Bahrain , Saudi Oman, Kuwait Qatar in Tier II Group
BAHRAIN (TIER 2 – WATCH LIST) Bahrain is a destination country for women and men who migrate legally from South Asia and the Philippines and — to a lesser extent — from China, Indonesia, the former Soviet Union, Morocco, and Ethiopia, but fall victim to conditions of sexual servitude, debt bondage, and other exploitative conditions that constitute involuntary servitude. More
UAE Arrest and Prosecution Plans for 5,000 Women in Immoral Trade
Bangladeshi woman arrested before being trafficked to Gulf..
US State Report on Human Trafficking 2005 places eight countries including UAE in tier two category.
WASHINGTON – The US State Department has said that despite some efforts being made by the UAE government for the arrest and deportation of large number of women, who are suspected to be victims of a global network of human trafficking, the lack of a comprehensive anti trafficking law is a major problem facing some of the Gulf countries, which are now placed in a new category. Four more countries in the Middle East are added to a US State Department list of nations that are allegedly not doing enough to stop international human trafficking, a practice which the State department described as modern-day slavery. The State Department on Friday said 14 countries could be subject to sanctions because they are not cracking down on trafficking. Eight countries were new to the list: Bolivia, Cambodia, Jamaica, Kuwait, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Togo and the United Arab Emirates. The report has pointed out lacunae's in dealing with the human trafficking problem in countries like Oman, UAE, Qatar, Bahrain, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia. It also highlights the problem of trafficked children from Asia and Africa to work as camel jockeys.
"The United Arab Emirates is a destination country for women trafficked primarily from South, Southeast, and East Asia, the former Soviet Union, Iran and other Middle Eastern countries and East Africa, for the purpose of sexual exploitation," says the just released US State Department Report on Trafficking in Person (TIP) report, which is released by the Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons. An estimated 600,000 to 800,000 people are trafficked across international borders annually, the report said. Eighty percent are female and 50 percent are children, said the report signed by the US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.
The report signed by the Secretary of State profiles a 17 years old Uzbekistan girl, an orphan, who was kidnapped in 2004 from her village by her aunt who engineered her abduction to Dubai using a cousin's passport. "Lusa is a 17 year old orphan kidnapped in 2004 from her native Uzbekistan. Lusa’s aunt engineered her abduction to Dubai using a cousin's passport, because the aunt wanted to take Lusa’s apartment. In Dubai, Lusa was sold to a slavery and prostitution ring. When she was no longer useable in prostitution, the traffickers sent her to a psychiatric center," says the State Department Report.
"An Uzbek NGO located her in Dubai. The NGO arranged to move her to a shelter, and they began working on her repatriation. Because she entered the U.A.E. illegally, on a false passport, the U.A.E. immigration service said she should serve a two-year prison sentence. Government officials and the enterprising NGO are negotiating Lusa’s case," it added. "A large number of foreign women were lured into the U.A.E. under false pretenses and subsequently forced into sexual servitude, primarily by criminals of their own countries," it says. The report also says about the deportation of 67 trafficking victims who were rescued by the Kyrgyz diplomatic mission with the government support from the U.A.E. There are also photographs of Bangladeshi women who were rescued by the Bangladeshi police before they were trafficked to the Gulf countries. These arrests followed US Government placing Bangladesh on tier two category.
The report says, efforts in the tier two countries to prosecute crimes relating to trafficking for commercial sexual exploitation were equally disappointing. "Despite a few arrests and prosecutions of those involved in such crimes, including travel and employment agencies that reportedly facilitate the trafficking of victims U.A.E. law enforcement efforts during the year focused largely on the arrest, incarceration, and deportation of over 5,000 foreign women in prostitution, many of whom are likely trafficking victim," the report says. There is no .concerted, proactive efforts to distinguish trafficking victims among women arrested for prostitution and illegal immigration; as a result, victims are punished with incarceration and deportation.
The report says there is no mechanism to collect statistics on persons trafficked into the country, making it difficult to assess official efforts to combat the problem. "Widely varying reports, mostly from NGOs, international organizations, and source countries, estimated the number of trafficking victims in the U.A.E. to be from a few thousand to tens of thousand," says the State Department Report, which placed UAE and some other Gulf countries in tier two category for failing to introduce strict anti trafficking rules and regulations.During the reporting period, the U.A.E. made minimal efforts to prosecute traffickers. Despite the ongoing trafficking and exploitation of thousands of children as camel jockeys and women in sexual servitude, the government made insufficient efforts in 2004 to criminally prosecute and punish anyone behind these forms of trafficking," says the US State Department, which included friendly countries like Oman, Kuwait, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Bahrain as tier two countries in the rating for regulating human trafficking.
