current situation: Central African Republic
is a source, transit, and destination country for men, women, and
children trafficked for the purposes of forced labor and sexual
exploitation; the majority of victims are children trafficked within
the country for sexual exploitation, domestic servitude, street
vending, and forced agricultural, mine, market and restaurant labor;
to a lesser extent, children are trafficked from the Central African
Republic to Cameroon, Nigeria, and the Democratic Republic of Congo;
rebels conscript children into armed forces within the country
tier rating: Tier 2 Watch List - Central African Republic is on the
Tier 2 Watch List for the third consecutive year for its failure to
show evidence of increasing efforts to combat trafficking in 2007;
efforts to address trafficking through vigorous law enforcement
measures and victim protection efforts were minimal, though
awareness about trafficking appeared to be increasing in the
country; the government does not actively investigate cases, work to
identify trafficking victims among vulnerable populations, or rescue
and provide care to victims; the government has not taken measures
to reduce demand for commercial sex acts (2008)
Chad
current situation: Chad is a source, transit, and destination
country for children trafficked for the purposes of forced labor and
commercial sexual exploitation; the majority of children are
trafficked within Chad for involuntary domestic servitude, forced
cattle herding, forced begging, forced labor in petty commerce or
the fishing industry, or for commercial sexual exploitation; to a
lesser extent, Chadian children are also trafficked to Cameroon, the
Central African Republic, and Nigeria for cattle herding; children
may also be trafficked from Cameroon and the Central African
Republic to Chad's oil producing regions for sexual exploitation
tier rating: Tier 2 Watch List - the Government of Chad does not
fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of
trafficking and is not making any significant efforts to do so;
although facing resource constraints, the government has the
capacity to conduct basic anti-trafficking law enforcement efforts,
yet did not do so during the last year; it showed no results in
enforcing government policy prohibiting the recruitment of child
soldiers; Chad has not ratified the 2000 UN TIP Protocol (2009)
China
current situation: China is a source, transit, and destination
country for men, women, and children trafficked for the purposes of
sexual exploitation and forced labor; the majority of trafficking in
China occurs within the country's borders, but there is also
considerable international trafficking of Chinese citizens to
Africa, Asia, Europe, Latin America, the Middle East, and North
America; Chinese women are lured abroad through false promises of
legitimate employment, only to be forced into commercial sexual
exploitation, largely in Taiwan, Thailand, Malaysia, and Japan;
women and children are trafficked to China from Mongolia, Burma,
North Korea, Russia, and Vietnam for forced labor, marriage, and
prostitution; some North Korean women and children seeking to leave
their country voluntarily cross the border into China and are then
sold into prostitution, marriage, or forced labor
tier rating: Tier 2 Watch List - China is on the Tier 2 Watch List
for the fourth consecutive year for its failure to provide evidence
of increasing efforts to combat human trafficking, particularly in
terms of punishment of trafficking crimes and the protection of
Chinese and foreign victims of trafficking; victims are sometimes
punished for unlawful acts that were committed as a direct result of
their being trafficked, such as violations of prostitution or
immigration/emigration controls; the Chinese Government continued to
treat North Korean victims of trafficking solely as economic
migrants, routinely deporting them back to horrendous conditions in
North Korea; additional challenges facing the Chinese Government
include the enormous size of its trafficking problem and the
significant level of corruption and complicity in trafficking by
some local government officials (2008)
Congo, Democratic Republic of the
current situation: Democratic
Republic of the Congo is a source and destination country for men,
women, and children subjected to trafficking for the purposes of
forced labor and forced prostitution; the majority of this
trafficking is internal, and much of it is perpetrated by armed
groups and government forces outside government control within the
country's unstable eastern provinces
tier rating: Tier 3 - Government of the Democratic Republic of the
Congo does not fully comply with the minimum standards for the
elimination of trafficking and is not making significant efforts to
do so; the government did not show evidence of progress in
prosecuting and punishing labor or sex trafficking offenders,
including members of its own armed forces; providing protective
services for the vast majority of trafficking victims; or raising
public awareness of human trafficking; in addition, the government's
anti-trafficking law enforcement efforts decreased during the
reporting period (2010)
Congo, Republic of the
current situation: Republic of the Congo is a
source and destination country for children trafficked for the
purposes of forced labor and commercial sexual exploitation; girls
are trafficked from rural areas within the country for commercial
sexual exploitation, forced street vending, and domestic servitude;
children are trafficked from other African countries for domestic
servitude, forced market vending, and forced labor in the fishing
industry
tier rating: Tier 2 Watch List - Republic of the Congo is on the
