (36 in 2015). Of
these, 29 were victims of sex trafficking, seven of forced labor,
one for forced begging, one of forced criminality, and 11 of
multiple types of exploitation. In 2015, 21 victims were subjected
to sex trafficking, three to forced labor, ten to forced begging,
and two to forced criminality. In 2016, 21 victims were children,
compared to 22 in 2015. The Center for Protection of Trafficking
Victims (CPTV) reported the majority of identified victims were
Serbian citizens exploited in Serbia. CPTV reported Serbian
victims exploited and identified abroad and foreign nationals
exploited abroad but identified in Serbia. The government did
not provide information on funds allocated for victim protection
in 2016. In 2015, the government budgeted 19.7 million Serbian
dinars ($168,330) for the operation of the CPTV.
The government did not have formal victim identification
procedures and used an outdated national referral mechanism
(NRM) to refer victims to support services. Observers reported
the NRM lacked established roles and responsibilities. First
responders referred potential victims to CPTV, which officially
identified victims. First responders referred 150 potential
victims to CPTV (106 in 2015); the government referred
81, social welfare organizations referred 42, and NGOs and
international organizations referred 27. The government
reported approximately 100,000 migrants and refugees
transited Serbia in 2016. Authorities identified two migrants
as trafficking victims; however, NGOs suspected many more
victims remained unidentified. Observers reported CPTV staff
lacked proper resources to travel to the location of potential
victims and interview them in person. CPTV designed and
distributed checklists of trafficking indicators and trained
630 first responders on them. CPTV trained 120 education
professionals on identifying child victims. However, observers
reported law enforcement in charge of investigating prostitutionrelated offenses received limited to no training on victim
identification.
CPTV had two units, the protection agency and the urgent
reception center; however, for the fourth consecutive year the
urgent reception center, designed to provide safe shelter and
services, was not functional. An NGO-run shelter remained
the only specialized shelter for female trafficking victims;
local centers for social work operated shelters for domestic
violence victims that accommodated female trafficking victims.
The government reported child victims were returned to their
families, referred to foster care, or provided shelter in one of
the two Centers for Children without Parental Care; however,
observers reported CPTV lacked specific procedures for child
trafficking victims. For example, the questionnaire used in
the identification process was not adapted to children and
children often did not understand the questions. Observers
reported there were no child-friendly premises for interviews
and majority of social workers did not receive specific training
on working with children. In previous years, government social

Victims’ ability to access support services and assistance
was not contingent on cooperating with law enforcement
investigations; however, once a case was reported to police,
authorities required victims to cooperate with investigations
and testify during prosecution. NGOs reported some victims
were threatened with prosecution for non-cooperation. Experts
continued to report authorities did not adequately protect
victims’ rights during lengthy court proceedings and victims
frequently had to appear in front of their traffickers; traffickers
often threatened or intimidated victims. Observers reported the
length of trials and assistance provided to victims depended on
the individual prosecutor or judge. Judges did not assign the
status of “especially vulnerable witness” to trafficking victims.
This status allows witnesses to testify without the defendant
present and allows testimony via video link. The law entitles
victims to file criminal and civil suits against their traffickers for
restitution, but judges continued to encourage victims to seek
restitution solely by filing civil suits. Civil suits were lengthy,
expensive, and required the victim to face the abuser numerous
times; no victims received restitution in 2016. The government
provided foreign victims temporary residence permits renewable
up to one year; two victims received residence permits in 2016.
Observers reported the government did not uniformly apply
non-penalization principles for trafficking victims; however,
CPTV provided guidelines to prosecutors and judges on nonpenalization of trafficking victims.

PREVENTION

The government decreased prevention efforts. The government
did not adopt the anti-trafficking strategy and action plan for
2015-2016. The government created an anti-trafficking council
in 2005 as a consultative body, which observers noted existed
only on paper and did not meet. The national coordinator
for combating trafficking in persons continued to lead antitrafficking efforts despite lacking sufficient resources and support
from the government; the coordinator is the head of migration
for the border police and did not have independent authority.
The national coordinator and CPTV director lectured on antitrafficking issues at universities and the Police Academy. The
government initiated efforts to create an electronic national
court statistics database. The government operated a hotline to
collect human trafficking-related tips, published anti-trafficking
efforts on its website, and provided information on trafficking
via social media. Police continued to enforce laws against
purchasing commercial sex. The government did not make
efforts to reduce demand for forced labor. The government
licensed and regulated private employment agencies; however,
observers reported in practice, tourist agencies performed labor
recruitment and were largely unregulated. Serbian troops

participated in anti-trafficking training prior to their deployment
on international peacekeeping missions. The government
provided anti-trafficking training for its diplomatic personnel.

TRAFFICKING PROFILE

As reported over the past five years, Serbia is a source, transit,
and destination country for men, women, and children
subjected to sex trafficking and forced labor, including domestic
servitude and forced begging. Serbian women are subjected
to sex trafficking by Serbian criminal groups in neighboring
countries and throughout Europe, particularly Austria and
Germany. Serbian nationals, primarily men, are subjected to
forced labor in labor-intensive sectors, such as the construction
industry, in European countries (including Azerbaijan, Slovenia,
and Russia) and the United Arab Emirates. Serbian children,
particularly Roma, are subjected within the country to sex
trafficking, forced labor, forced begging, and petty crime.
Thousands of migrants and refugees from Afghanistan, Iraq,
Syria, and neighboring countries transiting through or stranded
in Serbia are vulnerable to trafficking within Serbia. Alleged
traffickers reportedly influenced some trafficking cases through
bribery of the victim or judge.

SEYCHELLES

welfare centers lacked the ability to remove children from their
families, even if there was evidence the family had exploited
the child. Male victims did not have access to a dedicated
trafficking shelter, but an NGO rented accommodation as
needed and male victims could access all other rehabilitation
services offered to female victims. CPTV assessed each victim
for individual needs and developed a protection and assistance
plan. The government and NGOs provided psycho-social,
legal, education, medical, financial, and reintegration support;
however, the government did not have procedures outlining
cooperation between CPTV and NGOs on victim services.
NGOs and international organizations provided assistance
to 28 of the 49 trafficking victims. Centers for social work
provided social services, but they often lacked the specialized
programs, sensitivity, and trained staff necessary for working
with trafficking victims.

SEYCHELLES: TIER 2
The Government of Seychelles does not fully meet the minimum
standards for the elimination of trafficking; however, it is making
significant efforts to do so. The government demonstrated
increasing efforts compared to the previous reporting period;
therefore, Seychelles was upgraded to Tier 2. The government
demonstrated increasing efforts by initiating its first investigation
and prosecution under the anti-trafficking law, conducting
more anti-trafficking trainings, identifying and assisting more
trafficking victims, and allocating a budget for the national
anti-trafficking committee. However, the government did
not meet the minimum standards in several key areas. The
government did not report implementation of its standard
operating procedures for victim identification and referral
mechanism. It did not report allocating specific funding
for victims services, making any efforts to identify or assist
internal or sex trafficking victims, or convicting any traffickers.
The government did not inspect employers of, or screen for
indicators of trafficking among, potential labor trafficking
victims within the Seychelles International Trade Zone (SITZ)
despite vulnerability to trafficking among migrant labor in
the country.

RECOMMENDATIONS FOR SEYCHELLES

Increase efforts to investigate and prosecute trafficking, including
internal and sex trafficking crimes, under the anti-trafficking
law, and convict and punish traffickers; implement standard
operating procedures for victim identification and referral;
provide specialized training to government officials, including

351

SEYCHELLES

members of the national committee on human trafficking, law
enforcement officials, social workers, immigration officials, and
labor inspectors, on victim identification and referral procedures;
enforce the law prohibiting the retention of passports by
employers of migrant workers; provide adequate oversight of
laborers working in the SITZ, and require labor inspectors to
conduct regular and comprehensive inspections of migrant
workers’ work sites; allocate adequate funding for victim services;
draft a national action plan to drive national efforts to combat
all forms of trafficking; remove the required fee for a migrant
worker to lodge a complaint with the Labor Tribunal; screen
for potential trafficking offenses among complaints before
the Labor Tribunal; implement labor laws in all of Seychelles,
including the international trade zone, and authorize officials
to monitor domestic workers’ employment; and continue to
conduct anti-trafficking awareness campaigns to increase the
understanding of the crime among the local population and
the large number of foreign tourists and migrant workers
entering the country.

PROSECUTION

The government modestly increased efforts to combat labor
trafficking, but did not initiate investigations of sex trafficking
crimes. The Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons Act of 2014
criminalizes all forms of trafficking in adults and children.
The law prescribes penalties of up to 14 years imprisonment,
and in cases involving children or aggravating circumstances, a
maximum of 25 years imprisonment and a fine up to 800,000
Seychelles rupee ($60,519); these penalties are sufficiently
stringent and commensurate with those for other serious
crimes, such as rape. Elements of human trafficking are also
criminalized in provisions of the penal code, including section
259 prohibiting slavery and section 251 prohibiting forced labor.
Although all forms of child sex trafficking are criminalized
under the anti-trafficking law, enforcement of this prohibition
may be hampered by unclear and conflicting statutes in the
penal code that do not clearly define the ages of consent and
legal majority, creating confusion between the traditionally
understood age of consent (15 years of age) and the legal age
of majority (18 years of age).

352

During the reporting period, the government investigated
two potential cases of trafficking. The government initiated
its first prosecution under the anti-trafficking law in a case
involving alleged forced labor of four Bangladeshi victims;
officials identified this case following an inspection of a
construction company where officials found non-payment
of wages and contractual misrepresentation. The national
coordinating committee on trafficking in persons established
a case conferencing group, which consisted of the relevant
stakeholders to ensure a cohesive approach to the investigation
and prosecution of the construction company. This contrasts
with the Ministry of Labor resources and development’s
past practice of treating potential cases of labor trafficking
as contract disputes between employer and employee, and
seeking arbitration through the labor tribunal rather than
referring cases for criminal investigation. The government did
not report efforts to investigate or prosecute sex trafficking.
In April 2016, the Ministry of Community Development,
Social Affairs and Sports, in conjunction with an international
organization, conducted training for approximately 30 frontline law enforcement officers on trafficking and screening for
potential indicators of human trafficking; however, many officers
remained inadequately trained to identify and refer potential
human trafficking cases. The government did not report any

investigations, prosecutions, or convictions of government
officials complicit in human trafficking offenses.

PROTECTION

The government modestly increased efforts to identify and
assist labor trafficking victims, but did not undertake any such
efforts in relation to sex trafficking. The government identified
and provided care to four Bangladeshi victims of forced labor
and assisted 16 potential victims following their interception,
an increase from zero identified during the previous reporting
period. The government intercepted the 16 potential trafficking
victims from Madagascar en route to Kuwait. After acquiring a
translator, the government interviewed these potential victims
and determined that it needed further information to formally
identify them as trafficking victims. Nonetheless, it coordinated
with the Government of Madagascar to repatriate all 16 potential
victims. There are no shelters specifically for trafficking victims
in the country; however, the social affairs department of the
Ministry of Health and Social Affairs provided the Bangladeshi
victims with accommodations in a private guest house, per
diem, access to a social worker and translator, and new work
permits. The government provided the 16 Malagasy nationals
with accommodations at a hotel until they were repatriated. The
Bangladeshi victims reportedly participated in the investigation.
The government did not report efforts to identify or assist sex
trafficking victims. The law provides for witness protection,
medical services, shelter, psychological support, legal advice,
repatriation, social integration, and establishment of a fund
to help pay for these expenses. The government did not report
whether it allocated capital to the fund; however, it did fund
assistance to victims. The government conducted training for
social workers on how to implement the victim assistance
tool, created in 2015, which established standard operating
procedures on victim identification, protection, and referral;
although, the government did not report implementation of
the tool during the reporting period. There were no reports
of victims being penalized for unlawful acts committed as a
direct result of being subjected to human trafficking; however,
because officials did not use standard victim identification
procedures, victims likely remained unidentified in the law
enforcement system. For example, migrant workers who strike
have historically been considered to be in breach of their
work contracts and could be deported at their employers’
request. There were no reports of such deportations during
the reporting period.

PREVENTION

The government minimally increased prevention efforts. The
national anti-trafficking committee served to foster coordination
and communication on trafficking matters across government
agencies and successfully drove national anti-trafficking efforts
during the reporting period. It met every month and a half,
received a dedicated budget, planned and delivered several
trainings for officials, formed a case conferencing group to
ensure the coordinated handling of the government’s first labor
trafficking prosecution, organized the provision of assistance to
trafficking victims, and coordinated public awareness efforts.
Customs and immigration officials prevented 16 potential
Malagasy trafficking victims from transiting the country by
screening at the international airport. The government did
not report progress in implementing the 2014-2015 national
action plan or undertaking efforts to draft an updated plan.
The government continued to run annual awareness campaigns
in both broadcast and print media, and publicized World

Trafficking vulnerabilities in labor recruitment and monitoring
persisted throughout the country during the reporting period.
Seizure and retention of passports is illegal under Seychellois
law; however, the government reported no efforts to enforce
this law. The MOE employed 13 labor inspectors responsible
for conducting inspections of all workplaces in the country and
informing all migrant workers of their employment rights. The
MOE lacked authority to conduct inspections in the SITZ, where
many migrant laborers work, as it is considered ex-territorial
and is managed by the Financial Services Authority (FSA). The
FSA did not provide adequate oversight of laborers working
in the SITZ, nor conduct any inspections during the reporting
period. The MOE did not have authority to enter private
homes to monitor employers of domestic workers, limiting
the government’s ability to identify and investigate indicators
of trafficking among this community. The Ministry of Health
had authority to inspect migrant worker dwellings but did not
have the mandate to investigate labor violations or potential
trafficking crimes. The MOE reported an increase in the demand
for expatriate domestic workers. The government made no
discernible efforts to decrease the demand for commercial sex
acts or forced labor during the reporting period. The government
funded anti-trafficking training for the Honorary Consuls of
the Seychelles on victim identification abroad.

SIERRA LEONE: TIER 2
The Government of Sierra Leone does not fully meet the
minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking; however,
it is making significant efforts to do so. The government
demonstrated increasing efforts compared to the previous
reporting period; therefore, Sierra Leone remained on Tier 2.
The government demonstrated increasing efforts by investigating
and initiating prosecutions of trafficking cases, identifying and
referring 34 victims to services, and funding repatriation for 25
Sierra Leonean trafficking victims exploited abroad. However,
the government did not meet the minimum standards in several
key areas. The government reported a decreased number of
investigations and for the sixth consecutive year did not convict
a trafficker. Judicial inefficiency and procedural delays impacted
access to justice generally. Due to the lack of government
support for victims during investigations and prosecutions, and
an overreliance on victim testimony, courts did not complete
any trafficking prosecutions, and law enforcement and judges
dismissed many trafficking cases initiated during the reporting
period. The government continued to rely on NGOs to provide
nearly all victim assistance, and uneven implementation of the
national referral mechanism resulted in delayed assistance for
some victims. The government did not provide funding for the
anti-trafficking taskforce to adequately fulfill its mandate or
implement 2015-2020 national action plan.

SIERRA LEONE

Day on Trafficking in Persons. The Ministry of Employment,
Entrepreneurship Development and Business Innovation
(MOE) continued to provide leaflets in Chinese and Hindi
to migrant workers arriving in the Seychelles detailing their
rights and worked with local embassies to provide translation
services as needed. The government maintained a help line for
reporting instances of trafficking, but the government did not
report whether it received any calls.

TRAFFICKING PROFILE

Seychelles is a destination country for foreign men and women
subjected to labor trafficking and sex trafficking and a source
country for children subjected to sex trafficking. Seychellois girls
and, according to some sources, boys are subject to child sex
trafficking, particularly on the main island of Mahe; they are
exploited by peers, family members, and pimps in nightclubs,
bars, guest houses, hotels, brothels, private homes, and on the
street. Young drug addicts are vulnerable to being forced into
prostitution. Eastern European women have been subjected to
forced prostitution in hotels. Migrant workers—including from
China, Kenya, Madagascar, and countries in South Asia—make
up 20 percent of the working population in Seychelles and
are primarily employed in fishing and construction. Malagasy
women who transit the Seychelles may be subjected to forced
labor in the Middle East. Some migrant workers are subjected
to forced labor in the construction sector. NGOs report migrant
workers face exploitative conditions in fish processing plants,
and fishermen aboard foreign-flagged fishing vessels in
Seychelles’ territorial waters and ports are subjected to abuses
indicative of forced labor, including non-payment of wages
and physical abuse. Migrant workers sign their employment
contracts upon arrival in the Seychelles, which increases their
vulnerability to fraudulent recruitment tactics. There were reports
of employers routinely retaining migrant workers’ passports
to prevent them from changing jobs prior to the expiration of
their two-year contracts.

RECOMMENDATIONS FOR SIERRA LEONE

Increase efforts to prosecute and convict traffickers with
sufficiently stringent sentences that include imprisonment;
address procedural delays and judicial corruption so victims can
participate in trials and judges cease dismissing cases against
alleged traffickers; train prosecutors and judges to investigate
and prosecute trafficking cases; amend the anti-trafficking law to
increase penalties to be sufficiently stringent and commensurate
with penalties for rape, and harmonize penalties for forced
labor and forced prostitution across all laws; train all actors
on the national referral mechanism to ensure all trafficking
victims receive timely services; increase partnerships with and
financial or in-kind support to NGOs providing assistance to
trafficking victims; improve coordination among government
agencies responsible for combating trafficking in persons;
train law enforcement officers and social workers to identify
trafficking victims among vulnerable populations, including
children in domestic servitude; sufficiently fund anti-trafficking
activities in the national budget and allocate funds to relevant
entities, such as the anti-trafficking taskforce, to implement
the national action plan; in collaboration with civil society
organizations, increase efforts to raise public awareness of
trafficking; ratify the Economic Community of West African
States (ECOWAS) Convention on Mutual Assistance in the Fight
Against Trafficking; and continue to improve data collection on
anti-trafficking law enforcement and victim assistance efforts.

353

SIERRA LEONE

PROSECUTION

The government decreased anti-trafficking law enforcement
efforts. The 2005 anti-trafficking law criminalizes all forms of
human trafficking and prescribes a maximum penalty of 10 years
imprisonment and/or a fine of 50 million leones ($6,710) for sex
trafficking and a maximum penalty of 10 years imprisonment
and/or a fine of 30 million leones ($4,030) for labor trafficking;
these penalties are sufficiently stringent, but the penalties for
sex trafficking are not commensurate with those prescribed for
other serious crimes such as rape. Chapter 215 of the Laws of
Sierra Leone of 1956 also prohibits forced labor but prescribes
an insufficiently stringent penalty of six months imprisonment
or a fine of 100 pounds sterling ($123). In addition, two other
laws prescribe penalties for sex trafficking offenses that differ
from the anti-trafficking law. The Child Rights Act imposes
a penalty for the prostitution of a child by a third party of
30 million leones ($4,030) and/or two years imprisonment,
which is neither sufficiently stringent nor commensurate with
penalties for rape. The Sexual Offences Act criminalizes forced
prostitution and child prostitution with penalties of up to
15 years imprisonment, which are sufficiently stringent and
commensurate with penalties for rape, and also requires the
police after receipt of a trafficking complaint to assist victims
and protect vulnerable witnesses. Penalties consisting of fines
in lieu of imprisonment are not adequate to deter the crime.
During the reporting period, the anti-trafficking taskforce
continued to review the 2005 law with an aim to strengthen
penalties for adult trafficking.
The government reported 34 investigations, prosecution of four
suspects in seven labor trafficking cases, and no convictions,
a decrease from 54 investigations, six prosecutions, and
no convictions in the previous reporting period. Judicial
inefficiencies and procedural delays impacted access to
justice generally. At times, judges required victims of crime,
including trafficking, to travel frequently to the capital for
court appearances. Victims often could not do so and, as a
result, judges dismissed many of the trafficking cases initiated
during the reporting period and did not reach judgment on
any prosecutions. The government last convicted an individual
for trafficking or trafficking-related offenses in 2011. Due to
corruption and a lack of faith in the justice system, victims’
families often accepted payments from traffickers rather than
pursue cases in court. Officials collaborated with Guinean
authorities to intercept and repatriate a caravan of Sierra Leonean
adults and children reportedly destined for exploitation in
Niger and Mali. The government attempted to coordinate
with three other foreign governments on transnational
trafficking investigations but was not successful, which impeded
investigations and prosecutions of suspected traffickers. The
government reported its non-ratification of the ECOWAS
Convention on Mutual Assistance in the Fight Against Trafficking
compounded the difficulties in cross-border investigations. The
government did not provide training for police, prosecutors, or
other law enforcement officials on investigating and prosecuting
trafficking crimes during the reporting period. The government
did not report any investigations, prosecutions, or convictions
of government officials complicit in human trafficking offenses;
however, corruption, particularly within the judiciary, remained
a serious problem and affected the provision of justice to
trafficking victims.

PROTECTION
354

The government made limited efforts to protect trafficking
victims. The government identified 34 trafficking victims—
including Indian and Kenyan forced labor victims—a decrease

from 65 victims identified in the previous reporting period.
Among the victims identified, at least fifteen were subjected to
forced labor, five to sex trafficking, and two to both domestic
servitude and sex trafficking; the type of exploitation of the other
victims was not reported. The Ministry of Social Welfare, Gender,
and Children’s Affairs operated a temporary shelter for victims
of gender-based violence that trafficking victims could access.
The government referred an unknown number of trafficking
victims to this shelter during the reporting period, and it was
unclear how much government support the shelter received. The
government reported referring all identified trafficking victims to
NGOs for care, and government social workers and prosecutors
provided psycho-social services and legal representation to
victims residing in NGO-run shelters. The government allocated
approximately 119 million leones ($15,970) to the Ministry
of Social Welfare, Gender, and Children’s Affairs to support
an NGO shelter that cared for trafficking victims; however,
it did not actually disburse the funding during the reporting
period and did not provide any other financial support to
NGOs that rendered all victim shelter and nearly all victim
care. NGOs reported identifying and providing services to an
additional 11 victims. One NGO operated a shelter specifically
for trafficking victims and offered medical, psycho-social, legal,
and reintegration support. The center cared for both foreign and
domestic victims; however, the victims were not permitted to
leave the shelter unchaperoned. Two additional NGOs operated
shelters that cared for vulnerable children, including trafficking
victims. The Ministry of Social Welfare, Gender, and Children’s
Affairs and an NGO trained 42 social workers on identifying
and assisting trafficking victims. The government had a national
mechanism to refer trafficking victims to services, but a lack of
training on the mechanism caused delays; in some cases, victims
slept at police stations because authorities had not referred
them for care. In October 2015, the government requested the
government of Lebanon repatriate two Sierra Leonean female
domestic workers it believed had been subjected to trafficking
in Lebanon; however, the women remained in Lebanon at the
end of the reporting period. During the reporting period, the
Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation
disbursed approximately 149 million leones ($20,000) to
support Sierra Leonean trafficking victims identified abroad.
The Sierra Leonean embassy in Kuwait provided food, shelter,
and trauma counseling and subsequently repatriated 20 female
labor trafficking victims. The embassy in Guinea provided
food, shelter, and repatriation for five Sierra Leonean child
trafficking victims. This is compared with repatriating 49 victims
the previous reporting period. The government did not report
whether it systematically encouraged victims to participate in
investigations and prosecutions of their traffickers. The antitrafficking law does not provide for restitution, and while
victims could file civil suits against their traffickers, none did
so during the reporting period. The law provides alternatives to
removal to countries in which victims would face retribution
or hardship, including temporary residency. There were no
reports the government detained, fined, or jailed victims for
unlawful acts committed as a direct result of being subjected to
trafficking, but inadequate screening for trafficking indicators
may have resulted in some victims remaining unidentified in
the system.

PREVENTION

The government decreased efforts to prevent trafficking. The antitrafficking taskforce had a 2015-2020 national action plan, but
the government did not provide funding to the taskforce or for
implementation of the plan, which hampered implementation.
While the Ministry of Labor and Social Security (MLSS) had

TRAFFICKING PROFILE

As reported over the past five years, Sierra Leone is a source and
destination country for men, women, and children subjected
to forced labor and sex trafficking. Victims originate largely
from rural provinces and are recruited to urban and mining
centers for exploitation in sex trafficking and forced labor in
domestic service, artisanal diamond and granite mining, petty
trading, portering, making ceramics, rock breaking, street
crime, and begging. At times, sex trafficking occurs on beaches
and in nightclubs. Trafficking victims are also exploited in
fishing and agriculture and subjected to sex trafficking or forced
labor through customary practices, such as forced marriages.
Traffickers typically operate individually, convincing parents
to hand over their children and promising to provide an
education or better life but instead exploiting the children in
trafficking. Sierra Leonean girls are increasingly exploited in
Guinea. Traffickers have exploited boys and girls from Sierra
Leone to reportedly work as “cultural dancers”—and possibly
also for sexual exploitation—in The Gambia. Sierra Leonean
adults voluntarily migrate to other West African countries,
including Mauritania and Guinea, as well as to the Middle
East and Europe, where some are subjected to forced labor
and forced prostitution. As in previous years, Sierra Leonean
women are subjected to trafficking in Kuwait and Lebanon.
Children from neighboring West African countries have been
exploited in forced begging, forced labor, and prostitution in
Sierra Leone. Indian and Kenyan men were exploited in forced
labor in Sierra Leone during the reporting period, and Chinese
and Sri Lankan men have been victims in previous years.

SINGAPORE: TIER 2
The Government of Singapore does not fully meet the minimum
standards for the elimination of trafficking; however, it is making
significant efforts to do so. The government demonstrated
increasing efforts compared to the previous reporting period;
therefore, Singapore remained on Tier 2. The government
demonstrated increasing efforts by prosecuting and convicting
more traffickers. It provided protective services to victims,
including through the distribution of funds to an NGO that
offered trauma recovery services. However, the government did
not meet the minimum standards in several key areas. Large
numbers of migrant workers experience conditions indicative
of labor trafficking in Singapore, and, although the government
began to prosecute its first labor trafficking cases, it has yet to
secure the conviction of a labor trafficker under the trafficking

law. Authorities did not effectively identify victims compelled
into service through psychological coercion, leaving some
victims unidentified and subject to punishment or deportation.

RECOMMENDATIONS FOR SINGAPORE

SINGAPORE

strict licensing procedures for new recruitment agencies to
prevent exploitation of intending migrant workers, in practice
it often issued business registration certificates before the
transnational organized crime unit had finished vetting the
prospective agencies. MLSS’s draft labor migration policy to
expand protections for migrant workers remained pending for
the second year. To increase regional anti-trafficking cooperation,
Sierra Leonean, Guinean, and Liberian authorities met regularly
to discuss border security, including trafficking. Although
the government did not have comprehensive research on its
trafficking problem, it implemented a centralized database
for trafficking information better analyze trafficking trends.
The government did not make discernible efforts to reduce
the demand for commercial sex acts or forced labor. The
government did not provide anti-trafficking training for its
diplomatic personnel.

Using the 2015 anti-trafficking law, increase investigations and
prosecutions of sex and labor trafficking offenses, including
debt bondage, and convict and stringently sentence traffickers;
strengthen efforts to identify trafficking victims, including by
conducting training for front-line law enforcement officials with
a focus on screening for psychological coercion among women
in prostitution and individuals in debt bondage; strengthen
the legal framework to enhance protection for victims from
punishment for acts committed as a result of being subjected
to trafficking; develop formal policies to provide all victims the
right to robust protective services, regardless of their individual
circumstances; conduct law enforcement operations using
victim-centric methods; increase resources for investigative
and prosecutorial training on human trafficking for Ministry
of Manpower officials who handle labor violations; strengthen
efforts to increase victims’ awareness of available protective
services and incentives for participating in investigations and
prosecutions; develop transparent communication with service
providers during the duration of court cases; and expand
cooperation with and funding to NGOs for developing and
implementing anti-trafficking policies and assisting victims.

PROSECUTION

The government increased efforts to prosecute and convict
traffickers. The Prevention of Human Trafficking Act (PHTA)
criminalizes all forms of human trafficking and prescribes
penalties of up to 10 years imprisonment and fines up to
100,000 Singapore dollars ($69,200), which are sufficiently
stringent and commensurate with those prescribed for other
serious crimes. In addition, article 140 of the Women’s Charter
criminalizes forced prostitution involving detention or
physical force and article 141 criminalizes the movement
of women and girls for “trafficking” but does not define the
term. Penalties prescribed for these sex trafficking offenses
in the Women’s Charter include a maximum of five years
imprisonment, which are sufficiently stringent but not
commensurate with other serious crimes. The government
investigated most suspected labor trafficking cases as labor
law offenses under the Employment of Foreign Manpower Act
(EFMA) or the Employment Act, laws that carry significantly
lower penalties than the anti-trafficking law and exclude
domestic workers and fishing crews.
In 2016, the government prosecuted eight suspects (three for
sex trafficking and five for labor trafficking) and convicted
two sex trafficking offenders, compared with two traffickers
prosecuted and one convicted in 2015. Police investigated 20
cases of suspected sex trafficking and initiated a prosecution
of one alleged sex trafficker under the anti-trafficking law;
this case, which involved a Malaysian national accused of
recruiting a minor for sexual exploitation and receiving

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SINGAPORE

payment in connection with the exploitation of a trafficked
victim, was ongoing at the end of the reporting period. During
the reporting period, the high court upheld a 56 month prison
sentence handed down in 2015 for the first Singaporean to
be convicted of organizing child sex tourism. The Ministry
of Manpower investigated two potential labor trafficking
cases involving four suspects under the anti-trafficking law
and 11 potential labor trafficking cases under employment
laws. The government initiated prosecutions of five suspects
in three cases of labor trafficking—the first in Singapore—
which remained ongoing at the close of the reporting period.
In one case, two suspects were alleged to have subjected
seven Bangladeshi women to forced labor as performing
artists in a nightclub, and the other involved five victims and
one suspect. The government obtained two sex trafficking
convictions in cases begun in the previous year, both
involving multiple victims; the convicted offenders received
sentences of three years and two months imprisonment
and four years imprisonment. Two defendants convicted
the previous year under the EFMA for starving a domestic
worker, forcing her to work excessive hours, and restricting
her access to communication in 2013—prior to the passage
of the PHTA—received prison sentences in March 2017 of
three months and three weeks and a 10,000 Singapore dollars
($6,920) fine. The prosecutors reported they were in the
process of filing an appeal to secure a one year sentence—the
maximum sentence available under the EFMA—at the end
of the reporting period. The government has not obtained a
labor trafficking conviction, nor has it prosecuted any cases
of domestic servitude under the trafficking law.
The government organized a two-day conference with
international experts to educate prosecutors and law
enforcement officers on trafficking issues, delivered a training
session for front-line Ministry of Manpower officers, and
funded more than 150 officials to attend international
trainings and conferences in 2016. Despite these efforts,
authorities’ investigative progress—particularly in cases
involving debt bondage or prostitution—was hampered by a
lack of awareness among some officials regarding the role of
psychological coercion in trafficking cases. The government
did not report any investigations, prosecutions, or convictions
of government officials complicit in human trafficking.

PROTECTION

356

The government increased protection efforts, but insufficient
communication between the authorities and service provision
NGOs continued to hamper victim identification and referral
processes. Police and labor officials had standard operating
procedures for identifying victims, and the government had
a victim referral process among government officials, civil
society organizations, and foreign embassies. The government
reported identifying 20 sex trafficking and 13 labor trafficking
victims in 2016, compared to seven sex trafficking and seven
labor trafficking victims in 2015. The government reported
providing services to 22 adult women, including 10 sex
trafficking victims and 12 labor trafficking victims. The
government did not identify or provide services to any child
victims during the year. Several NGOs reported officials failed
to recognize key indicators of trafficking when interviewing
potential victims, particularly in cases involving sex or labor
exploitation through various forms of psychological coercion
or debt bondage, and among migrant workers. NGOs reported
authorities’ opaque victim identification and referral standards
sometimes complicated effective use of the government’s
referral mechanism.

The government allocates funds for anti-trafficking activities in
its annual budget, and the PHTA authorizes the social welfare
department to provide shelter and counseling services to all
victims. The government has administrative discretion to
provide a range of additional support measures, customized
according to victims’ needs, including interpreters, medical
services, temporary work permits, and resettlement assistance.
However, absent a formal policy mandating the provision of
these services to all victims, and due to front-line officers’
incomplete understanding of psychological coercion, some
victims likely did not benefit from these services. The 2015
trafficking law mandates some additional protections for child
victims, including a requirement that their testimony be held
via video conference. NGOs reported supplementing certain
government-funded victim services deemed insufficient,
such as healthcare.
The government provided partial funding and oversight to
22 shelters serving vulnerable children, four shelters for
vulnerable women and their children, and two shelters for
male foreign workers. One shelter was designated exclusively
for adult female sex trafficking victims and exploited female
domestic workers. Authorities permitted freedom of movement
outside of the shelter for most residents, but restricted
movement for any residents deemed to be under physical
threat or in need of psychological care. The government
allocated funding for an NGO that provided trauma recovery
services for 12 female labor trafficking victims and 10 female
sex trafficking victims, 18 of whom were residing in the shelter
for female victims. One of the shelters was designated for
adult male trafficking victims, although no male trafficking
victims were identified during the year. Other NGO-identified
victims who did not meet the government’s referral standards
received shelter or services from privately funded NGOs. The
government granted 12 victims short-term work permits,
available for the duration of their legal processes, under a
temporary job scheme.
The government issued a statement of its policy not to
punish victims for crimes committed as a direct result of
being subjected to trafficking. According to NGOs, police
did not always screen for trafficking indicators among
women apprehended in law enforcement operations despite
a government policy requiring it; the government may have
prosecuted and punished unidentified sex trafficking victims
among them for immigration violations or soliciting. The
government offered assistance for victims participating in
investigations and prosecutions of trafficking offenses. NGOs
reported that victims of trafficking were offered pro bono legal
assistance to pursue civil court claims for restitution, but that
all declined the offer; some purportedly did not wish to file
official complaints out of skepticism that they would secure
said restitution. Others who incurred significant debt burdens
as a result of trafficking returned to their home countries
instead of seeking redress. As a result, there were no reports of
trafficking victims pursuing or receiving restitution through
civil claims or criminal court proceedings. NGOs and foreign
embassies reported coordination between public and private
stakeholders had improved, but the government’s lack of
detailed feedback regarding ongoing cases remained a problem
for some NGOs and interfered with service providers’ ability
to assist victims. During the reporting period, authorities
facilitated the repatriation of eight labor trafficking victims
per their request. The government did not provide long-term
alternatives to removal to countries where victims may face
hardship or retribution.

The government increased efforts to prevent trafficking. The
interagency taskforce coordinated anti-trafficking efforts in
line with Singapore’s “National Approach Against Trafficking
in Persons,” which was developed and launched in 2015
following consultation with NGOs. The taskforce conducted
campaigns through social media, newspapers, television,
posters, and other outreach materials to educate workers
on their rights, raise public awareness of trafficking, and
publicize efforts to punish employers for trafficking-related
violations. The National Crime Prevention Council funded a
television program focusing on Singapore’s first sex trafficking
conviction; the program, broadcasted in Singapore’s four
main languages, reportedly reached 1.7 million viewers.
The taskforce also launched a public awareness-raising grant
to individuals and anti-trafficking NGOs. The government
provided pre-departure trainings and materials to educate
foreign workers on their rights prior to migrating to Singapore.
In April 2016, amendments to the Employment Act came into
effect requiring Singaporean employers to issue all workers key
employment terms in writing and provide itemized pay slips.
NGOs reported migrant workers in Singapore face barriers
to recovering unpaid wages, as their single-employer work
permit makes them ineligible to change employers while the
government considers their claim. Further, employers who
were found at fault in civil cases sometimes failed to comply
with court rulings in the employee’s favor and the government
did not take action to enforce these decisions. The government
investigated and imposed fines on unlicensed employment
agencies and those that engaged in other illegal practices that
could facilitate trafficking. NGOs reported some agencies
still engaged in contract switching and charged workers fees
over the legal limit. The government provided anti-trafficking
training for its diplomatic personnel. The government made
some efforts to reduce the demand for commercial sex acts,
including through public information campaigns, and made
limited efforts to address the demand for forced labor.

TRAFFICKING PROFILE

As reported over the past five years, Singapore is a destination
country for men, women, and girls from other Asian countries
subjected to sex trafficking and forced labor, a source country
for Singaporean women and children subjected to sex
trafficking, and a transit country for Asian men subjected to
forced labor on fishing vessels that transit through Singapore
or its territorial waters. Some of the 1.4 million foreign
workers that comprise approximately one-third of Singapore’s
total labor force are vulnerable to trafficking; most victims
migrate willingly for work in construction, domestic service,
performing arts, manufacturing, the service industry, or
commercial sex. Domestic workers from countries such as
Cambodia and Burma, whose nationals have a small presence
in Singapore, experience language barriers that increase their
isolation and vulnerability to trafficking; some employers
exacerbate this vulnerability by denying workers access to
mobile phones. NGO-released research found some domestic
workers in Singapore experience conditions indicative of
forced labor including restriction on their movement and
communications; verbal, physical, or sexual threats and abuse;
and denial of a legally-required weekly day off of work. In
September 2014, the Burmese government imposed a ban on
emigration to Singapore for domestic work, citing concerns
of abuse and non-payment of wages. Although Singaporean
law limits agency fees and mandates prosecution for those

who exceed them, many foreign workers assume large debts
to recruitment agencies or individual recruiters in their
home countries and sometimes in Singapore, making them
vulnerable to forced labor, including debt bondage. Victims are
also compelled into sex or labor exploitation through illegal
withholding of their pay, threats of forced repatriation without
pay, restrictions on movement, and physical and sexual
abuse. Withholding identity documents such as passports
and work permits is illegal; however, it is common practice for
some employment agencies to encourage employers to hold
employees’ documents and the practice remains widespread,
increasing workers’ vulnerability to trafficking. Research
conducted by the government in 2014 found six of 10 foreign
work permit holders did not possess their passports and work
permits. Foreign workers have credible fears of losing their
work visas and deportation, since employers have the ability
to repatriate workers legally at any time during their contracts
with minimal notice. Unscrupulous employers exploit the
non-transferability of low-skilled work visas to control or
manipulate workers. Some employers rely on repatriation
companies to seize, confine, and escort foreign workers to the
airport for departure from Singapore, including through the
use of assaults, threats, and coercion, to prevent them from
complaining about abuses to authorities.

SLOVAKIA

PREVENTION

Foreign women sometimes enter Singapore with the intention
of engaging in prostitution but are subjected to forced
prostitution under the threat of serious harm, including
financial harm, or other forms of coercion. A small number
may be recruited for work in the service sector and forced into
prostitution upon arrival. Singaporean women and children
are at risk of sex trafficking in the country. A small number
of Singaporean residents facilitate and engage in child sex
tourism abroad. An NGO reported that some men are subjected
to forced labor and abuse by captains on long-haul fishing
vessels that depart from Singapore or dock in Singaporean
ports, and that some agencies in Singapore use deceptive
tactics to recruit Filipino and Cambodian men for this work.

SLOVAKIA: TIER 1
The Government of the Slovak Republic, or Slovakia, fully meets
the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking. The
government continued to demonstrate serious and sustained
efforts during the reporting period; therefore, Slovakia remained
on Tier 1. The government demonstrated serious and sustained
efforts by increasing investigations and collaboration with
foreign law enforcement authorities to identify and prosecute
traffickers. The government proactively identified more
victims and launched extensive trafficking prevention and
public awareness campaigns to engage the general public
and at-risk populations. Although the government meets the
minimum standards, it did not adequately identify foreign
trafficking victims. Legal support to victims was inadequate,
and victims who cooperated with prosecution were at risk of
re-traumatization. The government supported some innovative
prevention activities, but NGOs continued to report that they
were not given adequate time to prepare effectively for the
expert working group.

357

SLOVAKIA

trafficking. The judicial academy and the Ministry of Interior
conducted one seminar on identifying trafficking victims for
judges, prosecutors, and police officers. The government held
additional trafficking trainings for members of the national
police unit. The Ministry of Interior launched an accredited
trafficking curriculum at the police high school in Bratislava.

PROTECTION
RECOMMENDATIONS FOR SLOVAKIA

Vigorously investigate, prosecute, and convict traffickers, and
sentence those convicted to prison terms; establish sentencing
guidelines that sensitize judges to the severity of trafficking
crimes and instruct them on the need for sentences to have
a deterrent effect for future crimes; strengthen training and
capacity building for investigators, prosecutors, and judges on
a victim-centered approach to law enforcement efforts; clarify
formal written procedures for victim referral; improve legal
assistance to victims; train government officials, particularly
border police, on proactive victim identification among
vulnerable groups; facilitate more effective consultation with
NGOs in the expert working group; improve data gathering
on Slovak victims of trafficking abroad and foreign trafficking
victims in Slovakia.

PROSECUTION

The government maintained law enforcement efforts. Section
179 of the criminal code prohibits all forms of trafficking and
prescribes penalties between four and 25 years imprisonment
for trafficking offenses. These penalties are sufficiently stringent
and commensurate with those prescribed for other serious
crimes, such as rape. In 2016, government officials initiated 25
new investigations, compared with 18 investigations in 2015
and 15 in 2014. Of these, 10 cases involved sex trafficking; six
forced begging; six labor trafficking; two sex trafficking combined
with forced marriage; and one labor trafficking, sex trafficking,
and forced marriage. The national police reported 22 of the 25
new investigations involved Slovak victims exploited in other
countries. The government initiated 10 prosecutions under
section 179 of the criminal code (22 in 2015, 18 in 2014, and
12 in 2013). Prosecutors obtained convictions of four Slovak
citizens under the trafficking law (21 in 2015, 19 in 2014, 14
in 2013, and 11 in 2012) and sentenced two of the convicted
traffickers to 72-months imprisonment, the third to 56 months
imprisonment, and sentenced the fourth to probation. Over
the past five years, a large number of trafficking convictions
have resulted in short or suspended sentences. National police
cooperated with other countries’ police authorities, as well as
with EUROPOL and INTERPOL. During 2016, the government
extradited three individuals on trafficking charges to Czechia,
Germany, and United Kingdom (UK). U.S. and Slovak law
enforcement collaborated on a December 2016 investigation
of two potential Slovak trafficking victims recruited to work
in a strip club in New York.

358

The Irregular Migration Unit within the Bureau of Border and
Alien Police (BBAP) coordinated law enforcement efforts. NGOs
commended the head of the trafficking unit within BBAP for
promptly and proactively investigating suspected trafficking and
for facilitating improved referral of cases to specialized police
officers. Differences in how various institutions gathered law
enforcement statistics hindered the effective comparison and
monitoring of trafficking-related law enforcement efforts. The
government did not report any investigations, prosecutions,
or convictions of government employees complicit in human

The government maintained efforts to protect victims. In 2016,
the government identified 32 victims (25 in 2015). NGOs
identified an additional 13 victims. Of the 45 total victims
identified, 25 of their cases resulted in police investigations;
18 were female, including three underage girls, and 27 were
male, including five underage boys; and four were foreign
citizens. Experts criticized the government for lacking reliable
data on the prevalence of foreign trafficking victims in Slovakia.
Some NGOs continued to criticize the government’s victim
care program for placing too high a burden of proof on the
victim, impeding access to care services, and allowing too much
discretion by law enforcement to decide whether a potential
victim can enroll in the program. Of the 45 victims, 21 entered
the government-funded victim care program in 2016 (25 of
28 total victims in 2015 and 34 of 41 total victims in 2014).
In 2016, the government provided €221,617 ($233,530) to
three NGOS for the protection of trafficking victims, including
repatriation assistance, compared to €212,927 ($224,370) in
2015 and €225,100 ($237,200) in 2014. This funding covered
the support and care of victims, voluntary return of victims,
and the national trafficking hotline. During the reporting
period, the Ministry of Interior allocated €95,000 ($100,110)
in grants for projects addressing trafficking issues, the same
amount as in 2015.
NGOs provided victims shelter and care services, including
financial support, repatriation to Slovakia, healthcare, psychosocial support, and legal and interpretation services. Shelters
for domestic violence victims housed trafficking victims
separately. There were limited accommodations for victims with
families. Child trafficking victims could be accommodated in
government-run children’s homes or an NGO-run crisis home
for children; six children entered into the care program in 2016.
Whether the government’s system to refer identified victims
to protection services can be considered unified remained
unclear, but some government institutions had procedures to
refer victims to the National Coordinator or care facilities. An
NGO won a Supreme Court appeal against a 2014 government
decision not to enroll a Vietnamese migrant in the care program,
who the NGO suspected of being a trafficking victim. The Court
concluded that the victim should be able to appeal its decision
not to enroll the victim into the care program directly with
the government. The government did not adequately identify
foreign trafficking victims, with NGOs reporting authorities
did not properly identify potential victims among migrants
or refer them to services because it encouraged them to take
advantage of assisted voluntary return. Border police did not
always proactively screen migrants for indicators of trafficking,
despite having received numerous victim identification trainings.
The Slovak Embassy in London reported 11 trafficking cases of
Slovak victims during 2016 (none in 2015 and 151 in 2014).
The Slovak Embassy in London assisted potential trafficking
victims through local NGOs.
All victims were eligible for up to 180 days of care support.
Slovak law allows foreign victims to seek employment, but due
to uncertain length of their tolerated residency status while
participating in an investigation, employers were reluctant to

Thirty-two victims of the total 45 identified cooperated with
police and prosecutors in investigating and prosecuting
trafficking cases. Court proceedings, however, were not always
adapted, nor law enforcement professionals sufficiently trained,
to avoid re-traumatization of victims. Victims have been
discouraged from participating in trafficking investigations
due to these conditions. Victims provided testimony multiple
times and in close proximity to suspected traffickers during
the pre-trial and trial process. NGOs deemed the expertise of
the legal advice available to victims through the government
program insufficient. NGOs not contracted by the government
have provided private, specialized legal assistance to aid victims.
Although Slovak law allows for victims to pursue restitution
through civil and criminal cases, experts noted judges did not
award damages in the majority of criminal cases, and victims
lacked legal and financial support to pursue damage claims.
The government did not report cases of victims being awarded
restitution. There were no reports of the government penalizing
victims for unlawful acts committed as a direct result of being
subjected to trafficking, however, unidentified foreign victims
may have been prosecuted or deported, and the government
passed an amendment in 2013 that authorizes prosecutors not
to prosecute trafficking victims for crimes committed during
their exploitation.

PREVENTION

The government increased efforts to prevent human trafficking.
A national program to fight trafficking, covering 2015-2018,
continued to guide all government anti-trafficking efforts. The
interior ministry’s crime prevention office coordinated the
government’s anti-trafficking activities, including overseeing
victim care services, training officials on victim identification,
conducting awareness campaigns and trainings, and convening
the expert working group, consisting of government and
NGO representatives. Some NGOs continued to report that
they were not given sufficient time to comment on issues
before the working group. The crime prevention office
housed an information center, which was designated as the
national rapporteur. The center also collected statistics on the
government’s anti-trafficking efforts, but did not produce a
comprehensive report assessing the government’s efforts. The
government launched extensive trafficking prevention and
public awareness campaigns to engage the general public,
students, employers, and at-risk children in orphanages. In
October 2016, the government launched a nationwide public
awareness campaign to promote the national trafficking hotline.
The government continued to implement a new internetbased computer application that allowed the families of
Slovaks traveling abroad to receive alerts should the user
cease online activity. The government continued to support an
anti-trafficking hotline operated by an NGO, which received
over 255 substantive calls and helped identify and refer one
victim to services. The government did not make efforts to
reduce the demand for commercial sex acts or forced labor.
The government provided anti-trafficking training for 36 of
its diplomatic personnel and 403 military personnel eligible

to serve in peacekeeping missions abroad. The government’s
consular affairs office conducted “consular days” in 12 cities
outside London and in the United States to provide consular
services, including trafficking prevention information, to Slovak
migrants.

TRAFFICKING PROFILE

As reported over the past five years, Slovakia is a source,
transit, and destination country for men, women, and children
subjected to sex trafficking and forced labor. Slovak men
and women are subjected to forced labor in agriculture and
construction in Western Europe, primarily in the UK. Slovak
women are subjected to sex trafficking in Germany, Austria, the
UK, Ireland, Switzerland, Poland, and other European countries,
as well as the United States. Ukrainian, Moldovan, Bulgarian,
Romanian, Thai, and Vietnamese men and women are subjected
to forced labor in Slovakia. Eastern European women are also
reportedly transported to and through Slovakia and forced
into prostitution within the country and throughout Europe.
Roma from marginalized communities are disproportionately
vulnerable to trafficking. Slovak children of Romani descent are
subjected to sex trafficking within marginalized communities
in the Slovak Republic and forced criminal behavior in the
UK. Slovak men, women, and children of Romani descent
are subjected to forced begging throughout Western Europe.
Traffickers find victims through family and village networks
for sex and labor trafficking, and have also exploited men in
forced labor. Children without family or relevant support
structures who leave institutional care facilities are subjected
to sex and labor trafficking.

SLOVENIA

hire foreign victims. Limited funding for legal representation
impaired foreign victims’ ability to justify their cases for
temporary residency. Moreover, experts noted lawyers provided
by the government may not have relevant experience and
knowledge to handle trafficking cases. The law authorizes the
extension of permanent residency to foreign trafficking victims
who would face hardship or retribution if returned to their
country of origin; however, authorities have issued no such
residence permits.

SLOVENIA: TIER 1
The Government of Slovenia fully meets the minimum standards
for the elimination of trafficking. The government continued to
demonstrate serious and sustained efforts during the reporting
period; therefore, Slovenia remained on Tier 1. The government
demonstrated serious and sustained efforts by convicting more
traffickers and sentencing them to more severe sentences than
in previous years. The government offered more training for
government personnel and conducted campaigns to sensitize
officials, the public, and the private sector on labor trafficking.
Although the government meets the minimum standards, it
did not consistently sentence convicted traffickers to penalties
proportionate to the crime and did not consistently implement a
victim-centered approach in prosecutions. It also did not provide
proper and safe facilities to assist child victims of trafficking,
nor did it assist all victims to have access to restitution.

RECOMMENDATIONS FOR SLOVENIA

Increase specialized training for investigators, prosecutors, and
judges in applying the human trafficking statute and improve
efforts to develop a victim-centered approach to prosecutions;
expand efforts to identify victims of both sex and labor

359

SLOVENIA

trafficking among vulnerable populations, including individuals
in prostitution, foreign migrant workers, unaccompanied
children, and children in begging; provide proper systems and
safe facilities to assist child victims of trafficking; increase efforts
to facilitate all victims’ access to restitution, such as through
court-ordered restitution from convicted traffickers; continue
prevention outreach to vulnerable populations, such as Roma;
vigorously prosecute sex and labor trafficking offenses, and
convict traffickers under the trafficking in persons law with
sentences that reflect the severity of their crime; and continue
to raise awareness of forced labor and sex trafficking among
healthcare providers, social workers, the general public, and
include in school curricula.

PROSECUTION

The government increased law enforcement efforts, but the
judiciary did not impose dissuasive sentences on all convicted
traffickers. Article 113 of the criminal code criminalizes all
forms of trafficking and prescribes penalties ranging from
one to 15 years imprisonment, which are sufficiently stringent
and commensurate with those prescribed for other serious
crimes, such as rape. In 2016, the police conducted five
trafficking investigations, which involved 31 criminal acts
and 15 perpetrators, compared with six investigations in 2015.
Authorities initiated or continued prosecutions involving 21
defendants under article 113 (four of these were initiated
during this reporting period), compared with 23 in 2015. The
government convicted nine traffickers under article 113 in 2016,
compared with three in 2015, none in 2014, and two in 2013.
The courts sentenced two traffickers to five years in prison, one
person to 3.6 years in prison, and another to 1.6 years in prison,
marking an increase in prison terms from previous years. These
individuals also received fines ranging from €1,240 to €10,230
($1,307-$10,780); one of them was also required to turn over
€850,000 ($895,680) of illegally gained property. In addition,
for four defendants who pled guilty and cooperated with law
enforcement, the court issued conditional sentences of one to
three years imprisonment if they repeat their crime in the next
two to five years. In one additional case, the convicted trafficker
had not yet been sentenced at the end of the reporting period.
The government conducted specialized training for investigators,
prosecutors, judges, border control, and general police forces.
Slovenian and Italian police conducted a joint operation to
arrest two Slovenians in Brazil involved in an international sex
trafficking network that forced young Brazilian women into
prostitution in Slovenia. In September 2016, Ljubljana police
uncovered a sex and drug trafficking ring that had victimized
Slovenian and Serbian women. The government cooperated
with Romanian justice authorities to prosecute and convict in
Romania four sex traffickers operating in Slovenia who had
victimized young Romanian women and a minor.

PROTECTION

360

The government maintained weak victim protection efforts. The
government allocated €85,000 ($89,568) for victim protection,
similar to 2015 support. The government identified 27 adult
sex trafficking victims in 2016 (47 in 2015 and 36 in 2014);
four of these victims received shelter in a government-funded,
NGO-operated safe house or crisis accommodation (seven
in 2015). Three of these victims were Slovenian and 24 were
foreigners. NGOs identified an additional 18 potential sex
trafficking victims in 2016. The 45 total victims identified by
government and NGOs compared to 75 total victims in 2015,
36 total victims in 2014, and 37 total victims in 2013. Child
victims of trafficking lacked adequate facilities for housing and
assistance. Experts noted that health care providers and social

workers need more training. The government-funded two NGOs
that provided services for all 45 adult trafficking victims in
2016, compared with 75 victims in 2015. The government did
not have specific facilities for unaccompanied child trafficking
victims. All foreign victims are allowed a 90-day reflection
period to reside legally in Slovenia while recovering and
considering whether to participate in an investigation. During
this time, they are eligible to stay in crisis accommodation, after
which victims from non-EU countries can elect to stay in safe
accommodation for an additional three-month period (for a
total of 180 days), regardless of whether they cooperate with
law enforcement. During the reporting period, none of the
victims requested accommodation. In cases of participation in
pre-trial and criminal proceedings, foreign victims are eligible
to receive a temporary residency permit for the duration of
the legal proceedings and could receive additional services,
including safe, long-term accommodation, translation and
interpretation services, and a protective escort. One victim
extended a permit from 2015. In 2016, no victims cooperated
with Slovenian law enforcement on trafficking cases, although
some did cooperate with law enforcement from their country
of origin; this compared with two victims who cooperated
with law enforcement in 2015. No victims sought restitution
in civil cases in 2016; GRETA previously reported no victims
have ever received restitution from their traffickers. Not all
trafficking victims were eligible for restitution from the state
fund for crime victims; according to Slovenian law, restitution
is only available for citizens of Slovenia and the EU. There were
no reports of victims inappropriately penalized for unlawful
acts committed as a direct result of being subjected to human
trafficking. However, there remained concerns that unidentified
victims, especially in forced labor, were possibly being penalized
or deported. There were three repatriation cases organized by
an NGO during the reporting period; the rest of the victims
returned to their home countries on their own.

PREVENTION

The government increased prevention efforts. The Ministry
of Interior’s interdepartmental working group (IWG), led
by the national coordinator, organized national efforts and
produced an annual monitoring report available to the public.
The working group implemented the 2015-2016 action plan.
As part of the plan, the government provided traffickingspecific training for all government personnel. In May 2016, the
government adopted the Manual for Identification of Victims of
Trafficking in Persons and distributed it to relevant government
officials. The IWG drafted the 2017-2018 action plan, but it was
not approved by the close of the reporting period. The IWG
allocated approximately €20,000 ($21,075), which is a similar
sum as 2015, for awareness campaigns targeting potential
trafficking victims, particularly schoolchildren and migrant
workers. The government launched a web portal for the public
to promote awareness of forced labor and labor exploitation.
The government made efforts to prevent labor exploitation and
forced labor by increasing labor trafficking training at the state
labor inspectorate and at the criminal police administrative
and by publishing an electronic handbook on preventing
hidden forced labor. It promoted the handbook to various
local companies and in the Slovene chamber of commerce.
The government partnered with Serbia in a project to improve
Serbia’s trafficking investigation systems. The government
provided anti-trafficking awareness and training for diplomatic,
military, and police personnel before deployment overseas.
The government did not take significant measures during the
reporting period to reduce the demand for commercial sex or
forced labor.

Slovenia is a destination, transit, and, to a lesser extent, a source
country for women and children subjected to sex trafficking and
for men, women, and children subjected to forced labor and
forced begging. Men from Bosnia and Herzegovina, Romania,
Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, and Ukraine are forced to beg and
labor in the construction sector. Sometimes these persons
transit through Slovenia to Italy, Austria, and Germany where
they are subjected to forced labor. Women and children from
Slovenia—as well as other European countries, Brazil, and the
Dominican Republic—are subjected to sex trafficking within
the country, and also transit through Slovenia to Western
Europe where they face sexual exploitation. Ethnic Roma are
particularly vulnerable to trafficking in Slovenia.

SOLOMON ISLANDS: TIER 2
The Government of the Solomon Islands does not fully meet
the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking;
however, it is making significant efforts to do so. The government
demonstrated increasing efforts compared to the previous
reporting period; therefore, the Solomon Islands was upgraded
to Tier 2. The government demonstrated increasing efforts
by amending its legal framework to prohibit all forms of
trafficking, implementing new victim identification procedures,
and dedicating resources for the provision of food and shelter for
victims. However, the government did not meet the minimum
standards in several key areas. It did not prosecute or convict
any traffickers, and victim protection was severely lacking. The
government did not conduct any anti-trafficking training, and
low awareness among government officials and the public
hindered progress.

RECOMMENDATIONS FOR THE SOLOMON ISLANDS

Investigate and prosecute both sex and labor trafficking
offenses and convict and punish traffickers with dissuasive
prison sentences; increase efforts to identify sex and labor
trafficking victims, including in the fishing, logging, and mining
industries; provide training on human trafficking laws and
victim identification procedures to immigration officials, law
enforcement officers, and social service providers, including at
the provincial level; increase government support for victim
services, including through the allocation of funding; institute
a campaign to raise public awareness of human trafficking;
allocate funding to relevant ministries to implement the national
action plan for combating trafficking in persons; and accede
to the 2000 UN TIP Protocol.

PROSECUTION

The government increased law enforcement efforts by adding
provisions to its penal code criminalizing internal trafficking.
These amendments enacted in May 2016, together with existing
provisions in the immigration act, prohibit and punish all forms

of trafficking. Article 143 of the amended penal code prohibits
child sex trafficking and prescribes penalties of up to 15 or 20
years imprisonment, based on the child’s age. Article 145 of the
amended penal code prohibits all forms of trafficking in which
the act occurs within the country and prescribes penalties of
up to 15 years imprisonment. These penalties are sufficiently
stringent and commensurate with those prescribed for other
serious crimes. The immigration act prohibits and punishes
other forms of trafficking, including crimes in which the act
(recruitment, transportation, harboring, or receiving) occurs
outside the Solomon Islands. The immigration act prescribes
a penalty of up to five years imprisonment or a fine of up
to 45,000 Solomon Island dollars ($5,670), or both for the
trafficking of adults; it prescribes a penalty of up to 10 years
imprisonment or a fine of up to 90,000 penalty units ($11,340),
or both for the trafficking of children. These penalties are
sufficiently stringent, but not commensurate with penalties
for other serious offenses, such as rape. Further, fines in lieu
of imprisonment are inadequate to deter trafficking crimes
and are disproportionately low compared to the seriousness
of the crime.
As in the previous reporting period, the government did not
prosecute or convict any traffickers. Authorities investigated two
new cases of suspected trafficking, compared to two in 2015.
One was a possible sex trafficking case involving a girl from
the Solomon Islands and the second was a labor trafficking
case involving ten foreign men—both occurring at logging
camps. Law enforcement officials referred the case of suspected
child sex trafficking to the director of public prosecutions;
authorities were awaiting guidance from the prosecutor’s
office at the end of the reporting period. Courts dropped the
forced labor investigation due to insufficient cooperation
from key government officials. Two suspected cases of forced
labor identified in previous reporting periods remained under
consideration by the director of public prosecution. Because
the government did not adequately fund enforcement agencies,
authorities were slow to respond to reports of trafficking;
agencies lacked logistical resources and technical expertise to
pursue investigations. A foreign donor conducted training for
law enforcement officials, including two “train the trainer”
courses, but the government did not conduct any training itself.
Many officials remained unaware of anti-trafficking legislation
and an overall lack of awareness of trafficking hindered effective
law enforcement activity. The government did not conduct any
investigations, prosecutions, or convictions of government
officials complicit in human trafficking offenses.

SOLOMON ISLANDS

TRAFFICKING PROFILE

PROTECTION

The government moderately increased efforts to protect
trafficking victims. It began implementing and training officials
on the new victim identification guidelines and, in collaboration
with an international organization, developed a screening
tool to assess potential cases. The government conducted four
multiagency monitoring and inspection operations at logging
companies and identified 11 potential trafficking victims: 10 men
from Indonesia, Malaysia, and the Philippines suspected to be
victims of forced labor and one girl exploited in sex trafficking.
In comparison, authorities identified 15 labor trafficking victims
in 2015 and no victims in 2014. The government spent 30,000
Solomon Islands dollars ($3,780) to provide three weeks of food
and shelter for each of the potential labor trafficking victims.
It provided medical services to the sex trafficking victim and
referred her to a civil society organization that sheltered her
for one night. One local organization operated a shelter for
domestic violence victims that could provide shelter to female

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child sex trafficking victims; it was unknown whether it housed
any trafficking victims in 2016. No trafficking-specific services
existed in the country. A lack of long-term protective services
left victims vulnerable to re-trafficking after being returned to
their home communities.
The immigration act granted the government authority to
provide temporary residence permits to allow foreign victims to
assist police in investigations and provided victims protection
from prosecution for immigration-related crimes committed as
a result of being subjected to trafficking. It was unclear whether
these protections would be extended to victims whose cases
were investigated under the penal code. Authorities may have
arrested and prosecuted sex trafficking victims for prostitution
violations without screening by officials to determine whether
they were trafficking victims. Due to lengthy legal processes, fear
of retaliation by traffickers or prosecution by police, and a lack
of incentives to remain and participate in cases, foreign victims
typically opted to return to their home countries, which hindered
prosecutions. An international organization coordinated and
paid for the repatriation of 10 victims. The government reported
trafficking victims are able to seek compensation from their
employers through civil suits, although no trafficking victims
have ever filed such suits.