"The U.A.E. Government announced in April 2005 that it would soon enact a new law banning underage camel jockeys. Currently, the U.A.E. does not have a comprehensive anti-trafficking law. The government can use various laws under its criminal codes to prosecute trafficking-related crimes effectively, but there have been only a few such cases prosecuted In 2004, U.A.E. officials declared that the 2002 Presidential Decree against the exploitation of children as camel jockeys was legally unenforceable — effectively asserting that the U.A.E. had no legal mechanism to address this serious crime. The U.A.E.’s new law, when enacted and implemente,
is expected to enable enforcement of the Decree.
"The U.A.E. slightly increased its trafficking prevention efforts over the past year, particularly efforts to prevent the trafficking of children to work as camel jockeys. Prevention measures reportedly included closer screening of visa applications by U.A.E. embassies in source countries, distributing informational material directly to newly arrived foreign workers, supplying brochures to source country embassies and consulates to warn potential victims, conducting specific anti-trafficking training for police and various government personnel, and conducting training for immigration inspectors in document fraud detection method," the report says.
Indian Pakistan Girls End up In Morocco!!!
MOROCCO (TIER 1)
Morocco is a country of origin, transit, and destination for women, men, and children trafficked from
sub-Saharan Africa, North Africa, and Asia. Young Moroccan victims are lured into Europe by Italian,
Spanish, Moroccan, and Algerian traffickers and then forced into drug trafficking, coerced labor, and
sexual exploitation. According to government figures, an increasing number of Asian victims, particularly
Indians, Pakistanis, and Bangladeshis, were brought into Morocco in 2004. Moroccan women are
trafficked to Saudi Arabia, Syria, and the United Arab Emirates for the purpose of sexual exploitation.
Children are trafficked internally for exploitation as child domestics and beggars. Sex tourism involving
young Moroccans in and around popular tourist destinations has also been reported.
The Government of Morocco fully complies with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking.
Although the government did not provide full data on investigations, prosecutions,
convictions, and sentences, the Secretary of State has determined that it made a good faith effort to do
so. Over the reporting period, Morocco continued to make progress in its overall anti-trafficking
efforts: it signed an agreement with IOM to allow the latter to open an office for anti-trafficking work,
created the National Observatory of Migration to coordinate and oversee Morocco’s national anti-trafficking efforts, and formed a bi-national commission with Spain on trafficking. Morocco should
consider creating a mechanism for identifying and developing trafficking cases for prosecution, and a
procedure for referring victims to shelters and NGOs. It should also consider developing a centralized
data collection system to document trafficking-related arrests, prosecutions, and convictions
Prosecution
The government made progress in its prosecution efforts in 2004. Morocco passed a new family code
prohibiting the selling of child brides, raised the age of marital consent to 18, took steps to restrict hazardous forms of child labor, and criminalized sexual abuse of children. In 2004, it dismantled 423
trafficking rings and arrested 262 traffickers. Also, the Moroccan police arrested 70 Nigerian traffickers
and rescued 1,460 Nigerian victims hidden by traffickers near Mt. Gourougou. In addition, Morocco dismissed the commander and deputy of its 745-man peacekeeping contingent in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, after a UN report implicated the peacekeepers for sexually assaulting women and children under their care. Morocco also arrested six of the soldiers directly implicated in these crimes and
announced that they will be court-martialed. In Marrakech, the police arrested three French tourists for
having solicited sex from minors, a measure that serves to deter the demand for trafficking victims.
Protection In 2004, Morocco continued making progress in protecting trafficking victims. It cooperated with Italy and Spain to repatriate an estimated 6,000 Moroccan minors living illegally in both European
countries, some of them likely trafficking victims. In cooperation with Spain and Belgium, it established
shelters and provided a wide range of assistance for returnees. The government also repatriated 1,460 Nigerian victims. The Government of Morocco relies heavily on NGOs to assist domestic trafficking victims. The government allows these NGOs to solicit tax-free donations from citizens, residents, and companies — indirectly assisting in the provision of services to victims.
