Because the determination that Iraq is making significant efforts is based on indications of a commitment to take additional future steps over the next year, particularly the passage of the anti-trafficking law. • Make significant efforts to investigate, prosecute, convict, and stringently sentence traffickers, including complicit government officials, even when victims do not participate in legal proceedings against their trafficker. Other foreign migrants were aware they were destined for Iraq but once in-country, found the terms of employment were not what they expected or the jobs they were promised did not exist, and they faced coercion and serious harm, financial or otherwise, if they attempted to leave. Poverty across Iraq due to years of war has given rise to a black market for organ trafficking, with impoverished communities being targeted. Recognizing the Signs of Human Trafficking. Funded by the US Government’s Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor, the purpose of the project was to assess protection needs, identify gaps and challenges, and subsequently enhance the protection response for victims of trafficking and populations at risk, in and out of camps, across Iraq. [1], The Government of Iraq does not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking; however, it is making significant efforts to do so in spite of resource and capability constraints. It also prosecuted and convicted more traffickers and identified some trafficking victims. The labor law conflicted with the anti-trafficking law, as its penalties included a fine and imprisonment not exceeding six months, which were not sufficiently stringent. The violent conflict with ISIS exacerbated the population’s vulnerability to trafficking, in particular women and children, although the government’s territorial defeat of the terrorist group, announced December 9, 2017, has improved conditions for Iraqi civilians. IOM Iraq maintains strong relationships with key actors including government authorities, such as law enforcement agencies, judiciary and civil society organizations and foreign embassies of those nationals most at risk of human trafficking. Iraq did not have formal procedures to identify victims of trafficking among vulnerable groups, such as women arrested for prostitution or foreign workers imported to Iraq by labor brokers, some of whom reportedly provided workers for U.S. government contractors and sub-contractors. Foreign victims had no legal protection against removal to countries in which they may face hardship or retribution. Iraqi women and girls, some as young as 11 years old, are subjected to conditions of human trafficking within the country and in Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates, Turkey, Iran, and possibly Yemen for forced prostitution and sexual exploitation … According to the PMF official social media site and posters in the street in mid-2017, the PMF offered military training courses to children and youth ages 15-25. NGOs reported a shortage of specialized shelters for trafficking victims, in part because NGOs were not allowed to legally operate shelters. Anecdotal reports tell of desperate Iraqi families abandoning their children at the Syrian border with the expectation that traffickers on the Syrian side will pick them up and arrange forged documents so the young women and girls can stay in Syria in exchange for working in a nightclub or brothel. During the reporting period, seven trafficking victims utilized the shelter, which was an increase from the previous reporting period during which the shelter was empty. Such men and women often reported their employers seized workers’ passports and official documents, refused to honor employment contracts, and made threats of deportation as a means to keep them in a situation of forced labor. There were reportedly 148 trafficking victims involved in these cases, including sex trafficking, forced labor, child trafficking, and forced begging. 9 These women were told they would work on U.S. military bases as domestic workers, although no U.S. contractors or subcontractors were involved in bringing them to Iraq. Of these individuals, the government referred 105 for prosecution, while it acquitted 117 and released 43 on bail. The Ministry of Interior’s (MOI) anti-trafficking unit, within the anti-crime directorate, reported that its many responsibilities limited its ability to conduct trafficking investigations. Upon arrival, the women were sent to work as domestic workers for private Iraqi families and received significantly lower wages. The Iraqi government made efforts to reduce the demand for commercial sex acts, but it did not make efforts to reduce the demand for child sex tourism. Authorities often detained sex trafficking and foreign forced labor victims until authorities determined their status as a victim. The anti-trafficking law prescribed penalties of up to 15 years’ imprisonment and a fine of up to 10 million Iraqi dinar (approximately $8,790) for trafficking offenses involving adult male victims, and up to life imprisonment and a fine of 15 million to 25 million Iraqi dinar (approximately $13,180-$21,970) if the offense involved an adult female or child victim. The large population of internally displaced persons and refugees moving within Iraq and across its borders are particularly at risk of being trafficked. Law enforcement officials did not consistently screen people leaving or entering Iraq for evidence of trafficking, and the borders of Iraq remained generally unsecured. On June 27, 2017, the U.S. State Department released its annual report on human trade. The MOI detained 426 people for alleged involvement in trafficking crimes, but it did not specify whether these were for sex or labor trafficking. In August 2009, the Iraqi government assisted in the repatriation of the 14 Ugandan women subjected to forced labor in Iraq. Iraq has been host to an international presence from early 2003 to late 2011. The KRG continued to operate four shelters in the IKR for women, which could provide services to female victims of trafficking, but they rarely did so in practice. During the last six months, the Iraqi government initiated both a criminal and a human rights investigation into an alleged labor trafficking crime, which resulted in the issuance of two arrest warrants. SEED conducted an assessment on trafficking issues in Kurdistan to gain better understanding of the forms and rates of human trafficking. Government officials reported the MOI failed to properly identify victims, including during investigations of prostitution crimes that involved potential trafficking indicators. IKR-based civil society organizations also reported in 2018 that ISIS members and supporters kidnapped Yezidi children for exploitation in Turkey. The Government of Iraq has not yet passed its anti-trafficking draft legislation; however, it is reported the legislation finally progressed through the Shura Council. Women sex trafficking is a very important and broad topic that concerns all cultures around the world. Trafficking victims in Iraq and the IKR continued to be vulnerable to arrest, imprisonment, and deportation for unlawful acts committed as a direct result of being subjected to human trafficking, such as prostitution, immigration violations, and child soldiering. Budget shortfalls, understaffing, a stagnant economy, internal conflict, and vast reconstruction needs limited the Iraqi government and KRG’s ability to dedicate resources to combat trafficking. The more prevalent means of human trafficking is through sale or forced marriage. In 2018, the KMOI reported 22 workers from the Philippines legally entered the IKR under the sponsorship of a labor contracting company, but were subsequently forced to work in Baghdad. The violent conflict with ISIS exacerbated the population’s vulnerability to trafficking, in particular women and children, although the government’s territorial defeat of the terrorist group, announced December 9, 2017, has improved conditions for Iraqi civilians. [1], Learn how and when to remove these template messages, public domain works of the U.S. government, Learn how and when to remove this template message, trafficking and sale of male and female children, Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons, "Trafficking in Persons Report 2017: Tier Placements", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Human_trafficking_in_Iraq&oldid=981737323, Articles needing POV-check from December 2010, Articles needing additional references from December 2010, All articles needing additional references, Articles needing cleanup from December 2010, Cleanup tagged articles without a reason field from December 2010, Wikipedia pages needing cleanup from December 2010, Articles with multiple maintenance issues, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License, This page was last edited on 4 October 2020, at 04:17. In July 2018, the Iraqi Kurdistan Region’s (IKR) regional parliament approved the 2012 Iraqi anti-trafficking law; however, at the end of the reporting period, the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) had not developed the regulatory and enforcement framework required to implement the law. An official website of the United States government, Office of the Coordinator for Cyber Issues, Office of the U.S. The government maintained efforts to prevent human trafficking. The report found that most of the human trafficking networks regard Iraqi Kurdistan as a safe haven for their crimes. Iraqi women and girls, some as young as 11 years old, are subjected to conditions of human trafficking within the country and in Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates, Turkey, Iran, and possibly Yemen for forced prostitution and sexual exploitation within households. Trafficking victims in Iraq, including in the IKR, continued to be vulnerable to arrest, imprisonment, deportation, and financial penalties for unlawful acts traffickers compelled them to commit, such as prostitution, immigration violations, and child soldiering. Civil society organizations reported Iraqi officials, including district-level police officers, did not proactively identify victims of trafficking, as officials lacked a general understanding