Human trafficking in Lebanon

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Lebanon ratified the 2000 UN TIP Protocol in October 2005. [1]

Contents

In 2008, Lebanon was a destination for Asian and African women trafficked for the purpose of domestic servitude, and for Eastern European and Syrian women trafficked for the purpose of commercial sexual exploitation. Lebanese children were trafficked within the country for the purpose of commercial sexual exploitation and forced labor in the metal works, construction, and agriculture sectors. Women from Sri Lanka, the Philippines, and Ethiopia migrated to Lebanon legally, but often found themselves in conditions of forced labor, through unlawful withholding of passports, non-payment of wages, restrictions on movement, threats, and physical or sexual assault. During the armed conflict in July 2006, Sri Lankan domestic workers reported being restricted from leaving the country by their employers. Eastern European and Syrian women came to Lebanon on "artiste" visas, but some became victims of trafficking for commercial sexual exploitation when they are subjected to coercive acts such as unlawful withholding of passports, restrictions on movement, threats, and physical assault. [2]

Since the refugee crisis in Syria, the sex trade and trafficking of Syrian girls and women has increased in Lebanon. [3]

In 2008 the Government of Lebanon did not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking; however, it made significant efforts to do so. Although it reported 17 prosecutions in 2007, the government failed to convict or criminally punish anyone for trafficking offenses, despite ample evidence of conditions of forced labor. In addition, the government continued to lack victim protection services or a formal system to ensure that victims are not punished. [2]

In 2017, the Internal Security Forces (ISF) stated that 29 victims of sex trafficking had been identified, but the International Organisation for Migration (IOM), the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and NGOs estimate the number of victims to be in the thousands. [3]

The U.S. State Department's Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons placed the country in "Tier 2" in 2017. [4]

In 2019, the US State Department continued to classify the country as Tier 2 because the minimum standards for eliminating trafficking were not fully met. However, it was recognised that the government was making significant efforts to achieve this. For example, its partnerships with NGOs (like Caritas) [5] had been strengthened and the investigation of suspected trafficking cases has been stepped up. [6] [7]

In 2023, the country was placed on the Tier 2 Watch List. [8] In the same year, the Organised Crime Index noted the country’s collaboration with international agencies to combat human trafficking and human smuggling. [9]

Prosecution (2008)

Lebanon did not make significant efforts to prosecute or criminally punish trafficking offenses during the reporting period. Lebanon prohibits forced prostitution through Article 524 of its penal code; prescribed punishment under this statute is imprisonment for at least one year. In addition, commercial sexual exploitation of a person under 21 years old is prohibited by Article 523 of the penal code; the prescribed penalty for violation is imprisonment of one month to one year. The Lebanese Penal Code does not specifically prohibit forced labor, but Article 569's prohibition against deprivation of an individual's liberty to perform a task could be used to prosecute forced labor; the prescribed penalty under this statute is temporary hard labor. The prescribed penalties for acts of sex trafficking are not commensurate with those for other grave crimes, such as rape, and the prescribed penalties for prostitution of children and forced labor are not sufficiently stringent. Due to political constraints, during the reporting period, no legislation could be passed in Lebanon, on trafficking or otherwise. Domestic workers are not protected under Lebanese labor law provisions. Despite the availability of these statutes and laws against physical and sexual assault, the government reported no criminal prosecutions, convictions, or punishments for trafficking offenses; this represents a significant decrease from the 17 prosecutions reported last year. Although police arrested one employer for attempting to murder his domestic worker by beating her severely with a hammer on her back, shoulders, and hands, he was later released without a prison sentence in exchange for giving the worker $6,500; the case is being investigated. Under its administrative laws, the government suspended the licenses of 11 recruitment agencies and closed two for, among other violations, physically abusing workers; nonetheless, no recruitment agent was criminally prosecuted or punished for the abuse. Moreover, despite widespread reports of withholding of passports - a potential indicator of forced labor - the government did not report enforcing laws against this practice. Lebanon similarly did not report any prosecutions, convictions, or punishments for the forced labor or commercial sexual exploitation of children. Despite receiving 31 reports of physical abuse, rape, and withheld wages among adult club employees, these cases were settled out of court, and did not result in any prosecutions or convictions for trafficking offenses. [2]

