The CIA World Factbook Edition 2015 Transnational Issues

Trafficking in persons In 20 editions of 36.

Trafficking in persons was published in 20 editions of the CIA World Factbook, from 2006 to 2025. The 2015 edition carries it in 66 entries, in its Transnational Issues section. Every entry is shown as that edition published it.

entries in the 2015 edition: 66
the first edition with it: 2006
the latest edition with it: 2025

Published as “Trafficking in persons” (2006 to 2025).

the entry has the field in that editionnot in that editionthe open editionEach entry below ends in its editions with Trafficking in persons, 1990 to 2025. Point at a year above to follow it down; choose one in a row to read that edition’s text there.

2015

Every edition with Trafficking in persons

Entries with Trafficking in persons in each edition

Select a bar to open that edition.

World

1 entry

World

current situation:: the International Labour Organization conservatively estimated that 20.9 million people in 2012 were victims of forced labor, representing the full range of human trafficking (also referred to as “modern-day slavery”) for labor and sexual exploitation;
about one-third of reported cases involved crossing international borders, which is often associated with sexual exploitation;
trafficking in persons is most prevalent in southeastern Europe, Eurasia, and Africa and least frequent in EU member states, Canada, the US, and other developed countries (2012)
Tier 2 Watch List:: countries that do not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking but are making significant efforts to do so; (44 countries) Angola, Antigua and Barbuda, Bahrain, Belarus, Belize, Bolivia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Botswana, Burma, Burundi, Cambodia, China, Comoros, Cyprus, Djibouti, Guinea, Guyana, Haiti, Jamaica, Kenya, Laos, Lebanon, Lesotho, Madagascar, Mali, Marshall Islands, Morocco, Namibia, Pakistan, Panama, Qatar, Rwanda, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Solomon Islands, South Sudan, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Suriname, Tanzania, Timor-Leste, Tunisia, Turkmenistan, Ukraine, Uruguay
Tier 3:: countries that neither satisfy the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking nor demonstrate a significant effort to do so;
(23 countries) Algeria, Central African Republic, Democratic Republic of Congo, Cuba, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, The Gambia, Guinea-Bissau, Iran, North Korea, Kuwait, Libya, Malaysia, Mauritania, Papua New Guinea, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Thailand, Uzbekistan, Venezuela, Yemen, Zimbabwe (2014)

Africa

26 entries

Algeria

current situation:: Algeria is a transit and, to a lesser extent, a destination and source country for women subjected to forced labor and sex trafficking and, to a lesser extent, men subjected to forced labor;
criminal networks, sometimes extending to sub-Saharan Africa and to Europe, are involved in human smuggling and trafficking in Algeria;
sub-Saharan adults enter Algeria voluntarily but illegally, often with the aid of smugglers, for onward travel to Europe, but some of the women are forced into prostitution, domestic service, and begging;
some sub-Saharan men, mostly from Mali, are forced into domestic servitude;
some Algerian women and children are also forced into prostitution domestically
tier rating:: Tier 3 - Algeria does not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking and is not making significant efforts to do so: some officials denied human trafficking despite evidence;
no efforts were made to investigate, prosecute, or convict perpetrators of human trafficking or forced labor;
victim identification remained weak, and no system existed to provide victims with protection and assistance;
no anti-trafficking public awareness or educational campaigns were conducted (2014)

Botswana

currrent situation:: Botswana is a source and destination country for women and children subjected to sex trafficking and forced labor;
young Batswana serving as domestic workers, sometimes sent by their parents, may be denied education and basic necessities or experience confinement and abuse indicative of forced labor;
adults and children of San ethnicity were reported to be in forced labor on farms and at cattle posts;
Batswana girls also are forced into prostitution domestically;
undocumented Asian workers may be vulnerable to forced labor due to the threat of deportation
tier rating:: Tier 2 Watch List – Botswana does not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking;
however, it is making significant efforts to do so;
nevertheless, authorities did not increase anti-trafficking efforts in 2013;
no cases involving domestic trafficking were investigated, no trafficking offenders were criminally prosecuted and convicted, and no reports of official complicity were investigated;
the government did not pass anti-trafficking legislation or launch a public awareness campaign;
formal victim identification and referral procedures were not developed (2014)

Burundi

current situation:: Burundi is a source country for children and possibly women subjected to forced labor and sex trafficking;
business people recruit Burundian girls for prostitution domestically, as well as in Rwanda, Kenya, Uganda, and the Middle East, and recruit boys and girls for forced labor in Burundi and Tanzania;
children and young adults are coerced into forced labor in farming, mining, construction, informal commerce, or fishing;
some family members, friends, and neighbors are complicit in exploiting children, luring them in with offers of educational or job opportunities
tier rating:: Tier 2 Watch List – Burundi does not comply fully with the minimum standards for the elimination of human trafficking;
however, it is making significant efforts to do so;
the government has a written plan that, if implemented, would constitute a significant effort toward meeting the minimum standards for eliminating human trafficking;
in 2013, the government established a national coordinating body to oversee anti-trafficking efforts, completed a national action plan, and worked to finalize anti-trafficking legislation;
law enforcement efforts remained modest, and investigations focused on transnational trafficking;
most victim assistance continued to be provided by NGOs without government support;
a system for identifying victims among vulnerable populations and referring victims to care providers was not finalized (2014)

Central African Republic

current situation:: Central African Republic (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;
increased violence and displacement rendered Central Africans more vulnerable to exploitation;
the recruitment of child soldiers, at times through force, increased dramatically during the year;
most victims appear to be CAR citizens exploited within the country, with a smaller number transported back forth between the CAR and nearby countries;
armed groups operating in the CAR, including the Lord’s Resistance Army, continue to recruit and re-recruit children for military activities and labor;
children are also forced into domestic servitude, commercial sexual exploitation, agricultural labor, mining, and street vending
tier rating:: Tier 3 - Central African Republic does not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking and is not making significant efforts to do so;
the government did not investigate or prosecute any suspected cases of human trafficking in 2013, including the use of child soldiers;
the government also failed to identify, provide protection to, or refer to service providers any trafficking victims (2014)

Comoros

current situation:: Comoros is a source country for children subjected to forced labor and, reportedly, sex trafficking domestically, and women and children are subjected to forced labor in Mayotte;
it is possibly a transit and destination country for Malagasy women and girls and a transit country for East African women and girls exploited in domestic service in the Middle East;
Comoran children are forced to labor in domestic service, roadside and street vending, baking, fishing, and agriculture;
some Comoran students at Koranic schools are exploited for forced agricultural or domestic labor, sometimes being subjected to physical and sexual abuse;
Comoros may be particularly vulnerable to transnational trafficking because of inadequate border controls, government corruption, and the presence of international criminal networks
tier rating:: Tier 3 – Comoros does not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking and was placed on Tier 3 after being on the Tier 2 Watch List for two consecutive years without making progress;
Parliament passed revisions to the penal code in 2014, including anti-trafficking provisions and enforcement guidelines, but these amendments have not yet been passed approved by the President and put into effect;
a new child labor law was passed in 2015 prohibiting child trafficking, but existing laws do not criminalize the forced prostitution of adults;
authorities did not investigate, prosecute, or convict alleged trafficking offenders, including complicit officials;
the government lacked victim identification and care referral procedures, did not assist any victims during 2014, and provided minimal support to NGOs offering victims psychosocial services (2015)

Congo, Democratic Republic Of The now Democratic Republic of the Congo

current situation:: The Democratic Republic of the Congo is a source, destination, and possibly a transit country for men, women, and children subjected to forced labor and sex trafficking;
the majority of this trafficking is internal, and much of it is perpetrated by armed groups and rogue government forces outside official control in the country's unstable eastern provinces;
Congolese adults are subjected to forced labor, including debt bondage, in unlicensed mines, and women may be forced into prostitution;
Congolese women and girls are subjected to forced marriages where they are vulnerable to domestic servitude or sex trafficking, while children are forced to work in agriculture, mining, mineral smuggling, vending, portering, and begging;
Congolese women and children migrate to countries in Africa, the Middle East, and Europe where some are subjected to forced prostitution, domestic servitude, and forced labor in agriculture and diamond mining;
indigenous and foreign armed groups, including the Lord’s Resistance Army, abduct and forcibly recruit Congolese adults and children to serve as laborers, porters, domestics, combatants, and sex slaves;
some elements of the Congolese national army (FARDC) also forced adults to carry supplies, equipment, and looted goods, but no cases of the FARDC recruiting child soldiers were reported in 2014 – a significant change
tier rating:: Tier 2 Watch List - The Democratic Republic of the Congo does not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking;
however, it is making significant efforts to do so;
the government took significant steps to hold military and police officials complicit in human trafficking accountable with convictions for sex slavery and arrests of armed group commanders for the recruitment and use of child soldiers;
the government appears to have ceased the recruitment of child soldiers through the implementation of a UN-backed action plan;
little effort was made to address labor and sex trafficking crimes committed by persons other than officials, or to identify the victims, or to provide or refer the victims to care services;
awareness of various forms of trafficking is limited among law enforcement personnel and training and resources are inadequate to conduct investigations (2015)

Djibouti

current situation:: Djibouti is a transit, source, and destination country for men, women, and children subjected to forced labor and sex trafficking;
economic migrants from East Africa en route to Yemen and other Middle East locations are vulnerable to exploitation in Djibouti;
some women and girls may be forced into domestic servitude or prostitution after reaching Djibouti City, the Ethiopia-Djibouti trucking corridor, or Obock – the main crossing point into Yemen;
Djiboutian and foreign children may be forced to beg, to work as domestic servants, or to commit theft and other petty crimes
tier rating:: Tier 2 Watch List – Djibouti does not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking;
however, it is making significant efforts to do so;
the government has a written plan that, if implemented, would constitute a significant effort toward meeting the minimum standards for eliminating human trafficking;
a national action plan was completed in 2014, but tangible efforts to prevent trafficking were minimal;
authorities failed to investigate or prosecute any forced labor of child prostitution crimes, and no victim identifications were reported in 2013;
foreign victims were deported to countries where they could face retribution (2014)

