Human trafficking in Kiribati
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Kiribati ratified the 2000 UN TIP Protocol in September 2005.[1]
In 2010 Kiribati was a source country for girls subjected to trafficking, specifically commercial sexual exploitation. Crew members on Korean and perhaps other foreign fishing vessels in Kiribati or in its territorial waters exploited prostituted children aboard their ships. Some girls were also forced into prostitution in bars frequented by crew members. Local I-Kiribati, sometimes family members but also taxi drivers and owners of small boats, knowingly facilitated trafficking by transporting underage girls to the boats for the purposes of prostitution. The girls generally received cash, food, or goods in exchange for sexual services.[2]
In 2010 the Government of Kiribati did not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking; however, it made significant efforts to do so. Despite these efforts, the government has not proactively identified victims, investigated or prosecuted suspected trafficking offenders, or educated the public on the dangers of human trafficking; therefore, Kiribati was placed on Tier 2 Watch List. While the government acknowledged that the prostitution of girls was a problem in Kiribati, it took no steps to protect victims of sex trafficking, investigate and prosecute foreign crewmen for the commercial sexual exploitation of children within its territory, proactively identify child victims of sex trafficking, or educate the public about the dangers of trafficking.[2]
The U.S. State Department's Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons placed the country in "Tier 2" in 2014.[3] In 2023, the Organised Crime Index noted increasing levels of the crime in Kiribati.[4]
The Government of Kiribati made no discernible law enforcement efforts to combat human trafficking during the reporting period. No trafficking offenders were investigated, arrested, prosecuted, or convicted in the past year, although information about particular victims in trafficking situations was available. Kiribati's 2005 comprehensive anti-trafficking legislation criminalizes all forms of trafficking, but does not include specific definitions of trafficking for labor or sexual exploitation. The law prescribes sufficiently stringent punishments of up to 15 years’ imprisonment, which are commensurate with penalties prescribed for other serious crimes, such as rape. The 2005 law also provides protection and rights for victims of trafficking. The lack of a legal definition of sex or labor trafficking which identifies the essential elements of a trafficking crime prevents law enforcement officers from rescuing victims or arresting trafficking offenders on trafficking charges. The government provided no training to law enforcement and court personnel on identifying trafficking victims and prosecuting trafficking offenders. As members of Pacific Island international law enforcement groups, mechanisms exist to allow the country to work in partnership with other governments on trafficking cases, though these have not been used. There is no evidence of officials’ complicity in human trafficking activity.[2]
