[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 232 (Wednesday, December 2, 2020)]
[Notices]
[Pages 77481-77486]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-26576]
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DEPARTMENT OF STATE
[Public Notice 11271]
Request for Information for the 2021 Trafficking in Persons
Report
ACTION: Request for information for the 2021 Trafficking in Persons
Report.
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SUMMARY: The Department of State (``the Department'') requests written
information to assist in reporting on the degree to which the United
States and foreign governments meet the minimum standards for the
elimination of trafficking in persons (``minimum standards'') that are
prescribed by the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000, as
amended (``TVPA''). This information will assist in the preparation of
the Trafficking in Persons Report (``TIP Report'') that the Department
submits annually to the U.S. Congress on governments' concrete actions
to meet the minimum standards. Foreign governments that do not meet the
minimum standards and are not making significant efforts to do so may
be subject to restrictions on nonhumanitarian, nontrade-related foreign
assistance from the United States, as defined by the TVPA. Submissions
must be made in writing to the Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking
in Persons at the Department of State by February 1, 2021. Please refer
to the Addresses, Scope of Interest, and Information Sought sections of
this Notice for additional instructions on submission requirements.
DATES: Submissions must be received by 5 p.m. on February 1, 2021.
ADDRESSES: Written submissions and supporting documentation may be
submitted by the following method:
Email: tipreport@state.gov for submissions related to
foreign governments and tipreportUS@state.gov for submissions related
to the United States.
Scope of Interest: The Department requests information relevant to
assessing the United States' and foreign governments' concrete actions
to meet the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking in
persons during the reporting period (April 1, 2020-March 31, 2021). The
minimum standards are listed in the Background section. Submissions
must include information relevant to efforts to meet the minimum
standards and should include, but need not be limited to, answering the
questions in the Information Sought section. Submissions need not
include answers to all the questions; only those questions for which
the submitter has direct professional experience should be answered,
and that experience should be noted. For any critique or deficiency
described, please provide a recommendation to remedy it. Note the
country or countries that are the focus of the submission.
Submissions may include written narratives that answer the
questions presented in this Notice, research, studies, statistics,
fieldwork, training materials, evaluations, assessments, and other
relevant evidence of local, state/provincial, and federal/central
government efforts. To the extent possible, precise dates and numbers
of officials or citizens affected should be included.
Written narratives providing factual information should provide
citations of sources, and copies of and links to the source material
should be provided. Please send electronic copies of the entire
submission, including source material. If primary sources are used,
such as research studies, interviews, direct observations, or other
sources of quantitative or qualitative data, provide details on the
research or data-gathering methodology and any supporting
documentation. The Department only includes in the TIP Report
information related to trafficking in persons as defined by the TVPA;
it does not include, and is therefore not seeking, information on
prostitution, migrant smuggling, visa fraud, or child abuse, unless
such crimes also involve the elements of sex trafficking or forced
labor.
Confidentiality: Please provide the name, phone number, and email
address of a single point of contact for any submission. It is
Department practice not to identify in the TIP Report information
concerning sources to safeguard those sources. Please note, however,
that any information submitted to the Department may be releasable
pursuant to the provisions of the Freedom of Information Act or other
applicable law. Submissions related to the United States will be shared
with U.S. government agencies, as will submissions relevant to efforts
by other U.S. government agencies.
Response: This is a request for information only; there will be no
response to submissions.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
1. Background
Definitions: The TVPA defines ``severe forms of trafficking in
persons'' as:
Sex trafficking: The recruitment, harboring,
transportation, provision, obtaining, patronizing, or soliciting of a
person for the purpose of a commercial sex act that is induced by
force, fraud, or coercion, or in which the person induced to perform
such act has not attained 18 years of age.
Forced labor (also known as labor trafficking): The
recruitment, harboring, transportation, provision, or obtaining of a
person for labor or services, through the use of force, fraud, or
coercion, for the purposes of involuntary servitude, peonage, debt
bondage, or slavery.
