Child Trafficking

 
Country Child Trafficking
Afghanistan

GENERAL NOTES AND OBSERVATIONS

* The UN Special Rapporteur on Violence against Women reported that there were some cases of trafficking in women and children. There were unconfirmed reports that some Taliban soldiers, often reported to be foreigners, abducted girls and women from villages in the Shomali plains, and these women were taken away in trucks from the area of fighting, and were trafficked to Pakistan and to the Arab Gulf states. (US Dept of State, Country Reports on Human Rights Practices - 1999, 25 February 2000)
Albania NATIONAL STATISTICS

* Around 3,000 Albanian children are trafficked to Italy and Greece and are used for begging and cleaning windows and cars without payment. (CRCA, The Vicious Circle, 2000)

* Official Italian statistics reveal that there are approximately 900 child prostitutes in Italy being trafficked from Albania. (CRCA, The Vicious Circle, 2000)

* Of the 1,880 to 2,500 minors who worked as street prostitutes in Italy, 1,500-2,300 had been trafficked predominantly from Albania, and Nigeria. (US Dept of State, Country Reports on Human Rights Practices - 1999, 25 February 2000)

* In Greece, more than 40% of the minors in prostitution are from neighbouring or regional countries, including Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Armenia, Albania and Iraq, which are suffering from conflicts and lack of social cohesion. (ECPAT International, A Step Forward, 1999)

* More than 8,000 Albanian girls are prostituted in Italy, and more than 30% of them are under 18 years. (CATW Fact Book, citing G.J. Koja, "8000 Albanian Girls Work as Prostitutes in Italy", HURINet, 25 July 1998)

* The Government investigates and prosecutes trafficking, and there were 144 prosecutions in 2000 for violating the trafficking law. (US Dept. of State, Trafficking in Persons Report, July 12, 2001)

ADULT STATISTICS

* NGOs estimate that there are 30,000 Albanian women currently working abroad as prostitutes. (US Dept of State, Country Reports on Human Rights Practices - 1999, 25 February 2000)

* The number 30,000 should not be taken seriously and is believed as not being true. (CRCA, e-mail to GMIS, 15 October 2000)

* 255 illegal immigrants from Albania and Kosovo were trafficked for prostitution during December 1997. (CATW Fact Book, citing "British note Albanian refugee smuggling", UPI, 7 April 1998)

GENERAL NOTES AND OBSERVATIONS

* Most trafficked Albanians increasingly fall into the 14 to 17-year-old age group; according to the AHRG, 25 percent of Albanian trafficking victims were minors. (US Dept of State, Country Reports on Human Rights Practices - 2001, March 2002)

* Trafficking in children is a serious problem. (US Dept of State, Country Reports on Human Rights Practices - 2000, February 2001)

* Albania is a source and transit country for trafficking. Trafficking victims are mostly women from Albania, Moldova, and Romania who are trafficked for sexual exploitation to Italy, Greece, Western Europe, Belgium, and the Netherlands. (US Dept. of State, Trafficking in Persons Report, July 12, 2001)

* Criminals may kidnap children from families or orphanages to be sold to paedophilia rings abroad. (US Dept of State, Country Reports on Human Rights Practices - 2000, February 2001)

* A few specialised bodies of the Albanian government have reported illegal migration of children to Italy and Greece. (CRCA, The Vicious Circle, 2000)

* Many Albanian girls are used as prostitutes on the roads of Greece and Italy. (CRCA, The Vicious Circle, 2000)

* Criminals kidnap children from families or orphanages to sell them into prostitution or pederasty rings abroad. (US Dept of State, Country Reports on Human Rights Practices - 1999, 25 February 2000)

* Recent reports from the refugee camps of Albania tell of the frequent disappearances of young women and girls from the refugee camps. It appears that these girls are being trafficked for sexual purposes to Western Europe by criminal gangs. (ECPAT International, A Step Forward, 1999)

* Turkey is a major destination and transit country for trafficking in women and girls for the purpose of forced prostitution. IOM and domestic NGOs stated that most trafficked women in the country are from Albania, Bulgaria, Moldova, Romania, and Ukraine. (US Dept of State, Country Reports on Human Rights Practices - 1999, 25 February 2000)

Algeria

GENERAL NOTES AND OBSERVATIONS

* There are unconfirmed reports that young Algerian girls are trafficked to Italy and other Western countries. The girls are sometimes forced into prostitution or marriage. (ECPAT, CSEC Database, http://www.ecpat.net/eng/ecpat_inter/projects/monitoring/online_database/index.asp)

* Algerian women are trafficked to Italy. (CATW Fact Book, citing IOM, European Race Audit Bulletin, 25 November 1997)

* The country is reported as a place of transit for traffickers. (US Dept of Labor, Prostitution of Children, 1996)

Andorra

GENERAL NOTES AND OBSERVATIONS

* There were no reports that persons were trafficked in, to, from, or within the country. Nor is the country a transit point for traffic in persons. (US Dept of State, Country Reports on Human Rights Practices - 2000, February 2001)

Angola

GENERAL NOTES AND OBSERVATIONS

* Angola is a country of origin for trafficked persons. (US Dept. of State, Trafficking in Persons Report, July 12, 2001)

* The National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (UNITA) rebel forces are alleged to abduct children, who are used for forced labour and in military service, and women, who are used for forced labour, including as sex slaves. (US Dept. of State, Trafficking in Persons Report, July 12, 2001)
Antigua and Barbuda -
Argentina

GENERAL NOTES AND OBSERVATIONS

* The Directorate of Migration estimates that there are approximately 400 rings of alien smugglers and purveyors of false document operating within the Dominican Republic. These individuals profit by facilitating the trafficking of women to Spain, Netherlands, and Argentina under false pretenses, for purposes of prostitution. (US Dept of State, Country Reports on Human Rights Practices - 1999, 25 February 2000)

* Foreign women in 'call girl' prostitution in Italy are from Poland, Russia, Colombia and Argentina and to a lesser extent from Brazil, Hungary, Romania and the Philippines. (CATW Fact Book, citing Migrant Information Programme, "Trafficking in Women for Sexual Exploitation to Italy", IOM, June 1996)
Armenia