Equatorial Guinea

current situation:: Equatorial Guinea is a source country for children subjected to sex trafficking and destination country for men, women, and children subjected to forced labor;
Equatorial Guinean girls may be encouraged by their parents to engage in the sex trade in urban centers to receive groceries, gifts, housing, and money;
children are also trafficked from nearby countries for work as domestic servants, market laborers, ambulant vendors, and launderers;
women are trafficked to Equatorial Guinea from Cameroon, Benin, other neighboring countries, and China for forced labor or prostitution
tier rating:: Tier 3 – Equatorial Guinea does not fully comply with the minimum standards on the elimination of trafficking and is not making significant efforts to do so;
in 2014, the government made no efforts to investigate or prosecute any suspected trafficking offenders or to identify or protect victims, despite its 2004 law prohibiting all forms of trafficking and mandating the provision of services to victims;
undocumented migrants continued to be deported without being screened to assess whether any were trafficking victims;
authorities did not undertake any trafficking awareness campaigns, implement any programs to address forced child labor, or make any other efforts to prevent trafficking (2015)

Eritrea

current situation:: Eritrea is a source country for men, women, and children trafficked for forced labor domestically and, to a lesser extent, sex and labor trafficking abroad;
the country’s national service program is often abused to keep conscripts indefinitely and to force them to perform labor outside the scope of their duties;
each year large numbers of migrants, often fleeing national service, depart Eritrea in search of work in 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, workshops, and agriculture may be subjected to forced labor;
some Eritrean refugees in Sudanese camps are held for ransom in the Sinai 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 reported no data in 2013 regarding its efforts to combat human trafficking;
no investigations, prosecutions, or convictions of any traffickers were reported, and few efforts were made to identify or to refer any victims to protective services;
authorities largely lacked an understanding of human trafficking, conflating it with all forms of transnational migration;
the government continued to warn its citizens of the dangers of human trafficking;
Eritrea is not a party to the 2000 UN TIP Protocol (2014)

Gambia, The now The Gambia

current situation:: The Gambia is a source and destination country for women and children subjected to forced labor and sex trafficking;
Gambian women, girls, and, to a lesser extent, boys are exploited for prostitution and domestic servitude;
boys in some Koranic schools are forced into street vending or begging;
women, girls, and boys from West African countries are trafficked to The Gambia for sexual exploitation, particularly catering to European tourists seeking sex with children;
some Gambian trafficking victims are identified in neighboring West African countries
tier rating:: Tier 3 – The Gambia does not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking and is not making significant efforts to do so;
the government did not report prosecuting or convicting any trafficking offenders in 2013, did not formally identify trafficking victims, and did not indicate whether victims received any government-supported services;
a government program continued to provide resources and financial support to 12 Koranic schools on the condition that their students were not forced to beg (2014)

Guinea

current situation:: Guinea is a source, transit, and, to a lesser extent a destination country for men, women, and children subjected to forced labor and sex trafficking;
the majority of trafficking victims are Guinean children;
Guinean girls are subjected to domestic servitude and commercial sexual exploitation, while boys are forced to beg or to work as street vendors, shoe shiners, or miners;
some Guinean children are forced to mine in Senegal, Mali, and possibly other West African countries;
Guinean women and girls are subjected to domestic servitude and sex trafficking in Nigeria, Cote d’Ivoire, Benin, Senegal, Western Europe, the US, and the Middle East, while Thai, Chinese, and Vietnamese women are forced into prostitution in Guinea
tier rating:: Tier 2 Watch List – Guinea does not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking;
however, it is making significant efforts to do so;
the government conducted six trafficking investigations in 2013 and prosecuted and convicted only one trafficking offender, which was an increase over the previous year;
the government failed to provide victims with protective services and did not support NGOs that assisted victims but continued to refer child victims to NGOs on an ad hoc basis;
Guinean law does not prohibit all forms of trafficking, excluding, for example, debt bondage (2014)

Guinea-Bissau

current situation:: Guinea-Bissau is a source country for children subjected to forced labor and sex trafficking;
the scope of the problem of trafficking women or men for forced labor or forced prostitution is unknown;
boys are forced into street vending in Guinea-Bissau and manual labor, agriculture, and mining in Senegal, while girls may be forced into street vending, domestic service, and, to a lesser extent, prostitution in Senegal and Guinea
tier rating:: Tier 3 - Guinea-Bissau does not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking and is not making significant efforts to do so;
anti-trafficking efforts have stalled under the transitional government;
despite enacting an anti-trafficking law and adopting a national action plan in 2011, authorities still have not taken action against trafficking offenders, provided protection to identified victims, or conducted any prevention activities;
no progress has been made in implementing the national action plan (2014)

Kenya

current situation:: Kenya is a source, transit, and destination country for adults and children subjected to forced labor and sex trafficking;
Kenyan children are forced to work in domestic service, agriculture, fishing, cattle herding, street vending, begging, and prostitution;
Kenyan economic migrants to other East African countries, South Sudan, Europe, the US, and the Middle East are at times exploited in domestic servitude, massage parlors or brothels, or forced manual labor;
children from Burundi, Ethiopia, Somalia, South Sudan, Tanzania, and Uganda are subjected to forced labor and prostitution in Kenya;
children, often Somalis, living in the Dadaab refugee camp complex may be forced into prostitution or forced to work on tobacco farms
tier rating:: Tier 2 Watch List – Kenya does not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking;
however, it is making significant efforts to do so;
the government has written but not implemented a plan to bring itself into compliance with the minimum standards for eliminating trafficking;
corruption among officials and inadequate police training and resources continued to hamper efforts to bring traffickers to justice in 2013;
efforts to assist and care for child trafficking victims remained strong, but relatively few services were provided to adults trafficked domestically or identified in situations of forced labor or prostitution abroad;
the Department of Children’s Services and an NGO continued to operate a hotline for reporting child trafficking, labor, and abuse;
almost 400 recruitment agencies were inspected in conjunction with the lifting of the ban on sending domestic workers to the Middle East in 2013 (2014)

Lesotho

current situation:: Lesotho is a source, transit, and destination country for women and children subjected to forced labor and sex trafficking and for men subjected to forced labor;
Basotho women and children are subjected to domestic servitude and commercial sexual exploitation within Lesotho and South Africa;
some Basotho men who voluntarily migrate to South Africa for work become victims of forced labor in agriculture and mining or are coerced into committing crimes
tier rating:: Tier 2 Watch List – Lesotho does not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking;
however, it is making significant efforts to do so;
in 2013, the government initiated several prosecutions for trafficking offenses but did not demonstrate overall increasing efforts to address human trafficking;
key portions of the 2011 anti-trafficking act remain unimplemented, including the development of formal referral procedures and the establishment of victim care centers;
the government continued to rely on NGOs to identify and assist victims, without providing any funding or support for these services (2014)

Libya

current situation:: Libya is a destination and transit country for men and women from sub-Saharan Africa and Asia subjected to forced labor and forced prostitution;
migrants who seek employment in Libya as laborers and domestic workers or transit Libya en route to Europe may be subject to forced labor;
private employers also recruit migrants from detention centers as forced laborers on farms and construction sites;
some sub-Saharan women are reportedly forced to work in Libyan brothels, particularly in the country’s south;
militia groups and other informal military units allegedly conscript children under the age of 18
tier rating:: Tier 3 - the Libyan Government does not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking and is not making significant efforts to do so;
the government failed to demonstrate significant efforts to investigate and prosecute trafficking offenders in 2013 or to identify and protect trafficking victims;
authorities continued to treat trafficking victims as illegal migrants, punishing them for unlawful acts that were committed as a result of being trafficked;
no public anti-trafficking awareness or education campaigns were conducted (2014)

Madagascar

current situation:: Madagascar is a source country for men, women, and children subjected to forced labor and women and children subjected to sex trafficking;
poor Malagasy women hired as domestic workers in Lebanon, Kuwait, and Saudi Arabia are vulnerable to abuse by recruitment agencies and employers;
Malagasy men experience forced labor aboard Chinese-flagged fishing vessels in South Africa’s territorial waters;
Malagasy children, mostly from rural areas, are subjected to domestic servitude, prostitution, forced begging, and forced labor within the country, often with the complicity of family members;
child sex tourism continues to increase, especially in coastal cities, with Malagasy men being the main clients
tier rating:: Tier 2 Watch List – Madagascar does not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking;
however, it is making significant efforts to do so;
the first seven convictions under the 2007 anti-trafficking law were secured in 2013;
no government employees were investigated, despite widespread corruption and the alleged official complicity in human trafficking;
authorities lacked formal procedures to identify victims among vulnerable groups and did not systematically provide or refer victims to NGOs for care;
the government did not engage with the Lebanese Government regarding the protection of and legal remedies for exploited Malagasy workers but began discussions with Saudi and Kuwaiti officials (2014)