Child soldiering: Child soldiering is a form of human
trafficking when a government armed group, (including police or other
security force), paramilitary organization, rebel group, or other non-
state armed group unlawfully recruits or uses children--through force,
fraud, or coercion--as combatants or in other support roles, including
as cooks, porters, guards, messengers, medics, guards, servants, spies,
or sex slaves.
The TIP Report: The TIP Report is the most comprehensive worldwide
report on governments' efforts to combat trafficking in persons. It
represents an annually updated, global look at the nature and scope of
trafficking in persons and the broad range of government actions to
confront and eliminate it. The U.S. government uses the TIP Report to
inform diplomacy, to encourage partnership in creating and implementing
laws and policies to combat trafficking, and to target resources on
prevention, protection, and prosecution programs. Worldwide,
international organizations, foreign governments, and nongovernmental
organizations use the TIP Report as a tool to examine where resources
are most needed. Prosecuting traffickers, protecting victims, and
preventing trafficking are the ultimate goals of the TIP Report and of
the U.S government's anti-trafficking policy.
The Department prepares the TIP Report with information from across
the U.S. government, foreign government officials, nongovernmental and
international organizations, survivors of trafficking in persons,
published
[[Page 77482]]
reports, and research trips to every region. The TIP Report focuses on
concrete actions that governments take to fight trafficking in persons,
including prosecutions, convictions, and sentences for traffickers, as
well as victim identification and protection measures and prevention
efforts. Each TIP Report narrative also includes prioritized
recommendations for each country. These recommendations are used to
assist the Department in measuring governments' progress from one year
to the next and determining whether governments meet the minimum
standards for the elimination of trafficking in persons or are making
significant efforts to do so.
The TVPA creates a four-tier ranking system. Tier placement is
based principally on the extent of concrete government action to combat
trafficking. The Department first evaluates whether the government
fully meets the TVPA's minimum standards for the elimination of
trafficking. Governments that do so are placed on Tier 1. For other
governments, the Department considers the extent of such efforts.
Governments that are making significant efforts to meet the minimum
standards are placed on Tier 2. Governments that do not fully meet the
minimum standards and are not making significant efforts to do so are
placed on Tier 3. Finally, the Department considers Special Watch List
criteria and, when applicable, places countries on Tier 2 Watch List.
For more information, the 2020 TIP Report can be found at
www.state.gov/reports/2020-trafficking-in-persons-report/.
Since the inception of the TIP Report in 2001, the number of
countries included and ranked has more than doubled; the 2020 TIP
Report included 188 countries and territories. Around the world, the
TIP Report and the promising practices reflected therein have inspired
legislation, national action plans, policy implementation, program
funding, protection mechanisms that complement prosecution efforts, and
a stronger global understanding of this crime.
Since 2003, the primary reporting on the United States' anti-
trafficking activities has been through the annual Attorney General's
Report to Congress and Assessment of U.S. Government Activities to
Combat Human Trafficking (``AG Report'') mandated by section 105 of the
TVPA (22 U.S.C. 7103(d)(7)). Since 2010, the TIP Report, through a
collaborative interagency process, has included an assessment of U.S.
government anti-trafficking efforts in light of the minimum standards
to eliminate trafficking in persons set forth by the TVPA.
II. Minimum Standards for the Elimination of Trafficking in Persons
The TVPA sets forth the minimum standards for the elimination of
trafficking in persons as follows:
(1) The government of the country should prohibit severe forms of
trafficking in persons and punish acts of such trafficking.
(2) For the knowing commission of any act of sex trafficking
involving force, fraud, coercion, or in which the victim of sex
trafficking is a child incapable of giving meaningful consent, or of
trafficking which includes rape or kidnapping or which causes a death,
the government of the country should prescribe punishment commensurate
with that for grave crimes, such as forcible sexual assault.
(3) For the knowing commission of any act of a severe form of
trafficking in persons, the government of the country should prescribe
punishment that is sufficiently stringent to deter and that adequately
reflects the heinous nature of the offense.
(4) The government of the country should make serious and sustained
efforts to eliminate severe forms of trafficking in persons.