NATIONAL STATISTICS

* In Greece, more than 40% of the minors in prostitution are from neighbouring or regional countries, including Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Armenia, Albania and Iraq, which are suffering from conflicts and lack of social cohesion. (ECPAT International, A Step Forward, 1999)

GENERAL NOTES AND OBSERVATIONS

* Trafficking in girls is a problem. (US Dept of State, Country Reports on Human Rights Practices - 2000, February 2001)

* There were reports that older girls in local orphanages were approached with offer to engage in prostitution, either locally or abroad. (US Dept of State, Country Reports on Human Rights Practices - 2000, February 2001)

* Armenian women work as prostitutes in the Middle East and there have been reports of trafficking in women and girls in the past. (US Dept of State, Country Reports on Human Rights Practices - 1999, 25 February 2000)

* In December 1997, a group of Armenians was caught in Belarus trafficking children to Brest under false pretenses; their destination was Poland. (CATW Fact Book, citing Noyan Tapan, "Criminal Group Trading Children Apprehended in Belarus", 10 December 1997)

Australia

GENERAL NOTES AND OBSERVATIONS

* Malaysian women are trafficked for sexual purposes mostly to Singapore, Macau, Hong Kong and Taiwan as well as to Japan, Australia, Canada, and the United States. (US Dept of State, Human Rights Report, 1999)

* Many Thai girls in their early teens, have been reported at various times in brothels in Sydney, Australia. ("Survival the name of the game", Bangkok Post, 3 July, 1998)

* Women are trafficked out from Thailand to Australia, among other countries. (CATW Fact Book, citing European Conference on Trafficking in Women, Trafficking of Women to the European Union, June 1996)

* Malaysian children are trafficked into Japan, Hong Kong, Taiwan and Australia. (Lawyers for Human Rights and Legal Action, The Flesh Trade Report, 1995-1996)

Austria

ADULT STATISTICS

* In 1999, over half of the 49 trafficking complaints filed under the law against trafficking for prostitution resulted in convictions. (US Dept. of State, Trafficking in Persons Report, July 12, 2001)

* Of the total 751 trafficking victims found from January 1994 to June 1995 in Austria, 133 were from Czech Republic, 120 from Dominican Republic, 118 from Hungary, 112 from Slovakia, 60 from Poland, 43 from Russia, 23 from Bulgaria, 23 from Romania, 18 from Brazil, 17 from Thailand, 16 from Croatia, 12 Ukraine, 7 from Slovenia, 6 from Austria, 5 from Yugoslavia, and 38 from other countries. (CATW Fact Book, citing IOM Report 1996)

* The number of cases of trafficking registered and investigated in Austria in 1994 are 316 and 313 respectively. (CATW Fact Book, IOM Report 1996, citing the Ministry of Interior)

* Since 1990, there has been a major increase in the number of women trafficked to Austria from Central and Eastern European Countries. In 1990, the Austrian authorities discovered 50 cases. Figures for 1994 and the first half of 1995 indicate that there were 318 cases, representing 752 women, reported, with the majority concerning women from Central and Eastern Europe. (CATW Fact Book, citing European Conference on Trafficking in Women, Trafficking of Women to the European Union, June 1996)

GENERAL NOTES AND OBSERVATIONS

* A leading domestic NGO reports that the country has shifted from being a transit country to a major final destination, primarily for women from Eastern Europe and the countries of the former Soviet Union who are trafficked into prostitution and other forms of forced dependency. (US Dept of State, Country Reports on Human Rights Practices - 2000, February 2001)

* Germany, Israel, the Netherlands, Denmark, and Austria are major destinations for women trafficked from Lithuania, based on the figures of women subsequently deported from these countries to Lithuania. (US Dept of State, Country Reports on Human Rights Practices - 1999, 25 February 2000)

* A report issued by the Ministry of Interior of Slovakia on trafficking states that Slovakia is only a transit country for persons being trafficked mainly to Austria, the Czech Republic, and Germany for the purpose of forced prostitution.(US Dept of State, Country Reports on Human Rights Practices - 1999, 25 February 2000)

* Nearly all foreign prostitutes are illegal immigrants. (CATW Fact Book, citing "Trafficking in Women to Austria for Sexual Exploitation", IOM and the Austrian Minister for Women's Affairs, June 1996)

* Women from the Dominican Republic are trafficked to Spain, Italy, Austria and the Netherlands. (CATW Fact Book, citing European Conference on Trafficking in Women, Trafficking of Women to the European Union, June 1996)

Azerbaijan

GENERAL NOTES AND OBSERVATIONS

* Azerbaijan is a source and a transit point for trafficked men, women, and children. (US Dept of State, Country Reports on Human Rights Practices - 2000, February 2001)

* Azerbaijanis are trafficked into northern Europe, particularly to the Netherlands and Germany. (US Dept of State, Country Reports on Human Rights Practices - 2000, February 2001)

* Women usually are sent to the UAE or Western Europe, mainly Germany, to participate as workers in the sex industry, for example, in strip clubs, and as prostitutes. (US Dept of State, Country Reports on Human Rights Practices - 2000, February 2001)

* Women from Iran, Russia, and sometimes Iraq, are transported through Baku to the UAE, Europe, and occasionally the United States for prostitution. (US Dept of State, Country Reports on Human Rights Practices - 2000, February 2001)

* There has been an increase in trafficking of women. (CATW Fact Book, citing "UN: High maternal mortality rates among issues addressed by experts on Azerbaijan Report", M2 Presswire, 26 January, 1998)

Bahamas -
Bahrain

GENERAL NOTES AND OBSERVATIONS

* Bahrain is a destination country for trafficked persons. (US Dept. of State, Trafficking in Persons Report, July 12, 2001)

* There are reports that some foreign workers are recruited for employment on the basis of fraudulent contracts and then forced into domestic servitude or sexual exploitation. (US Dept. of State, Trafficking in Persons Report, July 12, 2001)

* Diplomats and businessmen from Bahrain have been caught with slaves whom they smuggled into the United States. (American Anti-Slavery Group, Jesse Sage, e-mail to GMIS, 6 November 2000)
Bangladesh

NATIONAL STATISTICS

* Human rights monitors estimate that more than 20,000 women and children are trafficked from the country for the purpose of forced prostitution annually. (US Dept of State, Human Rights Report, 2000)

