PROTECTION
The government sustained victim protection efforts. The government provided approximately 159,400 euro ($176,600) for its victim assistance program in 2014, compared with approximately 93,400 euro ($103,500) in 2013. The government’s NGO-run rehabilitation program offered victims psychological assistance, medical aid, legal representation, housing, and reintegration services. The government’s bureaucratic delays in contracting an NGO to provide services resulted in a gap of state assistance provision for new victims for the first two months of 2015. In 2014, the government enrolled 27 new victims into its assistance program, compared with 22 victims in 2013; the program assisted 38 victims in total, including some identified in 2013. All of the newly enrolled victims were Latvian and had been exploited abroad; eight victims were male. Only three of these victims cooperated with law enforcement in 2014, amid reports that officials did not gain victims’ trust or take sufficient efforts to encourage victims to cooperate. Local victim advocates reported the number of victims certified by the state did not accurately reflect the scope of trafficking in Latvia because of the victims’ hesitation or inability to report abuses. Latvian courts had video conference and audio recording capabilities; nevertheless, observers noted instances in which victims facing their traffickers during trial caused re-victimization. The government enrolled one victim in its witness protection program in 2014. Latvian courts did not order restitution payments for any victims in 2014, despite courts confiscating property from suspected traffickers. One victim received compensation from a government fund for victims of severe crime. There were no reports of victims penalized for unlawful acts committed as a direct result of being subjected to trafficking.

PREVENTION
The government demonstrated strong prevention activities. Latvian authorities continued to use Section 165-1, which prohibits the transfer of individuals for the purpose of sexual exploitation, to prevent potential cases of trafficking. In 2014, the government prosecuted 11 defendants under Section 165-1 and convicted 14 suspects, although only one conviction came with a prison sentence. The prime minister established an anti-trafficking working group comprised of 33 representatives across ministries and NGOs; the group will coordinate inter-ministerial activities and implement the 2014 to 2020 national action plan. Authorities reported the state budget does not allocate funding for several of the action plan’s activities, including training. Various ministries contributed to a number of awareness-raising activities, including programs for schools and potential migrants.The State Labor Inspectorate continued to refer cases of suspected labor trafficking to the police, but none of these referrals resulted in the opening of an investigation.The government continued to maintain information and emergency hotlines that received calls on potential trafficking situations. The government provided anti-trafficking training for Latvian diplomatic personnel as well as foreign diplomats assigned to Latvia.The government did not report any specific measures to reduce the demand for commercial sex acts or forced labor.

LEBANON:  Tier 2 Watch List   
Lebanon is a source and destination country for women and children subjected to forced labor and sex trafficking and a transit point for Eastern European women and children subjected to sex trafficking in other Middle Eastern countries. Women and girls from South and Southeast Asia and an increasing number from East and West Africa experience domestic servitude in Lebanon with the assistance of recruitment agencies that at times engage in fraudulent recruitment. A highly publicized case of an Ethiopian domestic worker publicly beaten by a Lebanese recruitment agent in March 2012 exemplifies the abuse suffered by domestic workers in Lebanon. Under Lebanon’s sponsorship system, workers who leave their employers’ houses without permission forfeit their legal status, putting them at risk of re-trafficking. Women from Eastern Europe, North Africa, and Dominican Republic enter Lebanon through the artiste visa program to work in the adult entertainment industry. In 2014, approximately 3,400 women entered Lebanon under this program—a substantially lower number than in 2013—which sustains a significant sex trade and enables forced prostitution. Some women from East and West Africa also endure forced prostitution in Lebanon. Lebanese children are reportedly victims of forced labor in street begging and commercial sexual exploitation facilitated by male pimps, husbands, and boyfriends, and, at times, through early marriage. Small numbers of Lebanese girls may be subjected to sex trafficking in other Arab countries. Syrian refugee men, women, and children in Lebanon are at risk of sex trafficking and forced labor.There is a reported increase in Syrian children engaged in forced street begging. Syrian girls are brought to Lebanon for prostitution, sometimes through the guise of early marriage. Some Syrian women may be forced to engage in street prostitution, and Syrian LGBT refugees are forced or coerced into prostitution by Lebanese pimps. In 2014, NGOs reported an increase in Syrian refugees forced to work in agriculture or conduct criminal activity. Syrian gangs force Syrian refugee men, women, and children to work in the agricultural sector in Beqaa Valley.

The Government of Lebanon does not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking, but is making significant efforts to do so. Despite these measures, the government has not shown evidence of increasing efforts to address human trafficking compared to the previous year; therefore, Lebanon is placed on Tier 2 Watch List for a fourth consecutive year. Lebanon was granted a waiver from an otherwise required downgrade to Tier 3 because its government has a written plan that, if implemented, would constitute making significant efforts to bring itself into compliance with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking and it has committed to devoting sufficient resources to implement that plan.The government continued to investigate and prosecute trafficking offenses; it also convicted an increased number of traffickers in 2014. Nonetheless, judicial officials were unaware of the anti-trafficking law and how to apply it, thus many trafficking offenders were not brought to justice. Although the government continued to partner with NGOs and identify and refer some victims to NGO-run protection services, the government did not thoroughly implement victim identification procedures or directly provide protection to victims. Authorities continued to arrest and detain trafficking victims among vulnerable groups for crimes committed as a direct result of being subjected to trafficking. The government’s inter-ministerial coordination remained inadequate.

RECOMMENDATIONS FOR LEBANON:
Increase investigations, prosecutions, and convictions of offenders under the anti-trafficking law, including officials complicit in human trafficking; increase training for judges, prosecutors, law enforcement officials, and diplomatic personnel about the crime of trafficking and the anti-trafficking law; continue to implement standard procedures to identify trafficking victims among vulnerable populations, such as illegal migrants, women holding artiste visas, domestic workers, and Syrian refugees; continue to work in partnership with NGOs to identify and provide protection services to victims, and ensure identified victims are not detained for unlawful acts committed as a direct result of being subjected to trafficking; enact the labor law amendment extending legal protections to foreign workers and the draft law providing increased labor protections to domestic workers; reconvene the national anti-trafficking committee and increase efforts to effectively coordinate inter-ministerial anti- trafficking activities; and continue to conduct anti-trafficking public awareness  campaigns.