Mali

current situation:: Mali is a source, transit, and destination country for men, women, and children subjected to forced labor and sex trafficking;
women and girls are forced into domestic servitude, agricultural labor, and support roles in gold mines, as well as subjected to sex trafficking;
Malian boys are found in conditions of forced labor in agricultural settings, gold mines, and the informal commercial sector, as well as forced begging within Mali and neighboring countries;
Malians and other Africans who travel through Mali to Mauritania, Algeria, or Libya in hopes of reaching Europe are particularly at risk of becoming victims of human trafficking;
men and boys, primarily of Songhai ethnicity, are subjected to the longstanding practice of debt bondage in the salt mines of Taoudenni in northern Mali;
some members of Mali's black Tamachek community are subjected to traditional slavery-related practices, and this involuntary servitude reportedly has extended to their children;
there has been a decrease in the recruitment of Malian children as combatants, cooks, porters, guards, spies, and sex slaves by non-governmental armed groups in northern Mali
tier rating:: Tier 2 Watch List - Mali does not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking;
however, it is making significant efforts to do so;
although the government enacted a comprehensive anti-trafficking law in 2012, it did not demonstrate evidence of overall increasing efforts to address human trafficking over the previous year;
the government failed to prosecute or convict any trafficking offenders because the law had not yet been distributed to judges and a significant lack of awareness of the law within the judiciary remained;
authorities did not provide any direct services to victims and did not make any tangible prevention efforts;
NGOs provided care to victims without government funding;
no awareness-raising campaigns or anti-trafficking training were carried out (2014)

Mauritania

current situation:: Mauritania is a source, transit, and destination country for men, women, and children subjected to forced labor and sex trafficking;
adults and children from traditional slave castes are subjected to slavery-related practices rooted in ancestral master-slave relationships;
Mauritanian boy students called talibe are trafficked within the country by religious teachers for forced begging;
Mauritanian girls, as well as girls from Mali, Senegal, The Gambia, and other West African countries, are forced into domestic servitude;
Mauritanian women and girls are forced into prostitution domestically or transported to countries in the Middle East for the same purpose
tier rating:: Tier 3 - Mauritania does not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking and is not making significant efforts to do so;
in 2013, law enforcement and judicial personnel thwarted the progress of criminal prosecutions for human trafficking by intervening on the behalf of alleged offenders;
the government did not provide adequate protective services to victims or ensure their referral to NGOs, which provide the majority of care to trafficking victims without financial support from the government;
the absence of measures in place to identify trafficking victims among vulnerable populations may have led to victims being punished for acts committed as a result of being trafficked;
the effectiveness of the 2007 anti-slavery law remains impaired because slaves, many of whom are illiterate, are unable to file the required legal complaint;
NGOs are barred from lodging cases on behalf of slaves, and the national agency to fight slavery became operational in 2013 but did not submit any criminal complaints for victims (2014)

Morocco

current situation:: Morocco is a source, destination, and transit country for men, women, and children who are subjected to forced labor and sex trafficking;
Moroccan adults and children are exploited for forced labor and forced prostitution in the Middle East and Europe;
some Moroccan girls recruited to work as maids experience conditions of forced labor, while some Moroccan boys experience forced labor when working as apprentices in the artisan and construction industries and in mechanic shops;
women and children from sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia who voluntarily enter Morocco are subsequently coerced into prostitution or, less frequently, forced domestic service
tier rating:: Tier 2 Watch List – Morocco does not comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking;
however, it is making significant efforts to do so;
nevertheless, in 2013, the government did not demonstrate progress in investigating, prosecuting, convicting, and adequately punishing trafficking offenders and provided limited law enforcement data;
the government did not develop or employ systematic procedures to proactively identify trafficking victims and provided limited to no social or protective services, relying heavily on NGOs to supply care ;
Morocco continues to lack a single comprehensive anti-trafficking law (2014)

Namibia

current situation:: Namibia is predominantly a country of origin and destination for children and, to a lesser extent, women subjected to forced labor and sex trafficking;
victims, lured by promises of legitimate jobs, are forced to work in hazardous condition in urban centers and on commercial farms;
traffickers exploit Namibian children, as well as children from Angola, Zambia, and Zimbabwe, for forced labor in agriculture, cattle herding, domestic service, fishing, and street vending;
children are also forced into prostitution, often catering to tourists from southern Africa and Europe;
San girls are particularly vulnerable
tier rating:: Tier 2 Watch List – Namibia does not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking;
however, it is making significant efforts to do so;
the government has a written plan that, if implemented, would constitute a significant effort toward meeting the minimum standards for eliminating human trafficking;
draft anti-trafficking legislation awaits review by the attorney general and the Child Care and Protection Bill, which would criminalize child trafficking, is still pending parliamentary approval;
the government developed a national protection referral network for crime victims in 2013, but it has not been fully operationalized;
authorities did not make systematic efforts to identify trafficking victims or to screen vulnerable groups for potential victims (2014)

Rwanda

current situation:: Rwanda is a source and, to a lesser extent, transit and destination country for women and children subjected to forced labor and sex trafficking;
Rwandan girls and, to a lesser extent, boys are exploited in domestic servitude within the country;
Rwandan adults and children are forced to work in agriculture, industry, domestic servitude, and prostitution in Kenya, Uganda, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Tanzania, Burundi, Zambia, South Africa, UAE, Malaysia, China, the US, and Europe;
women and children from neighboring countries and Somalia are subjected to prostitution and forced labor in Rwanda;
until its defeat in late 2013, M23, an armed group operating in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, recruited men and children with the support of some Rwandan officials
tier rating:: Tier 2 Watch List – Rwanda does not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking;
however, it is making significant efforts to do so;
in 2013, the government maintained strong efforts to investigate and prosecute some trafficking crimes but convicted no offenders and remained complicit in human trafficking crimes through its support of M23;
the government opened five additional centers for assisting victims of gender-based violence and provided financial support to private and NGO-run child rehabilitation centers (2014)

South Sudan

current situation:: South Sudan is a source and destination country for men, women, and children subjected to forced labor and sex trafficking;
South Sudanese women and girls, particularly those who are internally displaced, orphaned, or from rural areas, are vulnerable to forced labor and sexual exploitation, often in urban centers;
the rising number of street children and child laborers are also exploited for forced labor and prostitution;
women and girls from Uganda, Kenya, Ethiopia, Eritrea, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo are trafficked to South Sudan with promises of legitimate jobs and are forced into the sex trade;
inter-ethnic abductions continue between some communities in South Sudan, with abductees subsequently faced with domestic servitude, forced herding, or sex trafficking;
government security forces and armed militia groups continue to recruit children
tier rating:: Tier 2 Watch List - South Sudan does not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking;
however, it is making significant efforts to do so;
the government has a written plan that, if implemented, would constitute a significant effort toward meeting the minimum standards for eliminating human trafficking;
implementation of a UN-backed action plan to eliminate the use of child soldiers in the country’s armed forces continued in 2013, but no officers complicit in the ongoing recruitment of children were investigated, prosecuted, or punished;
efforts to address other forms of human trafficking were negligible;
South Sudanese law does not prohibit all forms of human trafficking, and authorities did not investigate or prosecute any offenders;
limited protection was provided to former child soldiers in 2013, while no steps were taken to identify victims of sex or labor trafficking or to refer them to care (2014)

Sudan

current situation:: Sudan is a source, transit, and destination country for men, women, and children subjected to forced labor and sex trafficking;
Sudanese women and girls, particularly those from rural areas or who are internally displaced, are vulnerable to forced labor as domestic workers in homes throughout the country;
Sudanese women and girls are subjected to domestic servitude in Middle Eastern countries and to forced sex trafficking in Europe;
some Sudanese men who voluntarily migrate to the Middle East as low-skilled laborers face conditions indicative of forced labor;
Sudanese children in Darfur are forcibly conscripted, at times through abduction, and used by armed groups and government security forces, while Sudanese children in Saudi Arabia are used in forced begging and street vending;
Sudan is a transit and destination country for Ethiopian, Eritrean, and Filipina women subjected to domestic servitude in Sudan and Middle Eastern countries, as well as a destination country for women sex trafficked from East African countries and possibly Thailand
tier rating:: Tier 3 - Sudan does not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking and is not making significant efforts to do so;
in 2013, the government enacted an anti-trafficking law, raised the age of military recruitment to 18, rescued and assisted an increased number of trafficking victims, and made efforts to bring traffickers to justice;
however, its law enforcement, protection, or prevention measures to address human trafficking remained ad hoc;
the government did not employ a system for proactively identifying trafficking victims among vulnerable population or a referral process for transferring victims to organizations providing care;
in 2013, Sudan’s armed forces and proxy militia continued to recruit child soldiers and did not conclude a proposed joint action plan with the UN to address the issue (2014)

Tanzania

current situation:: Tanzania is a source, transit, and destination country for men, women, and children subjected to forced labor and sex trafficking;
the exploitation of young girls in domestic servitude continues to be Tanzania's largest human trafficking problem;
Tanzanian boys are subject to forced labor mainly on farms but also in mines, in the commercial service sector, in the sex trade, and possibly on small fishing boats;
internal trafficking is more prevalent than transnational trafficking and is usually facilitated by friends, family members, or intermediaries offering education or legitimate job opportunities;
trafficking victims from Burundi, Kenya, Bangladesh, Nepal, Yemen, and India are to work in Tanzania's agricultural, mining, and domestic service sectors or may be sex trafficked
tier rating:: Tier 2 Watch List - Tanzania does not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking;
however, it is making significant efforts to do so;
law enforcement made modest anti-trafficking efforts but imposed punishments on offenders that were inadequate for the seriousness of the crimes committed;
key victim protection provisions of the 2008 anti-trafficking act remain unimplemented;
the government continues to refer child trafficking victims to NGOs for care but has no procedure for the referral of adult victims;
the national anti-trafficking action plan has not been implemented;
no public awareness campaigns about the dangers of trafficking are conducted (2013)