Tier 2 Watch List for its failure to show evidence of increasing
efforts to combat trafficking in persons in 2007; struggling to
recover from six years of civil conflict that ended in 2003, the
Republic of the Congo's capacity to address trafficking is
handicapped; the government neither monitors its borders for
trafficking activity nor provides specialized anti-trafficking
training for law enforcement officials; the government does not
encourage victims to assist in trafficking investigations or
prosecutions, and has not taken measures to reduce demand for
commercial sex acts in the Republic of the Congo (2008)
Cote d'Ivoire
Cote d'Ivoire is a source, transit, and destination
country for women and children trafficked for forced labor and
commercial sexual exploitation; trafficking within the country is
more prevalent than international trafficking and the majority of
victims are children; women and girls are trafficked from northern
areas to southern cities for domestic servitude, restaurant labor,
and sexual exploitation; boys are trafficked internally for
agricultural and service labor and transnationally for forced labor
in agriculture, mining, construction, and in the fishing industry;
women and girls are trafficked to and from other West and Central
African countries for domestic servitude and forced street vending
tier rating: Tier 2 Watch List - Cote d'Ivoire is on the Tier 2
Watch List for its failure to provide evidence of increasing efforts
to eliminate trafficking in 2007, particularly with regard to its
law enforcement efforts and protection of sex trafficking victims;
in addition, Ivoirian law does not prohibit all forms of
trafficking, and Cote d'Ivoire has not ratified the 2000 UN TIP
Protocol (2008)
Cuba
current situation: Cuba is principally a source country for
children subjected to trafficking in persons, specifically
commercial sexual exploitation within the country; the scope of
trafficking within Cuba is difficult to gauge due to the closed
nature of the government and sparse non-governmental or independent
reporting
tier rating: Tier 3 - Cuba does not fully comply with the minimum
standards for the elimination of trafficking and is not making
significant efforts to do so; in a positive step, the Government of
Cuba shared information about human trafficking and its efforts to
address the issue; the government did not prohibit all forms of
trafficking during the reporting period, nor did it provide specific
evidence that it prosecuted and punished trafficking offenders,
protected victims of all forms of trafficking, or implemented victim
protection policies or programs to prevent human trafficking (2010)
Dominican Republic
current situation: the Dominican Republic is a
source, transit, and destination country for men, women, and
children trafficked for the purposes of commercial sexual
exploitation and forced labor; a large number of Dominican women are
trafficked into prostitution and sexual exploitation in Western
Europe, Australia, Central and South America, and Caribbean
destinations; a significant number of women, boys, and girls are
trafficked within the country for sexual exploitation and domestic
servitude
tier rating: Tier 3 - for its failure to show evidence of increasing
efforts to combat human trafficking, particularly in terms of not
adequately investigating and prosecuting public officials who may be
complicit with trafficking activity, and inadequate government
efforts to protect trafficking victims; the government has taken
measures to reduce demand for commercial sex acts with children
through criminal prosecutions (2008)
Equatorial Guinea
current situation: Equatorial Guinea is primarily
a destination country for children trafficked for the purpose of
forced labor and possibly for the purpose of sexual exploitation;
children have been trafficked from nearby countries for domestic
servitude, market labor, ambulant vending, and possibly sexual
exploitation; women may also be trafficked to Equatorial Guinea from
Cameroon, Benin, other neighboring countries, and China for sexual
exploitation
tier rating: Tier 2 Watch List - Equatorial Guinea is on the Tier 2
Watch List for its failure to provide evidence of increasing efforts
to eliminate trafficking, particularly in the areas of prosecuting
and convicting trafficking offenders and failing to formalize
mechanisms to provide assistance to victims; although the government
made some effort to enforce laws against child labor exploitation,
it failed to report any trafficking prosecutions or convictions in
2007; the government continued to lack shelters or formal procedures
for providing care to victims (2008)
Eritrea
current situation: Eritrea is a source country for men,
women, and children trafficked for the purposes of forced labor and
commercial sexual exploitation; each year, large numbers of migrant
workers depart Eritrea in search of work, particularly in the Gulf
States, where some likely become victims of forced labor, including
in domestic servitude, or commercial sexual exploitation; thousands
of Eritreans flee the country illegally, mostly to Sudan, Ethiopia,
and Kenya where their illegal status makes them vulnerable to
situations of human trafficking; the government remains complicit in
conscripting children into military service
tier rating: Tier 3 - the Government of Eritrea does not fully
comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking
and is not making significant efforts to do so; the Eritrean
government does not operate with transparency and published neither
data nor statistics regarding its efforts to combat human
trafficking; it did not respond to requests to provide information
for this report; the government made no known progress in
prosecuting and punishing trafficking crimes over the reporting
