Trafficking in persons Eritrea, in 16 editions.

current situation:
Eritrea is a source country for men, women, and children trafficked for the purposes of forced labor and commercial sexual exploitation; each year, large numbers of migrant workers depart Eritrea in search of work, particularly in the Gulf States, where some are likely to become victims of forced labor, including in domestic servitude, or commercial sexual exploitation; thousands of Eritreans flee the country illegally, mostly to Sudan, Ethiopia, Eritrean children also work in various economic sectors, including domestic service, street vending, small-scale factories, and Kenya where agriculture; child laborers frequently suffer abuse from their illegal status makes them vulnerable employers and some may be subjected to situations conditions of human trafficking; the government remains complicit in conscripting children into military service forced labor
tier rating:
Tier 3 - the Government of Eritrea does not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking and is not making significant efforts to do so; the Eritrean government Government does not operate with transparency and published neither data nor statistics regarding its efforts to combat human trafficking; it did not respond to requests to provide information for this report; the government made no known progress in prosecuting and punishing trafficking crimes over the reporting period and did not appear to provide any significant assistance to victims of trafficking during the reporting period (2009) (2011)

current situation:
Eritrea is a source country for men, women, and children trafficked for the purposes of forced labor and commercial sexual exploitation; each year, large numbers of migrant workers depart Eritrea in search of work, particularly in the Gulf States, where some are likely to become victims of forced labor, including in domestic servitude, or commercial sexual exploitation; Eritrean children also work in various economic sectors, including domestic service, street vending, small-scale factories, and agriculture; child laborers frequently suffer abuse from their employers and some may be subjected to conditions of forced labor
tier rating:
Tier 3 - the Government of Eritrea does not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking and is not making significant efforts to do so; the Eritrean Government does not operate with transparency and published neither data nor statistics regarding its efforts to combat human trafficking; the government made no known progress in prosecuting and punishing trafficking crimes over the reporting period and did not appear to provide any significant assistance to victims of trafficking (2011) (2009)

current situation:
Eritrea is a source country for men, women, and children trafficked for the purposes of forced labor and, to a lesser extent, sex and commercial sexual exploitation; labor trafficking abroad; the country's national service program is often abused to keep conscripts indefinitely and to force them to perform labor outside the scope of their duties; each year, year large numbers of migrant workers migrants, often fleeing national service, depart Eritrea in search of work, particularly in the Gulf States, where some are likely to become victims of forced labor, including in domestic servitude, or commercial sexual exploitation; labor; Eritrean children also work working in various economic sectors, including domestic service, street vending, small-scale factories, manufacturing, garages, bicycle repair shops, tea and agriculture; child laborers frequently suffer abuse from their employers coffee shops, metal workshops, and some agriculture may be subjected to conditions of forced labor labor; some Eritrean refugees from Sudanese camps are extorted and tortured by traffickers as they are transported through the Sinai Peninsula
tier rating:
Tier 3 - the Government of Eritrea does not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking and is not making significant efforts to do so; the Eritrean Government does not operate with transparency and has published neither data nor statistics regarding its efforts to combat human trafficking; the government made no known progress in did not report prosecuting and punishing trafficking crimes over the reporting period or convicting any traffickers and did not appear to provide identify or refer any significant assistance to victims to protective services in 2012; authorities largely lack an understanding of trafficking (2009) human trafficking, confusing it with all forms of transnational migration from Eritrea; the government made its first-ever efforts to prevent trafficking, warning about the hazards its citizens faced when attempting to migrate abroad (2013)

current situation:
Eritrea is a source country for men, women, and children trafficked for the purposes of forced labor domestically and, to a lesser extent, sex and labor trafficking abroad; the country's country’s national service program is often abused to keep conscripts indefinitely and to force them to perform labor outside the scope of their duties; each year large numbers of migrants, often fleeing national service, depart Eritrea in search of work, particularly work in the Gulf States, Ethiopia, Sudan, Djibouti, and Yemen, where some are likely to become victims of forced labor; Eritrean children working in various economic sectors, including domestic service, street vending, small-scale manufacturing, garages, bicycle repair shops, tea and coffee shops, metal workshops, and agriculture may be subjected to conditions of forced labor; some Eritrean refugees from in Sudanese camps are extorted and tortured by traffickers as they are transported through held for ransom in the Sinai Peninsula Peninsula, where they are forced to work and are abused
tier rating:
Tier 3 - – Eritrea does not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking and is not making significant efforts to do so; the Eritrean Government does not operate with transparency and has published neither reported no data nor statistics in 2013 regarding its efforts to combat human trafficking; the government did not report prosecuting no investigations, prosecutions, or convicting convictions of any traffickers were reported, and did not few efforts were made to identify or to refer any victims to protective services in 2012; services; authorities largely lack lacked an understanding of human trafficking, confusing conflating it with all forms of transnational migration from Eritrea; migration; the government made its first-ever efforts continued to prevent trafficking, warning about the hazards warn its citizens faced when attempting of the dangers of human trafficking; Eritrea is not a party to migrate abroad (2013) the 2000 UN TIP Protocol (2014)

