US Department of State says Georgia maintains highest level of fighting trafficking

The Georgian government has maintained the highest level of fighting trafficking, the US Department of State said in its 2021 Trafficking in Persons Report.

The report says that the government of Georgia managed to demonstrate sustainable efforts considering the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on its anti-trafficking capacity.  

The Government of Georgia fully meets the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking...therefore Georgia remained on Tier 1”, says the US Department of State report.

The 2021 Trafficking in Persons Report states that the country’s criminal code fully criminalises sex trafficking, labour trafficking and provides adequate punishment with a maximum sentence of 12 to 15 years imprisonment. 

The report also provides statistical data of investigated cases, criminal prosecutions and verdicts.

Law enforcement investigated 13 cases (17 in 2019) - nine sex trafficking cases. The government prosecuted eight defendants in five cases (29 defendants in 2019); three defendants for child sex trafficking and five defendants for forced labour, including two defendants for forced begging”, reported in the document. 

• CoE report: Despite Georgia’s progress in fighting human trafficking, provision of justice, victim identification must be improved

Georgia is again the only Eastern Partnership (EAP) country in the first tier fighting trafficking.

The US Department of State also reports on the flaws of the government’s strategy and states that Georgia ‘did not establish a work permit system for migrant workers, nor did it license and monitor recruitment agencies.’ 

Police conducted some ad hoc raids on commercial sex establishments without a clear strategy or victim identifications. The government did not provide adequate public assessments or information on its efforts and at times lacked transparency”, reported in the document. 

• Georgia among countries with fewest cases of child trafficking

The US Department of State recommends to:

• Increase efforts to identify victims proactively
• Increase resources to plan intelligence and evidence-led law enforcement operations with victim-centred approaches
• Encourage victims’ participation in investigations and prosecutions through victim-centred court procedures
• Implement procedures to improve the Permanent Group’s ability to identify victims consistently and accurately
• Improve law enforcement capacity to investigate complex cases
• Increase transparency of the inter-ministerial trafficking coordination council and regularly publish information on the government’s anti-trafficking efforts

Based on the data of the US Department of State the tier ranking of Georgia has been the highest since 2016.