* It is estimated that there are anywhere from 100 to over 1,000 underage South Asian camel jockeys currently working in the United Arab Emirates alone; while many come from India and Pakistan, a growing number come from Bangladesh. (US Dept of State, Human Rights Report, 2000)

* It is known that 168 children have been trafficked, 369 children have been missing and 295 children have been kidnapped during the year 2001. (BSAF, News Letter, December 2001)

  * 20% of the child prostitutes in India come from Bangladesh and Nepal. (BNWLA, Salma Ali, Country Report on Trafficking in Children and their Exploitation in Prostitution, October 1998, citing a research publication by Dr. K.K. Mukherjee, India)

* Over the last five years at least 13,200 children have been smuggled out of the country. (BNWLA, Salma Ali, Country Report on Trafficking in Children and their Exploitation in Prostitution, October 1998, citing a joint study by the Ministries of Home and Social Welfare and Women's Affairs)

* 27,000 Bangladeshi women and children have been forced into prostitution in Indian brothels. (CATW Fact Book, citing "Women Forced into Indian Brothels", CWCS, June 1998)

* More than 9,000 girls are trafficked each year from Nepal and Bangladesh into bondage in India and Pakistan, often with the acquiescence or cooperation of state officials. (CATW Fact Book, citing Amnesty International press release, 22 April 1998)

* Over the last decade, 200,000 Bangladeshi girls were lured under false circumstances and sold into the sex industries in nations including Pakistan, India and the Middle East. (CATW Fact Book, citing Tabibul Islam, "Rape of Minors Worry Parents", IPS, 8 April 1998)

* More than 15,000 women and children are trafficked out of Bangladesh every year. (CATW Fact Book, citing The Hindu, 19 February 1998)

* There are 200 trafficked Bangladeshi women and children in detention centres in India awaiting repatriation. (CATW Fact Book, citing Hindu, 19 February, 1998)

* According to estimates, around 25-50 children are trafficked out of the country every month. (An Alternative Report to the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child, submission to the UN CRC, 1997, citing Jarlath D'Souza of BICPAJ)

* Different human rights activists and agencies estimate that 200-400 young women and children are smuggled out every month, most of them from Bangladesh to Pakistan. (CATW Fact Book, citing CEDAW Report: Bangladesh, 1 April, 1997)

* 10,000 Bangladeshi children are in brothels in Bombay and Goa, India. (CATW Fact Book, citing "Human Smuggling from Bangladesh at alarming level", Reuters, 26 May 1997, citing Trafficking Watch Bangladesh)

* 2.7% of prostitutes in Calcutta are Bangladeshi, the largest population of foreigners. The majority of these females are under 18. (CATW Fact Book, citing CEDAW Report: Bangladesh, 1 April 1997)

* Between January 1990 and September 1997, there were 2,545 cases of trafficked children reported in the media in Bangladesh, of which 1,262 were boys and 1,283 were girls. During the same time period, 2,212 trafficked children were rescued. (CATW Fact Book, citing Ishrat Shamin, "Trafficking in Women and Children: A Human Rights Crisis)

* About 40,000 children from Bangladesh are involved in prostitution in Pakistan. Bangladeshi girls are also trafficked to India for commercial sex trade. (ILO-IPEC, Rapid Assessment of Child Labour Situation in Bangladesh, 1996)

* Around 4,500 children are trafficked from Bangladesh to Pakistan. (ECPAT, CSEC Database citing UNICEF and SAARC, http://www.ecpat.net/eng/ecpat_inter/projects/monitoring/online_database/index.asp)

* Possibly about 50 to 100 boys, aged about 8 to 15, some even younger, are being trafficked from Bangladesh to the Gulf countries for use as drivers for camel races. Offering sexual favours is a secondary activity in most instances. (CWA, Brother Jarlath de Souza, "Trafficking in Children: Bangladesh", Child Workers in Asia, Vol. 12, No. 3, July - September 1996)

ADULT STATISTICS

* 500 Bangladeshi women are illegally transported into Pakistan every day. (CATW Fact Book, citing "Open sale of little girls at Tanbazar brothel", Daily Star, 2 July, 1998, citing BNWLA)

* At least 200,000 women have been trafficked to Pakistan over the last 10 years. (CATW Fact Book, citing CEDAW Report: Bangladesh, 1 April, 1997)

* The Indian Social Welfare Board estimates that there are 500,000 foreign prostitutes in India of which 1% are from Bangladesh. 2.7% of prostitutes in Calcutta alone are from Bangladesh. (CATW Fact Book, citing CEDAW Report: Bangladesh, 1 April, 1997)

* 30,000 Bangladeshi women are in the brothels of Calcutta, India. (CATW Fact Book, citing "Human smuggling from Bangladesh at alarming level", Reuters, 26 May, 1997)

GENERAL NOTES AND OBSERVATIONS

* Bangladesh is a country of origin for internationally trafficked persons, primarily women and children. (US Dept. of State, Trafficking in Persons Report, July 12, 2001)

* Several thousand women and girls are trafficked annually from Bangladesh for the purpose of sexual exploitation, primarily to India, Pakistan, and the Middle East. Boys also are trafficked to the Middle East, where they are engaged as camel jockeys. (US Dept. of State, Trafficking in Persons Report, July 12, 2001)

* Increasing children found begging have come to Thailand from countries like Cambodia, Burma and Bangladesh. These children are usually between 6-10 years or have either travelled to Thailand on their own or were brought by beggar gangs and agents. (ILO-IPEC, Children in Prostitution, Pornography and Illicit Activities, September 1999)

* Reports from human rights monitors indicate that child kidnapping and trafficking for labour bondage and prostitution continues to be a serious and widespread problem. (US Dept of State, Country Reports on Human Rights Practices - 1999, 25 February 2000)

* There is an extensive trafficking of children, primarily to India, Pakistan and destinations within the country are also largely for the purposes of forced prostitution. (US Dept of State, Country Reports on Human Rights Practices - 1999, 25 February 2000)

* Bangladesh and Nepal are the main sources of trafficked children in South Asia. (CATW Fact Book, citing Masako Iijima, "S. Asia urged to unite against child prostitution", Reuters, 19 June 1998)

