US Department of State Annual Report: Human Rights Trafficking Rises Globally

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

According to the report released Monday, around 25 million people have been victims of human trafficking in nearly 190 countries.

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

Countries like Afghanistan, Iran, Russia, China and North Korea are placed in a category where they have made the least, if any, effort to combat human trafficking or in which they themselves are involved in trafficking cases.

Antony Blinken, the US secretary of state, said while presenting the report that human trafficking is a “global crisis”.

The ministry's annual reports on human trafficking indicate that this crisis has continued to worsen over the past five years.

While in previous years the main drivers of increased human trafficking were seen as government inaction and widespread corruption, the State Department's 2024 report identifies the COVID-19 pandemic as the main factor exacerbating cases of trafficking.

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