PREVENTION

The government maintained limited efforts to prevent trafficking.
The Anti-Human Trafficking Advisory Committee (AHTAC),
which included members of the government and civil society,
met on a quarterly basis. The AHTAC began implementation of
the 2015-2020 national action plan by enacting new legislation,
including a law on internal trafficking, and finalized the action
plan’s terms of reference, which were awaiting cabinet approval.
The government did not conduct any campaigns to raise public
awareness of human trafficking. The government reported it
increased its scrutiny of agents applying for visas on behalf of
young foreign women, and as a result rejected 39 tourist visa
applications for women it suspected to be at risk of trafficking;
however, this practice may have unduly restricted the migration
of young women into the Solomon Islands. The government did
not report taking action to reduce the demand for commercial
sex acts or forced labor. The government did not provide antitrafficking training for its diplomatic personnel. The Solomon
Islands is not a party to the 2000 UN TIP Protocol.

TRAFFICKING PROFILE

As reported over the past five years, the Solomon Islands is a
source, transit, and destination country for local and Southeast
Asian men and women subjected to forced labor and forced
prostitution, and local children subjected to sex and labor
trafficking. Women from China, Indonesia, Malaysia, and the
Philippines are recruited for legitimate work, some paying
large sums of money in recruitment fees, and upon arrival are
forced into prostitution. Men from Indonesia and Malaysia
are recruited to work in logging and mining industries and
some are subsequently subjected to forced labor in industrial
camps. Fishing crew members from Indonesia, the Philippines,
Vietnam, Sri Lanka, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea,
and Fiji have reported situations indicative of human trafficking,
including non-payment of wages, severe living conditions,
violence, and limited food supply on Taiwan-flagged fishing
vessels in the Solomon Islands’ territorial waters and ports.

362

Solomon Island children are subjected to sex trafficking and
forced labor within the country, sometimes in exchange for

money or goods, particularly near foreign logging camps, on
foreign and local commercial fishing vessels, and at hotels
and entertainment establishments. Girls and young women
are recruited to travel to logging camps for domestic work
and some are subsequently exploited in prostitution. Some
parents receive payments for sending young women and girls
into forced marriages with foreign workers at logging and
mining companies; many of them are exploited in domestic
servitude or prostitution. Local boys and girls are put up for
“informal adoption” by their families to pay off debts; some
are subjected to forced labor as domestic servants or sexual
servitude by the adopted family or guardians. Boys are forced
to work as domestic servants and cooks in logging camps.

SOUTH AFRICA: TIER 2
The Government of South Africa does not fully meet the
minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking; however,
it is making significant efforts to do so. The government
demonstrated increasing efforts compared to the previous
reporting period; therefore, South Africa remained on Tier 2.
The government demonstrated increasing efforts by identifying
more than double the number of trafficking victims and
referring all identified victims to care. The government convicted
11 traffickers, including its first under the Prevention and
Combating of Trafficking in Persons Act (PACOTIP), and
handed down stringent sentences in 10 cases. The government
established a national anti-trafficking hotline in collaboration
with a NGO, launched a program with another NGO to screen
individuals for trafficking indicators prior to deportation at one
international airport, and led awareness campaigns. However,
the government did not meet the minimum standards in several
key areas. The government severely under-budgeted the funds
required to implement the anti-trafficking law and consequently
could not fully implement the law. The government did
not comprehensively monitor or investigate forced child
labor or the labor trafficking of adults in the agricultural,
mining, construction, and fishing sectors. The government did
not prosecute or convict any officials allegedly complicit in
trafficking offenses, despite allegations of complicity involving
immigration and law enforcement officials. The South Africa
police service (SAPS) was widely criticized for not identifying
victims, even after NGOs conducted preliminary identification
screenings. Officials across the government had difficulty
identifying labor trafficking victims and differentiating between
trafficking and smuggling crimes.

RECOMMENDATIONS FOR SOUTH AFRICA

Fund and increase efforts to fully implement PACOTIP and
related regulations; continue to train law enforcement and social
service officials on these provisions; amend the anti-trafficking
law to ensure penalties are sufficiently stringent and do not allow
for fines in lieu of prison time; increase efforts to investigate,
prosecute, and convict traffickers, including employers who

PROSECUTION

The government maintained prosecution efforts, although official
complicity in trafficking crimes remained a serious concern. The
PACOTIP of 2013 criminalizes all forms of human trafficking.
Articles 4-11 provide a range of penalties for trafficking in
persons, ranging from fines, up to 100 million South African
rand ($7.3 million), to life imprisonment, depending on the
severity of the offense. The penalties are sufficiently stringent;
however, by allowing for a fine in lieu of imprisonment, the
prescribed punishment is not commensurate with those for other
serious crimes, such as rape. The implementing regulations for
PACOTIP’s immigration provisions found in sections 15, 16, and
31(2)(b)(ii) have not been promulgated. The Sexual Offenses
Act (SOA) also criminalizes the sex trafficking of children and
adults and prescribes penalties of up to 20 years imprisonment,
which are sufficiently stringent and commensurate with those
prescribed for other serious offenses, such as rape. The Basic
Conditions of Employment Act of 1997 (BCEA), amended
in 2014, criminalizes forced labor and prescribes maximum
penalties for forced labor for both children and adults from
three to six years imprisonment. In addition, the Children’s
Amendment Act of 2005 prescribes penalties of five years to life
imprisonment or fines for the use, procurement, or offer of a
child for slavery, commercial sexual exploitation, or to commit
crimes. Where relevant, prosecutors sometimes relied on the
Prevention of Organized Crime Act of 1998 in combination
with SOA, which added additional charges—such as money
laundering, racketeering, and criminal gang activity—and
increased penalties of convicted defendants.
The government did not report the number of cases it
investigated; it initiated prosecutions of six cases, involving
11 sex traffickers, and obtained convictions of 11 sex traffickers,
compared five traffickers prosecuted and 11 convicted in 2015.
Sentences ranged from suspended jail time to life imprisonment.
In March 2017, the government convicted a Nigerian trafficker
under PACOTIP to 20 years imprisonment for child sex
trafficking of a girl made dependent on drugs as a means of
coercion. In one case, the Durban regional court convicted
and sentenced three defendants to 254, 304, and 315 years
respectively; however, two will serve 25 years and the third 35
years. The government did not report action on the pending
prosecutions of 19 alleged sex traffickers, some from previous
years, which had remained ongoing at the end of the last
reporting period. While the government obtained the conviction
of one Nigerian trafficker, the government has made little
progress in prosecution of traffickers connected to international
syndicates involving Nigerian, Thai, Chinese, Russian, or
Bulgarian traffickers, who dominate the commercial sex industry

in several South African cities. During the reporting period, an
NGO reported the government severely under-budgeted funding
required to implement PACOTIP and consequently the act could
not be fully implemented until additional funds were allocated
to government entities responsible for its implementation. The
Department of Priority Crime Investigation (DPCI) proactively
investigated trafficking cases and collaborated closely with the
National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) to build cases. NGOs
reported local police stations often declined to investigate
trafficking cases, even when NGOs provided case information.
The government did not prosecute or convict any officials
allegedly complicit in trafficking offenses, despite allegations of
complicity involving immigration and law enforcement officials.
A police station near Pretoria allegedly notified traffickers to
retrieve their victims when the victims sought help. Reports
alleged that SAPS officers used an official vehicle to transport
victims to a brothel, where they were exploited. SAPS officers
allegedly accepted bribes not to investigate sex trafficking.
NGOs reported some police officers solicited commercial sex
acts from victims. There were allegations that officials within
the Department of Home Affairs (DHA) produced fraudulent
birth certificates, passports, and other identification documents
that facilitated trafficking crimes. Immigration officials, private
security companies, and airline officials may have been involved
in facilitating trafficking operations at international airports.

SOUTH AFRICA

use forced labor, under PACOTIP; investigate and prosecute
officials suspected of complicity in trafficking crimes; ensure
victims are issued the appropriate identification documents
in order to receive protective services; train law enforcement
and social service providers to use a victim-centered approach
when interacting with potential victims and recognize initial
consent is irrelevant; improve efforts to screen vulnerable groups,
including potential deportees and women in prostitution, for
trafficking indicators; replicate the coordinated anti-trafficking
law enforcement and victim referral mechanisms of KwaZuluNatal (KZN) and Western Cape in all provinces; extend the
availability of drug rehabilitation services to trafficking victims;
certify or establish additional shelters for male victims; provide
anti-trafficking training for diplomatic personnel and troops
deployed abroad; and institute formal procedures to compile
national statistics on traffickers prosecuted and victims assisted.

While the majority of trafficking victims in South Africa are
labor trafficking victims, the government did not prosecute
or convict any labor traffickers in 2016. The government did
not comprehensively monitor or investigate forced child labor
or the labor trafficking of adults in the agricultural, mining,
construction, and fishing sectors. Department of Labor (DOL)
inspectors continued to use administrative provisions within
the BCEA as their core enforcement mechanism and rarely
referred cases for criminal investigation. The NPA, DHA, SAPS,
Department of Social Development (DSD), Department of
Health (DOH), and DOL continued to include anti-trafficking
trainings developed by an international organization within
their trainings for new staff.

PROTECTION

The government increased protection efforts. The government
identified and referred to care in government shelters 220
trafficking victims, compared to 103 victims identified in 2015.
The government identified victims in eight provinces, mainly
in Gauteng. In one potential forced labor case, in January,
2017, the SAPS and DPCI identified 72 potential victims from
a factory in KZN province.
DSD continued oversight of and funding to 13 accredited
NGO-run multipurpose shelters and continued to oversee 17
NGO-run safe houses designed to temporarily shelter victims
before transfer to an accredited shelter, providing a stipend
on a per person, per night basis to the safe houses. There was
only one shelter, in Gauteng, available for male trafficking
victims. The government identified four Filipino fishermen
victims and referred them to an NGO-operated shelter in
Cape Town. Serious concerns were raised that NGOs without
training, expertise, or accreditation from the DSD failed to
screen potential victims prior to placing them in shelters and
created vulnerability within shelters housing legitimately
screened trafficking victims; the DSD confirmed the high rate
of new NGOs that ran unaccredited shelters housing trafficking
victims. DSD ran a nine-week rehabilitation program to address
the psycho-social well-being of victims and paid for victims

363

SOUTH AFRICA

to receive residential treatment at rehabilitation centers for
overcoming drug addiction; however, not all provinces had such
centers. The government operated a network of Thuthuzela Care
Centers (TCCs) —full service crisis centers to assist victims of
rape and sexual violence, including potential trafficking victims;
it reported the 53 TCCs assisted five victims of trafficking. Per
a DSD policy, staff prevented both adults and children from
leaving shelters unaccompanied, reportedly for security reasons.
Rapid-response teams comprised of government agencies and
NGOs in Gauteng, Mpumalanga, Western Cape, and KZN
continued to coordinate protective services, including shelter,
for victims. DSD, which is responsible for designating and
certifying trafficking victim status, continued to accept victims
from law enforcement and coordinate their placement in a
registered shelter.
SAPS, DSD, NPA, DHA, and the Department of Justice (DOJ)
had uniform formal procedures to identify and refer trafficking
victims to care, in accordance with PACOTIP. Implementation
of these procedures varied by department and province; not
all officials were aware of referral procedures. SAPS was widely
criticized for not identifying victims, even after NGOs had
conducted preliminary identification screening. Officials in
all departments had difficulty identifying labor trafficking
victims and differentiating between trafficking and smuggling
crimes. KZN and Western Cape provincial task teams used an
interagency protocol to guide law enforcement interactions
with women in prostitution. Law enforcement generally did
not screen women and LGBTI persons in prostitution for
trafficking indicators, and instead sometimes charged them with
prostitution and other violations. Male labor trafficking victims
remained largely unidentified and were frequently detained,
deported, jailed or fined. In March 2017, immigration officials at
the international airport in Johannesburg signed an agreement
with an NGO to profile and identify potential trafficking victims
prior to deportation. Through this initiative, the government
and NGO partner conducted over 100 screenings and referred
an unknown number of victims to care.
Systemic hurdles inhibited progress in providing justice and
protection for victims. A lack of language interpretation impeded
the investigation of trafficking cases, prosecution of suspected
offenders, and screening of victims. Officials encouraged victims
to participate in the investigation and prosecution of traffickers
and the government provided security and long-term care
for an unknown number of victims who did so during the
reporting period. PACOTIP provides trafficking victims relief
from deportation; however, regulations to implement this
provision have not been promulgated. Law enforcement may
petition DHA on behalf of foreign victims to prevent their
deportation; however, reports indicated foreign victims lacking
appropriate documentation or residency status in South Africa
were not allowed to study in any registered institution or
work for the duration of an investigation or court proceeding,
limiting foreign victims’ willingness to testify in court. Foreign
victims did not have the same access to health care as South
African victims. DSD policy required evidence of force, fraud, or
coercion immediately after victims’ rescue and their classification
as victims of trafficking to facilitate placement in facilities.
Suspected criminals could only be held for 48 hours without
evidence; because many traumatized victims were unable or
unwilling to provide statements within that period, some
suspected offenders were released.

PREVENTION
364

The government increased efforts to prevent trafficking. The

government finalized and began to implement its national
action plan during the reporting period; however, civil society
reported implementation was uneven. In August 2016, the
government, in coordination with an NGO, launched a
national anti-trafficking hotline; professionally-trained hotline
specialists received calls 24-hours a day, seven days a week. In
October, DPCI conducted a three-day awareness campaign
on trafficking in Northern Cape. The campaign was intended
to foster community support and participation in fighting
trafficking in the area. The government conducted awareness
campaigns via social and traditional media, including radio,
and held awareness events at malls. The government provided
consular and immigration officials basic anti-trafficking training
in order to screen for trafficking indicators of visa applicants
and individuals entering the country. NPA and DOJ oversaw
six provincial task teams coordinated through the national task
team, which met quarterly to discuss counter-trafficking efforts
and worked collaboratively to address challenges.
The government did not make efforts to reduce the demand
for commercial sex or forced labor. The government did not
provide anti-trafficking training to its peacekeepers prior to their
deployment abroad on international peacekeeping missions.
In coordination with an international organization, the
government provided anti-trafficking training for its diplomatic
personnel.

TRAFFICKING PROFILE

As reported over the past five years, South Africa is a source,
transit, and destination country for men, women, and children
subjected to forced labor and sex trafficking. South African
children are recruited from poor rural areas to urban centers,
such as Johannesburg, Cape Town, Durban, and Bloemfontein,
where girls are subjected to sex trafficking and domestic servitude
and boys are forced to work in street vending, food service,
begging, criminal activities, and agriculture. Many children,
including those with disabilities, are exploited in forced
begging. Non-consensual and illegal ukuthwala, the forced
marriage of girls as young as 12 to adult men, is practiced
in some remote villages in Eastern Cape Province; some of
these girls are subjected to forced labor and sex slavery. Local
criminal rings organize child sex trafficking, while Russian
and Bulgarian crime syndicates facilitate trafficking within the
Cape Town commercial sex industry, and Thai and Chinese
nationals organize the sex trafficking of Asian men and women.
Nigerian syndicates dominate the commercial sex industry in
several provinces. To a lesser extent, syndicates recruit South
African women to Europe and Asia, where some are forced
into prostitution, domestic servitude, or drug smuggling. Law
enforcement reported traffickers employ forced drug use to
coerce sex trafficking victims.
Thai women remained the largest group of identified foreign
victims, but officials reported an increased number of Chinese
victims. Women and girls from Brazil, Eastern Europe, Asia, and
neighboring African countries are recruited for work in South
Africa, where some are subjected to sex trafficking, domestic
servitude, or forced labor in the service sector, or transported
to Europe for similar purposes. NGOs in Western Cape have
reported an increased number of Nigerian sex trafficking victims,
many coerced through voodoo rituals, and more Nigerians
in domestic servitude. Central African women are reportedly
subjected to forced labor in hair salons. Foreign and South
African LGBTI persons are subjected to sex trafficking. Foreign
male forced labor victims have been identified aboard fishing
vessels in South Africa’s territorial waters; NGOs estimated 10

SOUTH SUDAN: TIER 3
The Government of the Republic of South Sudan does not fully
meet the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking
and is not making significant efforts to do so; therefore, South
Sudan remained on Tier 3. Despite the lack of significant efforts,
the government took some steps to address trafficking, including
the development and dissemination of a manual and training
module covering human trafficking for customs and border
officials during the year. In addition, officials put in place
military enlistment procedures that require an age assessment
to prevent the future recruitment of child soldiers. However,
the government continued to recruit—often by force—and use
child soldiers and failed to hold the Sudan People’s Liberation
Army (SPLA) officers criminally accountable for these unlawful
actions. Authorities did not investigate or prosecute forced
labor or sex trafficking crimes, and officials generally lacked
understanding of existing laws prohibiting human trafficking.
The government made negligible efforts to protect trafficking
victims and continued to indiscriminately arrest and imprison
individuals for prostitution, including child sex trafficking
victims, without screening for indicators of trafficking.

RECOMMENDATIONS FOR SOUTH SUDAN

Cease all recruitment and use of children younger than 18
years of age by the SPLA and its associated militias; end
armament or assistance to armed groups that conscript and/
or use children younger than age of 18 years; pursuant to
article 1.10 of the Agreement on the Resolution of the Conflict
in South Sudan, undertake the immediate release of child
soldiers under command or influence of the SPLA and affiliated
militias in conjunction with the International Committee of
the Red Cross (ICRC) and UNICEF for transfer to appropriate
civilian rehabilitation and reintegration programs; investigate,
prosecute, and convict military officials allegedly complicit in
the recruitment, use, and exploitation of children; investigate
and prosecute suspected trafficking offenses, and convict and
punish traffickers, including complicit government officials,
under existing laws; expedite the establishment of a hybrid court
pursuant to the peace agreement or request the International

Criminal Court to investigate potential war crimes and crimes
against humanity committed during the conflict, including the
recruitment and use of child soldiers; provide financial and
political support to the SPLA’s Child Protection Directorate
and the army’s military justice section, so that they can
identify perpetrators and refer cases to civilian courts; train law
enforcement and judicial officials to recognize trafficking victims
among vulnerable groups, particularly children and individuals
in prostitution; establish and implement procedures to prevent
penalization of trafficking victims for crimes committed as a
direct result of being subjected to trafficking; conduct a public
awareness campaign to educate government officials and the
general public on all forms of human trafficking; develop robust
partnership with civil society so they may provide adequate care
to victims; develop an inventory of service providers, and train
government officials on procedures to refer victims to these
entities to receive care; allow unimpeded access to all military
barracks, including unannounced inspections to identify and
remove any children; develop and implement a national antitrafficking strategy; and accede to the 2000 UN TIP Protocol.

SOUTH SUDAN

to 15 victims of labor trafficking each month disembark in
Cape Town. Young men and boys from neighboring countries
migrate to South Africa for farm work; some are subjected
to forced labor and subsequently arrested and deported as
illegal immigrants. Forced labor is reportedly used in fruit
and vegetable farms across South Africa and vineyards in
Western Cape. The government and NGOs report an increase
in Pakistanis and Bangladeshis subjected to bonded labor in
businesses owned by their co-nationals. Official complicity—
including by police—in trafficking crimes remained a serious
concern. Some well-known brothels previously identified as
locations of sex trafficking continued to operate with officials’
tacit approval.

PROSECUTION

The government demonstrated no discernable anti-trafficking
law enforcement efforts. South Sudanese law does not
criminalize all forms of trafficking, but the 2008 penal code
does address some forms of the crime. Article 282 prohibits
and prescribes a sufficiently stringent punishment of up to
seven years imprisonment for the sale of a person across
international borders. Articles 278 and 279 prohibit and
prescribe punishments of up to seven years imprisonment
for the abduction and transfer of control over a person for
the purpose of unlawful compulsory labor; the prescribed
punishment of up to two years imprisonment for compulsory
labor without aggravating circumstances, is not sufficiently
stringent. Article 276 criminalizes buying or selling a child for
the purpose of prostitution and prescribes a punishment of
up to 14 years imprisonment, which is sufficiently stringent
and commensurate with those prescribed for other serious
crimes, such as rape. Punishments prescribed in article 254
for procuring a child—up to 10 years imprisonment—or an
adult—up to two years imprisonment—for the purposes of
prostitution are not commensurate with those for rape. Article
258 prescribes punishments of up to 10 years imprisonment
for parents or guardians who compel or allow their child to
be involved in the sex trade. South Sudan’s 2008 Child Act
prohibits the recruitment and use of children for military or
paramilitary activities, and prescribes punishments of up to
10 years imprisonment for such crimes.
The government reported no investigations, prosecutions,
or convictions for trafficking crimes, including offenses that
were reported to have been committed by officials, including
SPLA members. Despite the ongoing unlawful recruitment
and use of child soldiers by the SPLA and its allied militias,
the government had never held an offender criminally or
administratively accountable for such crimes. The critical
lack of capacity throughout the justice sector impeded law
enforcement efforts. Courts lacked lawyers, judges, and defense
attorneys knowledgeable on trafficking issues or South Sudanese
laws prohibiting trafficking, and resources to investigate and
prosecute most crimes, including human trafficking, were scant.
Pervasive corruption in both the judicial and law enforcement
sectors, including the use of intimidation and bribery, hampered
prosecutions of traffickers. During the reporting year, with
technical support from an international organization, the
Ministry of Interior developed a manual and training module

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SOUTH SUDAN

covering human trafficking and smuggling for the Directorate
of Nationality, Passports, and Immigration and disseminated
them to customs and border officials. In 2016, more than 20
immigration officials participated in an anti-trafficking trainthe-trainer program in Tanzania, which was sponsored by in
international organization.

PROTECTION

The government maintained negligible efforts to protect victims.
The government did not identify or refer to care any trafficking
victims during the reporting year, and front-line officers failed
to remove trafficking victims from exploitative situations.
Lacking a mechanism to distinguish or identify potential victims
among vulnerable populations, security forces continued to
indiscriminately arrest individuals in prostitution, some of
whom were trafficking victims, without screening. The Ministry
of Social Development (MSD), an international organization,
and multiple NGO partners supported a private shelter for
orphaned and adolescent girls at risk of exploitation. The MSD,
with backing from an international organization, also ran a
transition center for victimized children and mothers—including
potential trafficking victims. There were no specialized services
available for trafficking victims. During the reporting period, an
international organization, in partnership with the government,
continued to demobilize and reintegrate children; efforts
included release negotiation, screening and registration, familial
reunification, educational placement, or vocational training.
In October 2016, the same international organization reported
securing the release of 145 children from armed groups, and
providing them with psycho-social support, food assistance,
medical screenings, civilian clothing, and reintegration support.
The government did not provide financial support to aid in
these efforts, though it did provide staff.
Social stigma and justified fears of punitive law enforcement
actions discouraged victims—particularly those subjected to
sex trafficking—from communicating with law enforcement
authorities. There were no laws or policies to protect victims
from prosecution for crimes committed as a direct result of being
subjected to trafficking. The government did not provide legal
alternatives to the removal of foreign victims to countries where
they would face hardship or retribution or encourage victims to
assist in the investigation and prosecution of trafficking crimes.

PREVENTION

366

The government made minimal efforts to prevent trafficking.
Neither the National Aliens Committee—tasked in 2015 to
address trafficking issues in the country—nor its child labor
unit was active during the reporting year. The Police Services
Act of 2009 designated the South Sudan police service as
the lead on investigation of potential trafficking crimes and
enforcement of the law. Some SPLA representatives denied the
military’s recruitment of children into its ranks and continued
to actively recruit child soldiers, at times by force, and failed to
implement the action plan to demobilize child soldiers. During
the reporting year, officials put in place military enlistment
procedures that require an age assessment to prevent the future
recruitment of child soldiers. The government did not have a
national action plan against trafficking; trafficking awareness
remained low among government officials and the public. The
government launched a campaign against sexual exploitation,
designed to raise awareness among vulnerable groups and how
to identify, prevent, and report gender-based violence crimes,
including trafficking. In September 2016, officials organized a
two-day, high-level dialogue on impunity associated with sexual

exploitation and crimes against women and child victims of
the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA); the conference reached an
unknown number of government personnel and civil society
stakeholders. Authorities failed to make efforts to address the
labor exploitation of South Sudanese nationals working abroad
or foreign nationals within South Sudan. The government
made no discernible efforts to reduce the demand for forced
labor or commercial sex acts during the reporting period. The
government did not provide anti-trafficking training for its
diplomatic personnel. South Sudan is not a party to the 2000
UN TIP Protocol.

TRAFFICKING PROFILE

As reported over the past five years, 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 from rural areas or who are internally
displaced, are vulnerable to domestic servitude throughout the
country. Some of these women and girls are sexually abused
by male occupants of the household or forced to engage in
commercial sex acts. South Sudanese girls are subjected to sex
trafficking in restaurants, hotels, and brothels in urban centers—
at times with the involvement of corrupt law enforcement
officials. Children working in construction, market vending,
shoe shining, car washing, rock breaking, brick making, delivery
cart pulling, and begging may be victims of forced labor. Girls are
forced into marriages, at times as compensation for inter-ethnic
killings; some may be subsequently subjected to sexual slavery or
domestic servitude. South Sudanese and foreign business owners
recruit men and women from regional countries—especially
Eritrea, Ethiopia, and Somalia—as well as South Sudanese
women and children, with fraudulent offers of employment
opportunities in hotels, restaurants, and construction; many
are forced to work for little or no pay or are subjected to sex
trafficking. Some traffickers operate in organized networks
within the country and across borders. Authorities occasionally
assisted traffickers in crossing international borders, and some
South Sudanese officials subjected women and girls to domestic
servitude; others purchased sex from child trafficking victims,
facilitated child sex trafficking, or protected establishments
that exploited victims in the sex trade.
Local civil society organizations reported instances of trafficking
during the reporting period, which predominantly affected
South Sudanese victims because general insecurity, continued
deterioration of the economy, protracted violence, and the
July 2016 collapse of the ceasefire between the government
and the armed opposition compelled many foreigners to
flee the country. Violent conflict continued throughout the
year, increasing the number of internally displaced people
to 1.9 million and the number of refugees in neighboring
states to nearly 1.5 million. These groups, including orphaned
children, were at increased risk of trafficking and other forms of
exploitation. The UN-estimated 20,000 unaccompanied minors
in refugee camps or moving between camps, particularly while
crossing the Kenya-South Sudan and Democratic Republic of
the Congo-South Sudan border, were vulnerable to recruitment
as child soldiers or abduction for sex or labor trafficking. Interethnic abductions, as well as abductions by external criminal
elements, continued between some communities in South
Sudan, especially in Jonglei, Unity, and Upper Nile states.
In previous years, abduction was also pervasive in Warrap,
Northern Bahr el-Ghazal, and Lakes states. Some abductees
were subjected to domestic servitude, forced labor in animal
herding, or sex trafficking. South Sudanese girls were reportedly
abducted from Northern Bahr el-Ghazal State and taken into

Since the start of the conflict in December 2013, the UN
estimates warring parties have recruited approximately 17,000
child soldiers in South Sudan. In the first half of 2016, the
government and armed opposition groups recruited more
than 650 children, and during the second half of the year an
international organization documented incidents of recruitment
and use throughout the country, including in Eastern Equatoria,
where no instances of recruitment or use had been historically
reported. During the reporting year, both government and
armed opposition groups recruited boys and transported
them from their home areas to other parts of the country for
redeployment or to engage in military training where children
act as bodyguards for commanders, man checkpoints, and
assume other security support roles. A 2015 NGO research report
reported one-third of the boys interviewed were forcibly and
violently recruited; SPLA and opposition groups recruited boys
at gunpoint, arrested and detained them until they agreed to
fight, or abducted and provided them with guns, forcing them
to fight on the front-lines. According to the Agreement on the
Resolution of the Conflict in South Sudan, signed by the warring
parties in August 2015, SPLA and the SPLA in Opposition
(SPLA-IO) committed to the immediate and unconditional
release of child soldiers under their command or influence, to
be carried out by UNICEF and ICRC. However, throughout the
reporting period both groups continued to retain, recruit, and
use child soldiers, including on the front-line, and evidence
persisted of the re-recruitment of numerous children.
During the reporting period, the UN, in partnership with the
National Disarmament, Demobilization, and Reintegration
Commission (NDDRC), continued the demobilization and
reintegration of 1,755 child soldiers released by David Yau
Yau, the former militia commander of the South Sudan
Democratic Movement/Army-Cobra Faction (SSDM/A-CF),
who had approximately 3,000 children under his command
when SPLA began to integrate his forces in 2014; integration
was ongoing during the reporting period. The SPLA continued
to recruit child soldiers despite the NDDRC program to release
all children associated with the SSDM/A-CF as it integrated
with SPLA. Predominant accounts of recruitment and use of
child soldiers were documented in Unity State, and over half
of all verified cases were reportedly perpetrated by the SPLA.
Child soldiers were also present within the SPLA-IO and within
groups affiliated with the opposition. During the reporting
period, observers reported the recruitment and use of 486
children; international observers verified instances in several of
the country’s states, including Western Equatoria, Upper Nile,
Jonglei, Warrap, Central Equatoria, and Northern Bahr el Ghazal.
Almost half of the reported instances of child soldiering were
documented in the Greater Upper Nile region, and observers
noted a sharp increase in Western Bahr el Ghazal State. During
the reporting period, reports also indicated boys and girls were
abducted from their houses and schools to fight and perform
domestic duties, respectively; observers previously reported
local children stopped attending school for fear of abduction.

SPAIN: TIER 1
The Government of Spain fully meets the minimum standards
for the elimination of trafficking. The government continued to
demonstrate serious and sustained efforts during the reporting

period; therefore, Spain remained on Tier 1. The government
demonstrated serious and sustained efforts through increased
prosecutions of traffickers, including the first prosecutions of
defendants who allegedly forced victims to commit crimes.
Authorities cooperated extensively with multinational
law enforcement efforts, trained more police and judicial
officials, and strengthened collaboration with NGOs in victim
identification and assistance. Although the government meets
the minimum standards, it convicted fewer traffickers, initiated
fewer investigations, and identified fewer labor trafficking
victims than in the prior reporting period.

SPAIN

Sudan, where they may have been forced into domestic servitude
or other forms of slavery.

RECOMMENDATIONS FOR SPAIN

Increase prosecutions and convictions of trafficking offenses,
particularly for forced labor; increase training on proactive victim
identification, in particular among women in prostitution,
irregular migrants, unaccompanied minors, and workers in
industries and agricultural regions with high incidences of
labor exploitation; increase efforts to reduce demand for
forced labor, including in supply chains and government
procurement; train all prosecutors and judges, not just those
specializing in trafficking cases, on a victim-centered approach
to law enforcement; extend protections for all victims under the
2015 Law of the Statute of Victims of Crime, including through
increased training for judges; increase witness protection
resources available to victims; continue improvements in
police training at both national and provincial levels, including
increased focus on effective and accurate interviewing standards
of victims; further strengthen levels of cooperation between
NGOs and law enforcement officials at both national and
regional levels; continue implementation of the national
plan, adding benchmarks and indicators of progress; provide
victims with access to compensation, including from assets
seized from traffickers.

PROSECUTION

The government maintained law enforcement efforts. Article
177 bis of the criminal code criminalizes forced labor or
begging, sexual exploitation and organ removal by means of
force, fraud or coercion. In keeping with international law,
reliance on means of force, fraud or coercion is not necessary to
prove a crime of trafficking when the victim is a child. The law
prescribes penalties from five to eight years imprisonment, with
enhanced penalties of up to 12 years in certain circumstances,
including when the trafficker is a public official or part of a
criminal conspiracy. These penalties are sufficiently stringent and
generally commensurate with the prescribed penalties for other
serious crimes. Trafficking for purposes of the commission of
crimes is expressly prohibited in the criminal code. The Office
of the Prosecutor reported investigating 272 cases for sexual or
labor trafficking in 2016, compared to 344 cases in 2015 and
293 cases in 2014. The government initiated prosecutions of 54
defendants (37 for sex trafficking and 17 for labor trafficking) in
2016, compared with 45 in 2015 (30 and 15, respectively). For
the first time the government prosecuted four defendants under

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SPAIN

article 177 bis for trafficking for the purpose of the commission
of crimes. Courts convicted 24 traffickers in 2016, of which 22
were for sex trafficking and two for labor trafficking, a decrease
compared with 58 convictions for sex trafficking and two for
labor trafficking in 2015.

continued to update and use a victim resource guide, available
in 12 languages, also for use by victims. The guide listed by
region 50 NGOs providing services, 164 shelters for victims
and their children, and covered social, psychological, medical,
legal, training, housing, and job search tools.

While the government did not provide comprehensive
sentencing data, examples included a 34-year sentence for the
leader of a sex trafficking ring, plus a fine of €80,000 ($84,300)
to be provided to the victims. A court sentenced two traffickers
to 10 and 13.5 years in prison, respectively, for sex trafficking
of Nigerian women, plus a fine of €100,000 ($105,370) used
for victim compensation. Two traffickers received sentences of
34.5 and 36 years, respectively, for labor exploitation of four
Spaniards. Traffickers serve an average of 75 percent of their
sentence before being eligible for parole, and courts may impose
separate sentences on multiple criminal offenses.

In 2015, the government enacted laws providing additional
protections to sex trafficking victims, including more time to
appeal the dismissal of cases against alleged traffickers; the ability
to appeal decisions made by court officials regarding terms of
incarceration, parole, and release; as well as requiring that
victims receive updates on the status of cases. The government
had not yet reported on implementation of these provisions.
Police in Catalonia often asked NGOs to join investigations
to better assist victims and provide information to victims
on resources available to them. Assets seized from convicted
defendants supported a fund used to fight or prevent trafficking
or to assist victims, although NGOs reported that seized assets
were rarely used for victim compensation. NGOs called for legal
reform to better protect witnesses, including permitting video
testimony in all cases and increased resources to the Office of
Witness Protection to provide adequate assistance to victims, as
fewer victims were willing to testify against criminal networks
in cases where the court allowed release of witness names.
NGOs noted while police training improved with increased
use of NGO trainers and materials in victim identification
trainings, law enforcement personnel in some provinces did not
have sufficient knowledge on the sensitivities and techniques
required for interviewing and advising victims.

The government did not report any new investigations,
prosecutions, or convictions of government officials complicit
in human trafficking offenses. Authorities collaborated with
transnational investigations, including one 2016 operation in
which national police detained 24 members of a sex trafficking
ring and assisted 21 Nigerian female victims. The government
provided specialized training on trafficking to law enforcement
officials developed with input from NGOs. In 2016, the
government trained 300 new civil guard officers on victim
identification, all new prosecutors on trafficking issues, and 600
civil servants and social workers in rural areas. The government
included sessions on trafficking for the annual required training
for judges. NGOs noted inconsistent application of victim
protections by judges, and along with the Office of the National
Rapporteur recommended increased training for judges on
human trafficking. The government continued anti-trafficking
training for consular and immigration officials.

PROTECTION

The government maintained protection efforts. Authorities
reported identifying 73 victims of sex trafficking and 12 victims
of labor trafficking in the first six months of 2016, compared
with 65 sex trafficking victims and 104 labor trafficking victims
identified in the first six months of 2015. Authorities also
identified 274 victims of sexual exploitation and 207 victims
of labor exploitation, who may also be trafficking victims.
Since 2013, the government has used a victim identification
protocol developed with NGO input. NGOs reported good
cooperation with law enforcement in the identification and
referral of victims for assistance, including NGO participation
in inspections of brothels and at locations where victims may
have been present.

368

The government maintained funding levels equal to those of
the prior year, allocating €4.9 million ($5.2 million) for the
protection and support of trafficking victims, including €2
million ($2.1 million) for NGOs providing services and shelter
to victims. The government provided free health care, legal
assistance, social welfare benefits, and funds for repatriation
to trafficking victims, and also referred some victims to an
NGO network running facilities, which received funding from
national and local governments and private sources. There
were specialized centers for child victims of crime and seven
trafficking shelters—all NGO-run—to assist child victims. Two
multipurpose NGO-run shelters were available for adult male
victims. NGOs provided victims temporary shelter and access
to legal, medical, and psychological services. The Ministry of
Health, Social Services and Equality, collaborating with NGOs,

Foreign victims could request a renewable residence permit for
up to five years based on their cooperation with law enforcement
or, in some cases, on the basis of their personal situation without
regard to whether they assisted law enforcement. Victims could
also receive assistance to return to their country of origin if
they were not participating in a criminal prosecution. The
government allowed for reflection periods of a minimum of 90
days—time during which victims from outside the European
Union could recover while deciding whether to assist law
enforcement—however, the government did not report how
many victims received this benefit in 2016. Citizens of EU
member states, however, are not limited to the 90-day reflection
period and face no deadline for claiming social services or
cooperating with authorities. Under the 2012 penal code
reform, approved in March 2015, victims are protected from
prosecution for any unlawful acts committed as a direct result
of being subjected to trafficking.

PREVENTION

The government maintained prevention efforts. The national
anti-trafficking working group, operationally led by the Ministry
of the Interior, and including the Ministries of Health, Justice,
and Labor, set goals for fighting trafficking, established quarterly
reviews, and facilitated data sharing between law enforcement
and other agencies. The government extended the national plan
through 2018, with an increased focus on protection of women
and girls, identification of and provision of services to victims,
and multi-sectoral coordination. A wide range of government
and non-government stakeholders provided input, and NGOs
supported these priorities, although noted a need to add
indicators of progress and projected dates for achieving goals.
The government continued a multi-year funding commitment
of €104 million ($109.6 million) to the national plan.
Toward fulfillment of objectives in the national plan, the
government continued expanded prevention efforts through

The government partnered with an international organization
to discourage international sex tourism and warned Spanish
citizens they may be prosecuted under Spanish law for such acts
committed overseas. The government’s efforts to reduce demand
for forced labor included a nine percent increase in civil guard
labor inspections. The government further increased cooperation
with Romanian law enforcement officials to thwart labor
trafficking rings, and supported public awareness campaigns
in Romania to inform workers of their employment rights in
the EU. The Romanian embassy reported that labor trafficking
of its citizens in Spain has decreased by more than 30 percent
over the past 10 years. Spanish troops received anti-trafficking
training prior to their deployment on international peacekeeping
missions. The government provided anti-trafficking training
for its diplomatic personnel and distributed guidance to all
foreign diplomatic missions in Madrid on identification of
trafficking victims.

TRAFFICKING PROFILE

As reported over the past five years, Spain is a destination, source,
and transit country for men, women, and children subjected to
forced labor and sex trafficking. Women from Eastern Europe
(particularly Romania and Bulgaria), South America (particularly
Paraguay, Brazil, Colombia, and Ecuador), China, and Nigeria
are subjected to sex trafficking in Spain. Men and women
from South and East Asia, particularly China, are subjected to
forced labor in the textile, agricultural, construction, industrial,
and service sectors. Victims are recruited by false promises of
employment in the service industry or agriculture and forced
into prostitution and debt bondage upon their arrival to Spain.
Traffickers also lure some victims from within Spain and the
EU. Prostitution is allowed under certain conditions in Spain,
although NGOs believe a large percentage of individuals in
prostitution in Spain are trafficking victims. Many women in
prostitution in Spain are held under the control of Nigerian,
Romanian, and Spanish trafficking networks that operate out of
major cities in Spain. However, victims are increasingly subjected
to trafficking by individuals and smaller groups of traffickers,
often in homes or apartments where detection and investigation
are more difficult. Unaccompanied migrant children continue
to be vulnerable to sex trafficking and forced begging.

SRI LANKA: TIER 2
The Government of Sri Lanka does not fully meet the minimum
standards for the elimination of trafficking; however, it is making
significant efforts to do so. The government demonstrated
increasing efforts compared to the previous reporting period;

therefore, Sri Lanka was upgraded to Tier 2. The government
demonstrated increasing efforts by establishing new antitrafficking units and creating a special police division for the
protection of witnesses and victims of all crimes. While official
complicity in human trafficking persisted, the government
investigated 18 officials for allegedly creating fraudulent
documents to provide workers employment abroad, and it
prosecuted and convicted more traffickers than in the previous
reporting period. However, the government did not meet
the minimum standards in several key areas. At times, the
government’s inconsistent identification of victims resulted in
the penalization of victims for prostitution and for immigration
violations committed as a result of the victim’s subjection to
trafficking. The government provided no specialized services to
male victims and sometimes housed child victims in government
detention centers. The government maintained specific
requirements for migration of female migrant workers including
those migrating for domestic work, which observers stated
increased the likelihood women would migrate illegally and
therefore heightened their vulnerability to human trafficking.

SRI LANKA

public awareness campaigns, including a television series,
traditional media, digital media, and social media that reached
up to two million people, with extensive press coverage. The
government and NGOs operated hotlines for reporting suspected
trafficking cases. While the government continued efforts to
discourage newspapers from publishing classified ads for sexual
services offered by individuals engaged in prostitution, of
which NGOs estimated 90 percent may be trafficking victims,
nearly all major newspapers, with one exception, continued to
publish some ads. The government monitored victim assistance
efforts, shared its assessments on trafficking with domestic and
international organizations, and continued to publish data
on the numbers of victims, accused traffickers, prosecutions,
and convictions.

RECOMMENDATIONS FOR SRI LANKA

While respecting due process, improve efforts to investigate and
prosecute suspected traffickers, including complicit officials, and
convict and punish offenders with sentences commensurate
with other serious crimes; increase efforts to proactively identify
trafficking victims and train officials on victim identification
and referral procedures, especially to ensure victims are not
detained or otherwise penalized for unlawful acts, such as
immigration violations or prostitution, committed as a direct
result of having been subjected to human trafficking; improve
protection services to ensure identified victims, including
men and children, receive specialized care services; take steps
to eliminate all recruitment fees charged to workers by labor
recruiters and instead ensure they are paid by employers;
expand the bureau of foreign employment’s (SLBFE) mandate
to include the regulation of sub-agents; promote safe and legal
migration and ensure migration regulations do not discriminate
on the basis of gender; and increase efforts of the task force
to meet regularly with all members to enhance government
coordination efforts.

PROSECUTION

The government increased its law enforcement efforts to address
human trafficking. Article 360(C) of the penal code prohibits
all forms of trafficking, although the law also covers some nontrafficking offenses, such as selling children. The law prescribes
punishments of up to 20 years imprisonment, which are
sufficiently stringent and commensurate with those prescribed
for other serious offenses, such as rape. The government also
frequently used article 360(A), the procurement statute that
criminalizes obtaining a person to become a prostitute, to
prosecute sex trafficking cases. Procurement crimes, unlike
trafficking, carry lesser penalties of up to 10 years imprisonment,
although these cases are often brought before magistrate judges
that are generally only authorized to issue sentences of up to
two years imprisonment.

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SRI LANKA

During the reporting period, the criminal investigation
department (CID) initiated seven trafficking investigations,
compared with six investigations in 2015. Of the seven
investigations, five were categorized as forced labor cases
and two as sex trafficking cases; six cases involved the alleged
exploitation of Sri Lankan citizens overseas and one case
involved a foreign national allegedly subjected to sex trafficking
in Sri Lanka. The government initiated 35 prosecutions
during the reporting period, 10 under article 360(C), which
included three forced labor and seven sex trafficking cases,
and 25 under the procurement statute. This was a significant
increase compared to the previous reporting period, which
had 12 prosecutions, five under 360(C) and seven under the
procurement statute. The courts did not convict any traffickers
under article 360(C). Courts did, however, convict seven persons
under the procurement statute during the reporting period, an
increase from one person convicted for procurement in 2015.
One case involved the conviction of a person who procured a 16year old male victim for a foreign tourist who sexually exploited
the child. Sentences for the seven convictions ranged from one
year to seven years imprisonment, and four of the sentences
also included fines ranging from 1,500 Sri Lanka rupees (LKR)
to 500,000 LKR ($10 to $3,340). Courts also ordered two of
the convicts to pay restitution to two victims of 100,000 LKR
($670) and 500,000 LKR ($3,340). The government’s reliance
on procurement charges resulted from police not thoroughly
investigating potential human trafficking cases for elements of
force, fraud, or coercion and difficulty securing evidence from
victims—prosecutors could pursue procurement cases without
the cooperation of the victim.
During the reporting period, the government created two new
trafficking investigative units. In October 2016, it created an antitrafficking unit in the CID, and in April 2016, the SLBFE created
a special unit to investigate trafficking-related complaints.
Previously, SLBFE police officers automatically categorized
most complaints migrant workers filed as an “employment
or contract dispute” and did not screen for labor trafficking.
During the reporting period, the SLBFE anti-trafficking unit
received 62 complaints and referred 14 of the complaints to
CID for further investigation of possible trafficking.
Official complicity in trafficking offenses remained a serious
problem. Some sub-agents reportedly worked with officials to
procure forged or modified documents, or genuine documents
with falsified data, to facilitate travel abroad. The Ministry of
Foreign Employment (MFE) reported it investigated 18 officials
for allegedly creating fraudulent documents to provide workers
employment abroad and referred six of the cases to the police
for further investigation. There were ongoing allegations police
and other officials accepted bribes to permit brothels to operate;
some of the brothels exploited trafficking victims. There were
no reports of investigations into such cases of bribery.

PROTECTION

370

The government made modest improvements in protection
efforts. The government continued to implement the 2015
Assistance to and Protection of Victims of Crime and Witnesses
Act by creating a special police division in November 2016 and
drafting national guidelines for treatment, reparation, restitution,
and rehabilitation of all crime victims. The government reported
identifying 23 trafficking victims, compared with 30 victims
identified in 2015. The Ministry of Women and Child Affairs
(MWCA) continued to operate a shelter for female trafficking
victims. The government did not have specialized rehabilitation
services available for male trafficking victims. Child victims

were referred to child-specific rehabilitation centers; however,
an NGO reported some children arrested for exploitation in
commercial sex were held in government detention centers. The
government acknowledged the possible arrest and detention of
children who may be sex trafficking victims and commenced
a survey to identify and refer such victims to rehabilitation
services. SLBFE continued to operate 12 short-term shelters for
female migrant workers in distress at Sri Lankan diplomatic
missions in ten countries. During the reporting period, the
shelters served 3,552 migrant workers; authorities did not
report how many were trafficking victims. SLBFE also continued
to operate a transit shelter near the Colombo international
airport for returning male and female migrant workers who
encountered abuse abroad. In 2016, the transit shelter provided
medical, counseling, transportation, food, and accommodation,
as needed, to 3,310 female and 3,049 male migrant workers,
some of whom may have been trafficking victims.
The government had standard operating procedures (SOPs) for
the identification and referral of victims to protection services;
however, an international organization stated the government
needed to issue circulars and directives to each relevant agency
to guide staff to follow the SOPs. The government conducted
multiple trainings for SLBFE, MWCA, probation, and police
officials on victim identification and referral. However, the
government’s implementation of these procedures and efforts
to ensure victims were not jailed or penalized for crimes
committed as a direct result of being subjected to human
trafficking remained inconsistent. Observers reported Sri Lankan
authorities jailed and charged individuals, possibly including
children, for prostitution, vagrancy, or immigration offenses
without adequate efforts to evaluate whether they were victims
of trafficking. Authorities’ treatment of potential foreign victims
was inconsistent. The government reported airport immigration
officials identified nine Nepali citizens as potential trafficking
victims and, after recording their statements, voluntarily
repatriated them; however, media reported immigration officials
detained and deported some Nepali women who were held
by an alleged trafficker in Sri Lanka until they could be sent to
the Middle East as domestic workers. The victim identification
SOPs allow foreign victims who cooperate in prosecutions
to receive a visa extension until the end of the trial; however,
the government did not provide foreign victims with legal
alternatives to deportation to countries where they might face
hardship or retribution after trial completion or for victims
who did not cooperate with prosecution.

PREVENTION

The government maintained efforts to prevent trafficking.
The inter-ministerial anti-trafficking task force continued
to implement the national action plan to combat human
trafficking; however, observers reported overall government
coordination on anti-trafficking was weak and that all members
of the taskforce were not meeting regularly. Several government
agencies conducted awareness events on human trafficking,
including for civil society, school children, and the general
public. The police collaborated with the Nepali government
to investigate allegations traffickers and smugglers were
increasingly using Sri Lanka as a transit point to send female
Nepali migrant workers to other destinations. In October 2016,
NCPA re-established a position to monitor online safety of
children, reportedly to target and reduce child sex tourism.
SLBFE maintained its ban on migration of domestic workers
younger than age 23 to the Middle East and younger than age
25 to Saudi Arabia, and required all female migrant workers
below age 45 to submit a “family background report” to

demobilized child soldiers with modest protective services and
investigating potential trafficking cases. However, the government
continued to deny the existence of sex trafficking of adults
and children. It failed to identify victims of sex trafficking or
forced labor. It did not operationalize or allocate a budget to
implement the activities in its national anti-trafficking action
plan. Officials routinely conflated trafficking with other crimes,
such as smuggling or immigration violations, and authorities
continued to punish some trafficking victims for unlawful acts
committed as a direct result of being subjected to trafficking. The
government lacked capacity and resources to provide adequate
protective services to victims.

SUDAN

ensure the woman did not have children younger than age 5.
Observers reported these policies increased the likelihood such
women would migrate illegally and therefore heightened their
vulnerability to human trafficking. During the reporting period,
SLBFE’s legal division filed 214 cases against licensed and 101
cases against unlicensed recruiters for fraudulent practices,
compared with a total of 189 cases in 2015. The MFE did
not have the legal authority to regulate foreign employment
recruitment sub-agents under SLBFE, which officials recognized
as a problem contributing to trafficking. MFE drafted a memo
to the Cabinet recommending the law be amended to regularize
sub-agents and began a national survey on the use of sub-agents.
The government did not report efforts to reduce the demand for
commercial sex acts or forced labor during the reporting period.
The government provided anti-trafficking training to military
personnel prior to their deployments abroad on international
peacekeeping missions and to some of its diplomats.

TRAFFICKING PROFILE

As reported over the last five years, Sri Lanka is primarily a source
and a destination, and to a lesser extent, a transit country for
men, women, and children subjected to forced labor and sex
trafficking. Some of the Sri Lankan men, women, and children
who migrate to the Middle East, Southeast Asia, and Afghanistan
to work in the construction, garment, and domestic service
sectors are subjected to forced labor. Before leaving Sri Lanka,
many migrant workers go into debt to pay high recruitment fees
imposed by unscrupulous labor recruitment agencies—most of
them members of Sri Lanka’s association of licensed foreign
employment agencies—and their unlicensed sub-agents. Migrant
laborers, especially women, receive a monetary advance as an
incentive to move abroad, only to be trapped in debt bondage
upon arrival at their destination. Some recruitment agencies
commit fraud by changing the agreed upon job, employer,
conditions, or salary after the migrant’s arrival. Some Sri Lankan
women are subjected to forced prostitution in Maldives, Malaysia,
Singapore, and elsewhere. Sri Lanka is a transit point for Nepali
women subjected to forced labor in the Middle East.
Within the country, women and children are subjected to
sex trafficking in brothels. Boys are more likely than girls to
be exploited in commercial sex in coastal areas for child sex
tourism. Children, individuals with physical deformities, and
those from socially vulnerable groups are forced to beg or
engage in criminal activity in Sri Lanka’s largest cities. Some
child domestic workers in Colombo, generally Tamils from the
tea estate region, are subjected to physical, sexual, and mental
abuse, non-payment of wages, and restrictions of movement—
indicators of labor trafficking. In recent years, a small number of
women from other Asian and Central Asian countries have been
subjected to forced prostitution in Sri Lanka. Police reportedly
accept bribes to permit brothels to operate, some of which
exploit trafficking victims. Sub-agents collude with officials to
procure fake or falsified travel documents to facilitate travel of
Sri Lankans abroad.

RECOMMENDATIONS FOR SUDAN

Prevent the recruitment of child soldiers by all armed groups
and demobilize all child soldiers from the ranks of governmentaligned militias and rebel groups and provide them access to
protective services; criminalize sex trafficking of children in the
absence of coercion, and amend the anti-trafficking law to define
exploitation; establish clear legal distinctions between human
trafficking and smuggling crimes, including enacting federal antismuggling legislation and harmonizing national and state-level
anti-trafficking legislation; implement the anti-trafficking law to
increase prosecutions and convictions of traffickers as distinct
from smugglers, and significantly increase penalties imposed
on convicted traffickers; train law enforcement authorities on
distinguishing trafficking from other crimes, and establish
procedures for authorities to identify and provide protective
services to trafficking victims among vulnerable populations,
such as domestic workers, women and children in prostitution,
refugees and asylum-seekers, foreign migrants, and Sudanese
nationals abroad; ensure victims are not punished for unlawful
acts committed as a direct result of being subjected to human
trafficking; allow victims full freedom of movement from the
government safe houses; amend the Law of 1955 Regarding
Domestic Servants to provide equal rights and protections for
domestic workers; implement and dedicate adequate resources
to the national anti-trafficking action plan; provide adequate
protective services for all trafficking victims, regardless of their
participation in law enforcement or prosecution efforts, and
ensure protective services to victim witnesses; institute regular
anti-trafficking training for relevant government officials and
Sudanese diplomats posted abroad; and develop awareness
campaigns that address all forms of trafficking, including forced
labor and sex trafficking.

PROSECUTION

SUDAN: TIER 3
The Government of Sudan does not fully meet the minimum
standards for the elimination of trafficking and is not making
significant efforts to do so; therefore, Sudan remained on Tier
3. Despite the lack of significant efforts, the government took
some steps to address trafficking, including providing some

The government demonstrated negligible law enforcement efforts,
and officials continued to conflate trafficking and smuggling,
which impaired effective application of anti-trafficking
legislation. The 2014 anti-trafficking law criminalizes seducing,
transporting, kidnapping, receiving, holding or grooming them
“with the intention of exploiting them or using them in illegal
acts.” However, it fails to define what constitutes exploitation,
which in international law includes forced labor and the forced
prostitution of others. And, while it requires that means of force,

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fraud, or coercion be used for the purpose of exploitation—as
set forth in the international law definition—it makes no
exception for the use of such means with regard to the trafficking
of children, which is a critical part of the international law
definition. The law prescribes between three and 10 years
imprisonment for acts of trafficking, between five and 20 years
imprisonment for aggravated offenses, and capital punishment
in cases where the victim dies; these penalties are sufficiently
stringent and commensurate with those prescribed for other
serious crimes, such as rape. The Sudan Armed Forces Act of
2007 prohibits members of the armed forces from recruiting
children younger than 18 years old, enslaving civilians, or
coercing civilians into prostitution.
As in previous years, anti-trafficking resources and investigative
capacity remained insufficient. Law enforcement and judicial
officials inconsistently applied the national anti-trafficking
law and often utilized other legal frameworks, some carrying
lesser penalties, to punish traffickers. During the reporting
period, the national anti-trafficking committee reported the
government initiated more than 450 investigations, compared
to 127 the prior year; however, the government did not provide
details regarding the nature of the crimes it investigated or
prosecuted, and it is likely these reported cases included the
crime of migrant smuggling. A local news article reported the
government achieved 129 convictions of alleged traffickers,
whom it sentenced to imprisonment between five and 10 years,
yet it was unclear if any of the perpetrators were prosecuted
under the 2014 anti-trafficking law. During the previous
reporting period, the government reportedly obtained the
convictions of at least nine traffickers. As some perpetrators were
charged under the passport and immigration act, it is unclear
whether the government charged trafficking victims—rather
than traffickers—for crimes during the reporting period. There
were unverified reports that police officers and local officials
in eastern Sudan were complicit in trafficking crimes; the
government did not report any investigations, prosecutions,
or convictions of allegedly complicit officials. Additionally, the
government did not report any investigations or prosecutions
of officials in security and military entities allegedly complicit
in the use and recruitment of children. The government did
not directly provide, or support with in-kind assistance, any
anti-trafficking trainings to officials, and instead it continued
to rely on international organizations to lead such efforts.

PROTECTION

372

The government made weak efforts to identify and assist
trafficking victims. During the reporting period, the government
reported it identified and referred to care 142 potential
trafficking victims; however, an international organization
reported that none were victims of sex or labor trafficking. The
government did not have systematic procedures to identify
trafficking victims among vulnerable populations, nor did
it consistently use a standard mechanism to refer victims to
protective services. As a result, trafficking victims who may have
committed unlawful acts as a direct result of being subjected
to trafficking were likely detained or deported from Sudan—or
prosecuted—without access to protections afforded to them.
Many trafficking victims did not report abuses due to fear of
retaliation by an employer or arrest by government authorities.
In 2016, the government discontinued the practice of detaining
witnesses to ensure their participation as witnesses at trial, yet it
did not further incentivize victim-witness testimony or provide
sufficient care or protection for victims during court proceedings.
Authorities—particularly in eastern Sudan—continued to
charge some trafficking victims for immigration violations

and held them in custody throughout the duration of court
processes, and some victims participating in investigations
risked retaliation by traffickers.
The government did not provide information about whether it
funds victim support and protection directly or through other
entities. It continued to rely on international organizations
and civil society to provide safe shelter, medical care, psychosocial support, translation services, and witness protection.
The government did not report if any potential trafficking
victims stayed or received care in either of two safe houses in
Kassala state that an international organization operated with
funding from a nongovernment body. Reportedly for security
reasons, authorities did not permit victims to leave the shelters
unchaperoned. In September 2016, the government released
21 previously detained children purportedly associated with
Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) fighters. In collaboration
with an international organization, the government provided
the children with psycho-social support and reintegration
assistance. The Law of 1955 Regarding Domestic Servants
provides a legal framework for employing and registering
domestic workers with limited labor rights and protections.
The government did not report if any domestic workers were
registered and protected under the law during the reporting
period. There were reported to be legal alternatives to the
removal of foreign victims to countries where they would
face hardship or retribution, but the government provided no
information that those alternatives were made available to
trafficking victims during the reporting year.

PREVENTION

The government maintained limited efforts to prevent
trafficking, but some Sudanese policies may have increased
the likelihood that some vulnerable populations were exploited.
A 2016 policy requires South Sudanese immigrants to register
formally within one week of arriving in Sudan. This policy
restricted South Sudanese’ access to legal work and potentially
exposed them to exploitative work situations. The government
sporadically granted protections—including legal representation
and residency—to foreigners who lacked refugee or asylum
status, but only registered such applications at original points
of entry, which compelled some fleeing persecution in other
parts of the country to do so clandestinely. During the reporting
year, the government acknowledged that child soldiering and
labor exploitation constitutes trafficking; however, it continued
to deny that sex trafficking of adults and children occurred in
the country. The government continued its public commitment
to ending the recruitment and use of children in the armed
forces; however, it was unclear if any perpetrators of these
practices were held administratively or criminally accountable
for their actions. The government remained without mechanisms
to identify underage recruits. In 2017, the Sudan People’s
Liberation Movement-North signed the Child Soldiers Action
Plan in Geneva to end and prevent the recruitment of children,
and the child protection unit of the Sudanese armed forces
continued to spearhead this effort. Sudan’s Disarmament,
Demobilization, and Reintegration Commission maintained
its mandate pertaining to the recruitment of child soldiers but
ostensibly lacked the capacity and financial resources to carry
out its mandate.
The government’s national anti-trafficking committee continued
to meet during the reporting year, and continued to focus its
coordination efforts at the federal level. The committee lacked
the resources to become an operational body, which impeded
its ability to effectively and holistically execute its mandate.

TRAFFICKING PROFILE

As reported over the past five years, Sudan is a transit, source, and
destination country for men, women, and children subjected
to forced labor and, to a lesser extent, sex trafficking and child
soldiering. During the reporting period, an international
organization documented an increase in male migrants in
forced labor or situations indicative of trafficking who were
lured to Sudan under pretenses of employment. Street children
in Khartoum—including Sudanese and unaccompanied
migrant children—who beg in the streets and work in public
transportation and large markets are particularly susceptible
to forced labor; some experience sexual abuse and extortion.
Human rights groups observe children working in brick-making
factories, gold mining, and agriculture; these children are
exposed to threats, physical and sexual abuse, and hazardous
working conditions, with limited access to education or health
services, making them highly vulnerable to trafficking. Sudanese
women and girls, particularly internally displaced persons or
those from rural areas, and refugee women are vulnerable to
domestic servitude; Sudanese girls are also vulnerable to sex
trafficking in restaurants and brothels. Some Sudanese officials
are reportedly involved in and profit from child sex trafficking
rings. Sudanese law prohibits the recruitment of children as
combatants and provides criminal penalties for perpetrators;
however, children remained vulnerable to recruitment and
use as combatants and in support roles by Sudanese nongovernmental armed groups and militias. The Sudan Liberation
Movement-Minni Minnawi and JEM actively recruit children
from displacement camps in Darfur to fight in Libya. The Sudan
Liberation Army-Abdul Wahid faction uses child soldiers in
the conflict zones around Jebel Marra.
Migrants, including unaccompanied children, refugees, and
asylum-seekers, predominantly from East and West Africa, are
highly vulnerable to sex trafficking and forced labor in Sudan.
During the reporting period, Eritreans represented the highest
proportion of trafficking victims in Sudan—mainly in the
east—due to their influx as refugees and asylum-seekers and
their youth demographic. Ethiopian women are particularly
vulnerable to domestic servitude in private homes in Khartoum
and other urban centers; some Ethiopian women are forced
into prostitution in Khartoum and experience debt bondage.
Somalis represent a significant portion of smuggled individuals
who become, or are at risk of becoming victims of trafficking.
Anecdotal reports indicate Syrian refugees, including children,
are increasingly observed begging on the streets in Khartoum
and are vulnerable to exploitation. Analogous to Syrian
nationals, some Yemenis fleeing conflict in their homeland
sought refugee status in Sudan during the reporting period, and
their economic vulnerabilities upon arrival likely motivate their
onward migration to Europe. Due to the ongoing conflict in
South Sudan, during the reporting period there was an uptick in
South Sudanese refugees across Sudan, many of whom remained

vulnerable to exploitation in Sudan and onward destinations.
An international organization continued to document cases
of West African nationals—primarily from Niger, Mali, and
Chad—who arrived in Sudan via irregular migratory routes
and were subsequently vulnerable to trafficking. Anecdotal
evidence also suggests that Chinese women working for smallscale Chinese companies, such as restaurants and hotels, may
be subjected to forced labor or prostitution. Bangladeshi adults
migrating to Sudan for work have previously been reported to
be victims of trafficking.
During the reporting year, Darfur became a favored route to
Libya, as the porous border and sustained insecurity allow
traffickers to operate with impunity across the region. The
previously defunct Egyptian route is now being used again
in connection with the migration influx to Europe; Sudanese
citizens and other African nationalities are allegedly utilizing
this course. In past years, some Sudanese citizens en route to
Europe via Egypt were detained in the Sinai Peninsula where
they were highly vulnerable to exploitation and severe physical
and sexual abuse. Some refugee and asylum-seekers from Eritrea
and Ethiopia are abducted from Sudan-based refugee camps,
eastern border regions, and Khartoum and transported to
other countries for exploitative purposes. Eritrean nationals are
abducted from refugee camps or at border crossings, extorted
for ransom, and brutalized by smugglers primarily linked to
the Rashaida and Tabo tribes; some of those abducted are
forced to perform domestic or manual labor and experience
various types of abuse, indicative of trafficking. Sudanese police
and border guards allegedly facilitate abductions of Eritrean
nationals, some of whom are trafficking victims, and allow
potential victims to be transported across security checkpoints
or international borders without intervention.

