Maldives has been removed from the United States' State Department Trafficking in Persons (TIP) Tier 2 watch list.
The U.S. State Department Office issues the report ranking governments based on their perceived efforts to acknowledge and combat trafficking in persons.
While Maldives was initially upgraded to Tier 2 in 2017, the country was put back on the watch list the next year.
The incumbent government passed the Maldives National Anti-Human Trafficking Action Plan 2020 – 2022 on 25th February 2020, which includes revision of the Prevention of Human Trafficking Act, and the country was able to remain in the Tier 2 watch list without dropping to Tier 3 last year.
The State Department ranks countries in Tier 3 for failing to comply with the minimum standards for eliminating trafficking or make significant efforts to comply. A Tier 3 ranking could affect the country’s access to some U.S. aid.
The 2021 TIP Report states that Maldives was upgraded to Tier 2 for the “overall increasing efforts compared to the previous reporting period, considering the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on its anti-trafficking capacity”.
The TIP Report highlighted action taken by the government to prevent and combat human trafficking include,
- Opening two investigations into cases allegedly involving government officials in trafficking or trafficking-related corruption
- Establishing the Office of Anti-Human Trafficking (ATO) headed by a Director in the Ministry of Defense (MOD)
- Dedicating funding for the office and the national action plan (NAP) in the official budget for the first time
- Passing amendments to the Prevention of Human Trafficking Act (PHTA) to bring the definition of human trafficking in line with the 2000 UN TIP Protocol through all necessary parliamentary committees in preparation for a final vote
- Completing construction of a trafficking victims shelter
- Elevating the human trafficking unit in the Maldives Police Service (MPS) to an anti-trafficking department
- Holding first ever social media awareness campaign on International Migrant’s Day to raise awareness on human trafficking, and
- Drafting several standard operating procedures (SOPs) for victim identification, shelter operations, and referral to victim services.
The report highlighted that the government had investigated two trafficking cases involving seven individuals but that it did not initiate any new prosecutions or convict any traffickers during the reporting period. During the previous reporting period, it investigated two trafficking cases and 27 potential labor trafficking cases, prosecuting one case, and convicting two traffickers. The report noted that “the fall in numbers was due in large part to the government’s need to reallocate a significant amount of financial and human resources away from nearly all aspects of its operations to focus on the pandemic”.
According to the report, Maldives police continues to investigate 27 recruitment agencies noted in the 2020 TIP Report while the PG Office continued to prosecute four cases from previous reporting periods.
“The Ministry of Gender, Family, and Social Services (MOGFSS) did not identify any child sex trafficking cases during the reporting period. MPS reported investigating 291 incidents of child commercial sexual exploitation in 2020, and sending PGO 115 of these cases for prosecution; however, it did not report identifying any of these cases as trafficking”2021 Trafficking in Persons Report: Maldives
Noting that addressing the cause and effects of human trafficking is a priority for the Maldives, Foreign Minister Abdullla Shahid described the upgrade as “a clear acknowledgment of efforts to eliminate trafficking, promote human rights and rule of law”.
The report also notes that the Maldivian government "did not meet the minimum standards in several key areas” including “erroneously considering trafficking as a crime only involving migrant workers and failing to properly investigate or charge cases involving Maldivian nationals.”
Further, it said that "despite continued reports of trafficking indicators among migrant workers, including non payment of wages and passport retention, the government identified only two victims during the reporting period" as well as that authorities arrested some possible victims without screening them for trafficking indicators who remained in detention till the end of reporting period "despite NGOs calling for their identification as victims and subsequent release." The report highlighted that the government "did not hold employers or recruitment agencies accountable, by filing any charges against them despite sustained reports of labor violations."
