News - US State Department: Armenia government does not fully meet minimum standards for elimination of trafficking

The Government of Armenia does not fully meet the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking but is making significant efforts to do so. The government demonstrated overall increasing efforts compared with the previous reporting period; therefore Armenia remained on Tier 2, the State Department's 2024 Trafficking in Persons (TIP) Report reads. As the source notes, these efforts included investigating and prosecuting more suspected traffickers and identifying more victims. "The government increased resources for victim protection, including to the NGO-run shelter. The Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs (MOLSA) published a guide for social workers to identify victims and developed leaflets to inform victims on available state resources," the report stated. As per the report, the Armenian government increased resources to prevention efforts and sought input from survivors on the gaps in victim services. "However, the government did not meet the minimum standards in several key areas. First responders did not consistently screen vulnerable populations for trafficking indicators. Prosecutors dropped or reclassified cases due to a lack of evidence or a high reliance on victim testimony without corroborating evidence. Law enforcement officials did not always take victim-centered approach in criminal proceedings, and the government did not implement victim-centered policies and victim-witness assistance measure. The government continued to fund victim assistance reintegration programs, which, at times, was not sufficient to fully meet victim needs. The government increased protection efforts. The government identified 25 victims, compared with six victims in 2022.  Of the 25 victims identified, traffickers exploited seven in sex trafficking and 18 in labor trafficking; 10 were women, nine were men, three were girls, and three were boys; three were persons with disabilities; and all were Armenian. As reported over the past five years, human traffickers exploit domestic and foreign victims in Armenia, and traffickers exploit victims from Armenia abroad. Traffickers exploit some Armenian migrants who seek employment in Russia often through recruitment fraud and recruitment fee-related debt bondage by labor brokers. Traffickers exploit Armenian women in sex and labor trafficking, including forced begging, within the country.  Traffickers target Iranian and Indian migrants who willingly seek employment in the informal sector for exploitation in forced labor and force children to beg or sell items on the street, such as tissues. Some children work in agriculture, construction, and service provision within the country, where they are vulnerable to labor trafficking. Men in rural areas with little education, children staying in state childcare institutions, and persons with disabilities remain highly vulnerable to labor trafficking.  Traffickers increasingly used social media to recruit victims. The more than 100,000 displaced persons and refugees from Nagorno Karabakh experiencing unemployment are vulnerable to trafficking," added, in particular, the aforesaid US State Department report.