In a new report, the U.S. State Department says human trafficking is a global phenomenon to which no country is immune. Victims of modern slavery are exploited in every region of the world, compelled into service for labor or commercial sex in the real world of industry and on the pages of the internet.  The enormity of the problem necessitates the development of a unified, comprehensive response from world leaders to collectively address a crime that defies all borders.

The State Department’s annual Trafficking In Persons report, which is aimed at curbing human trafficking, was released on June 28.

It evaluates 187 countries and territories and ranks them into four tiers (Tier 1, Tier 2, Tier 2 Watch List, and Tier 3), with Tier 1 being the best and Tier 3 the worst.

The report listed Tajikistan among the countries ranked as Tier 2 Watch.  The Tier 2 Watch List also includes Bosnia-Herzegovina, Kyrgyzstan, Montenegro, and Uzbekistan, along with EU member Hungary.

The report, in particular, notes that the Government of Tajikistan does not fully meet the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking; however, it is making significant efforts to do so.  The government demonstrated significant efforts during the reporting period by establishing the first police unit dedicated to investigating trafficking crimes; increasing investigations of alleged traffickers, including labor recruitment firms that may have been complicit in the exploitation of migrants; providing funding to an NGO for awareness-raising activities; establishing a hotline for potential victims; and continuing to monitor for forced labor of children in the annual cotton harvest.  However, the government did not demonstrate increasing efforts compared to the previous reporting period. Endemic corruption contributed to the transport of victims across borders, yet the government did not report any investigations, prosecutions, or convictions of government officials complicit in human trafficking offenses.  Although the government continued to publicize the ban on child labor in the cotton harvest, there were reports that citizens were coerced into manual labor, including the cotton harvest.

For the third consecutive year, it did not implement its victim protection law, leaving officials without victim identification and referral procedures, and resulted in inadequate victim protection services.  Therefore Tajikistan was downgraded to Tier 2 Watch List.

The government maintained its anti-trafficking law enforcement efforts, but did not provide information on prosecutions or convictions of traffickers, according to the report. 

The report recommends that Tajikistan implement standard operating procedures for identifying trafficking victims and referring them to care, including any victims of forced labor in the cotton harvest; train law enforcement to screen men and women in prostitution for signs of trafficking and ensure sex trafficking victims are not penalized for prostitution offenses; while respecting due process, vigorously investigate and prosecute suspected traffickers, including officials complicit in trafficking, and convict and appropriately sentence perpetrators; increase measures and dedicate funding or in-kind support to provide comprehensive care to victims and encourage their assistance in the investigation and prosecution of traffickers either directly or via partnerships with NGOs; amend existing anti-trafficking legislation to more closely conform with international standards, specifically to criminalize child sex trafficking in the absence of force, fraud, and coercion; continue to enforce the prohibition against the forced labor of children in the annual cotton harvest by inspecting fields during the harvest in collaboration with local officials and NGOs; take substantive action to end the use of forced adult labor in public works projects and in the annual cotton harvest; improve the collection of anti-trafficking law enforcement data; continue to provide anti-trafficking training or guidance for diplomatic personnel and other government employees, including law enforcement officers, border guards, and customs officials, to prevent their engagement or facilitation of trafficking crimes.