The following factors should be considered as indicia of serious
and sustained efforts to eliminate severe forms of trafficking in
persons:
(1) Whether the government of the country vigorously investigates
and prosecutes acts of severe forms of trafficking in persons, and
convicts and sentences persons responsible for such acts, that take
place wholly or partly within the territory of the country, including,
as appropriate, requiring incarceration of individuals convicted of
such acts. For purposes of the preceding sentence, suspended or
significantly reduced sentences for convictions of principal actors in
cases of severe forms of trafficking in persons shall be considered, on
a case-by-case basis, whether to be considered as an indicator of
serious and sustained efforts to eliminate severe forms of trafficking
in persons. After reasonable requests from the Department of State for
data regarding investigations, prosecutions, convictions, and
sentences, a government which does not provide such data, consistent
with the capacity of such government to obtain such data, shall be
presumed not to have vigorously investigated, prosecuted, convicted, or
sentenced such acts. During the periods prior to the annual report
submitted on June 1, 2004, and on June 1, 2005, and the periods
afterwards until September 30 of each such year, the Secretary of State
may disregard the presumption contained in the preceding sentence if
the government has provided some data to the Department of State
regarding such acts and the Secretary has determined that the
government is making a good faith effort to collect such data.
(2) Whether the government of the country protects victims of
severe forms of trafficking in persons and encourages their assistance
in the investigation and prosecution of such trafficking, including
provisions for legal alternatives to their removal to countries in
which they would face retribution or hardship, and ensures that victims
are not inappropriately incarcerated, fined, or otherwise penalized
solely for unlawful acts as a direct result of being trafficked,
including by providing training to law enforcement and immigration
officials regarding the identification and treatment of trafficking
victims using approaches that focus on the needs of the victims.
(3) Whether the government of the country has adopted measures to
prevent severe forms of trafficking in persons, such as measures to
inform and educate the public, including potential victims, about the
causes and consequences of severe forms of trafficking in persons,
measures to establish the identity of local populations, including
birth registration, citizenship, and nationality, measures to ensure
that its nationals who are deployed abroad as part of a diplomatic,
peacekeeping, or other similar mission do not engage in or facilitate
severe forms of trafficking in persons or exploit victims of such
trafficking, a transparent system for remediating or punishing such
public officials as a deterrent, measures to prevent the use of forced
labor or child labor in violation of international standards, effective
bilateral, multilateral, or regional information sharing and
cooperation arrangements with other countries, and effective policies
or laws regulating foreign labor recruiters and holding them civilly
and criminally liable for fraudulent recruiting.
(4) Whether the government of the country cooperates with other
governments in the investigation and prosecution of severe forms of
trafficking in persons and has entered into bilateral, multilateral, or
regional law enforcement cooperation and coordination arrangements with
other countries.
(5) Whether the government of the country extradites persons
charged with
[[Page 77483]]
acts of severe forms of trafficking in persons on substantially the
same terms and to substantially the same extent as persons charged with
other serious crimes (or, to the extent such extradition would be
inconsistent with the laws of such country or with international
agreements to which the country is a party, whether the government is
taking all appropriate measures to modify or replace such laws and
treaties so as to permit such extradition).
(6) Whether the government of the country monitors immigration and
emigration patterns for evidence of severe forms of trafficking in
persons and whether law enforcement agencies of the country respond to
any such evidence in a manner that is consistent with the vigorous
investigation and prosecution of acts of such trafficking, as well as
with the protection of human rights of victims and the internationally
recognized human right to leave any country, including one's own, and
to return to one's own country.
(7) Whether the government of the country vigorously investigates,
prosecutes, convicts, and sentences public officials, including
diplomats and soldiers, who participate in or facilitate severe forms
of trafficking in persons, including nationals of the country who are
deployed abroad as part of a diplomatic, peacekeeping, or other similar
mission who engage in or facilitate severe forms of trafficking in
persons or exploit victims of such trafficking, and takes all
appropriate measures against officials who condone such trafficking. A
government's failure to appropriately address public allegations
against such public officials, especially once such officials have
returned to their home countries, shall be considered inaction under
these criteria. After reasonable requests from the Department of State
for data regarding such investigations, prosecutions, convictions, and
sentences, a government which does not provide such data consistent
with its resources shall be presumed not to have vigorously
investigated, prosecuted, convicted, or sentenced such acts. During the
periods prior to the annual report submitted on June 1, 2004, and June
1, 2005, and the periods afterwards until September 30 of each such
year, the Secretary of State may disregard the presumption contained in
the preceding sentence if the government has provided some data to the
Department of State regarding such acts and the Secretary has
determined that the government is making a good faith effort to collect
such data.