PreventionThe Government of Morocco increased its anti-trafficking prevention activities. Morocco began conducting joint naval surveillance operations with Spain in the Atlantic waters separating the Western
Sahara from the Canary Islands, a known trafficking route. It also increased its border police presence
along the Algerian border — another known trafficking route. A draft law requiring the police
to investigate an employer when a runaway child maid is picked up is expected to be enacted in 2005
and will likely deter the abuse of child maids. In 2004, Morocco introduced severe punishment for
promoting prostitution, pornography, sex tourism, child pornography, and child sexual abuse. In
2004, Morocco began training its diplomats in destination and transit countries to assist Moroccan
victims. It also increased funding for efforts to stop the “renting” of children as props in begging.Oman Major Market for Women Trafficking
Oman is a destination country for women and men who migrate legally and willingly from South
Asia — primarily from India, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, and the Philippines — for work as
domestic workers and laborers but are subsequently trafficked into conditions of involuntary servitude.
Some of these workers suffer from physical and sexual abuse or withholding of wages or travel documents. Every year, thousands of Pakistanis infiltrate Oman's maritime border with Iran in
search of jobs or to reach other destinations in the Gulf. According to a noted human rights activist,
several dozen foreign children trafficked for the purpose of exploitation as camel jockeys were
reportedly seen near the border with the United Arab Emirates.
The Government of Oman does not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of
trafficking; however, it is making significant efforts to do so. Over the next year, the government should
conduct an assessment of the smuggling and trafficking situation and develop an appropriate national
plan of action to combat it. It should also consider appointing a national coordinator to articulate, direct,
and oversee the government’s overall anti-trafficking efforts, including the drafting and enactment of a
comprehensive anti-trafficking legislation, the training of law enforcement personnel to identify trafficking crimes, and the development of appropriate anti-trafficking protection and prevention programs.
ProsecutionThe Government of Oman continues to actively interdict, apprehend, screen, and detain suspected
illegal immigrants and human smugglers. Oman does not have an anti-trafficking law, but it has
other criminal laws that can be used to prosecute trafficking crimes. During the reporting year, there
were reports of physical abuse of domestic servants, some of whom may have been victims of involuntary servitude. According to Ministerial Decree 189 (Law on Domestic Labor, issued June 16,
2004), Article 8, an employee has the right to end his/her contract if he/she is abused by an employer.
Pursuant to Article 10, salary disputes are settled by the Ministry of Manpower. The Ministry’s
Labor Welfare Board adjudicates cases filed by national and expatriate workers against employers.
Employers guilty of contested wages are ordered to reimburse the worker’s back wages.
Protection
The Government of Oman provides some protection to both illegal and legal expatriate workers who fall
victim to involuntary servitude. It operates a 24-hour complaint hotline and mediates contract disputes,
works with source country representatives to provide assistance to victims, and grants access to officials from source countries to visit deportation centers. However, the government does not have a systematic screening procedure for differentiating potential trafficking victims from the thousands of illegal immigrants it detains and deports every year. It should develop and deploy a more comprehensive screening procedure to ensure that any such victims are identified and provided with appropriate protection services, such as shelter, medical and psychological assistance, humane repatriation, and other essential services. The Government of Oman has extended protections under its labor laws to its large domestic work force per Ministerial Decree 189. All foreign workers are protected under the labor law, though some may be reluctant to file complaints for fear of retribution from their employers. Workers are informed of their labor rights in pre-departure orientation briefings in their countries of origin. The government does not have a separate shelter for potential victims of trafficking. However, in addition to the food, shelter, and medical care provided at its deportation centers, the government works with source country embassies and charitable groups to tend to foreign nationals requiring repatriation and other forms of assistance. Oman should consider establishing a shelter for potential victims of trafficking.Prevention
The Government of Oman took some positive steps to prevent trafficking. It monitored its borders and
immigration patterns, introduced special visa regimes applicable to certain countries to thwart possible
trafficking for the purpose of sexual exploitation, and engaged other countries in the region and beyond
on issues relating to trafficking and illegal immigration. Oman actively pursues avenues of international
cooperation and has stepped up assistance and information sharing with source countries, including
sending a team of Royal Oman Police to work with the anti-trafficking unit of Pakistan’s Federal
Investigation Agency. Oman should develop and launch broad public awareness campaigns highlighting the rights of domestic workers and other groups vulnerable to being trafficked.PAKISTAN (TIER 2)
Pakistan is a source, transit, and destination country for victims of severe forms of trafficking in persons.
Women and girls from Bangladesh, India, Burma, Afghanistan, Iran, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyz
Republic, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, and Tajikistan are trafficked to Pakistan for commercial sexual
exploitation and bonded labor. Girls and women from rural areas are trafficked within the country to
urban centers for commercial sexual exploitation and involuntary domestic servitude. Women trafficked
from East Asian countries and Bangladesh to the Middle East often transit through Pakistan.