Tunisia

current situation:: Tunisia is a source, destination, and possible transit country for men, women, and children subjected to forced labor and sex trafficking;
Tunisia’s increased number of street children, children working to support their families, and migrants who have fled unrest in neighboring countries are vulnerable to human trafficking;
Tunisian women have been forced into prostitution domestically and elsewhere in the region under false promises of legitimate work;
East and West African women may be subjected to forced labor as domestic servants
tier rating:: Tier 2 Watch List – Tunisia does not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking;
however, it is making significant efforts to do so;
prior commitments to enact draft anti-trafficking legislation have not been fulfilled, but a slightly increased number of trafficking offenders were prosecuted and convicted in 2013 under existing trafficking-related laws;
the government instituted victim identification procedures and developed a victim referral mechanism, although it was not utilized during the reporting period;
anti-trafficking awareness campaigns continued to be implemented, and the government worked with an international organization to produce a baseline study on human trafficking in Tunisia (2014)

Zimbabwe

current situation:: Zimbabwe is a source, transit, and destination country for men, women, and children subjected to forced labor and sex trafficking;
Zimbabwean women and girls from towns bordering South Africa, Mozambique, and Zambia are subjected to prostitution, sometimes being sold by their parents;
Zimbabwean men, women, and children experience forced labor in agriculture and domestic service in rural areas, as well as domestic servitude and sex trafficking in cities and towns;
Zimbabwean women and men are lured into exploitative labor situations in Angola, Botswana, Mozambique, the United Arab Emirates, Malaysia, Nigeria, South Korea, and South Africa with false job offers, while women and girls are lured to Zambia, China, Egypt, the UK, and Canada and forced into prostitution;
adults and children from Bangladesh, Somalia, India, Pakistan, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Malawi, Mozambique, and Zambia are trafficked through Zimbabwe en route to South Africa
tier rating:: Tier 3 - Zimbabwe does not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking and is not making significant efforts to do so;
corruption in law enforcement and the judiciary continued to impair anti-trafficking efforts in 2013;
the investigation and prosecution of trafficking offenses and conviction of offenders remained weak, with only two prosecutions being initiated;
law enforcement did not employ formal procedures to identify and refer trafficking victims to care and continued to rely on NGOs to identify and assist victims;
temporary regulations in 2014 mandated the creation of an anti-trafficking national action plan and the establishment of centers for trafficking victims, but neither have been implemented;
Zimbabwe acceded to the UN TIP Protocol in 2013 (2014)

Asia

7 entries

China

current situation:: China is a source, transit, and destination country for men, women, and children subjected to sex trafficking and forced labor;
Chinese adults and children are forced into prostitution and various forms of forced labor, including begging and working in brick kilns, coal mines, and factories;
women and children are recruited from rural areas and taken to urban centers for sexual exploitation, often trafficked by criminal syndicates or gangs;
state-sponsored forced labor continues to be an area of serious concern;
Chinese men, women, and children also may be subjected to conditions of sex trafficking and forced labor worldwide, particularly in overseas Chinese communities;
women and children are trafficked to China from neighboring countries, as well as Europe and Africa, for forced labor and prostitution
tier rating:: Tier 2 Watch List - China does not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking;
however it is making significant efforts to do so;
the government’s conflation of human trafficking with other crimes in 2013 made it difficult to assess law enforcement efforts to investigate and to prosecute trafficking offenses according to international law;
authorities did not provide the data needed to ascertain the number of victims identified or assisted or the services provided;
the National People’s Congress ratified a decision to abolish “reform through labor” (RTL);
reports indicate some detainees were released and many RTL camps ceased operations, but others show that some RTL facilities have been converted into different types of detention centers;
some North Korean refugees continued to be forcibly repatriated as illegal economic migrants, despite reports that some were trafficking victims (2014)

Korea, North now North Korea

current situation:: North Korea is a source country for men, women, and children who are subjected to forced labor, forced marriage, and sex trafficking;
many North Korean workers recruited to work abroad under bilateral contracts with foreign governments are subjected to forced labor and do not have a choice in the work the government assigns them, are not free to change jobs at will, and face government reprisals if they try to escape or complain to outsiders;
thousands of North Koreans, including children, in prison camps are subjected to forced labor, including logging, mining, and farming;
many North Korean women and girls, lured by promises of food, jobs, and freedom, have migrated to China illegally to escape poor social and economic conditions only to be forced into prostitution, marriage, or exploitative labor arrangements
tier rating:: Tier 3 - North Korea does not fully comply with minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking and is not making significant efforts to do so;
the government continued to participate in human trafficking through its use of domestic forced labor camps and the provision of forced labor to foreign governments through bilateral contracts;
no known investigations, prosecutions, or convictions of trafficking offenders or officials complicit in trafficking-related offenses were conducted;
the government also made no efforts to identify or protect trafficking victims and did not permit NGOs to assist victims (2014)

Pakistan

current situation:: Pakistan is a source, transit, and destination country for men, women, and children subjected to forced labor and sex trafficking;
the country’s deteriorating security situation and weak economy have dominated the government’s resources and attention;
the largest human trafficking problem is bonded labor in agriculture, brickmaking and, to a lesser extent, mining and carpet-making;
children are bought, sold, rented, and placed in forced begging rings, domestic service, small shops, brick kilns, or prostitution;
militant groups also force children to spy, fight, or die as suicide bombers, kidnapping the children or getting them from poor parents through sale or coercion;
women and girls are forced into prostitution or marriages;
Pakistani adults migrate to the Gulf States and African and European states for low-skilled jobs and sometimes become victims of forced labor, debt bondage, or prostitution;
foreign adults and children from Afghanistan, Iran, Uzbekistan, Tanzania, and Bangladesh may be subject to forced labor, and foreign women may be sex trafficked in Pakistan, with refugees and minorities being most vulnerable
tier rating:: Tier 2 Watch List – Pakistan does not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking;
however, it is making significant efforts to do so;
officials continue to focus on trafficking as a transnational problem and lack the political will to address the issue unless pressured by the media and activists;
the government does not prohibit and penalize all forms of trafficking and has not submitted a draft anti-trafficking bill to the National Assembly or Senate;
authorities have yet to convict any offenders under the Bonded Labor System Act since it came into force in 1992;
trafficking and smuggling continue to be conflated, with trafficking victims often prosecuted for prostitution or other crimes committed as a result of trafficking;
Pakistan does not have systematic methods for identifying trafficking victims among vulnerable population and referring them to protective services (2014)

Russia

current situation:: Russia is a source, transit, and destination country for men, women, and children who are subjected to forced labor and sex trafficking, although labor trafficking is the predominant problem;
workers from Russia and other countries in Europe, Central Asia, and Asia, including Vietnam and North Korea, are subjected to conditions of forced labor in Russia’s construction, manufacturing, agriculture, grocery store, maritime, and domestic services industries, as well as forced begging, waste sorting, and street sweeping;
North Koreans contracted under bilateral government arrangements to work in the timber industry in the Russian Far East reportedly are subjected to forced labor;
Russian women and children were reported to be victims of sex trafficking in Russia, Northeast Asia, Europe, Central Asia, Africa, and the Middle East, while women from European, Southeast Asian, African, and Central Asian countries were reportedly forced into prostitution in Russia
tier rating:: Tier 3 - Russia does not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking and is not making a significant effort to do so;
prosecutions of trafficking offenders remains low in comparison to the scope of Russia’s trafficking problem;
in 2013, the government did not develop or deploy a formal system for the identification of trafficking victims or their referral to protective services, although some victims were reportedly cared for through ad hoc efforts;
victims were routinely detained and deported;
the government has not investigated allegations of slave-like conditions of North Korean workers in Russia;
the Russian Security Council has not made a decision on an anti-trafficking national action plan (2014)

Sri Lanka

current situation:: Sri Lanka is primarily a source and, to a lesser extent, a destination country for men, women, and children subjected to forced labor and sex trafficking; some Sri Lankan adults and children who migrate willingly to Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Jordan, Bahrain, Egypt, Lebanon, Iraq, Afghanistan, Malaysia, Singapore, Mauritius, and the US to work as domestic servants, construction workers, or garment factory workers subsequently face conditions of forced labor, including restrictions on movement, withholding of passports, abuse, and threats; some Sri Lankan women are forced into prostitution in Jordan, Singapore, Maldives, and other countries, while some foreign women are forced into prostitution in Sri Lanka; within Sri Lanka, women and children are also subjected to sex trafficking, and other children are forced to work in the agriculture, fireworks, and fish-drying industries
tier rating:: Tier 2 Watch List – Sri Lanka does not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking;
however, it is making significant efforts to do so;
modest trafficking prevention efforts in 2013 included updating a national action plan and launching awareness campaigns;
law enforcement efforts were limited;
no traffickers were convicted under the trafficking statute and none of those convicted under the procurement statute served prison time;
labor recruitment regulations were rarely enforced;
authorities did not approve guidelines developed in 2012 for the identification of victims and their referral to protective services;
no government employees were investigated or prosecuted, despite allegations of complicity (2014)

Turkmenistan

current situation:: Turkmenistan is a source country for men, women, and children subjected to forced labor and sex trafficking;
Turkmen in search of work in other countries are forced to work in textile sweatshops, construction, and domestic service, with women and rural inhabitants being the most vulnerable;
some Turkmen women and girls are sex trafficked abroad;
Turkey is the primary trafficking destination, followed by Russia, the United Arab Emirates, and, to a lesser extent, Iran, Kazakhstan, Pakistan, Cyprus, the UK, Sweden, and the US;
Turkmen also experience forced labor domestically in the informal construction industry;
participation in the cotton harvest is still mandatory for some public sector employees
tier rating:: Tier 2 Watch List – Turkmenistan does not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking;
however, it is making significant efforts to do so;
the government has a written plan that, if implemented, would constitute a significant effort toward meeting the minimum standards for eliminating human trafficking;
the denial of an internal trafficking problem by some government officials, corruption, and a lack of institutional capacity continued to impede the government’s response to trafficking in 2013;
the government reported detailed anti-trafficking law enforcement data for the first time and is making an effort to support anti-trafficking training;
the government did not offer services to trafficking victims in 2013 and did not fund NGOs providing care;
authorities punished some victims for crimes committed as a result of being trafficked (2014)

