Jamaica
current situation: Jamaica is a source country for men,
women, and children trafficked for the purposes of sexual
exploitation and labor; information suggests that women from the
Dominican Republic and Eastern Europe are also trafficked to Jamaica
for sexual exploitation; women and children are trafficked
internally from rural to urban and tourist areas for sexual
exploitation; there may also be trafficking for domestic servitude
and forced labor
tier rating: Tier 2 Watch List - Jamaica is placed on the Tier 2
Watch List based on the determination that it is making significant
efforts to undertake future action
Kenya
current situation: Kenya is a source, transit, and destination
country for men, women, and children trafficked for forced labor and
sexual exploitation; children are trafficked within the country for
domestic servitude, street vending, agricultural labor, and sexual
exploitation; men, women, and girls are trafficked to the Middle
East, other African nations, Western Europe, and North America for
domestic servitude, enslavement in massage parlors and brothels, and
manual labor; Chinese women trafficked for sexual exploitation
reportedly transit Nairobi and Bangladeshis may transit Kenya for
forced labor in other countries
tier rating: Tier 2 Watch List - Kenya is placed on the Tier 2 Watch
List due to a lack of evidence of increasing efforts to combat
severe forms of trafficking
Korea, North
current situation: North Korea is a source country for
men, women, and children trafficked for the purposes of forced labor
and sexual exploitation; North Korea's own system of political
repression includes forced labor in a network of prison camps where
an estimated 150,000 to 200,000 persons are incarcerated; the
illegal status of North Koreans in China and other countries
increases their vulnerability to trafficking schemes and sexual and
physical abuse; North Koreans forcibly returned from China may be
subject to hard labor in prison camps operated by the government
tier rating: Tier 3 - North Korea does not fully comply with minimum
standards for the elimination of trafficking and is not making
significant efforts to do so
Kuwait
current situation: Kuwait is a destination country for men
and women who migrate legally from South and Southeast Asia for
domestic or low-skilled labor, but are subjected to conditions of
involuntary servitude by employers in Kuwait including conditions of
physical and sexual abuse, non-payment of wages, confinement to the
home, and withholding of passports to restrict their freedom of
movement; Kuwait is reportedly a transit point for South and East
Asian workers recruited for low-skilled work in Iraq; some of these
workers are deceived as to the true location and nature of this
work, and others are subjected to conditions of involuntary
servitude in Iraq; in past years, Kuwait was also a destination
country for children exploited as camel jockeys, but this form of
trafficking appears to have ceased
tier rating: Tier 2 Watch List - Kuwait is placed on the Tier 2
Watch List because its efforts are based largely on pledges of
future actions
Laos
current situation: Laos is a source country for men and women
trafficked for the purposes of forced labor and sexual exploitation;
a significant number are economic migrants who are subjected to
commercial sexual exploitation or conditions of forced or bonded
labor in Thailand; to a lesser extent, Laos is a transit and
destination country for women who are trafficked for sexual
exploitation including a small number of victims from China and
Vietnam trafficked to work as street vendors and for sexual
exploitation in prostitution
tier rating: Tier 3 - Laos does not fully comply with the minimum
standards for the elimination of trafficking and is not making
significant efforts to do so
Libya
current situation: Libya is a transit and destination country
for men, women, and children from sub-Saharan Africa and Asia
trafficked for forced labor and sexual exploitation; many victims
willingly migrate to Libya en route to Europe with the help of
smugglers, but may be forced into prostitution or work as laborers
and beggars to pay off their $800-$1,200 smuggling debt; laborers
from Egypt, Sudan, and Ethiopia are reportedly trafficked to Libya
for the purpose of labor exploitation
tier rating: Tier 2 Watch List - Libya is placed on the Tier 2 Watch
List for its lack of evidence of increasing efforts to address
trafficking since 2004
Macau
current situation: Macau is a transit and destination
territory for women trafficked for the purpose of commercial sexual
exploitation; most females in Macau's sizeable sex industry come
from the interior regions of China or Mongolia, though a significant
number also come from Russia, Eastern Europe, Thailand, and Vietnam;
the majority of women in Macau's prostitution trade appear to have
entered Macau and the sex trade voluntarily, though there is
evidence that some are deceived or coerced into sexual servitude,
often through the use of debt bondage; organized criminal syndicates
are reportedly involved in bringing women to Macau, and fear of
reprisals from these groups may prevent some women from seeking help
tier rating: Tier 2 Watch List - Macau is placed on the Tier 2 Watch
List for failing to show evidence of increasing efforts to address
trafficking since 2004
Malaysia
current situation: Malaysia is a destination and, to a
lesser extent, a source and transit country for men and women
trafficked for the purposes of sexual exploitation and forced labor;
foreign victims, mostly women and girls from China, Indonesia,
Thailand, the Philippines, and Vietnam, are trafficked to Malaysia
for commercial sexual exploitation; economic migrants from countries
in the region who work as domestic servants or laborers in the
construction and agricultural sectors face exploitative conditions
in Malaysia that meet the definition of involuntary servitude; some
Malaysian women, primarily of Chinese ethnicity, are trafficked
abroad for sexual exploitation
tier rating: Tier 2 Watch List - Malaysia is placed on Tier 2 Watch
List for its failure to provide evidence of increasing efforts to
combat trafficking, particularly its failure to provide protection
for victims of trafficking
Mauritania
current situation: Mauritania is a source and destination
country for children trafficked for the purpose of forced labor,
begging, and domestic servitude; adults and children are subjected
to slavery-related practices rooted in ancestral master-slave
relationships in isolated parts of the country where a barter
economy exists
tier rating: Tier 2 Watch List - Mauritania is placed on the Tier 2
Watch List for its failure to show evidence of increased efforts to
combat trafficking, particularly in the area of law enforcement
Mexico
current situation: Mexico is a source, transit, and
destination country for persons trafficked for sexual exploitation
and labor; while the vast majority of victims are Central Americans
trafficked along Mexico's southern border, other source regions
include South America, the Caribbean, Eastern Europe, Africa, and
Asia; women and children are trafficked from rural regions to urban
centers and tourist areas for sexual exploitation, often through
fraudulent offers of employment or through threats of physical
violence; the Mexican trafficking problem is often conflated with
alien smuggling, and frequently the same criminal networks are
involved; pervasive corruption among state and local law enforcement
often impedes investigations
tier rating: Tier 2 Watch List - Mexico remains on the Tier 2 Watch
List for the third consecutive year based on future commitments to
undertake additional efforts in prosecution, protection, and
prevention of trafficking in persons, and the failure of the
government to provide critical law enforcement data