(8) Whether the percentage of victims of severe forms of
trafficking in the country that are non-citizens of such countries is
insignificant.
(9) Whether the government has entered into effective, transparent
partnerships, cooperative arrangements, or agreements that have
resulted in concrete and measurable outcomes with
(A) domestic civil society organizations, private sector entities,
or international nongovernmental organizations, or into multilateral or
regional arrangements or agreements, to assist the government's efforts
to prevent trafficking, protect victims, and punish traffickers; or
(B) the United States toward agreed goals and objectives in the
collective fight against trafficking.
(10) Whether the government of the country, consistent with the
capacity of such government, systematically monitors its efforts to
satisfy the criteria described in paragraphs (1) through (8) and makes
available publicly a periodic assessment of such efforts.
(11) Whether the government of the country achieves appreciable
progress in eliminating severe forms of trafficking when compared to
the assessment in the previous year.
(12) Whether the government of the country has made serious and
sustained efforts to reduce the demand for
(A) commercial sex acts; and
(B) participation in international sex tourism by nationals of the
country.
III. Information Sought Relevant to the Minimum Standards
Submissions should include, but need not be limited to, answers to
relevant questions below for which the submitter has direct
professional experience. Citations to source material should also be
provided. Note the country or countries that are the focus of the
submission. Please see the Scope of Interest section above for detailed
information regarding submission requirements.
Trafficking Profile
1. Describe the country's trafficking situation, including the
forms of trafficking that occur, industries and sectors in which
traffickers exploit victims, countries/regions in which traffickers
recruit victims, locations and regions in which trafficking occurs, and
recruitment methods. What groups are at particular risk of human
trafficking? Are citizens of the country identified as victims of human
trafficking abroad? Does child sex tourism occur in the country or
involve its nationals abroad, and if so, in which countries? Have
trafficking methods and trends changed in the past 12 months, including
as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic?
2. What was the extent of official complicity in trafficking
crimes? Were officials--including police, immigration officials,
diplomats, peacekeepers, military personnel--government contractors, or
government grantees directly or indirectly facilitating or enabling
trafficking in persons? Did they operate as traffickers, enable
traffickers, or take actions that may facilitate trafficking (including
accepting bribes to allow undocumented border crossings or suspending
active investigations of suspected traffickers, etc.)?
3. Was there a government policy or pattern of human trafficking,
such as in government-funded or -affiliated services or programs within
the country or abroad? Did government policies, regulations, or
agreements relating to migration, labor, trade, and investment
facilitate vulnerabilities to, or incidence of, forced labor or sex
trafficking? Were there examples of trafficking occurring in state
institutions (e.g., prisons, orphanages or child foster homes,
institutions for mentally or physically disabled persons, camps,
compounds, or outposts)? If so, what measures did the government take
to end such practices?
4. What proactive measures did the government take to prevent
official complicity in trafficking in persons crimes? How did the
government respond to reports of complicity that arose during the
reporting period, including investigations, prosecutions, convictions,
and sentencing of complicit officials? Were these efforts sufficient?
5. Is there evidence that nationals of the country deployed abroad
as part of a diplomatic, peacekeeping, or other similar mission have
engaged in or facilitated trafficking, including in domestic servitude?
Has the government vigorously investigated, prosecuted, convicted, and
sentenced nationals engaged in these activities?
Overview
6. What were the government's major accomplishments in addressing
human trafficking since April 1, 2020? In what significant ways have
the government's efforts to combat trafficking in persons changed in
the past year? How have new laws, regulations, policies, or
implementation strategies (e.g., substantive criminal laws and
procedures, mechanisms for civil remedies, and victim-witness security,
generally and in relation to court proceedings) affected its anti-
trafficking response?