Uzbekistan

current situation:: Uzbekistan is a source country for men, women, and children subjected to forced labor and sex trafficking;
adults and children are victims of government-compelled forced labor during Uzbekistan’s annual cotton harvest, as well as for the construction and cleaning of parks;
the government in 2013 for the first time cooperated with the ILO to monitor the cotton harvest for compliance with the Worst Forms of Child Labor Convention;
the ILO recorded 53 violations but concluded that forced child labor was not used on a systematic basis during the 2013 cotton harvest;
Uzbekistani women and children are sex trafficked domestically and in countries in Central Asia, the Middle East, Asia, and Europe;
Uzbekistani men and women are subjected to forced labor in Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, Russia, the UAE, Malaysia, and, to a lesser extent, Ukraine in domestic service, agriculture, construction, and the oil industry
tier rating:: Tier 3 – Uzbekistan does not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking and is not making significant efforts to do so;
the government in 2013 did not openly acknowledge forced labor in the cotton sector, which remained prevalent, but it took an encouraging step in allowing the ILO to monitor the cotton harvest for forced child labor;
authorities continued to address transnational sex and labor trafficking, implementing anti-trafficking awareness campaigns;
the government operated a shelter to help sex and labor trafficking victims and strengthened its ties with NGOs to repatriate victims and provide services, although no systematic procedures for assisting trafficking victims were in place;
NGOs unaffiliated with the government faced additional scrutiny in 2013, hampering their efforts to protect victims (2014)

Central America and the Caribbean

7 entries

Antigua And Barbuda now Antigua and Barbuda

current situation:: Antigua and Barbuda is a destination and transit country for adults and children subjected to sex trafficking and forced labor;
forced prostitution has been reported in bars, taverns, and brothels, while forced labor occurs in domestic service and the retail sector
tier rating:: Tier 2 Watch List – Antigua and Barbuda does not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking;
however, it is making significant efforts to do so;
the government made no discernible progress in convicting traffickers in 2014 but charged two individuals in separate cases;
efforts to convict traffickers have been impeded by a 2014 ruling that found the 2010 anti-trafficking act was unconstitutional because jurisdiction rests with the Magistrate’s Court rather than the High Court;
no new prosecutions, convictions, or punishments were recorded in 2014;
credible sources have raised concerns about trafficking-related complicity among some off-duty police officers, which could hinder investigations or victims willingness to report offenses;
prevention efforts were sustained, but progress in protecting victims was uneven;
seven victims were assisted, which was an increase over 2013 (2015)

Belize

current situation:: Belize is a source, destination, and transit country for men, women, and children subjected to forced labor and sex trafficking;
the coerced prostitution of women and children by family members has not led to arrests;
child sex tourism, involving primarily US citizens, is on the rise;
sex trafficking and forced labor of Belizean and foreign women and LGBT individuals occurs in bars, nightclubs, brothels, and domestic service;
workers from Central America, Mexico, and Asia may fall victim to forced labor in restaurants, shops, agriculture, and fishing
tier rating:: Tier 3 – Belize does not comply fully with the minimum standards for the elimination of human trafficking and is not making significant efforts to do so;
authorities did not initiate any new trafficking investigations of prosecutions, and cases from previous years remain pending;
law enforcement efforts to use informal means to identify and refer victims were ineffective and draft procedures for referring victims to services are still not finalized;
trafficking victims were more commonly arrested, detained, or deported based on immigration violations than provided with assistance;
the government did not make progress in implementing the 2012-2014 anti-trafficking national strategic plan (2015)

Cuba

current situation:: Cuba is a source country for adults and children subjected to sex trafficking and forced labor;
child sex trafficking and child sex tourism occur in Cuba, while some Cubans are forced into prostitution in South America and the Caribbean;
allegations have been made that some Cubans have been forced or coerced to work at Cuban medical missions abroad;
assessing the scope of trafficking within Cuba is difficult because of the lack of information
tier rating:: Tier 2 Watch List - Cuba does not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking;
however, it is making significant efforts to do so;
Cuba’s penal code does not criminalize all forms of human trafficking, but the government reported that it is in the process of amending its criminal code to comply with the 2000 UN TIP Protocol, to which it acceded in 2013;
the government in 2014 prosecuted and convicted 13 sex traffickers and provided services to the victims in those cases but does not have shelters specifically for trafficking victims;
the government did not recognize forced labor as a problem and took no action to address it;
state media produced newspaper articles and TV and radio programs to raise public awareness about sex trafficking (2015)

Haiti

current situation:: Haiti is a source, transit, and destination country for men, women, and children subjected to forced labor and sex trafficking;
many of Haiti’s trafficking cases involve children recruited to live with families in other towns in the hope of going to school but who instead become forced domestic servants known as restaveks;
restaveks are vulnerable to abuse and make up a large proportion of Haiti’s population of street children, who are forced into prostitution, begging, and street crime by violent gangs;
Haitians are exploited in forced labor in the Dominican Republic, elsewhere in the Caribbean, South America, and the US, and some Dominican women are forced into prostitution in Haiti;
women and children living in camps for internally displaced people since the 2010 earthquake are at increased risk of sex trafficking and forced labor
tier rating:: Tier 2 Watch List – Haiti does not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking;
however, it is making significant efforts to do so;
the government passed a law in 2014 criminalizing human trafficking but did not prosecute or convict any trafficking offenders, despite large numbers of identified victims;
a national plan to combat human trafficking was also passed in 2014;
authorities did not provide direct or specialized services for trafficking victims and referred suspected victims to donor-funded NGOs;
the government managed a hotline for trafficking victims and conducted a campaign to raise awareness about child labor and child trafficking (2014)

Jamaica

current situation:: Jamaica is a source, transit, and destination country for children and adults subjected to sex trafficking and forced labor;
the exploitation of local children in the sex trade is a serious problem;
sex trafficking of children and adults occurs on the street, in night clubs, bars, and private homes;
Jamaicans have been subjected to sexual exploitation or forced labor in the Caribbean, Canada, the US, and the UK, while foreigners have endured conditions of forced labor in Jamaica or aboard foreign-flagged fishing vessels operating in Jamaican waters;
an alarmingly high number of Jamaican children are reported missing
tier rating:: Tier 2 Watch List – Jamaica does not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking;
however, it is making significant efforts to do so;
in 2013, the government implemented amendments to strengthen the anti-trafficking law;
for the fifth consecutive year, no trafficking offenders or officials complicit in human trafficking were convicted;
the lack of victims identified raised concerns that the government did not employ standard operating procedures to guide front-line responders;
a government-operated hotline continued to provide specialized assistance to human trafficking victims (2014)

Panama

current situation:: Panama is a source, transit, and destination country for men, women, and children subjected to sex trafficking and forced labor;
most Panamanian victims are sexually exploited domestically;
indigenous girls and women are also forced into domestic servitude in the country;
foreign women from nearby countries migrate to Panama legally but some are subsequently exploited in sex trafficking or, to a lesser extent, in domestic service;
Chinese adults and men from neighboring countries are subjected to debt bondage, while Colombian and Middle Eastern men are used as forced labor in restaurants
tier rating:: Tier 2 Watch List – Panama does not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking;
however, it is making significant efforts to do so;
several public awareness events were conducted in 2013, but the government did not demonstrate overall increasing anti-trafficking efforts;
authorities did not report whether any internal sex trafficking or forced labor involving the movement of victims was investigated or prosecuted in 2013;
many officials lack an understanding of human trafficking;
fewer trafficking victims were identified and assisted in 2013;
victim assistance mechanisms required by Panamanian law were not implemented (2014)

Saint Vincent And The Grenadines now Saint Vincent and the Grenadines

current situation:: Saint Vincent and the Grenadines is a source, transit, and destination country for men, women, and children subjected to forced labor and sex trafficking;
some children under 18 are pressured into providing sexual acts in exchange for money or gifts;
foreign workers may experience forced labor and are particularly vulnerable when employed by small, foreign-owned companies;
adults and children are vulnerable to forced labor domestically, especially in the agriculture sector
tier rating:: Tier 2 Watch List – Saint Vincent and the Grenadines does not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking;
however, it is making significant efforts to do so;
authorities investigated three trafficking cases in 2013 but did not report prosecuting or convicting any offenders;
the government did not proactively identify any victims or refer them to care in 2013, a decline from the previous year;
anti-trafficking awareness efforts in schools have increased;
a national action plan awaits parliamentary approval but lacks resources for implementation (2014)

Europe

3 entries

Belarus

current situation:: Belarus is a source, transit, and destination country for women, men, and children subjected to sex trafficking and forced labor;
women and children are trafficked to European and Middle Eastern countries and within Belarus for sexual exploitation;
Belarusian men, women, and children are found in forced labor in the construction industry and other sectors in Russia, Belarus, and other countries;
Ukrainian women may be sex trafficked in Belarus
tier rating:: Tier 2 Watch List – Belarus does not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking;
however, it is making significant efforts to do so;
the government has a written plan that, if implemented, would constitute a significant effort toward meeting the minimum standards for eliminating human trafficking;
authorities did not convict any trafficker and conducted the fewest investigations in the last four years;
a 2013 law permitting state funding for NGOs that provide services to victims has not been implemented;
the government retained a decree forbidding workers from leaving their jobs in the wood processing industry without their employer’s permission, and authorities did not identify any labor trafficking victims;
continuing efforts to prevent human trafficking included awareness campaigns, penalizing fraudulent labor recruitment, and a safe migration hotline (2014)