Men, women, and children are trafficked to the Middle East for bonded labor and domestic servitude.
Boys are trafficked to Persian Gulf states for use as camel jockeys. Children are trafficked
internally for forced begging and bonded labor.
The Government of Pakistan does not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination
of trafficking; however, it is making significant efforts to do so. Pakistan has improved its anti-trafficking
performance over the reporting period. Most notably, it has increased trafficking-related
prosecutions and convictions, strengthened implementation of its 2002 Prevention and Control of
Human Trafficking Ordinance, established an Anti-Trafficking Unit (ATU) within the Federal
Investigation Agency (FIA), and co-sponsored several public awareness campaigns. Pakistan should
continue expanding on these efforts in order to further its fight against trafficking.
Prosecution
Pakistan’s law enforcement efforts greatly increased during the reporting period. In 2004, 479 trafficking-
related cases were registered, 289 individuals arrested, 248 court cases filed, and 72 convictions
obtained — a significant improvement over the six convictions obtained in 2003. The government also
prosecuted and convicted 17 officials for trafficking-related corruption. There were cases during the
reporting period in which law enforcement officials mistakenly identified trafficking victims as voluntary
participants in human smuggling and initiated criminal procedures against them. In such cases,
supervisory personnel acted promptly to ensure charges were dropped and victims protected. The government should continue efforts to train a broad cross section of working-level law enforcement
personnel to prevent such mistakes in future.
Protection
In 2004, Pakistan made progress in its efforts to protect trafficking victims. Currently, NGOs continue
to provide the majority of assistance and protection services for victims. However, new regulations for the implementation of Pakistan’s 2002 anti-trafficking law obligate the Government
of Pakistan to provide assistance to trafficking victims and allocate funding for their repatriation.
Pakistan established the FIA’s ATU, through which it coordinates its anti-trafficking law enforcement
efforts. In cooperation with IOM, the government is establishing a new model shelter for
trafficking victims in Islamabad, and it has committed to replicating similar facilities in other parts
of the country. At present, trafficking victims are offered shelter in 267 detention centers in the
country, where they are provided with medical assistance, limited legal representation, and some
vocational training. The anticipated opening of the model shelter and a joint screening referral
process for all trafficking victims are expected to enhance Pakistan’s protection efforts.
Prevention
The government improved its prevention efforts over the reporting period. In collaboration with
IOM, it trained about 200 law enforcement and border security personnel in victim recognition
methods. It also encouraged its embassies and consulates, particularly in the Gulf region, to play a
more active role in identifying, assisting, and repatriating trafficking victims. It conducted, in collaboration with NGOs, several anti-trafficking public campaigns. Pakistan’s diplomatic missions in
the United Arab Emirates and Oman have worked closely with NGOs, such as Ansar Burney Welfare
Trust, in rescuing, repatriating, and rehabilitating children trafficked as camel jockeys.THE PHILIPPINES (TIER 2 – WATCH LIST)
The Philippines is a source, transit, and destination country for men, women, and children trafficked
for the purposes of sexual exploitation and forced labor. Philippine women are often lured abroad with
false promises of legitimate employment and are trafficked for commercial sexual exploitation to destinations throughout Asia, the Middle East, Africa, Europe, and North America. A significant number of the 71,084 Philippine women who entered Japan as overseas performing artists in 2004 are believed to
have been women trafficked into the sex trade. Philippine men and women who go overseas to work
in domestic service and the construction and garment industries often face exploitative conditions that
meet the definition of involuntary servitude — a severe form of trafficking in persons. To a lesser
extent, the Philippines is a transit point and destination for women from the People’s Republic of
China (P.R.C.) who are trafficked for sexual exploitation. Within the Philippines, there is internal trafficking from rural to urban metropolitan areas and sexual exploitation of children. Endemic poverty, a
high unemployment rate, a cultural propensity towards migration, a weak rule-of-law environment, and
sex tourism all contribute to significant trafficking activity in the Philippines.
The Government of the Philippines does not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination
of trafficking; however, it is making significant efforts to do so. Although the Philippines remains a
strong proponent of anti-trafficking measures in the context of international organizations, more progress
in its law enforcement efforts is needed. The Philippines’ placement on Tier 2 Watch List is due to its
failure to show evidence of increasing efforts to convict traffickers. The government made modestly
better efforts to implement its anti-trafficking law, dedicating four state prosecutors to focus on trafficking- related cases and providing training to law enforcement officials on the anti-trafficking law. The Philippine Government should take immediate corrective action by arresting, prosecuting, and convicting traffickers and any public officials found to be involved in trafficking. The government also needs to make greater efforts to address allegations of corruption and fraud regarding the issuance of documents to facilitate the recruitment of Philippine entertainers to Japan, a process that traffickers exploit.