* Traffickers lure people from China, the Philippines, Bangladesh and other nations to the Northern Mariana Islands, a United States territory promising lucrative work. Instead, many are forced into slave labour and prostitution. (CATW Fact Book, citing Laura Myers, "Sen. Panel Hears of Marianas Abuses", AP Online, 31 March 1998)

* Nepalese, Bangladeshi and Pakistani women are trafficked to India, and through India they are trafficked to Eastern Europe and Saudi Arabia. (CATW Fact Book, citing Meena Oudel, Oxfam Nepal, 18 March 1998)

* There are significant numbers of young girls who are abducted for the slave trade, to be employed as domestic servants in the Middle East and Pakistan. (An Alternative Report to the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child, submission to the UN CRC, 1997)

* Reports indicate trafficking of children into Pakistan from Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Nepal and Sri Lanka. (US Dept of Labor, Prostitution of Children, 1996)

* Bangladeshi and Burmese women and children are trafficked to Pakistan. (Lawyers for Human Rights and Legal Action, The Flesh Trade Report, 1995-1996)

Barbados -
Belarus

ADULT STATISTICS

* 1,000 Ukrainian and Belarusan women are in prostitution in Poland. (CATW Factbook, citing Piotr Bazylko, " Poland, Ukraine to fight sex slave industry ", Reuters,16 July 1998)

GENERAL NOTES AND OBSERVATIONS

* The country is both a source and transit point for women and girls being trafficked to Central and Western Europe for purposes of prostitution. (US Dept. of State, Trafficking in Persons Report, July 12, 2001)

* Information from such scattered destinations as the Netherlands, Lithuania, and Bosnia, refer to Belarus among the source countries for women being trafficked to or through their countries, and other anecdotal evidence suggests that the Russian Mafia is active in trafficking young women, who end up as prostitutes in Cyprus, Greece, Israel, and Western Europe. (US Dept. of State, Trafficking in Persons Report, July 12, 2001)

* Russian criminal organisations actively may try to recruit and lure women into serving as prostitutes in Western Europe and the Middle East. (US Dept. of State, Trafficking in Persons Report, July 12, 2001 citing Ministry of Internal Affairs)

   * Although previously Slovakia was primarily a source country, increasingly women from less prosperous eastern countries (including the Russian Federation, Belarus, Ukraine, Romania, and Bulgaria) find themselves trafficked through and to Slovakia. (US Dept of State, Country Reports on Human Rights Practices - 1999, 25 February 2000)

* In December 1997, a group of Armenians were caught in Belarus trafficking children to Brest under false pretenses; their destination was Poland. (CATW Fact Book, citing Noyan Tapan, "Criminal Group Trading Children Apprehended in Belarus", 10 December 1997)

 

Belgium

NATIONAL STATISTICS

* Nearly 2,000 unaccompanied minors requested asylum in 1999, most from the former Yugoslavia and central Africa. Because of the difficulties involved in travelling to Belgium from those areas, the International Organisation for Migration believes that many of these unaccompanied minors were brought in by traffickers or assisted by professional smugglers. (US Dept of State, Country Reports on Human Rights Practices - 2000, February 2001 citing statistics compiled by the UN High Commissioner for Refugees)

* Child Focus, the government-sponsored centre for missing and exploited children, reported that it handled 1,503 cases in 1999 and 722 cases in the first 4 months of 2000. Nearly 12% of the cases reported from January to April involved sexual exploitation. (US Dept of State, Country Reports on Human Rights Practices - 2000, February 2001, citing Child Focus)

* 45 children from 26 countries were trafficked during 1998. The highest number of children, i.e. 8, were from Macedonia. (US Dept of State, Country Reports on Human Rights Practices - 1999, 25 February 2000)

ADULT STATISTICS

* In September 1999, the three government-designated non-profit organisations involved in assisting victims of trafficking in persons reported 185 active cases of trafficking in women from over 30 countries. The largest numbers of victims were Albanian. Cases on 28 children from 7 different countries also were active; the largest numbers were from Albania and Macedonia. (US Dept of State, Country Reports on Human Rights Practices - 2000, February 2001)

* According to various reports, some 3,500 Bulgarian women are trafficked to Poland, thousands to the Netherlands and the Czech Republic, while others are trafficked to Germany, Belgium, Canada, Serbia-Montenegro, Romania, Hungary, TFYR Macedonia, Italy, Greece, Cyprus and Turkey. (US Dept of State, Country Reports on Human Rights Practices - 1999, 25 February 2000)

* In 1993, 40% of the trafficked women, assisted in Belgium by an NGO, were from Central and Eastern European Countries, most from Poland and Hungary. (CATW Fact Book, citing STV and Payoke, "The Growing Exploitation of Migrant Women from Central and Eastern Europe", IOM, May 1995)

GENERAL NOTES AND OBSERVATIONS

* Belgium is both a transit point and a destination for trafficking in children. (US Dept of State, Country Reports on Human Rights Practices - 2000, February 2001)

* A Dutch study by Terre des Hommes indicates that many children are trafficked into the Netherlands for purposes of abuse through prostitution. Many of these children, mostly girls, come from Africa. They are sold again to Belgium and other European countries where they are forced to provide sex. (ECPAT International, A Step Forward, 1999)

* Prostitution trade networks provide Colombian women for the markets in Spain, Britain, Germany, Belgium and the United States. (CATW Fact Book, citing Gustavo Capdevila, IPS, 2 April, 1997, citing Radhika Coomaraswamy, UN Special Report on Violence Against Women)

Belize

GENERAL NOTES AND OBSERVATIONS

* According to a spokesperson from the Human Development Department, there were rare reports of trafficking in children for the purpose of prostitution. Most cases reported involved migrant children. (US Dept of State, Country Reports on Human Rights Practices - 1999, 25 February 2000)

Benin

NATIONAL STATISTICS

* Following a child labor conference in 2000, it was reported in an ILO-IPEC report "Combatting Trafficking in Children for Labor Exploitation in West and Central Africa" that 3,061 children were known to have been trafficked in the country between 1995 and 1999. (US Dept of State, Country Reports on Human Rights Practices - 2001, March 2002)

* In March a Nigerian-registered ship, the MV Etireno, sailed from Cotonou; according to the international press, it carried as many as 250 children trafficked from West Africa to work as laborers and domestic servants in Gabon. (US Dept of State, Country Reports on Human Rights Practices - 2001, March 2002)