Protection (2008)

The Government of Lebanon did not make sufficient efforts to protect victims of trafficking during the reporting period. Though government officials received training on victim interview techniques paid for by UNODC and the NGO Caritas Lebanon, the government does not have a formal procedure to identify victims of trafficking among vulnerable populations, such as foreigners arrested for immigration violations or prostitution. As a result, victims of trafficking were likely punished for acts committed as a result of being trafficked, as foreign workers without valid residency and work permits are subject to arrest, detention, and deportation. Consistent with government regulations, it remains common for employers to force a domestic worker who breaks her contract to repay residency and work permit fees, or pay for a paper releasing her from her contract; there is no exception for workers who break their contracts due to their employers’ abuse. Victims are neither encouraged to participate in trials, nor offered legal alternatives to deportation to countries where they would face hardship or retribution. Rather, victims are often deported home before being given the opportunity to testify against their traffickers. Lebanon does not offer protection services to victims of trafficking; the government, however, referred nine trafficking victims to NGO shelters during the reporting period. [2]

Prevention (2008)

Lebanon made minimal efforts to prevent trafficking in persons. The government partnered with an NGO to produce a public awareness campaign on migrant workers’ rights. In August, the Sûreté General and Ministry of Labor met with recruitment agencies to warn them against trafficking workers. The government did not take any steps to reduce the demand for commercial sex acts in Lebanon. The government similarly did not institute a public awareness campaign targeting citizens traveling to known child sex tourism destinations. [2]

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Sri Lanka is a source and destination country for men and women trafficked for the purposes of involuntary servitude and commercial sexual exploitation. Sri Lankan men and women migrate willingly to Kuwait, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Lebanon, the United Arab Emirates, Singapore, Hong Kong, Malaysia, and South Korea to work as construction workers, domestic servants, or garment factory workers. However, some find themselves in situations of involuntary servitude when faced with restrictions on movement, withholding of passports, threats, physical or sexual abuse, and debt bondage that is, in some instances, facilitated by large pre-departure fees imposed by recruitment agents. Children are trafficked internally for commercial sexual exploitation and, less frequently, for forced labor. The designated Foreign Terrorist Organization Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) continued to recruit, sometimes forcibly, children for use as soldiers in areas outside the Sri Lankan government’s control. Government security forces may also be complicit in letting a pro-government paramilitary organization recruit, sometimes forcibly, child soldiers. Reports also indicate that a small number of women from Thailand, China, Russia, and other countries of the Newly Independent States are trafficked into Sri Lanka for commercial sexual exploitation. In November 2007, over 100 Sri Lankan peacekeeping soldiers were repatriated based on accusations that they engaged in sexual misconduct, some cases involving minors, in Haiti. The Government of Sri Lanka does not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking; however, it is making significant efforts to do so. Sri Lanka is placed on Tier 2 Watch List for failing to provide evidence of increasing efforts to combat severe forms of trafficking in persons over the previous year, particularly in the area of law enforcement.

