PROSECUTION
The government made some efforts to prosecute traffickers, including a government official complicit in human trafficking, and acceded to the 2000 UN TIP Protocol; however, there were no convictions of traffickers in 2013 or 2014. Barbadian law does not prohibit all forms of human trafficking, in particular internal domestic trafficking, and does not prescribe penalties for prohibited forms of trafficking that are sufficiently stringent or commensurate with the prescribed penalties for other serious crimes, such as rape. Articles 18, 20, 33, and 34 of the Offenses against the Person Act and Article 8 of theTransnational Organized Crime (TOC) Act of 2011 all address trafficking in persons. Compelling prostitution under Article 20 of the Offenses against the Person Act is punishable by five years’ imprisonment, while the transnational trafficking of an adult under the TOC Act is punishable by a potential fine with no jail time, both of which are not commensurate with Barbados’ prescribed penalty for rape, which is life imprisonment.The government drafted amendments to the TOC Act to criminalize internal domestic trafficking and indicated amendments would be introduced in 2015. Authorities investigated eight new potential trafficking cases during the reporting period, but only one of the eight suspected cases was determined to be trafficking, and other cases were determined to be fraud or prostitution without all the elements of sex trafficking. The one trafficking case did not result in a prosecution because prosecutors were unable to proceed without the victim’s testimony against the alleged trafficker. Authorities continued investigating an immigration official for alleged complicity and misconduct in public office as a result of an April 2013 raid of a local brothel and expected the case to go to trial in 2015. By comparison, authorities initiated three new investigations and no prosecutions the previous year.

PROTECTION
The government made minimal progress in the protection of victims. Officials did not identify any new victims, a decrease from identifying five victims during the previous reporting period.The government continued to shelter the five previously identified victims for part of the reporting period prior to four of the victims’ return to Guyana. The government continued to shelter the remaining victim, who received basic education and occupational training, and cooperated with the police to provide evidence against the alleged traffickers in the case. Law enforcement generally referred victims to the gender affairs bureau, which coordinated assistance with local NGOs; the NGOs reported the mechanism worked, but the government is developing a written referral procedure.The government had an agreement with an NGO to provide shelter for male victims of trafficking, though this NGO did not assist any male trafficking victims. Authorities provided some funding to an NGO crisis center that provided shelter and psychological, medical, and occupational services to female victims of violence, including potential trafficking victims, but this funding did not cover costs.This organization and the government’s gender affairs bureau cooperated with other NGOs to offer additional services.The government maintained an informal policy allowing foreign victims to receive temporary legal alternatives to their removal to countries where they would face hardship or

retribution and provided one victim with temporary residency in 2014. NGOs did not report any trafficking victims detained, deported, fined, or jailed for unlawful acts committed as a direct result of being subjected to human trafficking.

PREVENTION
The government made progress in efforts to prevent trafficking. The attorney general led the government’s anti-trafficking taskforce, which met monthly and included permanent secretaries from several ministries and NGOs.The taskforce began developing a government-wide anti-trafficking manual, which officials indicated would include details on how authorities should treat victims.The government developed and implemented its annual national action plan to address trafficking in collaboration with various government agencies and NGOs, which resulted in improved cooperation among various agencies. An NGO, with support from the attorney general’s office, sponsored a public education campaign on trafficking that included radio public service announcements and community meetings in several churches. Additionally, authorities mounted a poster at the international airport listing elements of trafficking and a hotline victims could use for assistance. The government did not provide anti-trafficking training or guidance for its diplomatic personnel.The government did not make efforts to reduce the demand for commercial sex acts or forced labor.

BELARUS: Tier 3* 
Belarus is a source, transit, and destination country for men, women, and children subjected to sex trafficking and forced labor. Each year since 2011, more identified victims have been exploited in Belarus than abroad. Belarusian victims exploited abroad are primarily subjected to trafficking in Germany, Poland, Russia, and Turkey, but are also exploited throughout Europe, the Middle East, and in Japan, Kazakhstan, and Mexico. Some Belarusian women traveling for foreign employment in the adult entertainment and hotel industries are subjected to sex trafficking. Since 2006, the government has identified Belarusian, Moldovan, Russian, Ukrainian, and Vietnamese victims exploited in Belarus.
State-sponsored forced labor continues to be an area of concern. In 2014, the government continued the practice of subbotniks, which requires employees of the government, state enterprises, and many private businesses to work on occasional Saturdays and donate their earnings to finance government projects. State employers and authorities intimidated and fined some workers who refused to participate. Authorities sent university and high school students to help farmers during the harvesting season without paying them for their labors, in addition to other forced community service projects. Authorities reportedly forced military conscripts to perform work unrelated to military service. A presidential decree effective January 1, 2015, enables authorities to force Belarusians to perform unpaid community service if they are deemed to be “parasites” on the tax base. Belarusians accused of alcoholism or drug dependencies are interned at “medical- labor centers,” where they are subjected to compulsory labor. Belarusian parents who have had their parental rights removed are subjected to compulsory labor, and the government retains 70 percent of their wages. Senior officials with the General Prosecutor’s Office and the interior ministry stated at least 97 percent of all work-capable inmates worked in jail as required by law, and labor in jail was important and useful for rehabilitation and