* The scale of trafficking in Benin is such that 117 children were intercepted at the border in 1995, 416 in 1996 and in 1998 the number increased to 1059 before it eventually fell down to 815 in 1999. (ECPAT, CSEC Database, http://www.ecpat.net/eng/ecpat_inter/projects/monitoring/online_database/index.asp)

* According to a survey of child labor conducted in 1999 by the Government, the World Bank, and INSAE (a nutritionally focused NGO), 49,000 rural children, constituting 8 percent of the rural child population between the ages of 6 and 16, work abroad, primarily as agricultural workers on plantations in the Cote d'Ivoire and as domestic workers in Gabon. (US Dept of State, Country Reports on Human Rights Practices - 2001, March 2002)

* Only children who had been trafficked explicitly for labour purposes were counted among the 49,000 children that were estimated to be victims of trafficking. However, the children who left "for other reasons" may conceal an additional number of trafficked children and bring the number close to 80,000. (US Dept of State, Country Reports on Human Rights Practices - 2000, February 2001)

* Based on a survey of 229 children trafficked from Benin to Gabon, 198 (86%) were girls, the majority of whom were being trafficked for domestic service. More than 50% of the sample were under 16 years old. (Anti-Slavery International and ESAM, Trafficking of Children between Benin and Gabon, 1999)

* In Benin, 17% of children from areas known to be high providers of child domestics are sent to foreign countries, 63% are confined to the urban areas within the country and 20% to the surrounding villages. (UNICEF, The Issue of Child Domestic Labour and Trafficking in West and Central Africa, July 1998)

* Over 1,081 children were intercepted at the border in 1997. (Childline)

* Local NGOs estimate that more than 700 children of both sexes were recaptured on the Benin- Togo borders and the Benin-Nigerian borders during 1997 and returned afterwards to their families. (CATW Fact Book, citing "Child Peddling Serious Problem in Togo and Benin", All Africa News Agency, 23 March 1998) .

* In July 1997, the police intercepted a group of 90 children in Porto Novo and another group of 42 in Cotonou on their way to Nigeria. (UNICEF, The Issue of Child Domestic Labour and Trafficking in West and Central Africa, July 1998)

* Between 1995 and 1998, 1,363 children have been intercepted at Benin's borders as they were getting ready to be sent abroad. Benin authorities intercepted 117 children before crossing the border in 1995, 413 in 1996 and 694 in 1997. (UNICEF, The Issue of Child Domestic Labour and Trafficking in West and Central Africa, July 1998)

* According to Benin authorities, 92 children repatriated from abroad in 1992, and the number was 39 in 1995. (UNICEF, The Issue of Child Domestic Labour and Trafficking in West and Central Africa, July 1998)

GENERAL NOTES AND OBSERVATIONS

* Of the trafficked children, 61% were boys and 39% were girls. (US Dept of State, Country Reports on Human Rights Practices - 2000, February 2001)

* Certain villages have been particularly victimised by organised child traffickers, and there were villages where up to 51% of children were trafficked. (US Dept of State, Country Reports on Human Rights Practices - 2000, February 2001)

* In Benin, there is both external and internal trafficking of children. Internal trafficking is where children are taken from the rural areas to urban towns and cities. With regard to external trafficking, countries, which receive children from Benin, are Gabon, Nigeria, Cote d'Ivoire, Congo Brazzaville, Cameroon and Equatorial Guinea. (ECPAT, CSEC Database, http://www.ecpat.net/eng/ecpat_inter/projects/monitoring/online_database/index.asp)

* For transatlantic trafficking, the receiving countries are in the EU, the Gulf States and Lebanon. (ECPAT, CSEC Database, http://www.ecpat.net/eng/ecpat_inter/projects/monitoring/online_database/index.asp)

* Benin is a source, transit, and destination for trafficked persons, primarily children. (US Dept. of State, Trafficking in Persons Report, July 12, 2001)

* Children from Niger, Togo, and Burkina Faso have been trafficked to Benin for indentured or domestic servitude. (US Dept. of State, Trafficking in Persons Report, July 12, 2001)

* Some financially desperate parents indenture their children to "agents" recruiting farm hands or domestic workers, often on the understanding that money paid to the children would be sent to their parents. According to press reports, in some cases unscrupulous individuals take the children to neighboring countries. (US Dept of State, Country Reports on Human Rights Practices - 1999, 25 February 2000)

* A study has shown that children are trafficked from Benin to Gabon to be used as domestic servants. (WAO-Afrique, Child Trafficking in West and Central Africa, submission to the UN Working Group on Contemporary Forms of Slavery, June 1999)

* Trafficking in children, which is always a problem, continues to be the subject of considerable media coverage. Most victims are abducted or leave home with traffickers who promise educational opportunities or other incentives. They are taken to places in foreign countries (according to the press, principally located in Nigeria, Cameroon, Cote d'Ivoire and Gabon) and sold into servitude in agriculture as domestics or as prostitutes. (US Dept of State, Country Reports on Human Rights Practices - 1999, 25 February 2000)

* Children are trafficked from Benin to Ife or Benin City in Nigeria, or to Adja Tado in Togo. (UNICEF, The Issue of Child Domestic Labour and Trafficking in West and Central Africa, July 1998)

* Thai girls are found to be working as prostitutes in Western African countries including Benin. ("Thai girls lured to sex trade in Africa", Bangkok Post, 24 August 1998)

Bhutan

GENERAL NOTES AND OBSERVATIONS

* Reports indicate trafficking of children into Pakistan from Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Nepal and Sri Lanka. (US Dept of Labor, Prostitution of Children, 1996)
Bolivia

GENERAL NOTES AND OBSERVATIONS

* There were unconfirmed press reports that children sometimes were sold to sweatshops in Argentina. (US Dept of State, Country Reports on Human Rights Practices - 2000, February 2001)
Bosnia and Herzegovina

ADULT STATISTICS

* As many as 5,000 trafficked women may be working in the country. (US Dept of State, Country Reports on Human Rights Practices - 2000, February 2001)

