Argentina
current situation: Argentina is primarily a destination
country for women and children trafficked for sexual and labor
exploitation with most victims trafficked internally, from rural to
urban areas, for exploitation in prostitution; foreign women and
children trafficked for commercial sexual exploitation come
primarily from Paraguay, but also from Bolivia, Brazil, the
Dominican Republic, Colombia, and Chile; Bolivians are trafficked
for forced labor; Argentine women and girls are also trafficked to
neighboring countries for sexual exploitation
tier rating: Tier 2 Watch List - Argentina failed to show evidence
of increasing efforts to combat trafficking particularly in the key
area of prosecutions; government efforts to improve interagency
anti-trafficking coordination did not achieve significant progress
in moving cases against traffickers through the judicial system; the
government made progress in other areas, by submitting
anti-trafficking legislation to Congress in August 2005 and
sensitizing provincial and municipal government officials to the
trafficking problem
Armenia
current situation: Armenia is a major source and, to a
lesser extent, a transit and destination country for women and girls
trafficked for sexual exploitation largely to the UAE and Turkey;
traffickers, many of them women, route victims directly into Dubai
or through Moscow; profits derived from the trafficking of Armenian
victims reportedly increased dramatically from 2005
tier rating: Tier 2 Watch List - Armenia has failed to show evidence
of increasing efforts, particularly in the areas of enforcement,
trafficking-related corruption, and victim protection; the
government increased implementation of its anti-trafficking law, but
failed to impose significant penalties for convicted traffickers and
failed to vigorously investigate and prosecute ongoing and
widespread allegations of public officials' complicity in
trafficking; victim protection efforts remain in early, formative
stages and a lack of sensitivity for victims remains a problem,
particularly in the judiciary
Bahrain
current situation: Bahrain is a destination country for men
and women from South and Southeast Asia who migrate willingly to
work as laborers or domestic servants, but may be subjected to
conditions of involuntary servitude when faced with exorbitant
recruitment and transportation fees, withholding of their passports,
restrictions on their movement, non-payment of wages, and physical
or sexual abuse; Eastern European women are also believed to be
trafficked to Bahrain for the purpose of commercial sexual
exploitation or forced labor
tier rating: Tier 2 Watch List - Bahrain's efforts to address
trafficking in persons are based largely on pledges of future
efforts; the government did not enact a comprehensive
anti-trafficking law extending labor protection to domestic workers
Belize
current situation: Belize is a source, transit, and
destination country for men, women, and children trafficked for the
purposes of labor and sexual exploitation; women and girls are
trafficked mainly from Central America, and exploited in
prostitution; children are trafficked to Belize for labor
exploitation; Belize's largely unmonitored borders with Guatemala,
Honduras, and Mexico facilitate the movement of illegal migrants who
are vulnerable to traffickers; girls are trafficked within the
country for sexual exploitation, sometimes with the consent and
complicity of their close relatives; there are unconfirmed reports
that Indian and Chinese migrants are trafficked for involuntary
servitude in homes and shops
tier rating: Tier 3 - Belize has failed to show evidence of
significant law enforcement or victim protection efforts
Bolivia
current situation: Bolivia is a source and transit country
for men, women, and children trafficked for the purposes of labor
and sexual exploitation to Argentina, Brazil, and Chile, as well as
to Spain; children are trafficked internally for sexual
exploitation, forced mining, and agricultural labor; illegal
migrants from Asia transiting Bolivia are vulnerable as trafficking
victims
tier rating: Tier 2 Watch List - Bolivia has failed to show evidence
of increasing efforts to combat trafficking in the areas of
prosecutions and victim protection
Brazil
current situation: Brazil is a source and destination country
for women and girls trafficked for sexual exploitation within Brazil
and to destinations in South America, the Caribbean, Western Europe,
Japan, the US, and the Middle East, and for men trafficked within
the country for forced agricultural labor; child sex tourism is a
problem within the country, particularly in the resort areas and
coastal cities of Brazil's northeast; foreign victims from Bolivia,
Peru, China, and Korea are trafficked to Brazil for labor
exploitation in factories
tier rating: Tier 2 Watch List - Brazil has failed to show evidence
of increasing efforts to fight trafficking, specifically for its
failure to apply effective criminal penalties against traffickers
who exploit forced labor
Burma
current situation: Burma is a source country for men, women,
and children trafficked to East and Southeast Asia for sexual
exploitation, domestic service, and forced commercial labor; a
significant number of victims are economic migrants who wind up in
forced or bonded labor and forced prostitution; to a lesser extent,
Burma is a country of transit and destination for women trafficked
from China for sexual exploitation; internal trafficking of persons
occurs primarily for labor in industrial zones and agricultural
estates; internal trafficking of women and girls for sexual
exploitation occurs from villages to urban centers and other areas;
the military junta's economic mismanagement, human rights abuses,
and policy of using forced labor are driving factors behind Burma's
large trafficking problem
tier rating: Tier 3 - Burma does not fully comply with the minimum
standards for the elimination of trafficking and is not making
significant efforts to do so
Cambodia
current situation: Cambodia is a source, destination, and
transit country for men, women, and children trafficked for the
purposes of sexual exploitation and forced labor; a significant
number of women and children are trafficked to Thailand and Malaysia
for commercial sexual exploitation and forced labor; men are
trafficked primarily to Thailand for forced labor in the
construction and agricultural sectors, particularly the fishing
industry, while women and girls are trafficked for factory and
domestic work; children are trafficked to Vietnam and Thailand for
the purpose of forced begging; Cambodia is a transit and destination
point for women from Vietnam trafficked for sexual exploitation;
trafficking for sexual exploitation also occurs within Cambodia's
borders, from rural areas to the cities
tier rating: Tier 2 Watch List - Cambodia does not fully comply with
the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking; however,
it is committed to making significant efforts to sustain progress
over the coming year
Central African Republic
current situation: Central African Republic
is a source and destination country for children trafficked for
domestic servitude, sexual exploitation, and forced labor in shops
and commercial labor activities; while the majority of child victims
are trafficked within the country, some are also trafficked to and
from Cameroon and Nigeria
tier rating: Tier 2 Watch List - the Central African Republic failed
to provide evidence of increasing efforts to combat trafficking in
persons during 2005, specifically its inadequate law enforcement
response to trafficking crimes
China
current situation: China is a source, transit, and destination
country for women, men, and children trafficked for purposes of
sexual exploitation and forced labor; the majority of trafficking in
China is internal, but there is also international trafficking of
Chinese citizens; women are lured through false promises of
legitimate employment into commercial sexual exploitation in Taiwan,
Thailand, Malaysia, and Japan; Chinese men and women are smuggled to
countries throughout the world at enormous personal expense and then
forced into commercial sexual exploitation or exploitative labor to
repay debts to traffickers; women and children are trafficked into
China from Mongolia, Burma, North Korea, Russia, and Vietnam for
forced labor, marriage, and sexual slavery; most North Koreans enter
northeastern China voluntarily, but others reportedly are trafficked
into China from North Korea; domestic trafficking remains the most
significant problem in China, with an estimated minimum of
10,000-20,000 victims trafficked each year; the actual number of
victims could be much greater; some experts believe that the serious
and prolonged imbalance in the male-female birth ratio may now be
contributing to Chinese and foreign girls and women being trafficked
as potential brides
tier rating: Tier 2 Watch List - China failed to show evidence of
increasing efforts to address transnational trafficking; while the
government provides reasonable protection to internal victims of
trafficking, protection for Chinese and foreign victims of
transnational trafficking remain inadequate