judges.The Department of Immigration and Emigration (DIE) and police anti-trafficking unit chiefs held one training, in partnership with an international organization, for 25 labor inspectors, police officers, and other officials on trafficking. DIE also developed a module on trafficking for new recruits, but it had not yet been launched at the end of the reporting period. An international organization continued to coordinate and deliver all other trainings for officials. Law enforcement efforts continued to be hampered by the absence of foreign language interpreters for victim-witnesses. Authorities did not report collaborating on transnational investigations with foreign counterparts, despite law enforcement identification of foreign victims. NGOs reported some officials warn businesses in advance of planned raids for suspected trafficking offenses or other labor abuses. Despite these reports and others that officials may have been involved in labor recruiting practices that can lead to trafficking, the government did not report any investigations, prosecutions, or convictions of government officials complicit in human trafficking offenses.

PROTECTION
The government regressed on some of its previous year’s progress in victim protection. The state-run shelter for female trafficking victims, opened in January 2014, served two victims but then began barring new victims from access shortly thereafter, reportedly due, in part, to bureaucratic disputes. According to law enforcement officials, this severely diminished the likelihood victims would pursue charges against perpetrators and forced ad hoc solutions to protect victims. It is unclear what services, if any, identified victims received from the government during the reporting period.The 2013 anti-trafficking law created a 90-day reflection period during which victims are eligible to receive services while deciding whether to assist authorities in a criminal case.Victims are entitled to receive rehabilitative services, including shelter, health care, counseling, translation services, and police protection. DIE maintained a shelter for undocumented male migrant workers, but this shelter did not provide trafficking-specific services.
The government identified nine victims in 2014, compared with 10 in 2013. The government continued to develop procedures for victim identification, protection, and referral; however, the procedures were not finalized at the end of the reporting period. Foreign victims assisting an investigation or prosecution could receive a renewable visa; however, identified victims who voluntarily entered Maldives illegally were subject to deportation. Observers noted officials are not trained to screen for trafficking victimization among children in prostitution and migrant workers before deportation.

PREVENTION
The government did not demonstrate progress in preventing trafficking.The government once again transferred responsibility for coordinating government and NGO anti-trafficking efforts from one ministry to another, this time from the Ministry ofYouth and Sports to the Ministry of Economic Development. While the coordination committee still met and adopted a national action plan for 2015-2019, observers reported the frequent change in ministry portfolio hampered the government’s ability to coordinate and oversee its efforts to effectively combat trafficking. Additionally, the Ministry of Law and Gender, the original chair of the committee that oversaw the now defunct state-run shelter, was not included on the committee once its chairmanship had been removed, thereby reducing the number of committee members

trained on trafficking issues and increasing coordination challenges.
Officials did not prosecute any labor recruiters or agencies for fraudulent recruitment practices, despite the existence of an investigative unit responsible for recruitment agency oversight. Observers reported there had been no inspections of labor recruiters for two years due to a lack of funding, and there was no indication police continued to blacklist Maldivian recruitment agencies engaged in fraud and forgery. Government ministries and others frequently held the passports of foreign workers they employed, as well as those of foreign victims in trafficking cases. An international organization reported 65 percent of migrants interviewed were not in possession of their passports. Authorities reported working with employers to have the passports returned; however, the government did not prosecute or hold accountable any employers or government officials for withholding passports.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs continued its anti-trafficking campaign, with media outlets providing airtime and print space for awareness messages.The government did not provide anti-trafficking training or guidance for its diplomatic personnel.The government did not report any efforts to reduce the demand for commercial sex acts. Maldives is not a party to the 2000 UN TIP Protocol.

MALI: Tier 2 Watch List 
Mali is a source, transit, and destination country for men, women, and children subjected to forced labor and sex trafficking. Internal trafficking is more prevalent than transnational trafficking; however, boys from Guinea and Burkina Faso are subjected to forced labor in artisanal gold mines and women and girls from other West African countries are subjected to prostitution in Mali. Women and girls are forced into domestic servitude, agricultural labor, and support roles in artisanal gold mines and subjected to sex trafficking. Boys are subjected to forced labor in agriculture, artisanal gold mines, and the informal commercial sector. Men and boys, primarily of Songhai ethnicity, are subjected to debt bondage in the salt mines of Taoudenni in northern Mali. Some members of Mali’s black Tamachek community are subjected to slavery-related practices rooted in traditional relationships of hereditary servitude. Boys from Mali and other West African countries are forced into begging and other types of forced labor or service by corrupt marabouts (religious teachers) within Mali and neighboring countries. Reports indicate Malian children endure forced labor in gold mines in Senegal and Guinea and on cotton and cocoa farms in Cote d’Ivoire. Malians and other Africans transiting Mali to Mauritania, Algeria, or Libya to reach Europe are vulnerable to trafficking. Malian girls and women are victims of sex trafficking in Gabon, Libya, Lebanon, and Tunisia. Reports allege general corruption is pervasive throughout the security forces and judiciary.
In early 2012, rebel and Islamic extremist groups invaded and occupied northern Mali. Since that time, several militias and pro- government groups recruited and used children to fight in combat. There were reports these groups used children to carry assault rifles, staff checkpoints, guard prisoners, and conduct patrols.While the majority of child soldiers were boys, reports indicate these groups may have used some girls for sexual exploitation and forced marriage to members of armed groups. These armed groups purportedly force some families to sell their children. Although the prevalence of child soldiers decreased during the reporting