In 2008, Syria was a destination and transit country for women and children trafficked for commercial sexual exploitation and forced labor. A significant number of women and children in the large and expanding Iraqi refugee community in Syria were reportedly forced into commercial sexual exploitation by Iraqi gangs or, in some cases, their families. Similarly, women from Somalia and Eastern Europe were trafficked into commercial sexual exploitation. Foreign women recruited for work in Syria as cabaret dancers were not permitted to leave their work premises without permission, and they had their passports withheld - indicators of involuntary servitude. Some of these women may also have been forced into prostitution. Anecdotal evidence suggests that Syria may have been a destination for sex tourism from other countries in the region. In addition, women from Indonesia, the Philippines, Ethiopia, and Sierra Leone were recruited for work in Syria as domestic servants, but some face conditions of involuntary servitude, including long hours, non-payment of wages, withholding of passports, restrictions on movement, threats, and physical or sexual abuse. Syria may also have been a transit point for Iraqi women and girls trafficked to Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates (U.A.E.), and Lebanon for forced prostitution. The Government of Syria did not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking and did not making significant efforts to do so. Syria again failed to report any law enforcement efforts to punish trafficking offenses over the last year. In addition, the government did not offer protection services to victims of trafficking and may have arrested, prosecuted, or deported some victims for prostitution or immigration violations.

The United Arab Emirates is a destination country for men and women that are mostly trafficked for the purposes of labor and prostitution. U.S. State Department's Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons placed the country in "Tier 2" in 2017.

In 2008 Vietnam was primarily a source country for women and children trafficked for commercial sexual exploitation and forced labor. Women and children were trafficked to the People’s Republic of China (P.R.C), Cambodia, Thailand, the Republic of Korea, Malaysia, Taiwan, and Macau for sexual exploitation. Vietnamese women were trafficked to the P.R.C., Taiwan, and the Republic of Korea via fraudulent or misrepresented marriages for commercial exploitation or forced labor. Vietnam was also a source country for men and women who migrate willingly and legally for work in the construction, fishing, or manufacturing sectors in Malaysia, Taiwan, P.R.C., Thailand, and the Middle East but subsequently face conditions of forced labor or debt bondage. Vietnam was a destination country for Cambodian children trafficked to urban centers for forced labor or commercial sexual exploitation. The country had an internal trafficking problem with women and children from rural areas trafficked to urban centers for commercial sexual exploitation and forced labor. Vietnam was increasingly a destination for child sex tourism, with perpetrators from Japan, the Republic of Korea, the P.R.C., Taiwan, the UK, Australia, Europe, and the U.S. In 2007, an Australian non-governmental organization (NGO) uncovered 80 cases of commercial sexual exploitation of children by foreign tourists in the Sa Pa tourist area of Vietnam alone.

In 2008 Zambia was a source, transit, and destination country for women and children trafficked for the purposes of forced labor and sexual exploitation. Child prostitution existed in Zambia's urban centers, often encouraged or facilitated by relatives or acquaintances of the victim. Many Zambian child laborers, particularly those in the agriculture, domestic service, and fishing sectors, were also victims of human trafficking. Zambian women, lured by false employment or marriage offers, were trafficked to South Africa via Zimbabwe for sexual exploitation, and to Europe via Malawi. Zambia was a transit point for regional trafficking of women and children, particularly from Angola to Namibia for agricultural labor and from the Democratic Republic of the Congo to South Africa. Malawian and Mozambican adults and children were occasionally trafficked to Zambia for forced agricultural labor.

In 2008, Honduras was principally a source and transit country for women, girls, and boys trafficked for the purpose of commercial sexual exploitation. Honduran children were typically trafficked from rural areas to urban and tourist centers such as San Pedro Sula, the North Caribbean coast, and the Bay Islands. Honduran women and children are trafficked to Guatemala, El Salvador, Mexico, and the United States for sexual exploitation. Most foreign victims of commercial sexual exploitation in Honduras were from neighboring countries; some were economic migrants en route to the United States who are victimized by traffickers. Internal child labor and forced child labor for violent criminal gangs were serious concerns.

The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) of the People's Republic of China is a destination and transit territory for men and women trafficked for the purposes of commercial sexual exploitation and forced labor.

Indonesia is a source, transit, and destination country for women, children, and men trafficked for the purposes of commercial sexual exploitation and forced labor. The greatest threat of trafficking facing Indonesian men and women is that posed by conditions of forced labor and debt bondage in more developed Asian countries and the Middle East.