Prosecution
During the reporting period, the Philippine Government made increasing efforts to implement its
anti-trafficking law; the number of trafficking-related prosecutions under the anti-trafficking law
remained low, although there were other prosecutions under legislation related to child abuse and
illegal recruitment. There were no reported convictions under the anti-trafficking law of 2003. The
government dedicated four state prosecutors to focus on trafficking-related cases and provided training
to law enforcement officials on the anti-trafficking law. Currently, there are 28 cases under
investigation. The Department of Justice is prosecuting at least 15 cases under the anti-trafficking
law and other statutes related to child abuse and illegal recruitment. Corruption and a weak judiciary
remain serious impediments to the effective prosecution of traffickers. Despite widespread
allegations of law enforcement officials’ complicity in trafficking, the government reported no prosecutions of trafficking-related corruption.
Protection
The Philippine Government continued to sponsor impressive protection efforts for trafficking victims
in 2004. The anti-trafficking law passed in 2003 recognizes trafficked persons as victims and does
not penalize them. Despite limited resources, the Department of Social Welfare and Development
(DSWD) continued to provide a range of protective services, including temporary residency status,
relief from deportation, shelter, and access to legal, medical, and counseling services. With assis
tance from the Department of Foreign Affairs, the DSWD also established arrangements with NGOs
in destination countries to provide overseas Philippine workers who had been exploited with temporary
shelter, counseling, and medical assistance. The government also provided additional protective
services, including telephone hotlines for reporting cases of abused/exploited women and children.
The Philippine Government increased its efforts to train law enforcement officials and consular officials
in all of its embassies to deal with trafficking victims.
Prevention
The government continued modest efforts to raise awareness of trafficking. Senior government officials
frequently spoke out about the dangers of trafficking. Fourteen government agencies also coordinate the government’s anti-trafficking efforts, much of which is prevention-oriented. The Philippine Government’s information campaign on overseas employment resulted in a decline in illegal
recruitment and recruitment violations. The government has a national action plan to address
trafficking in persons.QATAR (TIER 3)
Qatar is a destination country for men and women trafficked for the purpose of labor exploitation
and young boys trafficked for the purpose of exploitation as camel jockeys. Women and men who
work as domestic servants, some of whom fall victim to involuntary servitude, come largely from
Bangladesh, Ethiopia, India, Indonesia, the Philippines, and Sri Lanka. Male laborers, some of
whom become trafficking victims, come from Bangladesh, Egypt, India, Nepal, Pakistan, the
Philippines, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Jordan, and Syria. Children trafficked to Qatar for exploitation
as camel jockeys come primarily from South Asia and Sudan. Some foreign workers suffer conditions
of exploitation — such as excessive hours, late or nonpayment of wages, physical and sexual
abuse, and withholding of passports — that constitute involuntary servitude, a severe form of trafficking. Child camel jockeys are overworked, malnourished, and physically abused. Some have
been thrown from the camels they rode and suffered serious neurological damages. Most no longer
remember where they came from.
The Government of Qatar does not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of
trafficking and is not making significant efforts to do so. During the rating period, the government
failed to show evidence of significant efforts to combat identified severe forms of trafficking on the
three fronts of prosecution, protection, and prevention. A 2003 National Action Plan remains unimple-
mented. The Government of Qatar does not collect statistics on persons trafficked into the country,
making it difficult to assess its efforts to combat the problem. According to official diplomatic sources
and NGOs, there have been no rescues of the estimated 75-250 child camel jockeys, nor have there
been any prosecutions of the traffickers behind the trafficking of camel jockeys. Some government
officials own the camels participating in the races in which young boys are used as camel jockeys. The
government provides no shelter for trafficking victims; instead, it detains and punishes trafficking victims for immigration violations. The government needs to enact and enforce a comprehensive
trafficking law that criminalizes all forms of trafficking and provides for protection of trafficking victims.
The government should institute a formal system to identify, care for, and repatriate these
victims, including domestic workers and child camel jockeys. The government should also take much
stronger steps to investigate, prosecute, and convict those responsible for trafficking crimes.
