COUNTRY NARRATIVES Country narratives 55 aware that they are carrying explosives that are then set aFGHANISTAN off remotely without their knowledge. some child soldiers (tier 2 Watch List) used by insurgent groups were sexually exploited. Boys are sometimes promised enrollment in islamic schools in afghanistan is a source, transit, and destination country Pakistan and iran, but instead are trafficked to camps for for men, women, and children subjected to trafficking in paramilitary training by extremist groups. persons, specifically forced labor and forced prostitution. trafficking within afghanistan is more prevalent than the Government of afghanistan does not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of AFGHANISTAN transnational trafficking, and the majority of victims are children. afghan boys and girls are trafficked within the trafficking; however, it is making significant efforts country for forced prostitution and forced labor in brick to do so. Despite these efforts, such as the continued kilns, carpet-making factories, and domestic service. referral of identified trafficking victims to care facilities, Forced begging is a growing problem in afghanistan; the government did not show evidence of increasing Mafia groups organize professional begging rings. afghan efforts over the previous year. specifically, the afghan boys are subjected to forced prostitution and forced government did not prosecute or convict trafficking labor in the drug smuggling industry in Pakistan and offenders under its 2008 law, and punished victims iran. afghan women and girls are subjected to forced of sex trafficking with imprisonment for adultery or prostitution, forced marriages—including through prostitution. afghanistan is therefore placed on tier 2 forced marriages in which husbands force their wives Watch List. into prostitution—and involuntary domestic servitude Recommendations for Afghanistan: increase law in Pakistan and iran, and possibly india. nGos report enforcement activities against trafficking using the 2008 that over the past year, increasing numbers of boys were anti-trafficking law, including prosecutions, convictions, trafficked internally. some families knowingly sell their and imprisonment for acts of trafficking for commercial children for forced prostitution, including for bacha baazi sexual exploitation and forced labor, including debt – where wealthy men use harems of young boys for social bondage; ensure that victims of trafficking are not and sexual entertainment. other families send their punished for unlawful acts committed as a direct result of children with brokers to gain employment. Many of these being trafficked, such as prostitution or adultery; ensure children end up in forced labor, particularly in Pakistani that government actors no longer conflate the crimes of carpet factories. nGos indicate that families sometimes kidnapping, human trafficking, and human smuggling; make cost-benefit analyses regarding how much debt they collaborate with nGos to ensure that all children, can incur based on their tradable family members. including boys, victimized by sex and labor trafficking afghan men are subjected to forced labor and debt receive protective services; and undertake initiatives to bondage in the agriculture and construction sectors prevent trafficking, such as continuing a public awareness in iran, Pakistan, Greece, the Gulf states, and possibly campaign to warn at-risk populations of the dangers of southeast asian countries. under the pretense of high- trafficking. paying employment opportunities, traffickers lure foreign workers to afghanistan, and lure afghan villagers Prosecution to afghan cities or india or Pakistan, then sometimes the Government of afghanistan made no discernible subject them to forced labor or forced prostitution at the anti-human trafficking law enforcement efforts over destination. at the end of 2009 and beginning of 2010, the reporting period. afghanistan’s Law Countering an increasing number of male migrants from sri Lanka, abduction and Human trafficking (2008) prescribes nepal, and india who migrated willingly to afghanistan penalties of life imprisonment for sex trafficking and were then subjected to forced labor. “maximum term” imprisonment for labor trafficking, which in practice is between eight and 15 years. these Women and girls from iran, tajikistan, and possibly penalties are sufficiently stringent and exceed those uganda and China are forced into prostitution in prescribed for other serious crimes, such as rape. afghanistan. some international security contractors However, the elimination of violence against Women may have been involved in the sex trafficking of these (EVAW) law, enacted in July 2009, supersedes other laws women. Brothels and prostitution rings are sometimes and can be used to decrease the penalties outlined in run by foreigners, sometimes with links to larger criminal afghanistan’s anti-trafficking law. the prescribed penalty networks. tajik women are also believed to be trafficked for an offender who abducts a victim and subjects him through afghanistan to other countries for prostitution. or her to forced labor is short-term imprisonment not trafficked iranian women transit afghanistan en route to to exceed six months, and a fine, and the prescribed Pakistan. penalty for an offender who forces an adult female the united nations reported that children were associated into prostitution is at least seven years. the national with the afghan national Police (ANP) during the year. Directorate of security (nDs) has investigated 16 cases the government is taking measures to improve the age- of suspected human trafficking crimes and sent them verification systems of the ANP. Children from ages 12 to to court for potential prosecution. the Ministry of 16 years are used as suicide bombers by the taliban. some interior (MOI) arrested 24 offenders in 19 alleged cases children have been tricked or forced to become suicide of human trafficking during the reporting period. since bombers. others are heavily indoctrinated or are not the government of afghanistan confuses trafficking 56 with smuggling and abductions, it is not clear whether prostitution. the anti-trafficking law permits foreign AFGHANISTAN all of these prosecutions and arrests were for trafficking. victims to remain in afghanistan for at least six months; the government did not report whether the arrests, there were no reports of foreign victims making use of investigations, and prosecutions were under the counter- this provision of immigration relief. trafficking law. the afghanistan government did not serious concerns remain regarding government officials provide information on human trafficking convictions. who punish victims of trafficking for acts they may have the government reported difficulty engaging Pakistani committed as a direct result of being trafficked. in some authorities for joint investigation of transnational cases, trafficking victims were jailed pending resolution trafficking cases. there was no evidence that the of their legal cases, despite their recognized victim status. government made any efforts to investigate, arrest, or Female trafficking victims continued to be arrested and prosecute government officials facilitating trafficking imprisoned or otherwise punished for prostitution and offenses despite reports of national and border police fleeing forced marriages for trafficking purposes. in and workers in government-run orphanages who some cases, women who fled their homes to escape these facilitated trafficking or raped sex trafficking victims. the types of forced marriages reported being raped by police international organization for Migration (IOM) and a or treated by police as criminals simply for not being foreign government provided separate trainings to police, chaperoned. victimized women who could not find place prosecutors, judges, and other government officials, in a shelter often ended up in prison; some women chose which included components on identifying victims of to go to prison for protection from male family members. trafficking and distinguishing trafficking and smuggling there is no evidence that the government encouraged cases. victims to assist in investigations of their traffickers Protection during the reporting period. attempts to seek redress are the Government of afghanistan made minimal progress impeded in part because an afghan victim would be in in protecting victims of trafficking. afghanistan did not grave danger for simply identifying his or her assailant. have a formal procedure to identify victims of trafficking. the MOI identified 360 victims of sex trafficking— including 44 women, 211 men, 13 girls, and 70 boys. the MOI released 338 of these victims to return home, but did not provide data on whether it ensured their safe return and reintegration. the remaining 22 victims were unaccounted for. the government continued to run two referral centers in Parwan and Jalalabad. under a formalized referral agreement established in late 2007, afghan police continued to refer women victimized by violence to the Ministry of Women’s affairs (MoWa), Prevention UNIFeM, IOM, and nGos. the government lacked During the reporting period, the Government of resources to provide victims with protective services afghanistan made no discernible progress in preventing directly; nGos operated the country’s shelters and human trafficking. the MoWa initiative to strengthen provided the vast majority of victim assistance, but Policy and