7. Over the past year, what were the greatest deficiencies in the
government's anti-trafficking efforts? What were the limitations on the
government's ability
[[Page 77484]]
to address human trafficking problems in practice?
8. If the government had a national action plan to address
trafficking, how was it implemented in practice? Were NGOs and other
relevant civil society stakeholders consulted in the development and
implementation of the plan? Did the government fund, partially fund, or
not fund the plan?
9. How has the COVID-19 pandemic affected the government's efforts
to coordinate, execute, and monitor its anti-trafficking response, if
at all? How have anti-trafficking officials, units, and coordinating
bodies continued to operate and adapt?
10. Have investigative agencies and courts adapted to impacts from
COVID-19? If so, how? Do police, prosecutors, and courts continue to
process trafficking cases and/or has the volume of these cases changed?
What has been the impact on officials' ability to collect evidence,
including victim testimony?
11. Please provide additional information and/or recommendations to
improve the government's anti-trafficking efforts overall.
12. Please highlight effective strategies and practices that other
governments could consider adopting.
Prosecution
13. Please provide observations regarding the implementation of
existing laws, policies and procedures. Are there gaps in anti-
trafficking legislation that could be amended to improve the
government's response? Are there any government policies that have
undermined or otherwise negatively affected anti-trafficking efforts
within that country?
14. Do government officials understand the nature of all forms of
trafficking? If not, please provide examples of misconceptions or
misunderstandings. Did the government effectively provide or support
anti-trafficking trainings for officials? If not, how could they be
improved?
15. Please provide observations on overall anti-trafficking law
enforcement efforts and the efforts of police and prosecutors to pursue
trafficking cases. Were any trafficking cases investigated and/or
prosecuted, and were any traffickers convicted during the reporting
period--including under trafficking-specific laws and non-trafficking
laws? Is the government equally vigorous in pursuing forced labor and
sex trafficking, internal and transnational trafficking, and crimes
that involve its own nationals or foreign citizens? If not, why?
16. Please note any efforts to investigate and prosecute suspects
for knowingly soliciting or patronizing a sex trafficking victim to
perform a commercial sex act. Does law enforcement pursue trafficking
cases that would hold accountable corporations for forced labor in
supply chains within the country?
17. Do judges appear appropriately knowledgeable and sensitized to
trafficking cases? Do they implement and encourage trauma-informed
practices in their courts?
18. What sentences have courts imposed upon traffickers? Are these
sentences generally strict enough to reflect the serious nature of the
crime, and are they comparable to sentences for other similar crimes,
such as rape and kidnapping? How common are fines, suspended sentences,
and prison time of less than one year for convicted traffickers?
Protection
19. Did the government make a coordinated, proactive effort to
identify victims of all forms of trafficking? If the government had any
written procedures for screening for trafficking, were those procedures
sufficient and implemented effectively by officials? What steps do
officials take if a potential case of human trafficking is identified?
Are those steps sufficient? Did officials effectively coordinate among
one another and with relevant nongovernmental organizations to conduct
screenings and refer victims to care? Is there any trafficking
screening conducted before deportation or when detaining migrants,
including unaccompanied minors? Are interpreters available for
screening foreign victims? If commercial sex is legalized or
decriminalized, how did health officials, labor inspectors, or police
identify trafficking victims among persons involved in commercial sex?
If commercial sex is illegal, did the government proactively identify
trafficking victims during raids or other encounters with commercial
sex establishments? How has the COVID-19 pandemic affected the
government's victim identification and referral efforts, if at all?
20. Does the government operate a hotline for potential victims? If
so, what are the hours of operation? What languages could it
accommodate? Were victims identified and cases referred to law
enforcement as a result of calls to the hotline? What did the
government do to publicize the hotline? Did it remain in operation
during the COVID-19 pandemic?
21. What victim services are available and provided (legal,
medical, food, shelter, interpretation, mental health care, employment,
training, etc.)? Who provides these services? If nongovernment
organizations provide the services, does the government support their
work either financially or otherwise? Are these service providers
required to be trained on human trafficking and victim identification?