SURINAME

The government did not operationalize or allocate a budget to
implement activities in its 2016-2017 national anti-trafficking
action plan. Two international organizations, in coordination
with Sudanese authorities, produced and disseminated posters
on the dangers of irregular migration, including trafficking.
Local media continued to raise public awareness on general
trafficking issues external to Sudan, targeting primarily third
country nationals. The government did not make efforts to
reduce the demand for commercial sex acts and forced labor, nor
did it raise awareness of child sex tourism. The government did
not report providing anti-trafficking training for its diplomatic
personnel.

Sudanese citizens are subjected to forced labor, domestic
servitude, and sex trafficking abroad. Some Sudanese men
who voluntarily migrate to the Middle East as low-skilled
laborers are subjected to forced labor. The government reported
Sudanese children are exploited in forced begging and street
vending in Saudi Arabia, especially during the Hajj season.
Sudanese criminal gangs deceptively promise Sudanese nationals
employment in Libya, but instead sell them to Libyans who
subject them to forced labor in agriculture.

SURINAME: TIER 2 WATCH LIST
The Government of Suriname does not fully meet the minimum
standards for the elimination of trafficking; however, it is
making significant efforts to do so. The government made key
achievements during the reporting period; therefore, Suriname
was upgraded to Tier 2 Watch List. These achievements included
establishing a dedicated shelter for women and girl trafficking
victims and increasing the number of trafficking convictions.
Despite these achievements the number of investigations,
prosecutions, and victims identified decreased and courts did not
impose sufficiently stringent sentences on convicted traffickers.

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SURINAME

RECOMMENDATIONS FOR SURINAME

Vigorously investigate and prosecute trafficking offenses and
convict and punish traffickers, with sufficiently stringent
sentences; increase efforts to identify victims, including forced
labor victims in the interior; hold public officials complicit
in trafficking criminally accountable; conduct targeted labor
inspections in risk-prone areas, such as the interior of the
country; develop and implement formal procedures for the
referral of identified victims to care, provide additional training
to law enforcement, immigration, health care, labor, and
judicial officials to better identify and protect victims; provide
reintegration support for all trafficking victims, and offer
specialized processes for assisting foreign victims, such as
offering translation services; and complete and implement the
national anti-trafficking and action plan.

PROSECUTION

The government maintained prosecution efforts. A 2014 criminal
code amendment prohibits all forms of trafficking and prescribes
penalties of five to 20 years imprisonment, which are sufficiently
stringent and commensurate with those prescribed for other
serious crimes, such as rape. Police reported three investigations
for sex trafficking involving four suspects, a decrease from the
seven investigations in 2015—six for sex trafficking and one
for forced labor—involving 16 suspects, and 15 investigations
in 2014—11 for sex trafficking and four for forced labor. The
prosecutor’s office initiated four new prosecutions for sex
trafficking involving five suspects and continued six trafficking
prosecutions from 2015, a decrease from the nine prosecutions
initiated in 2015. The government convicted three traffickers,
an increase from zero in 2015. Convicted traffickers continued
to avoid serious punishment as courts issued penalties that
were inadequate to deter the crime. The court sentenced one
convicted trafficker to 12 months imprisonment with eight
months suspended and sentenced two convicted traffickers to
eight months and six months imprisonment, respectively, with
four months suspended from each. The government did not
report any new investigations, prosecutions, or convictions of
government officials complicit in human trafficking offenses;
however, the 2015 investigation of Alien Affairs Department staff
who sold residence permits to Hong Kong criminal networks
that allegedly used the documents to fraudulently bring Chinese
workers into Suriname for forced labor remained open.
Police operated a specialized 14-person anti-trafficking unit
(ATU) responsible for investigating cases. During the reporting
period, this unit provided training courses on awareness,
identification, and management of trafficking cases for several
stakeholders; it also trained other specialized police units on
the links between trafficking and other crimes. In December,
the government signed a cooperative agreement with Guyana to
jointly combat cross-border crime, including human trafficking.
Justice officials from both countries also exchanged information
on cases and potential suspects.

PROTECTION

374

The government maintained protection efforts. Police identified
five victims of sex trafficking and no victims of forced labor, a
decrease from the 12 victims identified in 2015. All five victims
received medical assistance and basic services, four victims were
provided shelter, and one received counseling. The government
did not provide counseling services to all the victims due to
foreign language constraints. The government opened a shelter
dedicated for women and girl trafficking victims, which occupied
a separate annex within an existing domestic violence shelter;

the shelter accommodated three adult female victims and one
male child victim during the reporting period.
The ATU assisted military police and immigration officials
on identifying and interviewing potential trafficking victims.
In 2016, the ATU conducted random checks of international
flights approximately three times a week and performed random
inspections of brothels, looking for trafficking indicators.
Health care workers did not screen for trafficking indicators
among persons in prostitution. Victim identification efforts
in the country’s interior were limited. There were no formal
procedures to refer victims to care. The ATU continued to have
oversight of victim shelter and services, including medical
care. The government did not report what funding, if any, it
provided to NGOs for victim assistance; however, the antitrafficking working group had meetings with NGOs to establish
protocols for future cooperation on victim assistance and
prevention efforts.
The government did not sponsor any programs to facilitate
victims’ reintegration, such as a witness-protection program
or long-term care. Victims had the option of pursuing civil
suits against their traffickers but no such cases were reported.
To encourage victims to participate in the investigation against
their traffickers, courts implemented a policy of obtaining
testimony from victims, which can serve as evidence, in the
early stages of the judicial investigation, in case victims were
not available during the trial process. Foreign victims who
gave statements were given the opportunity to return to their
countries of origin or remain in Suriname. Foreign victims
could apply to receive work or residency permits on the same
basis as any foreign citizen. The government did not have legal
alternatives to foreign victims’ removal to countries where they
would face hardship or retribution. It was unclear whether the
government penalized victims for crimes committed as a direct
result of being subjected to trafficking.

PREVENTION

The government maintained prevention efforts. The antitrafficking working group included representatives from
six government agencies and focused on awareness-raising
programs, interagency coordination, and developing protocols
for victim care. The working group made progress in the
development of a national strategy and associated action
plan, but inadequate funding for the action plan continued
to hamper efforts. During the reporting period, the working
group trained a total of 603 individuals including, government
officials, civil society, and members of religious organizations
on identifying and handling potential cases of trafficking. The
ATU remained active in the press and on social media raising
awareness and warning parents about the use of social media
as a tool used by traffickers to lure child victims. The ATU held
awareness sessions for neighborhood organizations, women’s
organizations, and youth groups. The government continued to
operate a child and youth hotline. Calls to the hotline did not
lead investigators to any cases during the reporting period. The
government hosted a conference on trafficking and smuggling
in which the extent of the problem was discussed, including
Suriname’s responsibility as a member of the international
community and how to improve interagency coordination.
The conference led to different training sessions throughout
the year. Labor inspectors trained to identify trafficking victims
were not legally authorized to conduct inspections outside
formal workplaces, which rendered those employed in informal
sectors invisible to such inspections. During the reporting
period, the government reintroduced a visa requirement for

TRAFFICKING PROFILE

As reported over the past five years, Suriname is a source, transit,
and destination country for women and children subjected
to sex trafficking and men, women, and children subjected to
forced labor. Reported cases of trafficking in Suriname’s remote
jungle interior, which constitutes approximately 80 percent of
the country, have increased in recent years; limited government
presence in the interior renders the full scope of the problem
unknown. Women and girls from Suriname, Brazil, Dominican
Republic, Guyana, and Venezuela are subjected to sex trafficking
in Suriname, including in remote and illegal gold mining camps
in Suriname’s interior. Some Surinamese parents subject their
daughters to sex trafficking. Venezuela’s deteriorating economy
may increase Venezuelan women’s vulnerability to sex trafficking
in Suriname. The influx of migrants from Haiti is vulnerable
to trafficking. A shift towards in-home brothels makes such
establishments, and cases of possible sex trafficking, harder
to detect. Migrant workers in agriculture and on fishing boats
off Suriname’s coast are highly vulnerable to forced labor,
as are children working in gold mines and informal urban
sectors. Chinese associations, and allegedly some Hong Kong
traffickers, recruit and subject Chinese immigrants to sex
and labor trafficking in the mining, service, and construction
sectors. Surinamese women in neighboring countries engage in
prostitution and may be vulnerable to sex trafficking. Traffickers
from Suriname exploit Surinamese victims in the Netherlands.
Traffickers may transport victims through Suriname’s remote
interior to bypass official checkpoints. There are reports of
corruption and local official complicity in trafficking crimes
that may impede anti-trafficking efforts.

SWAZILAND: TIER 2 WATCH LIST
The Government of Swaziland does not fully meet the minimum
standards for the elimination of trafficking; however, it is making
significant efforts to do so. The government demonstrated
significant efforts during the reporting period by investigating
more suspected trafficking cases and training labor inspectors
and police officers on victim identification and protection
procedures. It increased the number of victims it identified
and sheltered, and the amount of funding disbursed to a
victim assistance fund for protective services. The government
conducted awareness campaigns. However, the government did
not demonstrate increasing efforts compared to the previous
reporting period. While the government prosecuted and
convicted one trafficker under an assault charge, it imposed
an inadequate penalty of a fine. The government did not
enact the Trafficking in Persons and Migrant Smuggling Bill
for the second consecutive year, leaving victims vulnerable to
deportation or prosecution for crimes committed as a result of
being subjected to trafficking. Although victim identification
guidelines and a national referral mechanism were established
in 2015, neither was fully functional or implemented during
the reporting period. Therefore, Swaziland remained on Tier
2 Watch List for the second consecutive year.

RECOMMENDATIONS FOR SWAZILAND

Enact and implement the draft Trafficking in Persons and
Migrant Smuggling Bill; vigorously investigate and prosecute
trafficking crimes, including internal trafficking cases, and
convict and adequately punish traffickers; develop, adopt, and
implement an updated multi-year national anti-trafficking
strategy and action plan; train officials on procedures for victim
identification and referral guidelines; train law enforcement
officials and social workers to identify trafficking victims
proactively among vulnerable populations; regulate labor
brokers and investigate allegations of fraudulent recruitment;
implement a unified system for collecting trafficking case data
for use by all stakeholders; and conduct anti-trafficking public
awareness campaigns.

SWAZILAND

Haitian citizens after a steady influx began entering Suriname,
whom authorities suspect smugglers or traffickers bring into
the country. The government made no discernible efforts to
reduce the demand for commercial sex or forced labor. The
ATU provided anti-trafficking training for diplomatic personnel.

PROSECUTION

The government increased anti-trafficking law enforcement
efforts. The People Trafficking and People Smuggling
(Prohibition) Act, 2009 prescribes penalties of up to 20 years
imprisonment for the trafficking of adults and up to 25 years
imprisonment for trafficking children, which are sufficiently
stringent and commensurate with those prescribed for other
serious crimes, such as rape. However, the government had
not drafted or adopted implementing regulations for the law.
The draft Trafficking in Persons and Migrant Smuggling bill,
which would repeal the existing act and provide protections
for victims, remained pending for a second year.
The government investigated 19 suspected trafficking cases—18
cases of forced labor and one sex trafficking case, compared
with two the previous year. The government prosecuted one
alleged trafficker; he was acquitted of trafficking charges
but convicted for assault; the court sentenced him to three
years imprisonment or a fine of 5,000 Swazi emalangeni
($360), which he paid. The court required the offender to pay
overdue wages to the victim. Officials continued to confuse
crimes involving transnational movement with trafficking
offenses. The government did not report any investigations,
prosecutions, or convictions of government employees complicit
in human trafficking offenses. During the reporting period,
the government trained the police and labor inspectorate on
victim identification and protection procedures, as well as on
measures to improve communication and cooperation among
officials. The government, in partnership with a foreign donor,
trained 35 anti-trafficking police officers on the difference
between trafficking and smuggling, investigation techniques,
and how to prepare and give evidence in a trafficking case.
The government continued to provide anti-trafficking training
at the police college for all in-service and pre-service officers
during the reporting period. The government cooperated in
international investigations in six cases with South Africa,
Mozambique, and Lesotho.

PROTECTION

The government increased efforts to identify victims and
allocated more funding to provide protective services. The

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SWEDEN

government identified and sheltered 19 potential victims
in a secure, government-owned witness protection facility,
an increase from two the previous reporting period. The
government provided victims with basic necessities such as
food, clothing, shelter, toiletries, counseling, and medical care
in collaboration with NGOs. There were no government-run
shelters specifically for trafficking victims and NGO-run shelters
had limited ability to house trafficking victims among their
general populations due to space constraints. The government
increased its allocation to 80,000 Swazi emalangeni ($5,840)
from 10,000 Swazi emalangeni ($730) to a victim assistance
fund for protective services.
Although victim identification guidelines and a national
referral mechanism were established in 2015, neither was
fully functional or implemented during the reporting period.
There were no reports the government detained, fined, or
jailed victims for unlawful acts committed as a direct result of
being subjected to trafficking. The government did not finalize
review of amendments to the immigration act that would
provide victims and witnesses of trafficking immunity from
prosecution and would formalize residency status for foreign
victims, in conformity with the People Trafficking and People
Smuggling (Prohibition) Act. While the draft amendments
remained under review, the government developed an ad hoc
process among relevant ministries to permit identified victims
to remain in Swaziland even if discovered to be present illegally.
The government facilitated the repatriation of at least one Swazi
victim during the reporting period.

TRAFFICKING PROFILE

As reported over the past five years, Swaziland is a source,
destination, and transit country for men, women, and
children subjected to sex trafficking and forced labor. Swazi
girls, particularly orphans, are subjected to sex trafficking and
domestic servitude, primarily in Swaziland and South Africa.
Swazis are culturally expected to participate in the seasonal
weeding and harvesting of the king’s fields and those who may
refuse are subject to coercion through threats and intimidation
by their chiefs. Swazi boys and foreign children are forced to
labor in commercial agriculture, including cattle herding, and
market vending within the country. Mozambican boys migrate
to Swaziland for work washing cars, herding livestock, and
portering; some are subjected to forced labor. Traffickers use
Swaziland as a transit country to transport foreign victims
to South Africa for forced labor. Traffickers reportedly force
Mozambican women into prostitution in Swaziland, or transport
them through Swaziland to South Africa. Some Swazi women
are forced into prostitution in South Africa and Mozambique
after voluntarily migrating in search of work. Reports suggest
labor brokers fraudulently recruit and charge excessive fees
to Swazi nationals for work in South African mines—means
often used to facilitate trafficking crimes. Swazi men in border
communities are recruited for forced labor in South Africa’s
timber industry. Reports indicate a downturn in the textile
industry following loss of eligibility under the African Growth
and Opportunity Act in 2015 has led textile workers to follow
promises of employment in neighboring countries, potentially
increasing their vulnerability to trafficking.

PREVENTION

The government demonstrated modest efforts to prevent
trafficking through awareness campaigns. The government
did not update its national action plan (NAP), which expired
in 2015. The taskforce for the Prevention of People Trafficking
and People Smuggling was reestablished in January 2017
after a four month lapse and met in February and April
2017. In coordination with an international organization,
the government conducted an analysis of how to improve
prevention, protection, and prosecution of trafficking. The
taskforce secretariat conducted public awareness activities at
the Swaziland international trade fair, targeting traditional
leaders, students, young women, and parents with information
on preventing child trafficking and how to report suspected
cases. The secretariat conducted sessions on human trafficking
at schools with the assistance of teachers and police officers.
The secretariat continued its border campaign, placing posters
at various land borders and the airport to raise awareness on
trafficking. Swazi officials also presented messages targeting
young women on television and radio. The government’s
anti-trafficking hotline continued to receive tips on potential
cases; the government did not report how many tips it received
or what action it took. The government provided technical
assistance to Zimbabwe on the framework and operation of
an anti-trafficking taskforce in combating trafficking.

SWEDEN: TIER 1
The Government of Sweden fully meets the minimum standards
for the elimination of trafficking. The government continued to
demonstrate serious and sustained efforts during the reporting
period; therefore, Sweden remained on Tier 1. The government
demonstrated serious and sustained efforts by completing
implementation of a national mechanism to identify and
refer victims to care, and it identified more victims, including
a significant increase in the number of potential victims
identified among asylum-seekers. The government created a
new anti-trafficking ambassador position to combat trafficking
abroad and foster international cooperation. Although the
government meets the minimum standards, the effects of the
European migration crisis continued to strain government
agencies’ resources and limit authorities’ ability to conduct
sufficient screenings of migrants to identify potential instances
of trafficking. While the government increased the number of
prosecutions and convictions, including for forced begging,
relatively few investigations resulted in prosecutions for
trafficking offenses.

The Ministry of Labor had one investigator dedicated to its
child labor unit; however, there were no labor inspections
conducted solely to address child labor violations in 2016.
Labor brokers were unregulated. The government did not make
efforts to reduce the demand for commercial sex or forced
labor. The government provided anti-trafficking training for
its diplomatic personnel.

376

RECOMMENDATIONS FOR SWEDEN

Vigorously prosecute and convict labor and sex traffickers using

PROSECUTION

The government increased law enforcement efforts. The 2002
anti-trafficking law, as amended, prohibits all forms of trafficking
and prescribes penalties of two to 10 years imprisonment, which
are sufficiently stringent and commensurate with those prescribed
for other serious crimes, such as rape. A legal review of forced
labor laws proposed broadening trafficking penalties to include
exploitation of individuals in distress. Police investigated 82
sex trafficking cases in 2016 (including 16 child sex trafficking
cases), compared with 58 in 2015. Authorities prosecuted three
alleged sex traffickers and convicted two of the three, compared
with two prosecutions and convictions in 2015. The convicted
sex traffickers were each sentenced to three years and six months
imprisonment, fined 75,000 kronor ($8,280) each in damages,
and will be deported to their home countries following their
prison terms. Police investigated 114 cases of labor trafficking in
2016 (48 involving children), 33 of which were forced begging
(122 cases in 2015). Authorities prosecuted and convicted
four traffickers for forced begging in 2016 (none in 2015); one
conviction was overturned on appeal. The court sentenced
the remaining three traffickers to prison terms of three years
and six months, three years, and six months, respectively. The
national anti-trafficking coordinator and national rapporteur
noted the Swedish police reorganization, concluded in 2016,
hindered law enforcement anti-trafficking coordination and
effectiveness. The national courts offered training for judges
and lawyers that included sections on sex trafficking and child
victims; however, anti-trafficking experts reported some judges
continued to lack sufficient understanding of human trafficking,
which may have resulted in fewer convictions and less stringent
sentences. The national rapporteur conducted training for
police and judges, and the prosecutor’s office offered online
training for prosecutors on working with trafficking victims.
Swedish authorities collaborated with foreign governments on
transnational investigations. The government did not report any
prosecutions or convictions of government officials complicit
in human trafficking.

PROTECTION

The government increased victim protection efforts. During the
reporting period, the government completed implementation
of its national referral mechanism to identify victims and
refer them to care. Authorities identified approximately 82
victims of sex trafficking and 114 victims of forced labor and
forced begging in 2016 (58 sex trafficking and 122 forced labor
victims in 2015); 64 of these new victims were children. NGOs
identified an additional 47 victims (42 sex and 5 labor). The
national police rapporteur noted an increased capacity among

social workers and migration authorities to identify victims
resulted in more victim identifications not connected to other
police investigations. Despite implementation of the referral
mechanism, authorities continued to contend with the ongoing
effects of the European migration crisis. The migration agency’s
anti-trafficking coordinator identified 341 suspected trafficking
cases among asylum-seekers in 2016 (91 of which involved
children), a 75 percent increase in suspected cases from 2015.
Although the migration agency identified significantly more
potential victims during the reporting period, the high volume
of asylum-seekers entering the country inhibited authorities’
ability to conduct sufficient migrant screenings for trafficking
indicators. The migrant influx and asylum application backlog
strained government resources available to migrants, creating
vulnerabilities to trafficking, especially among unaccompanied
minors. Changes to asylum and migration policy during 2016,
such as changes to financial support eligibility and work
placement programs, may have created additional vulnerabilities.
During GRETA’s most recent visit to Sweden in 2013, it found
identification largely depended on victims’ willingness and ability
to meet with police and provide evidence to start a criminal
investigation. Municipalities were responsible for providing
services to victims—including medical and psychological care,
shelter, and social assistance—in collaboration with NGOs and
other government agencies involved in victims’ cases. NGOs
operated most shelters with public and private funding. The
government provided 500,000 kronor ($55,170) to a civil
society platform representing 23 NGOs that provided care to
victims. Although there were no shelters dedicated exclusively
to trafficking victims, the national coordinator led a network
of approximately 40 NGO-run safe houses, and adult female
trafficking victims could receive services at women’s shelters for
victims of domestic and honor-related violence. These shelters
offered victims assistance with immigration issues, medical care,
and educational and employment needs, including Swedish
language training; adults could leave the shelters unchaperoned
and at will. Authorities referred child victims to social services
officials, who placed child victims in foster care or group housing.
The government provided training to safe houses, victim support
centers, and professionals who come into contact with victims.
In August, the government introduced a support hotline for
NGOs and professionals working with potential victims. Police
received training in victim identification and all new migration
agency staff received anti-trafficking instruction as part of their
introductory training.
The government encouraged victims to assist in the prosecution
of their alleged traffickers. Victims and witnesses in trafficking
cases who cooperated with authorities were granted temporary
residence permits, which allowed them to seek employment.
Twenty-five trafficking victims and 45 witnesses received these
permits in 2016 (12 and 29, respectively, in 2015). The Aliens
Act entitles victims to a 30-day reflection period to recover
and contemplate cooperation with law enforcement, during
which they are eligible for emergency financial aid; however,
authorities stated that because only an investigating police
officer or prosecutor could file this application, such temporary
visas were in practice primarily available to victims already in
contact with law enforcement. Although only victims who
assisted in investigations were eligible for residence permits, the
government continued to provide medical care and repatriation
assistance for victims not assisting law enforcement. In 2016,
the government repatriated 14 victims through a safe return
program in conjunction with an international organization. State
prosecutors had the power to file applications for permanent
residence permits on behalf of victims during or after trials
based upon need of protection, such as in cases in which victims

SWEDEN

the anti-trafficking statute; adopt a comprehensive national
action plan that incorporates all forms of trafficking, including
forced labor; extend to non-law enforcement authorities such
as social workers the authority to grant 30-day reflection and
recovery periods to ensure all victims, including those not
already in contact with law enforcement, are able to receive
these benefits in practice; increase efforts to identify and
vigorously prosecute Swedish child sex tourism offenders;
establish a permanent national anti-trafficking coordinator;
provide specialized housing to trafficking victims, including
options appropriate for adult male victims and labor trafficking
victims; train judges on the anti-trafficking law and provide
trainings for judges, prosecutors, police, migration authorities,
and service providers that include sessions on labor trafficking
and forced begging and criminality; and increase efforts to raise
awareness of labor trafficking.

377

SWITZERLAND

would face retribution in their countries of origin; the migration
agency did not issue any permanent residence permits in 2016
or 2015. The government assigned a legal representative to each
victim participating in a trial to provide emotional support and
assistance. There were no reports the government penalized
victims for acts committed as a direct result of being subjected to
human trafficking, and the law allows victims forced to commit
criminal acts to avoid prosecution or, if prosecuted, to have the
charges withdrawn. In past years, however, GRETA referenced
reports of Swedish authorities deporting irregular migrants who
had been subjected to trafficking without identifying them as
potential victims, despite the presence of trafficking indicators.

PREVENTION

The government increased prevention efforts. In May 2016, the
government created a new anti-trafficking ambassador position
to improve Sweden’s efforts to combat trafficking abroad and
foster international cooperation. The government allocated
6.5 million kronor ($717,200) for the national anti-trafficking
coordinator’s office in 2016 and announced the creation of a
new gender equality authority to monitor and coordinate gender
policy, including sex trafficking; the national anti-trafficking
coordinator’s office will move under this new authority beginning
in 2018. The national police rapporteur on trafficking continued
to provide an annual report on the trafficking situation and the
government’s progress in combating trafficking. The government
released a new action plan for the protection of children against
trafficking in June 2016, and a national strategy to address men’s
violence against women in November 2016; however, the plans
did not address labor trafficking and the government did not
have a current comprehensive national action plan to address
trafficking. Authorities conducted mandatory interviews with
foreign workers employed in at-risk sectors who were seeking
to extend their work permits. The migration agency conducted
background checks on companies employing foreign workers
and occasionally denied work visas in cases where employment
contracts did not meet the necessary requirements. A study
published in November 2016 on foreign labor exploitation
recommended increased government control of labor agreements
between domestic employers and foreign employees and stronger
sanctions for employer violations. During the reporting period,
there were no reports of labor trafficking among berry pickers,
who were notably vulnerable to exploitation in recent years,
which authorities attributed to increased police efforts, labor
reforms, unannounced inspections, efforts to inform workers
of their rights, and bilateral cooperation. Authorities conducted
or funded awareness training for taxi, hotel, and restaurant staff
to detect trafficking at their places of work. The government
conducted an awareness campaign to reduce the demand
for commercial sex, and the new strategy to address violence
against women includes measures aimed at demand reduction.
Sweden’s law prohibiting child sexual offenses has extraterritorial
reach, allowing the prosecution of suspected child sex tourists
for crimes committed abroad. A Swedish court prosecuted a
Swedish citizen for committing child sexual offenses abroad
in 2016, the first such prosecution since 2012. The government
provided anti-trafficking training to its diplomatic personnel
and training on sexual exploitation and abuse, including on
human trafficking, to troops prior to their deployment abroad
as part of international peacekeeping missions.

country for men, women, and children subjected to forced labor,
including forced begging and stealing. Sex trafficking victims
largely originate from Eastern Europe, West Africa, Asia, and—to
a lesser extent—Western Europe. Although sex trafficking remains
the most common form of trafficking in Sweden, reported cases
of labor trafficking are increasing. Victims of labor trafficking,
who largely originate from Eastern Europe, Africa, the Middle
East, and Asia, face exploitation in domestic service, hospitality,
construction, agriculture, and forestry; cases among seasonal
berry pickers have decreased significantly in recent years. Roma,
primarily from Romania and Bulgaria, are vulnerable to forced
begging and criminality and, to a lesser extent, sex trafficking.
The government reports most traffickers are the same nationality
as their victims and are often part of criminal networks engaged
in multiple criminal activities, although an increasing number
of reported cases involve traffickers who are family members
or have no ties to organized crime. The approximately 29,000
migrants who applied for asylum in 2016, primarily from Syria,
Afghanistan, Iraq, Somalia, and Iran, as well as a many stateless
individuals, are vulnerable to human trafficking. Identified
victims among this group also originate from West Africa and
East Asia. Unaccompanied children are especially vulnerable;
more than 2,100 unaccompanied foreign children applied for
asylum in Sweden in 2016, 30 percent of whom were from
Afghanistan. A 2015 study found more than half of suspected
child trafficking victims identified since 2012 arrived in Sweden
as unaccompanied minors, primarily from Africa and Eastern
Europe. Police note street children, especially boys from Morocco,
are vulnerable to child sex trafficking and forced criminality. A
2013 study found between 4,000 and 5,000 Swedes commit child
sex tourism offenses abroad annually, primarily in East Asia.
Swedish women and girls are also vulnerable to sex trafficking
within the country.

SWITZERLAND: TIER 1
The Government of Switzerland fully meets the minimum
standards for the elimination of trafficking. The government
continued to demonstrate serious and sustained efforts during
the reporting period; therefore, Switzerland remained on
Tier 1. The government demonstrated serious and sustained
efforts by increasing prosecutions, the number of identified
victims, and public funding for NGOs that provide victim care.
The government opened a new shelter dedicated to serving
trafficking victims and provided training to law enforcement
officials, judicial officials, migration officials, NGOs, social
service providers, and shelter staff. Although the government
meets the minimum standards, it continued to sentence the
majority of convicted traffickers to short sentences, suspended
sentences, or fines. The government often treated forced labor
as less serious labor violations.

TRAFFICKING PROFILE
378

As reported over the past five years, Sweden is a destination
and, to a lesser extent, source and transit country for women
and children subjected to sex trafficking, and a destination

RECOMMENDATIONS FOR SWITZERLAND

Sentence convicted traffickers to significant terms of

PROSECUTION

The government maintained anti-trafficking law enforcement
efforts. Articles 180, 181, 182, 195, and 196 of the penal code
prohibit all forms of trafficking with penalties from one to
20 years of imprisonment, which are sufficiently stringent
and commensurate with those prescribed for other serious
crimes, such as rape. Article 182 prescribes the same penalties
for trafficking for labor exploitation as for sex trafficking. The
government provided law enforcement data from the most
recent year for which it was compiled; this resulted in the
government reporting data from 2016 for some categories
and 2015 for others. The government did not disaggregate
data on law enforcement efforts between sex trafficking and
forced labor. The government initiated 233 human trafficking
investigations in 2016, compared to 306 in 2015. Cantonal
authorities prosecuted 190 defendants in 2016, compared to
96 in 2014, the most recent year for which complete data was
available for comparison. The government obtained convictions
of 22 defendants on trafficking charges in 2015, compared
to 28 in 2014, the most recent year for which complete data
was available for comparison. Authorities continued one of
the largest trafficking investigations in its history involving a
network of approximately 25 suspects accused of subjecting
Thai nationals to trafficking. The main suspect was formally
charged with a trafficking crime and awaited trial at the end of
the reporting period. Of the 22 convictions, only 11 resulted in
prison time. Of those 11 prison sentences, only seven received
a prison sentence of one year imprisonment or more, with
four partially suspended and seven fully suspended prison
sentences or receiving monetary fines. The highest sentence
issued for trafficking crimes was for six years in prison, while
the lowest sentence was a suspended monetary fine that would
have corresponded to a 180-day prison sentence. Observers
reported judges often treated forced labor crimes as lesser
labor violations and perpetrators consequently received lesser
penalties not commensurate with the crimes committed.
The Special Brigade against Human Trafficking and Illicit
Prostitution (BTPI), a cantonal anti-trafficking police unit based
in Geneva, consisted of 22 inspectors that undertook house
searches, which are the result of house warrants and patrolled
areas known for prostitution to investigate suspicions of human
trafficking. The government partnered with international law
enforcement organizations such as EUROPOL and INTERPOL
to conduct international investigations on trafficking and
extradite traffickers. It also participated in several joint expert
working groups, including EUROPOL’s “Blue Amber” action
days, focusing on human trafficking and people smuggling.
The Swiss Federal Police (Fedpol) regularly collaborated with
counterparts from Romania, Hungary, Thailand, Greece, Austria,
Germany and Kosovo, among others, investigate and prosecuted
both sex and labor trafficking offenses. In 2016, authorities
provided training to German-speaking and French-speaking
law enforcement officials. Following the federal administrative

court’s first hosting of a trafficking education seminar for
judicial officials in December 2015, the court organized two
more sessions in 2016 to train an additional 30 police officers
and one public prosecutor. The government did not report any
investigations, prosecutions, or convictions of government
employees complicit in human trafficking.

PROTECTION

The government increased protection efforts. The federal
government continued to lack standard procedures across
cantons for victim protection and victim identification. Cantonal
authorities reported identifying 197 victims, 107 of whom were
victims of forced prostitution during the reporting period.
Assistance for victims of violence was available in almost all
of the 26 cantons but did not always include anti-trafficking
services and varied canton to canton. In 2015, the latest year for
which assistance data was available, 91 victims and/or relatives
of victims received government trafficking-specific counseling.
Federal and cantonal government sources financed the vast
majority of a leading NGO’s 2.5 million Swiss franc ($2.45
million) operating costs of its trafficking victim protection
program. One NGO, using funding provided by the government
during the previous reporting period, established a new shelter
that served trafficking victims. A leading NGO reported assisting
172 trafficking victims, 34 of which were referred by the police.
Fifty-six were sex trafficking victims, while 12 were forced labor
victims. One NGO reported an increase in the number of
trafficking victims among asylum-seekers. The State Secretariat
for Migration (SEM) maintained a nationwide circular to educate
personnel on how to more effectively identify trafficking victims
in the asylum system.
Under the Swiss Victim Assistance Law (OHG), all trafficking
victims are entitled to help from the government-funded
women’s shelters or victim assistance centers for victims of
abuse, and enjoy special safeguards during criminal proceedings.
Cantonal authorities maintain jurisdiction on providing
protection for victims, and trafficking victims are entitled to
free and immediate assistance centers that vary from canton
to canton. Many cantons have referral agreements with NGOoperated victim assistance facilities that specialize in trafficking.
Through the anti-human trafficking ordinance the government
dispersed a total of 333,312 Swiss francs ($327,100) to seven
public and private service providers from a total annual
allocation of 400,000 Swiss francs ($392,540). The government
supported specialized trafficking and other shelters. The
ordinance allows all organizations involved in implementing
anti-trafficking measures to apply for a government grant.
NGOs regularly provide anti-trafficking services to victims,
including a network of therapists and medical specialists for
counseling. The BTPI did not report the number of victims
during the reporting period. Services for child and male victims
were limited, especially shelter, counseling, and victim referral
resources. The government provided male victims temporary
shelter in centers, hotels, or NGO-operated shelters for men,
and NGOs that received government support provided limited
services to such victims. One of the leading NGOs also assisted
male victims and helped four transgendered victims. NGOs
reported more resources are needed to address the shortcomings
for protection services of male and child trafficking victims.
The government also facilitates assistance to foreign victims
of trafficking; however, due to strict residency requirements,
few are granted long-term residency permits and instead are
provided with repatriation assistance to help them return home.
The government held a series of anti-trafficking workshops for
both German- and French-speaking police officers, cantonal

SWITZERLAND

imprisonment, including in forced labor cases; strengthen
or revise existing criminal code articles, particularly article
182, to better differentiate between sex and labor trafficking;
establish a comprehensive referral system and increase access
to specialized services, especially for asylum-seekers, male,
child, and transgender victims; improve the process for issuing
short- and long-term residency permits for potential victims,
especially those in the asylum registration and transition
centers; and provide additional police and judicial training
to better equip law enforcement personnel and judiciary to
address trafficking.

379

SYRIA

migration officials, NGOs, and social service providers during
the reporting period. The training included advice and best
practices for victim identification.
Services for asylum-seekers in transition between registration
and reception centers within Switzerland’s asylum system
were insufficient, especially for underage trafficking victims.
The government granted 48 individuals reflection periods, 85
short-term residence permits, and 21 hardship-based residence
permits. Sixteen victims received restitution payments in 2015,
but no information was provided for the number of restitutions
payments received in 2016. NGOs expressed concern that it
remained difficult for victims to obtain victim protection and
hardship residence permits without the assistance of a judge.
In May, a conference of cantonal social directors published
recommendations on care for unaccompanied minor asylumseekers, which also included a chapter on the protection of
underage trafficking victims.

PREVENTION

The government maintained prevention efforts. A specialized
unit within Fedpol coordinated national efforts, including
anti-trafficking policy, information exchange, cooperation,
and training. The government co-hosted and co-funded several
awareness events organized by cantonal authorities and NGOs
during the national anti-trafficking week in October 2016.
In November 2016, the Swiss Coordination Unit against the
Trafficking in Persons and Smuggling of Migrants (KSMM)
hosted its third national meeting of the heads of the cantonal
anti-trafficking roundtables to exchange information on
trafficking issues and anti-trafficking measures. The government
conducted an annual assessment of its anti-trafficking efforts,
which it provided to the Council of Europe, OSCE, and UN.
The SEM also provided 10,000 Swiss francs ($9,810) to the
IOM for the production of German and French anti-TIP flyers
disseminated in restaurants, bars, cinemas, and shops. Also on
the European Day against Human Trafficking in October, the
Federal Department of Foreign Affairs (FDFA) and IOM cohosted an international roundtable with anti-trafficking experts
from Romania and Bulgaria on strengthening transnational
cooperation for fighting trafficking. The government provided
anti-trafficking training for its diplomatic personnel. The FDFA
educates incoming diplomats and consular officers each year
on human trafficking and refers them to the OSCE handbook
on forced labor within diplomatic households, which the
government co-financed. The government continued to maintain
prevention efforts and increased awareness about trafficking
issues throughout the year.
Fedpol initiated a program for strengthening the work of NGOs
to prevent crimes in commercial sex. Federal, cantonal, and
municipal authorities provided a combined total of 285,000
Swiss francs ($279,690) to a leading NGO that fights trafficking.
The federal government also provided 579,599 Swiss francs
($68,790) to a leading international organization that serves
trafficking victims. The government formally adopted its new
national action plan and began implementation during the
reporting period.

TRAFFICKING PROFILE

380

As reported over the past five years, Switzerland is primarily a
destination and, to a lesser extent, a transit country for women,
children, and transgender people subjected to sex trafficking,
as well as men, women, and children subjected to forced labor,
including forced begging and forced criminal activity. Foreign

trafficking victims originate primarily from Central and Eastern
Europe—particularly Romania, Hungary, Bulgaria, Slovakia,
and Albania, although victims also come from Thailand,
Nigeria, China, Brazil, Cameroon, the Dominican Republic,
and Morocco. Forced labor exists in the domestic service and
health care sectors, and in agriculture, catering, construction,
and tourism. Female victims among asylum-seekers came
from Nigeria, Eritrea, and Ethiopia, and were often forced
into prostitution and domestic servitude. Male victims among
asylum-seekers came primarily from Eritrea and Afghanistan
and were exploited both in the sex trade and for forced labor.

SYRIA: TIER 3
The Government of Syria does not fully meet the minimum
standards for the elimination of trafficking and is not making
significant efforts to do so; therefore, Syria remained on
Tier 3. The government did not demonstrate any efforts to
address human trafficking through prosecution, protection,
or prevention measures. The government’s actions directly
contributed to the vulnerability of the population to trafficking
and continued to perpetrate human trafficking crimes routinely.
The government maintained its forcible recruitment and use
of child soldiers, subjecting children to extreme violence and
retaliation by opposition forces; it also did not protect and
prevent children from recruitment and use by government and
pro-regime militias, armed opposition forces, and designated
terrorist organizations such as the Islamic State of Iraq and
Syria (ISIS). The government continued to arrest, detain, and
severely abuse trafficking victims, including child soldiers,
and punished them for crimes committed as a direct result of
being subjected to human trafficking. The government did not
investigate or punish traffickers, including officials complicit
in recruiting and using child soldiers, nor did it identify or
protect any trafficking victims.

RECOMMENDATIONS FOR SYRIA

Stop the forcible recruitment and use of child soldiers by
government forces, pro-government militias, armed opposition
forces, and designated terrorist organizations such as ISIS;
provide adequate protection services to demobilized children;
ensure trafficking victims are not punished for crimes committed
as a direct result of having been subjected to trafficking,
particularly children forcibly recruited as soldiers by the regime
and other armed groups; implement the anti-trafficking law
through investigations and prosecutions of traffickers, including
officials complicit in the recruitment and use of child soldiers;
and proactively identify potential trafficking victims and provide
them with appropriate protection services.

PROSECUTION

The government did not report any anti-trafficking law
enforcement efforts, and the government and government-

PROTECTION

The government made no efforts to identify or protect
trafficking victims; instead, it directly punished victims for
crimes committed as a direct result of being subjected to human
trafficking. The government did not protect children from
forcible recruitment and use as soldiers, human shields, and in
support roles by government forces and pro-government armed
groups, armed opposition groups, and terrorist organizations.
Furthermore, the government arrested, detained, raped, tortured,
and executed children for alleged association with armed groups;
the government made no efforts to exempt these children
from punishment or to offer them any protection services.
The government neither encouraged trafficking victims to
assist in investigations or prosecutions of their traffickers nor
provided foreign victims with legal alternatives to their removal
to countries in which they may face hardship or retribution.

PREVENTION

The government made no efforts to prevent human trafficking;
the government’s actions continued to amplify the magnitude of
human trafficking crimes. The government did not implement
measures to prevent children from recruitment and use as
combatants and in support roles by government, governmentaffiliated militias, opposition armed groups, and terrorist
organizations. The government did not raise awareness of
human trafficking among the general public or officials. The
government did not report efforts to reduce the demand for
commercial sex acts or forced labor, nor did it prevent child sex
tourism by Syrian nationals abroad. The government did not
provide anti-trafficking training for its diplomatic personnel.

TRAFFICKING PROFILE

As reported over the past five years, Syria is a source and
destination country for men, women, and children subjected
to forced labor and sex trafficking. The situation in Syria
continues to deteriorate amid the ongoing civil war with substate armed groups of varying ideologies exerting control over
wide geographic swathes of the country’s territory. Human
rights groups and international organizations estimate more
than 400,000 persons have been killed since the beginning
of protests against the Bashar al-Assad regime in March 2011.

More than half of Syria’s pre-war population of 23 million
has been displaced; as of March 2017, five million have fled
to neighboring countries and, as of December 2016, roughly
6.3 million are internally displaced. Syrians, both those that
remain in the country and refugees in neighboring countries,
continue to be highly vulnerable to trafficking.
Incidents of human trafficking continue to increase and
trafficking victims remain trapped in Syria, particularly as ISIS
consolidated its control of the eastern governorates of Raqqa
and Deir al-Zour. Syrian children are reportedly vulnerable to
forced early marriages—which can lead to commercial sexual
exploitation and forced labor—and children displaced within
the country continue to be subjected to forced labor, particularly
by organized begging rings. In March 2016, the media reported
that women from Nepal and Bangladesh were forced to work
in domestic servitude or the sex industry in Syria. In June 2014,
ISIS announced the establishment of an Islamic “Caliphate” in
Iraq and Syria, and during 2015, ISIS seized control of areas in
southern Syria in and around Palmyra, Homs, Damascus, and
Aleppo. In December 2014, ISIS publicly released guidelines
on how to capture, forcibly hold, and sexually abuse female
slaves. In April 2015, an international organization reported the
system of organized sexual slavery and forced marriage—which
can lead to commercial sexual exploitation and forced labor—
by ISIS militants is a central element of the terrorist group’s
ideology. ISIS continues to force local Syrian girls and women
in ISIS-controlled areas into marriages with its fighters, and it
routinely subjects women and girls from minority groups to
forced marriage, domestic servitude, systematic rape, and sexual
violence. ISIS routinely forces Syrian girls to undergo virginity
tests before trading them in “slave bazaars” and sending them
to various Syrian provinces and other countries for sexual
slavery. In 2016, ISIS began moving thousands of abducted
women and girls, from the Yezidi minority group in Iraq, into
Syria ahead of Iraqi government forces’ push to drive ISIS out
of Mosul, Iraq. Additionally, following the February 2015 ISIS
incursion into Assyrian villages in the northeastern province of
al-Hasaka, it captured as many as 30 Assyrian Christian women
and forced them into sexual slavery.
As reported by an international organization in June 2015,
the recruitment and use of children in combat in Syria has
become “commonplace”, and documented cases of child
soldiers continued to increase in 2016. Syrian government
forces, pro-regime militias, and armed groups, including the
Free Syrian Army (FSA) and FSA-affiliated groups, Kurdish
forces, ISIS, and Jabhat al-Nusra—the al-Qa’ida affiliate in
Syria—continue to recruit and use boys and girls as soldiers,
human shields, suicide bombers, and executioners, as well as
in support roles. Some armed groups fighting for the Syrian
government, such as Hezbollah, and pro-regime militias known
as the National Defense Forces (NDF), or “shabiha,” forcibly
recruit children as young as six years old. Militants also use
children for forced labor and as informants, exposing them to
retaliation and extreme punishment. In the first documented
incident by an international organization of the re-recruitment
of children, 15 boys who were recruited and trained by ISIS in
2013 were re-recruited by the FSA in 2014 and subsequently
used in combat in 2016. ISIS actively deploys children—some
as young as eight years old—in hostilities, including coercing
children to behead Syrian government soldiers; the terrorist
group has deliberately targeted children for indoctrination
and used schools for military purposes, endangering children
and preventing their access to education. ISIS operates at
least three child training camps in Raqqa; forces children to
attend indoctrination seminars; and promises children salaries,

SYRIA

affiliated militias remained complicit in trafficking crimes,
including child soldiering. The violent civil war continued to
directly amplify the magnitude of human trafficking crimes
occurring within Syria and affecting displaced Syrians. Decree
No. 3 of 2011 provides a legal foundation for prosecuting
trafficking offenses and protecting victims, but it does not
include a clear definition of human trafficking. This decree
prescribes a minimum punishment of seven years imprisonment,
a penalty that is sufficiently stringent but not commensurate
with those prescribed for other serious crimes, such as rape.
The government adopted Law No. 11/2013 in June 2013, which
criminalizes all forms of recruitment and use of children younger
than the age of 18 by armed forces and armed groups; however,
the government made no efforts to prosecute child soldiering
crimes perpetrated by government and government-affiliated
militias, armed opposition groups, and designated terrorist
organizations. The government did not report investigating,
prosecuting, or convicting suspected traffickers, nor did it
investigate, prosecute, or convict government officials complicit
in human trafficking, including officials who forcibly recruited
and used child soldiers in combat and support roles. The
government did not provide anti-trafficking training for officials.

381

TAIWAN

mobile phones, weapons, a martyr’s place in paradise, and the
“gift” of a wife upon joining the terrorist group. By forcibly
recruiting and using children in combat and support roles, ISIS
has violated international humanitarian law and perpetrated
war crimes on a mass scale. Despite having signed a pledge of
commitment with an international organization in June 2014 to
demobilize all fighters younger than 18 years old, the Kurdish
People’s Protection Units (YPG) recruited and trained children
as young as 12 years old in 2016. An NGO reported in January
2016 instances in which Iran forcibly recruited or coerced male
Afghan refugees and migrants, including children, living in
Iran to fight in Syria. In June 2016, the media reported Iran
recruited some Afghans inside Afghanistan to fight in Syria as
well. Some foreigners, including migrants from Central Asia,
are reportedly forced, coerced, or fraudulently recruited to join
extremist fighters, including ISIS.
The Syrian refugee population is highly vulnerable to trafficking
in neighboring countries, particularly Jordan, Lebanon, Iraq,
and Turkey. In 2015, an international organization reported a
high number of child marriages of Syrian girls among refugee
populations. Syrian refugee women and girls are vulnerable to
forced or “temporary marriages”—for the purpose of prostitution
and other forms of exploitation—and sex trafficking in refugee
camps, Jordan, and cities in the Iraqi Kurdistan Region (IKR),
including Sulaimaniya. In Baghdad, Basrah, and other cities in
southern Iraq, reports from 2015 indicated some Syrian refugee
women were forced into prostitution by a trafficking network
in hotels and brothels after agents of the network promised to
resettle them from the IKR; the women’s children were forced
to beg on the street. In Turkey and Lebanon, reports continue
of illicit prostitution rings of Syrian refugee women and girls,
which are administered by local men, while the Lebanese
police issued reports in 2014 detailing the sale of Syrian refugee
women by local men. In Turkey, some female Syrian refugees
are reportedly exploited after accepting fraudulent job offers
to work in hair salons. In Turkey, Lebanon, and Jordan, Syrian
refugee children continue to engage in street begging, some
of which may be forced or coerced. Syrian children are also
observed working in Turkey’s agricultural sector and informally
in textile workshops and the service sector where they experience
long working hours, low wages, and poor working conditions;
children in these sectors may be vulnerable to forced labor. In
Lebanon’s Beqaa Valley, Syrian gangs force refugee men, women,
and children to work in agriculture, where victims are forced
to work under harsh conditions with little to no pay and some
are subject to physical abuse. LGBTI persons among the Syrian
refugee population in Lebanon are reportedly vulnerable to
sex trafficking by Lebanese pimps. In Qatar and Kuwait, Syrian
adults are reportedly subjected to forced labor as low-skilled
workers. In 2014, an international organization reported Syrian
nationals temporarily residing in Sudan sought to travel through
Libya en route to Italy with the use of smugglers; these Syrians
could be at risk of trafficking along this route. Throughout 2016,
displaced Syrians continued to seek illegal passage to Europe
via the Mediterranean Sea through the use of smugglers; these
Syrians may be at risk of trafficking.

TAIWAN: TIER 1

382

Taiwan authorities fully meet the minimum standards for the
elimination of trafficking. Authorities continued to demonstrate
serious and sustained efforts during the reporting period;
therefore, Taiwan remained on Tier 1. Taiwan authorities

demonstrated serious and sustained efforts by conducting 134
trafficking investigations, including cases involving foreign
fishermen, and convicting 56 traffickers. Authorities identified
263 trafficking victims, provided access to shelter and other
victim services, and enacted new regulations requiring standard
contracts and benefits for foreign fishermen hired overseas.
Although Taiwan authorities meet the minimum standards,
in many cases judges sentenced traffickers to lenient penalties
not proportionate to the crimes, weakening deterrence and
undercutting efforts of police and prosecutors. Authorities
sometimes treated labor trafficking cases as labor disputes
and did not convict any traffickers associated with exploiting
foreign fishermen on Taiwan-flagged fishing vessels.

RECOMMENDATIONS FOR TAIWAN

Increase efforts to prosecute and convict traffickers under
the anti-trafficking law and sentence convicted traffickers to
sufficiently stringent punishments; vigorously investigate and,
where appropriate, prosecute the owners of Taiwan-owned or
-flagged fishing vessels that allegedly commit abuse and labor
trafficking onboard long haul fishing vessels; improve the
effectiveness of anti-trafficking training and increase prosecutors’
and judges’ understanding of trafficking crimes; enact legislation
that would address gaps in basic labor protections for household
caregivers and domestic workers; increase efforts to reduce
brokers’ exploitation of foreign workers by continuing to
simplify the process of direct hiring and by strengthening
broker evaluation and accountability systems; clearly define
roles and responsibilities for the agencies that oversee Taiwanflagged fishing vessels; establish a systematic informationsharing process to foster more robust interagency anti-trafficking
coordination; enhance cross-border efforts to identify and
protect victims, and prosecute offenders; and continue efforts
to increase public awareness of all forms of trafficking.

PROSECUTION

Authorities maintained anti-trafficking law enforcement efforts.
The Human Trafficking Prevention and Control Act (HTPCA)
prohibits sex and labor trafficking and prescribes penalties of
up to seven years imprisonment; these penalties are sufficiently
stringent and commensurate with those prescribed for other
serious crimes, such as rape. However, authorities continued
to prosecute the majority of trafficking cases under other laws
in the criminal code as well as the Children and Youth Sexual
Transaction Prevention Act (CYSTPA) (amended as the Children
and Youth Sexual Exploitation Prevention Act, which took effect
in January 2017). Authorities conducted 40 labor trafficking
and 94 sex trafficking investigations in 2016 (181 in 2015).
Unlike in the previous year, authorities launched trafficking
investigations of cases involving foreign fishermen, with four
cases investigated involving 47 victims and 18 suspects. In
total, the authorities initiated 128 prosecutions in 2016 (110
in 2015) and obtained 56 convictions (53 in 2015). Authorities
initiated prosecutions against 44 suspects (30 in 2015) and
convicted 28 traffickers (22 in 2015) under the HTPCA. Under

PROTECTION

Authorities maintained efforts to protect victims of trafficking.
Authorities identified 263 trafficking victims (140 exploited
in sex trafficking and 123 in forced labor), of which 240
were referred to shelters for assistance. This is compared with
278 victims identified in 2015. Law enforcement officials
used standardized questions and evaluation forms when
interviewing and referring potential trafficking victims,
including screening foreigners with immigration violations
for indicators of trafficking. Current policies authorize only
police and prosecutors to make official identifications, although
NGOs and others have advocated for authorities to allow
social workers and labor inspectors to identify victims. NGOs
also reported instances in which judges overturned human
trafficking charges brought by prosecutors; in these cases,
foreign victims with valid work permits could remain in Taiwan
to seek new employment and those with an unlawful status
must depart Taiwan within a set time period. The National
Immigration Agency (NIA) operated one shelter dedicated
to foreign trafficking victims and continued construction of
a second; in prior years, the NIA operated three shelters. The
Ministry of Labor (MOL) subsidized an additional 25 shelters
and a 24-hour hotline that trafficking victims could access; some
NGOs recommended that MOL enhance its training of hotline
personnel and implement more robust follow-up actions to
identify trafficking victims and refer them to services. Shelters
provided trafficking victims—both men and women—with
medical and psychological services, legal counseling, vocational
training, small stipends, interpretation, and repatriation
assistance. Authorities encouraged victims to participate in
investigations of their traffickers by allowing victims to testify
outside the courtroom or through video equipment. In addition,
authorities offered foreign victims temporary residence and work
permits (granting 92 and 98, respectively, in 2016). Although
victims who face retribution or hardship in their country of
origin can also obtain permanent residence status, NGOs noted
the lack of clarity on requirements for permanent residency
status may have hindered the provision of this protection.
Victims were able to obtain restitution through out-of-court
settlement or file civil suits against traffickers; nonetheless,
courts denied both of the restitution requests sought during the
reporting period. Although victims could receive immunity for
unlawful acts committed as a direct result of being subjected to
human trafficking, NGOs reported authorities detained, fined,

and jailed potential trafficking victims during the reporting
period. These individuals include possible trafficking victims
who, according to some reports, were coerced into participating
in telecom scams targeting overseas victims.

PREVENTION

Authorities increased efforts to prevent human trafficking. A
cabinet-level minister-without-portfolio continued to implement
the national plan of action and oversee an interagency working
group. Various agencies continued to fund advertisements,
public service announcements, and other materials on human
trafficking and held trainings for vulnerable populations,
such as youth, foreign workers, and fishing sector workers.
Authorities continued to operate international airport service
counters and foreign-worker service stations around Taiwan
to assist foreign workers and educate them on their rights. To
address exploitation associated with labor recruitment, the
direct hiring service center allowed employers to hire foreign
workers directly, instead of utilizing brokers who may charge
excessive fees; however, most employers continued to deem it
easier and more expedient to use brokers. Authorities fined six
brokers and suspended business operations of four for charging
excessive fees. During the reporting period, authorities removed
a policy requiring foreign workers to leave Taiwan at least
once every three years, alleviating financial burdens associated
with reentering Taiwan. To protect foreign fishermen hired
overseas, who are not protected by Taiwan’s Labor Standards
Act, authorities enacted new laws that require a standard
contract stating the workers’ salary, medical benefits, working
conditions, and living arrangements; authorize businesses
and not individuals to act as brokers; and establish a hotline
for workers to file complaints or request assistance. However,
some observers noted the shared responsibility between MOL
and the Fisheries Agency for foreign fishermen impeded the
streamlining of efforts to provide oversight to the industry
and prevent trafficking. To prevent exploitation of domestic
workers, MOL began to require first-time employers of foreign
domestic workers to attend an orientation briefing on workers’
rights and relevant regulations. However, NGOs stressed the
need for authorities to pass a long-stalled domestic worker
protection bill that would mandate hours of rest, days off, and
annual leave. Taiwan’s laws criminalize sexual exploitation
of children by Taiwan passport holders traveling abroad, but
authorities have not investigated or prosecuted any child sex
tourism offenses committed abroad since 2006. Authorities
made efforts to reduce the demand for commercial sex acts
and forced labor and provided anti-trafficking training for
diplomatic personnel.

TAIWAN

other sections of the criminal code and CYSTPA, authorities
initiated prosecutions against 84 suspects (80 in 2015) and
convicted 28 traffickers (31 in 2015). Traffickers convicted
under the HTPCA received lighter sentences than defendants
convicted under the CYSTPA and other sections of the criminal
code; sentences imposed on the majority of convicted traffickers
(29 of 56) were less than one year imprisonment, which are
inadequate to serve as an effective deterrent to the commission
of trafficking crimes. Authorities continued to train law
enforcement officers, prosecutors, and judges through various
workshops, seminars, and conferences. Nonetheless, authorities
and NGOs cited continued challenges in effective prosecution
of labor trafficking cases due to court officials perceiving cases
as labor disputes rather than trafficking crimes. Some police
also reportedly perceived sex trafficking cases involving child
victims as easier to prosecute than labor trafficking cases
involving adult victims. Authorities initiated investigations of
a prosecutor who allegedly engaged in commercial sex with
a minor, as well as a city councilor who allegedly exploited
foreign women in prostitution; both investigations were still
ongoing at the end of the reporting period.

TRAFFICKING PROFILE

As reported in the last five years, Taiwan is a destination for men
and women subjected to forced labor and sex trafficking and, to
a lesser extent, a source of men and women subjected to forced
labor and of women and children subjected to sex trafficking.
Of the 263 victims identified in 2016, 156 were foreign victims
and 89 were children. Taiwan women and children are subjected
to sex trafficking. Many child sex trafficking victims are from
economically disadvantaged areas in Taiwan. Women from
China and Southeast Asian countries are lured to Taiwan
through fraudulent marriages and deceptive employment
offers for purposes of sex trafficking. Many trafficking victims
are migrant workers from Indonesia, the Philippines, Thailand,
Vietnam, and to a lesser extent, individuals from China and
Cambodia. Most of Taiwan’s more than 620,000 foreign workers
are hired in their home countries through recruitment agencies

383

TAJIKISTAN

and brokers, some of whom are from Taiwan, to perform lowskilled work as home caregivers and domestic workers, or in
farming, manufacturing, construction, and fishing industries.
Some foreign workers are charged exorbitantly high recruitment
fees, resulting in substantial debts used by brokers or employers
as tools of coercion to obtain or retain their labor. After
recruitment fee repayments are garnished from their wages,
many foreign workers in Taiwan earn significantly less than the
minimum wage. Domestic workers and home caregivers are
especially vulnerable to exploitation, since they often live in
their employers’ residences, making it difficult to monitor their
working and living conditions. Brokers in Taiwan sometimes
assist employers in forcibly deporting “problematic” foreign
employees should they complain, enabling the broker to fill
the empty positions with new foreign workers and continually
use debt bondage to control the work force. Documented and
undocumented fishermen on Taiwan-flagged fishing vessels,
mostly from China, Indonesia, the Philippines, and Vietnam,
experience non- or under-payment of wages, long working
hours, physical abuse, lack of food, and poor living conditions,
which are indicators of trafficking. There have been reports
of men and women from Taiwan engaged in illegal business
operations overseas that present indicators of human trafficking,
including in telecom scams targeting Chinese victims, as well
as women from Taiwan being lured into forced prostitution
in the United States.

TAJIKISTAN: TIER 2
The Government of Tajikistan does not fully meet the minimum
standards for the elimination of trafficking; however, it is making
significant efforts to do so. The government demonstrated
increasing efforts compared to the previous reporting period;
therefore, Tajikistan remained on Tier 2. The government
demonstrated significant efforts during the reporting period by
drafting and approving a national action plan for 2016-2018,
approving a national referral mechanism, and monitoring for
forced labor of children in the annual cotton harvest. The InterMinisterial Commission to Combat Trafficking in Persons met
quarterly to coordinate governmental anti-trafficking efforts
and established a working group to monitor implementation
of the victim protection law. However, the government did
not meet the minimum standards in several key areas. Slow
progress in the implementation of its victim protection law left
officials without victim identification procedures, and resulted
in inadequate victim protection services. Endemic corruption
contributed to the transport of victims across borders, yet the
government did not report any investigations, prosecutions,
or convictions of government officials complicit in human
trafficking offenses.

RECOMMENDATIONS FOR TAJIKISTAN

While respecting due process, vigorously investigate and
prosecute suspected traffickers, including officials complicit

384

in trafficking, and convict and appropriately sentence
perpetrators; amend existing anti-trafficking legislation to more
closely conform with international standards, specifically to
criminalize child sex trafficking in the absence of force, fraud,
and coercion; implement standard operating procedures for
identifying trafficking victims, including any forced labor in
the cotton harvest; increase measures and dedicate funding or
in-kind support to provide comprehensive care to victims and
encourage their assistance in the investigation and prosecution
of traffickers either directly or via partnerships with NGOs; train
law enforcement to screen men and women in prostitution
for signs of trafficking and ensure sex trafficking victims are
not penalized for prostitution offenses; continue to enforce
the prohibition against the forced labor of children in the
annual cotton harvest by inspecting fields during the harvest
in collaboration with local officials and NGOs; improve the
collection of anti-trafficking law enforcement data; continue
to provide anti-trafficking training or guidance for diplomatic
personnel and other government employees, including law
enforcement officers, border guards, and customs officials, to
prevent their engagement or facilitation of trafficking crimes.