Prosecution
During the reporting period, the Government of Qatar took negligible steps to investigate, prosecute,
and punish traffickers. There is no law banning the trafficking and exploitation of children as camel
jockeys. Although other laws, such as the criminal law that makes employment of children under
age 16 illegal, could be used to prosecute trafficking-related crimes, Qatar has not used them effectively.
The Government of Qatar handled two criminal cases against trafficking in 2004. In the first
case, an Indonesian housemaid was beaten by her sponsors; the sponsors admitted guilt and are now
in detention while the case remains under investigation. In the second case, a Qatari employer was
convicted of burning an Indian housemaid to death, sentenced to three years’ imprisonment, and
fined the equivalent of $17 — inadequate penalties for a serious trafficking-related crime. Qatar’s
anti-trafficking Implementation Committee reportedly sponsored training for judges on prosecution
of trafficking-related offenses.
Protection
The Government of Qatar provides minimal protection to victims of trafficking. There are no shelters
to help victims. The government incarcerates runaway foreign trafficking victims at its detention facilities and attempts to resolve labor-related disputes through mediation. In cases where abuses are proven, the government allows victims to change employers. However, no measure is taken to investigate, prosecute, and punish physical and sexual abuse of victims. In one instance, a Philippine housemaid was arrested while filing a complaint against her employer for non-payment of five years of wages, after the employer charged that she had absconded and was working for another employer.
Prevention
In 2004, the Government of Qatar did little to prevent trafficking and trafficking-related offenses.
The government cooperated with the quasi-independent National Human Rights Committee and the
Qatari Foundation for Women and Children Protection (QFWCP), which did some work to promote
the rights of victims. In 2003, the government established a National Plan to address trafficking in
persons, including increasing public awareness of trafficking, providing information on trafficking at
national entry points, establishing an effective hotline for filing complaints, and ending the camel
jockey problem. The plan also called for the training of judges on trafficking issues; the government
held a workshop to that end. Most elements of the plan, however, have not been implemented. For
example, the position of prosecutor for trafficking issues was created, but no appointment was made.
The QFWCP advertised through local papers the establishment of a hotline for filing complaints;
however, reports indicate that calls to the hotline are not answered.SAUDI ARABIA (TIER 3)
Saudi Arabia is a destination for men and women from South and East Asia and East Africa trafficked
for the purpose of labor exploitation, and for children from Yemen, Afghanistan, and Africa
trafficking for forced begging. Hundreds of thousands of low-skilled workers from India, Indonesia,
the Philippines, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Somalia, and Kenya migrate voluntarily to
Saudi Arabia; some fall into conditions of involuntary servitude, suffering from physical and sexual
abuse, non-payment or delayed payment of wages, the withholding of travel documents, restrictions
on their freedom of movement and non-consensual contract alterations
The Government of Saudi Arabia does not comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of
trafficking and is not making significant efforts to do so. Saudi Arabia has moved from Tier 2 to Tier 3
because of its lack of progress in anti-trafficking efforts, particularly its failure to protect victims and
prosecute those guilty of involuntary servitude. Despite reports of trafficking and abuses of domestic
and other unskilled workers and children, there is evidence of only one Saudi Government prosecution
of a Saudi employer for a trafficking-related offense during the reporting period. Some victims of
abuse, due to procedural hurdles, choose to leave the country rather than confront their abusers in court.
They are required first to file a complaint with the police before they are allowed access to shelters. The
government offers no legal aid to foreign victims and does not otherwise assist them in using the Saudi
criminal justice system to bring their exploiters to justice. If a victim chooses to file a complaint, he or
she is not allowed to work. The Saudi Government does, however, provide food and shelter for female
workers who file complaints or run away from their employers. Criminal cases are adjudicated under
Sharia law, and there is no evidence trafficking victims are accorded legal assistance before and during
Sharia legal proceedings. The government should consider adopting comprehensive anti-trafficking legislation that would punish traffickers, provide for the protection of victims, and facilitate prevention
programs. It should also collect and disseminate data on prosecution and mediation efforts, prosecute
aggressively cases of physical and sexual abuse using available criminal laws, and increase its efforts to
prevent and investigate the trafficking of children for forced begging.
Prosecution
There is limited evidence indicating that the government has this year improved its prosecution
efforts over last year. Saudi Arabia lacks laws criminalizing most trafficking offenses. Most abuses
involving foreign workers are dealt with by Islamic law, royal decrees, and ministerial resolutions;
few are submitted to criminal prosecution. Domestic workers, which comprise a significant portion
of the foreign workforce, are excluded from protection under Saudi labor laws. Most cases involving
trafficking or abuse of foreign workers are settled out of court through mediation. In 2004, there
were reports of Philippine female domestic workers raped; however, there were no reports of prosecutions.