* From March 1999 to January 2001, there were 384 confirmed cases of women trafficked for sexual exploitation; 236 women were returned to their home countries. (US Dept of State, Country Reports on Human Rights Practices - 2000, February 2001)

* The IPTF reports that they have encountered approximately 4,000 women in their raids of bars and estimate that 10% of the women have been trafficked. (US Dept of State, Country Reports on Human Rights Practices - 2000, February 2001 citing IPTF reports)

GENERAL NOTES AND OBSERVATIONS

* Trafficking in girls for the purpose of forced prostitution is a problem. (US Dept of State, Country Reports on Human Rights Practices - 2000, February 2001)

* The country is mainly a destination point, and to a lesser extent an origin and transit point, for women and girls who are trafficked for the purpose of forced prostitution. Most victims are from Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union. (US Dept of State, Country Reports on Human Rights Practices - 2000, February 2001)

* There have been credible but unconfirmed reports that children are trafficked to work in begging rings. (US Dept of State, Country Reports on Human Rights Practices - 2000, February 2001)

* The majority of trafficked women in Bosnia come from Moldova, Romania, and Ukraine, but also come from Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, and Bulgaria. (US Dept of State, Country Reports on Human Rights Practices - 2000, February 2001)

* The ages of the trafficked women averaged 22.8 years, ranging between 16 and 33 years of age. Less than 5% of the women were minors. (US Dept of State, Country Reports on Human Rights Practices - 2000, February 2001)

 

Botswana

GENERAL NOTES AND OBSERVATIONS

* An undisclosed number of Zambian girls were ferried to Botswana, headed for the sex tourism industry in other countries. (CATW Fact Book, citing African Child Watch, "Child Trafficking Takes Root in Southern Africa, Says Group", SAPA DPA, 1 September 1997)

Brazil

ADULT STATISTICS

* An international trafficking network was broken up in Spain and 15 people arrested for allegedly trafficking dozens of women from the Dominican Republic, Brazil, Columbia, Equatorial Guinea and Nigeria to Spain, forcing them into prostitution. (CATW Fact Book, citing "Spanish Prostitution Ring Busted", AP, 18 April 1998)

* 100 women were trafficked for prostitution from remote villages in Brazil to London over the last five-year period. The women were held under debt bondage. (CATW Fact Book, citing Michael Hoskins "Trafficking in Women for Sexual Exploitation", Metropolitan Police Service, June 1996)

* Of the total 751 trafficking victims found from January 1994 to June 1995 in Austria, 18 were from Brazil. (CATW Fact Book, citing IOM Report 1996)

GENERAL NOTES AND OBSERVATIONS

* Brazil is a source country for victims of both domestic and international trafficking. (US Dept. of State, Trafficking in Persons Report, July 12, 2001)

* The majority of Brazilian trafficking victims are women and girls who are trafficked for the purpose of sexual exploitation to Europe, Japan, Israel, and the United States. (US Dept. of State, Trafficking in Persons Report, July 12, 2001)

* Several clubs in the capital are known for recruiting women from Brazil and the Caribbean. (US Dept of State, Country Reports on Human Rights Practices - 1999, 25 February 2000)

* The second largest migrant group of women in prostitution, in Germany, is from Latin America, mostly from the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Colombia, Venezuela and Brazil. (CATW Fact Book, citing Licia Brussa, "Transnational AIDS Prevention Among Migrant Prostitutes in Europe", TAMPEP, 1996)

* Foreign women in "call girl" prostitution in Italy are from Poland, Russia, Colombia and Argentina, and to a lesser extent from Brazil, Hungary, Romania and the Philippines. (CATW Fact Book, citing Migrant Information Programme, "Trafficking in Women for Sexual Exploitation to Italy", IOM, June 1996)

* Young girls are brought to the mines in Rondonia from Rio Branco and are auctioned for as much as $4,000 each. (CATW, The Fact Book on Global Sexual Exploitation, 1999)

* In Brazil, the trafficking of girl prostitutes is a well-organised business. (Jose Steinsleger, En el reino de Herodes, 1996)

Brunei Darussalam

GENERAL NOTES AND OBSERVATIONS

* Korea ranks 7th in terms of destination of deployed overseas Filipino workers, closely following Malaysia, Brunei, Singapore and Japan.Illegal recruitments, allegedly for work abroad, have historically been exploited to bring women into prostitution or other forms of sexual exploitation in foreign lands. (CATW-Asia Pacific, Jean Enriquez, "Filipinos in Prostitution around U.S. Military Bases in Korea")
Bulgaria

ADULT STATISTICS

* According to various reports, some 3,500 Bulgarian women are trafficked to Poland, 1,000 to the Netherlands and the Czech Republic, while others are trafficked to Germany, Belgium, Canada, Serbia-Montenegro, Romania, Hungary, TFYR Macedonia, Italy, Greece, Cyprus and Turkey. (US Dept of State, Country Reports on Human Rights Practices - 1999, 25 February 2000)

* Approximately 10,000 Bulgarian women currently may be victims of international trafficking operations. (US Dept of State, Country Reports on Human Rights Practices - 1999, 25 February 2000)

* In 1997, the police registered 200 cases of attempted smuggling of women to Western brothels. (CATW Fact Book, citing Piotr Bazylko, "Poland, Ukraine to fight sex slave industry", Reuters, 16 July 1998)

* Of the total 751 trafficking victims found from January 1994 to June 1995 in Austria, 23 were from Bulgaria. (CATW Fact Book, citing IOM Report 1996)

GENERAL NOTES AND OBSERVATIONS

* Trafficking in girls for the purpose of forced prostitution is a problem. (US Dept of State, Country Reports on Human Rights Practices - 2000, February 2001)

* The country is both a source and transit country for trafficking. (US Dept of State, Country Reports on Human Rights Practices - 2000, February 2001)

* Relevant authorities and NGO observers report that thousands of Bulgarian women have been trafficked to Poland, the Netherlands and the Czech Republic, while others are trafficked to Germany, Belgium, France, Canada, the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia including Kosovo, Romania, Hungary, Macedonia, Italy, Greece, Cyprus, and Turkey. (US Dept of State, Country Reports on Human Rights Practices - 2000, February 2001)

* La Strada, a Netherlands-based NGO, reports that Bulgarian women constitute one of the largest groups of victims of forced prostitution in Western and Central Europe. (US Dept of State, Country Reports on Human Rights Practices - 1999, 25 February 2000)