PROSECUTION

The government maintained its anti-trafficking law enforcement
efforts. Article 130.1 of the 2003 criminal code, amended in
2004 and 2008, prohibits all forms of trafficking, including
the use of force, fraud or coercion for the purpose of sexual
exploitation and forced labor. The article prescribes penalties of
five to 15 years imprisonment, which are sufficiently stringent
and commensurate with penalties prescribed for other serious
crimes, such as rape. Article 130.1 does not, however, criminalize
inducing children to engage in prostitution without resort to
force, fraud, or coercion, which is how states are required to
define the crime by international law. Article 132 criminalizes
recruitment for sexual or other exploitation through fraud—
but not through coercion—and carries a maximum penalty of
five years imprisonment. Article 167 prohibits the buying and
selling of children, prescribing five to 15 years imprisonment
and several other criminal code provisions include trafficking
crimes, such as article 130.2, which criminalizes the use of
slave labor, and article 241.2, which criminalizes the use of
minors in the production of pornography.
The government investigated 18 cases involving 24 suspected
traffickers and prosecuted 13 cases involving 17 defendants
in 2016, compared to 39 suspected traffickers investigated
and 24 prosecuted in 2015. Courts convicted 10 traffickers,
with sentences ranging from five to nine years imprisonment,
compared to 10 convictions in 2015. Endemic corruption
inhibited law enforcement action during the year and facilitated
transport of victims across borders and through inspection
points; nonetheless, the government did not report any
investigations, prosecutions, or convictions of government
officials complicit in human trafficking offenses. The Ministry
of Internal Affairs (MIA) continued to conduct training on
human trafficking for new staff as part of its training academy
curriculum. In partnership with NGOs, the government trained
investigators, prosecutors, and judges on the 2014 victim
protection law, victim-centered approaches, and investigative
techniques.

PROTECTION

The government maintained minimal efforts to identify
trafficking victims, but provided no services. The government

The government did not report providing any services to
trafficking victims and did not directly shelter victims; the
country’s sole shelter for trafficking victims closed when foreign
funding expired in April 2016. The government’s committee
on women and family affairs’ crisis center in Dushanbe offers
women free legal and psychological assistance among other
services, but did not assist any trafficking victims. NGOs
working on domestic violence also occasionally provided
trafficking victims with medical and psycho-social care, legal
and vocational training, and assisted in family reunification;
however, the government did not provide financial support to
such organizations.
Despite provisions in the 2014 law for security measures
for trafficking victims, the government did not keep victims’
personal information confidential or provide protection for
victim witnesses and their advocates. The law provides foreign
victims with the right to request temporary residency, which
can be extended for one year following the completion of a
criminal case, and based on the victims’ cooperation with law
enforcement agencies, although no such cases were reported.
The 2014 victim protection law does not link other victim
benefits to a victim’s participation in a trial and provides victim
services regardless of legal status or prior consent to participate
in subsequently identified trafficking crimes.

PREVENTION

The government increased its efforts to prevent human
trafficking. The Ministry of Education (MOE) continued
to disseminate letters to local governments highlighting
prohibitions against the use of child labor in the cotton harvest.
Government-funded campaigns targeted potential victims,
local officials responsible for preventing trafficking, and school
authorities who had previously mobilized children in the cotton
harvest. The government assigned three inspectors to conduct
monitoring of the cotton harvest, continuing a practice begun
in 2010 in cooperation with NGOs.
The 2014 law established a framework for the government
to address human trafficking and a national anti-trafficking

commission tasked with coordinating the government’s
anti-trafficking efforts and developing a national plan. The
commission met quarterly, convening government officials,
donors, NGOs, and international organizations to report on
their anti-trafficking work, and to identify and discuss ongoing
needs. The commission developed a national referral mechanism
and provided input for the 2016-2018 national action plan,
which was drafted and approved in July 2016. The commission
also established a working group to ensure uniformity between
the new action plan and referral mechanism and the 2014 law
and to develop additional amendments recommended by the
commission.
A telephone hotline provided in previous years by the
government in partnership with NGOs and an international
organization was no longer in operation. The government
continued to conduct anti-trafficking courses for officials,
school administrators, and law students. The government
supported training on victim identification and protection for
consular officers, but did not provide any other anti-trafficking
training for its diplomatic personnel. Tajik law requires entities
engaged in labor recruitment abroad to obtain licenses from
migration authorities and provides punitive measures for
violations, although no such cases were reported. The Tajik
migration service provided migrants with information on the
risk of trafficking prior to travel abroad. In partnership with
the migration service, lawyers employed by an international
organization provided legal consultation on migration and
trafficking at migration service support centers. The government
made efforts to reduce the demand for commercial sex by
investigating and prosecuting purchasers of commercial sex. The
government did not report any efforts to reduce the demand
for forced labor.

TAJIKISTAN

identified and referred six victims to international organizations
for assistance, a decrease from eight victims in 2015 and 26
in 2014. Civil society groups and international organizations
provided protective services to 12 trafficking victims in 2016.
The government made some progress in implementing the
2014 victim protection law, which sets forth the provision of
victim services; establishes government standards for service
delivery among providers, including governmental agencies
and NGOs; and mandates a national referral mechanism.
The government approved a newly drafted national referral
mechanism in July 2016 and created a working group to
monitor and facilitate its implementation. The government
has not implemented services set forth in the 2014 victim
protection law or formalized the roles of agencies tasked
with providing services or funded the services. As a result,
authorities remained without a formal system for identifying
trafficking victims and referring them to services. Officials
sometimes temporarily detained sex trafficking victims, but
later released and referred them for assistance. Furthermore, as
law enforcement officials routinely deported foreign migrant
workers and did not attempt to identify trafficking victims
proactively among men and women in prostitution or forced
labor, it was possible officials prosecuted, detained, or penalized
trafficking victims for unlawful acts committed as a direct result
of being subjected to human trafficking.

TRAFFICKING PROFILE

As reported over the past five years, Tajikistan is a source and,
to a lesser extent, destination country for men, women, and
children subjected to forced labor, and a source and destination
country for women and children subjected to sex trafficking.
Extensive economic migration exposes Tajik men, women, and
children to exploitation. Tajik men and women are subjected
to forced labor in agriculture and construction in Russia, UAE,
Kazakhstan, and, to a lesser extent, in neighboring Central Asian
countries, Turkey, and Afghanistan. Women and children from
Tajikistan are subjected to sex trafficking primarily in Turkey,
UAE, and Russia, and also in Saudi Arabia, Kazakhstan, and
Afghanistan, as well as within Tajikistan.
Women and minors are increasingly vulnerable to trafficking.
In some cases, migrant laborers abandon their families, making
women more vulnerable to trafficking as sole providers for
their families. Some women who traveled to Syria or Iraq with
promises of marriage were instead sold into sexual slavery. Tajik
women and girls are transported to Afghanistan for the purpose
of forced marriage, which can lead to domestic servitude, sex
trafficking, and debt bondage. Tajik children are subjected
to sex trafficking and forced labor, including forced begging,
in Tajikistan and Afghanistan. Tajik children and adults may
be subjected to forced labor in agriculture—mainly during
Tajikistan’s fall cotton harvest. Afghan and Bangladeshi citizens
are vulnerable to forced labor in Tajikistan, including in the
construction industry.

385

TANZANIA

TANZANIA: TIER 2
The Government of Tanzania does not fully meet the minimum
standards for the elimination of trafficking; however, it is making
significant efforts to do so. The government demonstrated
increasing efforts compared to the previous reporting period;
therefore, Tanzania was upgraded to Tier 2. The government
demonstrated increasing efforts by investigating, prosecuting,
and convicting more traffickers than in the previous reporting
period. The government sentenced several convicted traffickers to
significant time in prison; however, many traffickers continued
to receive sentences including only fines. The government
conducted an anti-trafficking awareness raising campaign for
school students. However, the government did not meet the
minimum standards in several key areas. The implementing
regulations for the protection provisions of the 2008 antitrafficking law were not widely applied and protection services
for trafficking victims remained limited. The government did not
report identifying any victims or fund any services for victims,
but did provide in-kind assistance. The government did not
allocate sufficient funding for nationwide public awareness
campaigns and did not fund the victims’ assistance fund.

trafficking that includes representatives of all ministries involved
in anti-trafficking efforts—officially endorsed a proposal to
eliminate the alternative sentence of fines, which it sent to the
attorney general’s office.
The government did not have a system to compile comprehensive
law enforcement statistics so reported data may be inexact. In
2016, the government reported investigating approximately
100 suspected trafficking cases, compared to 12 during the
previous year. The government reported prosecutions of at least
23 defendants and convictions of at least 19 traffickers in 2016,
compared with 10 prosecutions and one conviction in 2015, all
under the 2008 anti-trafficking act. Prosecution of four cases
remained ongoing. For the first time, courts sentenced traffickers
to significant punishments including imprisonment, sentencing
one trafficker to 10 years imprisonment, two traffickers to seven
years imprisonment, three traffickers to five years imprisonment,
and three traffickers to two years imprisonment. Nonetheless,
13 of the 19 convicted traffickers were given the option to pay
fines; however, none were able to pay the fine and all went to
prison. In one case the courts convicted, and sentenced to five
years imprisonment, three traffickers for fraudulently recruiting
nine girls for forced labor in Oman. The government continued
to include human trafficking components in standard police
academy training, which reached approximately 100 new
recruits. The government also incorporated information on root
causes of trafficking and effective use of victim referral manuals
into the curriculum of standard law enforcement training. The
government did not report any investigations, prosecutions, or
convictions of officials complicit in trafficking offenses despite
widespread claims of corruption within the judicial system.

PROTECTION
RECOMMENDATIONS FOR TANZANIA

Fully implement the protection provisions of the anti-trafficking
act, as outlined in the implementing regulations and the updated
national action plan, including by allocating resources to the
victim assistance fund; increase funding and training to law
enforcement authorities for proactive victim identification and
the implementation of standardized policies and procedures
related to victim identification and referral to protective services;
amend the anti-trafficking act to remove the provision of fines
as an alternative to incarceration; continue efforts to enforce
the 2008 Anti-Trafficking in Persons Act by investigating and
prosecuting trafficking offenses, convicting trafficking offenders
and imposing adequate penalties; continue to train judges
and prosecutors to identify trafficking crimes and delineate
differences between trafficking and smuggling; increase the
budget allocation for the anti-trafficking committee and antitrafficking secretariat to implement the national action plan to
combat trafficking; and develop and use a trafficking-specific
law enforcement and victim protection database at the national
level that differentiates between forced labor and sex trafficking.

PROSECUTION

386

The government increased its anti-trafficking law enforcement
efforts. The 2008 Anti-Trafficking in Persons Act prohibits all
forms of trafficking and prescribes punishments of one to 10
years imprisonment or a fine between one and 150 million
Tanzanian shilling (TZS) ($459 and $68,871), or both. When
allowing for a fine in lieu of imprisonment, the prescribed
punishment is not commensurate with those for other serious
crimes, such as rape. However, during the reporting year the AntiTrafficking Secretariat (ATS)—the lead government agency on

The government made inadequate protection efforts. Officials
inconsistently applied the implementing regulations for
the protection provisions of the 2008 anti-trafficking law.
The government did not establish a database to track and
compile information on victims identified and referred for
protective services, which the implementing regulations
required. The implementing regulations also required police
and immigration authorities to follow standardized procedures
and use standardized forms for case investigation, and victim
identification and referral; however, such procedures were
not widely used in 2016, partly due to a lack of government
funding for dissemination. The government was not able to
estimate how many victims were identified during the reporting
period. The government identified 80 domestic and four foreign
trafficking victims (Burundian forced child labor victims),
and referred all identified victims for care to NGOs, where
they received assistance. The government did not operate any
trafficking shelters, but it streamlined its referral process to more
effectively place victims in NGO-run shelters. NGO-run shelters
provided medical care, psycho-social counseling, and family
tracing for victims. Government officials offered psycho-social
support for victims in those shelters, though it was not able to
estimate how many victims received services. An international
organization estimated that at least 100 trafficking victims
received assistance from the government. The government
placed children in special shelters, where they were enrolled
in government schools or given vocational training.
There were no reports the government arrested or punished
trafficking victims for unlawful acts committed as a direct
result of being subjected to trafficking. However, officials
detained a large number of Africans for immigration offenses
without proactive screening as mandated by the implementing

PREVENTION

The government maintained its efforts to prevent trafficking. For
the third consecutive year, the government allocated a budget
of 80 million TZS ($36,731) to the ATS. In February 2015, the
ATS updated the national action plan, effective through 2017,
which incorporated the implementing regulations of the 2008
anti-trafficking law; however, efforts to implement the revised
plan or allot funding for its implementation remained minimal,
although the government did commit in-kind support.
Several government agencies conducted periodic inspections
of large employers to detect cases of forced labor. During the
inspections, labor commissioners verified whether employers
had work permits for foreign workers. The commission of labor
monitored employment abroad by requiring Tanzanians to
have a letter of permission which is approved when an official
examines valid passports, and inspects labor contracts for salary,
leave, and health care provisions. In the semi-autonomous
region of Zanzibar, the Ministry of Labor assists and oversees the
contracts for Zanzibaris who are seeking employment abroad.
Zanzibari officials continued to conduct anti-trafficking public
awareness campaigns across the island. Immigration officials
on the mainland disseminated informational brochures on
trafficking for use at public events; however, the government
lacked sufficient resources to effectively raise awareness
among its nationals on trafficking issues. The government, in
partnership with an international organization, collaborated
on an anti-trafficking public awareness campaign called “Be
Their Voice.” The campaign targeted primary and secondary
school students though performances in 50 schools in Dar es
Salaam, Arusha, Mwanza, and Dodoma. Officials made no
discernible efforts to reduce the demand for commercial sex
acts during the reporting period. A foreign donor facilitated
specialized anti-trafficking training for Tanzanian troops prior
to their deployment abroad on international peacekeeping
missions. The government provided anti-trafficking training
for its diplomatic personnel.

TRAFFICKING PROFILE

As reported over the past five years, Tanzania is a source, transit,
and destination country for men, women, and children subjected
to forced labor and sex trafficking. Internal trafficking is more
prevalent than transnational trafficking and characteristically
facilitated by victims’ family members, friends, or intermediaries
offering assistance with education or securing employment
in urban areas. Impoverished children from the rural interior
remain most vulnerable to trafficking. Girls are exploited in
domestic servitude throughout the country and in sex trafficking
particularly in tourist hubs and along the border with Kenya.
Children are subjected to forced labor on farms—including as
cattle herders and occasionally as hunters—and in mines and

quarries, the informal commercial sector, and on fishing vessels
operating on the high seas. Some unscrupulous individuals
manipulate the traditional practice of child fostering—in which
poor children are entrusted into the care of wealthier relatives or
respected community members—to subject children to domestic
servitude and other forms of exploitative labor. Previous media
reports indicate Tanzanian children with physical disabilities
are transported to Kenya for forced begging or to work in
massage parlors, and girls are subjected to sex trafficking in
China. Tanzanian nationals are sometimes subjected to forced
labor, including domestic servitude, and sex trafficking in
other African countries, the Middle East, Europe, Asia, and
the United States. Trafficking victims from other countries—
particularly children from Burundi, Rwanda, and Kenya, as
well as adults from India, Nepal, and Yemen—are subjected to
forced labor in Tanzania’s agricultural, mining, and domestic
service sectors; some are also subjected to sex trafficking.
Citizens of neighboring countries may transit Tanzania before
being subjected to domestic servitude or sex trafficking in South
Africa, Europe, and the Middle East.

THAILAND

regulations. The 2008 anti-trafficking law provides foreign
victims legal alternatives to their removal to countries where
their safety or that of their families may be endangered; however,
the government did not grant residency or temporary stay to any
victims during the reporting period. The government-funded
and facilitated the repatriation of four Tanzanian victims
during the reporting period, including three from India and
one from China; a significant decrease from 22 repatriations
in the previous reporting period. Victims typically testify in
trafficking cases, but the Whistle Blowers and Witness Protection
Act of 2015 gives any victim of crime the option to refuse to
participate in the prosecution; however, the government did
not report whether this occurred during the reporting period.

THAILAND: TIER 2 WATCH LIST
The Government of Thailand does not fully meet the minimum
standards for the elimination of trafficking; however, it is making
significant efforts to do so. The government demonstrated
significant efforts during the reporting period by seizing
more than 784 million baht ($21.91 million) from traffickers,
reporting more investigations, prosecutions, and convictions,
convicting a business owner complicit in forced labor in the
fishing sector, and extending the amount of time foreign
trafficking victims and witnesses may be permitted to stay
and work in Thailand. The government continued to increase
dedicated anti-trafficking resources and approved a policy
to allow hiring foreign nationals as interpreters in order
to increase the number of available interpreters for labor
inspections and interviews. The government implemented new
guidelines to improve the victim identification process used by
multidisciplinary teams and provided numerous anti-trafficking
trainings for government officials. However, the government did
not demonstrate increasing efforts compared to the previous
reporting period. It did not aggressively prosecute and convict
officials complicit in trafficking crimes, and official complicity
continued to impede anti-trafficking efforts. Officials identified
fewer victims compared to the previous reporting period, and
although forced labor investigations slightly increased, the
number of labor trafficking investigations was low compared to
the scale of the problem. Although the government continued
to increase the number of inspection centers at fishing ports,
inspections resulted in relatively few identified victims and
criminal investigations. Therefore, Thailand remained on Tier
2 Watch List for the second consecutive year.

RECOMMENDATIONS FOR THAILAND

Proactively investigate and prosecute officials allegedly complicit

387

THAILAND

in trafficking, and convict and punish those found guilty with
dissuasive sentences; improve efforts to proactively screen
for and identify victims among vulnerable populations,
including migrants, fishermen, stateless persons, children, and
refugees; prosecute and convict traffickers through proactive law
enforcement employing a victim-centered approach; increase
training for law enforcement and first responders who are
not assigned to anti-trafficking units and to recognize cases of
forced labor where physical coercion is absent; continue to train
and increase resources for multidisciplinary teams and labor
inspectors to improve the quality of fishing vessel inspections
that result in the identification of victims and criminal
investigations; increase incentives for victims to cooperate
with law enforcement in the investigation and prosecution
of trafficking cases, including by providing foreign trafficking
victims legal alternatives to their removal to countries in which
they would face retribution or hardship, continuing to increase
opportunities for victims to work, providing witness protection
services, and providing restitution and compensation to victims
from forfeiture or other funds; fully implement new guidelines to
improve the consistency for victim identification and interview
procedures; regulate and investigate labor recruitment practices
for migrant workers and investigate indicators of trafficking;
foster greater collaboration with civil society in investigating
and reporting human trafficking crimes; increase and improve
anti-trafficking awareness efforts, including those directed at
employers and clients of commercial sex, such as sex tourists;
and improve migrant workers’ rights, legal status, and labor
migration policies to minimize the risk of trafficking.

PROSECUTION

The government maintained law enforcement efforts. The 2008
anti-trafficking law as amended in 2016 prohibits all forms of
trafficking and prescribes penalties up to 12 years imprisonment
and a maximum fine of 1.2 million baht ($33,550), and
up to 20 years imprisonment for trafficking a child; these
penalties are sufficiently stringent and commensurate with
penalties prescribed for other serious crimes, such as rape.
The amendment also expanded the definition of exploitation
to include “practices similar to slavery” and the definition of
forced labor to include debt bondage. The Beggar Control Act,
which went into effect in July 2016, imposed new penalties
of up to three years imprisonment for recruiting, employing,
supporting, encouraging, or seeking benefits from beggars,
including additional penalties for official complicity in forced
begging.

388

The government reported investigating 333 trafficking cases
(317 in 2015), prosecuting 301 cases (251 in 2015) involving
600 suspects (690 in 2015), and convicting 268 traffickers (205
in 2015) in 2016. Despite the prevalence of forced labor in
Thailand, the government reported only 83 investigations (72 in
2015) and 62 prosecutions involving suspected cases of forced
labor. The government did not report disaggregated numbers
of convictions it obtained for forced labor and sex trafficking.
Fifty-seven percent (64 percent in 2015) of convicted traffickers
received prison sentences greater than five years, and 82 percent
(84 percent in 2015) received sentences of more than three years
imprisonment. The anti-money laundering office seized over
784 million baht ($21.91 million) in nine trafficking cases in
2016, compared to 210 million baht ($5.87 million) seized in
2015. These funds were not known to be used for the restitution
of trafficking victims or dedicated to other protection measures.
In addition, civil courts ordered the forfeiture of 87 million
baht ($2.43 million) in six cases. The government investigated
ship owners, captains, and brokers for labor trafficking in the

fishing industry in 43 cases (39 in 2015); five ship owners,
36 captains, and 26 others were arrested as a result of these
investigations, and prosecutions were initiated in 37 cases. In
one case, a business owner and five others were convicted on
trafficking charges and sentenced to 14 years imprisonment
for their involvement in the forced labor of minors on fishing
trawlers; four others were acquitted. This represents the first
conviction of a business owner complicit in forced labor in the
fishing sector in Thailand. Of the 23 investigations initiated
in 2014 related to the trafficking on the Indonesian islands of
Ambon and Benjina, the government initiated prosecutions in
21 cases in 2016 and received convictions in four cases; three
cases were acquitted.
Law enforcement officials cooperated with foreign counterparts
to investigate Thai traffickers and victims abroad, and foreign
nationals involved in trafficking in Thailand; this resulted
in the arrest of at least 41 alleged traffickers in 2016. The
government-funded trainings focused on anti-trafficking laws
for 799 police, prosecutors, and other law enforcement officials.
In an effort to improve the quality of trafficking prosecutions
across the country, authorities appointed additional prosecutors
and established a sub-unit within the Office of the Attorney
General’s (OAG) trafficking unit to provide guidance and
mentoring for provincial law enforcement, prosecutors and
other court officials. The government required all judicial
branch officials to report all trafficking-related cases into an
integrated case database, which became operational in 2016. An
international training center partially funded by the government
trained more than 2,000 Thai police officers. In addition,
more than 300 judges and prosecutors were trained on how
to prosecute and adjudicate trafficking cases. However, in
some cases first responders, prosecutors, and judges did not
adequately enforce and interpret trafficking laws, especially for
forced labor. Notably, NGOs closely monitored developments
of a case in Ranong province involving physical and verbal
abuses in the fishing sector that could set precedent for the
interpretation of human trafficking in future cases.
This reporting period represented the first full year in which the
full complement of specialized anti-trafficking divisions within
the Bangkok Criminal Court, OAG, and the Royal Thai Police
(RTP) were fully functioning. The Human Trafficking Criminal
Procedures Act, which took effect in May 2016, introduced
an inquisitorial system in trafficking cases, allowing courts to
proactively investigate cases and more easily order restitution
for victims. In addition, the act allows courts to use pre-trial
testimony and video conferences in witness cross-examination
and strengthens bail criteria to prevent trafficking suspects from
fleeing. During the reporting period, courts cleared the backlog
of cases submitted in 2014 and reduced the backlog from
2015 to six cases. Some victims were reluctant to participate
in prosecutions due to fear of detention, an inadequate
understanding of the Thai legal process, language barriers, and
preferring repatriation over lengthy stays in shelters, which may
cause them to forego livelihood opportunities. The government
continued to increase resources and leverage legislation enacted
in 2015, which criminalized the possession and distribution
of child pornography, to build cases against those involved in
internet-facilitated child sex trafficking. Officers assigned to
the Thai Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force (TICAC)
investigated 64 allegations of child exploitation, including four
human trafficking cases. TICAC partnered with and assigned
police officers to Thailand’s two child advocacy centers (CACs),
and signed an agreement with a U.S.-based NGO in March
2017, giving police direct access to information regarding cases
of child sexual exploitation.

addition to trainings for law enforcement, the government
trained more than 2,500 multidisciplinary team members,
labor inspectors, social workers, and interpreters on victim
identification and referral systems.

PROTECTION

To address the shortage and quality of interpreters available for
certain languages, which limited some government efforts to
identify and protect victims, the prime minister ordered that,
as of November 2016, non-Thai nationals can be employed
as interpreters for labor inspections and interviews. The
government registered and trained 115 additional interpreters
in 2016 and hired 11 at the beginning of 2017, bringing the
total number of available interpreters to 265; MSDHS provided
refresher training for 63 existing interpreters. The government
also initiated the hiring of two additional interpreters for each
of the 32 port-in-port-out inspection centers; 49 had been hired
by the end of the reporting period. The government continued
to refer victims to the 76 short-stay shelters or the nine longterm regional trafficking shelters operated by MSDHS, where
they had access to counseling, legal assistance, medical care,
civil compensation, financial aid, witness protection, education
or vocational trainings, and employment. In partnership with
several NGOs, the government opened a second CAC in Pattaya,
which serves as a child-friendly space in which law enforcement,
NGOs and social workers can conduct forensic interviews
of child trafficking victims with a victim-centered approach.
The Beggar Control Act provides health and social services
to beggars, some of whom may be trafficking victims. The
government and civil society groups partnered to open a service
center for fishermen to provide workers information on their
rights, skills training, health screenings, and other resources. In
2016, the government disbursed 5.8 million baht ($162,150)
from its anti-trafficking fund to 648 victims (472 in 2015).
Seventy-three trafficking victims received civil restitution from
traffickers and under labor laws in the amount of 5.45 million
baht ($152,360); and 23 trafficking victims received restitution
from the government for criminal injuries totaling 455,000 baht
($12,720). In complicated cases, MSDHS hired human rights
lawyers to serve as victim advocates, participating in interviews
and coordinating and preparing witnesses for trial. Following a
significant influx of Rohingya and Bangladeshi migrants in 2014

The government maintained efforts to identify and protect
trafficking victims. The government identified 824 trafficking
victims in 2016, compared with 982 victims in 2015. The
Ministry of Social Development and Human Security (MSDHS)
reported providing assistance to 561 victims at 76 temporary
and nine long-term government shelters in 2016 (compared
with 471 in 2015), including 207 Thai victims (126 in 2015) and
360 foreign victims (345 in 2015,); 317 were victims of forced
labor and 244 were victims of sex trafficking. Thailand ratified
the ASEAN Convention against Trafficking in Persons, especially
women and children (ACTIP), of which the government was
a co-author, in July 2016, and signed the ASEAN Plan of
Action against Trafficking in Persons in November 2016.
Government agencies participating in multidisciplinary teams
who deployed to screen for indications of trafficking among
vulnerable populations used a standard questionnaire to guide
interviews with potential victims. Some NGOs asserted that
the government improved the consistency of its use of the
standard questionnaire; however, at least one local NGO noted
implementation of identification procedures may not have
been consistent outside large cities. To address varying levels of
effectiveness among multidisciplinary teams, the government
implemented new guidelines in December 2016 on improving
the efficiency of the victim identification process. A local NGO
noted a short authorized period for victim identification limited
proactive screening and may have led to unidentified victims
except in the most obvious cases of trafficking. Police working
under specialized anti-trafficking units were often successful
in identifying trafficking victims; however, in at least one
province, first responders who lacked adequate training on
human trafficking placed unidentified victims in immigration
detention centers (IDCs). Some officials failed to recognize
non-physical indicators of trafficking. Labor inspectors could
be held personally liable for claims of abuse of power, which
limited their ability or willingness to perform their work. In

The government continued to screen for trafficking indicators
among fishermen returning to Thailand and on fishing
vessels in Thai waters, as well as among workers in seafood
processing facilities. NGO observers noted both at-port and
at-sea inspections conducted by multidisciplinary teams of
the Command Center for Combating Illegal Fishing (CCCIF)
resulted in few identified trafficking victims. Observers said that
during the reporting period, interviews were conducted in front
of ship captains, or ship captains acted as interpreters, which
hindered workers from speaking freely and may have led to
unidentified trafficking victims. Others reported the inspection
process often only consisted of a review of documents, and
in some cases, inspectors reportedly did not board vessels
or speak to crew members. Following recommendations
from NGOs and international organizations, the government
reported efforts to expand inspections to interview workers
away from employers, utilize standard interview forms, and
automate the documentation process to increase available
resources for interviews. An international organization stated
workers often did not feel comfortable sharing information on
possible exploitation or abuse to authorities until undergoing
multiple interviews, and one organization reported interviewing
trafficking victims exploited on fishing vessels who had never
been identified by the government as trafficking victims during
CCCIF inspections.

THAILAND

The government made some efforts to address official complicity,
but corruption and official complicity in trafficking crimes
continued to impede anti-trafficking efforts. In 2016, the
government filed criminal charges against 10 officials, as
compared to 34 officials in 2015. It investigated and charged
10 police officers allegedly complicit in sex trafficking crimes;
authorities dismissed one officer from the government and the
other nine remained under investigation by the public sector
anti-corruption commission at the end of the reporting period.
From January to March 2017, the government investigated an
additional six police officers and one local politician allegedly
complicit in trafficking crimes. The government also initiated
an investigation involving high ranking officials and police
officers allegedly complicit in exploiting children in sex
trafficking in one province. During the reporting period, of
the 34 officials initially investigated in 2014 or 2015, two were
convicted on human trafficking charges and one was convicted
for procurement, and sentenced to 36 years imprisonment, 16
years imprisonment with a fine of 360,000 baht ($10,060),
and two years and six months imprisonment with a fine of
75,000 baht ($2,100), respectively. The charges against one
official were dismissed and 29 remained under investigation
or consideration for prosecution at the end of the reporting
period. Trial proceedings were ongoing for a case initiated in
2015 involving 22 officials, including a senior military officer,
and several other police, military, and local officials associated
with trafficking of Rohingya migrants; civil courts ordered the
seizure of 11.1 million baht ($310,320) in assets from the
military officer and a local politician.

389

THAILAND
390

and 2015 and the discovery of largely abandoned smuggling/
trafficking camps and mass graves on the Thai-Malaysian border,
202 Rohingya remained in Thailand at the end of the reporting
period, including at least 49 trafficking victims. During the
reporting period, in coordination with UNHCR and IOM, 69
Rohingya trafficking victims were resettled in third countries and
15 Bangladeshis were repatriated. Other potential unidentified
victims, including some Rohingya men and children, and those
whose nationalities could not be determined, continued to
be housed at IDCs, sometimes for periods longer than a year,
despite IDCs being designated for stays up to only 15 days.
NGOs reported concerns over the lack of appropriate options
for foreign children whose families were complicit in their
trafficking or whose identity could not be established. Boys
were more likely to be sent to juvenile detention facilities than
to receive specialized services. Although past reports indicated
judicial officials did not always follow procedures to ensure
the safety of witnesses, some local NGOs said during the
reporting period, judicial officials closely followed procedures
in cases involving children to prevent any further victimization.
The government increased efforts to ensure adult trafficking
victims were able to travel, work, and reside outside shelters
as provided by Thailand’s anti-trafficking law. In 2016, 35
percent of victims in government shelters worked outside the
shelter, compared to 10 percent in 2015. Of the 561 victims
in government shelters, 196 were employed either inside or
outside shelters (compared to 47 in 2015) during the course
of legal proceedings. Others were reportedly either in the
process of being formally repatriated, in the recovery period,
chose not to work, or were too young to work. At least 14
male Rohingya victims were able to work outside shelters
during the reporting period; however, many other male victims
whose nationalities could not be verified, including among
Rohingya, were not given permission to leave the shelters. The
government approved a daily allowance of 300 baht ($8.39)
—which is the minimum wage in most parts of Thailand—to
victims residing in MSDHS shelters who wish to work but are
unable to do so due to security concerns or are awaiting an
employment opportunity, as well as some victims not residing
in MSDHS shelters who intend to work. The government did
not provide legal alternatives to victims who faced retribution
or hardship upon return to their home countries. Authorities
assisted in repatriating 323 victims (401 in 2015), including
80 Thais exploited abroad and 243 foreign victims exploited
in Thailand, through a government-to-government process if
they were unwilling to testify or following the conclusion of
legal proceedings. The government facilitated the return of
30 Thai victims from the Indonesian islands of Ambon and
Benjina in 2016 and assisted them to claim wages or civil
compensation from employers. The government extended
the amount of time foreign trafficking victims and witnesses
may be permitted to stay and work in Thailand. During the
previous reporting period the government increased the limit
from six months to one year, allowed foreign victims to renew
work permits after the completion of their case, streamlined
the process of obtaining works permits from 45 days to 10
days, and stated all witnesses of human trafficking cases would
be automatically entitled to the witness protection program;
335 victims and witnesses in trafficking cases have benefitted
from these measures since they were enacted. In December
2016 a cabinet resolution then extended the stay permit for
trafficking victims and witnesses to two years and allowed
victims and witness to work in all sectors, whereas they were
previously limited to working in labor-intensive sectors and
domestic work. Since the government fully implemented the
regulation in January 2017, it granted two victims this right.

All victims and witnesses who entered MSDHS shelters fell
under the previous resolution approved in March 2016, but
will be eligible to request annual one-year extensions to their
temporary residency status.
The law protects victims from prosecution for acts committed as
a result of being subjected to human trafficking; however, flaws
in the government’s implementation of victim identification
procedures and its efforts to arrest and soft deport immigration
violators increased victims’ risk of being re-victimized and
treated as criminals. A local NGO reported the government
arrested child victims of forced labor in the fishing industry,
detained them in youth correctional facilities, and prosecuted
them with immigration, prostitution, and illegal fishing charges,
and prosecuted women from Europe and Africa for immigration
violations after failing to identify them as trafficking victims.
Advocates expressed concerns the conviction of a labor rights
activist on criminal defamation charges and violations of the
Computer Crimes Act had the effect of silencing other human
rights advocates and preventing research of forced labor in
supply chains. This development also inhibited a climate
conducive to discovering and reporting trafficking crimes,
identifying and protecting victims, and apprehending additional
traffickers. The government amended the anti-trafficking law
in 2015 to provide protection to whistleblowers but did not
report whether this new provision has been applied.

PREVENTION

The government maintained efforts to prevent trafficking. It
increased funding for migrant labor management and antitrafficking efforts from 2.08 billion baht ($58.15 million) in
fiscal year 2016 to 2.58 billion baht ($72.1 million) in fiscal
year 2017. The government allocated an additional 625.75
million baht ($17.49 million) in fiscal year 2017 to the CCCIF,
which has some responsibilities for addressing forced labor
in the fishing and seafood processing sectors. It conducted
campaigns through newspapers, television, radio, social media,
and billboards, and handouts to raise public awareness of
human trafficking throughout the country. Given the low literacy
rate and diversity of languages among at-risk persons, however,
this information remained inaccessible to many. MSDHS and
the Ministry of Labor (MOL) operated hotlines with operators
fluent in foreign languages; the MSDHS hotline received 269
calls related to possible trafficking cases in 2016. MSDHS
increased the number of available hotline interpreters to 43
in 2016, and MOL maintained 15 interpreters for its hotlines
in 2016. In an effort to prevent trafficking of children, both
CACs provided social service interventions, including acute care
needs, to children vulnerable to exploitation, and childcare
was offered at a service center for fishermen.
A royal ordinance increasing regulations for employing migrant
workers in Thailand went into force in August 2016 (and the
implementing regulations in November 2016), further defining
mechanisms for migrant workers to enter Thailand either directly
though employers or through recruitment agencies. Recruitment
agencies are now required to apply for a license from the
government and pay a deposit fee that will be applied toward
a worker repatriation fund; unregistered agencies are liable
to three years imprisonment and/or fines up to 60,000 baht
($1,680). The rules also mandate employers to cover all costs,
including recruitment fees and transportation, associated with
bringing migrant workers to Thailand. From November 2016
to March 2017, 59 agencies from Cambodia, Laos, and Burma
were licensed and 2,697 employers requested permits under the
new rules. The government established three post-arrival centers

Critical gaps in Thailand’s labor laws preventing migrant workers
from forming labor unions may contribute to exploitation.
In addition, NGOs and international organizations widely
reported that the government did not adequately enforce the
application of minimum wages in sectors with high employment
of migrant workers. The government continued efforts to
reduce the costs for Thais in overseas guest worker programs,
but excessive fees incurred by some Thai workers to obtain
employment abroad, which the government was ineffective
in regulating, made them vulnerable to debt bondage or
exploitative conditions. While the number of migrant workers
entering Thailand through formal government-to-government
migration systems increased, most migrant workers did not use
this mechanism due to high costs tied to corruption on both
sides of the border, lack of information, lengthy processing
times, and difficulties in changing employers. However, the
government reduced the processing time for migrant workers
to enter through these systems in 2016 and reported providing
some flexibility for workers to change employers before the
end of their employment contract.
The Department of Labor Protection and Welfare (DPLW)
conducted 1,346 labor inspections at high-risk workplaces,
including sugarcane farms, garment factories, shrimp and fish
processing facilities, pig farms, and poultry farms in 2016,
finding 136 violations, taking three legal actions, and collecting
fines in the amount of 45,000 baht ($1,260). The CCCIF
established four additional port-in-port-out centers in 2016
(32 in total) plus 19 additional forward inspection points,
which perform inspections at port, at sea, and on land to ensure
that fishing vessels are operating legally and workers have
contracts, work permits, and identity documents. In 2016 the
multidisciplinary teams of the CCCIF inspected 415 on-land
seafood processing workplaces and found 66 cases of illegal
employment from October to November 2016. In addition,
the CCCIF found 35 seafood processing factories violated
employment laws or the Royal Ordinance on Fisheries Act. The
government subsequently prosecuted these factories and issued
administrative orders to suspended business operations for
10-30 days. The CCCIF also found 64 factories in violation of
labor protection laws and issued orders to correct the violations
and pay unpaid wages. The government did not report how
many of these cases and violations had direct ties to trafficking.
Civil society and government officials expressed concerns

that due to varying levels of enforcement at port-in-port-out
centers, some boat captains choose ports where inspections
and enforcement were weaker. In order to thwart interference
with technical monitoring, the government passed new fisheries
regulations in February 2017, prohibiting captains from moving
or turning off vessel monitoring systems equipment. The new
law imposed penalties (ranging depending on the size of the
boat) for those who violate these regulations.
The government continued to grant citizenship to stateless
persons in 2016 and approved two regulations to provide
legal residency to non-Thai children born in Thailand and
to grant citizenship to stateless or abandoned children. In an
effort to prevent the crossing of both traffickers and vulnerable
populations at risk of exploitation, the government strengthened
border control enforcement. To prevent child sex tourism, the
government reported it denied entry to 2,054 known foreign sex
offenders, an increase from 511 in 2015. The Ministry of Tourism
organized six trainings for 417 local government officials,
tourism sector workers, students, youth, and civil society
organizations on prevention of child sexual exploitation in the
tourism industry. The government took steps to decrease the
demand for commercial sex acts, including a public awareness
campaign to inform tourists and Thai citizens of the severe
criminal punishment for those found to be involved in child
sexual exploitation. The Ministry of the Interior inspected “high
risk” adult entertainment venues and ordered 238 to cease
business activity for five years. The government made efforts
to decrease demand for forced labor, including by publicizing
investigations and prosecutions of prominent forced labor
cases in the export-oriented commercial fishing and seafood
processing sectors. The government provided anti-trafficking
training to its diplomatic personnel.

THAILAND

to assist migrant workers entering Thailand through formal
MOU channels and 10 migrant workers assistance centers; these
centers assisted 105,647 workers from August 2016 to February
2017 by providing resources in multiple languages, including
for trafficking awareness, and assisting the migrant workers to
register with the government. The government registered and
offered work permits (“pink cards”) to 45,441 undocumented
migrant workers in the fishing sector from November 2015 to
July 2016 and to 143,528 undocumented migrant workers in
the seafood processing sector from November 2015 to August
2016 in an attempt to regularize their legal status. However,
observers reported that some multidisciplinary teams and
labor inspectors have assumed a worker with a pink card could
not be a trafficking victim or be working under exploitive
situations, leading to the misidentification of victims. In 2016,
the government found unlawful practices in nine of the 202
labor recruitment agencies that facilitate overseas and domestic
employment. For these cases, the government suspended the
licenses of three agencies and filed criminal charges against six
agencies. It further initiated prosecutions against 108 illegal
brokers under the Employment and Job-Seeker Protection Act
in 91 cases involving 187 Thai laborers.

TRAFFICKING PROFILE

As reported over the past five years, Thailand is a source,
destination, and transit country for men, women, and children
subjected to forced labor and sex trafficking. Some of Thailand’s
65 million people and some of the estimated four million
migrant workers in Thailand are forced, coerced, or defrauded
into labor or sex trafficking. Labor trafficking victims are
exploited in commercial fishing and related industries, the
poultry industry, factories, agriculture, and domestic work, or
forced into street begging. Thailand’s commercial sex industry
remains vast, increasing vulnerabilities for sex trafficking.
Women, men, boys, and girls from Thailand, Laos, Cambodia,
Vietnam, Burma, Philippines, Sri Lanka, Russia, Uzbekistan,
and African countries are subjected to labor and sex trafficking
in Thailand. One local NGO reported an increase in male sex
trafficking victims from Africa in Thailand, including some who
were reportedly exploited by foreign criminal organizations.
Thailand is also a transit country for victims from China, North
Korea, Vietnam, Bangladesh, India, and Burma subjected to
sex trafficking or forced labor in countries such as Malaysia,
Indonesia, Singapore, Russia, South Korea, the United States,
and countries in Western Europe.
Thai nationals have been subjected to forced labor and sex
trafficking in Thailand and in countries in North America,
Europe, Africa, Asia, and the Middle East. Members of ethnic
minorities, highland persons, and stateless persons in Thailand
have experienced instances of abuse indicative of trafficking.
Children from Thailand, Burma, Laos, and Cambodia are
victims of sex trafficking in brothels, massage parlors, bars,
karaoke lounges, hotels, and private residences. Some parents
or brokers force children from Thailand, Cambodia, and Burma

391

TIMOR-LESTE

to sell flowers, beg, or work in domestic service in urban areas.
Separatist groups in southern Thailand continue to recruit
and use children to commit acts of arson or serve as scouts.
Many foreign trafficking victims migrate willingly to Thailand
seeking employment, through irregular channels without
identity or travel documents. Instances of human trafficking,
smuggling, abduction, and extortion of migrants occur as
migrants move between Thailand and neighboring countries.
Traffickers, including some registered and unregistered labor
brokers of Thai and foreign nationalities, bring foreign victims
into Thailand through both formal migration and smuggling
routes and serve as intermediaries between job-seekers and
employers. Some brokers charge substantial fees or collaborate
with corrupt law enforcement officials, and some Thai and
migrant workers incur significant debts to obtain employment
and are subjected to debt bondage. There are reports that
some brokers and employers continue to confiscate identity
documents. Thai men and women who migrate overseas also
rely on registered and unregistered labor brokers to facilitate
acquisition of low-skilled contract work or agricultural labor
and are sometimes subjected to conditions of forced labor
and debt bondage. Trafficking in the fishing industry remains
a significant concern. Thai, Burmese, Cambodian, Vietnamese,
and Indonesian men and boys are subject to forced labor on
Thai and foreign-owned fishing boats. Some remain at sea
for several years, are paid very little or irregularly, work as
much as 18 to 20 hours per day for seven days a week, or are
reportedly threatened, physically beaten, drugged to work
longer, and even killed for becoming ill, attempting to escape,
or disobeying orders. Some trafficking victims in the fishing
sector had difficulty returning home due to isolated workplaces,
unpaid wages, and the lack of legitimate identity documents
or safe means to travel.
Corruption continues to undermine anti-trafficking efforts.
Reports persist that some government officials are directly
complicit in trafficking crimes, including through accepting
bribes from business owners and brothels where victims
are exploited. Migrant workers, especially those who are
undocumented, are fearful of reporting trafficking crimes
and cooperating with authorities due to lack of awareness of
their rights and minimal protections both in Thailand and in
countries of origin and a general fear of authority that may stem
from their country of origin or their experience in Thailand.
Some government officials reportedly profit from bribes and
direct involvement in the extortion of migrants and their sale
to brokers. Some of these migrants are kidnapped and held for
ransom, which increases their vulnerability to sexual servitude,
forced labor, or debt bondage. Credible reports indicate some
corrupt officials protect brothels and other commercial sex
venues from raids and inspections and collude with traffickers.

TIMOR-LESTE: TIER 2

392

The Government of Timor-Leste does not fully meet the
minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking; however,
it is making significant efforts to do so. The government
demonstrated increasing efforts compared to the previous
reporting period; therefore, Timor-Leste remained on Tier 2.
The government demonstrated increasing efforts by significantly
increasing the number of investigations and prosecutions of
trafficking cases; promulgating draft anti-trafficking legislation;
conducting training sessions for law enforcement; and taking
steps to strengthen its interagency capacity and coordination
with civil society to address key anti-trafficking deficiencies.

However, the government did not meet the minimum standards
in several key areas. Efforts to establish a standard operating
procedure on victim identification were incomplete at the end
of the reporting period. Authorities charged some suspected
trafficking victims with immigration violations and confiscated
their passports, and detained and deported without proper
screening dozens of foreign women who may have been
subjected to sex trafficking while working in establishments
suspected of forced prostitution. Shelters upon which the
government relied for victim protection were largely unable to
provide adequate accommodations due to space constraints.
The government did not obtain any convictions for trafficking
offenses during the reporting period.

RECOMMENDATIONS FOR TIMOR-LESTE

Adequately fund law enforcement agencies to conduct
thorough investigations of trafficking offenses, proactively
initiate prosecutions, and convict and punish traffickers,
including complicit officials, in accordance with new antitrafficking legislation; strengthen efforts to ensure victims
do not face arrest, deportation, or other punishment for acts
committed as a direct result of being subjected to trafficking;
finalize, implement, and train officials on formal procedures
for victim identification among vulnerable populations, such
as individuals in prostitution, domestic workers, and migrant
workers on fishing vessels, and ensure proper screening
procedures are employed upon detention or prior to initiating
deportation; increase resources for protective services focusing
on trafficking victims, and establish and train officials on
standard operating procedures to ensure victims are consistently
referred to appropriate care; conduct training for prosecutors
and judges, including on how to integrate victim protection
throughout the duration of court proceedings; finalize data
collection procedures through the Interagency Trafficking
Working Group; and increase anti-trafficking education and
awareness campaigns for the public.

PROSECUTION

The government made increased law enforcement efforts and
took steps to strengthen relevant legislation. Articles 163 and
164 of the criminal code criminalize all forms of trafficking
and prescribe eight to 25 years imprisonment—penalties
which are sufficiently stringent and commensurate with those
prescribed for other serious crimes, such as rape. In February
2017, the government promulgated the Law on Preventing and
Combating Human Trafficking to amend the criminal code,
extending criminal liability for trafficking to “legal persons,”
such as corporations. The new law prescribes fines, judicial
dissolution, and asset forfeiture as penalties, and authorizes
compensation of victims.
The government reported that it investigated 176 cases of
suspected trafficking—a significant increase from 12 in 2015.
It confirmed 79 of these as genuine trafficking cases and
initiated 16 prosecutions, an increase from six in 2015. For
the fourth consecutive year, the government did not obtain

PROTECTION

The government demonstrated increased efforts to protect
victims. Among the 176 suspected trafficking victims identified,
the PNTL referred 21—all Chinese nationals—to short-term
shelter and protective services run by a local NGO. This was
an increase from 10 in 2015. It is unclear how many identified
victims, if any, benefited from protective services made available
directly by the government. The justice ministry continued to
develop standard operating procedures to formalize victim
identification intended to replace the current methodology, in
which police ask 25 probative questions largely reliant on the
presence or lack of movement to determine whether or not a case
is human trafficking. It was unclear how often police employed
this process during the reporting period. The government
allocated funds to two NGOs to provide psycho-social and
shelter services to trafficking victims; however, with space for
only four victims at a time, the primary protective service NGO
experienced severe logistical constraints in accommodating the
aforementioned 21 victims. Most female victims received services
available to victims of other crimes, such as domestic violence
and sexual assault; according to one international organization,
this arrangement complicated provision of protective services
to male victims of trafficking.
The government’s referral system employed Ministry of Social
Solidarity field staff to receive tips from local communities and
coordinate with police and NGOs, which reported improved
cooperation through the referral network. An unknown number
of victims received vocational training, legal assistance, or
reintegration support from NGOs, some of which received
government funds. According to immigration officials, police,
and media sources, foreign women in prostitution—many of
whom were possible victims of sex trafficking—were sometimes
detained en masse during law enforcement raids and then
deported without proper screening, or as a result of arresting
officers’ inability to derive pertinent information from the
women due to their having been coached to provide identical
accounts. For this reason, PNTL officers claimed they were not
able to obtain sufficient evidence to prosecute the owners of
a karaoke bar who may have subjected 67 foreign women to
sex trafficking during the reporting period. The PNTL reported
karaoke bar owners confiscated the passports of foreign
workers and only surrendered them if the police ordered the
foreign workers’ deportation. Authorities also charged some
suspected victims with immigration violations, after which they
appeared at initial court hearings and were made to forfeit their
passports to secure their reappearance. Authorities believed
this arrangement pushed some of the victims to return to their
offending places of work rather than face deportation. The
government did not provide foreign victims with alternatives
to their removal to countries where they may face hardship

or retribution, and it is unclear if it assisted in the voluntary
repatriation of any victims.
The 2017 Law on Preventing and Combating Human Trafficking
provides extensive protections for victims, including those
specific to victims testifying in criminal cases. The new law also
authorizes a period of reflection and potential residence permits
to foreign victims as well as voluntary repatriation of Timorese
victims from abroad. The Ministry of Justice began working
with an international organization to formulate implementing
regulations for the new law during the reporting period.

PREVENTION

The government demonstrated increased efforts to prevent
trafficking. The government did not conduct research to assess
the trafficking problem in the country, nor did it systematically
monitor its anti-trafficking efforts, but it took steps to initiate
the process. It set up a monitoring committee intended to
measure the progress of its Interagency Trafficking Working
Group in effectively implementing the National Action
Plan on Combating Human Trafficking. It also formed a
joint government and civil society-led data collection subworking group to help address key anti-trafficking deficiencies.
According to the Secretary of State for Professional Training
and Employment, Timor-Leste will only enter into bilateral
government-to-government labor agreements—and not with
members of private industry—to protect Timorese laborers
from exploitation abroad; during the reporting period, the
government rebuffed private firm offers from Malaysia and
Dubai due to these concerns. Unlike in previous years, the
government conducted anti-trafficking trainings for its diplomats
in partnership with IOM. It did not take measures to reduce
the demand for forced labor or commercial sex.

TIMOR-LESTE

any convictions; all prosecutions remained pending at the
end of the reporting period. The government did not report
any investigations, prosecutions, or convictions of government
employees complicit in human trafficking offenses. In the past,
police officers reported using their own personal funds to pursue
trafficking investigations due to inadequate resource allocation
from the government. The government held an anti-trafficking
training for 20 national police (PNTL) officers, 20 immigration
officers, and 10 serious crimes investigators, and allocated a
PNTL chief investigator to the Bali Process Regional Support
Office in Bangkok for a three-month secondment. Despite
these efforts, police and prosecutors generally lacked adequate
training in victim-centered approaches to law enforcement and
legal proceedings.

TRAFFICKING PROFILE

As reported for the last three years, Timor-Leste is a source and
destination country for men, women, and children subjected
to forced labor and sex trafficking, and is a source for women
and girls sent to Indonesia and other countries for domestic
servitude. Timorese women, girls, and occasionally young
men and boys from rural areas are led to the capital with the
promise of better employment or education prospects and are
subjected to sex trafficking or domestic servitude; there are
reports of official complicity in these practices. Timorese family
members place children in bonded household and agricultural
labor, primarily in domestic rural areas but also abroad, to
pay off family debts. Foreign women, including those from
Cambodia, China, Indonesia, the Philippines, and Vietnam,
are vulnerable to sex trafficking in Timor-Leste. Transnational
traffickers may be members of Indonesian or Chinese organized
crime syndicates, and they appear to rotate foreign victims of
sex trafficking in and out of the country for the length of a 90day tourist visa in order to avoid raising suspicions or calling
attention to the crime through visa overstay violations. NGOs
report fishermen on foreign vessels operating in Timorese
waters may be vulnerable to trafficking. Police accept bribes
from establishments involved in trafficking or from traffickers
attempting to cross borders illegally, and in prior years have
been identified as clients of commercial sex venues investigated
for suspected trafficking.

393

TOGO

TOGO: TIER 2
The Government of Togo does not fully meet the minimum
standards for the elimination of trafficking; however, it is making
significant efforts to do so. The government demonstrated
increasing efforts compared to the previous reporting
period; therefore, Togo remained on Tier 2. The government
demonstrated increasing efforts by providing assistance to
more transnational child trafficking victims and increasing the
number of labor inspectors. The government also employed a
network of “vigilance committees” in nearly every village in the
country to provide education on trafficking and report cases
to the government. However, the government did not meet
the minimum standards in several key areas. The government
did not report any efforts to identify or assist adult victims or
victims within Togo.

RECOMMENDATIONS FOR TOGO

Increase efforts to prosecute and punish traffickers involved
in trafficking of adults and forced child labor crimes using
the amended penal code; develop a formal system to identify
trafficking victims, including adults and victims within Togo,
and train law enforcement, immigration, and social welfare
officials on victim identification; effectively track the number
of trafficking victims who receive services from the government,
are referred to NGOs, or are returned to their families; develop
a system among law enforcement and judicial officials to track
and report on human trafficking investigations and prosecutions;
enact anti-trafficking legislation that includes provisions for
victim protection; allocate sufficient funds to operate the two
government-run centers for victims; and increase efforts to
raise public awareness about the dangers of human trafficking,
including the trafficking of adults.

PROSECUTION

394

The government maintained law enforcement efforts. Togolese
laws criminalize all forms of trafficking, but not all prescribed
penalties are sufficiently stringent or commensurate with other
serious crimes. The penal code, revised in 2015, prohibits
all forms of trafficking in articles 317 to 320 and prescribes
penalties of 10 to 20 years imprisonment and fines between
10 and 50 million CFA franc (FCFA) ($16,000 and $79,980).
Article 317 criminalizes the use of force, fraud or coercion for
specific purposes, including sexual exploitation, forced labor,
slavery, servitude and begging. Article 319 provides enhanced
penalties in certain circumstances. Article 320 removes the
requirement of proving force, fraud or coercion when the
trafficking victim is a child. Penalties for child trafficking crimes
are increased to 20-30 years imprisonment and a 20-50 million
FCFA ($31,990-$79,980) fine; article 321 prescribes application
of the maximum penalty and a fine of 25-100 million FCFA
($39,990-$159,960) in egregious circumstances. Article 326
makes trafficking victims acting under duress not responsible
for crimes they commit as a result of being trafficking victims.

Although article 317 makes forced labor a trafficking offense
subject to the penalties set forth in article 318, article 338
also specifically prohibits forced labor prescribing penalties
of five to 10 years imprisonment and a fine of 5-20 million
FCFA ($8,000-$31,990). Articles 346-349 prohibit exploitative
begging prescribing penalties of six months to 20 years and
fines, depending on the age and vulnerability of the victim;
these penalties are sufficiently stringent, and commensurate with
those prescribed for other serious crimes, such as rape. Other
laws that predate the 2015 penal code amendments also address
trafficking offenses and impose significantly lower penalties.
For example, article 4 of the 2006 labor code prohibits forced
and compulsory labor, with prescribed penalties of three to six
months imprisonment, which are not sufficiently stringent. The
2007 child code criminalizes all forms of child trafficking and
prescribes penalties of two to five years imprisonment, which
are sufficiently stringent, but not commensurate with those
prescribed for other serious crimes, such as rape. The 2005 Law
Related to Child Smuggling criminalizes abducting, transporting,
or receiving children for the purposes of exploitation with prison
sentences of three months to 10 years imprisonment; these
penalties are not commensurate with other serious crimes. The
government did not take action during the reporting period to
enact draft comprehensive anti-trafficking legislation, pending
since 2009, that would include provisions for victim protection.
The government reported investigating 101 traffickers
and convicting 60 traffickers in 2016, compared with 123
investigations and 59 convictions of traffickers in 2015. The
government did not report details on the provisions under
which it tried these suspects or provide sentencing data. The
government did not provide any trafficking-specific training to
its law enforcement officials. The government did not report
any investigations, prosecutions, or convictions of government
officials complicit in human trafficking offenses. Experts
reported judges were often reluctant to convict or fine parents
who subjected their children to trafficking, as they felt it would
exacerbate the economic situation that drove a parent to commit
the crime. The government cooperated with the governments
of Benin, Ghana, and Nigeria under a joint agreement on the
control and monitoring of borders to prevent child trafficking,
repatriate victims, and extradite traffickers. Additionally, the
government cooperated with all west African states under the
West African Multilateral Accord and with all west and central
African states under the Multilateral Cooperation Agreement
to Combat Trafficking in Persons in West and Central Africa.

PROTECTION

The government maintained modest protection efforts. The
government assisted in the repatriation of, and provided services
for, transnational child trafficking victims. The governmentfunded and facilitated the repatriation of 99 Togolese victims
of child trafficking in 2016, including 78 girls and 21 boys,
who were returned from Nigeria, Gabon, and Cote d’Ivoire;
this was an increase from 20 repatriations the previous year.
The government provided these victims with health services,
food, and lodging during their reintegration and reunited
them with their families. However, the government did not
report identifying or providing any services to adult trafficking
victims or other internal trafficking victims, nor did it provide
details on any cases, and data collection remained a gap. The
government also did not report the number of victims referred
to care facilities.
In Lome, the Ministry of Social Affairs (MSA) continued to
run a toll-free 24-hour helpline, Allo 10-11, which received

PREVENTION

The government increased efforts to prevent child trafficking
and initiated minimal efforts to prevent adult trafficking. The
government coordinated its anti-child trafficking efforts and
dissemination of information through MSA’s Anti-Trafficking
in Persons Cell, previously the National Committee for the
Reception and Social Reinsertion of Trafficked Children
(CNARSEVT). The Anti-Trafficking in Persons Cell acted as a
central hub of information and tracked statistics on trafficking
of children in Togo, including the repatriation of child victims;
however, data collection and reporting remained weak during
the reporting period. In 2016, the government expanded
CNARSEVT’s scope to include adults and re-designated it as
the Anti-Trafficking in Persons Cell. The government employed
a network of “vigilance committees” in nearly every village
in the country to provide education on trafficking and report
cases to the government, although the effectiveness of these
committees varied greatly. The government employed 167 labor
inspectors across all five regions during the reporting period,
an increase of 58 inspectors from the previous year. Despite
the increase, there were still too few inspectors compared to
the scale of child labor in the country, much of which could
constitute trafficking. An NGO reported inspectors often did
not address even obvious cases of child labor in large, openair markets in urban centers. During the reporting period, the
Anti-Trafficking in Persons Cell identified 246 children in child
labor. The government did not regulate foreign labor recruiters.
The government reduced the demand for forced labor through
the continuation of a program partnering with 30 traditional
religious leaders to eliminate exploitation through the practice
of religious “apprenticeships”—a practice in which children
are entrusted to religious leaders who exploit them in forced
domestic work, or, in some cases, sexual slavery when parents are
unable to pay school fees. In 2016, the government co-drafted
a Charter on Maritime Security and Development in Africa that
aims to combat transnational crime, including child trafficking.
The government distributed birth certificates with the assistance
of NGOs. The government had not updated its national action
plan since 2008. The government did not take any discernible
measures to reduce the demand for commercial sex acts. The
government provided anti-trafficking training to Togolese troops
prior to their deployment abroad on international peacekeeping
missions. The government did not provide anti-trafficking
training for its diplomatic personnel.

TRAFFICKING PROFILE

As reported over the past five years, Togo is a source, transit
and, to a lesser extent, destination country for men, women,
and children subjected to forced labor and sex trafficking. The
western border of the Plateau region, which provides easy
access to major roads leading to Lome, and Accra, Ghana, was
a primary source for trafficking victims during the reporting
period. Most Togolese victims are children exploited within the
country. Forced child labor occurs in the agricultural sector—
particularly on coffee, cocoa, and cotton farms—as well as in
stone and sand quarries. Traffickers bring children from rural
areas to Lome, where they are subjected to forced labor as
domestic servants, roadside vendors, and porters, or exploited
in child sex trafficking. Boys are subjected to forced labor in
construction, in salvage yards, mines, and as mechanics, often
working with hazardous machinery. Children from Benin and
Ghana are recruited and transported to Togo for forced labor.
Girls from Ghana are exploited in sex trafficking in Togo.
Togolese boys and girls are transported to Benin, Cote d’Ivoire,
Democratic Republic of the Congo, Gabon, Ghana, and Nigeria
and forced to work in the agricultural sector. From September
to April, many Togolese adults and children migrate in search
of economic opportunities to Benin, Burkina Faso, Niger, and
Mali, where many are subjected to labor and sex trafficking.
In Nigeria, Togolese men are subjected to forced labor in
agriculture and Togolese women are exploited in domestic
servitude. Togolese women have been fraudulently recruited
for employment in Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, the United States,
and Europe, where they are subjected to domestic servitude
or forced prostitution.

TONGA

4,000 calls regarding child trafficking and other forms of
child abuse. The National Committee for the Reception and
Social Reinsertion of Trafficked Children, Togo’s national antitrafficking committee comprising government officials and
NGOs, continued to operate jointly with the police an ad hoc
referral system to respond to hotline tips. MSA continued to
operate two shelters; the Tokoin Community Center served
as an intermediary shelter for child victims before transfer
to care facilities managed by NGOs, while another shelter,
CROPESDI, provided shelter, legal, medical, and social services
to child victims up to age 14. The government did not report its
budget for victim assistance and protection. The government
did not offer temporary or permanent residency status to
foreign victims facing hardship or retribution upon return to
their country of origin. The government did not have a formal
process to encourage victims’ participation in the investigation
and prosecution of their traffickers, and it is unclear whether
any victims did so during the reporting period. There were
no reports of child victims being penalized for unlawful acts
committed as a direct result of being subjected to trafficking.

TONGA: TIER 2
The Government of Tonga does not fully meet the minimum
standards for the elimination of trafficking; however, it is making
significant efforts to do so. The government demonstrated
increasing efforts compared to the previous reporting period;
therefore, Tonga was upgraded to Tier 2. The government
demonstrated increasing efforts by providing training to police
recruits on human trafficking, coordinating its efforts through an
anti-trafficking taskforce, funding an NGO capable of assisting
victims, and posting a police officer trained to speak Mandarin
Chinese to liaise with Chinese community members, including
those who may be vulnerable to trafficking. However, the
government did not meet the minimum standards in several key
areas. Authorities did not initiate any trafficking prosecutions,
establish formal procedures to proactively identify victims, or
conduct awareness-raising campaigns.

