[ Human Trafficking, Country-by-Country ]

SYRIA (Tier 3) – Extracted in part from the U.S. State Dept 2023 TIP Report

The Government of Syria does not fully meet the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking and, even considering the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, if any, on its anti-trafficking capacity, is not making significant efforts to do so; therefore Syria remained on Tier 3. During the reporting period there was a government policy or pattern of human trafficking and employing or recruiting child soldiers. The government exploited its nationals in forced labor in its compulsory military service by forcing them to serve for indefinite or otherwise arbitrary periods. Officials did not demobilize most individuals from military service after their mandatory period of service; rather it forced citizens to serve indefinitely under threats of detention, torture, familial reprisal, or death. The government did not hold any traffickers criminally accountable, nor did it identify or protect any trafficking victims. The government’s actions directly contributed to the population’s vulnerability to trafficking, and it continued to perpetrate human trafficking crimes routinely. The pandemic, security situation, and the government’s restriction on freedom of movement, press, and internet access limited reporting, including of official complicity in human trafficking and child soldiering crimes. The government and pro-Syrian regime-affiliated militias forcibly recruited and used child soldiers, resulting in children facing extreme violence and retaliation by other warring parties. Despite such reports, the government has never reported efforts to disarm, demobilize, and reintegrate child soldiers, nor has it reported investigating, prosecuting, or convicting officials complicit in the recruitment or use of child soldiers. The government did not protect or prevent children from recruitment or use by armed opposition forces and designated terrorist organizations. The government continued to arrest, detain, and severely abuse trafficking victims, including child soldiers, and punished them for unlawful acts committed as a direct result of being trafficked.

Prioritized Recommendations

Criminalize all forms of human trafficking.

Stop the forcible recruitment and use of child soldiers by government forces and pro-government militias.

Enforce limits on the length of compulsory military service, demobilize individuals who have exceeded the service limit, and cease the deceptive and coercive recruitment of returning refugees.

Proactively identify victims of all forms of trafficking and provide them with appropriate protection services, including long-term care for demobilized child soldiers from government forces and non-state armed groups.

Cease the inappropriate penalization of trafficking victims solely for unlawful acts committed as a direct result of being trafficked, including recruitment or use as child soldiers.

Investigate, prosecute, and convict perpetrators of sex and labor trafficking and the unlawful recruitment or use of child soldiers, including complicit officials.

Screen any North Korean workers for trafficking indicators and refer them to appropriate services, in a manner consistent with obligations under UN Security Council Resolution 2397.