current situation: Eritrea is a source country for men, women, and children trafficked for the purposes of forced labor domestically and, to a lesser extent, sex and labor trafficking abroad; the country’s national service program is often abused to keep abused, with conscripts detained indefinitely and to force them subjected to perform labor outside the scope of their duties; each year large numbers of forced labor; Eritrean migrants, often fleeing national service, depart Eritrea in search of work in Ethiopia, Sudan, Djibouti, face strict exit control procedures and Yemen, where some are likely limited access to become victims of forced labor; passports and visas, making them vulnerable to trafficking; Eritrean secondary school children working are required to take part in various economic sectors, including domestic service, workshops, public works projects during their summer breaks and agriculture may be subjected must attend military and educational camp in their final year to forced labor; obtain a high school graduation certificate and to gain access to higher education and some Eritrean refugees jobs; some Eritreans living in Sudanese camps or near refugee camps, particularly in Sudan, are kidnapped by criminal groups and held for ransom in the Sinai Peninsula, Peninsula and Libya, where they are forced subjected to work forced labor and are abused abuse
tier rating: Tier 3 – Eritrea does not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking and is not making significant efforts to do so; the Eritrean Government does not operate with transparency and reported no data in 2013 regarding its efforts government failed to combat human trafficking; no investigations, prosecutions, investigate or convictions of prosecute any traffickers were reported, and few efforts were made trafficking offenses or to identify or to refer protect any victims to protective services; authorities largely lacked an understanding of human trafficking, conflating it with all forms of transnational migration; victims; while the government continued to warn its citizens of the dangers of human trafficking; trafficking through awareness-raising events and poster campaigns, authorities lacked an understanding of the crime, conflating trafficking with transnational migration; Eritrea is not a party to the 2000 UN TIP Protocol (2014) (2015)

current situation: human traffickers export domestic victims in Eritrea or abroad; National Service is mandatory at age 18 and may take a variety of forms, including military service and physical labor but also government office jobs and teaching; Eritreans who flee the country, usually with the aim of reaching Europe, seek the help of paid smugglers and are vulnerable to trafficking when they cross the border clandestinely into Sudan, Ethiopia, and to a lesser extent Djibouti; Eritreans are subject to forced labor and sex trafficking mainly in Sudan, Ethiopia, and Libya
tier rating: Tier 3 — Eritrea does not fully meet the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking and is not making significant efforts to do so; the government engaged in critical bilateral and multilateral partnerships to build its capacity for anti-trafficking initiatives; officials participated in a UN-sponsored regional anti-trafficking workshop and committed to produce a regional plan of action to combat trafficking; however, a government policy or pattern of forced labor existed; the government continued to subject its nationals to forced labor in its compulsory national service and citizen militia by forcing them to serve indefinitely or for arbitrary periods; authorities did not report any trafficking investigations, prosecutions, or convictions, including complicit government employees, nor did they report identifying victims and referring them to care; the government has no action plan to combat human trafficking (2020)
trafficking profile: human traffickers export domestic victims in Eritrea or abroad; National Service is mandatory at age 18 and may take a variety of forms, including military service and physical labor but also government office jobs and teaching; Eritreans who flee the country, usually with the aim of reaching Europe, seek the help of paid smugglers and are vulnerable to trafficking when they cross the border clandestinely into Sudan, Ethiopia, and to a lesser extent Djibouti; Eritreans are subject to forced labor and sex trafficking mainly in Sudan, Ethiopia, and Libya

tier rating: Tier 3 — Eritrea does not fully meet the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking and is not making significant efforts to do so; the government engaged in critical bilateral and multilateral partnerships to build its capacity for anti-trafficking initiatives; officials participated in a UN-sponsored regional anti-trafficking workshop and committed to produce a regional plan of action to combat trafficking; however, a government policy or pattern of forced labor human trafficking existed; the government continued to subject exploit its nationals to in forced labor in its compulsory national service and citizen militia by forcing them to serve indefinitely or for arbitrary periods; authorities the government did not report demonstrate any trafficking investigations, prosecutions, or convictions, including complicit government employees, nor did they report identifying victims and referring them to care; the government has no action plan efforts to combat address human trafficking (2020) (2022)
trafficking profile: human traffickers export exploit domestic victims in Eritrea or and abroad; National Service is mandatory at age 18 and may take a variety of forms, including military service and physical labor but also government office jobs and teaching; the 18-month limit on compulsory national service was suspended since the 1998-2000 Eritrean-Ethiopian border conflict, blocking the demobilization of most individuals who are forced to serve indefinitely under threats of detention, torture, or familial reprisal; Eritreans who flee the country, usually with the aim of reaching Europe, seek the help of paid smugglers and are vulnerable to trafficking when they cross the border clandestinely into Sudan, Ethiopia, Sudan and to a lesser extent Djibouti; Ethiopia; Eritreans are subject to forced labor and sex trafficking mainly in Sudan, Ethiopia, and Libya (2022)

tier rating: Tier 3 — Eritrea does not fully meet the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking and is not making significant efforts to do so, therefore Eritrea remained on Tier 3; for more details, go to: https://www.state.gov/reports/2024-trafficking-in-persons-report/eritrea/ https://www.state.gov/reports/2025-trafficking-in-persons-report/eritrea/