*Albania is a major conduit for trafficked women from Bulgaria, Moldova, Romania, Russia, and Ukraine. Criminal gangs recruit or coerce women to work as prostitutes abroad, most often in Italy and Greece. There are also reports that traffickers kidnap women for prostitution and that family members sell daughters, sisters, and wives to traffickers against their will. (US Dept of State, Country Reports on Human Rights Practices - 1999, 25 February 2000)

* Although previously Slovakia was primarily a source country, increasingly women from less prosperous eastern countries, including the Russian Federation, Belarus, Ukraine, Romania, and Bulgaria, find themselves trafficked through and to Slovakia. (US Dept of State, Country Reports on Human Rights Practices - 1999, 25 February 2000)

Burkina Faso

GENERAL NOTES AND OBSERVATIONS

* Burkina Faso is a source, transit, and destination country for internationally trafficked persons, including children. It is an occasional source country for women who travel to Europe to work as domestics, but, upon their arrival, are exploited sexually. (US Dept. of State, Trafficking in Persons Report, July 12, 2001)

* Burkina Faso is a transit country for trafficked children, notably from Mali. Children in transit from Mali are often destined for Cote d'Ivoire. Trafficked Malian children are also destined for Burkina Faso. (US Dept. of State, Trafficking in Persons Report, July 12, 2001)

* Destinations for trafficked Burkina children include Cote d'Ivoire, Ghana, and Nigeria. (US Dept. of State, Trafficking in Persons Report, July 12, 2001)

* The Government of Burkina Faso reports that no sale, trafficking or abduction of children in Burkina Faso has been observed. (ECPAT, CSEC Database, http://www.ecpat.net/eng/ecpat_inter/projects/monitoring/online_database/index.asp)

* Children from Burkina Faso are trafficked across the boarder to Ivory Coast to work in the cocoa plantations. (ECPAT, CSEC Database, http://www.ecpat.net/eng/ecpat_inter/projects/monitoring/online_database/index.asp)

* Reports abound regarding the sale and trafficking of children in West and Central Africa, including Burkina children. (ECPAT, CSEC Database, http://www.ecpat.net/eng/ecpat_inter/projects/monitoring/online_database/index.asp)

* In 1999 there were reports of trafficked Burkina children destined for Germany. (US Dept. of State, Trafficking in Persons Report, July 12, 2001)

* In July, police in Divo broke up a ring of child traffickers, which had brought children from Burkina Faso to work on farms and plantations in Cote d’Ivoire. (US Dept of State, Country Reports on Human Rights Practices - 1999, 25 February 2000)

* A study has shown that children are trafficked from Togo to Burkina Faso for use as domestic servants, market traders, child beggars and prostitutes. (WAO-Afrique, Child Trafficking in West and Central Africa, submission to the UN Working Group on Contemporary Forms of Slavery, June 1999)

* Suspected child trafficking activities have also been identified in, Benin, Ghana, Nigeria, Togo, Mali, Mauritania and Burkina Faso. These networks feed the domestic labour market in the main urban centres of countries like Côte d’Ivoire, Gabon, Nigeria, Equatorial Guinea and the Congo. (UNICEF, The Issue of Child Domestic Labour and Trafficking in West and Central Africa, July 1998)

Burma (Myanmar)

NATIONAL STATISTICS

* In 1996, there were almost 200,000 foreign children, mostly boys from Burma, Laos and Cambodia, who had been trafficked in to Thailand for prostitution and work at construction sites and sweatshops. (CATW Fact Book, citing "Trafficking of children on the rise", Bangkok Post, 22 July, 1998, citing IPSR)

* The number of Burmese women and girls travelling to Thailand through Mae Sai to enter the sex industry is increasing. 60% of them are under 18 years of age. (CATW Fact Book, citing Aphaluck Bhatiasevi, "Influx of Burmese sex workers", Bangkok Post, 2 June 1997)

* There are at least 50,000 Burmese girls and women working in Thailand as prostitutes at any one time. (Report Cites Burma’s Child Rights Abuses, ECPAT Bulletin, Vol. 4/1, 1996-97)

* 10,000 are trafficked annually from Burma to Thailand. (World Congress Against Commercial Sexual Exploitation, August 1996)

* From Burma, it was estimated in 1994 that as many as 20,000 to 30,000 women and girls had been trafficked primarily into brothels in Thailand, with 10,000 new recruits being added each year. (CWA, Ahmad Saufian, Pusat Kajian Perlindungan Anak, "Child Labour in Jermals", Child Workers in Asia, Vol.15, No. 2, May - August 1999)

ADULT STATISTICS

* 1 million women trafficked in Thailand from Laos, Burma, China, and Vietnam. (CATW - Asia
Pacific, Trafficking in Women and Prostitution in the Asia Pacific, 1996)

* Women from Burma's Shan state and China's southern province of Yunnan constitute 16% of the 77,000 women in the sex industry in Thailand. (CATW Fact Book, citing "Academic urges action in war against flesh trade", The Nation, 28 May 1997, citing IPSR, Kritaya Archavanitkul, The Passage of Women in Neighbouring Countries into the Sex Trade in Thailand)

* 20,000-30,000 Burmese women are in prostitution in Thailand. (CATW-Asia Pacific, Trafficking in Women and Prostitution in the Asia Pacific, 1996)

* There have been 200,000 Burmese women trafficked to Karachi, Pakistan. (CATW Fact Book, citing SANLAAP India, Indrani Sinha, "Paper on Globalization & Human Rights")

* 50% of the prostituted women in Chiang Rai are Burmese. Thousands of indigenous Burmese women from Shan State in the north and from Keng Tung in eastern Burma have been sold into brothels in Bangkok and throughout Thailand. (CATW-Asia Pacific, Trafficking in Women and Prostitution in the Asia Pacific, 1996)

GENERAL NOTES AND OBSERVATIONS

* Burma is a source country for thousands of women and young girls who are trafficked into the commercial sex industries of neighbouring countries. There are reliable reports that many women and children in border areas, where the Government's control is limited, were forced or lured into working as prostitutes in Thailand and China. (US Dept of State, Country Reports on Human Rights Practices - 2000, February 2001)

