US State Department annual report: Human Rights trafficking increases globally

The U.S. State Department has reported an increase in human trafficking worldwide, attributing it largely to the COVID-19 pandemic, which created conditions ripe for traffickers.

According to the report released on Monday, approximately 25 million people have fallen victim to human trafficking across nearly 190 countries.

The department examined cases of human trafficking in 188 countries, categorizing countries based on their efforts to combat this “crisis.”

Countries such as Afghanistan, Iran, Russia, China, and North Korea are classified in a category where they have made the least effort or no effort at all to combat human trafficking or where they themselves are implicated in trafficking cases.

Antony Blinken, the U.S. Secretary of State, stated during the report’s unveiling that human trafficking is a “global crisis.”

Annual reports from this department on human trafficking indicate that this crisis has been steadily worsening over the past five years.

While in previous years, the primary drivers of intensified human trafficking were perceived as government inaction and widespread corruption, the State Department’s 2024 report identifies the COVID-19 pandemic as the major factor exacerbating trafficking cases.

According to the report, children in Afghanistan are subjected to various forms of abuse. The Taliban, Resistance Front, and ISIS-Khorasan Branch are identified as groups recruiting child soldiers.

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