U.S. Department of State 2003 Trafficking in Persons Report - Sudan
| Publisher | United States Department of State |
| Author | Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons |
| Publication Date | 11 June 2003 |
| Cite as | United States Department of State, U.S. Department of State 2003 Trafficking in Persons Report - Sudan, 11 June 2003, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/4680d7e2c.html [accessed 8 June 2023] |
| Disclaimer | This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States. |
Sudan (Tier 3)
Sudan is a source and destination country for internationally trafficked persons and has widespread internally trafficked persons. Sudanese government-sponsored militias and rebel groups have abducted thousands of men, women, and children who are used as sex slaves, domestic workers, and child soldiers from within Sudan and Uganda. Men are conscripted as soldiers and laborers. Women and children are also subjected to intertribal abductions for domestic servitude and sexual exploitation in the southern part of the country. There is a wide divergence in the estimates of abducted and/or enslaved persons. An undetermined number of women and children remain in captivity in situations of forced servitude. There are reports of Sudanese being sold into slavery and transported through Chad to Libya and of Sudanese boys being trafficked to the Middle East as camel jockeys.
The Government of Sudan does not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking and is not making significant efforts to do so. The government has taken some steps in the form of public statements, attempts to document abductees, and cooperation with international observers over the past year, but lack of government will and resources continues to hamper efforts to combat trafficking in Sudan.
Prevention
Lack of government will has resulted in little progress toward preventing trafficking. The government signed an agreement to stop supporting the Lord's Resistance Army of Uganda (LRA), but the group still operates from Sudanese territory. The LRA has stepped up its activities over the past year, and continues to hold large numbers of abductees.
Prosecution
Despite expanded authority to investigate and prosecute abductions, the government-sponsored Committee for the Eradication of the Abduction of Women and Children (CEAWAC) and an international NGO have documented 2,000 cases of abductees. Twenty-two intertribal committees were established to identify trafficking cases. However, abductors and users of forced labor have not been publicly identified, nor have they been prosecuted.
Protection
The first requirement of systematic research into abduction and enslavement is a comprehensive record of who has been abducted. No such record currently exists and will continue to hamper repatriation efforts. Three hundred victims of the LRA were repatriated in 2002. There is some governmental interaction with international organizations and NGOs, which provide some training of CEAWAC and victim assistance.