In 2004, the Ministry of Labor issued resolutions, among other things, prohibiting trading
in work visas, employing and exploiting children, and recruiting for begging. It investigated some
cases of abusive employers and instituted a tracking system. To date, 30 abusive employers have
been barred from hiring workers. The government provides training for police officers to recognize
and handle cases of foreign worker abuse.
Protection
The Saudi Government has not improved its efforts to protect victims of trafficking but continues to
operate three shelters for abused female expatriate workers in Riyadh, Jeddah, and Dammam. It also
operates facilities for abandoned children, including trafficking victims, in Jeddah, Mecca, and
Medina. However, the government does not provide shelter to adult male workers. There are no
NGOs working with trafficking victims. The government mediates disputes and alleged abuses of
foreign workers — including complaints of a criminal nature — and seeks to return victims to their
home countries without adequately investigating and prosecuting crimes committed against them.
Prevention
Saudi Arabia’s limited efforts to prevent trafficking include: distributing information at embassies
abroad, licensing and regulating the activities of recruitment agencies, monitoring immigration patterns
and visa issuance, and promoting awareness through the media and religious authorities. The
government has begun working with UNICEF and the Yemeni Government to prevent trafficking of
children for begging. A plan envisioned several years ago to distribute information to foreign workers
at Saudi Arabian airports upon arrival has not been implemented. Religious leaders have
preached in mosques sermons about the evil of abusing employees.SRI LANKA (TIER 2)
Sri Lanka is a source country for women and children who are trafficked internally and to the Middle
East, Singapore, Hong Kong, and South Korea for the purposes of coerced labor and sexual exploitation.
Small numbers of women from Thailand, China, Russia, and other former Soviet states are trafficked to Sri Lanka for sexual exploitation. Boys and girls are victims of sexual exploitation by pedophiles in the sex tourism industry. Trafficking takes place in areas controlled by both the government and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). The LTTE continued to traffic children into forced labor and military service, taking at least 100 children after the tsunami in December.
The Government of Sri Lanka does not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination
of trafficking; however, it is making significant efforts to do so. In LTTE-controlled northern
and eastern Sri Lanka, the government was unable to enforce anti-trafficking measures during the
reporting period. Sri Lankan officials have taken strong measures in the wake of the December
2004 tsunami to prevent the trafficking of children made vulnerable by this natural disaster. Reports
indicate that certain airline officials and NGO representatives have been allegedly involved in trafficking.
The government should develop a comprehensive national plan of action to combat trafficking and appoint a national coordinator to oversee implementation of the plan.
Prosecution
Sri Lanka continued to make progress over the reporting period. The government uses various means
to monitor and apprehend traffickers, including making effective use of its CyberWatch Project, which relies on a “watch list” database of suspected sex offenders. However, the government achieved no prosecutions or convictions related to trafficking during the reporting period. It encourages
victims to assist in the investigation and prosecution of trafficking cases. The government,
however, has not provided any specialized training to its officials responsible for combating trafficking.
The government should stop imposing fines on women trafficked for sexual exploitation.
SYRIA (TIER 2)
Syria is a destination country for women trafficked from South and East Asia and Ethiopia for the
purpose of labor exploitation and from Eastern Europe for the purpose of sexual exploitation. There
are no statistics available on the scope and type of trafficking that may exist and very little insight
on the part of the government, the general public, and the diplomatic community on the issue.
There have been some reports that indicate Iraqi women may be subjected to sexual exploitation in
prostitution in Syria at the hands of Iraqi criminal networks, but those reports have not been confirmed.
Some individuals brought into the country to work as domestic workers have suffered conditions that constitute involuntary servitude, including physical and sexual abuse, threats of expulsion, denial or delayed payment of wages, withholding of passports, and restriction of movement. Manpower agencies may lure some victims to Syria through fraudulent or deceptive offers of employment in the Gulf.
The Government of Syria does not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of
trafficking; however, it is making significant efforts to do so. Syria does not have a legal framework
governing relations between domestic workers and their employers. It also does not regulate the
illegal manpower agencies that bring in and, in some cases, facilitate victims’ exploitation. The
Governments of Indonesia and the Philippines banned their citizens from taking employment in
Syria because of abuses and the lack of a mechanism to protect the rights of their citizens. The government should appoint a national anti-trafficking coordinator, develop comprehensive
anti-trafficking legislation, investigate and prosecute traffickers and manpower agencies that facilitate
trafficking, tighten its entertainment visa issuance regime to prevent its exploitation for trafficking, and launch a broad anti-trafficking campaign to educate the general public.
