U.S. Department of State's Latest Assessment
Each year the State Department submits the Trafficking in Persons (TIP) Report to Congress. Each country is assessed on its previous year's record of prosecution, protection and prevention. It also examines the nation's efforts to rescue, rehabilitate and reintegrate victims of trafficking.
A country that fails to make significant efforts to bring itself into compliance with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking in persons, per U.S. law receives a "Tier 3" assessment--"Tier 1" being given to the least egregious of countries. Currently, Nepal is classified as "Tier 2". Below is the State Department's analysis.
Nepal is a source country for men,
women, and children trafficked for the purposes of commercial sexual
exploitation and involuntary servitude.
Children are trafficked internally and to India and the Middle East for commercial sexual exploitation or forced marriage, as well as to India and within the country for involuntary servitude as child soldiers, domestic servants, and circus entertainment or factory workers. Nepalese women are trafficked to India and to countries of the Middle East for commercial sexual exploitation. They also migrate willingly - though sometimes illegally - to Malaysia, Israel, South Korea, the United States, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Qatar, and other Gulf states to work as domestic servants, but some subsequently face conditions of involuntary servitude such as withholding of passports and other restrictions on movement, non-payment of wages, threats, and physical or sexual abuse. Despite the Government of Nepal's ban on traveling to Iraq for work, some Nepalese who believe they are being offered jobs in Jordan or Kuwait travel there, and then are later deceived and trafficked into involuntary servitude in Iraq.
The Government of Nepal does not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking; however, it is making significant efforts to do so. Effective implementation of anti-trafficking policies is hampered by political instability and limited resources. The absence of local government in rural areas as a result of the decade-long insurgency has increased the risk of trafficking while constraining the government's efficiency. Despite these limitations, Nepal maintained its efforts to prosecute sex trafficking offenses and expanded local Women's Police Cells to 24 stations. The government, however, was not able to adequately fund or staff the Women's Cells, limiting their effectiveness. Nepal also did not demonstrate a concerted effort to criminally prosecute and adequately punish labor recruiters who use deceptive practices to force workers into involuntary servitude abroad.
Prosecution
Nepal
made significant efforts to prosecute cases of trafficking for
commercial sexual exploitation this year, but made inadequate progress
in prosecuting and punishing trafficking for involuntary servitude.
Nepal does not prohibit all forms of trafficking in persons, but
prohibits slavery, the selling of human beings, and forced prostitution
through its Human Trafficking Control Act of 1986. Prescribed
punishments under this law - 5 to 20 years' imprisonment - are
sufficiently stringent and commensurate with those for other grave
crimes. Fraudulent or deceptive labor recruitment is punishable by
three to five years' imprisonment or a fine or both. From July 15, 2005
through July 14, 2006, Nepal filed a total of 393 sex trafficking cases
at the district, appellate and Supreme Court levels. Of these cases, 87
were prosecuted to conviction, 60 persons were acquitted, and 246 cases
are pending. The government does not keep records on sentences and
fines, but NGO lawyers report that, in over half of the cases the
government prosecuted, traffickers received the maximum prison
sentence. Nepal did not report any cases filed against corrupt
government officials who may have facilitated trafficking by taking
bribes at the India-Nepal border or engaging in document fraud.
The government demonstrated only slight progress in adequately punishing labor recruiters who use deceptive recruitment practices to coerce Nepali workers abroad for labor exploitation. This reporting period, the government reported receiving 786 complaints against agencies and individual recruiters, canceling licenses for 116 manpower agencies, and ordering compensation to workers totaling $450,000. However, Nepal did not report any prison sentences imposed on agency owners or employees found to be engaging in labor trafficking through the use of deceptive or fraudulent recruitment practices. Nepal should expand efforts to vigorously investigate and adequately punish recruitment agency owners and employees believed to be involved in trafficking, and should improve its law enforcement efforts against corrupt officials facilitating trafficking.
Protection
Nepal
made modest improvements in its efforts to protect victims of
trafficking. The government expanded the number of Women's Police Cells
operating throughout the country from 20 to 24 in 22 districts to
assist trafficking victims. Although the government does not directly
provide legal aid, limited funding is provided to local NGOs to provide
trafficking victims assistance with rehabilitation, medical care, and
other services. Victims are not punished, but foreign victims are not
offered legal alternatives to removal to countries in which they may
face hardship or retribution. Though Nepal encourages victims to assist
in investigations against their traffickers, lack of government
resources and measures to ensure witness safety against threats by
traffickers, as well as discrimination in court and in society, often
discourage victims from pursuing legal recourse. The government does
not provide victim protection services for men and women trafficked
abroad for involuntary servitude. NGOs indicate that Nepalese embassies
overseas lack personnel and other resources to help trafficking victims
who face involuntary servitude in foreign countries. The government
should increase protection efforts for victims of involuntary servitude
by assisting in their repatriation, and adequately training government
officials posted in destination countries on methods of identifying and
protecting trafficking victims.
Prevention
Nepal's
measures to prevent trafficking improved only slightly since last year.
The government continued to implement anti-trafficking information
campaigns in conjunction with local NGOs, and maintained orientation
sessions for all workers traveling overseas. The effectiveness of these
orientation sessions, however, is limited since this requirement is
only enforced on workers going abroad legally through registered
agencies, some of whom chose not to receive the training. The
government should put in place a more effective education program and
develop mechanisms to prevent trafficking of women and girls across the
porous Indo-Nepal border. Nepal has not ratified the 2000 UN TIP
Protocol.
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