Trafficking in Persons Report 2008 - Yemen

YEMEN (Tier 2)

Yemen is a country of origin for children, mostly boys, trafficked for forced begging, forced unskilled labor, or forced street vending. Yemeni children are trafficked across the northern border into Saudi Arabia or to the Yemeni cities of Aden and Sana'a for forced work, primarily as beggars. Unconfirmed estimates suggest that 10 Yemeni children are trafficked into Saudi Arabia per day, according to the Ministry of Social Affairs and Labor. Some of these children may be sexually exploited in transit or once they arrive in Saudi Arabia. To a lesser extent, Yemen is also a source country for women and girls trafficked internally and possibly to Saudi Arabia for the purpose of commercial sexual exploitation, as well as a possible destination country for women from Ethiopia, Eritrea, Somalia, and the Philippines. Yemeni girls are trafficked within the country for commercial sexual exploitation; one study by ILO-IPEC indicates that girls as young as 15-yearsold are exploited for commercial sex in hotels, casinos, and bars in the governorates of Mahweet, Aden, and Taiz. In addition, street children are vulnerable to commercial sexual exploitation.

The Government of Yemen does not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking; however, it is making significant efforts to do so. Yemen opened a shelter for child victims in Sana'a and continued to provide protection and reintegration services to victims repatriated from Saudi Arabia. Nonetheless, Yemen reported fewer trafficking convictions this year, and reported no significant efforts to address trafficking for commercial sexual exploitation.

Recommendations for Yemen: Significantly increase prosecutions of trafficking crimes, particularly of repeat trafficking offenders and of crimes that constitute sex trafficking; improve protection services available to victims of trafficking for commercial sexual exploitation; prevent the incarceration of trafficking victims; and institute a formal victim identification mechanism to identify and refer victims to protection services.

Prosecution

The Government of Yemen did not improve its efforts to punish trafficking crimes over the reporting period. Article 248 of the penal code prescribes a 10-year prison sentence for anyone who "buys, sells, or gives as a present, or deals in human beings; and anyone who brings into the country or exports from it a human being with the intent of taking advantage of him." This prescribed penalty is commensurate with that for other grave crimes, such as rape. Article 161 of Yemen's Child Rights Law specifically criminalizes the prostitution of children. Despite the availability of these statutes, Yemen reported only 14 arrests and six convictions for child labor trafficking; the government did not provide information regarding the sentences assigned to the convicted traffickers. The government did not report law enforcement efforts against trafficking for commercial sexual exploitation. Moreover, despite indications of government officials' complicity in trafficking, Yemen did not prosecute any officials for such complicity.

Protection

Yemen made limited progress in protecting victims of trafficking over the last year. In July 2007, the Yemeni government provided 80 female police officers with training on how to deal with trafficked children. It opened a shelter in Sana'a in February to receive trafficked children returning from Saudi Arabia; this shelter has protected 10 boys since its opening. The government also received 622 children in its reception center during the reporting period, providing child victims repatriated from Saudi Arabia with social services, limited medical care, and family reunification services. Nonetheless, the government continues to lack protection services for victims of sex trafficking. The government did not employ procedures for proactively identifying victims of sex trafficking among high-risk groups; as a result, victims, including minors, were arrested and jailed for crimes committed as a result of being trafficked, such as prostitution. The government may encourage child victims to assist in investigations against their traffickers, but does not offer legal alternatives to removal to countries in which they may face hardship or retribution.

Prevention

Yemen made modest progress in preventing trafficking in persons during the reporting period. The government produced an anti-trafficking public awareness campaign against child labor trafficking. In addition, the Ministry of Human Rights distributed brochures on the threat of child trafficking in cooperation with UNICEF, and provided logistical support to this project. The government, however, did not take any known measures during the reporting period to reduce the demand for commercial sex acts. The government also did not undertake any public awareness efforts targeting citizens traveling to known child sex tourism destinations abroad. Yemen has not ratified the 2000 UN TIP Protocol.