Conservation issues
What other countries are the Malaysian government conversing with about standardized anti-trafficking laws?
Malaysia
Human trafficking in Honduras Human rights in Sierra Leone Human trafficking in Pakistan Human trafficking in Nepal Human trafficking in Barbados
Human_trafficking_in_Honduras-Prosecution Human_rights_in_Sierra_Leone-Human_trafficking Human_trafficking_in_Pakistan-Prosecution Human_trafficking_in_Nepal-Remaining_Challenges Human_trafficking_in_Barbados-Protection
The Honduran government took significant steps to investigate and punish human trafficking crimes during the reporting year. Honduras prohibits trafficking for the purpose of commercial sexual exploitation through Article 149 of its penal code and an anti-trafficking statute enacted in February 2006, but does not prohibit trafficking for the purpose of labor exploitation. Honduran laws against sex trafficking prescribe penalties of up to 13 years’ imprisonment, which are sufficiently stringent and commensurate with those prescribed for other grave crimes such as rape. Last year, the government significantly increased efforts to investigate trafficking crimes by opening 74 investigations, initiating 13 prosecutions, and obtaining eight convictions, with sentences ranging from 5 to 27 years’ imprisonment. This compares with 24 trafficking-related investigations, 17 prosecutions, eight convictions, and four significant prison terms obtained in 2006. The government also dedicated more prosecutors and police personnel to combat human trafficking activity. Of particular note was a joint effort by the police, NGO Casa Alianza, and the Tegucigalpa mayor’s office to utilize proactive strategies such as raids and stakeouts to catch human traffickers and remove victims from trafficking situations. However, anti-trafficking law enforcement efforts outside the capital and San Pedro Sula were few. The government expanded anti-trafficking training for law enforcement officials in 2007, training thousands of personnel with the assistance of IOM. Law enforcement authorities regularly work with neighboring countries and the United States on anti-trafficking efforts, as well as investigations of child sex tourism. However, defendants over the age of 60 are subject to house arrest in Honduras while awaiting trial; many of these accused offenders, including American citizens, flee or bribe their way out of the country and avoid prosecution. Some acts of complicity with human trafficking have been reported among lower-level immigration officials and in other sectors. However, no investigations or prosecutions of such corrupt activity have been opened by the government. 
The U.S. State Department's 2012 report on human trafficking identified Sierra Leone as “a source, transit, and destination country for men, women, and children subjected to forced labor and sex trafficking.” Individuals are compelled to work in “prostitution, domestic servitude, and forced service or labor in artisanal diamond and granite mining, petty trading, portering, rockbreaking, street crime, and begging,” as well as “in the fishing and agriculture sectors.” Some persons also end up performing forced labor as a consequence of forced marriages. The report noted that “Sierra Leoneans voluntarily migrate to other West African countries, including Mauritania and Guinea, as well as to the Middle East and Europe, where they are subsequently subjected to forced labor and forced prostitution. Sierra Leone may also be a destination country for children trafficked from Nigeria, and possibly from The Gambia, Cote d’Ivoire, and Guinea, for forced begging, forced labor, and exploitation in prostitution.” The State Department report further observed that while Sierra Leone's government “does not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking,” it “is making significant efforts to do so,” although its efforts to enforce anti-trafficking laws actually decreased in 2011. Also, “wareness of existing anti-trafficking laws remained weak, courts convicted no trafficking offenders, and fewer suspects were charged with trafficking crimes compared with the previous year.” 
