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Azerbaijan is among countries making significant efforts against sex trafficking in the US Department of State report

27 July 2015 20:50 (UTC +04:00)

According to the report Azerbaijan has kept its place on the 2nd tier and made some progress on fight against human trafficking and forced labour.

The report also notes that there are some problems in sex trafficking and forced labour. According to the report Azerbaijan was used as a transit country for victims of sex and labor trafficking from Central Asia to the UAE, Turkey, and Iran in previous years. The report reads that Azerbaijan does not fully comply with the standards for the elimination of trafficking; however, it is making significant efforts to do so.

“The government made progress to protect and assist victims. The MIA Anti-Trafficking Department (ATD) fully renovated the MIArun shelter in Baku to improve conditions in the shelter, which could accommodate 50 people” reads the report

In 2014, the government certified 50 women and one girl as sex trafficking victims and three men as labor trafficking victims, compared with 40 sex trafficking victims and 16 labor trafficking victims in 2013.

Of the 54 victims certified, 35 women and three men were referred to the MIA-run shelter, where they received legal, medical, and psychological support. The government provided 53 victims with a one-time allowance of 400 manat ($380), 24 victims with jobs, and 35 victims with vocational training. Of the 54 victims, 36 were directed to NGOs, and 51 were directed to the state-run Victim Assistance Center (VAC) for additional social services. Two NGOs provided shelter and care for 48 potential and recognized victims without government funding.

The ATD reported allocating 314,330 manat ($298,500) to victim assistance in 2014;

The report also recommends: “vigorously investigate and prosecute persons allegedly complicit in human trafficking, and sentence convicted offenders with dissuasive penalties; strengthen efforts to identify foreign and domestic victims of labor trafficking by law enforcement within the country by creating standard operating procedures; to increase law enforcement efforts against traffickers, including individuals or companies that subject migrant workers to forced labor improve communication among government agencies, provide safe accommodation for victims who choose not to cooperate with law enforcement; provide sensitivity training to law enforcement officers, prosecutors, and the judiciary, including on how to work with trafficking victims who have experienced psychological trauma.”