How has the COVID-19 pandemic affected government and NGO efforts to
provide shelter, medical, and psycho-social care to victims?
22. What was the overall quality of victim care? How could victim
services be improved? Was government funding for trafficking victim
protection and assistance adequate? Are there gaps in access to victim
services? Are services available regardless of geographic location
within the country? Are services victim-centered and trauma-informed?
23. Are services provided adequately to victims of both labor and
sex trafficking? Adults and children, including men and boys? Citizens
and noncitizens of all ethnic backgrounds or nationalities? LGBTI
persons? Persons with disabilities? Were such benefits linked to
whether a victim assisted law enforcement or participated in a trial,
or whether a trafficker was convicted? Could victims choose
independently whether to enter a shelter, and could they leave at will
if residing in a shelter? Could adult victims leave shelter premises
unchaperoned? Could victims seek employment and work while receiving
assistance?
24. Do service providers and law enforcement work together
cooperatively, for instance to share information about trafficking
trends or to plan for services after a raid? What is the level of
cooperation, communication, and trust between service providers and law
enforcement?
25. Were there means by which victims could obtain restitution from
defendants in criminal cases or file civil suits against traffickers
for damages, and did this happen in practice? Did prosecutors request
and/or courts order restitution in all cases where it was required, and
if not, why?
26. How did the government encourage victims to assist in the
investigation and prosecution of trafficking? How did the government
protect victims during the trial process? If a victim was a witness in
a court case, was the victim permitted to obtain employment, move
freely about the country, or leave the country pending trial
proceedings? How did the government work to ensure victims were not re-
traumatized during participation in trial proceedings? Could victims
provide testimony via video or
[[Page 77485]]
written statements? Were victims' identities kept confidential as part
of such proceedings? In what ways could the government support
increased participation of victims in prosecutions against their
traffickers?
27. Did the government provide, through a formal policy or
otherwise, temporary or permanent residency status, or other relief
from deportation, for foreign victims of human trafficking who may face
retribution or hardship in the countries to which they would be
deported? Were foreign victims given the opportunity to seek legal
employment while in this temporary or permanent residency? Were such
benefits linked to whether a victim assisted law enforcement,
participated in a trial or whether there was a successful prosecution?
Does the government repatriate victims who wish to return home or
assist with third country resettlement? Are victims awaiting
repatriation or third country resettlement offered services? Are
victims indeed repatriated, or are they deported? Did the government
extend additional immigration relief to victims who would otherwise be
deported or repatriated to countries with a high risk of COVID-19
infection or who could not return to their home countries due to travel
restrictions?
28. Does the government effectively assist its nationals exploited
abroad? Does the government work to ensure victims receive adequate
assistance and support for their repatriation while in destination
countries? Does the government provide adequate assistance to
repatriated victims after their return to their countries of origin,
and if so, what forms of assistance?
29. Does the government arrest, detain, imprison, or otherwise
punish trafficking victims (whether or not identified as such by
authorities) for unlawful acts their traffickers compelled them to
commit (forgery of documents, illegal immigration, unauthorized
employment, prostitution, theft, or drug production or transport,
etc.)? If so, do these victims disproportionately represent a certain
gender, race, ethnicity, or other group or particular type of
trafficking? Does law enforcement screen for trafficking victims when
detaining or arresting individuals engaged in commercial sex or
individuals that may be at particular risk of human trafficking?
Prevention
30. What efforts has the government made to prevent human
trafficking? Please describe any government-funded anti-trafficking
information or education campaigns or training, whether aimed at the
public or at specific sectors or stakeholders/actors. Did these
campaigns or trainings target potential trafficking victims, potential
first responders or other trusted authorities, known trafficking
sectors or vulnerabilities, and/or the demand for human trafficking
(e.g., buyers of commercial sex or goods produced with forced labor)?
Does the government provide financial support to nongovernment
organizations working to promote public awareness?
