This archive report was first published on 7 July 2020.
Published on July 7, 2020, the US State Department's Trafficking in Persons Report has revealed that Burundi and South Sudan are lagging behind in the elimination of human trafficking.
The two countries have been ranked in Tier 3, the lowest category, meaning they did not make any effort to eliminate human trafficking. This ranking triggers US assistance restrictions, including funding for cultural exchanges and education, and voting on loans provided by multilateral development banks.
While the other members of the East African Community - Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania, and Uganda - also did not perform well in preventing and prosecuting human traffickers, they were listed in Tier 2 for their efforts. This indicates that they have made some progress in addressing the issue, but still have a long way to go.
According to the report, Burundi did not investigate, prosecute, or convict officials allegedly complicit in trafficking crimes for the past five years. The country also lacked procedures to identify and refer victims to services. However, the Burundi government took some steps to address trafficking, including working with an international organisation to provide training to immigration officials and conducting public awareness campaigns.
South Sudan, also on Tier 3, did not investigate or prosecute any forced labour or sex trafficking crimes for eight consecutive years. The country's police and judicial officials continued to lack a basic understanding of what constitutes trafficking in persons and frequently combined human trafficking with illegal migration cases.
Despite the lack of significant efforts, the South Sudan government took some steps to address trafficking, including forming and staffing an anti-trafficking inter-ministerial task force and cooperating with an international organisation to release 286 child soldiers.