of human trafficking. The government did not have a national victim referral mechanism and the government’s ad hoc referral process remained deficient. In 2018, the KRG facilitated the release of several hundred Yezidis held captive by ISIS, most of whom were likely trafficking victims; however, the KRG did not report whether it provided essential psycho-social or other protective services to these victims. The government convicted and sentenced 53 perpetrators, but it did not report under which laws the perpetrators were convicted nor did it report the details of the sentences prescribed. SEED’s mission is to protect, empower, and support the recovery of survivors of violence and others at risk. Some of the women were locked in rooms, had their passports stolen, and were physically or sexually abused by either the recruitment agent or the employer, practices potentially used to keep them in compelled service. According to the independent IOVHT, at least 27 human trafficking networks have been documented, in addition to six related kinds of violations in Baghdad and other Iraqi governorates. However, the government did not demonstrate overall increasing efforts compared to the previous reporting period. Iraqi males have also taken advantage of muta’a to traffic multiple women into other Iraqi provinces or neighboring countries, especially Syria, for the purposes of forced prostitution. NGOs and journalists reported they were unaware of major government-funded anti-trafficking information or education campaigns. The government provided shelter to seven victims in the government-run shelter in Baghdad. • Develop and institute guidelines for proactive victim identification and referral to protection services for all relevant officials, and train officials on these procedures. In 2017, reports also indicated both the AAH and Kata’ib Hizbullah (KH) militias recruited and used child soldiers. Iranian women, boys, and girls are vulnerable to trafficking in Iran, Afghanistan, the Iraqi Kurdistan Region (IKR), Pakistan, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), and Europe. Furthermore, the government did not have specialized judges or courts that were trained or dedicated to handling trafficking cases. These statistics demonstrated an increase from the previous reporting period when the government initiated 266 investigations, 78 prosecutions, and 32 convictions. Because of the government’s victim identification and referral deficiencies, including authorities’ lack of knowledge and understanding of trafficking, victims remained at high risk of criminalization and punishment. Thus, Iraq became a center for people flowing up inside and outside of the country since 2003 following the overthrow of (Baath despotism). Reports from 2015 indicated a trafficking network exploited IDPs and some Syrian refugee women in sex trafficking in hotels and brothels in Baghdad, Basrah, and other cities in southern Iraq after agents of the network promised to resettle them from the IKR; the women’s children were also forced to beg on the street. Nevertheless, the MOI reportedly initiated the investigation of 356 trafficking cases, of which 110 were ongoing as of January 2019. During the reporting period, the KRG reported it prosecuted 89 persons for trafficking offenses and convicted seven trafficking offenders, but authorities did not share additional information of these cases; in the previous year, the KRG reported 58 investigations, but it did not report any prosecutions or convictions. Throughout 2015-2018, thousands of women and children escaped ISIS captivity—many of whom were pregnant as a result of rape and sex trafficking; these women and girls, including IDPs among this population, remain highly vulnerable to various forms of exploitation, including re-trafficking. The government continued to lack implementing regulations for the anti-trafficking law, hindering its ability to enforce the law, bring traffickers to justice, and protect victims. The Government of Iraq does not fully meet the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking but is making significant efforts to do so. The Iraqi government did not report if it punished abusive recruitment agencies or employers of foreign workers. Despite the complaints by many TCNs about the awful working conditions, the seizure of their passports, and being forced to work in Iraq since 2003, the reporting of Phinney, and complaints by returning American KBR employees and soldiers, it wasn't until April 2006 that the Pentagon acknowledged the problem as a widespread practice and issued a directive to contractors to cease and desist in the practice of human trafficking … The government also did not acknowledge the recruitment and use of children by government-supported armed groups. All care is administered by NGOs, which run victim-care facilities and shelters accessible to victims of trafficking. Local NGOs reported in 2018 that Yezidi militias in Sinjar, including the pro-KRG Ezidxan Protection Force and Sinjar Command Force, recruited approximately 10 to 20 Yezidi boys. 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