RECOMMENDATIONS FOR TONGA

Develop and fully implement procedures for proactive
identification of trafficking victims among vulnerable groups;
increase efforts to investigate and prosecute trafficking crimes,
including child sex trafficking; amend trafficking laws to
criminalize the full scope of trafficking crimes, including offenses

395

TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO

lacking cross-border movement; utilize the newly appointed
Asian liaison position to facilitate proactive identification of
foreign victims and their referral to care; increase training for
law enforcement officials and labor inspectors on human
trafficking, including on how to identify and assist victims;
provide explicit protections and benefits for trafficking victims,
such as restitution, legal and medical benefits, and immigration
relief; develop a national action plan; develop and conduct
anti-trafficking information and education campaigns; and
accede to the 2000 UN TIP Protocol.

PROSECUTION

The government maintained minimal anti-trafficking law
enforcement efforts. The Counter Terrorism and Transnational
Organized Crime Act defines trafficking as the recruitment,
transportation, transfer, harboring, or receipt of a person for
the purpose of exploitation; however, it does not prohibit
all forms of trafficking because it defines trafficking only as
a transnational crime and does not define exploitation nor
include elements of force, fraud or coercion. This law prescribes
penalties of up to 15 years imprisonment for trafficking offenses
involving adult victims and 20 years imprisonment for offenses
involving children; these penalties are sufficiently stringent and
commensurate with penalties for other serious crimes, such
as rape. Since convicting its first trafficker in April 2011, the
government has not prosecuted any trafficking cases. During the
reporting period the government continued one investigation
of a case involving Bangladeshi men in conditions indicative of
debt bondage. The Tongan police force continued providing antitrafficking trainings for new police recruits during the reporting
period. The government did not report any investigations,
prosecutions, or convictions of government employees complicit
in human trafficking offenses.

PROTECTION

The government maintained minimal efforts to protect trafficking
victims. The government identified no trafficking victims during
the reporting period. The government did not develop or employ
systematic procedures for victim identification among at-risk
groups, such as migrant workers or women in prostitution.
However, Tongan police posted a new Asian liaison officer
trained to speak Mandarin Chinese, increasing the police force’s
ability to engage with Chinese citizens living in Tonga who may
be vulnerable to trafficking; nonetheless, it was unclear if this
resulted in attempts to identify victims proactively during the
reporting period. The government continued to provide 50,000
pa’anga ($23,223) to an NGO for operations to assist women
and children victims of crime, including shelter, counseling,
and legal services. Although none were identified, trafficking
victims would be eligible for these services. The government
has procedures to refer victims of crime, including potential
trafficking victims, to the NGO. There are no shelter facilities
available to male victims older than 15 years old. Under the
immigration act, the principal immigration officer has broad
discretionary authority to grant trafficking victims permits
to stay in the country for any length of time necessary for
their protection. Victims could be granted asylum in Tonga if
they feared retribution or hardship in their country of origin,
although no trafficking victim has ever requested asylum. Victims
had the ability to file civil cases against their traffickers, but
none filed such cases in 2016. There were no reports officials
penalized trafficking victims for unlawful acts committed as a
result of being subjected to trafficking.

396

PREVENTION

The government maintained minimal efforts to prevent human
trafficking. The government did not develop a national action
plan to combat trafficking or conduct educational campaigns
to increase awareness of trafficking in Tonga. However, the
government’s human trafficking taskforce led its anti-trafficking
efforts alongside the transnational crime unit of the police force.
Tongans participating in seasonal worker programs overseas
received orientation briefings from the government, which
included information on workers’ rights. The government did
not take action to reduce the demand for commercial sex acts
or forced labor during the reporting period, nor did it provide
anti-trafficking training to its diplomatic personnel. Tonga is
not a party to the 2000 UN TIP Protocol.

TRAFFICKING PROFILE

As reported over the past five years, Tonga is a destination
country for women subjected to sex trafficking and, to a lesser
extent, a source country for women and children subjected to
domestic sex trafficking and forced labor. East Asian women,
especially those from China, are exploited in prostitution in
clandestine establishments operating as legitimate businesses;
some East Asian women are recruited from their home
countries for legitimate work in Tonga, paying large sums of
money in recruitment fees, and upon arrival are forced into
prostitution. Some Tongan women and children are reportedly
subjected to involuntary domestic servitude. Reports indicate
Fijians working in the domestic service industry in Tonga
experience mistreatment indicative of trafficking. Tongan adults
working overseas, including in Australia and New Zealand, are
vulnerable to exploitation, including through withholding
of wages and excessive work hours. Some workers are rushed
to sign employment contracts and may not fully understand
employment terms; others are unable to retain copies of their
contracts, exacerbating the potential for employers to exploit
these workers. There are reports of foreign men who attempted
to transit Tonga in situations of potential debt bondage.

TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO: TIER 2
The Government of Trinidad and Tobago does not fully meet
the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking;
however, it is making significant efforts to do so. The government
demonstrated increasing efforts compared to the previous
reporting period; therefore, Trinidad and Tobago was upgraded
to Tier 2. The government demonstrated increasing efforts by
adopting and beginning to implement a new national action
plan for 2016-2020, advancing prosecutions to the high court,
addressing inefficiencies in the judicial system, and identifying
more victims. It also changed immigration procedures to
increase accountability and minimize the opportunities for
immigration officials to receive bribes. However, the government
did not meet the minimum standards in several key areas. It
has yet to secure a conviction under its anti-trafficking law. The
government decreased funding for its anti-trafficking unit and
victim care. Victims were not provided specialized services,
including during legal proceedings. The government did not
have policies or laws regulating foreign labor recruiters and
had no basis for holding them civilly and criminally liable for
fraudulent recruitment.

Increase efforts to investigate, prosecute, and convict traffickers,
including complicit government officials; train law enforcement
and prosecutors in proactively identifying, obtaining, preserving,
and corroborating evidence; provide adequate funding for robust
victim services and anti-trafficking efforts; improve coordination
and communication between the counter-trafficking unit,
relevant agencies, and NGOs; implement procedures to guide
front-line officials in the identification and referral of potential
sex and labor trafficking victims, especially among foreign
women in prostitution, migrant workers, and children; improve
regulation of private labor recruitment agencies; and raise
public awareness, especially among the migrant population,
about forced labor.

PROSECUTION

The government increased law enforcement efforts, but it had
yet to convict a trafficker; official complicity and inefficiencies
in its judicial system continued to hamper government efforts.
The Trafficking in Persons Act of 2011 prohibits both sex
trafficking and forced labor and prescribes penalties of 15
years to life imprisonment and fines, which are sufficiently
stringent and commensurate with penalties prescribed for other
serious crimes, such as rape. During the reporting period, the
government’s anti-trafficking unit investigated 46 possible cases
of trafficking, compared with 53 cases in 2015 and 35 in 2014.
The government initiated the prosecution of five suspects for
sex trafficking under the anti-trafficking law (five in 2015 and
one in 2014). Additionally, two previously charged traffickers
had hearings before the magistrate court and were committed
to stand trial in high court. From previous reporting periods,
a total of 23 prosecution cases awaited scheduling at the
magistrate court.
Experts noted the improving quality of investigations by the
counter-trafficking unit (CTU) within the national security
ministry, which has led to more efficiency in bringing cases to
prosecution. The CTU led efforts to investigate sex trafficking and
forced labor but continued to suffer from poor coordination and
communication among stakeholders; police and immigration
officers on the CTU reported to their respective agencies and
not to the head of the unit. The government decreased the
unit’s budget to three million Trinidad and Tobago dollars
(TTD) ($448,430) for FY 2016-2017, compared to eight million
TTD ($1.2 million) for FY 2015-2016, and five million TTD
($747,384) for FY 2014-2015. Due to decreased government
revenues related to lower oil and gas export earnings, all
government ministries received significantly reduced budgets
during the reporting period. Nonetheless, to address overall
inefficiencies in the judicial system that resulted in a significant
backlog of cases, the attorney general hired 30 new prosecutors
to help bring cases to trial more expeditiously.
Law enforcement and civil society organizations reported some
police and immigration officers allegedly facilitated trafficking
and exploited sex trafficking victims, but the government did

PROTECTION

The government increased protection efforts. The government
identified and referred 13 trafficking victims to care (five in
2015 and eight in 2014). The 13 victims included one male
child, three male adults, and seven female adults exploited
for labor trafficking, and two female adults exploited for sex
trafficking. The victims originated from Venezuela, St. Vincent
and the Grenadines, India, and Nepal. Some experts asserted
labor and internal trafficking cases, including of children, were
under-reported.
The government trained all new immigration officers on the antitrafficking law and screening procedures to identify potential
trafficking victims. The government trained school officials,
social workers, labor inspectors, and officials who worked
with child protective services on identification and screening
techniques related to trafficking. The CTU, via Interpol, provided
sensitization training to judges to avoid re-traumatization
of trafficking victims during court proceedings. Authorities
referred all suspected adult human trafficking cases to the CTU.
Authorities referred child victims through the child protective
services agency. The CTU and child protective services reported
working to clarify the procedures for referrals between their
agencies.
The CTU spent approximately 700,000 TTD ($104,634) on
victim care and protection, a decrease from one million TTD
($149,477) in 2015 and 2014. The government separately
provided additional funding to NGOs through the Ministry
of Social Development and the Ministry of Gender; the CTU
directly provided assistance to victims housed at all shelters.
The CTU partnered with NGOs and public hospitals to provide
basic services to all 13 victims. Other government-funded victim
services provided to victims included food, clothing, medical
assistance and services for victims with disabilities, translation
services, psychological counseling, legal services, and arranging
contact with families. Domestic violence shelters received
modest government funding and provided accommodation to
adult female trafficking victims. In the case of men and children,
the government provided accommodations by securing private
safe houses through NGOs; there is no dedicated shelter for
male victims. In 2016, the CTU acquired a property to establish
a dedicated shelter for male and female victims. Victims housed
in NGO-run shelters were allowed freedom of movement after
an initial security assessment by the government; however,
victims housed in domestic violence shelters were not permitted
to leave unchaperoned or at will. Language translation services
were available for counseling sessions and police interviews;
however, experts reported shelters did not have bilingual staff
or volunteers. In addition, some government officials noted a
shortage of interpreters available to assist with foreign national

TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO

RECOMMENDATIONS FOR TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO

not report any new prosecutions or convictions of government
employees complicit in human trafficking offenses during the
reporting period. Experts noted some victims feared police
complicity and were reluctant to report their cases to the CTU.
Immigration authorities arrested and charged one officer with
selling visa extensions, but it was unclear if this was related to
trafficking. The CTU conducted anti-trafficking training with
assistance from an international organization for more than 115
new police and prison officers, compared to 100 officers trained
in 2015. There were 18 labor inspectors in 2016, compared
with 10 in 2015, trained to identify and report on indicators of
forced labor involving children. The government collaborated
with authorities in St. Vincent and the Grenadines on a child
trafficking case.

397

TUNISIA

victim testimony. Fourteen victims assisted with criminal
investigations during the reporting period. There were no
reports the government penalized trafficking victims for crimes
committed as a direct result of being subjected to trafficking;
however, some victims may have been penalized due to lack
of identification from officials.
The government provided two victims with work and residence
permits to remain in the country to assist law enforcement
investigations. The government provided witness protection to
five sex trafficking victims who chose to participate in the trial
process and allowed them to return to their home countries
between court hearings. The courts were in the process of
acquiring technology to accept video testimony. The government
provided minimal support to repatriate victims and relied on
an international organization to do so.

PREVENTION

The government increased efforts to prevent trafficking. The
government approved and began implementing the 20162020 national plan of action. The CTU assesses its activities
every two years, most recently in November 2015. The CTU, in
collaboration with NGOs, launched awareness campaigns at
schools and youth camps, as well as a six-month nationwide
child anti-trafficking campaign. The CTU also promoted the
national broadcast of a locally produced movie, “Trafficked,”
and aired public service announcements during the broadcast.
The labor inspectorate provided educational materials to
educate and inform workers, including migrant workers, of
their rights and the labor laws to prevent labor exploitation.
The CTU conducted sensitization training with visa officers
from various embassies in the country. The national trafficking
hotline provided information used by the counter trafficking
unit for investigations. The immigration authority changed
its procedures for issuing visa extensions to provide greater
accountability and reduce the opportunity for smugglers and
traffickers to bribe officials. The government made efforts to
reduce the demand for commercial sex acts by developing
bilingual messages and two public service announcements
targeting buyers of commercial sex. There were no specific laws
regulating private labor recruitment agencies. The government
provided training and awareness-raising sessions for diplomats
and staff scheduled for overseas postings.

TRAFFICKING PROFILE

As reported over the past five years, Trinidad and Tobago
is a destination, transit, and source country for adults and
children subjected to sex trafficking and forced labor. Women
and girls from the Dominican Republic, Guyana, Venezuela,
and Colombia are subjected to sex trafficking in brothels and
clubs, often lured by offers of legitimate employment, with
young women from Venezuela especially vulnerable. NGOs
have previously heard reports about the availability of child
sex trafficking victims advertised through classified ads and
children are subjected to sex trafficking for commercial sex by
Trinbagonians and foreign sex tourists. Economic migrants
from the Caribbean region, especially Guyana, and from Asia,
in particular those lacking legal status, are vulnerable to forced
labor in domestic service, the retail sector, and potentially
security companies and health spas. International criminal
organizations are increasingly involved in trafficking and young
boys are coerced to sell drugs and guns. Police corruption has
in the past been associated with facilitating prostitution and
sex trafficking.

398

TUNISIA: TIER 2
The Government of Tunisia does not fully meet the minimum
standards for the elimination of trafficking; however, it is making
significant efforts to do so. The government demonstrated
increased efforts compared to the previous reporting period;
therefore, Tunisia was upgraded to Tier 2. The government
enacted anti-trafficking legislation that prohibits all forms
of trafficking and trained officials on its application. The
government investigated and prosecuted more traffickers and
identified significantly more trafficking victims and referred
them to care. It provided care to victims in various governmentrun centers for vulnerable populations and worked with NGOs
to provide victims additional services. The government raised
awareness of trafficking throughout the reporting period.
However, the government did not meet the minimum standards
in some key areas. Despite efforts to identify victims during the
course of investigations, the government did not proactively
screen for victims among vulnerable groups; it did not finalize
and implement standard operating procedures for victim
identification or the national referral mechanism during the
reporting period. Some trafficking victims may have remained
unidentified and therefore vulnerable to punishment for
unlawful acts committed as a direct result of being subjected
to human trafficking, such as immigration and prostitution
violations.

RECOMMENDATIONS FOR TUNISIA

Implement formal procedures to screen and proactively
identify trafficking victims among vulnerable groups, such as
street children, undocumented migrants, domestic workers,
and persons in prostitution, and train officials on their use;
implement and use the anti-trafficking law to investigate,
prosecute, and convict traffickers and train judicial and
law enforcement officials on the law’s application; provide
adequate protection services to all trafficking victims, including
appropriate shelter and rehabilitative services tailored to
trafficking victims; fully implement the national victim referral
mechanism to ensure all trafficking victims are referred to
appropriate protection services, and train law enforcement
and judicial authorities on appropriately referring victims to
care; train staff at government-operated centers for vulnerable
populations to provide trafficking victims with specialized care;
develop procedures to ensure victims are not punished for
unlawful acts committed as a direct result of being subjected
to trafficking, such as prostitution and immigration violations;
provide funding or in-kind support to NGOs that provide care
to trafficking victims; and allow trafficking victims the right to
work while under temporary residency status.

PROSECUTION

The government significantly improved its anti-trafficking law
enforcement efforts. In July 2016, the government enacted
anti-trafficking legislation that criminalizes all forms of human

The government did not fully implement and utilize the 2016
anti-trafficking law and thus investigated and prosecuted
alleged trafficking crimes using other pre-existing criminal code
provisions. The data in this reporting period is an improvement
from the previous reporting period when the government did
not report prosecutions or convictions of traffickers. During the
reporting period, the Ministry of Interior (MOI) investigated
134 potential trafficking crimes, which included 46 cases of
sexual exploitation of women; six cases of domestic servitude
involving three male, one female, and two child victims; and 82
cases of economic exploitation of children, which included 72
male and 10 female child victims who were involved primarily
in forced begging crimes. Of these investigations, the MOI
investigated, broke up, and arrested the alleged perpetrators
of a child begging ring in Sfax. The MOI also investigated a
sex trafficking case of three alleged traffickers for fraudulently
recruiting 10 Tunisian women to work in a nightclub in Lebanon
and forcing the victims into prostitution, confiscating their
passports and holding them in debt bondage. The MOI also
investigated and referred for prosecution a case of a 15-yearold child in domestic servitude. In 2016, the Ministry of Justice
(MOJ) reported 495 prosecutions of crimes involving forced
begging and 22 prosecutions involving forced prostitution. The
MOJ also reported 135 violations of the labor code involving
forced child labor or forced labor of adults. The MOJ reported
that all 657 of the prosecutions in this reporting period led to
convictions, some of which may have been for trafficking-related
crimes under the criminal code, but it did not provide details
on the sentences given to the perpetrators. The government did
not report any investigations, prosecutions, or convictions of
government officials complicit in human trafficking offenses.
The government held multiple anti-trafficking trainings for
officials during the reporting period. In addition, since the
passage of the 2016 anti-trafficking law, the government held
two conferences—both in cooperation with international
organizations—on implementation of the law for judges and
lawyers. In March 2017, the government also began a training
program for judicial police on application of the 2016 antitrafficking law.

PROTECTION

The government significantly increased its efforts to identify
and provide protection services to trafficking victims and it
worked with NGOs to do so. The government lacked formal
victim identification procedures and relied on NGOs to
identify and provide care to trafficking victims; however, it
worked in cooperation with civil society groups to train key
law enforcement, judicial, immigration, and social services
personnel to identify victims among high-risk populations.

During the course of investigations in 2016, the MOI reported
identifying 134 trafficking victims, including 46 female sex
trafficking victims, six victims of domestic servitude, and 82 child
victims of forced begging. This demonstrated a substantially
higher number of identified victims than the previous reporting
period when the government identified three victims. Based
on the 2016 anti-trafficking law, the government developed
in 2016 a new national victim referral mechanism for officials
to refer trafficking victims to government-operated social
centers or NGO-run shelters; it began training officials on its
implementation at the end of the reporting period. In 2016, the
Ministry of Social Affairs (MSA) signed cooperation agreements
with two NGOs to assist those at risk of abuse and exploitation,
including trafficking victims; the MSA also organized capacitybuilding trainings for NGOs on irregular migration patterns and
treatment of vulnerable groups, including trafficking victims. Of
the victims identified in 2016, the MOI referred for protection
services all adult victims to the MSA and all child victims to
the Delegation for the Protection of Children at the Ministry
of Women, Family, and Childhood. The government provided
medical and psychological treatment to a 15-year-old child
victim of domestic servitude. Among the victims identified
by an international organization in 2016, the government
provided shelter and health services to 18 victims and provided
repatriation assistance to 28 victims.

TUNISIA

trafficking and prescribes penalties ranging from 10 years to
life imprisonment; these penalties are sufficiently stringent and
commensurate with penalties prescribed for other serious crimes,
such as rape. Various pre-existing and disparate criminal code
provisions, which do not appear to have been repealed by the
new law, also prohibit sex trafficking and forced labor; however,
these provisions prescribe penalties that are not sufficiently
stringent or commensurate with penalties prescribed for other
serious crimes, such as rape. The criminal code prescribes one
to three years imprisonment for forced prostitution of an adult
and three to five years imprisonment for sex trafficking of a
child, neither of which are commensurate and sufficiently
stringent. The criminal code prescribes only one to two years
imprisonment for forced child begging and penalties of up
to 10 years imprisonment for capturing or detaining a person
for forced labor.

The MSA continued to operate centers for vulnerable populations,
including trafficking victims, victims of domestic violence and
sexual assault, asylum-seekers, unaccompanied minors, and the
homeless. Through these shelters, the government provided
vulnerable groups, including trafficking victims, with food,
clothing, full and free medical care, and psychological services,
as well as legal aid through a network of pro bono lawyers. Four
of these centers in Tunis, Sousse, and Sfax had designated areas
available for victims of all forms of trafficking and the MSA
increased trafficking-specific care available at these shelters;
the center in Sfax caters to migrants and refugees, although
none of the shelters are dedicated only to trafficking victims.
The MSA collaborated with an international organization to
assess and improve shelter capacity and services dedicated to
trafficking victims. The center in Tunis held a dedicated office
for male and female trafficking victims with a trained social
worker and offered medical and psychological exams. This
center also allowed foreign embassies access to their nationals
to provide assistance, including provision of legal documents
and repatriation services. During the reporting period, the
MSA—in cooperation with an international organization—
provided victim identification and protection training to the
staff of the Sfax and Sousse shelters.
The government offered foreign trafficking victims legal
alternatives to their removal to countries where they might
face hardship or retribution. During the reporting period,
the government offered all foreign trafficking victims relief
from deportation and, for those who chose to return home,
repatriation services. Trafficking victims could not seek legal
employment while under temporary residency status. However,
in 2016, the government offered permanent residence, which
includes the ability to seek employment, to four trafficking
victims who chose not to return home. Under the new antitrafficking law, the government encouraged victims to participate
in the prosecution of their traffickers and provided psychological
and physical protection services to victims and witnesses of
trafficking crimes. The new law institutionalizes the principle
that the government should not punish or prosecute trafficking
victims. Nevertheless, the government did not implement
systematic policies and procedures to protect unidentified

399

TURKEY

victims from being punished for unlawful acts committed as
a direct result of being subjected to human trafficking, such as
women in prostitution, child sex trafficking victims, or illegal
immigrants.

PREVENTION

The government continued to improve its efforts to prevent
trafficking. The MOJ-led national anti-trafficking committee—
which included representatives from 12 ministries, two experts
from civil society, one media expert, and a member of National
Commission for Human Rights—met several times during the
reporting period to develop an anti-trafficking strategy and
implement the national anti-trafficking action plan. In February
2017, the MOJ appointed a member of the Tunisian Judges
Union to be the president of the commission for a five-year term.
Throughout the reporting period, the government conducted
numerous anti-trafficking public awareness and information
campaigns. In April 2016, the government—in cooperation
with an international organization—launched a national antitrafficking public awareness campaign. Additionally, during
the reporting period, the MOI placed announcements on
social media sites and newspapers to inform the public about
fraudulent work contracts and forced labor. The government
reported efforts to reduce the demand for forced labor. During
the reporting period, the government began to implement
its national action plan for the elimination of child labor, in
coordination with an international organization. The labor
inspectorate at the MSA designated 25 labor inspectors and
24 social workers trained as specialized points of contact for
trafficking victims. To address fraudulent labor recruitment
practices, the Ministry of Vocational Training and Employment
filed complaints against 15 private employers for cases of fraud,
extortion, or unauthorized abuses of Tunisians employed
abroad; it also took action against 26 private employers who
recruited workers without proper registration. The government
did not report efforts to reduce the demand for commercial
sex acts or child sex tourism. The government provided antitrafficking training for its diplomatic personnel.

TRAFFICKING PROFILE

As reported over the past five years, Tunisia is a source,
destination, and possible transit country for men, women, and
children subjected to forced labor and sex trafficking. According
to a baseline study published in 2013, Tunisian youth are
subjected to various forms of trafficking. According to the study
and as reported by an NGO in 2016, some Tunisian girls, mainly
from the northwest, working as domestic servants for wealthy
families in Tunis and major coastal cities experience restrictions
on movement, physical and psychological violence, and sexual
abuse. International organizations report an increased presence
of street children and rural children working to support their
families in Tunisia since the 2011 revolution; according to the
baseline study, these children are vulnerable to forced labor or
sex trafficking. Tunisian women have reportedly been forced
into prostitution under false promises of work both within the
country and elsewhere in the region, such as Lebanon, United
Arab Emirates, and Jordan. Civil society organizations report
an increase in women, primarily from West Africa, subjected
to domestic servitude in private homes in Tunis, Sfax, Sousse,
and Gabes. According to international organizations, nationals
from Cote d’Ivoire are exploited in Tunisia after accepting
fraudulent job offers in Europe. Migrants fleeing unrest in
neighboring countries continue to be vulnerable to trafficking
in Tunisia. Security officials reported in 2016 that organized

400

gangs force street children to serve as thieves and beggars and
transport drugs.

TURKEY: TIER 2
The Government of Turkey does not fully meet the minimum
standards for the elimination of trafficking; however, it is making
significant efforts to do so. The government demonstrated
increasing efforts compared to the previous reporting period;
therefore, Turkey remained on Tier 2. The government
demonstrated increasing efforts by adopting a national
action plan, identifying more trafficking victims, training
government and security personnel on trafficking issues, and
creating a specialized anti-trafficking unit within the Turkish
national police (TNP). The government continued prosecuting
traffickers, and opened two specialized shelters for female sex
trafficking victims. However, the government did not meet
the minimum standards in several key areas. The government
ordered the permanent closure of an NGO-run shelter and
offered insufficient funding for another NGO-run shelter,
resulting in its closure. Interagency cooperation remained
weak, leading to obstacles in victim identification. Efforts to
identify Turkish victims and protect the growing and highly
vulnerable refugee and migrant communities in the country
continued to need improvement.

RECOMMENDATIONS FOR TURKEY

Vigorously investigate, prosecute, and convict traffickers,
including forced labor offenders; significantly increase proactive
victim identification efforts among vulnerable populations,
such as refugees, Turkish and foreign women and girls in
prostitution, and children begging in the streets; establish
a multi-disciplinary victim-centered framework for victim
identification and provide specialized care for all victims,
including Turkish citizens, children, and male victims; enhance
training for law enforcement officers, prosecutors, and judges on
a victim-centered approach to effective prosecution of trafficking
cases; provide stable funding for shelters and institutionalize
partnerships with NGOs, international organizations, and
civil society representatives to provide victim services; increase
training for law enforcement and other first responders on
victim identification, including recognizing the signs of nonphysical methods of control used by traffickers; ensure effective
interagency cooperation and allocate adequate funding to
implement the national action plan; and make traffickingrelated data, especially disaggregated statistics on victims and
on prosecutions and convictions of perpetrators, available to
the public on a regular basis.

PROSECUTION

The government maintained law enforcement efforts. Article 80
of the penal code prohibits both sex and labor trafficking by use
of force, threats, or abuse of power and prescribes punishment

The government created the Department of Combatting Migrant
Smuggling and Human Trafficking (DCMH), a specialized unit
within the TNP. DCMH consisted of 50 officers and opened
regional offices to coordinate with local law enforcement.
Observers reported law enforcement did not proactively
investigate trafficking offenses related to migrants and refugees.
Corruption and official complicity in trafficking crimes remained
concerns, and credible observers reported corruption may have
inhibited law enforcement action in certain cases during the
year. The government reported investigating media and other
allegations of official complicity and found no evidence to
support the allegations. The government, independently and
in cooperation with international organizations, provided
anti-trafficking training to law enforcement, coast guard, labor
inspectors, social workers, and immigration officials. The
government reported cooperating regionally, but provided
limited information on international cooperation and
extradition; observers reported insufficient international
cooperation in combating trafficking.

PROTECTION

The government maintained victim protection efforts. The
government identified 181 foreign-born trafficking victims,
compared to 108 trafficking victims in 2015; of these, 163 victims
were female and 18 were male (91 female victims and 17 male
in 2015); 29 victims were children (26 in 2015); and 143 were
victims of sex trafficking and 38 of forced labor. NGO- and
government-run shelters provided 141 of the 181 victims with
at least short-term support and a temporary residence permit
for 30 days, which could be extended up to three years. The
government reported Turkish citizens were victims of trafficking
within Turkey, although it did not report identifying any Turkish
victims in 2016. International organizations and NGOs reported
assisting Turkish victims in Azerbaijan and Israel; however, the
government reported no requests for assistance or repatriation
of Turkish victims subjected to trafficking abroad.
During the previous reporting period, the government approved
a new regulation that further defined the roles and reporting lines
across government agencies in the national referral mechanism.
Among other things, the regulation required law enforcement
to conduct preliminary interviews and refer potential victims to
the Directorate General for Migration Management (DGMM),
Turkey’s lead agency on trafficking issues, to make the official
identification. Observers generally reported weak interagency
coordination, which may have resulted in some potential victims
not receiving official victim status and the government services
such status affords. The Ministry of Health and the Ministry
of Family and Social Policies (MOFSP) deployed specialized
staff to government-operated migrant and refugee camps to
screen camp residents for indicators of trafficking; however,
observers reported the government did not make sufficient
victim identification efforts in the highly vulnerable refugee

and migrant communities located outside of camps or provide
sufficient protection resources to address trafficking in these
communities. NGOs expressed concern that the government
had increasingly removed them from identifying and providing
services to victims.
The law entitles trafficking victims to shelter, medical and
psycho-social services, work options, education, translation
services, temporary residency, repatriation assistance, and legal
counseling. The government reported providing funding for
three NGO-run shelters in conjunction with funding from an
EU project but did not provide budget numbers. After the EU
project ended, government-offered funding was not sufficient
for NGO-run shelters to continue operations and all three NGO
run shelters that provided the majority of support services to
trafficking victims since 2004 closed operations during the
reporting period. One NGO-run shelter chose to close due to
security concerns; the second chose to close in response to the
government funding shortfall; and the third was closed by the
DGMM. DGMM opened a specialized shelter in the fall of 2016
in Kirikkale, a city near Ankara, and the Ankara municipality
opened a specialized shelter in early 2017. The two governmentrun shelters accommodated female sex trafficking victims and
provided psychological support, health care, access to legal
aid, and vocational training. After the closure of the NGO-run
shelters, DGMM transferred all trafficking victims sheltered in
the NGO-run shelters to the government-run shelter in Kirikkale.
The government offered facilities for Turkish citizen, male,
and child trafficking victims through MOFSP, these services
were not specialized for trafficking victims. NGOs reported
significant hurdles for victims in the work permissions process,
including a requirement that victims move out of trafficking
shelters to be eligible to work. The government did not require
victims to participate in investigations or court procedures to
receive support services. There were no reports that authorities
detained, fined, or penalized trafficking victims for unlawful acts
committed as a direct result of being subjected to trafficking.
Turkish law makes witness protection measures available to
victims who participate in the investigation and prosecution
of their alleged traffickers; the government did not provide
statistics on trafficking victims who participated in criminal
investigations or legal procedures. The government provided
protection to migrants and refugees from returning to countries
where they would face hardship.

TURKEY

of eight to 12 years imprisonment. Article 227(1) prohibits the
facilitation of child prostitution and prescribes punishment
of four to 10 years imprisonment. Punishments under both
articles are sufficiently stringent and commensurate with those
prescribed for other serious crimes, such as rape. The Ministry
of Justice (MOJ) prosecuted 53 new cases with 257 defendants
in 2016, compared to 50 cases with 238 defendants in the first
three quarters of 2015. The MOJ continued to prosecute 187
cases with 1,594 defendants from the previous year. Courts
convicted 40 traffickers, compared to 37 traffickers in 2015. All
convicted traffickers received prison sentences and 37 traffickers
also received a fine. Courts acquitted 272 suspected traffickers.

PREVENTION

The government maintained prevention efforts. The
government adopted a new national action plan that prioritized
strengthening coordination with NGOs and capacity building,
and coordinated with an international organization to identify
sources of funding. A senior-level national committee formed
to coordinate interagency anti-trafficking activities convened for
the first time in March 2017. The government ratified the Council
of Europe’s Convention on Action against Human Trafficking,
which has an independent monitoring mechanism. DGMM
assumed the management of a national trafficking hotline
from an international organization and trained new employees
on trafficking issues, though observers reported a decrease in
capacity to handle trafficking cases, possibly due to budget
shortfalls to maintain the hotline. The government continued to
prepare and distribute brochures on trafficking in six languages.
DGMM published annual data reports on its website for 20132015. Law enforcement developed flowcharts illustrating the
national referral mechanism and informed relevant actors on
how provincial TNP units combat trafficking. The government
continued to implement comprehensive migrant registration

401

TURKMENISTAN

protocols by registering approximately three million Syrians and
providing birth registrations for newly born refugee children
and reported efforts to prevent trafficking among Syrian refugees
by fostering educational opportunities within governmentoperated camps. The government did not report efforts to reduce
the demand for commercial sex acts or possible forced labor.
Observers reported two Turkish nationals arrested in Moldova
for providing children to Turkish nationals engaging in child sex
tourism; however, the government identified no cases of child
sex tourism within Turkey. Turkish armed forces participated
in anti-trafficking training prior to their deployment abroad
on international peacekeeping missions. The government did
not report providing anti-trafficking training to diplomatic
personnel.

TRAFFICKING PROFILE

As reported over the past five years, Turkey is a destination
and transit country, and to a lesser extent source country, for
women, men, and children subjected to sex trafficking and
forced labor. Trafficking victims in Turkey are primarily from
Central and South Asia, Eastern Europe, Syria, Indonesia, and
Morocco. Of the 183 victims identified in 2016, Syrians made
up the largest number of victims (36) from a single country,
followed by Kyrgyz (33), Georgians (23), and Uzbeks (16);
the other 73 victims were from a range of countries including
Indonesia, Moldova, Morocco, Pakistan, and Turkmenistan.
Some Georgian men and women are subjected to forced labor.
Foreign victims are commonly promised jobs in entertainment,
modeling, or domestic work, but upon arrival, traffickers force
them into forced labor or prostitution in hotels, discos, and
homes. Some Turkish men are subjected to trafficking at least
in Azerbaijan and Israel. The government and NGOs reported
traffickers use psychological coercion, threats, and debt bondage
to compel victims into sex trafficking. Traffickers increasingly
use social media to recruit victims and employ foreign females
as recruiting and management assistants. Unknown numbers
of ethnic Roma and refugee children may be vulnerable to
trafficking while working on the street collecting garbage,
selling flower and other items, or begging.
Turkey continues to host a large refugee population that is
increasingly vulnerable to trafficking: approximately three
million displaced Syrians, 120,000 Afghans, and 125,000
Iraqis resided in Turkey during the reporting period. Unknown
numbers of Syrian refugee and other children engaged in
street begging and also reportedly worked in restaurants,
textile factories, markets, mechanic or blacksmith shops,
and agriculture, at times acting as the breadwinners for their
families; some are vulnerable to forced labor. Experts reported
children worked long hours, with low wages, in some cases in
substandard working conditions. Syrian refugee women and
girls are vulnerable to sex trafficking by prostitution rings. Some
Syrian and other girls have reportedly been sold into marriages
in which they are vulnerable to domestic servitude and sex
trafficking. Reports indicate some youth in Turkey, sometimes
under coercion, joined the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), a
U.S.-designated terrorist organization.

TURKMENISTAN: TIER 3
402

The Government of Turkmenistan does not fully meet the
minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking and is
not making significant efforts to do so; therefore, Turkmenistan

remained on Tier 3. Despite the lack of significant efforts, the
government took some steps to address trafficking, including
the continued implementation of its national action plan for
trafficking in persons, adoption of a new anti-trafficking law in
October 2016, and amending its criminal code to criminalize
trafficking in persons. The government also allows for free legal
assistance to those applying for recognition as trafficking victims.
However, the new criminal code provision defines the crime of
trafficking in a manner not fully consistent with international
law and has not yet been implemented. Further, the government
continued to use the forced labor of reportedly tens of thousands
of its adult citizens in the harvest during the reporting period.
It actively dissuaded monitoring of the harvest by independent
observers through harassment, detention, penalization, and,
in some cases, physical abuse. The government did not fund
any victim assistance programs, despite being required to do
so under domestic law.

RECOMMENDATIONS FOR TURKMENISTAN

Take action to end the use of forced adult labor during the
annual cotton harvest, particularly by modifying government
policies that create pressure for mobilizations of labor; provide
victim care services directly or by funding civil society to do
so, as required under the 2016 anti-trafficking law; train police
to recognize and investigate sex and labor trafficking crimes;
finalize and adopt formal written procedures to identify and
refer victims to protection services and train police, migration
officers, and other relevant officials on such procedures; while
respecting due process, investigate and prosecute suspected
sex and labor trafficking offenses using article 129/1 of the
criminal code and convict and punish traffickers, including
officials complicit in trafficking; expand training for relevant
government authorities on implementation of the provisions
of the 2016 anti-trafficking law and article 129, as amended in
2016; and increase awareness of trafficking among the general
public through government-run campaigns or financial support
for NGO-run campaigns.

PROSECUTION

The government maintained minimal anti-trafficking law
enforcement efforts. Article 129/1 of the criminal code, as
amended in November 2016, defines trafficking in persons
as acts done by force, fraud, or coercion, but it does not
appear to include in its definition the purpose of the crime,
which is exploitation. It also exempts trafficking victims
from criminal responsibility for acts committed as a result
of being trafficked. Article 129/1 prescribes penalties of four
to 25 years imprisonment, which are sufficiently stringent
and commensurate with those prescribed for other serious
crimes, such as rape. In 2016, the government amended its
administrative code to include punitive fines and penalties for
failure to prohibit forced labor, the disclosure of information
that could harm a victim, or the failure to provide assistance
to victims. Penalties range from 200 to 500 manat ($57 to
$143) for private citizens, 500 to 1,000 manat ($143 to $286)

The government reported it independently trained officials on
trafficking-related issues. It initiated prosecution of three cases
in 2016, the same number as in 2015, and compared to six
cases in 2014. The government reported convictions of three
traffickers in 2016, compared with nine in 2015, and nine in
2014. Despite continued reports of widespread corruption, it
did not report any investigations, prosecutions, or convictions
of government employees complicit in human trafficking, nor
did it report any efforts to end officials’ mobilization of persons
for forced labor. In October 2016, the government arrested and
charged with fraud Gaspar Matalaev, a reporter who published
an article documenting the use of forced labor in the annual
cotton harvest. Authorities allegedly tortured Matalaev and
forced him to confess to taking and distributing photographs
of the cotton harvest; Matalaev was sentenced to three years
in a labor camp and remains imprisoned.

PROTECTION

The government maintained minimal protection efforts. The
government identified 11 victims in 2016, compared to 12 in
2015, 19 in 2014, and 33 in 2013. An international organization
reported assisting 25 victims, but estimated the total number
of victims was significantly higher, as evidenced by the 7,200
calls to the country’s two foreign-funded trafficking hotlines.
The government did not provide comprehensive services to all
victims of trafficking, nor did it fund international organizations
or NGOs to provide such services. An NGO operated one shelter
for female trafficking victims in Turkmenistan with foreign
donor funding. The shelter provided comprehensive services
to 11 female victims in 2016, including reintegration in society
and locating legal employment. In accordance with the national
action plan, the government worked with an international
organization to develop formal identification and referral
mechanisms. Authorities remained without formal written
procedures to identify victims or refer them to care providers,
but informally referred suspected trafficking victims to an
international organization for services. Some law enforcement
agencies only identify individuals as trafficking victims if their
cases lead to trafficking convictions. The prosecutor general’s
office reported victims could apply for physical protection and
assistance in obtaining free medical care; however, officials did
not provide details of specific cases in which such assistance
was provided during the year, and NGOs indicated previously
that some victims were required to pay for their own treatment.
The 2016 anti-trafficking law provides that victims, including
those who participate in criminal proceedings, are exempt from
administrative or criminal liability for conducting unlawful
acts as a direct result of being subjected to trafficking, and
are guaranteed employment. It also requires law enforcement
agencies to respect the confidentiality of victims. An additional
amendment to the legal code, effective February 2017, provides
free legal assistance to trafficking victims who apply for official
status as such. The 2016 law provides that victims are eligible
for a wide range of services from the government; however, all
services available during the reporting period were provided
by foreign-funded NGOs and international organizations.
Prosecutors reported they would not pressure victims into
giving information in support of prosecution efforts. There
were no reports of victims seeking or obtaining restitution
in civil suits. The government made no attempts to identify
sex trafficking victims among women arrested for engaging
in prostitution. Consequently, officials may have penalized

sex trafficking victims for prostitution offenses. After some
Turkmen, including trafficking victims, returned home following
their deportation from other countries, the migration service
reportedly blocked them from exiting Turkmenistan for a period
of up to five years; the government reported that it stopped
fining its citizens deported to Turkmenistan from abroad,
including potential victims.

PREVENTION

The government increased efforts to prevent human trafficking,
primarily through the establishment of a legal and institutional
framework for the implementation of its national action plan;
however, it did not take steps to end the use of forced labor
during the cotton harvest. The 2016 anti-trafficking law calls
for the creation of an interagency anti-trafficking committee,
comprised several cabinet-level agencies and under the authority
of the cabinet of ministers, to coordinate, plan, monitor, and
report on the government’s anti-trafficking efforts and analyze
trends, improve victim protection measures, raise awareness,
and monitor implementation of the national action plan.
The 2016 law also assigns responsibilities for anti-trafficking
efforts among government agencies and charges the cabinet
of ministers with planning, funding, and implementing antitrafficking policy. The government made efforts to implement
its national action plan, adopted in March 2016, by requesting
assistance from the ILO and working with another international
organization to draft standard operating procedures for victim
identification and referral. Government officials also attended
seminars and workshops on implementation of the national
action plan, conducted by an international organization, with
some funding by the government.

TURKMENISTAN

for government officials, and fines from 1,000 to 2,000 manat
($286 to $573) or administrative suspension of up to three
months for businesses.

The law requires the Ministry of Internal Affairs to record data
on trafficking crimes; however, the government has not reported
any systematic efforts to monitor its anti-trafficking efforts, and
government data on the incidence of trafficking and traffickingrelated prosecutions was not publicly available. The government
maintained an official website that provided information on
the risks of becoming a trafficking victim and cooperated with
NGOs to conduct awareness campaigns in rural areas targeting
vulnerable populations. The campaigns included newspaper
advertisements for two foreign-funded telephone hotlines, which
provided information to potential migrants and offered legal
assistance and psychological counseling to trafficking victims.
In July 2016, the government-funded a public awareness event,
organized in cooperation with international organizations,
to mark the World Day against Trafficking in Persons. The
government did not report efforts to punish labor recruiters
or brokers involved in the fraudulent recruitment of workers.
The stateless population in Turkmenistan, mostly consisting
of former Soviet citizens, was vulnerable to trafficking; in 2016
the migration service worked with UNHCR to grant Turkmen
citizenship to 1,381 stateless persons. The government reported
an international organization provided anti-trafficking training
for its diplomatic personnel. The government made efforts
to reduce the demand for commercial sex acts by routinely
arresting purchasers of commercial sex, but did not make
efforts to reduce the demand for forced labor.

TRAFFICKING PROFILE

Turkmenistan is a source country for men, women, and children
subjected to forced labor and sex trafficking. Forced labor
constitutes Turkmenistan’s largest trafficking problem; in 2016,
an ILO Committee of Experts’ report noted “with deep concern
the widespread use of forced labor in cotton production.” To

403

UGANDA

meet government-imposed quotas for the cotton harvest, local
authorities require university students, private-sector institutions,
soldiers, and public sector workers (including teachers, doctors,
nurses, and others) to pick cotton without payment and under
the threat of penalty. Government officials threatened public
sector workers with dismissal, reduced work hours, or salary
deductions. Authorities threatened farmers with loss of land if
they did not meet government-imposed quotas. In addition,
the government compulsorily mobilized teachers, doctors,
and other civil servants for public works projects, such as
planting trees. Workers in the construction sector are vulnerable
to forced labor. Turkmen men and women are subjected to
forced labor after migrating abroad for employment in the
textile, agricultural, construction, and domestic service sectors.
Turkmen women are also subjected to sex trafficking abroad.
Turkey, Russia, and India are the most frequent destinations
of Turkmen victims, followed by other countries in the Middle
East, South and Central Asia, and Europe. Residents of rural
areas in Turkmenistan are most at risk of becoming trafficking
victims, both within the country and abroad.

UGANDA: TIER 2
The Government of Uganda does not fully meet the minimum
standards for the elimination of trafficking; however, it is
making significant efforts to do so. The government
demonstrated increasing efforts compared to the previous
reporting period; therefore, Uganda remained on Tier 2. The
government demonstrated increasing efforts by investigating,
prosecuting, and achieving convictions in more cases than
in the previous reporting period. Unlike previous years, the
government initiated criminal prosecution of labor recruitment
agencies for allegations of their involvement in trafficking.
The government also elevated Uganda’s Coordination Office
to Combat Trafficking in Persons (COCTIP) to an official
department with a small permanent budget allocation, which
enabled the office to improve its anti-trafficking efforts. However,
the government did not meet the minimum standards in several
key areas. Insufficient funding, in general, hindered government
efforts, especially in victim protection. Corruption may have
impeded government oversight of labor recruitment agencies.
The government did not employ systematic procedures to assist
victims, and availability of victim services was inconsistent. The
government has not institutionalized anti-trafficking training
among law enforcement and front-line officials. Despite its
elevation of COCTIP, the government remained without an
official lead agency with authority to manage, fund, and drive
the efforts of the national taskforce and ensure effective countrywide measures to combat trafficking.

RECOMMENDATIONS FOR UGANDA
404

Significantly increase the availability of victim services by
allocating resources for government-provided care or to NGOs
that assist victims; increase efforts to work with destination

country governments and recruitment agencies to facilitate the
release and repatriation of Ugandan migrant workers exploited
by employers abroad; establish formal policies and procedures
for all front-line officials to identify trafficking victims and
formally refer victims to assistance; authorize an official entity
to lead and coordinate national anti-trafficking efforts between
ministries and oversee services for trafficking victims to ensure
appropriate services are rendered; increase resources dedicated
to anti-trafficking efforts within the Ministry of Internal Affairs
(MIA), the External Employment Unit (EEU), and COCTIP;
continue efforts to prosecute and convict suspected traffickers,
including allegedly complicit officials; increase funding to
Ugandan embassies to assist trafficking victims abroad; finalize
regulations to fully implement the protection and prevention
provisions of the 2009 Prevention of Trafficking in Persons
(PTIP) Act; complete amendments to labor export regulations
and use existing laws to proactively investigate and punish labor
recruiters who fraudulently recruit Ugandans and exploit them
in forced labor or prostitution abroad; institutionalize antitrafficking training, including victim identification techniques,
for all front-line officials, including diplomatic personnel;
establish a unified system of documenting and collecting data
on human trafficking cases for use by law enforcement, labor,
and social welfare officials; expand the anti-trafficking public
awareness campaign, and accede to the 2000 UN TIP Protocol.

PROSECUTION

The government maintained strong anti-trafficking law
enforcement efforts. The 2009 PTIP Act criminalizes all
forms of trafficking, prescribing punishments of 15 years
to life imprisonment, which are sufficiently stringent and
commensurate with those prescribed for other serious crimes,
such as rape. The law includes both sexual exploitation and
forced labor, which are explicitly included in the 2000 UN
TIP Protocol definition; however, it also includes both illegal
adoption, child selling, and human sacrifice, which are not
included in the listing of forms of exploitation in the protocol.
Amendments to the PTIP Act, proposed by the EEU, would
increase oversight of employment contracts and extend criminal
liability for trafficking offenses to labor recruiters; however, it
remained pending for the fifth consecutive year. In May 2016,
amendments to the Children (Amendment) Act came into
effect, including an amendment to article 8, which prohibits
the unlawful use of “children in prostitution,” subject to a fine
not exceeding one hundred currency points or imprisonment
for five years; these punishments are well below that required
by the 2009 PTIP Act for sex trafficking of children. Another
amendment to article 8 also prohibits the “harmful or hazardous
employment” of children under 16, which includes slavery,
trafficking in persons, debt bondage, and other forms of
forced labor, forced recruitment for use in armed conflict,
prostitution, pornography, and illegal activities. These terms
are not defined and there is an overlap and potential conflict
with the PTIP Act, which criminalizes these exploitative acts.
Furthermore, it is not clear what punishments are imposed
for their breach under the 2016 amendments. In addition,
the Children (Amendment) Act of 2016 amends article 42 by
imposing extensive reporting requirements on government
officials engaged in child protection where such officials have
grounds to believe, among other things, that a child has been
subjected to child trafficking. Furthermore, contrary to the
requirements of the UN TIP Protocol definition and contrary
to the 2009 PTIP Act, it defines child trafficking to require that
force, fraud, or coercion have been used to exploit the child.
The government reported 114 trafficking investigations,

PROTECTION

The government maintained uneven protection efforts. The
government reported identifying at least 270 victims, a decrease
from 347 the previous reporting period; however, data from
this reporting period was more precise than years past. Of the
270 trafficking victims, 42 children and 206 adults were victims
of forced labor, and six children and 16 adults were victims of
sex trafficking. Of the 42 child victims of forced labor, eight
children were identified in the Democratic Republic of the
Congo (DRC) as potential child soldiers from Uganda, who
were separated from an armed group, the Allied Democratic
Front (ADF). The vast majority of identified victims (222) was
foreign, including persons from Somalia and Rwanda, and was
made to transit Uganda to other countries; Saudi Arabia, Oman,
the United Arab Emirates, Kenya, and the DRC were the most
common destination countries. The government continued
to employ victim identification and assistance guidelines for
adult and child trafficking victims, developed in the previous
reporting period in partnership with NGOs; the immigration
department distributed these guidelines to immigration
officers and provided training on their implementation. The
government did not enact the implementing regulations for
the 2009 PTIP Act or allocate funding for the implementation
of its victim protection provisions; however, the government
held various working group meetings to review and edit the
draft regulations. The government reported providing an
unknown number of victims with medical treatment, counseling
assistance, emergency shelter, and transportation through
police clinics. However, it continued to rely on NGOs and

international organizations to provide the vast majority of
victim services via referrals to NGO-operated shelters, which
provided psychological counseling, medical treatment, family
tracing, resettlement support, and vocational education without
contributing in-kind or financial support. Victim care remained
inadequate and available services were primarily for children
and women, with few NGOs offering shelter for adult males.
Child victims in need of immediate shelter often stayed at
police stations, sometimes sleeping in impounded vehicles,
or at a juvenile detention center while awaiting placement in
more formal shelters. Occasionally, due to a lack of government
funding and procedures for victim referral, police and other
government employees temporarily sheltered victims in their
homes. The government did not report, and does not collect
information about, how many victims it referred to care.

UGANDA

prosecutions of 32 defendants in 20 cases, and convictions of
16 traffickers in 2016 under the 2009 PTIP Act, compared to
108 investigations, 15 prosecutions, and three convictions in
2015. The 16 convictions may have included cases of human
sacrifice, a non-trafficking crime also prohibited under the
2009 PTIP Act; additional details were unavailable. Of the 20
prosecuted cases, nine cases involved transnational trafficking,
four of which ended in convictions, and nine cases involved
internal child trafficking for labor or sexual exploitation,
six of which ended in convictions. Unlike previous years,
the government also pursued criminal prosecution of two
labor recruitment agencies under the 2009 PTIP Act. The
2015 trial of an Indian national charged with trafficking 43
Indian citizens to South Africa through Uganda for labor
exploitation remained ongoing. The government did not report
any investigations, prosecutions, or convictions of government
employees complicit in human trafficking; however, following
a November 2015 request from the Department of State, the
Ugandan government declined to waive immunity to allow the
prosecution of a Ugandan diplomat and his spouse for labor
trafficking and related offenses. The couple has departed the
United States. Additionally, the media reported several high-level
officials associated with the labor recruitment agencies impeded
investigations of suspected trafficking offenses committed
by such agencies. An NGO reported that some complicit
immigration officers at border-crossings facilitated passage of
trafficking victims. The government organized several workshops
and working group meetings during the reporting period. The
immigration department conducted monthly sessions to train
its officers on anti-trafficking issues, and the MIA collaborated
with an NGO to develop an anti-trafficking training curriculum
for the immigration department. However, some police and
immigration officers lacked an understanding of the antitrafficking law, and may have misclassified cases or encouraged
victims to accept financial compensation from traffickers in
exchange for dropping their cases.

The government did not provide adequate shelter for many
Ugandan citizen victims identified outside Uganda; it lacked
funding and safe housing to temporarily house victims. The
government generally provided replacement travel documents
to facilitate the repatriation of its citizens from abroad, while an
NGO provided funding for travel; however, there were reports
that some Ugandan diplomatic missions were unwilling to
provide trafficking victims with assistance or provide new travel
documents. The MIA reported the government facilitated the
repatriation of and assisted 129 Ugandan victims abroad in
2016, while 87 remained awaiting repatriation. According to
the MIA, all 48 victims of internal trafficking received assistance.
This figure did not include the eight children separated from
an armed group in the DRC, who remained there due to
difficulties with family tracing. While the PTIP Act prohibits the
penalization of trafficking victims for unlawful acts committed
as a direct result of being subjected to human trafficking, and the
government generally encourages, but does not require victim
cooperation, reports indicated that the government detained
some trafficking victims, including children, in an attempt
to compel them to cooperate with criminal investigations.
Police intermittently rounded up street children, including
potential trafficking victims, and held them for a number of
days at a juvenile rehabilitation center before returning them
to their families. Authorities sent some of the children to a
youth training center that provided food, counseling, and
three months of vocational training, before being returned to
their families. Reports also indicated police and communities
sometimes treated street children as criminals, arbitrarily
arresting, detaining, and beating them, and forcing them
to clean detention facilities. Ugandan law permits foreign
trafficking victims to remain in Uganda during the investigation
of their case and to apply for residence and work permits. The
government worked to keep victims’ identities anonymous by
using voice distortion and video link facilities. The law allows
for victims to file civil suits against the government or their
alleged traffickers for restitution; however, there were no reports
this occurred during the reporting period.

PREVENTION

The government maintained modest prevention efforts. The
National Taskforce continued to coordinate all anti-trafficking
efforts, with COCTIP serving as its secretariat, led by an
MIA Permanent Secretary. During this reporting period, the
government elevated COCTIP to an official department within
the MIA with a small permanent budget allocation; however,
the national taskforce remained without a lead ministry,
strategic mandate, or direct funding. COCTIP and the taskforce
coordinated information-sharing and cooperation with NGOs
and international organizations on victim assistance. However,

405

UKRAINE

they had limited effectiveness without an official mandate
to drive national anti-trafficking efforts or authority to fund
and propose improvements and activities for participating
agencies. In 2016, the government continued its national
awareness campaigns—composed of talks, media outreach,
and distribution of written materials. The national taskforce
and COCTIP, with funding from MIA, coordinated with NGOs
to conduct awareness campaigns through broadcast media
and billboards, purposefully targeted at potential victims,
including community outreach to schools and at religious
centers. MIA produced trafficking brochures and hung posters at
locations where Ugandan job seekers frequented, and passport
and immigration officers often co-unseled potentially at-risk
Ugandans seeking passports about the dangers of trafficking. The
Office of the Prime Minister conducted an awareness campaign
against child trafficking among the refugee community and
several NGOs conducted awareness forums with youth leaders
and students and an anti-trafficking awareness walk in Kampala.
In January 2016, the government banned Ugandans from
traveling abroad for domestic work due to reports of abuse,
including trafficking. Immigration officials scrutinized travel
documents, passports, and reasons for travel before clearing
travelers to depart Uganda for work in foreign countries.
According to the government, authorities intercepted a total
of 250 Ugandan travelers before departure en route to countries
in which there was a high risk of them becoming a victim of
trafficking, or could not adequately explain the purpose for
their travel. The government continued its oversight of labor
recruitment agencies. The government held various meetings
to review the Employment (Recruitment of Ugandan Migrant
Workers Abroad) Regulations, 2005, and Guidelines on the
Recruitment and Placement of Ugandan Migrant Workers
Abroad. The Ministry of Gender, Labor, and Social Development
(MGLSD) reported it required labor recruitment companies
to register and undergo a thorough vetting process. Registered
companies were required to maintain a minimum bank deposit
and a credit line, to ensure they maintained the financial
resources to repatriate workers if they became trafficking victims.
The MGLSD reported vetting all labor requests received by local
companies and all contracts executed between international
employers and the Ugandan business. COCTIP reported
conducting pre-departure briefings for migrant workers. As part
of the government’s public awareness campaign, it published a
list of the 63 licensed labor recruitment companies and urged
the public to only seek work through those agencies.
In an effort to protect migrant workers, the government worked
with labor recruitment agencies to ensure that the relevant
Ugandan embassies were aware of their citizens working in
those countries. The government did not report making efforts
to close unlicensed recruitment agencies or suspend the licenses
of those suspected of facilitating human trafficking. Corruption
reportedly inhibited EEU oversight of labor recruitment firms, as
did insufficient staffing. In October 2016, the MGLSD signed a
bilateral labor agreement with the Kingdom of Jordan’s Ministry
of Labor to increase labor protections for Ugandans working in
Jordan. The government did not provide anti-trafficking training
for its diplomatic personnel and the government did not report
whether Uganda’s peacekeepers received anti-trafficking training
prior to deployment. The government did not make discernible
efforts to reduce the demand for commercial sex acts or forced
labor. Uganda is not a party to the 2000 UN TIP Protocol.

TRAFFICKING PROFILE
406

As reported over the past five years, Uganda is a source, transit,

and destination country for men, women, and children
subjected to forced labor and sex trafficking. Ugandan children
as young as seven are exploited in forced labor in agriculture,
fishing, forestry, cattle herding, mining, stone quarrying, brick
making, carpentry, steel manufacturing, street vending, bars,
restaurants, and domestic service. Girls and boys are exploited in
prostitution. Recruiters target girls and women aged 13-24 years
for domestic sex trafficking, especially near sports tournaments
and road construction projects. An international organization
reported that most internal trafficking victims are Ugandans,
the majority of which are exploited in forced begging. Young
boys and girls were the most vulnerable to internal trafficking,
mainly for labor or begging in Kampala and other urban areas.
Authorities subjected some prisoners in pre-trial detention to
forced labor.
During the reporting period, Ugandan victims were identified
in neighboring countries, including Kenya, South Sudan,
and the DRC. Children from the DRC, Rwanda, Burundi,
Kenya, Tanzania, and South Sudan are subjected to forced
agricultural labor and exploited in prostitution in Uganda.
South Sudanese children in refugee settlements in northern
Uganda are vulnerable to trafficking. Some Ugandans abducted
by the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) prior to 2006 remain
unaccounted for, and may remain captive with LRA elements
in the DRC, Central African Republic, and the disputed area of
Kafia Kingi, which is claimed by both Sudan and South Sudan.
Young women remained the most vulnerable to transnational
trafficking, usually seeking employment as domestic workers in
the Middle East; at times Ugandan women were fraudulently
recruited for employment and then exploited in forced
prostitution. Ugandan migrant workers are subjected to forced
labor and sex trafficking in United Arab Emirates (UAE), Saudi
Arabia, Oman, Qatar, Kuwait, Iraq, Iran, Egypt, Turkey, and
Algeria. Despite the government’s complete ban in 2016 on
Ugandans’ travel abroad for domestic work, some licensed and
unlicensed agencies circumvented this ban by sending Ugandans
through Kenya and Tanzania. An international organization
reported identification of 14 victims in Malaysia and Thailand
and additional victims in Poland, Switzerland, and Ukraine.
Official complicity may have hindered government oversight
of labor recruitment agencies. Traffickers, who appear to be
increasingly organized, are frequently relatives or friends of
victims, or may pose as wealthy women or labor recruiters
promising vulnerable Ugandans well-paid jobs abroad or in
Uganda’s metropolitan areas. Some traffickers threatened to
harm the victims’ family or confiscated travel documents.

UKRAINE: TIER 2
The Government of Ukraine does not fully meet the minimum
standards for the elimination of trafficking; however, it is making
significant efforts to do so. The government demonstrated
increasing efforts compared to the previous reporting period;
therefore, Ukraine was upgraded to Tier 2. The government
demonstrated increasing efforts by investigating, prosecuting,
and convicting officials complicit in trafficking, increasing
interagency coordination and training for government officials,
and taking some steps to improve law enforcement efforts. The
government secured slightly more convictions in 2016, ending
a five-year downward trajectory. The government also improved
its efforts to protect trafficking victims in Ukraine, increasing
subsistence payments to victims and drafting legislation that

in persons and punishments with international standards.
Law enforcement investigated 112 trafficking offenses in
2016, compared with 111 in 2015. These cases included 72
instances of sexual exploitation, nine for labor trafficking, 26 for
“forced involvement in criminal activity”, three for trafficking
of children, and two for forced begging. Authorities initiated
prosecutions of 45 cases in 2016, compared to 59 cases in 2015.
The government convicted 28 traffickers in 2016 under article
149 (25 in 2015), ending a five-year downward trajectory. Of
the 26 convicted traffickers who were sentenced in 2016, 21 (81
percent) did not receive prison sentences, five received prison
sentences (19 percent) which ranged from two to 10 years,
and the government confiscated assets from two defendants;
20 of the 32 (62 percent) traffickers convicted in 2015 did not
receive prison sentences, and six had property confiscated.
The repeated issuance of suspended or significantly reduced
sentences to convicted traffickers is indicative of weakness in
government prosecution efforts. Experts noted law enforcement,
prosecutors, and judges demonstrated limited understanding
and capacity to identify and prosecute labor trafficking cases.

UKRAINE

would better protect foreign victims. However, the government
did not meet the minimum standards in several key areas. It did
not vigorously investigate and prosecute traffickers, initiating
progressively fewer investigations and prosecutions for the
last six years. Lax sentencing, likely aggravated by corruption,
meant most convicted traffickers avoided imprisonment, which
is inadequate to deter trafficking crimes and disproportionately
low compared to the seriousness of the crime. Foreign donors
and NGOs continued to fund and provide most victim services.
International organizations continued to identify far greater
numbers of victims than the government, indicating inadequate
identification efforts by the government and a continuing lack
of trust in the government’s ability to protect victims and ensure
their fair treatment. Ongoing Russian aggression continued to
drain Ukrainian government resources, displacing close to two
million people, and making a large population vulnerable to
exploitation.

The government increased coordination among agencies
engaged in anti-trafficking efforts and issued several directives
prioritizing anti-trafficking work.

