Observación (CEACR) - Adopción: 2024, Publicación: 113ª reunión CIT (2025)

Convenio sobre el trabajo forzoso, 1930 (núm. 29) - Iraq (Ratificación : 1962)

Articles 1(1), 2(1) and 25 of the Convention. Trafficking in persons. The Committee previously referred to the need to address the significant level of sale and trafficking of persons, particularly women and girls for both sexual and labour exploitation in the country, by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) during the armed conflict. The Committee notes that despite the end of the ISIL conflict, Iraq remains a source and destination for sex trafficking and forced labour, affecting women, children and men (press release of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) Regional Office for the Middle East and North Africa (ROMENA) of 2020). According to the 2024 Iraq Crisis Response Plan by the International Organization for Migration, the humanitarian situation in Iraq continues to be characterized by general instability and protracted internal displacement, with over more than 1.14 million people still displaced as of August 2023. Internally displaced persons, especially the 600,480 in high-severity conditions, face significant protection risks, including exploitation and trafficking.

The Committee notes the Government’s information, in its report, that pursuant to Anti-Trafficking Law No. 28 of 2012, a Central Committee on Combating Human Trafficking and Relevant Authorities (CCCHT) has been established to follow up on cases involving human trafficking. CCCHT officials will be empowered to conduct investigations and refer victims to safe homes for support. The Committee also notes the Government’s information on the measures taken to prevent trafficking and protect victims, such as the identification of victims through the establishment of proactive measures and referral to safe homes; the setting up of a free 24-hour hotline for the notification of cases; and the establishment of a statistical database on registered cases, arrests, convictions and number of victims.

The Committee further notes that, according to press releases from the UNODC Regional Office for the Middle East and North Africa (ROMENA), of March and July 2023, the Government is taking measures in collaboration with the UNODC, under the Global Action against Trafficking in Persons and the Smuggling of Migrants project (GLO. ACT), such as a coaching session in March 2023 for police and judicial investigators (13 men and 2 women) on investigative techniques related to human trafficking; meetings were held in March and July 2023, composed of representatives of both Federal Iraq and the Kurdistan Region, which aimed at developing standard operating procedures for law enforcement authorities, including those of the Kurdistan Region. The standard operating procedures consist of eight chapters, including the international legislative framework, national legislative framework, identification of traffickers and victims of trafficking, investigation, victim protection and assistance, case management, and review mechanisms.

The Committee observes that the Government has not provided information on the number of cases of trafficking identified, prosecutions or sanctions imposed, and the protection afforded to victims of trafficking.

The Committee requests the Government to continue its efforts to prevent and combat trafficking in persons for both labour and sexual exploitation. In this regard, it requests the Government to provide information on: (i) the measures taken for the adoption of a national plan of action on combating trafficking in persons to ensure coordinated action encompassing prevention, protection and prosecution, as well as the measures taken by the Central Committee on Combating Human Trafficking and Relevant Authorities (CCCHT) in this regard; (ii) the investigations and prosecutions carried out by law enforcement bodies and the difficulties encountered in this area, as well as the specific penalties applied under Anti-Trafficking Law No. 28 of 2012; (iii) the number of victims identified and the type of assistance provided to them; and (iv) the progress made in the adoption and implementation of the standard operating procedures.