The Government of Syria took minimal steps to investigate and/or prosecute trafficking and trafficking-
related cases during the reporting period. Syria does not have an anti-trafficking law, though most forms of trafficking are criminalized under other statutes. Foreign domestic workers are excluded from protection under Syrian labor laws. Syrian law enforcement officials need to be trained in victim identification and protection methods. The Syrian Government did not provide any data on investigations, prosecutions, convictions, or sentences for trafficking-related offenses during
the last year.
Over the last year, the Syrian Government did not improve its efforts to provide shelter, dispute settlement, or other protection services to victims of trafficking for sexual exploitation or involuntary
servitude. It does, however, cooperate with source-country representatives and NGOs working with
victims in these areas. It should put in place a procedure for distinguishing trafficking victims from
illegal immigrants and provide them appropriate protection measures, including shelter, legal, medical,
and psychological services, as well as repatriation and reintegration assistance.
Syria continued to make strong efforts to prevent illegal entry into the country by monitoring its borders
closely and screening passengers at arrival points. There were no trafficking-specific prevention efforts, however. The government cooperates with source-country embassies and IOM in the repatriation of victims. A consortium of source-country embassies has established an Anti-fraud Taskforce that works with the government to train immigration and customs officials to combat illegal immigration, which would likely benefit anti-trafficking efforts as well.Tajikistan is a source country for men, women, and children trafficked to Russia, Kazakhstan, the
United Arab Emirates (U.A.E.), Turkey, Saudi Arabia, and Iran for the purposes of sexual exploitation
and forced labor. The Government of Tajikistan does not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking; however, it is making significant efforts to do so. Over the past year, the
government adopted a comprehensive trafficking in persons law, established a specialized anti-trafficking police unit, and created an interagency commission to coordinate anti-trafficking activities
and draft a national action plan. While victim assistance and protection remained inadequate, in
large part due to a lack of resources, Tajikistan’s new law provides a useful framework for the protection
of victims. The government should make strong efforts to meet trafficking victims’ needs and increase convictions.
The Government of Tajikistan adopted a comprehensive Law on Combating Trafficking in Persons
in August 2004. Tajikistan’s Criminal Code criminalized trafficking in persons for both sexual and
labor exploitation. Penalties include imprisonment of five to 15 years and confiscation of property.
Traffickers may also be prosecuted under other laws such as those prohibiting exploitation of prostitution, rape, kidnapping, and buying and selling of minors. In 2004, law enforcement officials
investigated 14 trafficking cases. A Dushanbe court in late 2004 handed down the first conviction
under Tajikistan’s new anti-trafficking law, sentencing a trafficker to 14 years’ imprisonment and
confiscating her property. In May 2004, the government established a dedicated police unit with five
officers directly involved in trafficking investigations. The Ministry of Interior added a special trafficking
training course to its academy curriculum. The government arrested 14 low-level law enforcement officers who engaged in sexually exploiting underage girls. Defendants charged with trafficking have received reduced charges allegedly due to bribes accepted by judges.
Assistance for trafficking victims in Tajikistan remained inadequate during the reporting period. In
theory, victims are protected under the new anti-trafficking law, but in practice the government offers
no protection or reintegration programs for victims, citing limited resources. The Ministry of Interior and a local NGO signed an agreement on cooperation in December 2004, in part, as an effort to try to locate space to interview victims in a secure, confidential environment. Enforcement officials did not jail, fine, detain, or otherwise punish victims.
In January 2005, the government established an interagency commission on combating human trafficking, a product of its new anti-trafficking law. The commission began meeting monthly in
February and is charged with producing a national plan to combat human trafficking. The commission
consists of representatives from the Ministries of Interior, Security, Labor, Foreign Affairs, Education, Health, and Economy and Trade, as well as the State Border Protection Committee, the Prosecutor General’s Office, and the President’s Administration. The government continued to cooperate with local NGOs and international groups on prevention, and may include them in future meetings of the commission. On May 5, 2004, the Ministry of Interior and IOM signed a Memorandum of Cooperation in the Sphere of Combating Trafficking in Persons, leading to a for- mal cooperative relationship between IOM and the anti-trafficking unit on prosecution and protection activities.
