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Washington names Belarus among 12 countries with human trafficking pattern
October 9, Pozirk. The US Department of State has published its 2026 Trafficking in Persons Report listing Belarus among 12 countries with a documented human trafficking policy or pattern.
As in the previous report, Belarus was described as a country where monitors detected “trafficking in government-funded programs, forced labor in government-affiliated medical services or other sectors, sexual slavery in government camps, or the employment or recruitment of child soldiers” along with Afghanistan, Cambodia, China, Cuba, Eritrea, Iran, Myanmar, North Korea, Russia, South Sudan, and Sudan.
Syria has been deleted from the list, while Myanmar and Russia have been added.
Belarus and 19 other countries or territories (Afghanistan, Cambodia, Chad, China, the Republic of the Congo, Cuba, Eritrea, Hong Kong, Iran, Laos, Macau, Myanmar, Nicaragua, North Korea, Russia, Sint Maarten, South Sudan, Sudan, and Venezuela) were placed in Tier 3, the lowest group that may be subject to significant restrictions on foreign aid.
These countries allegedly do not comply with the minimum standards set forth in the US Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000.
The report notes that appropriate restrictions will take effect on October 1.
According to the report, Belarusian authorities continued to subject thousands of people with reported drug or alcohol addictions and political prisoners to forced labor in “labor therapy centers” and penal colonies.
Although the government investigated four human trafficking cases and secured its first trafficking conviction in five years, sentencing the offender to eight years and ten months in prison, it did not report initiating any new prosecutions.
Authorities identified 345 trafficking victims, against 197 a year before, including 308 victims of sex trafficking and 37 victims of labor trafficking, but failed to effectively screen vulnerable groups, including migrants, asylum seekers, and Ukrainian refugees, for trafficking indicators.
Victim protection reportedly remained inadequate, with NGOs and international organizations providing the bulk of support, amid government restrictions on civil society and a lack of government funding for victim services.
According to the report, Belarusian and foreign victims continued to face forced labor and sexual exploitation domestically and abroad, primarily in Russia.
Noting the forced transfer of “more than 3,500 unaccompanied children” from Ukraine to Belarus since 2022, where many reportedly faced re-education and military training, the report expresses concerns about their vulnerability to trafficking.
Belarusian authorities continue to facilitate illegal migration into Latvia, Lithuania, and Poland as well as the entry into Belarus of thousands of migrants and asylum-seekers, from Middle Eastern countries, sub-Saharan Africa and Central Asia; these migrants and asylum-seekers remain vulnerable to trafficking, the report says.
US lists Belarus among countries with documented human trafficking policy
September 30, Pozirk. Belarus is a country with a documented human trafficking policy or pattern, according to the “2025 Trafficking in Persons Report” by the US Department of State. As in the previous report, the list of countries where monitors …