31. How did the government regulate, oversee, and screen for
trafficking indicators in the labor recruitment process, including for
both licensed and unlicensed recruitment and placement agencies,
individual recruiters, sub-brokerages, and microfinance lending
operations? Did it maintain labor attach[eacute]s abroad and were they
trained on human trafficking indicators? How effective were these
efforts in preventing abuse?
32. What did the government do to regulate recruitment practices
that are known to contribute to trafficking in persons? Specifically,
did the government prohibit (in any context) charging workers
recruitment fees? Also indicate if the government prohibited the
recruitment of workers through knowingly fraudulent job offers
(including misrepresenting wages, working conditions, location, or
nature of the job), contract switching, and confiscating or otherwise
denying workers access to their identity documents. If there are laws
or regulations on recruitment, did the government effectively enforce
them?
33. What steps did the government take to minimize the trafficking
risks faced by migrant workers departing from or arriving in the
country and to raise awareness among potential labor migrants about the
risks of human trafficking, legal limits on recruitment fees, or their
rights while abroad? Did the government coordinate with other
governments (e.g., via bilateral agreements with migrant labor sending
or receiving countries) on safe and responsible recruitment that
included prevention measures to target known trafficking indicators? To
what extent were these implemented? Are workers (both nationals of the
country and foreign nationals) in all industries (e.g., domestic work,
agriculture, etc.) equally and sufficiently protected under existing
labor laws?
34. What did the government do to ensure that its policies,
regulations, and agreements relating to migration, labor, trade, and
investment did not facilitate trafficking?
35. How did the government's response to the COVID-19 pandemic
affect the ability of migrant workers to continue earning an income, to
enter and exit the country, and to maintain their immigration status?
What steps did the government take to mitigate the increased risk of
human trafficking some migrant workers may have faced due to the
pandemic (job creation or placement for out-of-work labor migrants,
extension of immigration relief, etc.)?
36. If the government has entered into bilateral, multilateral, or
regional anti-trafficking information-sharing and cooperation
arrangements, are they effective and have they resulted in concrete and
measurable outcomes? If not, why?
37. Did the government provide assistance to other governments in
combating trafficking in persons through trainings or other assistance
programs?
38. What measures has the government taken to reduce the
participation by nationals of the country in international and domestic
child sex tourism?
39. Did the government take sufficient measures to establish the
identity of local populations, including birth registration and
issuance of documentation, citizenship, and nationality?
Child Soldiering
40. Did government officials engage in, support, or otherwise
facilitate the unlawful recruitment or use of children in the
government's armed forces, police, or other security forces? [NOTE:
This can include combat roles as well as support roles, but please be
specific in this regard if possible.] Did the government provide
support to any armed groups that recruited and/or used child soldiers
in combat or support roles? What was the extent of the support (e.g.,
in-kind, financial, training, etc.)? Describe the conditions of
military detention of child soldiers and/or children accused of
association with armed groups, including: (1) The typical length of
time the children are held; (2) access to legal aid and rehabilitation
services; (3) the conditions of the detention facility including food,
sanitation, crowding, etc. and whether children are segregated from
adults and by gender; (4) allegations of suspected sexual exploitation
while in detention, including of female child soldiers; and (5)
allegations children and/or child soldiers are used for labor,
intelligence gathering, or to screen other detained persons.
[[Page 77486]]
41. Please provide observations regarding government efforts to
address the issue of unlawful recruitment or use of children by
governmental armed groups and/or non-state armed groups. Describe the
government's efforts to disarm and demobilize child soldiers, to
provide protection services and reintegrate former child soldiers, and
to monitor the wellbeing of such children after reintegration. Does the
government have any children held in military detention due to their
suspected roles as child soldiers? Do international monitoring
organizations (e.g., UN, ICRC, HRW) have unhindered access to interview
these detained children and/or child soldiers and monitor the
conditions of their detention? Describe the conditions of military
detention of child soldiers and/or children accused of association with
armed groups. Does the government have and/or use any hand-over
procedures to transfer these children to civilian authorities?
Catherine E. Kay,
Deputy Director, Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons,
Department of State.
[FR Doc. 2020-26576 Filed 12-1-20; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4710-17-P