period and did not appear to provide any significant assistance to
victims of trafficking during the reporting period (2009)
Fiji
current situation: Fiji is a source country for children
trafficked for the purpose of commercial sexual exploitation and a
destination country for a small number of women from China and India
trafficked for the purposes of forced labor and commercial sexual
exploitation
tier rating: Tier 2 Watch List - Fiji does not fully comply with the
minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking and is not
making significant efforts to do so; the government has demonstrated
no action to investigate or prosecute traffickers, assist victims,
take steps to reduce the demand for commercial sex acts, or support
any anti-trafficking information or education campaigns; Fiji has
not ratified the 2000 UN TIP Protocol (2009)
Gabon
current situation: Gabon is predominantly a destination
country for children trafficked from other African countries for the
purpose of forced labor; girls are primarily trafficked for domestic
servitude, forced market vending, forced restaurant labor, and
sexual exploitation, while boys are trafficked for forced street
hawking and forced labor in small workshops
tier rating: Tier 2 Watch List - Gabon is on the Tier 2 Watch List
for its failure to provide evidence of increasing efforts to combat
human trafficking in 2007, particularly in terms of efforts to
convict and punish trafficking offenders; the government has not
reported the convictions or sentences of any trafficking offenders;
the government did not take steps to reduce demand for commercial
sex acts (2008)
Guatemala
current situation: Guatemala is a source, transit, and
destination country for Guatemalans and Central Americans trafficked
for the purposes of commercial sexual exploitation and forced labor;
human trafficking is a significant and growing problem in the
country; Guatemalan women and children are trafficked within the
country for commercial sexual exploitation, primarily to Mexico and
the United States; Guatemalan men, women, and children are also
trafficked within the country, and to Mexico and the United States,
for forced labor
tier rating: Tier 2 Watch List - for a second consecutive year,
Guatemala is on the Tier 2 Watch List for its failure to provide
evidence of increasing efforts to combat trafficking in persons,
particularly with respect to ensuring that trafficking offenders are
appropriately prosecuted for their crimes; while prosecutors
initiated trafficking prosecutions, they continued to face problems
in court with application of Guatemala's comprehensive
anti-trafficking law; the government made modest improvements to its
protection efforts, but assistance remained inadequate overall in
2007 (2008)
Guinea
current situation: Guinea is a source, transit, and
destination country for men, women, and children trafficked for the
purposes of forced labor and sexual exploitation; the majority of
victims are children, and internal trafficking is more prevalent
than transnational trafficking; within the country, girls are
trafficked primarily for domestic servitude and sexual exploitation,
while boys are trafficked for forced agricultural labor, and as
forced beggars, street vendors, shoe shiners, and laborers in gold
and diamond mines; some Guinean men are also trafficked for
agricultural labor within Guinea; transnationally, girls are
trafficked into Guinea for domestic servitude and likely also for
sexual exploitation
tier rating: Tier 2 Watch List - Guinea is on the Tier 2 Watch List
for its failure to provide evidence of increasing efforts to
eliminate trafficking over 2006; Guinea demonstrated minimal law
enforcement efforts for a second year in a row, while protection
efforts diminished over efforts in 2006; the government did not
report any trafficking convictions in 2007; due to a lack of
resources, the government does not provide shelter services for
trafficking victims; the government took no measures to reduce the
demand for commercial sexual exploitation (2008)
Guinea-Bissau
current situation: Guinea-Bissau is a source country
for children trafficked primarily for forced begging and forced
agricultural labor to other West African countries
tier rating: Tier 2 Watch List - for the second year in a row,
Guinea-Bissau is on the Tier 2 Watch List for its failure to combat
severe forms of trafficking in persons, as evidenced by the
continued failure to pass an anti-trafficking law and inadequate
efforts to investigate or prosecute trafficking crimes or convict
and punish trafficking offenders (2008)
Guyana
current situation: Guyana is a source, transit, and
destination country for men, women, and children trafficked for the
purposes of commercial sexual exploitation and forced labor; most
trafficking appears to take place in remote mining camps in the
country's interior; some women and girls are trafficked from
northern Brazil; reporting from other nations suggests Guyanese
women and girls are trafficked for sexual exploitation to
neighboring countries and Guyanese men and boys are subject to labor
exploitation in construction and agriculture; trafficking victims
from Suriname, Brazil, and Venezuela transit Guyana en route to
Caribbean destinations
tier rating: Tier 2 Watch List - for a second consecutive year,
Guyana is on the Tier 2 Watch List for failing to provide evidence
of increasing efforts to combat trafficking, particularly in the
area of law enforcement actions against trafficking offenders; the
government has yet to produce an anti-trafficking conviction under
the comprehensive Combating of Trafficking in Persons Act, which
became law in 2005; the government operates no shelters for