The Government of Pakistan made progress in law enforcement efforts to combat human trafficking in 2009. While the lack of comprehensive internal anti-trafficking laws hindered law enforcement efforts, a number of other laws were used to address some of these crimes. Several sections in the Pakistan Penal Code, as well as provincial laws, criminalize forms of human trafficking such as slavery, selling a child for prostitution, and unlawful compulsory labor, with prescribed offenses ranging from fines to life imprisonment. Pakistan prohibits all forms of transnational trafficking in persons with the Prevention and Control of Human Trafficking Ordinance (PACHTO); the penalties range from seven to 14 years’ imprisonment. Government officials and civil society report that judges have difficulty applying PACHTO and awarding sufficiently stringent punishments, because of confusion over definitions and similar offenses in the Pakistan Penal Code. In addition, the Bonded Labor (System) Abolition Act (BLAA) prohibits bonded labor, with prescribed penalties ranging from two to five years’ imprisonment, a fine, or both. Pakistani officials have yet to record a single conviction and have indicated the need to review and amend the BLAA. Prescribed penalties for above offenses vary widely; some are sufficiently stringent and commensurate with those for other serious crimes such as rape. Others – with minimum sentencing of a fine or less than a year in prison – are not sufficiently stringent. During 2009, the government convicted 385 criminals under PACHTO – 357 more than 2008. The government did not disclose the punishments given to the trafficking offenders. Reported sentences under this law in previous years were not sufficiently stringent. Moreover, despite reports of transnational sex trafficking, the FIA reported fewer than a dozen such cases under PACHTO. Government officials also often conflated human smuggling and human trafficking, particularly in public statements and data reported to the media. In 2009, Pakistan reported 2,894 prosecutions and 166 convictions under the vagrancy ordinances and various penal code sections which authorities sometimes use to prosecute trafficking offenses; it is unclear how many of these prosecutions and convictions involved trafficking. It is confirmed that the government convicted at least three child traffickers; it is unknown whether these convictions were for forced prostitution or labor and what the imposed penalties were. The government prosecuted at least 500 traffickers: 416 for sex trafficking, 33 for labor trafficking, and 51 for either sex or labor trafficking. Only one person was prosecuted under the Bonded Labor System Abolition Act, with no conviction. Some feudal landlords are affiliated with political parties or are officials themselves and use their social, economic and political influence to protect their involvement in bonded labor. Furthermore, police lack the personnel, training and equipment to confront landlords’ armed guards when freeing bonded labors. Additionally, media and NGOs reported that some police received bribes from brothel owners, landowners, and factory owners who subject Pakistanis to forced labor or prostitution, in exchange for police to ignore these illegal human trafficking activities. In 2009, 108 officials were disciplined, 34 given minor punishments, four permanently removed, and one was compulsorily retired for participating in illegal migration and human smuggling; some of these officials may have facilitated human trafficking. In efforts to enhance victim identification practices, FIA officials and more than 250 law enforcement officers participated in anti-human trafficking training in 2009, provided in partnership with NGOs and governments of other countries. Various Pakistani government agencies provided venue space, materials, and travel and daily allowances, and law enforcement officers led and taught some of the training workshops. Police and FIA officials continued to receive anti-trafficking training in their respective training academies. 
 Many challenges remain in combatting trafficking. First, there is a dearth of quantitative data on trafficking, mostly because of its illegal and clandestine nature. Much existing information about sex trafficking in Nepal is reliant on NGO publications; there is still no centralized database system for trafficking in persons by the government or any other organization. Second, there is inadequate coordination between and among actors within the country, and third, it is difficult to generate scientific data due to social sigma attached to trafficking as majority of trafficking involves for sexual exploitation. Other enduring challenges to combat trafficking are the open-border between Nepal and India, lack of enforcement of laws due to increasingly communal violence, political instability, corruption, inadequate funding and implementation of NPA against trafficking, and less priority of anti-trafficking activities on the Nepali government agenda. Socioeconomic factors such as pervasive poverty, a global economy with demand for cheap and slave labor, and lack of opportunities for Nepali locally continue to drive the cycle of vulnerability. Furthermore, elements of the greater socioeconomic and cultural climate such as gender inequality, stigma, and lack of respect for human rights, especially those of women and children, remain imposing societal obstacles toward fighting trafficking. 
The Government of Barbados maintained its moderate efforts to ensure victims’ access to necessary protective services over the last year. As the crime of trafficking does not officially exist in Barbadian law, there are no legal protections provided for trafficking victims. Existing facilities which provide assistance to victims of other crimes, such as rape and child abuse, that are partially funded by the government and run by NGOs, may have provided services to child victims of sex trafficking without having identified them as human trafficking victims. Neither government nor NGO personnel could provide information about whether any trafficking victims were identified at these facilities. The Gender Affairs Bureau arranged for assistance to be provided to victims of any crime regardless of whether they participated in investigations or prosecutions. Officials from this Bureau collaborated with a local NGO to sensitize government agencies on the difference between smuggling and trafficking, the importance of referring victims to services provided in collaboration with NGOs, and the importance of implementing a trafficking-specific protocol and legislation to better target their efforts. Victims of trafficking (like victims of other crimes) were not usually encouraged to participate in investigations or prosecutions of trafficking offenders. Trafficking victims could be prosecuted for unlawful acts committed as a direct result of their being trafficked. Most law enforcement and immigration officials still do not have the appropriate training, funding, and other necessary mechanisms to identify victims or suspected cases of trafficking. The government provided no legal alternatives for the removal of foreign trafficking victims to countries where they may face hardship or retribution. Police claimed to have no option under current laws but to treat foreign trafficking victims without valid immigration documents as violators of the law subject to summary deportation. There have been no reported cases of Barbadians trafficked to foreign countries, although the Bureau of Gender Affairs has specialized services in place should such a case arise. 