RECOMMENDATIONS FOR UKRAINE

Vigorously investigate and prosecute trafficking offenses,
including public officials complicit in trafficking crimes, and
ensure convictions result in proportionate and dissuasive
sentences; certify more victims to ensure they are afforded
their rights under the trafficking law and modify the procedure
for granting victim status to lessen the burden on victims
to self-identify and divulge sensitive information; provide
adequate resources for and fully implement the 2016-2020
national action plan; increase training for law enforcement,
prosecutors, and judges in the investigation and prosecution of
trafficking cases, particularly on forced labor, a victim-centered
approach, and how to gather evidence outside of victims’
testimony; develop victim/witness protection measures and
take active measures to end intimidation of victims during
legal procedures; increase training for officials on victim
identification, particularly in proactive screening for labor
trafficking and of vulnerable populations, such as women in
prostitution, children in sex trafficking, foreign migrant workers,
and internally displaced persons; increase law enforcement
monitoring of recruitment firms engaged in fraudulent practices
associated with exploitation; increase funding for services to
support trafficking victims, including rehabilitation centers;
increase cooperation with law enforcement officials in countries
where Ukrainians are subjected to human trafficking; and
harmonize the trafficking law and the Law on the Legal Status
of Foreigners to ensure foreign victims are entitled to remain
in the country and access to victim services.

PROSECUTION

The government slightly increased law enforcement efforts
and took action on official complicity. Article 149 of the
criminal code prohibits all forms of trafficking and prescribes
penalties from three to 15 years imprisonment, which are
sufficiently stringent and commensurate with those prescribed
for other serious crimes, such as rape. The government drafted
legislation that will better align legal definitions of trafficking

The prosecutor general issued directives that prioritized the
use of surveillance resources for trafficking cases; authorized
penalties for Office of the Prosecutor General officials complicit
in trafficking; called for investigations of alleged complicity
in other government offices; and mandated disciplinary
penalties for investigators and prosecutors who downgraded
trafficking offenses to lesser charges. Additional directives
instructed prosecutors to insist on pretrial detention for alleged
traffickers and called for stricter sentencing for trafficking
offenses. Authorities collaborated with foreign governments
on transnational investigations and extraditions, including
Poland, Czechia, France, and Germany.
Official complicity and willful negligence have resulted in the
abuse of children in state-run institutions and orphanages, who
are especially vulnerable to trafficking. Institutional reforms in
Ukraine over the past two years have led to widespread turnover
in many government institutions, notably within the ranks
of the national police and the judiciary. The recertification
and restructuring of police units that took place during the
reporting period included mandatory training and testing
on human trafficking, with assistance from an international
organization, and reduced the number of officers suspected of
corruption. The government, in conjunction with international
funding and partners, significantly increased training for judges,
prosecutors, law enforcement, and other government officials.
The government increased its law enforcement efforts against
official complicity, compared to the previous reporting period
during which it did not report any investigations, prosecutions,
or convictions of public officials. The government began
investigating and arresting several officials allegedly complicit
in trafficking, including the commander of the Kyiv City police
counter-trafficking unit. In addition, courts convicted two
police officers and sentenced them to six months in prison;
three police officers remained under house arrest pending trial.
Authorities arrested a teacher at a government-run boarding
school for orphans in Kharkiv who attempted to sell one of
her students.

PROTECTION

The government increased efforts in some areas of protection.

407

UKRAINE

An interagency working group submitted draft legislation that
is intended to help ensure the safety of persons with disabilities
from exploitation, improve procedures for establishing victim
status, expand the network of victim service providers, and
improve protections for foreign victims and stateless persons.
The government continued to rely on international organizations
and NGOs, with international donor funding, to identify victims
and provide the vast majority of victim protection and assistance.
The government increased identification through the national
referral mechanism and identified 103 victims in 2016 (83
in 2015). In 2016, an international organization in Ukraine
assisted 1,105 victims, compared with 699 in 2015. International
organizations reported that the majority of the victims who
received assistance were victims of labor trafficking. As was the
case in the two prior years, law enforcement and other officials
identified less than 10 percent of the victims referred to an
international organization in 2016. Authorities approved 110
out of 124 applications requesting official victim status in 2016,
compared to 83 out of 91 in 2015 and 27 out of 48 in 2014. The
government’s current procedure to identify victims primarily
relies on the victims—often exiting traumatic situations—to
self-report and provide evidence of their victimization; unless
police and other government officials are sensitive to the
hurdles victims face and adopt a victim-centered approach,
many victims will refuse to go through the process. Although
the law directs law enforcement officials to proactively identify
trafficking victims, observers reported police did not display
a willingness to screen individuals in prostitution for signs of
trafficking. Experts report law enforcement officials often do not
understand the international definition of labor trafficking and
therefore do not adequately identify labor trafficking victims.
The government significantly increased its funding for victim
assistance and anti-trafficking efforts during the reporting
period. The government disbursed 98,800 hryvnia ($3,659)
to the national budget and 219,220 hryvnia ($8,119) to local
budgets for anti-trafficking measures in 2016, compared to
46,300 hryvnia ($1,715) to the national budget and 215,900
hryvnia ($7,996) to local budgets in 2015. The government
provided officially recognized victims with financial assistance.
In November 2016, the government tripled the amount of its
financial assistance payment to trafficking victims, raising it to
4,630 hryvnia ($171), three times the official subsistence level.

408

Ukraine’s trafficking law outlines protection requirements for
victims and entitles victims to receive free temporary housing
at a government shelter, psychological assistance, medical
services, employment counseling, and vocational training,
regardless of whether a criminal case proceeds or the victim
cooperates with law enforcement. Trafficking victims whom
the government has granted official status are assigned a case
management team, which provides referrals to care facilities,
NGOs, or other services according to an individual plan. Some
victims requiring shelter stayed at a rehabilitation center run by
an international organization with funding from international
donors, housed in a state-run hospital; the government has
considered taking on responsibility for the center, but has not
yet committed to doing so. Adult victims could also stay at
government-run centers for socio-psychological assistance for
up to 90 days and receive psychological and medical support,
lodging, food, and legal assistance. The government increased
the number of centers for socio-psychological assistance from
18 to 20 and opened 36 additional social services centers,
bringing the total to 692. Observers reported the provision
of assistance was problematic due to funding shortfalls and
shortage of trained staff. Child victims could be accommodated
in centers for socio-psychological rehabilitation of children for

up to 12 months and receive social, medical, psychological,
education, legal, and other types of assistance. The government,
often in cooperation with international organizations, provided
significantly more training for government officials on victim
identification and assistance during the reporting period.
The Ministry for Social Policy (MSP), in cooperation with
an international organization, has developed an interactive
e-learning module on the identification and referral of trafficking
victims. The government reported it assisted in the repatriation
of 15 citizens in 2016 to Ukraine who had been subjected to
trafficking abroad: eight from Kuwait; two each from Lebanon,
Cyprus, and Jordan; and one each from Malaysia and Poland.
Victims have the legal right to file civil suits for restitution,
and courts ordered restitution payments for 79 trafficking
victims in 2016. Various protective measures were legally
available inside courtrooms for victims who testified at trial,
but in practice, authorities rarely applied these measures and
often did not treat trafficking victims serving as witnesses in a
victim-sensitive manner. NGOs reported the government often
did not provide legal assistance, other support, or protection
to victims during criminal cases.
Officials asserted that illegal migrants are screened for indicators
of trafficking, and migrants determined to be trafficking victims
are offered official status and referrals to services. There were
no reports the government punished or deported victims
for crimes committed as a direct result of being subjected to
trafficking; however, due to uneven screening, authorities may
have detained, deported, or punished trafficking victims. There
is no legal way for foreign victims to extend their stay, change
legal residency, secure employment rights, or seek protection
from being returned to countries where they face hardship
or retribution. The government’s interagency working group
presented draft amendments to the legislature that would allow
foreign victims to remain in Ukraine for extended periods and
work legally in the country.

PREVENTION

The government increased prevention efforts. The government
allocated full funding of anti-trafficking programs in its 2017
budget, in accordance with its national action plan. Authorities
coordinated with NGOs and international organizations,
carrying out a wide range of awareness campaigns, including
television programs, street advertising, public events, and
community policing. National and regional educational
institutions developed and implemented lectures and training
sessions for students and teachers on victim identification
and trafficking prevention. Authorities placed 40 billboards
and distributed 4,000 flyers publicizing the government-run
Counter-Trafficking and Migrant Advice Hotline, which assists
over 20,000 persons annually.
Police conducted investigations of both formal and informal
recruitment networks, resulting in the arrest and investigation of
several members of criminal groups engaged in the fraudulent
recruitment of Ukrainian citizens who were forced to smuggle
drugs across borders. The State Labor Inspectorate added 190
labor inspectors to its force, but observers noted business
inspections and oversight of compliance with labor laws
remained inadequate, as the government extended a moratorium
on labor inspections through December 2017, limiting the
ability of police to proactively investigate small businesses.
The MSP continued to maintain a list of licensed recruitment
companies. The government conducted counter-trafficking
pre-deployment trainings for Ukrainian troops assigned to

TRAFFICKING PROFILE

As reported over the past five years, Ukraine is a source, transit,
and destination country for men, women, and children
predominantly subjected to forced labor and to a lesser extent, to
sex trafficking. Ukrainian victims are subjected to sex trafficking
and forced labor in Ukraine as well as in Russia, Poland,
Turkey, the United States, and other parts of Europe, Central
Asia, and the Middle East. Ukrainian women and children are
subjected to sex trafficking within the country. Some Ukrainian
children and vulnerable adults are subjected to forced begging.
A small number of foreign nationals, including those from
Moldova, Russia, Vietnam, Uzbekistan, Pakistan, Cameroon,
and Azerbaijan, are subjected to forced labor in Ukraine
in a variety of sectors including construction, agriculture,
manufacturing, domestic work, the lumber industry, nursing,
and street begging; experts report the number of foreign victims
in Ukraine has fallen dramatically since the beginning of
hostilities in eastern Ukraine. Although the government lacks
a centralized system for tracking migrants, the government
reported that it continued to be a route for human smugglers
attempting to smuggle people between Europe, Central Asia,
and the Middle East; such migrants are vulnerable to human
trafficking en route or in Ukraine. The approximately 82,000200,000 children institutionalized in state-run orphanages
were especially vulnerable to trafficking. Officials of several
state-run institutions and orphanages were allegedly complicit
or willfully negligent in the sex and labor trafficking of girls
and boys under their care.
Fueled by Russian aggression, the conflict in eastern Ukraine
has displaced nearly two million people, and this population
is especially vulnerable to exploitation. In areas controlled by
the Russia-led separatists, the situation has become particularly
challenging. Employment options are limited and separatist
“authorities” have restricted international humanitarian aid
that would help meet civilian needs. Women and girls from
conflict-affected areas have been kidnapped for the purposes
of sex and labor trafficking in Ukraine and Russia. Internally
displaced persons were subjected to trafficking, and some
Ukrainians were subjected to forced labor on territory not
under government control, often via kidnapping, torture,
and extortion. The large displaced population and economic
crisis has increased vulnerability of Ukrainians to trafficking
throughout the country. International experts reported the
demographics of Ukrainian trafficking victims has shifted since
the beginning of the conflict to include more urban, younger,
and male victims subjected increasingly to forced labor and
criminality, such as drug trafficking and couriers. Russian-backed
militants issued decrees calling for the conscription of minors
and continued to regularly use children as soldiers, informants,
and human shields. The OSCE Special Monitoring Mission in
Ukraine reported children as young as 15 continued to take
part in active combat as part of combined Russian-separatist
forces. Children ages 15 to 17 were actively being recruited to
participate in militarized youth groups that teach children to
carry and use weapons. Children who excel in this training were
encouraged to form their own reconnaissance and sabotage
groups and begin to fight. A Ukrainian government official
reported that one children’s battalion associated with this
training program, the St. George the Victor Battalion, may
include children as young as 12 years. The recruitment of

children by militant groups took place on territory not under the
control of the government and in areas where the government
was unable to enforce national prohibitions against the use of
children in armed conflict.

UNITED ARAB EMIRATES: TIER 2
The Government of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) does
not fully meet the minimum standards for the elimination of
trafficking; however, it is making significant efforts to do so. The
government demonstrated increasing efforts compared to the
previous reporting period; therefore, the UAE remained on Tier
2. The government demonstrated increasing efforts by initiating
the direct oversight of domestic laborers by the Ministry of
Human Resources and Emiratization (MOHRE, formerly the
Ministry of Labor) and implementing other labor reforms
intended to prevent and reduce forced labor among foreign
workers in the private sector. The government increased the
number of labor trafficking prosecutions and overall trafficking
convictions compared to the previous reporting period. The
government also launched a five-year trafficking prevention plan
targeting victims, witnesses, staff, and government authorities
that included a program for trafficking survivors to educate
vulnerable groups on the risks of trafficking. In addition, the
government increased penalties for delayed salary payments
and enhanced cooperation with source country governments
in regulating labor recruitment. However, the government
did not meet the minimum standards in several key areas.
Officials did not strengthen the UAE’s enforcement of a
prohibition on withholding workers’ passports by employers,
which remained a problem throughout the country. Legal and
regulatory protections for domestic workers remained weak,
and criminal trafficking prosecutions focused predominantly
on sex trafficking victims rather than labor trafficking.

UNITED ARAB EMIRATES

multinational missions and provided anti-trafficking training for
its diplomatic personnel. The government did not demonstrate
specific efforts to reduce the demand for commercial sex acts
or forced labor.

RECOMMENDATIONS FOR THE UNITED ARAB EMIRATES

Finalize and implement comprehensive laws that conform
with international standards and regulations to provide
protections for domestic workers; strictly enforce prohibitions
on withholding workers’ passports; continue to expand usage
of standard procedures for victim identification among foreign
workers subjected to forced labor, particularly domestic workers
who have fled their employers; provide protection services
to all trafficking victims, including by increasing services for
forced labor victims; increase efforts to investigate, prosecute,
and punish trafficking offenses, especially labor trafficking
involving domestic workers, and labor-related crimes such as
fraud, restrictions on movement, or using force to compel labor;
convict and punish labor traffickers, including exploitative
recruitment agents and employers; allow labor trafficking
victims access to services at shelters; and, increase published
data and access to information pertaining to labor practices,
trafficking crimes, and anti-trafficking efforts.

409

UNITED ARAB EMIRATES

PROSECUTION

The government increased anti-trafficking law enforcement
efforts. Federal law 51 prohibits all forms of trafficking and
prescribes penalties ranging from one year to life in prison, as
well as fines and deportation. These penalties are sufficiently
stringent and commensurate with those prescribed for other
serious crimes, such as rape. The government prosecuted
106 alleged traffickers in 25 cases, of which nine cases were
brought to final verdicts, while the remaining 16 were ongoing
at the close of the reporting period. This is compared with 54
prosecutions in 17 cases, of which the government concluded
three in the previous reporting period. In 2016, sentences
ranged from one year plus a fine to life in prison. Of the 25
cases officially registered as human trafficking, 22 related to
sex trafficking, while the remaining related to attempts to
sell children. No labor violations were officially registered as
human trafficking cases under anti-trafficking federal law 51;
however, media reports indicated the government prosecuted
more than 10 individuals for forced labor-related allegations,
such as restrictions on movement or physical threats and
abuse to compel labor. This compares with two labor-related
trafficking cases in 2015. The government did not uniformly
enforce a prohibition on employers withholding workers’
passports, which remained a pervasive problem, especially
for domestic workers. The government did not report any
investigations, prosecutions, or convictions of officials complicit
in trafficking crimes.
The government continued its extensive monitoring and
inspection program for private sector manual laborers, including
automated electronic monitoring of salary payments for 95
percent of the private sector workforce via the Wage Protection
System (WPS), identifying and settling delayed wage payments
for tens of thousands of workers, and carrying out more than
200,000 labor-related inspections. However, labor law violations
containing indicators of trafficking, such as delayed wage
payments, unpaid overtime, or substandard housing, are rarely
processed criminally but rather as regulatory violations, typically
resulting in fines or the cancellation of business licenses; fines
for trafficking in lieu of imprisonment are inadequate to deter
the crime.
The government continued to train its officials on human
trafficking in 2016. The national committee to combat human
trafficking (NCCHT), Dubai police, and the Dubai judicial
institute completed a first and began a second four-month, 95
classroom hour diploma program to train relevant government
officials on trafficking issues, including investigations, victim
protection, forced labor, and interagency and inter-emirate
coordination. As of early 2017, more than 50 senior officials
from police, judicial, social services, and other government
ministries had enrolled in the diploma program. In addition,
the Ministry of Interior (MOI) conducted 35 specialized antitrafficking programs and lectures for judges, prosecutors,
immigration officials, and workers, with total participation
of more than 2,700 individuals. The MOI and Dubai police
conducted eight anti-trafficking workshops and training
programs for more than 200 government and private sector
personnel engaged in counter-trafficking initiatives, as well as
eight anti-trafficking lectures with more than 1,000 participants.

PROTECTION

410

The government maintained limited protection efforts. Its
efforts to provide protective services focused almost entirely on
sex trafficking victims, rather than labor trafficking. To identify
victims, the government continued to rely predominantly

on third-party referrals from foreign embassies; religious
institutions; reactive police investigations; or tips received
through hotlines, smartphone applications, and the internet;
and to a lesser degree proactive screening mechanisms employed
by officials, such as at border entry points. During the reporting
year, the government identified 34 trafficking victims, an
increase from 24 victims in the previous year. Of the total
identified, 24 were transferred to protective services during the
reporting year. Authorities continued to implement a system
to move suspected trafficking victims from detention centers,
or facilities run by home country embassies or consulates, to
shelters, upon the completion of victim identification; however,
some victims continued to express fear of being sent to prison
for immigration or other violations rather than being accepted
into a shelter. The government maintained funding for its
shelters offering housing and assistance for female and child
victims of sex trafficking and abuse in Abu Dhabi and Dubai;
protective services included medical, psychological, legal,
educational, rehabilitation and reintegration, and vocational
assistance. During the reporting year, the government closed
two additional shelters in the emirates of Sharjah and Ras al
Khaimah because they were reportedly not being utilized. The
government also continued to fund a shelter for male victims,
but it was not used during the reporting period. According to a
MOU between the MOI and the government-funded shelters,
police were responsible for referring and escorting victims safely
to shelters, though officials reported some victims voluntarily
seek assistance at the shelters. Some foreign domestic workers,
including potential trafficking victims, sought shelter assistance
at their respective embassies and consulates in part due to
fears of arrest and to a lack of government shelters for forced
labor victims.
The government allocated 65,000 dirham ($17,700) in 2016
to help with repatriation expenses such as housing, children’s
education, medical expenses, and business start-up grants. The
government exempted from fines trafficking victims who had
overstayed their visas. It also offered trafficking victims shelter,
vocational training, counseling, and immigration relief. The
government did not provide permanent or formal temporary
residency status to victims; however, it permitted their stay in
shelters to recover and participate in court proceedings, and
worked with international organizations to resettle in third
countries victims who could not return to their countries
of origin. Laborers were entitled to seek new employment
in the country after 60 days of wage non-payment by their
existing employer. The government trained labor inspectors and
immigration officers at all UAE borders to screen for potential
trafficking victims, and authorities provided educational
materials in multiple languages to foreign workers at points
of entry. Dubai International Airport maintained billboards in
its arrival halls warning against human trafficking and providing
emergency contact information for victims who need assistance.

PREVENTION

The government sustained its robust efforts to prevent human
trafficking. In 2016, the government began implementation of
three labor decrees intended to reduce forced labor practices
among private sector workers. Ministerial decree 764 requires
employers to give potential employees a contract at the time
an offer is made, which meets standard criteria and is in a
language the individual understands, prior to the prospective
employee applying for a work visa to enter the country. The
contract must then be signed by the worker a second time within
one week of entering the country, making it legally enforceable
in the UAE and eliminating employers’ ability to alter the

The government continued to carry out its national action plan
to address human trafficking. The NCCHT hosted a website with
information on its anti-trafficking strategy and produced an
annual publication of the government’s efforts. In April 2016,
labor officials launched the second phase of a multilingual
“Know Your Rights” campaign that targeted manual laborers
living in labor dormitories. The government also continued a
two-year national awareness campaign—launched in October
2015—aimed at recruitment agencies for domestic labor. The
campaign consisted of police visits to recruitment agencies
to educate recruiters on their legal requirements and how
to recognize signs of human trafficking. The campaign also
included the distribution of literature to domestic workers
arriving at airports warning them of recruiting scams and
providing information on how to seek help. The Dubai police
and representatives from the Dubai Foundation for Women
and Children commenced a five-year anti-trafficking plan
during the reporting period targeting victims, witnesses, staff,
and government authorities. The plan included a program for
trafficking survivors to educate vulnerable groups on the risks of
trafficking when they return to their respective home countries
and communities. Radio stations frequently aired segments
alerting the public to human trafficking risks, indicators, and
options for reporting suspected trafficking activity or seeking
help for trafficking crimes. To assess the effectiveness of its
anti-trafficking awareness efforts, the government conducted
surveys during the reporting period showing 94 percent of
people polled had at least some awareness of human trafficking
risks and the options for reporting suspected trafficking cases
or seeking help. In August, the UAE began a joint program
with India, the largest labor source country, to help oversee
manual laborers. Under the program, Indian officials verify the
terms of a contract offered to an Indian worker, and confirm
the terms match those filed with, and approved by, the UAE
before a worker is allowed to travel to the UAE, thus curtailing
the ability of recruiters to provide workers fraudulent visa or
job offers. The MOHRE continued an extensive labor inspection
program, conducting tens of thousands of housing and work
site inspections using a team of 380 full-time labor inspectors,

in addition to seven dedicated anti-trafficking inspectors. The
government did not take measures to reduce the demand
for commercial sex acts in the UAE. The Ministry of Foreign
Affairs and International Cooperation maintained provision
of workshops and awareness programs on human trafficking
for its diplomatic personnel.

TRAFFICKING PROFILE

As reported over the past five years, the UAE is a destination and
transit country for men and women subjected to forced labor
and sex trafficking. Foreign workers, recruited globally, comprise
more than 95 percent of the UAE’s private sector workforce. Low
wage positions, including most manual labor and a significant
portion of the service sector, are occupied almost entirely by
migrant workers predominantly from South and Southeast Asia
and the Middle East, with a small but growing percentage from
East and West Africa. Some of these workers are subjected to
practices indicative of trafficking, such as passport retention,
abuse of the legal process, non-payment of wages, fraudulent
employment promises, fraudulent documentation, substandard
food and housing provisions, and physical abuse, and may be
victims of forced labor. Women from some of these countries
travel willingly to the UAE to work as domestic workers, massage
therapists, beauticians, hotel cleaners, or elsewhere in the service
sector, but some are subjected to forced labor or sex trafficking
after arrival. Sponsorship laws contribute to vulnerability to
trafficking, particularly for domestic employees, by restricting
the ability of employees to leave or change employers, and
giving employers the power to cancel residence permits, deny
employees permission to leave the country, and threaten
employees with abuse of legal processes. Although under UAE
laws employers must cover the cost of recruitment, and the UAE
government has taken steps to further regulate recruitment in
both the corporate and domestic sectors, many source-country
labor recruiters charge workers exorbitant fees, causing workers
to enter service in the UAE owing debts in their respective
countries of origin, increasing vulnerability to trafficking
through debt bondage. Reports persisted in the domestic
labor sector of deceitful employment promises, which were
subsequently broken after individuals arrived in the country.
Similar cases were reported among workers who circumvented
labor protections by entering the country on tourist visas, with
the intention of later converting these to work visas. Some
women, predominantly from Eastern Europe, Central Asia,
South and Southeast Asia, East Africa, Iraq, Iran, and Morocco,
are subjected to forced prostitution in the UAE.

UNITED KINGDOM

terms of the original job offer. Ministerial decree 765 makes
it easier for employees, unilaterally or in mutual agreement
with an employer, to terminate job contracts. Ministerial
decree 766 ensures an employee may seek employment with
a new employer as long as the old employment relationship
was terminated as stipulated by the aforementioned decree.
However, the three decrees, announced in 2015 and enacted in
2016, do not apply to domestic workers. A draft law protecting
the rights of domestic workers was approved by the cabinet in
January 2012, and revised in early 2017; however, it still awaits
final approval and enactment for the fifth consecutive year. In
December, the MOHRE commenced regulatory jurisdiction over
domestic workers and opened 12 centers to review domestic
worker contracts for legal compliance. In addition, MOHRE
took over the full regulation of domestic workers in the emirate
of Dubai. The government continued to investigate workers’
complaints of unpaid wages through a dispute resolution
process and the WPS, intended to ensure workers are paid
according to their contracts, and employers are punished with
administrative and financial penalties for failing to comply.
During the reporting period, the government tightened the
timelines for enforcement from 30 days of delayed payments
to 15 days, and helped recover overdue financial payments
for tens of thousands of workers. Workers filed thousands of
labor complaints through smartphone applications, telephone
hotlines, websites, email, and formally with MOHRE offices
and mobile units.

UNITED KINGDOM: TIER 1
The Government of the United Kingdom (UK) fully meets the
minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking. The
government continued to demonstrate serious and sustained
efforts during the reporting period; therefore, the UK remained
on Tier 1. The government demonstrated serious and sustained
efforts by launching a wide variety of national awareness
campaigns, identifying more potential victims and prosecuting
more traffickers than in the previous reporting period, and
strengthening enforcement of labor standards in sectors with
high vulnerability to trafficking. The government continued to
implement provisions of The Modern Slavery Act enacted in
2015 that strengthened existing laws to pursue perpetrators,
increased protections for victims, and established the UK’s
first Independent Anti-Slavery Commissioner. Although

411

UNITED KINGDOM

the government meets the minimum standards, the victim
identification and referral system, did not consistently assist
all those requiring help, and the quality of care varied between
jurisdictions in the UK. The government did not always ensure
victim care following a 45-day reflection period, after which
authorities in many cases deported foreign victims who were
not assisting in an investigation and prosecution.

RECOMMENDATIONS FOR THE UNITED KINGDOM

Increase funding for, and access to, specialized services for
trafficking victims across all UK jurisdictions, regardless of their
immigration status; provide a trafficking-specific long-term
alternative to deportation or repatriation for foreign victims;
consider extending the reflection and recovery period beyond
45 days for all service providers; increase efforts to prosecute,
convict, and sentence traffickers with strong sentences; establish
a database on sentencing of convicted traffickers across the
UK, categorized by type of trafficking conviction; expand the
independent child trafficking advocate program nationally; make
training on trafficking mandatory for all social workers and
care providers working with trafficking victims, especially those
working with children; increase training for law enforcement,
public defenders, prosecutors, judges, and front-line responders,
including in UK overseas territories, to improve responses to
trafficking victims and ensure victims are not prosecuted for
crimes committed as a result of being subjected to trafficking;
and develop a comprehensive monitoring and evaluation
framework for effective implementation of the Modern Slavery
Act and related anti-trafficking laws and regulations across UK
jurisdictions.

investigating eight trafficking cases and three convictions in
2016, with sentences ranging from one year to two and a half
years imprisonment; one trafficking case was pending trial. In
Scotland, there were nine prosecutions and three convictions
in 2015. The UK government did not report the proportion of
convictions that were for sex trafficking versus labor trafficking
and did not report statistics on sentences imposed on convicted
traffickers. NGOs expressed concern that prosecutions lag and
court-imposed sentences and fines have been minimal and
insufficient to deter potential perpetrators.
In November, a court convicted five Czech nationals of labor
trafficking; sentences in the case ranged from two years to
six and a half years in prison. In August, a Nigerian woman
was convicted and received a 22-year prison sentence for sex
trafficking Nigerian victims in France, after transiting through
Heathrow Airport, following her arrest under Operation
Hudson, targeting organized trafficking groups, and led by
UK Immigration Enforcement. In January, a court convicted
two Polish citizens and sentenced each to six years in prison
for forcing migrant workers to work in a sporting equipment
factory and withholding wages.
The government provided varying levels of anti-trafficking
training to law enforcement officers, prosecutors, and justice
officials. All new police recruits and detectives were mandated
to complete training modules on human trafficking. An NGO
published a set of trafficking survivor care standards that
the government disseminated widely and included in law
enforcement training materials. The Independent Anti-Slavery
Commission implemented guidelines for training for all 43
police forces in England and Wales, including a training manual
for use by each unit in conducting their own trainings. In
Northern Ireland, the police service trained 1,788 front-line
officers by the end of 2016 and focused external training
on call-handlers who often have first contact with potential
trafficking victims. The Northern Ireland police service continued
providing around-the-clock support to front-line officers and
other agencies through their dedicated anti-trafficking unit. The
UK government did not report any investigations, prosecutions,
or convictions of government employees complicit in human
trafficking offenses.

PROSECUTION

The government maintained prosecution efforts. The Modern
Slavery Act of 2015, applicable to England and Wales,
prohibits trafficking and prescribes penalties up to and
including life imprisonment, which are sufficiently stringent
and commensurate with those prescribed for other serious
crimes, such as rape. Northern Ireland and Scotland enacted
similar legislation in 2015, also with sufficiently stringent and
commensurate penalties. For a conviction in a trial following
an indictment, the sentence is life imprisonment. Provisions
in the Modern Slavery Act that became effective in August
2016, provide law enforcement authority to pursue criminals,
including human traffickers at sea, and including authority
to board, divert, and detain vessels; make arrests; and seize
evidence while investigating potential offenses at sea. Laws
across the UK now allow for the seizure of convicted traffickers’
assets for payment to victims.

412

The government did not report the total number of trafficking
investigations initiated in 2016. The government reported the
Crown Prosecution Service, which handled cases in England
and Wales, prosecuted 343 suspected traffickers and convicted
216 traffickers between 2015 and 2016, an increase from the
previous year’s prosecution of 295 individuals and conviction
of 192 individuals. Authorities in Northern Ireland reported

PROTECTION

The government increased protection efforts. Through the
national referral mechanism (NRM), authorities identified
3,805 potential trafficking victims in 2016, compared with
3,266 potential victims in 2015. This 17 percent increase
followed a 40 percent increase in 2015; these were concurrent
with expanded public awareness efforts and implementation
of the Modern Slavery Act. Of these potential victims, 51
percent were female, 49 percent were male, and five potential
victims were transgender, while 67 percent were adults and
33 percent were children. Victims came from 108 countries,
with 66 percent from the UK. Among adult victims, 13 percent
were referred for domestic servitude, 44 percent for other forms
of labor trafficking, 38 percent for sex trafficking, and five
percent for unknown exploitation. Overall, the percentage of
minors referred as potential victims increased by 30 percent
from 2015. Authorities referred eight percent of the minors
for domestic servitude, 37 percent for other forms of labor
trafficking, 28 percent for sex trafficking, and 27 percent for
unknown exploitation. The Modern Slavery Act includes a
“duty to notify” requiring specific government agencies report
all potential adult victims encountered to authorities under the
guidelines of the NRM. In July 2016, by executive decrees, the

The UK operates the NRM as a process for identifying and
providing care and support for trafficking victims. The initial
referral to the system is generally made by a first responder, such
as the police, the border patrol, or local authorities. Following
the initial referral, the NRM has two steps for identification: a
preliminary finding of “reasonable grounds” that an individual
is likely a trafficking victim and a final decision of “conclusive
grounds” that triggers victim protection measures. There is
no formal appeal process for preliminary or final decisions,
but a reconsideration of the decision can be requested. The
UK Visas and Immigration in the Home Office and the UK
Human Trafficking Centre makes these determinations. Once
a reasonable grounds decision is made, the victim enters a
45-day period and program of reflection and recovery with
access to services such as accommodation, health care, and
counseling. During this period the victim decides whether
to assist in the investigation and potential prosecution of the
perpetrator. The Modern Slavery Act requires that victims receive
a determination on their status as a victim under the NRM
within 45 days, although in many cases the government did not
meet this deadline, leaving some potential victims in limbo.
The UK government-funded a £9 million ($11.08 million)
contract with an NGO to coordinate the provision of care for
adult victims in England and Wales under the NRM during the
45-day recovery and reflection period for the 2015-2016 fiscal
year. In Wales, the Anti-Slavery Leadership Group tailored an
individual plan that can extend beyond the 45-day reflection
period. In Northern Ireland, authorities contracted NGOs to
work in tandem with government agencies to provide care for
victims; however, there was a lack of government funding for
victims who do not enter the NRM or who require support
following conclusive decisions on their trafficking cases and
remain in Northern Ireland. Victims of trafficking in Scotland
also had the right to access support and assistance, and the
Scottish government provided £700,000 ($862,070) to two
victim support organizations reflecting the priority for victim
care in the government strategy launched in October 2016.
For victims who choose to return voluntarily to their country
of origin, the UK government provides up to £2,000 ($2,460)
toward their reintegration there.
Foreign victims who assist with investigations may be granted
temporary residency for up to one year. However, authorities
otherwise typically deported foreign victims. Long-term legal
alternatives to removal to countries where victims might face
hardship or retribution were only available through asylum
procedures. NGOs in Northern Ireland criticized this practice
and noted legal representatives of potential victims often
discourage them from entering the referral system because
applying for asylum is a more promising route to remain in
Northern Ireland longer. NGO representatives reported potential
victims in Northern Ireland were typically deported one year
from a positive decision under the NRM and were not allowed
to apply for asylum, whereas asylum-seekers typically spend
many years in Northern Ireland and often become permanent
residents.

Government funding of NGOs tripled over the past four years
to £9 million ($11.08 million) but some NGOs say care is
insufficient for the growing number of identified victims once
the 45-day reflection period ends, and that no record is kept
once the victims leaves the system. The government is currently
reviewing the NRM system, including a determination whether
to extend the 45-day reflection period. NGOs reported cases of
victims returning to prostitution or being re-trafficked due to
lack of long-term support. The Wales Anti-Slavery Leadership
Group established a “Survivor Care Pathway” with a long-term
individual plan for survivors. North Wales implemented a
multi-faceted victim reception model designed to be operational
in support of a victim within two hours after identification.
Local children’s services offices were charged with providing
support for children, but NGOs raised concern that with
no mandatory training for social workers, children did not
receive adequate care. The Modern Slavery Act provides for
the appointment of Independent Child Trafficking Advocates
(ICTA), to represent and support children victims within the
legal system. However, the government did not expand the
program nationwide pending a second pilot program to assess
effectiveness of the model, and NGOs expressed disappointment
in this decision. The government announced in June 2016 a
plan to provide training for all ICTAs, and provided £3 million
($3.69 million) over the next three years, to address the issue
of missing children at risk of re-victimization. Scotland’s
Human Trafficking and Exploitation Act also provides for an
independent child trafficking guardian. Northern Ireland’s
Human Trafficking and Exploitation Act 2015 provides for an
independent legal guardian for children subjected to trafficking
and unaccompanied children who arrive without a parent or
primary caregiver.

UNITED KINGDOM

government required that when police refer a potential victim
to the NRM, they must also record the encounter as a potential
crime of human trafficking under the Modern Slavery Act.
Despite increases in identification of victims resulting from this
effort, the Independent Anti-Slavery Commissioner reported in
August that data from 43 regional police forces across the UK
revealed failings in the comprehensive recording of modern
slavery crimes in England and Wales.

Under the Modern Slavery Act, victims have a statutory defense
for crimes committed as a consequence of their trafficking.
Similar provisions exist under Northern Ireland and Scotland
law, although NGOs in Northern Ireland raised concerns some
individuals who were prosecuted may have been trafficking
victims. UK and Northern Ireland law protects victims during
court hearings by allowing them to testify by video, behind a
screen, or with the public removed from the court. Courts may
confiscate assets of convicted human traffickers and compensate
victims through reparation orders, and now can include assets
accrued over the past six years.
The government implemented provisions of the Modern Slavery
Act allowing foreign domestic workers who are trafficking
victims to change employers during the six-month period for
which they are admitted. Effective April 2016, any domestic
worker determined to be a victim is allowed to remain in the
UK for an additional two years. All domestic workers entering
on an employment visa into the UK for more than 42 days must
attend a session to inform them of their rights and available
protections. Some observers still argued this system of “tied”
visa status to actual employment continued to leave workers
vulnerable, as it discouraged victims from reporting abuses.

PREVENTION

The government increased prevention efforts. The Independent
Anti-Slavery Commissioner published an annual report in
October 2016, highlighting achievements one year into the
2015-2017 strategic plan. Results included increased awareness
raising, efforts to improve the recording of potential trafficking
victims, and increased protection of vulnerable children. Under
the Slavery and Trafficking Risk Orders provision in the Modern

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Slavery Act, there were 19 individuals determined under court
order as posing a high risk of committing a human trafficking
offense, and restricted from such activities as working with
children, employing staff, or traveling to specific countries.
Similar orders were available in Scotland and Ireland through
their anti-trafficking laws. A national helpline launched in early
2016, received 468 calls between October and December, with
47 percent being potential trafficking cases. The Immigration
Act 2016 significantly expanded the scope of the Gangmasters
Licensing Authority to enforce labor standards in high-risk
sectors by allowing the agency to investigate regulatory and
criminal offenses in employment, and created a new position
of Director of Labour Market Enforcement, responsible for
setting priorities for labor market enforcement to fight worker
exploitation. In July the Prime Minister announced she would
chair a new taskforce, which began meeting regularly, and set
up to improve the operational response to slavery, to develop
an international strategy, and to increase coordination among
government agencies, and between the government and service
organizations. In November the government announced a new
£8.5 million ($10.47 million) Police Transformation Fund,
which includes a Joint Slavery and Trafficking Analysis Centre
within the National Crime Agency, focused on research and
developing best practices in trafficking-related issues such as
cybercrime, child protection, immigration crime, financial
crime, effective training, and awareness building.
Under The Modern Slavery Act, all businesses with annual
revenue exceeding £36 million ($44.34 million) must publish
an annual statement detailing efforts to ensure its operations
and supply chains are free of human trafficking. This approach
seeks to create a “race to the top” among companies through
transparent reporting and inter-industry collaboration. The antislavery commissioner noted the UK is a leader in developing
this approach, and many companies are tackling the issue
directly, developing toolkits, running training programs, and
introducing agreements with suppliers. However, consistent
use of best practices was sporadic and critics noted the lack of
monetary or criminal penalties for non-compliance.
Authorities may prosecute citizens for sexual offenses committed
against children overseas, but the government did not report
any actions against UK nationals engaged in child sex tourism.
All registered sex offenders must notify the government of
foreign travel, enabling the police to share information with
other jurisdictions or apply for a sexual harm prevention
order, preventing such travel. The government did not report
anti-trafficking training provided to its diplomatic personnel
or members of the military prior to deployment abroad as part
of international peacekeeping missions in 2016.
National awareness campaigns included a broad range of
activities, including press communications by the Home Office
regarding transparency in supply chains, as well as promoting
activities and events on Anti-Slavery Day, October 18. Officials
in Scotland used the day for an interagency operation to visit
business premises, including food productions companies,
agricultural firms, car washes, and beauty shops, and identified
11 potential trafficking victims in the process. Wales includes
an anti-trafficking module in school curriculum, as well as
poster campaigns in public buildings.

TRAFFICKING PROFILE
414

As reported over the past five years, the United Kingdom is a
source, transit, and destination country for men, women, and
children subjected to sex trafficking and forced labor, including

domestic servitude. The government estimates there may be
up to 13,000 persons subject to trafficking, with one-fourth
to one-third children. Most identified victims are subject to
labor trafficking. Most foreign trafficking victims come from
Africa, Asia, and Eastern Europe. Albania, Vietnam, Nigeria,
Romania, and Poland were the top countries of origin during
the past year. UK children continue to be subjected to sex
trafficking within the country. Children in the care system and
unaccompanied migrant children are particularly vulnerable to
trafficking. Migrant workers in the UK are subjected to forced
labor in agriculture, cannabis cultivation, construction, food
processing, factories, domestic service, nail salons, food services,
car washes, and on fishing boats. In Northern Ireland, migrants
from Albania and Romania are particularly vulnerable to forced
labor, including in agricultural work.

OVERSEAS TERRITORIES OF THE UNITED KINGDOM
BERMUDA
Bermuda is a limited destination territory for women and men
subjected to forced labor. Some foreign migrant workers from
Asia and Latin America are vulnerable to domestic servitude and
abuse or to forced labor in the construction and agricultural
industries in Bermuda. The Department of Immigration
received several reports of suspected forced labor cases, but
after investigation determined them not to be trafficking
cases. The government did not report any other investigations,
prosecutions, or convictions of trafficking offenses in 2016. Some
employers reportedly confiscate passports, withhold wages,
deny benefits, and threaten migrant workers with repaying
the cost of airline tickets. Migrant workers in Bermuda operate
under a strict system of government work permits obtained by
employers on behalf of foreign workers. The Transnational
Organized Crime Act 2013 criminalizes all forms of sex and
labor trafficking and prescribes penalties of up to 20 years
imprisonment. Government resources were inadequate to
conduct inspections to identify possible exploitation of foreign
workers. No government officials were prosecuted or convicted
for involvement in trafficking or trafficking-related criminal
activities in 2016.

TURKS AND CAICOS
Turks and Caicos Islands are a destination for men, women,
and children subjected to sex trafficking and forced labor.
According to local experts, the large population of migrants
from Haiti, the Dominican Republic, and Jamaica are vulnerable
to sex trafficking and forced labor, with stateless children and
adolescents especially at risk. Local stakeholders, including
law enforcement officials, have reported specific knowledge
of sex trafficking occurring in bars and brothels and noted
trafficking-related complicity by some local government officials
was a problem. The government did not report any updates
on anti-trafficking legislation, introduced in 2012, which
was still pending at the end of the previous reporting period.
Penalties under the proposed legislation include up to ten years
imprisonment. The government did not report protection or
prevention efforts undertaken during the reporting period.
Four government officials participated in a regional antitrafficking training session in June. The absence of specific
legislation criminalizing trafficking as defined by the 2000 UN
TIP Protocol; the absence of victim identification, screening,
and protection procedures; and limited awareness of human
trafficking on the part of officials and the public continued to
hinder anti-trafficking efforts.

The Government of the United States fully meets the minimum
standards for the elimination of trafficking. The government
continued to demonstrate serious and sustained efforts
during the reporting period; therefore, the United States
remained on Tier 1. The government demonstrated serious
and sustained efforts by investigating and prosecuting both sex
and labor trafficking, and significantly increasing the number
of convictions; providing services to a greater number of
trafficking victims and increasing overall funding levels for
these services; providing various types of immigration relief for
foreign national victims, including a pathway to citizenship;
granting T nonimmigrant status to more trafficking victims and
extending Continued Presence from one to two years duration
to allow victims to remain in the United States temporarily
during the investigation and prosecution of their traffickers;
enhancing outreach to and engagement with survivors to
improve training, programs, and policies on human trafficking;
expanding industry- and sector-specific outreach initiatives; and
continuing funding for an NGO-operated national hotline and
referral service. Although the government meets the minimum
standards, advocates called for increased efforts to investigate
and prosecute labor trafficking cases and continued to urge more
consistent, victim-centered implementation of anti-trafficking
laws and policies, including increased efforts to ensure more
trafficking victims have timely access to immigration relief.
Furthermore, NGOs reported continued instances of state and
local officials detaining or prosecuting trafficking victims for
criminal activity related to their trafficking, notwithstanding
“safe harbor” laws in some states. Advocates called for the
U.S. Congress to adopt a federal vacatur bill that would allow
trafficking victims to vacate any such convictions and encouraged
the government to enhance protections for foreign workers,
who are particularly vulnerable to labor trafficking.

RECOMMENDATIONS FOR THE UNITED STATES

Increase investigation and prosecution of labor trafficking cases
and cases involving nonviolent forms of coercion; dedicate
additional resources for and increase access to comprehensive
services across the country, including appropriate housing for
all trafficking victims and economic opportunities for survivors;
encourage state, local, and tribal authorities to adopt policies
not to criminalize victims; increase training of prosecutors
and judges on criminal restitution for trafficking victims;
strengthen survivor engagement and incorporate survivor
input in policies and programs; increase protections for foreign
workers in the United States; ensure federal law enforcement
officials apply in a timely and consistent manner for Continued
Presence for eligible victims; enhance screening procedures to
improve identification of trafficking victims among vulnerable
populations; enforce federal acquisition regulations aimed at
preventing trafficking in federal contracts, including pertaining
to providing strong grievance mechanisms for workers, and
increase transparency related to any remedial actions against
federal contractors; strengthen prevention efforts aimed at

PROSECUTION

The U.S. government increased federal anti-trafficking law
enforcement efforts. The Trafficking Victims Protection Act
of 2000 (TVPA), as amended, prohibits all forms of human
trafficking. U.S. law also prohibits conspiracy and attempts to
violate these provisions, as well as obstructing their enforcement
and benefitting financially from these acts. Additionally, a
criminal statute on fraud in foreign labor contracting prohibits
the use of fraud to recruit workers abroad to work on a U.S.
government contract performed within or outside the United
States, on U.S. property, or on military installations outside
the United States. Penalties prescribed under these statutes
are sufficiently stringent and commensurate with penalties
prescribed for other serious offenses, such as rape. Penalties
can include up to life imprisonment. Several bills that address
human trafficking were introduced in the U.S. Congress during
the reporting period, including the Trafficking Survivors Relief
Act, which would allow victims to vacate federal convictions
of crimes committed as a direct result of being subjected to
trafficking. Advocates noted support for the adoption of federal
vacatur legislation.
The Department of Justice (DOJ), Department of Homeland
Security (DHS), and Department of State (DOS) are the primary
investigating agencies for federal trafficking offenses, with federal
human trafficking cases prosecuted by DOJ. DOJ, DHS, and the
Department of Labor (DOL) continued to develop complex
human trafficking investigations and prosecutions through the
Anti-Trafficking Coordination Team (ACTeam) Initiative and
delivered advanced training to federal agents, prosecutors, and
victim assistance professionals. DOJ provided $15.8 million in
fiscal year (FY) (October 1 through September 30) 2016 to 22
law enforcement agencies and victim service providers that make
up 11 Enhanced Collaborative Model (ECM) anti-trafficking
task forces in partnership with other federal, state, local, and
tribal law enforcement entities and community partners. This
represents a decrease from 16 ECM task forces funded in FY
2015. NGOs noted ECM task force grantees should receive
additional training and technical assistance and called for an
evaluation of the model to assess its effectiveness and identify
best practices in task force development and operations.

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: TIER 1

populations vulnerable to human trafficking and the demand
for commercial sex and labor trafficking; increase training for
state, local, and tribal agencies on victim identification and
available benefits; improve data collection on prevalence and on
victims identified and assisted; and support federal legislation
to allow victims to vacate federal convictions that are a direct
result of being subjected to trafficking.

To improve identification of labor trafficking cases, DOJ
launched a labor trafficking initiative to strengthen efforts
through training, enhanced intelligence models, and strategic
outreach. DOL, with assistance from DOJ, enhanced its protocols
for detection and referral of potential labor trafficking cases.
The federal government reports its law enforcement data by fiscal
year. In FY 2016, DHS reported opening 1,029 investigations
possibly involving human trafficking, compared to 1,034 in FY
2015. DOJ formally opened more than 1,800 human trafficking
investigations, a significant increase from 802 in FY 2015. DOJ’s
ECM task forces separately initiated 982 investigations, a slight
decrease from 1,011 in FY 2015. DOS reported opening 288
human trafficking-related cases worldwide during FY 2016,
an increase from 175 in FY 2015. The Department of Defense
(DoD) reported investigating at least 13 human trafficking-

415

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

related cases involving U.S. military personnel, compared to 10
in FY 2015. The Department of the Interior (DOI) investigated
one human trafficking case involving a victim of sex trafficking,
which led to a conviction and a 22-year sentence.
DOJ initiated a total of 241 federal human trafficking
prosecutions in FY 2016, a decrease from 257 in FY 2015, and
charged 531 defendants, an increase from 377 in FY 2015. Of
these prosecutions, 228 involved predominantly sex trafficking
and 13 involved predominantly labor trafficking, although
some involved both. DOJ and DHS partnered with Mexican
law enforcement counterparts to initiate prosecutions on both
sides of the U.S.-Mexico border that disrupted international
criminal enterprises.
During FY 2016, DOJ secured convictions against 439 traffickers,
a significant increase from 297 convictions in FY 2015. Of these,
425 involved predominantly sex trafficking and 14 involved
predominantly labor trafficking, although several involved both.
These prosecutions and convictions include cases brought under
trafficking-specific criminal statutes and related non-trafficking
criminal statutes, but do not include child sex trafficking cases
brought under non-trafficking statutes. Sentences ranged from
12 months to life imprisonment. Advocates continued to call on
federal prosecutors to seek and for courts to award mandatory
restitution for victims of human trafficking.
Advocates urged for increased efforts to investigate and
prosecute labor trafficking cases and more systematic efforts to
prioritize these cases. Advocates continued to call for increased
prosecution of trafficking cases involving nonviolent forms of
coercion and called for an increased role for DOL and the Equal
Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) to investigate
labor trafficking.
State laws form the basis of most criminal actions in the
United States. All U.S. states and territories have anti-trafficking
criminal statutes. NGOs continued to report state and local
law enforcement demonstrated uncertainty regarding their
authority over forced labor cases and lacked formal structures
to increase the identification of such cases. Although at least
34 states have “safe harbor” laws, advocates reported the
continued criminalization of victims for crimes committed
as a direct result of being subjected to trafficking, and urged
federal, state, local, and tribal agencies to adopt policies not
to criminalize victims. In addition, 36 states have vacatur laws
allowing survivors to seek a court order vacating or expunging
criminal convictions entered against them that resulted from
their trafficking situation, and advocates noted increased
efforts to provide remedies for survivors who have criminal
records as a result of their exploitation. Advocates also reported
inconsistencies between federal and state treatment of child
trafficking victims due to differences in how child trafficking
is defined, and urged states to use the definition in the TVPA.

416

The federal government continued to collect state and local
data on human trafficking investigations during the reporting
period through the Uniform Crime Reporting Program; however,
not all state and local jurisdictions participated. Data from
2015 collected from participating jurisdictions are publicly
available. In 2015, jurisdictions reported a total of 387 human
trafficking offenses resulting in arrest or solved for crime
reporting purposes, an increase from 120 in 2014, due in
part to more state and local participation in the reporting
program. NGOs noted an increase in law enforcement efforts
to investigate and prosecute human trafficking by street gangs.
There is no formal mechanism to track prosecutions at the

state and local levels.
The government continued to take some actions to address
official complicity at both the federal and state levels. Authorities
arrested an Army service member for sex trafficking involving a
15-year-old and administratively discharged him under other
than honorable conditions for a pattern of misconduct. A
federal contractor working overseas was convicted in the United
States of child sexual exploitation and child sex trafficking.
Law enforcement officers from several agencies around the
San Francisco Bay Area were charged with crimes related to
their sexual misconduct involving a child sex trafficking victim,
including obstruction of justice and failure to report.
The U.S. government expanded efforts to train officials. Federal
agencies collaborated with survivors to improve law enforcement
strategies for victim identification, incorporate survivorcentered best practices in investigations and prosecutions,
and increase efforts to prevent and detect trafficking. However,
survivor advocates reported limited opportunities for input and
involvement in the development of anti-trafficking training for
law enforcement; they encouraged improved comprehensive
training on all forms of human trafficking as well as the hiring
of survivors as trainers. Advocates called for increased training
of prosecutors and judges on mandatory restitution for victims
of trafficking. Multiple federal agencies continued to engage
in extensive capacity-building for law enforcement, judges,
military personnel, pro bono attorneys, and others to more
effectively investigate and prosecute trafficking cases. DOJ
expanded training provided to judges and judicial officers on
the dynamics of child sex trafficking of U.S. citizens and lawful
permanent residents (LPR) and to law enforcement regarding
the use of money laundering charges and asset forfeiture laws.
DHS implemented a human trafficking training program for
all transportation security and border protection employees
as required in the Justice for Victims of Trafficking Act (JVTA),
and collaborated with American Indians and Alaska Natives
to pilot a “train the trainer” course for tribal leaders and law
enforcement. DOS continued an outreach program for domestic
field offices and passport centers in the United States to train
personnel on human trafficking, including on investigations,
prosecutions, and victim services. The Department of Health
and Human Services (HHS) developed resources for courts to
assist in the implementation of the Preventing Sex Trafficking
and Strengthening Families Act, including the identification
of and assistance to child victims of trafficking.

PROTECTION

The U.S. government increased its efforts to protect trafficking
victims. It granted T nonimmigrant status to more victims than
in the prior fiscal year, significantly increased overall funding
for victim services, and provided services to significantly more
trafficking victims. It also continued collaboration with NGOs,
victim service providers, and survivors for a multidisciplinary
response to victim identification and service referrals. Advocates
continued to report cases of local and state authorities detaining
or prosecuting trafficking victims for conduct committed as a
direct result of being subjected to trafficking.
Federally-funded victim assistance includes case management
and referrals for medical and dental care, mental health and
substance abuse treatment, sustenance and shelter, translation
and interpretation services, immigration and legal assistance,
employment and training, transportation assistance, and other
services such as criminal justice advocacy. Although federal
funding for victim assistance increased for a third year in FY

HHS issued Certification and Eligibility Letters for foreign
victims to be eligible for services and benefits to the same
extent as refugees, provided grant funding for comprehensive
case management for foreign and domestic trafficking victims,
and funded capacity-building grants for community-based
organizations and child welfare systems to respond to trafficking.
DOJ provided comprehensive and specialized services for both
domestic and foreign trafficking victims. Record-keeping systems
used by DOJ and HHS did not allow for cross-referencing to
determine which victims were served by both agencies.
A Certification Letter enables foreign adult victims to be eligible
for federal and state services to the same extent as refugees when
Continued Presence is granted or when a victim has a bona fide
or approved application for T nonimmigrant status, as described
further below. An Eligibility or Interim Assistance Letter allows
immediate eligibility for federally-funded benefits and services to
the same extent as refugees when credible information indicates
a child is or may be a victim of trafficking. HHS issued 444
Certification Letters to foreign adults in FY 2016, a decrease
from 623 in FY 2015, and issued 332 Eligibility Letters to foreign
children in FY 2016, an increase from 239 in FY 2015. Seventyfive percent of all adult victims certified in FY 2016, more than
half of whom were male, were victims of labor trafficking; and
more than 73 percent of child trafficking victims who received
Eligibility Letters were labor trafficking victims. HHS awarded
$6.4 million in FY 2016 to three NGOs for the provision of
case management services to foreign national victims through
a nationwide network of NGO sub-recipients, a decrease from
$7.5 million in FY 2015. Through these grants, HHS supported
152 NGOs with the capacity to serve individuals at 241 sites
across the country that provided assistance to a total of 1,424
individuals and their family members.
In FY 2016, HHS increased funding to serve U.S. citizen and
LPR victims of human trafficking and provided $3.4 million
for coordinated victim-centered services, an increase from $3.2
million in FY 2015. It provided an additional $2.5 million to
address trafficking within child welfare systems.
DOJ continued to significantly increase the funding allocated
to victim assistance, enabling service provision to more victims.
During FY 2016, DOJ funded 33 victim service providers offering
comprehensive and specialized services across the United
States, totaling approximately $19.7 million, compared with
$13.8 million in FY 2015 and $10.9 million in FY 2014. DOJ
provided $6 million in new funding to improve outcomes
for child and youth human trafficking victims up to age 24,
and increase services for American Indian and Alaska Native
trafficking victims who reside in urban areas. DOJ also provided
$2.6 million to enhance services for victims of child sexual
exploitation and U.S. citizen and LPR victims of child sex
trafficking. From July 1, 2015 to June 30, 2016, DOJ grantees
providing victim services reported 5,655 open client cases,
including 3,195 new clients, compared with 3,889 open client
cases and 2,180 new clients the year before and a respective
2,782 and 1,366 the year before that. DOJ’s grantees reported
that 66 percent of clients served during the reporting period
were U.S. citizens or LPRs and 34 percent were foreign nationals.
DOJ published a new victim assistance rule in August 2016 that
provided more flexibility for states to use increased funding for
crime victims, including for trafficking victims. The Department
of Housing and Urban Development, in partnership with a

local housing authority and HHS, piloted the first program
in the United States to offer housing vouchers for trafficking
survivors. In response to the JVTA, DOJ created a webpage for
survivors with information on resources and services.
NGOs and survivor advocates expressed concern that despite
federally funded programs mandating comprehensive services
for all victims of trafficking, services were not always provided
equally, and they reported inconsistencies in the availability
and delivery of services. Advocates called for increased resources
and more strategic spending of funds to provide comprehensive
services for all survivors across the country. NGOs reported the
need for increased availability of trauma-informed services for
trafficking victims. NGOs and survivor advocates continued
to report insufficient access to shelter and long-term housing
options for trafficking victims and called on the U.S. Congress
to establish a federal housing preference for survivors of
human trafficking. NGOs and survivor advocates also called
for improvements to employment and training services to
create more economic opportunities, including expansion of
vocational training programs, career development courses,
and financial counseling. An OSCE report called for increased
resources to assist vulnerable youth exiting foster care.
The United States government has formal procedures to guide
officials in victim identification and referral to service providers.
During the year, HHS child protection specialists continued to
provide training and technical assistance to overcome barriers in
identifying child trafficking victims. NGOs reported continued
concern that governmental efforts to detect and address labor
trafficking were insufficient.
When children are placed in the care and custody of HHS, they
are screened for trafficking exploitation in the United States
or abroad. When appropriate, HHS makes a determination of
eligibility for benefits and services, which may include longterm assistance. HHS assisted 122 child victims of trafficking
through its Unaccompanied Refugee Minors Program in FY
2016, a slight decrease from 124 served in FY 2015. This program
requires states to provide such child victims with the same
assistance, care, and services available to foster children. HHS
also developed a guide on victim identification and other related
resources for child welfare agencies and continued to enhance
efforts to identify American Indian and Alaska Native victims
in both rural and urban areas. Advocates noted concerns about
screening procedures at the U.S. borders and in detention
facilities, and called for increased training of officials and better
monitoring of the care provided to unaccompanied children.
DHS provides trafficking-specific immigration options through
Continued Presence, which is temporary, and T nonimmigrant
status (commonly referred to as the T visa). T visa applicants
must be victims of a severe form of trafficking in persons, be
in the United States or at a port of entry because of trafficking,
and show cooperation with reasonable requests from law
enforcement unless they are younger than 18 years of age or
unable to cooperate due to trauma suffered. They must also
demonstrate that they would suffer extreme hardship involving
unusual and severe harm upon removal from the United States.
T visa applicants may petition for certain family members,
including certain extended family members who face a present
danger of retaliation; T visa beneficiaries and their derivative
family members are authorized to work and are eligible for
certain federal public benefits and services. After three years,
or upon the completion of the investigation or prosecution,
those with T visas may be eligible to apply for lawful permanent
resident status and eventually may be eligible for citizenship.

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

2016, NGOs continued to report funding remained insufficient
to address the myriad needs of individual victims.

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UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

DHS granted T nonimmigrant status to 750 victims and 986
eligible family members of victims in FY 2016, a significant
increase from 610 and 694 in FY 2015. In December 2016,
DHS published an interim final rule amending the regulations
governing the requirements and procedures for victims of
human trafficking seeking a T visa to conform to legislation
enacted after the initial rule was published in 2002. The rule
became effective in January 2017.
DHS manages all requests from federal and state law
enforcement for Continued Presence, authorizing foreign
nationals identified as trafficking victims who are potential
witnesses to remain lawfully and work in the United States
during the investigation and prosecution of the crime. In FY
2016, DHS issued Continued Presence to 129 trafficking victims,
who were potential witnesses, a decrease from 173 in FY 2015.
It granted 179 extensions of Continued Presence, a decrease
from 223 in FY 2015. In October 2016, DHS updated the
Continued Presence guidance to law enforcement to improve
consistency, extend the duration from one to two years, and
increase the renewal duration from one year to up to two
years. NGOs continued to call for consistent implementation
of Continued Presence across the United States, making sure
officials request it as soon as possible during an investigation
to enhance the use of this law enforcement tool.
International organizations recommended better training for
officials, especially at the local level, on the different types of
immigration options available to trafficking victims as well as
speeding up the process by which these benefits are granted.
Another form of immigration relief available to trafficking
victims is U nonimmigrant status (commonly referred to as the
U visa) for victims of certain qualifying crimes who are helpful
in the investigation or prosecution of the qualifying criminal
activity and meet other specific eligibility requirements. DHS
no longer delineates the number of U visas issued based on
the specific underlying crimes for which they are issued.
In FY 2016, a DOS program reunified 279 family members with
identified victims of trafficking in the United States, compared
with 244 in FY 2015. This program provided two survivors with
assistance returning to their home country.
Multiple agencies across the federal government continued
to provide training to federal, state, local, and tribal law
enforcement, as well as to NGO service providers and health
and human service providers to encourage more consistent
application of victim-centered and trauma-informed approaches
in all phases of victim identification, assistance, recovery, and
participation in the criminal justice process. An NGO noted
limited training and resources for child welfare agencies to
provide trauma-informed services for trafficking victims.

418

Advocates reported authorities continued to arrest trafficking
victims for crimes committed as a direct result of being
subjected to trafficking. Survivor advocates continued to call
on states to reform their laws to ensure trafficking victims are
not criminalized for offenses their traffickers force them to
commit. NGOs called for special conditions in federal grants
to law enforcement entities that would bar the use of funds
to criminalize human trafficking victims. NGOs and survivor
advocates continued to report the criminalization of victims
creates barriers to accessing public benefits, employment,
housing, and other needs essential to avoid re-trafficking and
facilitate recovery. NGOs also called on the U.S. government to
address labor trafficking at the same levels as sex trafficking, as
much as practicable, in anti-trafficking programs and activities.

Survivors continued to report some victims felt pressure to testify
against their traffickers to obtain access to services.