Bosnia And Herzegovina now Bosnia and Herzegovina

current situation:: Bosnia and Herzegovina is a source, destination, and transit country for men, women, and children (including the developmentally disabled) subjected to sex trafficking and forced labor;
Bosnian women and girls are sexually exploited domestically;
Roma children are forced to beg and to marry by local organized crime groups;
Bosnians are also trafficked to other European countries
tier rating:: Tier 2 Watch List – Bosnia and Herzegovina does not comply fully with the minimum standards for the elimination of human trafficking;
however, it is making significant efforts to do so;
some progress was made in 2013 in prosecuting and convicting trafficking offenders, but authorities significantly decreased their identification of victims;
the national referral mechanism did not involve labor inspectors, hampering efforts to identify forced labor victims;
the government has not amended all sub-national laws to criminalize all forms of trafficking consistent with national and international law (2014)

Ukraine

current situation:: Ukraine is a source, transit, and destination country for men, women, and children subjected to forced labor and sex trafficking;
Ukrainian victims are sex trafficked within Ukraine as well as in Russia, Poland, Iraq, Spain, Turkey, Cyprus, Greece, Seychelles, Portugal, the Czech Republic, Israel, Italy, South Korea, Moldova, China, the United Arab Emirates, Montenegro, UK, Kazakhstan, Tunisia, and other countries;
small numbers of foreigners from Moldova, Russia, Vietnam, Uzbekistan, Pakistan, Cameroon, and Azerbaijan were victims of labor trafficking in Ukraine;
Ukrainian recruiters most often target Ukrainians from rural areas with limited job prospects using fraud, coercion, and debt bondage
tier rating:: Tier 2 Watch List – Ukraine does not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking;
however, it is making significant efforts to do so;
the former Yanukovych government adopted standards of social services for victims, re-established its anti-trafficking unit, and increased the unit’s number of officers;
the number of human trafficking cases investigated and prosecuted continued to decline in 2013, but significantly fewer victims were identified and referred to care;
the government continued to rely on international donors to fund protective services and to provide inadequate funding to NGOs for assisting trafficking victims (2014)

Middle East

8 entries

Cyprus

current situation:: Cyprus is a source and destination country for men and women from Eastern Europe, India, Vietnam, and sub-Saharan Africa who are subjected to forced labor and sex trafficking;
migrant workers and asylum seekers from these countries are subjected to forced work in the construction, agriculture, and domestic service sectors;
migrant workers are often subjected to debt bondage, threats, and withholding of pay and documents once work permits expire;
sex trafficking occurs within Cyprus’ commercial sex industry outlets, including bars, coffee shops, and cabarets
tier rating:: Tier 2 Watch List – Cyprus does not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking;
however, it is making significant efforts to do so;
in 2013, the government implemented an EU directive that strengthened its legal framework for combating human trafficking, and a new-anti-trafficking action plan was adopted for 2013-2015;
significant decreases occurred in investigations, prosecutions, and convictions of trafficking offenses, and punishments remained weak;
fewer trafficking victims were identified (2014)

Iran

current situation:: Iran is a source, transit, and destination country for men, women, and children subjected to sex trafficking and forced labor;
Iranian women and children are subjected to sex trafficking in Iran, Pakistan, the Persian Gulf, and Europe;
Iranian children are forced, sometimes by their parents or crime networks, to beg, to work in sweatshops, or to be prostitutes in Iran and abroad;
Azerbaijani and, reportedly, Uzbek women and children are also sexually exploited in Iran;
Pakistani migrant workers are sometimes subjected to forced labor, including debt bondage;
criminal organizations play a large role in human trafficking in Iran
tier rating:: Tier 3 – Iran does not comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking, and is not making significant efforts to do so;
the government does not share information on its anti-trafficking efforts making it difficult to assess the country’s human trafficking problem or the government’s attempts to curb it;
Iranian law does not prohibit all forms of human trafficking;
existing laws against human trafficking, forced labor, and debt bondage reportedly remain unenforced because of a lack of political will and widespread political corruption;
Iran has no apparent protection services or rehabilitation programs for victims and has reportedly punished sex trafficking victims for crimes committed as a direct result of being trafficked (2014)

Kuwait

current situation:: Kuwait is a destination country for men and women subjected to forced labor and, to a lesser degree, forced prostitution;
men and women migrate from India, Egypt, Bangladesh, Syria, Pakistan, the Philippines, Sri Lanka, Indonesia, Nepal, Iran, Jordan, Ethiopia, Ghana, Iraq, Lebanon, and Kenya to work in Kuwait, most of them in the domestic service, construction, and sanitation sectors;
although most of these migrants enter Kuwait voluntarily, upon arrival some are subjected to conditions of forced labor by their sponsors and labor agents, including nonpayment of wages, long working hours without rest, deprivation of food, threats, physical or sexual abuse, and restrictions on movement, such as withholding passports or confinement to the workplace
tier rating:: Tier 3 - Kuwait does not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking and is not making sufficient efforts to do so;
no efforts were made to prosecute or convict trafficking offenders using the 2013 anti-trafficking law or other laws addressing trafficking crimes;
victim protection measures remained weak particularly due to a lack of proactive victim identification procedures and non-enforcement of the law prohibiting sponsors from withholding workers’ passports;
no system was developed to refer victims to protective services;
the government initiated investigations of companies that brought in large numbers of unskilled foreign workers under false promises of work and that illegally sold visas (2014)

Lebanon

current situation:: Lebanon is a source, transit, and destination country for women and children subjected to forced labor and sex trafficking;
Eastern European women and children are transported through Lebanon for sexual exploitation in other Middle Eastern countries;
women from Sri Lanka, the Philippines, Ethiopia, Kenya, Bangladesh, Nepal, Madagascar, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Togo, Cameroon, and Nigeria are recruited by agencies to work in domestic service but are often subject to conditions indicative of forced labor, including the withholding of passports, nonpayment of wages, restricted movement, threats, and abuse;
Lebanon’s artiste visa program enabling women to work as dancers for three months in the adult entertainment industry sustains a significant sex trade;
anecdotal information indicates some Lebanese children are victims of forced labor, such as street begging and commercial sexual exploitation;
Syrian refugee women and children in Lebanon are at increased risked of sex trafficking
tier rating:: Tier 2 Watch List – Lebanon does not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking;
however, it is making significant efforts to do so;
the government has a written plan that, if implemented, would constitute a significant effort toward meeting the minimum standards for eliminating human trafficking;
in 2013, authorities conducted an increased number of investigations of human trafficking and prosecuted and convicted some trafficking offenders;
the government identified and referred some trafficking victims to NGO-run safe houses but did not directly fund protective services;
Lebanon’s sponsorship system and the withholding of passports continued to put domestic workers at risk of exploitation (2014)

Qatar

current situation:: Qatar is a destination country for men, women, and children subjected to forced labor, and, to a much lesser extent, forced prostitution;
the predominantly foreign workforce migrates to Qatar legally but often experiences situations of forced labor, including debt bondage, delayed or nonpayment of salaries, confiscation of passports, abuse, hazardous working conditions, and squalid living arrangements;
foreign female domestic workers are particularly vulnerable to trafficking because of their isolation in private homes and lack of protection under Qatari labor laws;
some women who migrate for work are also forced into prostitution
tier rating:: Tier 2 Watch List – Qatar does not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking;
however, it is making significant efforts to do so;
in 2013, the government took action to prevent human trafficking by convicting individuals for visa selling, doubling the number of labor inspectors, closing some recruitment firms, and implementing anti-trafficking awareness campaigns;
authorities identified some trafficking victims and provided them with shelter and other protection services;
the government did not reform the exploitive sponsorship system, prosecute or convict any trafficking offenders, or rigorously enforce laws prohibiting employers from withholding wages and passports (2014)

Saudi Arabia

current situation:: Saudi Arabia is a destination country for men and women subjected to forced labor and, to a lesser extent, forced prostitution;
many men and women from Central Asia, the Middle East, and Africa who voluntarily travel to Saudi Arabia as domestic servants or low-skilled laborers subsequently face conditions of involuntary servitude, including nonpayment, withholding of passports, restriction of movement, food deprivation, and abuse;
some migrant workers are forced to work indefinitely beyond the term of their contract because their employers will not grant them a required exit visa;
foreign domestic workers are particularly vulnerable because of their isolation in private homes;
women, primarily from Asian and African countries, are believed to be forced into prostitution in Saudi Arabia, while other foreign women were reportedly kidnapped and forced into prostitution after running away from abusive employers;
Yemeni, Nigerian, Pakistani, Afghan, Chadian, and Sudanese children were subjected to forced labor as beggars and street vendors in Saudi Arabia, facilitated by criminal gangs
tier rating:: Tier 3 - Saudi Arabia does not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking and is not making significant efforts to do so;
in 2013, the government did not report prosecuting or convicting any trafficking offenders and identified and referred fewer victims to protection services than in the previous reporting period;
the sponsorship system, including the exit visa requirement, continues to restrict the freedom of movement of migrant workers and to hamper the ability of victims to pursue legal cases against their employers;
the withholding workers’ passports remains widespread because legislation prohibiting the practice was not enforced;
officials continue to arrest, detain, deport, and sometimes prosecute trafficking victims for unlawful acts committed as a direct result of being trafficked (2014)

