The CIA World Factbook Every edition, 2023 to 2025 Oceania
Trafficking in persons Vanuatu, in 3 editions.
The entry for Vanuatu published Trafficking in persons in 3 editions of 36, from 2023 to 2025. The text changed in 2 editions. Each is shown as published. Trafficking in persons in every entry.
- editions changed the text
- 2
- the first edition with it
- 2023
- the latest edition with it
- 2025
Published as “Trafficking in persons” (2023 to 2025).
field in that editiontext changed from the edition beforenot in that editionthe edition shownChoose an edition on the strip beside the text, or step through them with the arrows. Mark changes compares it with the edition before: the marks are ours, words added and words removed.
2025 edition
Rewritten since 2024- tier rating:
- Tier 2 Watch List — Vanuatu does not fully meet the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking but is making significant efforts to do so;
- these efforts included sentencing four traffickers to prison, following their conviction in the previous reporting period;
- however, the government did not demonstrate overall increasing efforts, compared with the previous reporting period, to expand its anti-trafficking capacity;
- for the fourth consecutive year, authorities did not identify any trafficking victims and did not provide protection services to victims;
- for the third consecutive year, officials did not investigate any trafficking crimes;
- the government also did not conduct public awareness campaigns or administer anti-trafficking training for law enforcement officials;
- therefore, Vanuatu was downgraded to Tier 2 Watch List (2023)
- trafficking profile:
- human traffickers exploit domestic and foreign victims in Vanuatu, and traffickers exploit victims from Vanuatu abroad;
- individuals from Bangladesh, China, the Philippines, and Thailand are exploited in Vanuatu;
- workers from China may have been forced to work in Vanuatu at projects run by Chinese companies;
- traffickers target migrant women in the hospitality and tourism sectors and low-skilled foreign workers in high-risk sectors, such as agriculture, mining, fishing, logging, construction, and domestic service;
- Chinese and South Asian migrant women are at risk for labor trafficking in bars, beauty salons, and massage parlors;
- Bangladeshi criminal groups lure Bangladeshis with false promises of jobs in Australia, then exploit them in forced labor in construction in Vanuatu;
- women and girls may be at risk of debt-based coercion in sex trafficking and domestic servitude to pay back the husband’s family for the “bride-price payments” they made to the bride’s family;
- children are exploited through “child-swapping” used to pay off debts, or by taxi drivers who may facilitate their exploitation in commercial sex;
- forced labor and child sex trafficking occur on fishing vessels in Vanuatu;
- LGBTQI+ individuals are vulnerable to trafficking;
- children may experience conditions indicative of forced labor in the illegal logging industry and in newspaper sales (2023)
tier rating: Tier 2 Watch List — Vanuatu does not fully meet the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking but is making significant efforts to do so; these efforts included sentencing four traffickers to prison, following their conviction in the previous reporting period; however, the government did not demonstrate overall increasing efforts, compared with the previous reporting period, to expand its anti-trafficking capacity; for the fourth consecutive year, authorities did not identify any trafficking victims and did not provide protection services to victims; for the third consecutive year, officials did not investigate any trafficking crimes; the government also did not conduct public awareness campaigns or administer anti-trafficking training for law enforcement officials; therefore, Vanuatu was downgraded to Tier 2 Watch List (2023)
trafficking profile: human traffickers exploit domestic and foreign victims in Vanuatu, and traffickers exploit victims from Vanuatu abroad; individuals from Bangladesh, China, the Philippines, and Thailand are exploited in Vanuatu; workers from China may have been forced to work in Vanuatu at projects run by Chinese companies; traffickers target migrant women in the hospitality and tourism sectors and low-skilled foreign workers in high-risk sectors, such as agriculture, mining, fishing, logging, construction, and domestic service; Chinese and South Asian migrant women are at risk for labor trafficking in bars, beauty salons, and massage parlors; Bangladeshi criminal groups lure Bangladeshis with false promises of jobs in Australia, then exploit them in forced labor in construction in Vanuatu; women and girls may be at risk of debt-based coercion in sex trafficking and domestic servitude to pay back the husband’s family for the “bride-price payments” they made to the bride’s family; children are exploited through “child-swapping” used to pay off debts, or by taxi drivers who may facilitate their exploitation in commercial sex; forced labor and child sex trafficking occur on fishing vessels in Vanuatu; LGBTQI+ individuals are vulnerable to trafficking; children may experience conditions indicative of forced labor in the illegal logging industry and in newspaper sales (2023)
- tier rating:
- Tier 2 Watch List — the government did not demonstrate overall increasing efforts to eliminate trafficking compared with the previous reporting period, therefore Vanuatu remained on Tier 2 Watch List for the second consecutive year;
- for more details, go to: https://www.state.gov/reports/2024-trafficking-in-persons-report/vanuatu/
Rewritten: too little of the 2023 text remains to mark the changes.
tier rating: Tier 2 Watch List — the government did not demonstrate overall increasing efforts to eliminate trafficking compared with the previous reporting period, therefore Vanuatu remained on Tier 2 Watch List for the second consecutive year; for more details, go to: https://www.state.gov/reports/2024-trafficking-in-persons-report/vanuatu/
- tier rating:
- Tier 2 Watch List — Vanuatu does not fully meet the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking, but the government has devoted sufficient resources to a written plan that, if implemented, would constitute significant efforts to meet the minimum standards;
- therefore, Vanuatu was granted a waiver per the Trafficking Victims Protection Act from an otherwise required downgrade to Tier 3 and remained on Tier 2 Watch List for the third consecutive year;
- for more details, go to: https://www.state.gov/reports/2025-trafficking-in-persons-report/vanuatu/
Rewritten: too little of the 2024 text remains to mark the changes.
tier rating: Tier 2 Watch List — Vanuatu does not fully meet the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking, but the government has devoted sufficient resources to a written plan that, if implemented, would constitute significant efforts to meet the minimum standards; therefore, Vanuatu was granted a waiver per the Trafficking Victims Protection Act from an otherwise required downgrade to Tier 3 and remained on Tier 2 Watch List for the third consecutive year; for more details, go to: https://www.state.gov/reports/2025-trafficking-in-persons-report/vanuatu/
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Cite this page
Central Intelligence Agency. “Vanuatu: Trafficking in persons.” The World Factbook, 2023–2025 editions. Archived by The Factbook, thefactbook.org/vanuatu/trafficking-in-persons.