The Kyrgyz Republic ratified the 2000 UN TIP Protocol in October 2003.

Laos ratified the 2000 UN TIP Protocol in September 2003.

Bangladesh is a source and transit country for men, women, and children subjected to trafficking in persons, specifically forced labor and forced prostitution. A significant share of Bangladesh's trafficking victims are men recruited for work overseas with fraudulent employment offers who are subsequently exploited under conditions of forced labor or debt bondage. It also includes the trafficking of children – both boys and girls – within Bangladesh for commercial sexual exploitation, bonded labor, and forced labor. Some children are sold into bondage by their parents, while others are induced into labor or commercial sexual exploitation through fraud and physical coercion. Women and children from Bangladesh are also trafficked.

Botswana is a source and destination country for women and children subjected to trafficking in persons, specifically forced labor and commercial sexual exploitation. Parents in poor rural communities sometimes send their children to work for wealthier families as domestics in cities or as herders at remote cattle posts, where some of these children are vulnerable to forced labor. Batswana girls are exploited in prostitution within the country, including in bars and by truck drivers along major highways; it does not appear, however, that organized pimping of children occurs. In the past, women reported being forced into commercial sexual exploitation at some safari lodges, but there were no similar reports during this reporting period. Residents in Botswana most susceptible to trafficking are illegal immigrants from Zimbabwe, unemployed men and women, those living in rural poverty, agricultural workers, and children orphaned by HIV/AIDS. Some women from Zimbabwe who voluntarily, but illegally, migrate to Botswana to seek employment are subsequently subjected by their employers to involuntary domestic servitude. Botswana families which employ Zimbabwean women as domestic workers at times do so without proper work permits, do not pay adequate wages, and restrict or control the movement of their employees by holding their passports or threatening to have them deported back to Zimbabwe.

Tunisia is a source, destination, and possible transit country for men, women, and children subjected to trafficking in persons, specifically forced labor and forced prostitution. In 2009, one Tunisian female was rescued from forced prostitution in Lebanon. In 2008, two women were rescued from forced prostitution in Jordan and three men from forced labor in Italy. Based on limited available data, some Tunisian girls may be trafficked within the country for involuntary domestic servitude. In 2009 a Tunisian academic published a study on Tunisian domestic workers. The study, conducted in 2008, surveyed 130 domestic workers in the Greater Tunis region and found that 52 percent were under the age of 16; twenty-three percent claimed to be victims of physical violence, and 11 percent of sexual violence. Ninety-nine percent indicated they had no work contracts and the majority received salaries below the minimum wage. These conditions are indicators of possible forced labor.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Human trafficking in Papua New Guinea</span>

In 2009, Papua New Guinea was a source, destination, and transit country for men, women, and children subjected to trafficking in persons, specifically forced prostitution and forced labor. Women and children were subjected to commercial sexual exploitation and involuntary domestic servitude; trafficked men were forced to provide labor in logging and mining camps. Children, especially young girls from tribal areas, were most vulnerable to being pushed into commercial sexual exploitation or forced labor by members of their immediate family or tribe. Families traditionally sold girls into forced marriages to settle their debts, leaving them vulnerable to involuntary domestic servitude, and tribal leaders trade the exploitative labor and service of girls and women for guns and political advantage. Young girls sold into marriage were often forced into domestic servitude for the husband's extended family. In more urban areas, some children from poorer families were prostituted by their parents or sold to brothels. Migrant women and teenage girls from Malaysia, Thailand, China, and the Philippines were subjected to forced prostitution, and men from China were transported to the country for forced labor.

Iraq ratified the 2000 UN TIP Protocol in February 2009.

Madagascar ratified the 2000 UN TIP Protocol in September 2005.