Syria

current situation:: due to Syria’s political uprising and violent unrest, hundreds of thousands of Syrians, foreign migrant workers, and refugees have fled the country and are vulnerable to human trafficking;
the lack of security and inaccessibility of the majority of the country makes it impossible to conduct a thorough analysis of the scope and magnitude of Syria’s human trafficking situation;
Syria is a source and destination country for men, women, and children subjected to forced labor and sex trafficking;
Syrian refugee women and girls are forced into exploitive marriages or prostitution in neighboring countries, while refugee children are forced into street begging domestically and abroad;
the Syrian armed forces and opposition forces are using Syrian children in combat and support roles and as human shields
tier rating:: Tier 3 - the government does not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking and is not making significant efforts to do so;
increasing violence undercut any law enforcement efforts in 2013;
the government failed to protect and prevent children from recruitment by government forces and armed opposition groups;
a new law passed in 2013 criminalizing the recruitment of children under 18 by armed forces was not enforced;
authorities did not make efforts to investigate and punish trafficking offenders, including complicit government employees;
no trafficking victims were identified or provided with protective services;
the government did not attempt to inform the public about human trafficking or to provide anti-trafficking training to officials (2014)

Yemen

current situation:: Yemen is a source and, to a lesser extent, transit and destination country for men, women, and children subjected to forced labor and women and children subjected to sex trafficking;
some Yemeni children, mostly boys, migrate to Yemeni cities or across the border to Saudi Arabia and, less frequently Oman, where they end up as beggars, prostitutes, or forced laborers in domestic service or small shops;
other Yemeni children were recruited as combatants or checkpoint guards by armed groups and continues to be used in the government’s military forces;
Yemen is also a source country for girls sex trafficked within country or to Saudi Arabia;
thousands of Yemeni migrant workers deported from Saudi Arabia and Syrian refugees are vulnerable to trafficking;
additionally, Yemen is a destination and transit country for women and children from the Horn of Africa who are looking for work or receive fraudulent job offers in the Gulf states but are subjected to sexual exploitation or forced labor upon arrival;
reports indicate that adults and children are still sold or inherited as slaves in Yemen
tier rating:: Tier 3 – Yemen does not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking and is not making significant efforts to do so;
prolonged political, economic, and security crises, as well as the continued conflation of trafficking and smuggling, impeded the government’s modest anti-trafficking efforts;
authorities did not institute formal procedures to identify and protect trafficking victims in 2013, nor did they investigate or prosecute officials complicit in trafficking-related crimes;
the government did not report efforts to investigate, prosecute, or convict trafficking offenses, and no known efforts were made to investigate or punish persons practicing chattel slavery;
officials acknowledged the use of child soldiers and agreed to a UN action plan to eliminate it but did not make efforts to remove child soldiers from the military;
draft anti-trafficking legislation still awaits parliamentary endorsement (2014)

Oceania

3 entries

Marshall Islands

current situation:: The Marshall Islands is a source and destination country for Marshallese women and girls and women from East Asia subjected to sex trafficking;
Marshallese and foreign women are reportedly forced into prostitution in businesses frequented by crew members of fishing and transshipping vessels;
some Chinese women are recruited to the Marshall Islands with promises of legitimate work and are subsequently forced into prostitution
tier rating:: Tier 2 Watch List – The Marshall Islands do not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking;
however, it is making significant efforts to do so;
government officials publically acknowledged the existence of human trafficking and an investigation into women being forced into prostitution was initiated in 2013;
the government has not provided evidence of implementing 2011 anti-trafficking legislation or providing training to law enforcement or judges on the law;
no trafficking prosecutions have been reported since 2011;
in 2013, no proactive efforts were made to identify victims among vulnerable groups, such as women in prostitution or foreign men in the fishing industry;
several public awareness campaigns were conducted in 2013 (2014)

Papua New Guinea

current situation:: Papua New Guinea is a source, destination, and transit country for men, women, and children subjected to sex trafficking and forced labor;
foreign and Papua New Guinean women and children are subjected to sex trafficking and domestic servitude;
parents may sell girls into forced marriages to settle debts or as peace offerings, leaving them vulnerable to forced domestic service, or may prostitute their children for income or to pay school fees;
local and Chinese men are forced to labor in logging and mining camps through debt bondage schemes;
migrant women from Malaysia, Thailand, China, and the Philippines are subjected to sex trafficking and domestic servitude at logging and mining camps, fisheries, and entertainment sites
tier rating:: Tier 3 - Papua New Guinea does not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking and is not making significant efforts to do so;
no law enforcement or government officials were investigated in 2013, despite reports of complicity in human trafficking at the highest levels of government;
parliament in 2012 passed legislation prohibiting all forms of trafficking, but the bill did not enter into force during the reporting period;
trafficking-related crimes were prosecuted in village courts rather than criminal courts, resulting in restitution to the victim but no prison time for offenders;
no formal victim identification or referral mechanism exists, and the government did not fund shelters run by NGOS or international organizations (2014)

Solomon Islands

current situation:: The Solomon Islands is a source and destination country for local adults and children and Southeast Asian men and women subjected to forced labor and forced prostitution;
women from China, Indonesia, Malaysia, and the Philippines are recruited for legitimate work and upon arrival are forced into prostitution;
men from Indonesia and Malaysia recruited to work in the Solomon Islands’ mining and logging industries may be subjected to forced labor;
local children are forced into prostitution near foreign logging camps, on fishing vessels, and at hotel and other entertainment venues;
some local children are also sold by their parents for marriage to foreign workers or put up for “informal adoption” and then find themselves forced into domestic servitude or forced prostitution
tier rating:: Tier 2 Watch List – The Solomon Islands does not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking;
however, it is making significant efforts to do so;
in 2013, the government passed but did not gazette implementing regulations for 2012 legislation prohibiting all forms of human trafficking;
authorities investigated an unspecified number of labor trafficking cases in the fishing industry but did not prosecute or convict any suspected offenders or actively assist victims;
the government did not allocate funding for national anti-trafficking efforts in 2013;
the country lacks systematic procedures for identifying trafficking victims among high-risk groups and a formal mechanism for referring victims to care;
civil society and religious organizations provide limited services to victims;
no anti-trafficking awareness-raising campaigns were conducted in 2013 (2014)

South America

5 entries

Bolivia

current situation:: Bolivia is a source country for men, women, and children subjected to forced labor and sex trafficking domestically and abroad;
indigenous children are particularly vulnerable;
Bolivian adults and children perform forced labor in domestic service, mining, ranching, agriculture, and food processing;
Bolivian women and girls are sex trafficked in neighboring countries, while other Bolivians are found in forced labor in neighboring countries, Spain, and the US;
a limited number of women from nearby countries are forced into prostitution in Bolivia
tier rating:: Tier 2 Watch List – Bolivia does not comply fully with the minimum standards for the elimination of human trafficking;
however, it is making significant efforts to do so;
the government did not demonstrate increasing anti-trafficking efforts during the reporting period;
investigations decreased and convictions remained very low compared to the number of potential trafficking victims identified;
the government did not offer adequate protective services for trafficking victims, leaving civil society organizations to provide most of the care without government support;
trafficking prevention efforts were limited (2014)

Guyana

current situation:: Guyana is a source and destination country for men, women, and children subjected to sex trafficking and forced labor;
Guyanese and foreign women and girls are forced into prostitution in Guyana;
forced labor, especially of children, is reported in mining, agriculture, forestry, domestic service, and shops;
Indonesian workers are victims of forced labor on Guyanese-flagged fishing boats
tier rating:: Tier 2 Watch List – Guyana does not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking;
however,it is making significant efforts to do so;
limited efforts were made to protect and provide assistance to victims in 2013, and authorities operated a hotline for trafficking victims;
the government failed to increase its efforts to hold trafficking offenders accountable with jail time, creating an enabling environment for human trafficking and further endangering victims (2014)

Suriname

current situation:: Suriname is a source and destination country for women, men, and children subjected to sex trafficking and forced labor;
women and girls from Suriname, Guyana, Brazil, and the Dominican Republic are subjected to sex trafficking in the country, sometimes in interior mining camps;
Surinamese women and girls are also sexually exploited in French Guiana;
migrant workers in agriculture and on fishing boats and children working in informal urban sectors and gold mines are vulnerable to forced labor
tier rating:: Tier 2 Watch List – Suriname does not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking;
however, it is making significant efforts to do so;
the government has a written plan that, if implemented, would constitute a significant effort toward meeting the minimum standards for eliminating human trafficking;
in 2013, the government prosecuted an increased number of sex trafficking cases but decreased investigations and prosecutions of sex trafficking offenders;
authorities failed to investigate, prosecute, or convict labor traffickers;
fewer sex trafficking and no forced labor victims were identified;
protective services for victims were inadequate, but plans to open a government-run shelter for women and child victims were initiated in 2014;
a national strategy to combat human trafficking was also adopted in 2014 (2014)

Uruguay

current situation:: Uruguay is a source country for women and children subjected to sex trafficking and, to a lesser extent, a transit and destination country for men, women, and children exploited in forced labor and sex trafficking;
most victims are women and girls exploited in sex trafficking domestically;
some Uruguayan women lured by fraudulent job employment offers in Spain, Italy, and Argentina are forced into prostitution;
foreign workers in domestic service, agriculture, and lumber processing are vulnerable to forced labor in Uruguay;
some human trafficking cases are reportedly linked to international crime rings
tier rating:: Tier 2 Watch List – Uruguay does not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking;
however, it is making significant efforts to do so;
authorities investigated and prosecuted several trafficking cases in 2013 but reported no convictions;
limited anti-trafficking data makes it difficult to assess law enforcement efforts;
the government provides limited services to human trafficking victims outside the capital and to forced labor victims;
two public awareness campaigns were launched with foreign funding in 2013 (2014)

