Albania Tourism

Kenya is a source, transit, and destination country for men, women, and children trafficked for the purposes of forced labor and sexual exploitation. Kenyan children are internally trafficked for forced domestic servitude, street vending, agricultural labor, and sexual exploitation. Children are also trafficked to Kenya’s coastal area, where they are sexually exploited in a nascent coastal sex tourism industry catering to foreigners. Kenyan women are trafficked to the Middle East, other African nations, and Western Europe for forced domestic labor and sexual exploitation. Burundian and Rwandan children are trafficked to Kenya for sexual exploitation and unpaid domestic labor. Asian nationals, mainly Chinese women, are reportedly trafficked through Nairobi to Europe. Southeast Asian nationals are coerced into accepting circumstances of bonded and unpaid labor in Kenya’s construction and garment industries. ... [Read More]

Country Narratives -- Countries A through G

The government works with a wide-reaching array of NGOs and international organizations on prevention. Both the Ministry of Women’s and Veterans’ Affairs (MOWVA) and the Ministry of Social Affairs, Labor, Vocational Training and Youth Rehabilitation (MOSALVY) have worked with NGOs and international organizations to build up community-based networks in high-risk provinces to inform potential victims of the risks of trafficking. The MOWVA carried out information campaigns, including grassroots meetings in key provinces. The Ministry of Tourism works with NGOs to produce workshops and pamphlets to combat trafficking dangers associated with sex tourism. ... [Read More]

U.S. Humanitarian Mine Action Programs: Europe

GEORGIAThe Landmine Problem The landmine and unexploded ordnance (UXO) problem in Georgia stems primarily from the conflict in the Abkhazia region of the country in 1992–1994. Ongoing partisan activity in some parts of Abkhazia also contributes to the problem. According to the Ministry of Defense of the Government of Georgia (GOG), between 20,000 and 70,000 mines are in the soil, contaminating approximately 18,500,000 square meters of land in Abkhazia, and 220,000 square meters of land in the rest of the country. The majority of the mines are located in Abkhazia in northwestern Georgia. The remainder are in the South Ossetia/Tskivani region in north-central Georgia; the former Soviet ammunition storage facil ... [Read More]

Croatia (03/05)

Privatization and the drive toward a market economy had barely begun under the new Croatian Government when war broke out in 1991. As a result of the war, the economic infrastructure sustained massive damage, particularly the revenue-rich tourism industry. From 1989 to 1993, GDP fell 40.5%. Following the close of the war in 1995, tourism rebounded, and the economy briefly recovered. ...

Fueled in great part by increases in tourism, the Croatian economy began to turn around in 2000, growing 2.9%. This was followed by a 3.8% increase in 2001. The trend continued in 2002, when the economy expanded by 5.2%, stimulated by a credit boom led by the newly privatized and foreign-capitalized banks, some capital investment (most importantly road construction), increases in tourism, and gains by small and medium-sized private enterprises. The increase of unemployment over the last several years appears to have halted and is slowly reversing, although state-financed enterprises, particularly in agriculture and shipbuilding, continue to rely on subsidies and rack up arrears. Weak investor interest due to the poor financial condition of many firms and unresolved property right issues, unrealistic Croatian expectations of market value, and political infighting led to a slowdown of privatization in 2002. However, the sale of 25% (plus one share) of the national petroleum company--whic ... [Read More]

I. Introduction

In response to the phenomenon of CST, NGOs, the tourism industry, and governments have begun to address the issue. The World Tourism Organization (WTO) established a task force to combat CST. The WTO, the NGO End Child Prostitution, Child Pornography and Trafficking of Children for Sexual Purposes (ECPAT), and Nordic tour operators created a global Code of Conduct for the Protection of Children from Sexual Exploitation in Travel and Tourism in 1999. As of March 2005, 100 travel companies from 18 countries have signed the code. (See www.thecode.org.) ... [Read More]

IV. Country Narratives: Europe and Eurasia

The government focused outreach and prevention programs on domestic prostitution and sex tourism abroad. The Prime Minister’s inter-ministerial commission on clandestine workers and illegal labor continued its work, and a new inter-ministerial working group on sex tourism began work on recommendations for the Tourism Ministry. In 2003, Air France, a government-owned carrier, provided a portion of the in-flight duty-free sales of toys, amounting to almost $350,000, to an international NGO conducting awareness programs on child sex tourism. The government provided funding to NGOs conducting outreach to women in sexual servitude, and to organizations fighting child prostitution. The government also funded trafficking prevention programs in Central and Eastern Europe and West Africa. Within the EU, the government supported anti-trafficking programs, including information campaigns, seminars, bilateral training programs for police units and lawmakers, and assigned criminal liaison o ... [Read More]

Aghanistan -- Argentina

Tourism Office ... [Read More]

The U.S. Government’s International Anti-Trafficking Programs Fiscal Year 2004

To assist several NGOs in reducing demand and incidence of sex tourism in Goa, raising increased awareness by the government, community, and tourism industry. ...

To train staff of American companies in travel and tourism industry, impacted heavily by North American tourists. ...

To promote self-regulation of the tourism industry, raise awareness on trafficking in destination countries, and create economic opportunities for potential victims.     ... [Read More]

Greece (02/05)

Services make up the largest and fastest-growing sector of the Greek economy. About 12 million tourists visited Greece in 2003 with net revenues of about 7.4 billion euros. Remittances from transport (mainly shipping) are growing at fast rates and in 2004 have been exceeding tourism receipts. Industrial activity has a mixed performance with certain sectors such as the food industry and high-tech/telecommunications showing healthy increases. Textiles are more affected by international competition. Agriculture employs about 12 percent of the work force and is still characterized by small farms and low capital investment, despite significant support from the EU in structural funds and subsidies. Traditionally a seafaring nation, the Greek-owned merchant fleet totaled 3,355 ships in May 2003, 9.3 percent of world merchant fleet and 18.3 percent of gross tonnage. ... [Read More]

V. Country Narratives -- Countries A through G

France is a destination country for women trafficked for the purposes of sexual exploitation and involuntary domestic servitude, primarily from Eastern and Central Europe and Africa. The number of Chinese women trafficked to France for sexual exploitation increased in 2004. The government estimates that there are 10,000 to 12,000 trafficking victims in France, 3,000-8,000 of whom are children forced into prostitution and labor. Nigerian trafficking networks continued to expand their activities in France. Trafficking of Brazilian women and girls for sexual exploitation to French Guiana — a French possession — remained a serious problem. The Government of France fully complies with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking. Although the government did not provide full data on investigations, prosecutions, convictions, and sentences, the Secretary of State has ... [Read More]