PREVENTION

The U.S. government increased efforts to prevent trafficking.
Federal agencies conducted numerous awareness and training
activities for their own personnel, including law enforcement
and acquisition professionals, and field office staff. The
Department of the Treasury (Treasury) joined the President’s
Interagency Task Force to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in
Persons (PITF) to bring added expertise, including in evaluating
the nexus between money laundering and human trafficking. To
enhance transparency and stakeholder input, the PITF included
the presidentially-appointed survivor advisory council in its
annual meeting and reported on agency accomplishments in
combating human trafficking. The government continued to
implement its strategic action plan on victim services in the
United States and publicly released the second status report in
December 2016. The government released a national action plan
on responsible business conduct that included commitments
to combat human trafficking in supply chains.
The government continued public outreach measures on the
causes and consequences of human trafficking and continued
efforts to increase victim identification among vulnerable
populations and sectors and improve prevention efforts. HHS
continued to fund an NGO to operate the national human
trafficking hotline and in January 2017 launched a training and
technical assistance center to enhance the public health response
of communities and professionals to human trafficking. In FY
2016, the national hotline received 51,167 calls from across
the United States and U.S. territories. In October 2016, the
government updated the “Know Your Rights” pamphlet U.S.
embassies and consulates provide applicants for temporary
work and exchange visitor visas, incorporating public input,
including from survivors, and featuring additional resources
for workers. In FY 2016, the pamphlet generated 459 calls to
the national hotline, compared to 424 calls generated by the
pamphlet in FY 2015.
In 2016, DHS continued its nationwide human trafficking
awareness Blue Campaign and developed new products,
including a toolkit for the hospitality sector. DOJ prepared
a toolkit of materials and resources for distribution during
outreach events that includes victim identification practices
and protocols for assisting possible trafficking victims. HHS
launched a new awareness campaign that incorporated
stakeholder and survivor input and continued to provide
training to health care and social service professionals. The
Department of Transportation (DOT) and DHS worked with
survivor advocates, law enforcement, and aviation experts to
revise their training module for airline personnel. In July 2016,
a legislative amendment added an annual training requirement
for flight attendants on recognizing and responding to potential
victims of trafficking, which led to an increase in the number
of airlines partnering with DOT and DHS from four to 16.
In FY 2016, the EEOC conducted more than 240 trafficking
outreach events, reaching more than 25,000 individuals. The
Department of Agriculture (USDA) developed and distributed
across the United States a pamphlet on human trafficking and
industry vulnerabilities, and it conducted outreach visits to rural
communities in three states to increase awareness of trafficking.
Treasury continued to analyze and disseminate information
received from financial institutions related to human trafficking.
The U.S. Agency for International Development funded antitrafficking activities in 34 countries and continued its mandatory

NGOs continued to report abuses, including allegations of
human trafficking, of workers in the United States on workbased or other nonimmigrant visas. Advocates urged enhanced
protections for workers, including regulatory changes to
uncouple work visas from an employer or sponsor, and called
for the allocation of more resources to protect workers from
unscrupulous recruiters.
Both the H-2A and H-2B programs prohibit directly or
indirectly charging foreign workers job placement, recruitment,
or other fees—including certain salary deductions—related
to employment, and both require disclosure of the terms
of employment. Since August 2016, DOL has maintained
an online list of H-2B foreign labor recruiters to increase
transparency in the recruitment process, help workers verify
legitimate H-2B job opportunities in the United States, and
better enforce recruitment violations. In January 2017, DHS
and DOL approved an agreement to share data on employers
participating in nonimmigrant and immigrant visa programs.
NGOs continued to report inadequate government oversight
and enforcement of the recruitment fee ban and noted that
workers were still being charged prohibited fees.
DOS has implemented steps to ensure the health, safety, and
welfare of participants in the J-1 Visa Exchange Visitor Program,
which includes the Summer Work Travel (SWT) and the au
pair programs. DOS conducted field monitoring of the SWT
program in the 2016 summer and winter seasons, visiting
446 SWT exchange visitor sites in 25 states and the District
of Columbia. DOS also continued outreach efforts with 25
community support structures in 19 states with significant SWT
populations to educate participants on personal safety, among
other things. In January 2017, DOS sought public comment on
a proposed new rule amending the SWT program requirements,
which adds protections for visitors and new responsibilities
for sponsors. In March 2017, a Florida man was sentenced to
30 years in prison for sex trafficking in a 2011 case involving
the exploitation of two SWT exchange visitors. With respect to
the au pair program, DOS continued to monitor the health,
safety, and welfare of au pairs. Recent media reports detailed
allegations of abuse in a small number of cases under the au
pair program involving au pairs working extra hours without
additional pay and not receiving the appropriate wage for their
placement jurisdiction.
U.S. law exempts U.S. vessels in fleets that fish for highly
migratory species from a requirement that at least 75 percent
of crew on vessels in U.S. waters be U.S. citizens. As a result,
most workers on these fleets, which dock at ports in Hawaii
and along the U.S. west coast, are foreign nationals. These
workers are not eligible, based on this work, for any U.S. workbased visas to enter the United States, are not covered by U.S.
labor law protections, and consistent with industry practice;

are subject to a requirement whereby vessel captains hold the
crew’s identity documents. DHS monitored these workers’
conditions to mitigate potential risks of exploitation.
In February 2017, a federal judge certified a class of immigration
detainees who allege they were forced to work in violation of the
TVPA during their detention in a privately owned and operated
prison company contracted by DHS. The class certification has
been appealed. DHS is not party to the lawsuit.
In 2016, DOS continued to administer its In-Person Registration
Program for domestic workers on A-3 and G-5 visas employed
by foreign mission and international organization personnel,
respectively, in the Washington, DC area and began annual
renewal appointments. DOS hosted a briefing for senior foreign
embassy and international organization officials to reiterate
program requirements, introduce a suggested employment
contract template, and emphasize foreign mission responsibility
for the welfare of these workers. DOS also held a consultation
with NGOs on issues related to domestic workers. Despite these
efforts, an OSCE report called for expansion of the In-Person
Registration Program to include all A-3 and G-5 visa holders
in the United States and raised concerns that some foreign
mission personnel evade current protection measures for foreign
domestic workers. NGO reports called for increased efforts to
prosecute domestic servitude cases involving diplomats when
possible, the inclusion of all domestic workers in federal labor
and employment law protections, and strengthened protections
under state laws.
Civil enforcement of federal laws continued to be a significant
component of the government’s anti-trafficking efforts. DOL
investigated complaints and conducted targeted civil labor
investigations involving workers in industries and sectors known
to be vulnerable to labor trafficking. In FY 2016, DOL increased
enforcement activities in industries including agriculture,
landscaping, seafood, reforestation, and hospitality. However,
survivor advocates noted the high number of cases in hospitality,
agriculture, and construction and recommended more
investigations of these industries. During the reporting period,
EEOC, which enforces federal employment discrimination
statutes, continued to pursue cases on behalf of trafficked
workers and ensure compensation for victims of trafficking,
but did not file any new cases. Federal law also allows a person
subjected to trafficking to independently file a civil cause of
action, and there were cases in which individuals took this
action during the reporting period.

UNITED STATE OF AMERICA

trafficking training for employees, including its acquisition
workforce. The Department of Education continued outreach
efforts to integrate trafficking information into school curricula
and resources. DoD incorporated mandatory human trafficking
training for contract and acquisition officers into its standard
curricula. DOS continued to provide anti-trafficking training
for its diplomatic personnel; it provided both classroom and
web-based training for Diplomatic Security personnel, consular
officers, and other employees. To prevent human trafficking,
NGOs called for a more comprehensive approach to address the
factors and conditions that increase vulnerabilities to human
trafficking. Advocates asked for more specific, easily accessible
data on prevalence and on victims identified and assisted.

The government continued its efforts to reduce the demand for
commercial sex and forced labor in the reporting period. DoD
investigated at least seven cases of service members allegedly
violating DoD’s prohibition on procuring commercial sex,
compared to at least 38 investigations the previous year. DOJ
continued to prosecute individuals who pay or attempt to pay
for commercial sex involving children. For example, in 2016,
one defendant received a sentence of 293 months in prison for
engaging in a commercial sex act with a 12-year-old child. NGOs
urged increased efforts to address the demand for commercial
sex, including efforts to prosecute those who solicit sex from
trafficking victims.
DOJ and DHS continued to proactively investigate allegations of
child sex tourism offenses perpetrated overseas by U.S. citizens
and partnered with foreign law enforcement counterparts to
share information regarding international travel of registered
child sex offenders. Ten defendants were convicted of federal
child sex tourism charges under the federal statute, 18 U.S.C.

419

URUGUAY

§ 2423(c), in FY 2016, an increase from three in the previous
reporting period. Offenders who abuse children abroad could
be prosecuted under other statutes, and prosecutions based on
other statutes are not reflected in this statistic.

Pacific Region on victim services, law enforcement responses,
training, community outreach, and prevention programs. In
USVI and Puerto Rico, DOJ participated with DHS in task forces
designed to raise awareness of and combat human trafficking.

DOJ and other federal law enforcement agencies continued to
investigate allegations of debt bondage and excessive recruitment
fees required of third-country nationals working on certain
U.S. government contracts abroad, but no federal criminal
prosecutions of employers or labor contractors resulted from
these investigations in FY 2016. There were no reports of civil
actions, debarment, or other sanctions against noncompliant
employers or labor contractors from U.S. programs.

HHS provides services to foreign victims of trafficking in
American Samoa, Guam, CNMI, Puerto Rico, and USVI. In
FY 2016, the HHS-funded national hotline received 24 calls
from U.S. territories, with the majority of those calls coming
from USVI and CNMI.

The government sought public comment on a proposed
definition of “recruitment fees” in the context of the Federal
Acquisition Regulation, “Ending Trafficking in Persons,” which
strengthens protections against trafficking in federal contracts,
and on guidance for federal contractors on anti-trafficking risk
management best practices and mitigation considerations.
DHS enforces a law that prohibits the importation of goods
made by prohibited forms of labor, including forced labor.
Within the reporting period, the government identified two
locations and detained merchandise suspected of violating
the statute but did not detain any goods on grounds it was
produced by forced labor.
In FY 2016, DOI partnered with the National Indian Gaming
Commission (NIGC) to provide a human trafficking training
session at each of the NIGC’s regional conferences. DOI worked
with DHS to host meetings with tribal leaders to address crime
and exploitation along U.S. borders and continued to provide
human trafficking training to tribal first responders, including
law enforcement and victim services personnel. For the first
time, DOJ granted three awards dedicated to increasing NGO
capacity to provide services for American Indian and Alaska
Native victims of sex trafficking who reside in urban areas. DOJ
developed a specialized training program on human trafficking
in Indian Country and directed each United States Attorney’s
Office with tribal communities to develop guidelines with
federal and tribal partners to address sexual violence and to
develop strategic plans to combat trafficking. HHS and USDA
launched a trafficking outreach initiative for rural and tribal
communities and held joint community listening sessions with
tribal leaders. HHS provided resources, training, and technical
assistance to American Indian and Alaska Native communities
to strengthen community-led responses to human trafficking
aimed at increasing awareness and addressing the service needs
of American Indian trafficking victims. Challenges include a
criminal justice infrastructure inadequate to meet the needs of
Indian Country, limited victim services, and cultural barriers
to recognizing vulnerabilities.

U.S. INSULAR AREAS

All forms of trafficking are believed to occur in the U.S. insular
areas, including American Samoa, Guam, the Commonwealth
of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI), Puerto Rico, and the
U.S. Virgin Islands (USVI).

420

In Guam and in CNMI, members of DOJ-led human trafficking
task forces continued to engage with community partners
to provide victim services, train law enforcement, and share
strategies for improving victim identification. In collaboration
with the two task forces, DOJ also continued to advance an
initiative that enhances coordination with stakeholders in the

HHS provided grant-funded training and technical assistance
in American Samoa, Guam, CNMI, Puerto Rico, and USVI in
FY 2016 on trauma-informed care and protections available
for victims of trafficking.

TRAFFICKING PROFILE

As reported over the past five years, the United States is a
source, transit, and destination country for men, women,
transgender individuals, and children—both U.S. citizens and
foreign nationals—subjected to sex trafficking and forced labor.
Trafficking occurs in both legal and illicit industries, including
in commercial sex, hospitality, traveling sales crews, agriculture,
seafood, manufacturing, janitorial services, construction,
restaurants, health care, care for persons with disabilities,
salon services, fairs and carnivals, peddling and begging, drug
smuggling and distribution, and child care and domestic
work. Individuals who entered the United States with and
without legal status have been identified as trafficking victims.
Government officials, companies, and NGOs have expressed
concern about the risk of human trafficking in global supply
chains, including in federal contracts. Victims originate from
almost every region of the world; the top three countries of
origin of federally identified victims in FY 2016 were the United
States, Mexico, and the Philippines. Particularly vulnerable
populations in the United States include: children in the child
welfare and juvenile justice systems; runaway and homeless
youth; unaccompanied children; American Indians and Alaska
Natives; migrant laborers, including undocumented workers
and participants in visa programs for temporary workers;
foreign national domestic workers in diplomatic households;
persons with limited English proficiency; persons with low
literacy; persons with disabilities; and LGBTI individuals. NGOs
noted an increase in cases of street gangs engaging in human
trafficking. Some U.S. citizens engage in child sex tourism in
foreign countries.

URUGUAY: TIER 2
The Government of Uruguay does not fully meet the minimum
standards for the elimination of trafficking; however, it is making
significant efforts to do so. The government demonstrated
increasing efforts compared to the previous reporting period;
therefore, Uruguay remained on Tier 2. The government
demonstrated increasing efforts by convicting more traffickers
and introducing a proposal for a national action plan and a
comprehensive anti-trafficking bill. However, the government
did not meet the minimum standards in several key areas. The
government initiated fewer prosecutions, courts did not impose
sufficiently stringent sentences for convicted traffickers, and
the government’s efforts to provide specialized victim services
remained inadequate.

RECOMMENDATIONS FOR URUGUAY

Increase availability of specialized services for trafficking victims,
especially outside the capital and for male victims, and continue
services throughout investigation and prosecution; vigorously
investigate and prosecute labor trafficking, forced prostitution,
and child trafficking and hold traffickers accountable with
sufficiently stringent sentences; approve the comprehensive
anti-trafficking bill and finalize the national action plan; increase
anti-trafficking training for law enforcement officials, labor
inspectors, prosecutors, judges, and social workers, particularly
to identify and assist victims of sex and labor trafficking; and
develop and operationalize a data collection system to maintain
official statistics on anti-trafficking law enforcement and victim
identification efforts.

PROSECUTION

The government maintained prosecution efforts. Article 78 of
the 2008 immigration law criminalizes all forms of trafficking,
prescribing penalties of four to 16 years imprisonment, which
are sufficiently stringent and commensurate with punishments
prescribed for other serious crimes. This article criminalizes
forced labor, slavery or other similar practices, servitude and
sexual exploitation. Article 79 makes it a crime punishable by
two to eight years imprisonment to facilitate the movement of
persons into or out of the country for the purpose of human
trafficking. Article 81 provides enhanced penalties for both
articles 78 and 79, when the crime is committed by a habitual
offender or by police or other safety officials and when the victim
is a child or when the trafficking involves “violence, intimidation
or deception.” Although some of these “means” seem to fall
implicitly within the scope of article 78, which criminalizes
forced labor and sexual exploitation, article 81 appears to make
violence, intimidation, deceit, or abuse of the vulnerability of
the victim aggravating factors rather than essential elements
of the crime. Articles 280 and 281 of the penal code prohibit
forced labor, prescribing sentences ranging from two to 12 years
imprisonment. A 1927 law (Law No. 8.080) criminalizes the
exploitation of the prostitution of another person, with penalties
ranging from two to eight years imprisonment. In addition, a
2004 sexual violence law (Law No. 17.815) criminalizes the
prostitution, servitude, or sexual exploitation, including child
pornography, of minors or persons with disabilities, with
sentences from two to 12 years; authorities use these statutes
to prosecute cases of child exploitation. Uruguayan authorities
did not report how many of the cases processed under these
laws were for adult or child sex trafficking. Two judges in the
specialized court on organized crime in Montevideo had
jurisdiction over all trafficking cases carried out by organized
criminal groups of three or more individuals. Most trafficking
cases were tried outside of this specialized court because
they involved only one or two suspects. During the reporting
period, the Interagency Committee to Prevent and Combat
Trafficking in Persons formally presented to the parliament,
the judicial branch, and the attorney general’s office (AGO) a
draft comprehensive anti-trafficking bill proposing legislation
focused on prevention, investigation and support for victims

The government did not collect comprehensive data on antitrafficking law enforcement efforts and there was no system
for tracking court cases. The AGO reported it was working
on implementing a database to track cases and produce
more accurate statistics. In the interim, individual courts and
police departments remained the primary repositories for
data collection. Uruguay’s transition from an “inquisitorial”
to an “accusatorial” justice system, planned to begin in 2017,
must take place before any new measures are taken to compile
and centralize data. In 2016, the government initiated six
investigations under article 78, three for forced labor and
three for sex trafficking, and continued one sex trafficking
investigation from 2015, compared with six investigations
for sex trafficking initiated in 2015. In 2016, the government
reported four prosecutions, two under article 78 and two
under article 4 of law 17.815, compared with 16 prosecutions
in 2015 and five in 2014. The government convicted three
individuals for sex trafficking under article 78 in 2016, an
increase from zero in 2015 and 2014. All three convictions
were in the appeals process at the end of the reporting period.
Authorities did not report the length of the sentences given in
these cases; however, in previous instances, convicted traffickers
avoided serious punishment as courts issued penalties that
were inadequate to deter the crime. The government did not
investigate, prosecute, or convict anyone under article 280 or
article 281 of the penal code in 2016. Authorities did not report
any investigations, prosecutions, or convictions of government
officials complicit in human trafficking offenses. The Ministry
of Interior (MOI) and an international organization jointly
organized two workshops on criminal investigations of human
trafficking, human smuggling, and the sexual exploitation of
children and adolescents. The government organized a police
procedure training course on gender-based violence with
a module on trafficking in persons; a total of 274 officials
participated. The MOI held a training course for 225 police
officers on combating gender-based violence with a focus on
the sexual exploitation of children.

URUGUAY

of trafficking. The newly created gender unit within the AGO
focused on investigations, prosecutions, and convictions for
crimes related to trafficking and the exploitation of children
and adolescents.

PROTECTION

The government maintained protection efforts. The National
Institute for Women (INMujeres), in the Ministry of Social
Development, was the principal provider of services for
female victims of abuse. The National Institute for Children
and Adolescent Affairs reported assisting 333 cases of sexual
exploitation of minors in 2016; although it was unclear how
many were victims of trafficking. INMujeres and an NGO
reported providing assistance to 131 victims of trafficking,
including 111 in Montevideo and 20 in the interior of the
country, a decrease from the 222 reported in 2015. It was unclear
how many were victims of commercial sexual exploitation
or forced labor. INMujeres strengthened outreach to the
interior of the country through a 14-member mobile unit
with psychologists, social workers, and lawyers who provided
psychological support, social services, and legal guidance.
During the reporting period the MOI and AGO began using a
standardized protocol to investigate cases and assist victims.
The government provided several training opportunities for
law enforcement officials, labor inspectors, prosecutors, judges,
and social workers on victim identification and assistance.
The government provided 4,575,647 pesos ($157,401), an

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UZBEKISTAN

increase from 3,638,280 pesos ($125,156) in 2015, to INMujeres
to assist adult female sex trafficking victims and women in
prostitution with psychological, medical, and other services.
There were no shelters designated for trafficking victims, so
temporary and long-term housing solutions were determined
on a case-by-case basis. There were no specialized services for
male victims. According to an international organization, the
government provided services for victims for 30 days after
which victims received general support similar to that provided
to homeless people.
The government provides protective measures to encourage
victims to assist in the investigation and prosecution of their
traffickers. According to an international organization, several
of the protective measures available, such as victim relocation,
changes of identity and economic assistance, were not fully
implemented during the reporting period. Authorities reported
Uruguay’s small population size made effective protection of
victims’ identities a challenge. There were no reports victims were
jailed, deported, or otherwise penalized for acts committed as a
direct result of being subjected to human trafficking. While the
government did not offer trafficking-specific legal alternatives
to victims’ removal to countries where they faced retribution
or hardship, general asylum, and work permits were available
for foreign trafficking victims.

PREVENTION

The government increased prevention efforts. The Interagency
Committee to Fight Trafficking in Persons met monthly,
including two meetings specifically to develop a national
action plan, which remained incomplete at the end of the
reporting period. The committee expected to finalize the
plan after the parliament approves the comprehensive antitrafficking bill. The MOI, in coordination with the National
Association of Broadcasters, recorded and broadcast a media
campaign to raise public awareness. INMujeres hosted several
awareness campaigns focused on training social workers to better
understand trafficking and improve the response at the local
and national levels. The Uruguayan parliament created a special
committee with representatives from five different political
parties to investigate trafficking. In September, the committee
organized a conference on international cooperation against
trafficking where participants discussed legislative, social, judicial
and educational perspectives to trafficking and the benefits of
increasing cooperation with civil society. The government made
efforts to prevent child sex tourism, but did not make efforts
to reduce the demand for commercial sex or forced labor. In
2016, Uruguay hosted a regional conference on preventing
sexual exploitation of children with a focus on exploitationfree tourism. Authorities provided peacekeeping troops, prior
to their deployment, a handbook addressing human rights and
international humanitarian law in peacekeeping operations,
which included a chapter on exploitation and sexual abuse. The
government provided anti-trafficking training for its diplomatic
personnel.

TRAFFICKING PROFILE

422

As reported over the past five years, Uruguay is a source,
transit, and destination country for men, women, and children
subjected to forced labor and sex trafficking. Uruguayan women
and girls—and to a more limited extent transgender adults and
male adolescents—are subjected to sex trafficking within the
country. Uruguayan women and LGBTI individuals are forced
into prostitution in Spain, Italy, Argentina, and Brazil; however,
the number of identified Uruguayan victims exploited abroad

has decreased in recent years. Women from the Dominican
Republic, and to a lesser extent from South American countries,
are subjected to sex trafficking in Uruguay. Foreign workers,
particularly from Bolivia, Paraguay, Brazil, the Dominican
Republic, and Argentina, are subjected to forced labor in
construction, domestic service, cleaning services, elderly care,
wholesale stores, textile industries, agriculture, fishing, and
lumber processing. Uruguayan officials have identified citizens of
other countries, including China and the Dominican Republic,
transiting Uruguay en route to other destinations, particularly
Argentina, as potential victims of sex and labor trafficking.

UZBEKISTAN: TIER 3
The Government of Uzbekistan does not fully meet the
minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking and is
not making significant efforts to do so; therefore, Uzbekistan
remained on Tier 3. Despite the lack of significant efforts,
the government took steps to address trafficking including
allowing the ILO to monitor the cotton harvest for child
labor since 2013 and for forced labor since 2015, and to
publish the results of a survey on labor recruitment practices
during the 2014 and 2015 cotton harvests. The government
also conducted a substantial campaign to raise awareness of
the prohibition against child labor in the harvest for a third
year. Authorities continued to prosecute suspected traffickers
involved in transnational cases and fund a rehabilitation center
for trafficking victims. Government-compelled forced labor
remained widespread during the 2016 cotton harvest. The
central government continued to demand farmers and local
officials fulfill state-assigned cotton production quotas, and
set insufficiently low prices for cotton and labor to attract a
sufficient number of voluntary workers, which led to the widescale mobilizations of adult laborers. There were anecdotal
reports of the continued use of child laborers in some locations.
Attempts to conceal possible labor violations in cotton fields
continued; there were several incidents in which provincial
officials harassed independent monitors and isolated cases of
monitors being detained and questioned. For the first time, in
2016, the government investigated cases of child labor.

RECOMMENDATIONS FOR UZBEKISTAN

Take substantive action to end the use of forced adult labor
during the annual cotton harvest, through such measures
as eliminating cotton production quotas and increasing
remuneration and improving working conditions for workers
in the cotton harvest; continue substantive actions to fully
eliminate forced child labor from the annual cotton harvest;
respecting due process, increase investigations and, when
sufficient evidence exists, criminally prosecute officials complicit
in human trafficking, including officials involved in mobilizing
forced labor; grant independent observers full access to monitor
cotton cultivation and fully cease harassment, detention, and
abuse of activists for documenting labor conditions, and
investigate, and, when sufficient evidence exists, criminally

PROSECUTION

The government maintained law enforcement efforts. Article 135
of the criminal code prohibits both sex trafficking and forced
labor, prescribing penalties of three to 12 years imprisonment,
which are sufficiently stringent and commensurate with
punishments prescribed for other serious crimes, such as
rape. For the third year in a row, investigations, prosecutions,
and convictions declined. The government conducted 651
investigations and prosecuted 361 cases for crimes related
to trafficking in 2016, compared to 696 investigations and
372 prosecutions in 2015 and 1,016 investigations and 641
prosecutions in 2014. Authorities reported convicting 451
people for crimes related to trafficking in 2016, compared to
460 in 2015. The government reported that 250 of the crimes
investigated in 2016 were related to sexual exploitation. The
government did not provide sufficient detail to determine if the
reported statistics related to trafficking or sexual exploitation met
the definition of trafficking under the TVPA. The government
reported 404 convictions carried a prison sentence, 12 carried
a sentence of correctional labor, and 29 individuals were
granted amnesty.
The Ministry of Interior (MOI) maintained an investigatory
unit dedicated to trafficking crimes. The government provided
trafficking-specific training to police, judges, and other
authorities. Despite widely reported and credible evidence
of official complicity in the cotton harvest and other sectors
with forced labor, the government did not report any criminal
investigations, prosecutions, or convictions of government
officials complicit in human trafficking offenses this year. It
did report issuing administrative fines to nine officials for
forced labor violations.

PROTECTION

The government maintained efforts to identify, assist, and protect
victims of sex and transnational labor trafficking, but made only
limited efforts to assist victims of forced labor in the cotton
harvest or other domestic sectors. The government identified
714 victims of trafficking-related crimes in 2016, a decrease
from 924 in 2015 and 1,208 in 2014. Of these 714 victims,

193 were exploited within the country, while the remaining
victims were Uzbek citizens exploited in other countries.
The government identified 29 victims of foreign origin and
reported that the majority of identified victims, whether Uzbek
or foreign, were subjected to labor trafficking. NGOs and an
international organization identified and assisted 327 trafficking
victims in 2016 (774 in 2015 and 847 in 2014). Uzbekistan’s
diplomatic missions abroad helped repatriate 109 victims by
issuing travel documents, a decrease from 146 in 2015. The
government lacked a standardized process to proactively identify
victims from vulnerable populations and refer those victims
to protective services, especially those subjected to internal
trafficking. Police, consular officials, and border guards who
were able to identify potential trafficking victims could refer
them to either a state-run shelter or NGOs for services. To be
eligible to receive government-provided rehabilitation and
protection services, victims must file a criminal complaint with
the authorities in their community of origin, after which the
MOI can decide to initiate an investigation and grant official
victim status to the individual. NGOs have reported that local
officials regularly refer victims who do not wish to pursue a
criminal case to their offices for assistance.

UZBEKISTAN

prosecute persons complicit in human trafficking identified
by observers; continue implementing the national action
plan for improving labor conditions in the agricultural sector;
modify agricultural policies to reduce pressure for farmers
and officials to compulsorily mobilize labor for the cotton
harvest; implement commitments to not mobilize teachers,
medical workers, and college and lyceum students; provide
adequate mechanisms to enable students and state employees
to refuse to participate in the cotton harvest without suffering
consequences; continue promoting awareness of labor rights,
including in regard to the cotton harvest; continue improving
processes for registering and investigating violations of labor
rights; continue efforts to investigate and prosecute suspected
traffickers, respecting due process; fund anti-trafficking NGOs
assisting and sheltering victims who were not admitted to
the state-run shelter; develop formal mechanisms to ensure
victims are not penalized for acts committed as a result of being
subjected to trafficking, including for illegal border crossing
and losing personal identification documents; amend the
criminal code to protect the identities of trafficking victims,
and encourage prosecutors to proactively seek victim restitution
in criminal cases; and continue to improve procedures for
identifying trafficking victims to ensure they are systematic
and proactive.

The government allocated approximately 496 million soum
($150,940) in 2016, an increase from approximately 459
million soum ($139,680) in 2015, to operate its Tashkent-based
trafficking rehabilitation center for men, women, and children
with official victim status, which assisted 460 victims in 2016, a
decrease from 503 victims in 2015. This center provided shelter,
medical, psychological, legal, and job placement assistance.
Victims could discharge themselves from the shelter, although
in previous years, authorities at times required victims to stay
to assist a criminal case. The center could accommodate foreign
victims, but there have been no foreign victims in the shelter
since its opening. The government provided funding to local
NGOs to conduct vocational trainings and provide health
services for victims, in addition to according them tax benefits
and the use of government-owned land. These NGOs provided
critical services because officials referred to them victims of sex
trafficking and those who did not wish to pursue a criminal
case and were therefore ineligible to access the state-run shelter.
The law does not exempt transnational sex and labor trafficking
victims from facing a criminal penalty for illegally crossing
the border. However, NGOs previously reported authorities
dropped these charges when NGOs proved to authorities the
victims were subjected to human trafficking, and no reported
victims had faced these penalties in the past two years. NGOs
also noted that MOI officials increasingly complied with legal
requirements to maintain victim confidentiality; however,
victims’ identities were not kept confidential during court
proceedings. In 2016, a trafficking victim received court ordered
restitution for the first time in Uzbekistan, although victims
generally lacked an effective mechanism to seek restitution from
their traffickers; victims could bring civil suits against traffickers,
but the government did not provide legal representation for
victims, and most victims could not afford legal representation
on their own.

PREVENTION

The government did not take sufficient steps to modify
agricultural policies that create pressure for the use of forced
labor, including production quotas and low wages for workers.
However, the 2016 harvest marked the third consecutive year
the government conducted a nationwide campaign to raise
public awareness of its prohibition of child labor in the cotton
harvest. The central government continued to demand farmers

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and local officials fulfill state-assigned cotton production quotas,
leading to the wide-scale mobilization of adult forced labor. The
government did not follow through on commitments to end
the mobilization of teachers, students, and medical workers.
Officials required state employees and adult students to sign
labor agreements or statements that they would pick cotton
voluntarily. For a second consecutive year, the government
agreed to allow the ILO to monitor the cotton harvest for child
and forced labor, allowed ILO monitors access to the cotton
fields accompanied by government monitors, and allowed the
ILO to publish the results of a survey of agricultural recruitment
practices during the 2014 and 2015 harvests. The government
publicized its newly established telephone hotlines, receiving
over 5,800 inquiries and complaints, of which, 1,325 complaints
were received during the cotton harvest. Of the complaints
received, 56 were related to forced labor and eight resulted in
the discovery of confirmed child labor cases.
The government slightly reduced the area of land available
for the cultivation of cotton and increased its capacity for
mechanization by continuing to develop appropriate cotton
cultivars and by training farmers on mechanization. The
government also committed to several projects aimed at
modernization of the cotton industry including a five-year
partnership on agricultural reform with the World Bank,
including measures to prevent forced labor; a four year Decent
Work Country Program extension to improve employment
opportunities, working conditions and social protections; and
pilot projects with the International Finance Corporation and
private companies to work on mechanization and responsibly
cultivated cotton. Additionally, the government committed to
implementing ILO recommendations on addressing the risks
of forced labor in pilot project areas.
The national government conducted monitoring visits
and provided training to a national network of local-level
commissions. Authorities promoted wide-scale public awareness
efforts on transnational sex and labor trafficking, including
through events, print media, television, and radio, often through
partnering with and providing in-kind support to NGOs. The
government did not conduct efforts to reduce the demand for
commercial sex acts. In addition to attending state-funded
training, government officials participated in seminars and
conferences sponsored by the government and taught by
NGOs, international organizations, and foreign governments.

third-year college and lyceum (equivalent to a U.S. high school)
students, who tend to be 18 years old but include some 17 year
olds, continued in 2016. Independent observers reported that,
in recent years, forced mobilization of adult workers increased
to compensate for the loss of child workers.
There were isolated reports stating that local officials forced
farmers to cultivate silk cocoons and, separately, that local
officials forced teachers, students (including children), private
businesses employees, and others to work in construction
and other forms of non-cotton agriculture and to clean parks,
streets, and buildings. Authorities harassed, threatened, arrested,
detained, interrogated, and physically abused independent
activists attempting to observe the spring weeding season and
the fall harvest.
Uzbek women and children are subjected to sex trafficking in the
Middle East, Eurasia, and Asia, and also internally in brothels,
clubs, and private residences. Uzbek men, and to a lesser extent
women, are subjected to forced labor in Kazakhstan, Turkey,
Russia, United Arab Emirates, and Ukraine in the construction,
oil and gas, agricultural, retail, and food sectors.

VENEZUELA: TIER 3
The Government of Venezuela does not fully meet the minimum
standards for the elimination of trafficking and is not making
significant efforts to do so; therefore, Venezuela remained on Tier
3. Despite the lack of significant efforts, the government took
some steps to address trafficking, including the arrest of at least
seven individuals suspected of human trafficking. However, the
government did not report prosecuting or convicting traffickers,
and reliable data on government anti-trafficking efforts was
nonexistent. The government did not report identifying or
assisting trafficking victims.

TRAFFICKING PROFILE

424

As reported over the past five years, Uzbekistan is a source and
destination country for men, women, and children subjected
to forced labor and women and children subjected to sex
trafficking. Government-compelled child labor was phased out
in 2015, although there were anecdotal reports of the use of
child labor in some areas. Government-compelled forced labor
of adults, including employees of schools and medical facilities,
remained widespread during the fall cotton harvest, spring
planting and weeding, and for other agriculture and construction
projects. Credible international reports indicate some adults who
refuse to pick cotton, do not pay for a replacement worker, or do
not fulfill their daily quota can face the loss of social benefits,
termination of employment, or other forms of harassment.
Private companies in some regions mobilized employees for
the harvest under threat of increased government inspections
of and taxes on their operations. There were anecdotal reports
of officials mobilizing classes of students aged 11 to 15 years
in some regions, in contravention of the central government’s
prohibition on child labor. Mobilizations of university and

RECOMMENDATIONS FOR VENEZUELA

Draft and enact comprehensive anti-trafficking legislation
prohibiting all forms of trafficking; provide specialized services
for all trafficking victims, working in partnership with civil
society organizations and other service providers; strengthen
and document efforts to investigate and prosecute cases of sex
trafficking and forced labor, and convict and punish traffickers;
develop and publish an updated anti-trafficking action plan
and allocate resources to implement it; enhance interagency
cooperation by forming a permanent anti-trafficking working
group; implement formal procedures and training for identifying
trafficking victims among vulnerable populations, such as
persons in prostitution, and for referring victims for care;
ensure that upon entry, foreign workers receive educational
material on human trafficking including risks of exploitation
and where to call for help if needed; and improve data collection
on government anti-trafficking efforts and make this data
publicly available.

The government did not report prosecution efforts; the lack
of comprehensive data on investigations, prosecutions, and
convictions made overall law enforcement efforts against
human trafficking difficult to assess. Venezuelan law criminalizes
some forms of human trafficking, specifically trafficking of
women and girls, through a 2007 law on women’s rights that
prescribes penalties of 15 to 30 years imprisonment. The law
requires force, fraud, or coercion for all forms of sex trafficking,
including that of children, whereas under international law,
the prostitution of children is a crime without the use of those
coercive means. The law also addresses human trafficking by
organized criminal groups in its law on organized crime, which
prescribes 20 to 30 years imprisonment for human trafficking
carried out by a member of an organized criminal group of
three or more individuals, but fails to prohibit trafficking of
men. The penalties for these trafficking crimes are sufficiently
stringent and commensurate with penalties prescribed for
other serious crimes, such as rape. During the reporting period,
the legislature did not pass a draft anti-trafficking law, first
introduced in 2010.
Venezuelan authorities did not report the total number
of trafficking cases investigated or individuals prosecuted
or convicted for human trafficking in 2016. According to
government websites and media reports, officials pursued at least
five sex trafficking investigations during the year. According to
press reports, at least six individuals were indicted for trafficking
crimes, including three traffickers who faced possible extradition.
The government publicly reported the organized crime office
(ONDOFT) trained security personnel on victim identification
and assistance; however, officials reported lack of funding
made trainings difficult to execute. Press reports indicated
Venezuela worked closely with INTERPOL on trafficking
investigations during the year. The government did not report
any investigations, prosecutions, or convictions of government
employees complicit in human trafficking.

PROTECTION

The government did not report protection efforts. Authorities did
not provide information about trafficking victim identification
and assistance or any protection efforts taken in 2016. ONDOFT
operated a 24-hour hotline to receive reports of suspected
trafficking cases. As in previous years, the government did not
specify the kinds of assistance provided to victims in 2016.
The government did not report on the existence of formal
procedures for identifying trafficking victims among vulnerable
populations or referring victims to services. Victim referrals
to different government entities, including ONDOFT and the
women’s ministry, occurred on an ad hoc basis. The availability
of victim services remained limited. There were no specialized
shelters for trafficking victims in the country. Victims could
reportedly access government centers for victims of domestic
violence or at-risk youth, although services for male victims
were minimal. The government reportedly made psychological
and medical examinations available to trafficking victims,
but additional victim services—such as follow-up medical
aid, legal assistance with filing a complaint, job training, and
reintegration assistance—remained unavailable. There was no
publicly available information on whether the government
provided assistance to repatriated Venezuelan trafficking victims
during the reporting period or encouraged victims to assist in
the investigation and prosecution of traffickers. There were no
publicly available reports of victims being jailed or penalized
for unlawful acts committed as a direct result of being subjected
to trafficking, and NGOs and international organizations

reported this did not generally occur. International organizations
continued to file asylum and relief from deportation requests
for victims who feared reprisals from traffickers or criminal
organizations if they returned to their country of origin. The
government did not report if any requests were filed in 2016.

PREVENTION

The government made minimal prevention efforts. No
permanent anti-trafficking interagency body existed, and
the government did not have a current anti-trafficking
plan or strategy. Awareness efforts included public service
announcements and posters and pamphlets about trafficking
and commercial sexual exploitation, although the government
reduced the scale of its awareness campaigns compared to
the previous year. There were no publicly available reports of
new investigations, prosecutions, or convictions for child sex
tourism offenses in 2016. The government did not provide antitrafficking training for its diplomatic personnel. The government
did not report any specific activities to reduce the demand for
commercial sex acts or forced labor during the year.

VIETNAM

PROSECUTION

TRAFFICKING PROFILE

As reported over the past five years, Venezuela is a source and
destination country for men, women, and children subjected to
sex trafficking and forced labor. Venezuelan women and girls,
including some lured from poor interior regions to urban and
tourist centers, are subjected to sex trafficking and child sex
tourism within the country. Venezuelan women are subjected to
forced prostitution in Caribbean island countries, particularly
Aruba, Curacao, and Trinidad and Tobago. Venezuelan children
are exploited within the country, frequently by relatives, in
domestic servitude. Venezuelan officials and international
organizations have reported identifying sex and labor trafficking
victims from South American, Caribbean, Asian, and African
countries in Venezuela. Ecuadorians, Filipinos, and other foreign
nationals are subjected to domestic servitude by other foreign
nationals living in Venezuela. Venezuelan officials reported an
increase of sex trafficking in the informal mining sector.

VIETNAM: TIER 2
The Government of Vietnam does not fully meet the minimum
standards for the elimination of trafficking; however, it is making
significant efforts to do so. The government demonstrated
increasing efforts compared to the previous reporting period;
therefore, Vietnam remained on Tier 2. The government
demonstrated increasing efforts by identifying more victims;
expanding anti-trafficking training and awareness campaigns
for law enforcement, local government officials, and members
of vulnerable communities; and issuing guidelines to relevant
ministries and provincial authorities on the national antitrafficking action plan. However, the government did not
meet the minimum standards in several key areas. Antitrafficking efforts were impeded by a lack of interagency
coordination, unfamiliarity among provincial officials with
anti-trafficking legislation and victim identification procedures,
and underdeveloped data collection. Implementation of the
amended 2015 Penal Code, including new anti-trafficking
articles, continued to be delayed, leaving deficiencies in the law
that hindered interagency coordination and law enforcement
efforts. Victim protection services remained under-resourced
and poorly integrated into referral mechanisms; authorities
did not actively screen for trafficking among vulnerable groups

425

VIETNAM

or systematically refer victims to care. In addition, authorities
deported a large number of foreign victims without referring
them to protection services.

RECOMMENDATIONS FOR VIETNAM

Fully enact and implement articles 150 and 151 of the new penal
code; vigorously prosecute all forms of trafficking and convict
and punish traffickers, especially in cases involving forced
labor or complicit officials; strengthen efforts to monitor labor
recruitment companies and enforce regulations prohibiting the
imposition of recruitment fees; align and implement policies
to identify and assist victims among vulnerable groups, such
as migrant workers, individuals in prostitution, and child
laborers, and train relevant officials on these procedures; finalize
and conduct the national victims survey in order to improve
victim referral mechanisms and services; improve interagency
cooperation to effectively implement the anti-trafficking national
plan of action, including by clarifying the roles of national and
provincial-level government entities, fully integrating trafficking
data collection into law enforcement efforts, and ensuring
sufficient resources are dedicated to the national plan of action;
strengthen efforts to train officials on implementation of penal
code amendments, with a focus on identifying and investigating
forced labor and internal trafficking cases; allow independent
verification that Vietnamese drug users are no longer subjected
to forced labor in government-run rehabilitation centers;
expand training for consular officials on worker rights and
international labor standards; develop programs that reduce
stigma and promote reintegration of trafficking returnees; and
fully implement the ASEAN Convention Against Trafficking in
Persons, Especially Women and Children.

PROSECUTION

426

The government maintained modest law enforcement efforts.
The 2012 anti-trafficking law expanded articles 119 and 120
of the penal code to define and criminalize sex and labor
trafficking; however, these laws do not prohibit all forms of
trafficking, and no one has ever been prosecuted under the
labor trafficking provisions of the 2012 anti-trafficking law.
In 2015, the National Assembly passed a new penal code that
included amendments strengthening and clarifying some
insufficient provisions of articles 119 and 120; however, these
amendments were not in effect at the end of the reporting
period due to a decision by the National Assembly to forestall
the original July 2016 implementation date. Articles 119 and
120 prescribe punishments ranging from two to 20 years and
three years to life imprisonment, respectively, and impose fines
on traffickers ranging between five and 50 million Vietnamese
dong ($220-$2,196); these punishments are sufficiently
stringent and commensurate with penalties prescribed for
other serious offenses, such as rape. Starting in 2014, the
government maintained a nationwide computer database to
track trafficking cases; however, the extent to which it employed
this system during the reporting period was unclear, as disparate
government bodies continued to report discrepant, overlapping,
or incomplete data on anti-trafficking law enforcement and

victim identification. The Police and Border Guards reported
investigating 234 cases and arresting 308 suspects, but did not
report how many of these individuals were prosecuted. The
government conducted initial judicial proceedings against
355 trafficking suspects under articles 119 and 120 of the
penal code. Of these, the court system reported initiating the
prosecution of 295 defendants for trafficking offenses, leading
to 275 convictions, compared to 217 convictions in 2015 and
413 convictions in 2014; sentences ranged from two to 20 years
imprisonment. Authorities did not disaggregate trafficking
offenses from possible smuggling cases.
The government sent interagency delegations to participate in
joint investigations on an ad hoc basis in Kazakhstan, Poland,
Russia, Singapore, Thailand, and the United Kingdom, and more
routinely in China, Cambodia, and Laos for law enforcement
rescue operations. During the reporting period, the government
revised its bilateral agreements with China, Thailand, Cambodia,
and Laos to strengthen counter-trafficking cooperation.
Law enforcement efforts suffered from a lack of coordination
across provincial-level agencies, persistent budgetary
constraints, local officials’ poor understanding of anti-trafficking
legislation, and confusion about individual provinces’ roles
and responsibilities in the context of the national action plan.
Provincial authorities often did not replicate central government
coordination mechanisms and activities in accordance with
the national action plan, and there was no mechanism for the
Ministry of Public Security (MPS)—which leads interagency
anti-trafficking efforts—to transfer necessary funds to other
government bodies to implement anti-trafficking activities. These
obstacles resulted in uneven anti-trafficking law enforcement
efforts.
Police included a trafficking module in its training for new
recruits, and the MPS organized trainings for local police in
several cities. The government also worked with international
organizations to convene two training courses for 38 prosecutors
working at the provincial level, a seminar of 25 prosecutors on
anti-trafficking best practices, and a training-of-trainers course
for 15 supervisory prosecutors. A government-affiliated women’s
union conducted trainings on victim identification, as well
as on the use of its hotline, for over 10,000 local government
staff. The Border Guard Command also completed a new
standard operating procedure to investigate trafficking cases
in its jurisdiction, but it was not under implementation by the
end of the reporting period. Some complicit officials, primarily
at commune and village levels, accepted bribes from traffickers,
overlooked trafficking indicators, and extorted profit in exchange
for reuniting victims with their families. The government did
not report any investigations, prosecutions, or convictions of
officials complicit in trafficking offenses.

PROTECTION

The government maintained mixed efforts to protect victims.
In 2016, authorities reported identifying 1,128 victims—an
increase from 1,000 in 2015 and 1,031 in 2014—but did
not provide statistics disaggregating identified cases by type
of trafficking, victim age or gender, source, or destination.
Informally, MPS officials estimated 85 percent of identified
cases involved transnational trafficking. The government
adopted common victim identification criteria as part of the
Coordinated Mekong Ministerial Initiative against Human
Trafficking (COMMIT) and maintained its own formal procedure
for victim identification, but did not proactively or widely
employ either mechanism among such vulnerable groups as

In 2016, the government reported assisting approximately
600 victims—a slight decrease from 650 in 2015 and 668 in
2014. Victims could request initial psychological counseling,
healthcare consultations, and legal and financial assistance; the
government reported providing many victims with vocational
training, employment opportunities, and lines of credit at a
reduced interest rate. The Ministry of Labor, Invalids, and Social
Affairs (MOLISA) and a government-affiliated women’s union
often referred victims to NGOs depending on their individual
needs. However, due to insufficient recordkeeping, it was
unclear how many of the aforementioned identified victims
benefitted from government or NGO protection services.
Authorities did not report how many victims received the
one-time government cash subsidy of up to 21.5 million dong
($944). MOLISA continued operating 400 social protection
centers through local authorities to provide services to a wide
range of vulnerable groups, including trafficking victims; these
centers were unevenly staffed, under-resourced, and lacked
appropriately trained personnel to assist victims. NGOs reported
psycho-social services for victims remained underdeveloped,
and provincial-level government officials relied too heavily
on poverty reduction in lieu of other more robust victim
protection services.
A government-affiliated women’s union, in partnership with
NGOs and with foreign donor funding, continued to operate
three shelters in urban cities, including one dedicated to
trafficking victims. The union reported assisting 25 victims
in 2016, including 18 newcomers and seven who had arrived
during the previous reporting period, and helped to repatriate
42 Vietnamese women and children subjected to trafficking
overseas. There were no shelters designated exclusively for male
or child victims, although existing shelters provided assistance
to all victims as needed.
The government maintained labor representatives at diplomatic
missions in countries with large numbers of documented
Vietnamese migrant workers, but reduced the number of such
missions from nine to six during the reporting period. These
missions could provide basic provisions, transportation, and
healthcare to Vietnamese citizens subjected to trafficking
abroad. However, some diplomatic personnel reportedly lacked
sufficient training to adequately assist victims, and NGOs
report some overseas missions were unresponsive to foreign
countries’ attempts to connect them with Vietnamese victims.
The government reported 106 requests for victim identification
at its diplomatic missions, culminating in 102 repatriations
with government support; however, the total number of victims
received by local authorities was likely higher. The government
encouraged trafficking victims to assist in judicial proceedings
against traffickers and offered them some protection and

compensation; however, the extent to which these measures
were applied remained unknown. The law protects victims from
prosecution for crimes committed as a result of having been
subjected to trafficking, but NGOs reported victims were less
likely to come forward about their abuses in a judicial setting
due to fears that they may face arrest or deportation. Endemic
social stigma associated with victimhood and concerns over
retribution in their local communities likely further discouraged
many victims from seeking or benefitting from protection
services. The government did not offer foreign victims legal
alternatives to their removal to countries where they may face
retribution or hardship.

VIETNAM

women arrested for prostitution, migrant workers returning
from abroad, and child laborers. It funded and conducted a
national survey on victim repatriation and reintegration to better
inform its victim support procedures, but the survey remained
ongoing at the end of the reporting period. The government
did not systematically refer victims to protective services due
to inadequacies in its formal referral process, including some
border guards’ unfamiliarity with trafficking crimes, a lack of
interjurisdictional cooperation, and incomplete data collection
processes. In addition, authorities deported a large number of
victims without referring them to services, including as many as
218 Cambodian victims—152 of whom were children. Some
officials continued to conflate trafficking with smuggling,
which precluded the identification of victims who voluntarily
migrated abroad.

PREVENTION

The government increased efforts to prevent trafficking. During
the reporting period, it issued guidelines to relevant ministries
and provincial authorities on the 2016-2020 national antitrafficking action plan to address forced labor, improve victim
services, and implement the revised anti-trafficking penal code;
however, it did not allocate sufficient funding to carry out the
plan for a second year, and lack of inter-ministerial cooperation
generally hampered effective implementation. It continued to
develop its national database on trafficking statistics for the third
year, but it was unclear if it made any demonstrable progress
on bringing it closer to integration with law enforcement
efforts or judicial proceedings. The government conducted
workshops and hosted community dialogues on vulnerabilities
to labor trafficking, targeting areas with a high prevalence of
agricultural labor, construction, and foreign contract labor
recruitment—especially of women. Public awareness-raising
activities included advertisements, interventions at schools in
high-risk geographic areas, and broadcast media campaigns.
During the reporting period, the Ministry of Information and
Communications directed state-run media to air more than
1,300 documentaries and news stories to raise public awareness,
compared to 570 radio and television programs in 2015.
During the year, the government ratified the ASEAN Convention
Against Trafficking in Persons, revised its memoranda of
understanding with four primary destination countries, and
signed several additional bilateral agreements that included
anti-trafficking cooperative provisions. NGOs report predeparture fee and deposit requirements for Vietnamese
migrant workers—ranging from 6.5 to 65 million dong ($285
to $2,855)—increased their vulnerability to debt bondage
overseas. The government made tangible efforts to reduce the
demand for commercial sex acts during the reporting year by
conducting raids at establishments notorious for prostitution
and prostitution brokering and imposing fines on individuals
purchasing sex. The ongoing Prostitution Prevention and
Combating Program (2016-2020) aimed to reduce demand
through educational campaigns targeting consumers of
commercial sex and income generation programs for persons
in prostitution, but its impact was unclear, and statistics about
related activities were unavailable at the end of the reporting
period. The government required anti-trafficking training for its
diplomatic personnel prior to their departure to overseas posts.

TRAFFICKING PROFILE

As reported for the last five years, Vietnam is a source and, to
a lesser extent, a destination country from men, women, and
children subjected to sex trafficking and forced labor. Vietnamese
men and women migrate abroad for work independently or
through state-owned, private, or joint-stock labor recruitment
companies. Some recruitment companies are unresponsive to

427

ZAMBIA

workers’ requests for assistance in situations of exploitation, and
some charge excessive fees that make workers more vulnerable
to debt bondage. Some victims are subjected to forced labor
in construction, fishing, agriculture, mining, logging, and
manufacturing, primarily in Taiwan, Malaysia, Republic of
Korea, Laos, Angola, United Arab Emirates, and Japan; there
are increasing reports of Vietnamese labor trafficking victims
in the United Kingdom, continental Europe, and the Middle
East. Vietnamese women and children are subjected to sex
trafficking abroad; many are misled by fraudulent employment
opportunities and sold to brothel operators on the borders of
China, Cambodia, and Laos, and elsewhere in Asia, including
Thailand, Malaysia, Republic of Korea, Taiwan, and Singapore.
Some Vietnamese women who travel abroad for internationally
brokered marriages or jobs in restaurants, massage parlors, and
karaoke bars—mostly to China, Malaysia, and Singapore—are
subjected to domestic servitude or forced prostitution. False
advertising, debt bondage, passport confiscation, and threats of
deportation are tactics commonly used to compel Vietnamese
victims into servitude. Traffickers increasingly use the internet,
gaming sites, and particularly social media to lure potential
victims into vulnerable situations; for example, men entice
young women and girls with online dating relationships and
persuade them to move abroad, then subject them to forced
labor or sex trafficking. Vietnamese organized crime networks
recruit Vietnamese adults and children under pretenses of
lucrative job opportunities and transport them to Europe—
particularly the United Kingdom—and subject them to forced
labor on cannabis farms.
Within the country, Vietnamese men, women, and children—
including street children and children with disabilities—are
subjected to forced labor, although little information is available
on these cases. Children are subjected to forced street hawking
and begging in major urban centers. Some children are subjected
to forced and bonded labor in informal garment and brick
factories, in urban family homes, and in privately-run rural
mines. Many children from impoverished rural areas, and
a rising number from middle class and urban settings, are
subjected to sex trafficking. Child sex tourists, reportedly from
elsewhere in Asia, the United Kingdom and other countries
in Europe, Australia, Canada, and the United States, exploit
children in Vietnam. A 2014 legal provision requires a judicial
proceeding before detention of drug users in compulsory drug
rehabilitation centers and restricts detainees’ maximum work
day to four hours. Although the government reports that it
no longer subjects drug users to forced labor in rehabilitation
centers, there has been no independent verification of these
claims, and international organizations report that authorities
continue the practice. Complicit Vietnamese officials, primarily
at commune and village levels, facilitate trafficking or exploit
victims by accepting bribes from traffickers, overlooking
trafficking indicators, and extorting profit in exchange for
reuniting victims with their families.

ZAMBIA: TIER 2 WATCH LIST

428

The Government of Zambia does not fully meet the minimum
standards for the elimination of trafficking; however, it is making
significant efforts to do so. The government demonstrated
significant efforts during the reporting period by investigating
23 potential trafficking cases. The government increased its
budget for the provision of protective services and conducted
multiple awareness campaigns in border regions but did not
offer any specific details regarding their scope. However, the

government did not demonstrate increasing efforts compared
to the previous reporting period. The government did not
prosecute any defendants or convict any traffickers compared
to nine prosecutions and five convictions during the previous
reporting period. The government did not amend the 2008
anti-trafficking act, which does not comply with international
standards. It identified and referred to care one victim compared
to 192 victims during the previous reporting period. The
government did not improve the condition of its shelters and
did not have shelters available to male trafficking victims.
Although the government doubled the amount allocated for
victim services, it referred the only victim it identified to an
NGO. The anti-trafficking inter-ministerial committee did
not meet during the reporting period. Therefore, Zambia was
downgraded to Tier 2 Watch List.

RECOMMENDATIONS FOR ZAMBIA

Proactively identify trafficking victims and refer them to
protective services; amend the trafficking law to define child sex
trafficking as not requiring force, fraud, or coercion be used and
to define trafficking as a crime that does not require movement
of the victim; vigorously investigate and prosecute sex and
labor trafficking cases within Zambia involving both children
and adults; formalize and implement victim identification and
referral procedures, and train law enforcement and social welfare
officials on their use, including in vulnerable populations;
expand the availability of shelters and ensure alternative services
are available for male victims; train police, immigration officials,
prosecutors, and judges on investigating and prosecuting
trafficking crimes; increase the number of labor inspectors
and ensure they are trained on trafficking indicators; improve
coordination among service providers to prevent detention of
male victims; strengthen coordination and collaboration efforts
between relevant ministries; develop and adopt an updated
multi-year national anti-trafficking strategy and action plan and
continue to conduct public awareness campaigns; and compile
and make public information on trafficking cases and trends.

PROSECUTION

The government decreased anti-trafficking law enforcement
efforts. The anti-trafficking act of 2008 criminalizes some
forms of trafficking but requires cross-border movement,
which does not comport with international law; further
contrary to international law, it requires the use of threat,
force, intimidation, or other forms of coercion for a child
to be considered a sex trafficking victim. The act prescribes
penalties ranging from 20 years to life imprisonment, which
are sufficiently stringent and commensurate with penalties
prescribed for other serious crimes, such as rape.
The government reported 23 trafficking cases from five provinces,
involving nine adult victims, five men and four women, and
14 child victims, five of whom were boys and nine of whom
were girls. The government did not convict any traffickers
and did not report initiating any prosecutions, compared to
initiating nine prosecutions in 2015. The government did not

PROTECTION

The government made decreased efforts to assist victims.
The government identified one victim and an international
organization and an NGO identified 13 potential trafficking
victims during the reporting period, compared to the
government identifying 192 potential victims during the
previous reporting period. It was unclear whether the victim
identified by the government was a victim of trafficking, as
officials often conflated cases of smuggling and trafficking, and
it did not increase its capacity to adequately protect victims for
the second year in a row. Of the potential victims identified,
11 were labor trafficking victims and three were sex trafficking
victims. The government referred the one victim it identified
to protective services. An international organization and an
NGO provided care for the victims identified and facilitated
the repatriation of 10 victims who received protective services
in their country of origin. The government provided increased
financial support to organizations providing victim assistance;
however, it continued to rely on international organizations and
local NGOs to provide the majority of care. The government
also increased its anti-trafficking budget by 50,000 new kwacha
($5,043) from the previous reporting period, allocating 100,000
new kwacha ($10,086), an increase of $5,000.
Although the government identified significantly fewer victims,
officials and service providers used standard procedures to
screen and identify trafficking victims among vulnerable
populations, such as migrants and unaccompanied minors.
The Ministry of Community Development, Mother and Child
Health (MCDMCH) oversaw the placement of one victim in
an NGO shelter and continued to provide in-kind assistance.
Government officials, in partnership with international
organizations, offered routine assistance to victims, including
medical care, counseling, court preparation, and repatriation
or regularization of immigration status. The Department of
Immigration, in partnership with an international organization,
trained officers at ports of entry to identify and interview
potential victims of trafficking, but did not report referring any
cases for prosecution. The government offered legal alternatives
to the removal of victims to countries where they may face
hardship or retribution; however, the government did not
report applying such assistance in 2016.
Government and NGO shelters lacked sufficient capacity to serve
victims, especially men. The MCDMCH operated a 40-person
shelter for victims of trafficking and victims of sexual abuse
in Luapula province, and oversaw two NGO shelters. NGO
shelters did not provide accommodation for male victims older
than age 12. As a result of the lack of shelter availability and

resources, it was not uncommon for the government to house
victims, including children, in jail for short periods.

PREVENTION

The government decreased efforts to prevent trafficking.
The national secretariat and an inter-ministerial committee
were ineffective in their oversight of national anti-trafficking
efforts, as overall prevention efforts decreased and prior annual
engagements were not upheld during the reporting period.
The anti-trafficking inter-ministerial committee did not meet
during the reporting period. The government did not review
or update the 2012-2015 national action plan to combat
trafficking, which expired in June 2015. It did not host its
annual National Symposium on Human Trafficking during
the reporting period, which focused on protecting migrants
from trafficking and exploitation. The Ministry of Home Affairs
Research and Information Department reported it conducted
multiple awareness campaigns in border regions but did not
offer any specific details regarding their scope. During 2016,
MLSS employed 110 labor inspectors, compared to no labor
officers employed the previous year. The government did not
make efforts to reduce the demand for commercial sex or forced
labor. Zambian peacekeepers received anti-trafficking training
on how to identify and protect potential trafficking victims.
The government did not provide anti-trafficking training for
its diplomatic personnel.

ZAMBIA

investigate or prosecute companies for labor trafficking in the
mining and agricultural sectors and had limited capacity to
monitor these sectors; allegedly, large or foreign companies and
foreign governments exerted influence over officials, preventing
investigations. Despite these allegations, the government did
not report any investigations, prosecutions, or convictions of
government officials complicit in human trafficking offenses.
The Ministry of Labor and Social Security (MLSS) Child Labor
Unit used mediation with parents as the usual process for
handling child labor cases. The national police academy
trained 600 recruits on trafficking. The paramilitary police
training school trained over 1,000 trainees on trafficking. The
government maintained a database to track trafficking case data
with other countries in the region. The government continued
its partnerships in the region through routine coordination of
anti-trafficking efforts with Zimbabwe and South Africa.

TRAFFICKING PROFILE

As reported over the past five years, Zambia is a source, transit,
and destination country for men, women, and children subjected
to forced labor and sex trafficking. Most trafficking occurs within
the country’s borders and involves women and children from
rural areas exploited in cities in domestic servitude or forced
labor in agriculture, textile production, mining, construction,
small businesses such as bakeries, and forced begging. Zambian
children may be forced by jerabo gangs engaged in illegal mining
to load stolen copper ore onto trucks in Copperbelt Province.
While orphans and street children are most vulnerable, children
of affluent village families are also at risk of trafficking because
sending children to the city for work is perceived to confer status.
Zambian boys and girls are exploited in sex trafficking by truck
drivers in towns along the Zimbabwean and Tanzanian borders
and by miners in Solwezi. Zambian boys are subjected to sex
trafficking in Zimbabwe and women and girls are subjected to
sex trafficking in South Africa. Domestically, extended families
and trusted family acquaintances facilitate trafficking.
Women and children from neighboring countries are exploited
in forced labor and sex trafficking in Zambia. Nationals from
South and East Asia are exploited in forced labor in domestic
servitude, textile factories, bakeries, and Chinese-owned mines.
Chinese traffickers bring in Chinese women and girls for
sexual exploitation in brothels and massage parlors in Lusaka;
traffickers use front companies posing as travel agencies to lure
Chinese victims and coordinate with Zambian facilitators and
middlemen. South African criminal groups subjected Southeast
Asians transiting Zambia to forced labor in construction in South
Africa. Potential trafficking victims from Ethiopia, Democratic
Republic of the Congo, and Syria were identified in Zambia.

429

ZIMBABWE

ZIMBABWE: TIER 2 WATCH LIST
The Government of Zimbabwe does not fully meet the minimum
standards for the elimination of trafficking; however, it is
making significant efforts to do so. The government made key
achievements during the reporting period; therefore, Zimbabwe
was upgraded to Tier 2 Watch List. These achievements
included increased efforts to investigate and prosecute alleged
trafficking crimes. The government coordinated with Kuwait
to repatriate and refer to care 121 female trafficking victims,
and also repatriated five victims from Sudan. It conducted a
training-of-trainers for police on victim identification interview
approaches. The government launched its first national action
plan and implemented several key activities in the plan.
The Anti-Trafficking Inter-Ministerial committee developed
terms of reference to guide front-line responders in a victimcentered approach and established two provincial taskforces to
implement the national action plan at the provincial level. The
government-funded and conducted awareness campaigns and
trained journalists on responsible reporting of trafficking cases.
Despite these achievements, the government did not convict
any traffickers during the reporting period. It did not amend
the 2014 Trafficking in Persons Act, which was inconsistent with
international law. Prosecutors used non-trafficking laws to charge
cases that were potentially trafficking due to a lack of training
on application of the anti-trafficking law. The government did
not monitor transnational borders adequately, where corruption
and official complicity can facilitate trafficking with impunity.