* In addition to Thailand, Burmese adults are trafficked to China, Taiwan, Malaysia, Singapore, and Japan. While most observers believe the number of victims is at least several thousand per year, there are no reliable statistics available on the total number of trafficked persons. (US Dept. of State, Trafficking in Persons Report, July 12, 2001)

* Increasing children found begging have come to Thailand from countries like Cambodia, Burma and Bangladesh. These children are usually between 6-10 years of age who either travelled to Thailand on their own or were brought by beggar gangs and agents. (ILO-IPEC, Children in Prostitution, Pornography and Illicit Activities, September 1999)

* The number of Burmese, Cambodian, Vietnamese and Chinese children enticed into or forced into prostitution in Bangkok and other cities in Thailand, increased during 1997. (EI, EI Barometer on Human and Trade Union Rights in the Education Sector, 1998)

* Burmese girls trafficked to Thailand come from Chiang Tung, Ta Khi Lek, and Yong, and come from minority groups such as the Tai Yai and Mon. (CATW Fact Book, citing Poona Antaseeda "More foreign workers join sex industry as fewer Thai girls enter flesh trade", Bangkok Post, 24 November 1997)

* Mae Sai, Thailand and surrounding villages act as a funnel for trafficking of labour to Thailand from Burma and southern China. (US Dept of Labor, Prostitution of Children, 1996)

* A 1996 study, conducted at 40 commercial venues in Bangkok, Kulachada and Chaipipat, found trafficking women and children from the Mekong countries - China, Burma, Laos and Cambodia to be increasing. The largest groups of newly trafficked women into the sex industry are from Burma’s Shan state, and minority women from the Northwest border areas. ("New law targets human trafficking", The Nation, 30 November 1997)

* Bangladeshi and Burmese women and children are trafficked to Pakistan. (Lawyers for Human Rights and Legal Action, The Flesh Trade Report, 1995-1996)

* Malaysia is a receiving country for trafficked women from Indonesia, the Philippines, Thailand, China, India, Taiwan, Singapore, Burma, Vietnam, Sri Lanka and Laos. (CATW-Asia Pacific, Trafficking in Women and Prostitution in the Asia Pacific, 1996)

* The military and political situations in Burma, has led to an increase in migration, which has made women extremely vulnerable to trafficking for prostitution. (CATW Fact Book, citing SANLAAP India, Indrani Sinha, "Paper on Globalization & Human Rights")

Burundi -
Cambodia

NATIONAL STATISTICS

* Cambodian children are trafficked to countries in Southeast Asia. There is lack of reliable data on trafficking in women and children for commercial sexual exploitation but it is estimated that 10,000 to 15,.000 women and girls are trafficked for the purpose of commercial sexual exploitation. (CWA, Newsletter Vol. 16 No. 2 May-August 2000, CCPCR Addressing the Sexual Exploitation of Girls in Cambodia, Yim Po. Executive Director, CPCR)

* Many of the estimated 15,000 to 20,000 prostitutes in Phnom Penh are believed to be Vietnamese girls and women. (UNICEF, Children on the Edge, citing, United Nations ESCAP (2000), UNICEF East Asia and Pacific)

* In 1996, there were almost 200,000 foreign children from Burma, Laos and Cambodia who had been trafficked in to Thailand for prostitution and work at construction sites and sweatshops. (CATW Fact Book, citing "Trafficking of children on the rise", Bangkok Post, 22 July 1998, citing IPSR)

* About 500 Cambodian children are known to work for criminal gangs in Thailand. (ILO-IPEC, Combating Trafficking in Children for Labour Exploitation in the Mekong Sub-region, October 1998)

* At least 3,000 girls from South Vietnam have been trafficked to Cambodia for prostitution. More than 15% of them are below 15 years. (ILO-IPEC, Combating Trafficking in Children for Labour Exploitation in the Mekong Sub-region, October 1998)

* 500 children trafficked to Thailand for begging. (ILO-IPEC, Trafficking in children for labour exploitation in Mekong Sub-region, July 1998)

* One third of 55,000 prostitutes in Cambodia are under 18 and most of them are Vietnamese. ("Vietnam Child Sex Trade Rising", AP Online, 24 April 1998)

* 500 Vietnamese girls trafficked to Cambodia for Prostitution. (ILO-IPEC, Combating Trafficking in Children for Labour Exploitation in the Mekong Sub-region, October 1998)

* Of the 1,060 child beggars in Thailand in 1997, 95% were Cambodians. (Kyodo News Service)

ADULT STATISTICS

* 3,000 women and children are trafficked to Cambodia for prostitution, and to China for domestic work. (ILO-IPEC, Trafficking in Children and Women, 1999)

* Hundreds of Vietnamese women are trafficked out to Europe, China, Cambodia and Macao for prostitution. (CATW Fact Book, citing "EU wants more cooperation with Vietnam to end trafficking women, drugs", AFP, 27 February 1998)

* Up to 35% of estimated 15,000 prostituted persons in Phnom Penh have been smuggled into Cambodia from China or Vietnam, mostly from the southwestern provinces of Vietnam - Long An, An Giang, Song Be, Kien Giang, Dong Thap, Can Tho and Ho Chi Minh City. (CATW Fact Book, citing "The Street of Little Flowers", Bangkok Post, 23 February 1997, rewritten from Mikel Flamm and Ngo Kim Cuc, Children of the Dust)

GENERAL NOTES AND OBSERVATIONS

* Cambodia is an important source, transit, and destination country of child victims. An investigation by the human rights organisation ADHOC yielded 87% cases of trafficking in 9 provinces in 1999. (ECPAT, CSEC Database citing ADHOC, http://www.ecpat.net/eng/ecpat_inter/projects/monitoring/online_database/index.asp)

* Cambodian men, women, and children are trafficked internationally, principally to Thailand for the purpose of sexual exploitation and for various forms of bonded labour, including street begging. (US Dept. of State, Trafficking in Persons Report, July 12, 2001)

* Children and adults from the poorer rural areas of Cambodia are trafficked to Phnom Penh and other commercial areas for sexual exploitation. (US Dept. of State, Trafficking in Persons Report, July 12, 2001)

* ADHOC, and LICADHO, reported that trafficking in children for sexual purposes is booming .