trafficking victims, but did include limited funding for
anti-trafficking NGOs in its 2008 budget; the government did not
make any effort to reduce demand for commercial sex acts during 2007
(2008)
India
current situation: India is a source, destination, and transit
country for men, women, and children trafficked for the purposes of
forced labor and commercial sexual exploitation; internal forced
labor may constitute India's largest trafficking problem; men,
women, and children are held in debt bondage and face forced labor
working in brick kilns, rice mills, agriculture, and embroidery
factories; women and girls are trafficked within the country for the
purposes of commercial sexual exploitation and forced marriage;
children are subjected to forced labor as factory workers, domestic
servants, beggars, and agriculture workers, and have been used as
armed combatants by some terrorist and insurgent groups; India is
also a destination for women and girls from Nepal and Bangladesh
trafficked for the purpose of commercial sexual exploitation; Indian
women are trafficked to the Middle East for commercial sexual
exploitation; men and women from Bangladesh and Nepal are trafficked
through India for forced labor and commercial sexual exploitation in
the Middle East
tier rating: Tier 2 Watch List - India is on the Tier 2 Watch List
for a fifth consecutive year for its failure to provide evidence of
increasing efforts to combat human trafficking in 2007; despite the
reported extent of the trafficking crisis in India, government
authorities made uneven efforts to prosecute traffickers and protect
trafficking victims; government authorities continued to rescue
victims of commercial sexual exploitation and forced child labor and
child armed combatants, and began to show progress in law
enforcement against these forms of trafficking; a critical challenge
overall is the lack of punishment for traffickers, effectively
resulting in impunity for acts of human trafficking; India has not
ratified the 2000 UN TIP Protocol (2008)
Iran
current situation: Iran is a source, transit, and destination
country for men, women, and children trafficked for the purposes of
sexual exploitation and involuntary servitude; Iranian women are
trafficked internally for the purpose of forced prostitution and for
forced marriages to settle debts; Iranian and Afghan children living
in Iran are trafficked internally for the purpose of forced
marriages, commercial sexual exploitation and involuntary servitude
as beggars or laborers to pay debts, provide income or support drug
addiction of their families; press reports indicate that criminal
organizations play a significant role in human trafficking to and
from Iran, in connection with smuggling of migrants, drugs, and arms
tier rating: Tier 3 - Iran did not provide evidence of law
enforcement activities against trafficking, and credible reports
indicate that Iranian authorities' response is not sufficient to
penalize offenders, protect victims, and eliminate trafficking; some
aspects of Iranian law and policy hinder efforts to combat
trafficking including punishment of victims and legal obstacles to
punishing offenders; Iran has not ratified the 2000 UN TIP Protocol
(2009)
Korea, North
current situation: North Korea is a source country for
men, women, and children trafficked for the purposes of forced labor
and commercial sexual exploitation; the most common form of
trafficking involves North Korean women and girls who cross the
border into China voluntarily; additionally, North Korean women and
girls are lured out of North Korea to escape poor social and
economic conditions by the promise of food, jobs, and freedom, only
to be forced into prostitution, marriage, or exploitative labor
arrangements once in China
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 does not acknowledge
the existence of human rights abuses in the country or recognize
trafficking, either within the country or transnationally; North
Korea has not ratified the 2000 UN TIP Protocol (2008)
Kuwait
current situation: Kuwait is a destination country for men
and women who migrate legally from South and Southeast Asia for
domestic or low-skilled labor, but are subjected to conditions of
involuntary servitude by employers in Kuwait including conditions of
physical and sexual abuse, non-payment of wages, confinement to the
home, and withholding of passports to restrict their freedom of
movement; Kuwait is reportedly a transit point for South and East
Asian workers recruited for low-skilled work in Iraq; some of these
workers are deceived as to the true location and nature of this
work, and others are subjected to conditions of involuntary
servitude in Iraq
tier rating: Tier 3 - Kuwaiti government has shown an inability to
define trafficking and has demonstrated insufficient political will
to address human trafficking adequately; much of the human
trafficking found in Kuwait involves domestic workers in private
residences and the government is reluctant to prosecute Kuwaiti
citizens; the government has not enacted legislation targeting human
trafficking nor established a permanent shelter for victims of
trafficking (2009)
Libya
current situation: Libya is a transit and destination country
for men and women from sub-Saharan Africa and Asia trafficked for
the purposes of forced labor and commercial sexual exploitation
tier rating: Tier 2 Watch List - Libya is on the Tier 2 Watch List
for its failure to provide evidence of increasing efforts to address
trafficking in persons in 2007 when compared to 2006, particularly
in the area of investigating and prosecuting trafficking offenses;
Libya did not publicly release any data on investigations or
punishment of any trafficking offenses (2008)