Venezuela

current situation:: Venezuela is a source, transit, and destination country for men, women, and children subjected to sex trafficking and forced labor;
Venezuelan women and girls are trafficked within the country for sexual exploitation, often lured from the nation's interior to urban and tourist areas with false job offers;
women from Colombia, Peru, Haiti, China, and South Africa are also reported to have been sexually exploited in Venezuela;
some Venezuelan women are transported to Caribbean islands, particularly Aruba, Curacao, and Trinidad and Tobago, where they are subjected to forced prostitution;
some Venezuelan children are forced to beg on the streets or to work as domestic servants, while Ecuadorian children, often from indigenous communities, are subjected to forced labor
tier rating:: Tier 3 – Venezuela does not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking and is not making significant efforts to do so;
the government did not publically document progress on human trafficking investigations, prosecutions, and convictions or victim identification and assistance in 2013, making it difficult to assess the scope or efficacy of these efforts;
victim services appeared to remain inadequate, and the extent of efforts to investigate internal forced labor or to help children in prostitution was unclear;
authorities provided limited funding to some NGOs providing victim services;
public service announcements and an awareness campaign on human trafficking continued;
anti-trafficking legislation drafted in 2010 remained unapproved (2014)

Southeast Asia

6 entries

Burma now Burma (Myanmar)

current situation:: Burma is a source country for men, women, and children trafficked for the purpose of forced labor and for women and children subjected to sex trafficking;
Burmese adult and child labor migrants travel to East Asia, the Middle East, South Asia, and the US, where men are forced to work in the fishing, manufacturing, forestry, and construction industries and women and girls are forced into prostitution, domestic servitude, or forced labor in the garment sector;
some Burmese economic migrants and Rohingya asylum seekers have become forced laborers on Thai fishing boats;
some military personnel and armed ethnic groups unlawfully conscript child soldiers or coerce adults and children into forced labor;
domestically, adults and children from ethnic areas are vulnerable to forced labor on plantations and in mines, while children may also be subject to forced prostitution, domestic service, and begging
tier rating:: Tier 2 Watch List – Burma does not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking, but it is making significant efforts to do so;
the government has a written plan that, if implemented, would constitute making a significant effort toward meeting the minimum standard for eliminating human trafficking;
in 2014, law enforcement continued to investigate and prosecute cross-border trafficking offenses but did little to address domestic trafficking;
no civilians or government officials were prosecuted or convicted for the recruitment of child soldiers, a serious problem that is hampered by corruption and the influence of the military;
victim referral and protection services remained inadequate, especially for men, and left victims vulnerable to being re-trafficked;
the government coordinated anti-trafficking programs as part of its five-year national action plan (2015)

Cambodia

current situation:: Cambodia is a source, transit, and destination country for men, women, and children subjected to forced labor and sex trafficking;
Cambodian men, women, and children migrate to countries within the region and, increasingly, Africa for legitimate work but are subsequently subjected to sex trafficking, domestic servitude, debt bondage, or forced labor, often in the fishing industry;
poor Cambodian children are subject to forced labor, including domestic servitude and forced begging, in Thailand and Vietnam;
Cambodian and ethnic Vietnamese women and girls are trafficked from rural areas to urban centers for sexual exploitation;
Cambodian men are the main exploiters of child prostitutes, but men from other Asian countries, the US, and Europe travel to Cambodia for child sex tourism
tier rating:: Tier 2 Watch List - Cambodia does not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking;
however, it is making significant efforts to do so;
in 2013, the government drafted and implemented a pilot program to test a standardized, nationwide system for identifying victims of vulnerable groups;
authorities prosecuted and convicted fewer trafficking offenders and identified fewer victims than in the previous year;
corruption continued to impede anti-trafficking endeavors;
victims were systematically referred to NGO shelters, which provide the majority of services to those in need, but the lack of available long-term care made victims, particularly children, vulnerable to re-trafficking;
efforts to punish fraudulent labor recruiters declined (2014)

Laos

current situation:: Laos is a source and, to a lesser extent, transit and destination country for men, women, and children subjected to forced labor and sex trafficking;
Lao economic migrants may encounter conditions of forced labor or sexual exploitation in destination countries, most often Thailand;
Lao women and girls are exploited in Thailand’s commercial sex trade, domestic service, factories, and agriculture;
Lao men and boys are victims of forced labor in the Thai fishing, construction, and agriculture industries;
some Vietnamese and Chinese women and girls are subjected to sex trafficking in Laos while others are trafficked through Laos to neighboring countries, particularly Thailand;
some Lao adults and children are subject to sex and labor exploitation domestically
tier rating:: Tier 2 Watch List – Laos does not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking;
however, it is making significant efforts to do so;
authorities sustained moderate efforts to prosecute and convict trafficking offenders;
the government failed to identify victims exploited within the country or among those deported from abroad;
the government relies almost entirely on local and international organizations to implement its anti-trafficking programs, including providing assistance to trafficking victims (2014)

Malaysia

current situation:: Malaysia is a destination and, to a lesser extent, a source and transit country for men, women, and children subjected to forced labor and women and children subjected to sex trafficking;
Malaysia is mainly a destination country for foreign workers who migrate willingly from countries including Indonesia, Nepal, India, Thailand, the Philippines, Burma, Cambodia, Laos, Bangladesh, and Vietnam but subsequently encounter forced labor or debt bondage at the hands of their employers in the domestic, agricultural, construction, plantation, and industrial sectors;
a small number of Malaysian citizens were reportedly trafficked internally and abroad for commercial sexual exploitation in 2013;
refugees are also vulnerable to trafficking;
some officials are reportedly complicit in facilitating trafficking
tier rating:: Tier 3 - Malaysia does not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking and is not making significant efforts to do so;
in 2013, authorities continued to detain trafficking victims in government facilities as part of a court-ordered protection measure, the government identified significantly fewer trafficking victims and reported fewer investigations and convictions compared to the previous year;
many front-line officials continued to lack the ability to recognize indicators of human trafficking and instead treated these cases as immigration violations;
NGOs provided the majority of victim rehabilitation and counseling services with no financial support from the government (2014)

Thailand

current situation:: Thailand is a source, transit, and destination country for men, women, and children subjected to forced labor and sex trafficking;
victims, who are most often from neighboring countries (especially Burma) but also China, Vietnam, Russia, Uzbekistan, India, and Fiji, migrate to Thailand in search of economic opportunities but are forced, coerced, or defrauded into labor in fishing, low-end garment production, factories, domestic work, street begging, or the sex trade;
men from Burma, Cambodia, and Thailand who are forced to work on fishing boats have reportedly been kept at sea for years;
migrants, members of ethnic minorities, and stateless persons are most vulnerable to forced labor and debt bondage;
sex trafficking of Thai and migrant children and sex tourism remain significant problems;
Thailand is a transit country for victims from North Korea, China, Vietnam, Pakistan, and Burma destined for exploitation in third countries, including Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore, Russia, South Korea, the US, and Western European countries
tier rating:: Tier 2 Watch List – Thailand does not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking;
however, it is making significant efforts to do so;
anti-trafficking efforts remain insufficient compared with the size of Thailand’s human trafficking problem, which is compounded by widespread corruption among law enforcement personnel;
few efforts were made in 2013 to address frequent reports of forced labor and debt bondage among migrants in Thailand’s fishing and other commercial sectors;
authorities systematically failed to investigate, prosecute, and convict owners, captains, or complicit officials for involvement in forced labor;
government labor inspections did not result in the identification of any suspected cases of labor trafficking (2014)

Timor-Leste

current situation:: Timor Leste is a source, transit, and destination country for men, women, and children subjected to forced labor and sex trafficking;
Timorese women and girls may be sent to India, Singapore, and Middle Eastern and other Southeast Asian countries for domestic servitude;
women and girls from rural areas are also lured to the capital with promises of legitimate jobs and are then forced into prostitution or domestic servitude;
Timorese family members are subject to bonded domestic or agricultural labor to repay debts;
foreign migrant women are subject to sex trafficking in Timor Leste, while men and boys from Burma, Cambodia, and Thailand are forced to work on fishing boats in Timorese waters under inhumane conditions
tier rating:: Tier 2 Watch List – Timor Leste does not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking;
however, it is making significant efforts to do so;
legislation that would prohibit all forms of human trafficking remains pending approval, despite being submitted to the Council of Ministers in 2012;
in 2013, authorities did not investigate or prosecute any trafficking cases and did not convict any offenders;
the government’s efforts to protect trafficking victims were negligible;
no victims were identified or referred to NGO-provided services, although funding was allocated to an NGO shelter for this purpose;
increased patrolling of territorial waters in 2013 did not lead to increased identification of trafficking victims (2014)

Central Intelligence Agency. The World Factbook 2015, “Trafficking in persons”, all entries. Archived by The Factbook, thefactbook.org/fields/trafficking-in-persons/2015.

How to cite

Entries with Trafficking in persons in each edition

World

Africa

Congo, Democratic Republic Of The now Democratic Republic of the Congo

Gambia, The now The Gambia

Asia

Korea, North now North Korea

Central America and the Caribbean

Antigua And Barbuda now Antigua and Barbuda

Saint Vincent And The Grenadines now Saint Vincent and the Grenadines

Europe

Bosnia And Herzegovina now Bosnia and Herzegovina

Middle East

Oceania

South America

Southeast Asia

Burma now Burma (Myanmar)

Cite this page