RECOMMENDATIONS FOR ZIMBABWE

Amend the 2014 anti-trafficking legislation to incorporate
a definition of trafficking consistent with the 2000 UN TIP
Protocol; investigate, prosecute, and convict traffickers, including
complicit government officials; formalize procedures for
identifying victims and referring them to the care of appropriate
government or NGO service providers; expand training for
law enforcement on investigative techniques; train officials on
victim identification and referral procedures; train prosecutors
and judges on trafficking and trafficking-related legislation;
provide financial or in-kind support to NGOs and international
organizations that provide victim services; establish safe houses
for trafficking victims in each province; implement, and allocate
sufficient resources to, the national action plan to combat
trafficking; increase collaboration with NGOs and international
organizations; and raise awareness of human trafficking and
the availability of assistance for victims.

PROSECUTION

430

The government increased anti-trafficking law enforcement
efforts. Inconsistent with international law, the 2014 Trafficking
in Persons Act defines trafficking in persons as a movementbased crime and does not adequately define “exploitation.” The
2014 act criminalizes the involuntary transport of a person,
and the voluntary transport for an unlawful purpose, into,

outside or within Zimbabwe. The focus on transport and the
inadequate definition of “exploitation” leave Zimbabwe without
comprehensive prohibitions of trafficking crimes. Zimbabwe’s
Labor Relations Amendment Act prohibits forced labor and
prescribes punishments of up to two years imprisonment;
this penalty is not sufficiently stringent. The Criminal Law
(Codification and Reform) Act prohibits and prescribes penalties
of up to two years imprisonment for procuring a person for
unlawful sexual conduct, inside or outside of Zimbabwe; this
penalty is not sufficiently stringent when applied to cases of sex
trafficking. The act also prohibits coercing or inducing anyone
to engage in unlawful sexual conduct with another person
by threat or intimidation, prescribing sufficiently stringent
penalties of one to five years imprisonment. Pledging a female
for forced marriage to compensate for the death of a relative
or to settle any debt or obligation is punishable under the
act, with penalties of up to two years imprisonment. These
penalties are not commensurate with penalties prescribed for
other serious crimes, such as rape.
The government investigated 72 potential cases of trafficking,
an increase from one investigation in the previous reporting
period. The government reported prosecuting 42 trafficking cases
in 2016, after reporting zero prosecutions in 2015; it prosecuted
21 new defendants for alleged trafficking crimes, while another
21 defendants were involved in ongoing prosecutions. Like the
previous year, the government did not convict any traffickers
during the reporting period. The Zimbabwe Republic Police’s
Victim Friendly Unit (VFU) has responsibility for investigating
cases involving women and children and referring victims to
support services; however, the VFU was largely inactive and
did not report investigating trafficking cases during the year.
Corruption in law enforcement and the judiciary impaired
the effectiveness of anti-trafficking efforts. Victims reportedly
refused to report or pursue cases of trafficking due to fear their
traffickers could bribe police or judges. Anecdotal evidence
indicated limited government involvement in, and tolerance
of, trafficking on a local level and at border crossings. The
government did not report any investigations, prosecutions,
or convictions of government officials complicit in human
trafficking offenses.

PROTECTION

The government increased its efforts to identify and protect
trafficking. The government reported identifying 72 child sex
trafficking victims and of trafficking, an increase from zero
victims reported identified by officials in 2015; however, it did
not report whether it referred these victims to care. One NGO
reported assisting 17 female and six male child victims and
referring seven to state-run facilities. The government provided
some funding support for the repatriation of 120 victims from
Kuwait and five victims from Sudan and, with support from
NGOs, coordinated efforts to provide protective services. The
government initiated refurbishment of the Harare rehabilitation
center for victims of trafficking; however, the government did
not provide exact figures. Government officials traveled to
Kuwait to assist in repatriating these victims, met victims at
the airport, and provided them with safe transportation. Upon
arrival at the rehabilitation center in Harare, the government
provided medical screening and counseling with support from
international organizations and NGOs. The government also
provided food and $100 for each victim. Officials from the
Ministry of Public Service, Labor and Social Welfare (MPSLSW)
visited victims in their local communities to establish their
immediate and long-term needs.

PREVENTION

The government increased efforts to prevent trafficking. The AntiTrafficking Inter-Ministerial Committee (ATIMC) met twice and
led the development of the country’s first national action plan,
launched in July 2016, and implemented several key elements
of the plan. Representatives from 13 government agencies
undertook research to develop the national action plan. The
ATIMC Secretariat developed terms of reference for the Protection
Cluster, which provided guidance for front-line responders in the
identification, referral, and protection of victims and potential
victims of trafficking. The government rolled out two provincial
taskforces, in Harare and Matabeleland South, in February and
March 2017 to implement recommendations from the national
action plan. Unlike the previous year, the government conducted
awareness campaigns at the country’s two annual trade fairs,
in Bulawayo and Harare. A government official spoke about
trafficking on the national evening news, particularly regarding
victim protection, prevention strategies for potential victims,
and government efforts to prevent trafficking. An international
organization printed a children’s book discussing the dangers
of trafficking, which the government used in primary schools.
The government conducted 866 labor inspections during
the reporting period, and identified 376 potential trafficking
crimes. The government trained media personnel on how to
report on trafficking in persons, including the importance of
confidentiality and victims’ rights. The government did not
provide anti-trafficking training to its diplomatic personnel.
It did not make efforts to reduce the demand for commercial
sex acts or forced labor.

TRAFFICKING PROFILE

As reported over the past five years, Zimbabwe is a source,
transit, and destination country for men, women, and children
subjected to sex trafficking and forced labor. Women and girls
from Zimbabwean towns bordering South Africa, Mozambique,
and Zambia are subjected to forced labor, including domestic
servitude, and sex trafficking in brothels catering to longdistance truck drivers on both sides of the borders. Zimbabwean
men, women, and children are subjected to forced labor in
agriculture and domestic service in the country’s rural areas,
as well as domestic servitude and sex trafficking in cities and
surrounding towns. Family members recruit children and other
relatives from rural areas for work in cities where they are often
subjected to domestic servitude or other forms of forced labor;
some children, particularly orphans, are lured with promises
of education or adoption. Reports indicate that adults have
recruited girls for child sex trafficking in Victoria Falls. Children
are subjected to forced labor in the agricultural and mining
sectors and are forced to carry out illegal activities, including

drug smuggling. There were increased reports of children from
Mozambique being subjected to forced labor in street vending
in Zimbabwe, including in Mbare. Additionally, the practice
of ngozi, giving a family member to another family to avenge
the spirits of a murdered relative, creates a vulnerability to
trafficking.
Zimbabwean women and men are lured into exploitative
labor situations in agriculture, construction, information
technology, and hospitality largely in neighboring countries;
some subsequently become victims of forced labor, and
some women become victims of forced prostitution. Women
are exploited in domestic servitude, forced labor, and sex
trafficking in Kuwait and Saudi Arabia. There were previous
reports of Zimbabwean women lured to China and the Middle
East for work, where they are vulnerable to trafficking. Many
Zimbabwean adult and child migrants enter South Africa with
the assistance of taxi drivers who transport them to the border
at Beitbridge or nearby unofficial crossing locations and are
subject to labor and sex trafficking. Some of the migrants
are transferred to criminal gangs that subject them to abuse,
including forced prostitution in Musina, Pretoria, Johannesburg,
or Durban. Some Zimbabwean men, women, and children in
South Africa are subjected to months of forced labor without
pay, on farms, at construction sites, in factories, mines, and
other businesses. Men, women, and children, predominantly
from East Africa, are transported through Zimbabwe en route
to South Africa; some of these migrants are trafficking victims.
Refugees from Somalia and Democratic Republic of the Congo
reportedly travel from Zimbabwe’s Tongogara Refugee Camp
to Harare, where they are exploited and, in some cases, forced
into prostitution. Chinese nationals are reportedly forced to
labor in restaurants in Zimbabwe. Chinese construction and
mining companies in Zimbabwe reportedly employ practices
indicative of forced labor, including verbal, physical, and sexual
abuse, and various means of coercion to induce work in unsafe
or otherwise undesirable conditions.

SPECIAL CASE: LIBYA

The MPSLSW established the technical steering committee on
the protection of victims of trafficking to oversee the protection
and provision of reintegration assistance and referral services
to victims of trafficking. The committee developed a formal
referral mechanism. The government conducted training-oftrainers for approximately 40 police on victim identification
interview approaches. While the 2014 Trafficking in Persons
Act required the government to establish centers in each of
Zimbabwe’s 10 provinces to provide counseling, rehabilitation,
and reintegration services, these centers had not been established
at the end of the reporting period. Children had access to health
services, counseling, and some educational services at these
shelters. The government did not provide foreign trafficking
victims with legal alternatives to their removal to countries
where they might face retribution or hardship.

SPECIAL CASE: LIBYA
Libya is a Special Case for the second consecutive year. The
Presidency Council of the Libyan Government of National
Accord (GNA) —created through the Libyan Political Agreement
signed in December 2015 and endorsed by the legislature in
January 2016—arrived in the capital Tripoli in late March
2016. Despite this political progress, the GNA struggled to gain
institutional capacity and the resources to address trafficking,
as the government was focused on consolidating control over
its territory and countering extremist violence throughout 2016
and into 2017. The judicial system was not fully functioning,
as courts in major cities throughout the country have not been
operational since 2014. Violence driven by militias, civil unrest,
and increased lawlessness continued to plague Libya throughout
the reporting period. Extra-legal armed groups continued to fill
a security vacuum across the country; such groups varied widely
in their make-up and the extent to which they were under the
direction of state authorities. These groups also committed
human rights abuses, including unlawful killings. Accurate
information on human trafficking continued to be difficult to
obtain, in large part due to the withdrawal of most diplomatic
missions, international organizations, and NGOs in 2014.

431

SPECIAL CASE: LIBYA

GOVERNMENT EFFORTS

labor crimes to occur. The government took no steps to prevent
the recruitment and use of children by militia groups, groups
affiliated to or aligned with the government, and other armed
groups operating throughout the country. The government
did not have a national coordinating body responsible for
combating human trafficking, nor did it have a national action
plan to combat trafficking. The government did not conduct
any public anti-trafficking awareness campaigns, nor did it take
actions to reduce the demand for commercial sex acts, child
sex tourism, or forced labor. The government did not provide
anti-trafficking training for its diplomatic personnel.

Sex trafficking offenses carry penalties of one to 10 years
imprisonment, which are sufficiently stringent but not
commensurate with other serious crimes, such as rape; penalties
for rape range from five to 15 years imprisonment. Penalties
for slavery offenses are five to 15 years imprisonment, which
are sufficiently stringent and commensurate with other serious
crimes. As the criminal judicial system, including courts in
major cities, were not functioning in 2016, the government did
not investigate, prosecute, or convict any trafficking offenders.
The Ministry of Interior, which was nominally responsible
for anti-trafficking law enforcement efforts, was unable to
carry out any anti-trafficking operations during the majority
of the reporting period. Furthermore, the government did
not report any investigations, prosecutions, or convictions of
government officials—including Libyan Coast Guard officials,
immigration officers, and Ministry of Interior’s Department
to Combat Irregular Migration (DCIM) prison guards—who
were allegedly complicit in trafficking crimes. The government
also did not make efforts to investigate or punish governmentaligned militias or other armed groups that recruited and used
child soldiers.

SCOPE AND MAGNITUDE

The government lacked the capacity to address basic security
challenges, including human trafficking, as it struggled to
exert control over a significant amount of Libya’s territory.
The lack of rule-of-law hindered police and judicial officials’
from addressing trafficking crimes; the government did not
provide anti-trafficking trainings to officials. Libyan law does
not prohibit all forms of human trafficking. Articles in the
penal code prohibit trafficking of women for the purposes
of prostitution, sexual exploitation, slavery, and child sex
trafficking; however, the articles do not directly address forced
labor.

The government did not have any policy structures, capacity, or
resources to proactively identify and protect trafficking victims
among vulnerable groups, such as foreign migrants, street
children, girls in forced sexual exploitation, and women in
prostitution. It also did not have measures in place to protect
children recruited and used by armed groups. The government
punished victims for unlawful acts committed as a direct result
of being subjected to human trafficking, such as immigration
and prostitution violations; it treated victims as illegal migrants
and therefore subjected them to detention, severe punishment,
and deportation. The government arbitrarily detained migrants,
including potential trafficking victims, in official DCIM-run
and unofficial detention facilities for indefinite periods of time
with no access to legal aid; detained victims were subjected to
sexual violence and rape, ill-treatment, and unlawful killings.
Moreover, authorities made no effort to protect detained foreign
migrants in both official and unofficial detention centers
from being sold into forced labor. In 2016, the government
announced the voluntary repatriation of 200 illegal migrants
from Niger, who it had held in detention centers in Tripoli.
The government, however, did not make efforts to identify
potential trafficking victims among this vulnerable group.
The government did not encourage victims to participate in
the investigation and prosecution of traffickers, and it did not
provide foreign trafficking victims with legal alternatives to their
removal to countries where they faced hardship or retribution.

432

The government lacked the political will, institutional capacity,
and resources to prevent human trafficking. The government
did not prevent government officials or other armed groups
from forcing detained migrants to work; on the contrary, the
government’s system of detaining migrants enabled forced

As reported over the past five years, Libya is a destination and
transit country for men and women from sub-Saharan Africa
and Asia subjected to forced labor and sex trafficking, and it is
a source country for Libyan children subjected to recruitment
and use by armed groups within the country. Instability and
lack of government oversight continued to allow for human
trafficking crimes to persist and become highly profitable for
traffickers. As reported by international organizations in 2016,
trafficking victims—including men, women, and children—are
highly vulnerable to extreme violence and other human rights
violations in Libya by government officials and non-state armed
groups, including physical, sexual, and verbal assault; abduction
for ransom; arbitrary killings; and inhumane detention.
Migrants in Libya are extremely vulnerable to trafficking,
including those seeking employment in Libya or transiting
Libya en route to Europe. The country continued to serve as the
primary departure point for migrants crossing the Mediterranean
from North Africa, with more than 90 percent of those crossing
the Mediterranean Sea departing from Libya. Female migrants,
in particular, are highly vulnerable to sexual assault by various
armed groups and smugglers along the migration routes to
Libya. Prostitution rings reportedly subject sub-Saharan women
to sex trafficking in brothels, particularly in southern Libya.
Nigerian women are at increased risk of being forced into
prostitution, while Eritreans, Sudanese, and Somalis are at risk
of being subjected to forced labor. Trafficking and smuggling
networks that reach into Libya from Niger, Nigeria, Chad,
Eritrea, Ethiopia, Somalia, Sudan, and other sub-Saharan
states subject migrants to forced labor and forced prostitution
through fraudulent recruitment, confiscation of identity and
travel documents, withholding or non-payment of wages, and
debt bondage. One 2014 account indicated criminal groups
recruited Sudanese migrants to Libya through false job offers
and forced them to work in agriculture with little or no pay.
In previous years, migrants reportedly paid smuggling fees
to reach Tripoli, often under false promises of employment
or eventual transit to Europe; once these victims crossed the
Libyan border, they were sometimes abandoned in southern
cities or the desert, where they were susceptible to severe forms
of abuse and human trafficking. In 2014, an international
organization reported Syrian nationals temporarily residing in
Sudan preferred to travel through Libya en route to Italy with
the use of smugglers; these Syrians are at risk of trafficking. In
February 2015, the media reported a Russian trafficking network
brought hundreds of Bangladeshi nationals to Italy via Libya,
where they subsequently endured forced labor.
There are multiple reports of migrants—some of whom may
be trafficking victims—held in detention centers controlled
by both the DCIM and non-state armed groups, where they
are subject to severe abuse, rampant sexual violence, denial of

Since mid-2015, ISIS in Libya has abducted and taken into
captivity at least 540 migrants and refugees, including at
least 63 women whom ISIS forced into sexual slavery for its
fighters. Since 2013, numerous reports indicate militias, some
of which are used as combat forces or security enforcement
by the government, recruit and use Libyan children younger
than 18 years old. Children associated with armed groups are
also reportedly exposed to sexual violence. An international
organization reported that armed groups recruited and used
children throughout 2015. For example, groups affiliated to
ISIS operated training camps south of Sirte, and in December
2015, 85 children under 16 years old attended a graduation
ceremony for a training camp.

SPECIAL CASE: SOMALIA
Somalia remains a Special Case for the fifteenth consecutive year.
During the reporting period, the Federal Government of Somalia
(FGS) controlled its capital city, Mogadishu, and regional
governments retained control over most local capitals across the
country. The self-declared independent region of Somaliland
and the federal member state of Puntland retained control of
security and law enforcement in their respective regions. The
federal government had limited influence outside Mogadishu;
the al-Shabaab terrorist group continued to occupy and control
rural areas in the Juba Valley in south-central Somalia. The
FGS focused on capacity-building and securing Mogadishu
and government facilities from attacks by al-Shabaab. The
sustained insurgency by al-Shabaab was the main obstacle
to the government’s ability to address human trafficking in
practice. Some areas liberated from al-Shabaab experienced
further unrest caused by rival clans fighting for political power
or control of resources. The government had minimal capacity
to address most crime, including human trafficking, and thereby
demonstrated negligible efforts in all regions on prosecution,
protection, and prevention. Some federal and regional armed
forces were not paid regularly, and police across Somalia lacked
proper investigatory capacity to deal with trafficking cases.
Although reportedly improved during the reporting year, some
Somali officials continued to lack an understanding of trafficking
crimes, which they often conflated with migrant smuggling.
An NGO reported officials in upper echelons of certain state
governments are beneficiaries of trafficking rings in Somalia,
thereby hampering efforts to effectively address complicity.

GOVERNMENT EFFORTS

Somaliland and Puntland authorities sustained limited efforts
to combat trafficking during the reporting period. Due to civil

unrest and the protracted campaign to degrade al-Shabaab
and establish law and order in Somalia, law enforcement and
judicial officials remained understaffed, undertrained, and
lacked capacity to effectively enforce the law. The pre-1991 penal
code (applicable at the federal and regional levels) outlaws
forced labor and other forms of trafficking in persons. Article
455 prohibits and penalizes slavery, prescribing penalties of five
to 20 years imprisonment. Article 464 prohibits forced labor,
prescribing penalties of six months to five years imprisonment.
Article 457 prohibits the transferring, disposing, taking
possession or holding of a person, and prescribes penalties
of three to 12 years imprisonment. All of these penalties
are sufficiently stringent. Article 408(1) prohibits compelled
prostitution of a person through violence or threats, prescribing
penalties of two to six years imprisonment, which is sufficiently
stringent but not commensurate with those prescribed for
other serious crimes, such as rape. The provisional constitution
prohibits slavery, servitude, trafficking, and forced labor under
article 14. Article 29(6) prohibits the use of children in armed
conflict. Laws in Somaliland prohibit forced labor, involuntary
servitude, and slavery. In 2016, the Somali police investigated
one potential trafficking case, but it did not progress to the
court system for unknown reasons. Authorities in Puntland
prosecuted 23 child sex trafficking cases, three of which resulted
in convictions; these cases involved seven traffickers and 61
victims. The convicted traffickers received five-year prison
sentences plus a fine of 1.6 million Somali shillings ($3,000)—
the maximum under Puntland law, which only punishes drivers
who transport trafficking victims. However, no reliable statistics
existed at either the federal or regional level on investigations,
prosecutions, or convictions of or related to trafficking. While
information regarding officials alleged to be complicit in
the facilitation of sex and labor trafficking remained largely
unknown, the government did not report efforts to investigate
claims of federal officials selling falsified travel documents to
travel brokers and traffickers or take action against military
officials for the recruitment and use of children during the year.
The inter-ministerial Trafficking and Smuggling Taskforce served
as the federal government’s anti-trafficking coordinating body,
which included representation from the Ministry of Internal
Security, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Justice, Somali
Police Force (SPF), and Ministry of Interior and Federal Affairs,
and led by the permanent secretary of the Ministry of Interior
and Federal Affairs; members of the taskforce liaised with
Puntland state-level authorities during an information sharing
workshop sponsored by an international organization. During
the reporting year, the taskforce commenced development of
a national action plan on trafficking efforts, and in May 2016
the prime minister issued a decree to specify the taskforce’s
membership and mandate. The criminal investigations division
of the SPF has a 40-officer Counter-Trafficking and Organized
Crime Unit, but according to an international organization this
unit has never received counter-trafficking training. The statelevel Counter-Trafficking Board, established in March 2013,
was the lead in Puntland state. The Puntland state police, in
collaboration with an international organization, conducted
two follow-up trainings on trafficking investigations for 42
officers during the reporting period. The Somaliland government
in June 2016 established the Counter Human Trafficking
Agency of Somaliland, which included representatives from
immigration, police, coast guard, the attorney general’s office,
and the ministries of commerce, finance, and civil aviation. The
agency is mandated to coordinate counter-trafficking efforts
including developing legislation and collecting data, but its
work remained limited in reach.

SPECIAL CASE: SOMALIA

medical care, and forced labor. For example, private employers
and prison officials use detained migrants from official and
unofficial prisons and detention centers for forced labor as
domestic workers, construction and road paving workers, and
garbage collectors. As reported by an international organization
in December 2016, armed groups, criminal gangs and networks,
smugglers, and traffickers have cooperated and competed in
the smuggling and trafficking of migrants through Libya, while
carrying out serious human rights abuses and violations against
migrants. Elements of the Libyan Coast Guard have reportedly
worked with armed groups and other criminals, including
traffickers, to exploit migrants for profit. Coast Guard officials
also return migrants rescued at sea to detention centers in Libya
where they are subjected to forced labor.

433

SPECIAL CASE: SOMALIA

No governmental entity had systematic procedures to identify
or refer trafficking victims. Information on FGS efforts to protect
trafficking victims was unavailable. The FGS and Somaliland
authorities did not provide protective services to trafficking
victims and relied fully on international organizations and
NGOs to provide victim assistance, including food, clothing,
shelter, legal support, medical aid, counseling, and reintegration
services. During the reporting year, Puntland authorities
partnered with civil society to provide protective care for 23
trafficking victims; it also helped facilitate the return home of 29
minor victims. However, some of these children and recipients
of protective care were likely smuggling victims. The FGS did
not provide financial or in-kind support to organizations
assisting victims. In Puntland in 2016, state authorities paid
the lease and electric and water bills for a house rented by an
organization to use as a shelter for trafficking victims; however,
the amount of funding spent on this assistance was unavailable.
State authorities also provided transportation costs to the
victims to enable their return home. The Puntland Ministry of
Women Affairs managed a safe house for victims of trafficking
and domestic violence in Garowe, Puntland. There were no
legal alternatives to the removal of foreign trafficking victims
from Somalia to countries where they may face hardship or
retribution.
Authorities across Somalia demonstrated minimal efforts to
prevent trafficking during the year. In Puntland state, members
of the anti-trafficking board participated in a three-month
radio, television, and community social mobilization awareness
campaign conducted by an international organization to
sensitize the public on human trafficking, including how to
detect and report actual and suspected cases of trafficking; the
Puntland state government did not fund the program. The FGS
did not conduct any awareness campaigns during the reporting
period. No government entity provided funding to agencies
for labor inspections, and no inspectors were employed to
enforce labor laws. Authorities across Somalia did not make
any discernible efforts to reduce the demand for forced labor
or commercial sex acts. The government did not provide antitrafficking training for its diplomatic personnel. Somalia is not
a party to the 2000 UN TIP Protocol.
During the year, there were continued reports of the Somali
National Army (SNA), Ahlu Sunna Wal Jama’a, clan militia,
and al-Shabaab using child soldiers.
The efforts of the FGS to end the recruitment and use of child
soldiers were focused solely on the SNA. The government’s
implementation of the 2012 action plan to end the recruitment
and use of children by the SNA remained incomplete. The
work of the six military officer focal points named in 2015 was
limited during the current reporting year. Nevertheless, in 2016,
the SNA’s Child Protection Unit reported that it conducted
awareness campaigns in Mogadishu, Guul Wadaysha, and at
the Siyad Army Base on the importance of preventing child
recruitment into the security forces. Authorities handed over
children separated from armed groups to an international
organization for care. The UN continued to report concerns
about the arrest and detention of some children allegedly
associated with al-Shabaab by Puntland forces. Most Somalis
lacked birth certificates, and without an established birth
registration system or standardized method for recruitment,
verifying claims of child soldiering remained difficult.

434

Throughout areas beyond state control, al-Shabaab frequently
recruited children for use by its militias, typically through
abduction, deception, or compelling elders to hand over

minors, and increasingly through fear from public executions
of children alleged to be deserters or spies. The terrorist group
forced recruitment at mosques, Quranic schools, and facilities
for neglected children. Al-Shabaab used children for combat
and other support functions in southern and central Somalia,
including for planting roadside bombs and other explosive
devices, serving as human shields during incursions, carrying
out assassinations and suicide attacks, providing intelligence,
serving as guards, and working in domestic service. Al-Shabaab
also forcibly recruited young girls and exploited them in sexual
servitude.

TRAFFICKING PROFILE

Somalia is a source, transit, and destination country for
men, women, and children subjected to forced labor and sex
trafficking. Information regarding trafficking in Somalia remains
extremely difficult to obtain or verify. Victims are primarily
from Somalia’s southern and central regions and subjected
to trafficking within the country, especially in Puntland and
Somaliland in the north. In Somaliland, women act as recruiters
and intermediaries who transport victims to Puntland, Djibouti,
and Ethiopia for the purposes of domestic servitude or sex
trafficking. Due to poverty and an inability to provide care for
all family members, some Somalis willingly surrender custody
of their children to people with whom they share familial ties
and clan linkages; some of these children may become victims of
forced labor or sex trafficking. While many children work within
their own households or family businesses, some children may
be forced into labor in agriculture, domestic work, herding
livestock, selling or portering khat, crushing stones, or in the
construction industry. In 2014, an international NGO released
a report documenting cases of sexual abuse and exploitation,
including trafficking, of Somali women and girls by Ugandan
and Burundian African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM)
personnel. An African Union investigation into the allegations
concluded there was evidence of sexual exploitation, abuse,
and trafficking by AMISOM personnel.
Notwithstanding the lack of reliable statistics, Somaliland and
Puntland received an influx of economic migrants and refugees
from war-torn Yemen and the Oromia region of Ethiopia.
Regional governments from Somaliland and Puntland reported
smuggling and trafficking continued through Somalia as a
transit point on routes to Libya, Sudan, and Europe. Women
and girl migrants working in the informal economy were
particularly vulnerable to trafficking. Reports document an
uptick in middle-class Somali citizens attempting to migrate
to Europe, which increased their vulnerability to trafficking.
An international organization reported that youth aged 18
to 35 from south-central Somalia, driven by pressure to seek
employment opportunities abroad, are the most vulnerable to
trafficking. As in prior reporting periods, certain marginalized
ethnic minorities—Somali Bantus and Midgaan—continue to
face greater risk of sex and labor trafficking, as do IDPs and
people living in areas under al-Shabaab control. Self-identified
administrators of some IDP camps reportedly force girls and
women to provide sex acts in exchange for food and services;
some Somali officials are alleged to be complicit in such
exploitation. These camp administrators continue to charge rent
or fees for otherwise-free basic services and sell the area they
control within a camp to other administrators, establishing a
cycle of debt for IDPs that makes them vulnerable to trafficking,
including inherited bondage.
According to an international organization, traffickers employed
deception as the predominant recruitment method over threat

SPECIAL CASE: YEMEN
Yemen remains a Special Case for the second consecutive year.
The civil conflict and humanitarian crisis in Yemen deepened
during the reporting period, and information on human
trafficking in the country has become increasingly difficult
to obtain since March 2015 when the Republic of Yemen
Government (ROYG) had to leave and relinquished control
of substantial portions of territory. NGOs reported vulnerable
populations in Yemen are at an increased risk of being subjected
to trafficking due to large-scale violence driven by protracted
armed conflict, civil unrest, and lawlessness. Migrant workers
from the Horn of Africa who remained in Yemen may have
endured intensified violence, and women and children may have
become more susceptible to trafficking. The few international
organizations and NGOs remaining in Yemen focused primarily
on providing emergency assistance to the local population and
lacked adequate resources to collect reliable data on trafficking.
A local NGO estimated more than 80 percent of Yemenis need
broad assistance and basic social services have collapsed. For
the purposes of this report, Yemen retained special case status
since the government continues to lack control over a significant
portion of its territory while it remains outside the capital,

Sana’a, in Aden, and Saudi Arabia.

GOVERNMENT EFFORTS

Due to the tenuous political situation, the government faced
serious challenges to combat trafficking, including substantial
internal security threats, weak institutions, systemic corruption,
a shrinking economy, limited territorial control, and poor law
enforcement capabilities. The government made no discernible
anti-trafficking law enforcement efforts. Government efforts to
investigate and prosecute trafficking offenders were hampered
by the absence of a law criminalizing all forms of trafficking and
the government’s conflation of trafficking and smuggling. Article
248 of the penal code prescribes up to 10 years imprisonment
for any person who “buys, sells, or gives [a human being] as
a present, or deals in human beings; and anyone who brings
into the country or exports from it a human being with the
intent of taking advantage of him.” This statute’s prescribed
penalty is commensurate with those prescribed for other serious
crimes, such as rape; however, its narrow focus on transactions
and movement does not prohibit many forms of sex trafficking
and forced labor as defined under international law. Article
161 of the Child Rights Law criminalizes the “prostitution of
children.” While the government’s inter-ministerial National
Technical Committee to Combat Human Trafficking drafted
anti-trafficking legislation, with assistance from an international
organization, prior to its departure, Houthi rebels illegally
disbanded parliament in February 2015, and the legislation
has not been enacted.

SPECIAL CASE: YEMEN

or force, as utilized in years past. Traffickers and smugglers
reportedly take advantage of the vulnerability of IDP women
and children, mostly from southern and central Somalia, at
times using false promises of lucrative jobs in Europe and
North America. Traffickers transport Somali women, sometimes
via Djibouti, to the Middle East, where they frequently
endure domestic servitude or forced prostitution. Somali
men experience conditions of forced labor as herdsmen and
workers in the Gulf States. Traffickers transport children to
Saudi Arabia and force them to beg on the streets. Dubious
employment agencies facilitate human trafficking by targeting
individuals desiring to migrate to the Gulf states or Europe for
employment. Federal government officials allegedly sell falsified
travel documents to travel brokers and traffickers. NGOs and
international organizations report Somalis increasingly seek
to move to other African destinations, including Kenya and
South Africa. Authorities in Somaliland report an increase in
the transporting or kidnapping of children and unemployed
university graduates, who later transit Ethiopia and Sudan and
are sometimes held hostage by networks in Libya en route to
Europe and the Middle East. Some members of the Somali
diaspora use false offers of marriage to lure unsuspecting victims,
many of whom include relatives, to Europe or the United
States, where they force them into prostitution or domestic
servitude. Traffickers reportedly subject Somali children fleeing
al-Shabaab and seeking refuge in Kenya to forced labor or
sexual exploitation. Trucks transporting goods from Kenya
to Somalia sometimes return to Kenya with young girls and
women; traffickers procure these young girls and women and
exploit them in brothels in Nairobi or Mombasa or send them
to destinations outside Kenya. Undocumented Ethiopians
in northern Somalia also remain vulnerable to trafficking
as they seek employment in Puntland and Somaliland to
fund subsequent travel to the Middle East. Ethiopian children
travel to Somaliland seeking employment but may instead be
forced to beg on the streets. Some traffickers reportedly compel
community elders, particularly in coastal regions, to convince
community members to travel to Europe for employment
opportunities; some individuals are subjected to forced labor
in Europe.

The government did not have access to or oversight of the
courts and therefore did not report efforts to prosecute, convict,
or punish trafficking offenses during the year. It made no
known efforts to investigate or punish the practice of chattel
slavery. In addition, the government was unable to pursue any
investigations, prosecutions, or convictions of government
officials complicit in trafficking offenses, despite previous reports
of officials engaged in trafficking in both urban and rural areas,
including the domestic servitude of children and women, forced
prostitution of women, recruitment and use of child soldiers,
and forced labor of migrant workers. Allegedly, local government
and security officials willfully ignored trafficking crimes in
their respective areas of responsibility. Prior to the conflict, the
government did not effectively enforce anti-trafficking provisions
due to a lack of resources and the financial interests of the elite,
many of whom allegedly benefited from forced labor.
The government did not have the access to identify and
provide adequate protection services to trafficking victims
among vulnerable groups, such as women in prostitution and
foreign migrants. As a result, the government could not ensure
trafficking victims were not inappropriately incarcerated, fined,
or otherwise penalized for unlawful acts committed as a direct
result of being subjected to trafficking, such as prostitution
or immigration violations. An international organization
identified 25 victims of trafficking, most of whom were adults.
Although the Ministry of Interior (MOI) Women and Children
Unit had formal standard operating procedures for proactive
identification of trafficking victims, efforts to implement or train
law enforcement on these procedures were suspended due to
the prolonged unrest. Furthermore, the government did not
encourage victims to assist in investigations or prosecutions
of their traffickers or to provide assistance to its nationals
repatriated after enduring trafficking abroad. In May 2014, the
government acknowledged the use of child soldiers and signed
a UN action plan to end the practice; however, it did not make
efforts to release child soldiers from the military or provide

435

SPECIAL CASE: YEMEN

them with protective or rehabilitation services. Furthermore,
an international organization continued to express concerns
about the detention by the Yemeni Armed Forces (YAF) of
children for alleged association with Houthi rebel forces. The
government took some action in criticizing or condemning
the rebel recruitment of child soldiers, including public press
statements, and expressed its commitment to properly address
this crime.
Due to its broad lack of access and governance capacity
issues, the government was unable to make efforts to prevent
trafficking during the reporting period. A draft national strategy
to combat trafficking initiated by the Ministry of Human
Rights, in coordination with an international organization,
remains pending. The draft includes plans for raising awareness,
increasing cooperation between Yemen and neighboring
countries, training officials in victim identification, and
instituting procedures to protect victims. During a previous
reporting period, the government enacted a regulation requiring
MOI approval for Yemenis to marry foreigners, in an effort to
reduce sex tourism among foreigners, particularly Saudis and
Emiratis who “temporarily” married young Yemeni women;
however, officials continued to provide such approval in
exchange for bribes. Further, the government did not provide
anti-trafficking training to its diplomatic personnel and could
not make efforts to reduce the demand for commercial sex
acts, forced labor, or address the problem of sex tourism more
broadly. Yemen is not a party to the 2000 UN TIP Protocol.
Since the escalation of armed conflict in March 2015, human
rights organizations reported all parties to the conflict have
increased their recruitment and use of child soldiers. As a result
of its limited capacity and the ongoing conflict, the Yemeni
government has not implemented a 2014 UN action plan to end
the recruitment and use of child soldiers. Despite a 1991 law
requiring members of the armed forces to be at least 18 years
of age and a May 2014 UN action plan to prevent recruitment
of children into its armed forces, credible reports indicated the
acceleration of recruitment of children throughout the country,
due to expansion of military activity by government forces as
well as by Houthi-Saleh rebel forces, tribal and other militias,
and al-Qa’ida in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP). During the
year, these armed groups increased their recruitment, training,
and deployment of children as participants in the conflict. An
international organization observed Houthis using children
as uniformed soldiers and at checkpoints during the reporting
period. AQAP recruited boys for combat operations against
military and security forces. Armed boys, reportedly as young
as 10 years old, are believed to have worked for Houthi militias
and government forces. Some families supportive of Houthi
rebels, including those residing in locations outside Houthi
control, sent their children to the Houthi stronghold of Sa’ada
in northwestern Yemen for arms training by the Houthis to serve
in their militias. According to an international organization,
between April and June 2016, armed groups recruited and
used at least 168 children, compared to 140 the previous
reporting period. The majority of incidents were attributed to
the Houthis, followed by the YAF, Popular Committees, and
AQAP. In 2016, the Saudi-led coalition handed over to Yemeni
officials 52 child soldiers alleged to have been recruited by
the Houthis; the children were detained in a camp controlled
by the YAF. Yemen’s security, political, and economic crises,
cultural acceptance of child soldiering, weak law enforcement
mechanisms, and limited political will continued to severely
encumber the country’s capacity to end the recruitment and
use of child soldiers.

436

SCOPE AND MAGNITUDE

Yemen is a country of origin and, to a lesser extent, transit
and destination, for men, women, and children subjected
to forced labor, and women and children subjected to sex
trafficking. The ongoing conflict, lack of rule of law, and the
deteriorating economy have likely disrupted some trafficking
patterns and exacerbated others. Past reports suggested some
Yemeni children—mostly boys—were subjected to forced
labor in domestic service, begging, or in small shops after
migrating to Aden or Sana’a or to Saudi Arabia and, to a lesser
extent, Oman. Traffickers, security officials, and employers
also forced some of these children into sex trafficking in Saudi
Arabia, while others were forced to smuggle drugs into Saudi
Arabia. Prior to the conflict, Yemen was a transit point and
destination for women and children, primarily from the Horn
of Africa, who were subjected to sex trafficking and forced labor.
Ethiopians and Somalis traveled voluntarily to Yemen with the
hope of employment in Gulf countries, but some women and
children among this population may have been exploited in
sex trafficking or domestic servitude in Yemen. Others migrated
based on fraudulent offers of employment as domestic workers
in Yemen, where they were subsequently subjected to sex
trafficking or forced labor. Some female refugees were previously
forced into prostitution in Aden and Lahj governorates. Prior
to the conflict’s escalation and the government’s departure in
March 2015, Yemeni migrant workers were allegedly deported
from Saudi Arabia and returned to Yemen through the al-Tuwal
and al-Buq border crossings. Most deportees were reportedly
returned to the impoverished Tihamah region located on the
west coast of Yemen, many of whom remained displaced and
highly vulnerable to exploitation, including trafficking. The
UN estimated that the protracted Syrian conflict resulted in an
influx of as many as 100,000 Syrian refugees to Yemen; Syrian
refugee women and children begging in the streets were highly
vulnerable to forced labor and sex trafficking in the country.
Prior to the Yemeni government’s departure, it and international
NGOs estimated there were approximately 1.7 million child
laborers under the age of 14 in Yemen, some of whom were
subjected to forced labor. Yemeni and Saudi gangs transported
African children to Saudi Arabia for the purpose of exploitation.
Traffickers abused and abandoned in Yemen some refugees and
migrants from the Horn of Africa who voluntarily transited
Yemen en route to Saudi Arabia and other Gulf countries.
Reports suggest at least 150 migrants attempt to cross to Yemen
via Djibouti daily, and as many as 14,000 Ethiopians may have
required assistance in Yemen by the end of 2016, a situation
which underscores the need for broad proactive screening of
potential victims of trafficking and child soldiering among
migrants who have been evacuated from Yemen. In past years,
multiple NGOs reported criminal smuggling groups had built
a large number of “camps” near the Yemeni-Saudi border city
of Haradh, where migrants hoping to reach Saudi Arabia were
held for extortion and ransom.
Yemeni children have been subjected to sex trafficking within
the country and in Saudi Arabia. Girls as young as 15 years old
have reportedly been exploited in commercial sex in hotels and
clubs in the Governorates of Sana’a, Aden, and Taiz. Prior to
the conflict, most child sex tourists in Yemen were from Saudi
Arabia, with a smaller percentage originating from other Gulf
nations, including the United Arab Emirates. Some Saudi men
used legally contracted “temporary marriages”—authorized by
some Islamic authorities as “misyar” marriages—for the purpose
of sexually exploiting Yemeni girls, some reportedly as young as
10 years old, and some of whom were later abandoned on the
streets of Saudi Arabia. Civil society organizations assessed that,

SPECIAL CASE: YEMEN

as a result of the dire economic situation in Yemen, particularly
in the north, sex trafficking of Yemeni children had increased
over the past several years. Additional sources alleged the
practice of chattel slavery, in which human beings are traded
as property, continued in Yemen in 2016, citing a “prevalence
rate” of 1.13 percent. While no official statistics exist detailing
this practice, a 2014 study by a human rights organization
documented 190 cases of slavery in three directorates of Hajjah
governorate. Sources reported there could be several hundred
other men, women, and children sold or inherited as slaves
in al-Hodeida and al-Mahwit governorates.

437

RELEVANT INTERNATIONAL CONVENTIONS
438

RELEVANT INTERNATIONAL CONVENTIONS
The chart below shows the Ratification, Accession (a), or Acceptance (A) of relevant international conventions for those countries that
have ratified, acceded to, or accepted any such conventions between April 2016 and March 2017. A complete list that includes all of the
countries covered by the 2016 Trafficking in Persons Report is available at: http://www.state.gov/tipreport

Country

Argentina

UN Protocol
to Prevent,
Suppress
and Punish
Trafficking
in Persons

Optional Protocol
to the Convention
on the Rights of
the Child on the
Sale of Children,
Child Prostitution
and Child
Pornography

Optional
Protocol to the
ILO
Convention on
Convention 29,
the Rights of the
Forced Labour
Child in Armed
Conflict

ILO
ILO Protocol
Convention
of 2014 to the
105,
Forced Labour
Abolition of
Convention*
Forced Labour

ILO
Convention
182,
Elimination of
Worst Forms
of Child Labor

ILO
Convention
189,
Domestic
Workers

Ratification,
Accession (a), or
Acceptance (A)

Ratification,
Accession (a), or
Acceptance (A)

Ratification,
Accession (a), or
Acceptance (A)

Ratification

Ratification

Ratification

Ratification

Ratification

2002

2003

2002

1950

2016

1960

2001

2014

Brunei

—

2006(a)

2016(a)

—

—

—

2008

—

Cyprus

2003

2006

2010

1960

2017

1960

2000

—

Czechia

2014

2013

2001

1993

2016

1996

2001

—

Estonia

2004

2004

2014

1996

2016

1996

2001

—

Finland

2006(A)

2012

2002

1936

2017

1960

2000

2015

France

2002

2003

2003

1937

2016

1960

2001

—

Guinea

2004(a)

2011(a)

2016(a)

1959

—

1961

2003

—

Jamaica

2003

2011

2002

1962

—

1962

2003

2016

Maldives

2016(a)

2002

2004

2013

—

2013

2013

—

Mali

2002

2002(a)

2002

1960

2016

1962

2000

—

Pakistan

—

2011

2016

1957

—

1960

2001

—

Panama

2004

2001

2001

1966

2016

1966

2000

2015

Poland

2003

2005

2005

1958

2017

1958

2002

—

* ILO Protocol of 2014 to the Forced Labour Convention entered into force November 9, 2016

As required by law, this section summarizes actions taken by the United Nations (UN), the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), and the
Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) to prevent trafficking in persons or the exploitation of victims of trafficking.

UNITED NATIONS

OSCE

NATO

TOTAL NUMBER OF
PEACEKEEPING AND
SUPPORT PERSONNEL

107,574

2,870

17,748

TOTAL NUMBER OF
MISSIONS

16

15

2

PREVENTION POLICY

“Special Measures for Protection from Sexual Exploitation
and Sexual Abuse” (SEA) (2003)

“Code of Conduct for Staff and
Mission Members”

“NATO Policy on Combating
Trafficking in Human Beings”
(2004 and 2007)

LEAD OFFICE
RESPONSIBLE FOR
IMPLEMENTATION

Office of Field Support

Office of Human Resources

NATO Political Affairs and
Security Policy Division (PASP)

PREVENTION TRAINING

Pre-deployment and at mission, including a new
E-learning program

Pre-deployment

Pre-deployment and at mission

165 [civilian (68), military (93), police (7)]

No reported allegations

NUMBER OF
ALLEGATIONS IN 2016

“NATO Guidance for the
development of training and
educational programmes to
support the policy on combating
the trafficking in human beings”
(2004)

103 allegations were reported against personnel of 14
UN peacekeeping and special political missions. The
majority of the allegations were in the Central African
Republic and the Democratic Republic of Congo. There
were 62 allegations reported against UN staff members
and related personnel not associated with peacekeeping
operations and special political missions as well as
against non-UN forces under a Security Council Mandate.

No reported allegations – NATO
relies on contributing countries
to report allegations.

INTERNATIONAL PEACEKEEPERS

STOPPING HUMAN TRAFFICKING, SEXUAL EXPLOITATION, AND ABUSE BY
INTERNATIONAL PEACEKEEPERS AND CIVILIAN PERSONNEL

46% of the total allegations involved child victims under
18 years of age.
NEW INITIATIVES

The new UN Secretary General released a four-pronged
strategy to improve the UN’s system-wide response to
sexual exploitation and abuse (A/71/818).
Implementation is underway for a model complaint
mechanism for complainants and victims.
A Trust Fund in Support of Victims of SEA has been
created and terms of reference developed. Member
states have agreed to transfer of payments withheld for
confirmed SEA cases by UN personnel to the Trust Fund
mentioned above.

LINKS FOR
ADDITIONAL
INFORMATION

https://conduct.unmissions.org/

http://www.osce.org/what/
trafficking

http://www.nato.int/cps/en/
natolive/topics_50315.htm

439

ORGANIZATIONS COMBATING TRAFFICKING IN PERSONS
440

MULTILATERAL ORGANIZATIONS COMBATING TRAFFICKING IN PERSONS
ORGANIZATIONS AND SELECTED LINKS OF INTEREST

FRAMEWORK DOCUMENT RELEVANT TO TIP

TIP FOCAL POINT

United Nations (UN)
www.un.org

Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons,
Especially Women and Children, Supplementing the United Nations
Convention Against Transnational Organized Crime (A/RES/55/25)
(2000)

Special Rapporteur on
Trafficking in Persons,
Especially Women and
Children

United Nations Sustainable Development Goals(SDGs):
-http://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/
United Nations Security Council (UNSC):
-https://www.un.org/press/en/2016/sc12647.doc.htm
-https://www.un.org/press/en/2015/sc12165.doc.htm
United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC):
www.unodc.org
https://www.unodc.org/cld/en/v3/htms/index.html (Human Trafficking
Knowledge Portal)
http://www.unodc.org/documents/human-trafficking/2017/Case_
Digest_Evidential_Issues_in_Trafficking.pdf
United Nations Office of the High Commissioner
on Human Rights :
www.ohchr.org

United Nations Global Plan of Action to Combat
Trafficking in Persons (A/RES/64/293) (2010)
ILO Conventions:
-C29 Forced Labour Convention, 1930
-P029 Protocol of 2014 and Recommendation R203, supplementing
the Forced Labour Convention, 1930
-C105 Abolition of Forced Labour Convention, 1957

Special Rapporteur on
Contemporary Forms of
Slavery
Special Rapporteur on
the Sale of Children,
Child Prostitution, and
Child Pornography

-C182 Worst Forms of Child Labour Convention, 1999
-C189 Domestic Workers Convention, and its Recommendation R201,
2011

International Labour Organization (ILO) :
www.ilo.org
http://www.alliance87.org/
http://www.ilo.org/sapfl/Informationresources/ILOPublications/
Byregion/Global/lang--en/index.htm
African Union (AU)
www.africa-union.org/

Ouagadougou Action Plan to Combat Trafficking in Human Beings,
Especially Women and Children (2006)

N/A

AU Commission Initiative against Trafficking Campaign (AU.COMMIT)
Association of Southeast Nations (ASEAN)
www.asean.org

ASEAN Declaration Against Trafficking in Persons, Particularly
Women and Children, 2004

ACTIP and the ASEAN Plan of Action :
http://www.asean.org/wp-conent/uploads/2015/12/ACTIP.pdf
http://www.asean.org/storage/2015/12/APA-FINAL.pdf

ASEAN Convention Against Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women
and Children (2015)

Bali Regional Ministerial Conference On People Smuggling,
Trafficking In Persons And Related Transnational Crime (Bali Process)
www.baliprocess.net

Co Chairs’ Statements of the first (2002), second (2003), third
(2009), fourth (2011), fifth (2013), and sixth (2016)

Bali Process Policy Guides :
http://www.baliprocess.net/regional-support-office/policy-guides/
http://www.baliprocess.net/regional-support-office/policy-guides-onidentification-and-protection-of-victims-of-trafficking/
Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS)
www.cis.minsk.by/ (in Russian only)

ASEAN Senior
Officials Meeting on
Transnational Crime

ASEAN Plan of Action Against Trafficking in Persons, Especially
Women and Children (2015)

Bali Regional Ministerial Conference
On People Smuggling, Trafficking In Persons
And Related Transnational Crime

Agreement on the Cooperation of the CIS Member States in
Combating Trafficking in Persons, Human Organs and Tissues
(2005)

Bali Process Working
Group on Trafficking in
Persons

N/A

Program of Cooperation between the CIS Member States against
Trafficking in Persons for 2014–2018
Coordinated Mekong Ministerial Initiative against Trafficking
(COMMIT)
http://un-act.org/
-Victim Identification and Referral Mechanisms: Common Guidelines for
the Greater Mekong Sub-region :
http://un-act.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/COMMIT_-Guidelines_
on_Victim_ID__Referrals.pdf
-Supporting the Reintegration of Trafficked Persons: A Guidebook for the
Greater Mekong Sub-Region :
http://un-act.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/Final-ReintegrationGuidebook-3.pdf

COMMIT Memorandum of Understanding on Cooperation Against
Trafficking in Greater Mekong Sub-Region (2004)
COMMIT 3rd Sub-Regional Plan of Action (COMMIT SPAIII, 2011-2013)

United Nations Action
for Cooperation against
Trafficking in Persons
Regional COMMIT Task
Force (TF)

FRAMEWORK DOCUMENT RELEVANT TO TIP

TIP FOCAL POINT

Council of the Baltic Sea States (CBSS)
http://www.cbss.org/civil-security-the-human-dimension/tfthb/
www.childcentre.info/egcc/
http://www.cbss.org/guidelines-labour-exploitation-baltic-sea-region/

A Vision for the Baltic Sea region by 2020, CBSS Summit 2010

Task Force against
Trafficking in Human
Beings (TF-THB)

Council of Europe (COE)
www.coe.int
http://www.coe.int/t/dghl/monitoring/trafficking/
http://www.coe.int/t/dghl/monitoring/trafficking/Docs/Publications/
default_en.asp

COE Convention on Action Against Trafficking in Human Beings
(2005)

Group of Experts
on Action Against
Trafficking in Human
Beings (GRETA)

Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS)
www.ecowas.int

Declaration on the Fight against Trafficking in Persons, 2001

Anti-Trafficking Unit

Economic Community of Central African States (ECCAS)
www.ceeac-eccas.org/

European Union (EU)
http://ec.europa.eu/anti-trafficking/index.action

Human Trafficking 2016 – Baltic Sea Round-up Report

Expert Group on
Children at Risk

ECOWAS Initial Plan of Action against Trafficking in Persons
(2002-2003), extended until 2011
Joint ECOWAS/ECCAS Regional Plan of Action to Combat Trafficking
in Persons, especially Women and Children (2006-2008)
Brussels Declaration on Preventing and Combating Trafficking in
Human Beings, 2002

European Union AntiTrafficking Coordinator

Directive on Preventing and Combating Trafficking in Human Beings
and Protecting Victims
League of Arab States (LAS)
www.arableagueonline.org/las/index.jsp
(in Arabic only)

Arab Framework Act on Combating Trafficking in Persons (2008)

N/A

Arab Initiative to Combat Trafficking in Persons, 2010
Comprehensive Arab Strategy for Combating Trafficking in Human
Beings (CASCTHB), Council of Arab Ministers of Justice Resolution
15/2/2012

Organization of American States (OAS)
www.oas.org/en/default.asp
www.oas.org/dsp/english/cpo_trata.asp

Work Plan to Combat Trafficking in Persons in the Western
Hemisphere 2010-2012 (AG/RES. 2551 (XL-O/10)

Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC)

Charter of the Organization of the Islamic Conference, 2008

N/A

Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE)
http://www.osce.org/secretariat/trafficking

OSCE Action Plan to Combat Trafficking in Human Beings (2003)

Special Representative
and Coordinator on
Trafficking in Human
Beings

Handbook - How to prevent human trafficking for domestic servitude in
diplomatic households and protect private domestic workers:
http://www.osce.org/handbook/domesticservitude

Coordinator Against
Trafficking in Persons

Second Work Plan against Trafficking in Persons in the Western
Hemisphere 2015-2018 (RTP-IV/doc.4/14 rev. 1)

Platform for Action Against Human Trafficking (2007)
Decision No. 1107 Addendum to the OSCE Action Plan to Combat
Trafficking in Human Beings, Decision No. 1107, 6 December 2013

OSCE Alliance against Trafficking in Persons:
http://www.osce.org/secretariat/107221
Regional Conference on Migration (RCM) (Puebla Group)
www.rcmvs.org/

Regional Conference on Migration Plan of Action

The Liaison Officers
Network to Combat
Migrant Smuggling and
Trafficking in Persons

Southern African Development Community (SADC)
www.sadc.int/

SADC Strategic Plan of Action on Combating Trafficking in Persons,
especially women and Children (2009-2019)

N/A

South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC)
www.saarc-sec.org/

SAARC Convention on Preventing and Combating Trafficking in
Women and Children for Prostitution, 2002

Regional Task Force

Regional Guidelines for Special Protection in Cases of the Repatriation
of Child Victims of Trafficking :
http://www.rcmvs.org/Publicaciones/Publicaciones.htm

http://saarc-sec.org/digital_library/detail_menu/saarc-conventionon-preventing-and-combating-trafficking-in-women-and-children-forprostitution

ORGANIZATIONS COMBATING TRAFFICKING IN PERSONS

ORGANIZATIONS AND SELECTED LINKS OF INTEREST

441

GLOSSARY OF ABBREVIATIONS

GLOSSARY OF ABBREVIATIONS
ASEAN

Association of Southeast Asian Nations

ECCAS

Economic Community of Central African States

ECOWAS
EU
EUROPOL
GRETA

Economic Community of West African States
European Union
European Police Office
Council of Europe’s Group of Experts on Action against Trafficking in Human Beings

IDP

Internally displaced person

ILO

International Labour Organization

ILO-IPEC
INTERPOL

International Labour Organization, International Program for the Elimination of Child
Labour
International Criminal Police Organization

IOM

International Organization for Migration

ISIS

Islamic State of Iraq and Syria

LGBTI

Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Intersex

NGO

Nongovernmental organization

OAS

Organization of American States

OSCE
UN
UNDP

Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe
United Nations
United Nations Development Programme

UNHCR

United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees

UNICEF

United Nations Children’s Fund

UNODC

United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime

UN WOMEN
2000 UN TIP PROTOCOL
(PALERMO PROTOCOL)

United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women
P rotocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women
and Children, Supplementing the United Nations Convention Against Transnational
Organized Crime

NOTES: L ocal currencies have been converted to U.S. dollars ($) using the currency exchange rates reported by the
U.S. Department of the Treasury on December 31, 2016. The rates can be found here: https://www.fiscal.treasury.gov/
fsreports/rpt/treasRptRateExch/itin-12-2016.pdf

442

Inside front cover: Thomas J. Abercrombie/National Geographic Creative

Pages 36-37: Ian Berry/Magnum Photos

Table of Contents: Jodi Cobb/National Geographic Creative

Pages 44-45: Gerd Ludwig/National Geographic Creative

Opposite Page 1: AP Photo/Rodrigo Abd

Page 53: AP Photo/Hassan Ammar

Page 1: ILO/Crozet M.

Page 55: ILO/Ripper J.

Page 2: Brent Lewin © The Freedom Fund

Page 444: Ed Wray/IOM

Page 3: Andrea A. Balint

Inside back cover: “The A21 Campaign“

Page 4: Ben Taub
Page 5: AP Photo/A.M. Ahad
Page 6: James L. Stanfield/National Geographic Creative

PHOTO CREDITS

PHOTO CREDITS

Page 7: AP Photo/Hadi Mizban
Page 8: AP Photo/Thanassis Stavrakis
Page 9: Paul Sutherland/National Geographic Creative
Page 11: AP Photo/Grace Kassab
Page 12: Dario Pignatelli/Polaris
Page 13: Ben Taub
Page 15: AP Photo/A.M. Ahad
Page 17: Andrea A. Balint
Page 18: ILO/Ripper J.
Page 19: Top: AP Photo/A.M. Ahad
Middle: Jodi Cobb/National Geographic Creative
Bottom: John Stanmeyer/National Geographic Creative
Page 20: REUTERS/Emmanuel Braun
Page 21: Stephen Boitano/Polaris
Page 23: T op: James L. Stanfield/National Geographic Creative
Middle: ILO/Crozet M.
Bottom: AP Photo/Jeff Chiu
Page 24: REUTERS/Andrew Biraj
Page 25: Ed Wray/IOM
Page 26: AP Photo/Manish Swarup
Page 27: Top: AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell
Bottom: Getty/Ghaith Abdul-Ahad
Page 28: REUTERS/Ricardo Moraes
Page 29: Ben Taub
Page 31: A. Abbas/Magnum Photos
Page 34: AP Photo/Camran Jebreli
Page 35: Ian Berry/Magnum Photos

443

CLOSING NOTE

A CLOSING NOTE
G

overnments hold a unique position in the fight against human trafficking, in
that they have ultimate responsibility for punishing perpetrators, protecting
victims, and preventing trafficking crimes. Using this “3P” paradigm, our office
works diligently to evaluate the efforts of 187 governments and provide concrete
recommendations on how each can combat modern slavery most effectively.
The obligation to hold traffickers accountable for their crimes is a key element of the
Palermo Protocol, and a government’s efforts to prosecute signify its dedication to
fighting human trafficking. High acquittal rates, suspended sentences, imposition
of fines in lieu of incarceration, and weak prison terms are ineffective to deter
future crimes. When authorities punish trafficking victims for crimes they were
forced to commit, including prostitution and immigration violations, they hinder
their own efforts to investigate and punish traffickers.
The burden on governments to respond to the crime with sufficiently deterrent
penalties and to protect victims is heightened when their own officials engage
in or facilitate trafficking crimes. Some judges, prosecutors, and law enforcement
officials throughout the world accept bribes for reducing sentences of perpetrators,
leaking information to suspects under investigation, or ignoring potential cases.
Some state employees of publicly-run orphanages organize or overlook the sex trafficking of children in their care, while some officials at camps for refugees or
IDPs exploit victims or ignore their protection responsibilities, leaving camp residents more vulnerable to exploitation and retaliation. Law enforcement officials who
protect brothels for financial gain can be complicit in sex trafficking, while those who knowingly purchase commercial sex from sex trafficking victims are directly
culpable. Some diplomats exploit their domestic workers, often avoiding penalties for trafficking crimes committed abroad. Globally, public officials complicit in or
committing sex and labor trafficking crimes frequently avoid punishment. Governments must stop such complicity and look within their own ranks to hold offending
officials criminally accountable.
Government-sponsored human trafficking represents the most egregious form of complicity. Government-compelled forced labor continues in some countries,
including in agricultural programs, state-run detention facilities, drug rehabilitation centers, and government-to-government contracts for foreign workers. In regions
across the world, militaries—including some government armies—forcibly recruit children to serve as soldiers or militia members or in service capacities such as
porters and cooks. In sponsoring policies like these, governments not only harm the very people they are responsible for protecting, they also embolden human
traffickers who know they will face no punishment for the crime.
The Trafficking in Persons Report includes data on the important work being done to uncover trafficking crimes and prosecute criminals. But pursuit of non-state actors
is not enough. Governments with laws or policies that compel or sanction forced labor or other trafficking crimes must change their practices. All governments should
review policies to ensure the fight against complicity is effective and root out corruption that often allows modern slavery to thrive. When governments end impunity
of their own officials who facilitate human trafficking, other actors will see the importance of holding criminals—no matter their status in society—accountable. Each
government bears that unique responsibility in the fight against modern slavery and must rise to this challenge.

THE STAFF OF THE OFFICE TO MONITOR AND COMBAT TRAFFICKING IN PERSONS IS:

444

Karen Vierling Allen
Julia F. Anderson
Tom Babington
Andrea Balint
Shonnie R. Ball
Kyle M. Ballard
Michelle C. Bloom
Carla M. Bury
Mark Carlson
Cathleen Chang
Susan Coppedge
Alisha D. Deluty
Leigh Anne DeWine
Stephen D. Dreyer
John Elliott
Mary C. Ellison
Mark Forstrom
Carl B. Fox
Connor Gary
Christy Gillmore

Adam Guarneri
Patrick Hamilton
Tegan Hare
Amy Rustan Haslett
Caitlin B. Heidenreich
Sonia Helmy-Dentzel
Greg Hermsmeyer
Julie Hicks
Torrie Higgins
Jennifer M. Ho
Renee Huffman
Veronica Jablonski
Harold Jahnsen
Maurice W. Johnson
Tyler Johnston
Kari A. Johnstone
Maria M. Khalaf
Nayab Khan
Emily A. Korenak
Kendra Leigh Kreider

Megan Hjelle-Lantsman
Abigail Long
Drew Lucas
Channing L. Martin
Kerry McBride
Rendi McCoy
Maura K. McManus
Ericka Moten
Ryan Mulvenna
Samantha Novick
Amy O’Neill Richard
Victoria Orero
Clare Orie
Anna Patrick
Sandy Perez Rousseau
Hedayat K. Rafiqzad
Laura Svat Rundlet
Chad C. Salitan
Haley L. Sands
Sarah A. Scott

Mai Shiozaki-Lynch
Julie Short Echalar
Jane Nady Sigmon
Soumya Silver
Ann Karl Slusarz
Whitney Stewart
Desirée M. Suo
Francesca Tadle
Atsuki Takahashi
Melissa Verlaque
Stephen Verrecchia
Kathleen Vogel
Myrna E. Walch
Rebecca Webb
Maeve E. Westover
Katie Wiese
Andrea E. Wilson
Ben Wiselogle
Janet Zinn

Special thanks to Lamya Shawki El-Shacke and the graphic services team at Global Publishing Solutions.