COUNTRIES INVOLVED IN HUMAN TRAFFICKING
ERITREA
Eritrea is a major source of human trafficking. The victims are subjected to forced labor. (Worst Countries For Human Trafficking Today, Miaschi, John)
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"The government reportedly took some steps to address trafficking, including unverified claims that it imprisoned some citizens for trafficking crimes, including military officials. However, the government did not share information on its overall anti-trafficking efforts." ( 2018 Trafficking in Persons Report: Eritrea)
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"The government continued to subject its nationals to forced labor in its citizen militia and compulsory national service by forcing them to serve for indefinite or otherwise arbitrary periods under harsh conditions." (2018 Trafficking in Persons Report: Eritrea )
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"The government did not report any trafficking investigations, prosecutions, or the identification and protection of any victims. The government did not report holding any complicit officials accountable for trafficking crimes despite many credible reports of such complicity, although there were unverified reports of some officials arrested for enabling those crimes." (2018 Trafficking in Persons Report: Eritrea)
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"The government also continued to demonstrate a lack of understanding of the crime, regularly conflating trafficking with transnational migration or smuggling." (2018 Trafficking in Persons Report: Eritrea)
IRAN
Iranian citizens are vulnerable to trafficking both within and outside the country. Reports have surfaced about a rise in the number of young Iranians as sex workers in the UAE. (Worst Countries For Human Trafficking Today, Miaschi, John)
"The government took some steps to address trafficking, including steps to ratify the UN Convention against Transnational Organized Crime (UNTOC). However, the government did not share information on its overall anti-trafficking efforts." (2018 Trafficking in Persons Report: Iran)
"Trafficking victims reportedly continued to face severe punishment, including death, for unlawful acts committed as a direct result of being subjected to trafficking." (2018 Trafficking in Persons Report: Iran )
"Government officials were allegedly complicit in the coerced recruitment of Afghan men and boys as young as 13 years old residing in Iran to fight for Iranian-supported militias operating in Syria. The Iranian government also provided financial support to militias fighting in Iraq that recruited and used child soldiers." (2018 Trafficking in Persons Report: Iran )
"Despite these credible reports, the government did not investigate or hold any complicit officials accountable for their involvement in trafficking crimes." (2018 Trafficking in Persons Report: Iran)
NORTH KOREA
North Korea is a source country for victims who are subjected to sex trafficking and forced labor. Within the country, forced labor is part of political repression and one of the pillars of the economic system. (Worst Countries For Human Trafficking Today, Miaschi, John)
""In North Korea, the government subjects its own citizens to forced labor both at home and abroad and then uses proceeds to fund nefarious activities," he said at the report's launch ceremony." (The Korea Herald)
"The report details abuses by the North Korean government, including its forced mobilization of adults and school children to work in factories and other sectors, and its "egregious human rights violations" that "can fuel trafficking in neighboring China."" (The Korea Herald)
"North Korean refugees living illegally in China were particularly vulnerable to trafficking, including the kidnapping of North Korean women and girls who were then forced into prostitution." (The Korea Herald)
"And if found by Chinese authorities, victims were often forcibly returned to North Korea to face harsh punishment, including forced labor in labor camps, torture, forced abortions, and even death, the report said." (The Korea Herald)