In 2009 Morocco was a source, destination, and transit country for men, women, and children who are subjected to trafficking in persons, specifically forced labor and forced prostitution. Children were trafficked within the country from rural areas to urban centers to work as maids or laborers, or for commercial sexual exploitation. Moroccan men, women, and children were exploited for forced labor and prostitution in European and Middle Eastern countries. Young Moroccan girls from rural areas were recruited to work as child maids in cities, but often experienced non-payment of wages, threats, and physical or sexual abuse, and sometimes faced restrictions on movement. These practices indicate that these girls are subjected to involuntary servitude. Moroccan boys experienced forced labor as apprentices in the artisan and construction industries and in mechanic shops. A few Moroccan men and boys were lured to Europe by fraudulent job offers, and are subsequently forced to sell drugs. In addition, men and women from sub-Saharan Africa, South Asia, and the Philippines entered Morocco voluntarily but illegally with the assistance of smugglers; once in Morocco, some of the women were coerced into prostitution or, less frequently, forced into domestic service. Nigerian gangs, who engaged in a variety of criminal activities like human smuggling and drug trafficking, competed to control the trafficking of sub-Saharan Africans in Morocco.

Human trafficking in Brazil is an ongoing problem. Brazil is a source country for men, women, girls, and boys subjected to human trafficking, specifically forced prostitution within the country and abroad, as well as a source country for men and boys in forced labor within the country. The United States Department of Homeland Security, describes human trafficking as "the use of force, fraud, or coercion to obtain some type of labor or commercial sex act."

In 2009 El Salvador was a source, transit, and destination country for women and children who were subjected to trafficking in persons, specifically forced prostitution and forced labor. Most victims were Salvadoran women and girls from rural areas who were forced into commercial sexual exploitation in urban areas, though some adults and children were subjected to forced labor as agricultural workers and domestic workers. The majority of foreign victims were women and children from neighboring countries, such as Honduras, Nicaragua, and the Dominican Republic, who migrated to El Salvador in response to job offers, but were subsequently forced into prostitution or domestic servitude. Trafficking offenders used fraudulent documentation to facilitate the movement of foreign victims. Salvadorans have been subjected to forced prostitution in Guatemala, Mexico, Belize, the United States, Spain, and Italy.

In 2009 Ethiopia was a source country for men, women, and children subjected to trafficking in persons, specifically conditions of forced labor and forced prostitution. Girls from Ethiopia's rural areas were forced into domestic servitude and, less frequently, commercial sexual exploitation, while boys were subjected to forced labor in traditional weaving, gold mining, agriculture, herding, and street vending. Small numbers of Ethiopian girls were forced into domestic servitude outside Ethiopia, primarily in Djibouti and Sudan, while Ethiopian boys were subjected to forced labor in Djibouti as shop assistants and errand boys.

References

  1. ↑ United Nations Treaty Collection website, Chapter XVIII Penal Matters section, Section 12a, retrieved August 19, 2024
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 "Lebanon". Trafficking in Persons Report 2008. U.S. Department of State (June 4, 2008). This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
  3. 1 2 Sala, Daniela. "The Syrian women and girls sold into sexual slavery in Lebanon". www.aljazeera.com. Retrieved 2020-12-07.
  4. ↑ "Trafficking in Persons Report 2017: Tier Placements". www.state.gov. Archived from the original on 2017-06-28. Retrieved 2017-12-01.
  5. ↑ AsiaNews.it. "Caritas Lebanon against human trafficking: help and support to rebuild the future". www.asianews.it. Retrieved 2020-12-08.
  6. ↑ "USDOS – US Department of State. 2019 Trafficking in Persons Report: Lebanon". 20 June 2019.
  7. ↑ "Plight of the trafficked domestic worker". The New Humanitarian (in French). 2009-09-30. Retrieved 2020-12-08.
  8. ↑ US Government website, Trafficking in Persons Report 2023
  9. ↑ Organised Crime Index website, Lebanon, retrieved August 19, 2024
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