the family had exploited the child.The government maintained a center for protection of trafficking victims that was responsible for victim identification and assistance.The center had two units, the protection agency and the urgent reception center, although the urgent reception center was not functional for the second year in a row.The protection unit lacked specific procedures for dealing with child trafficking victims.The government was unable to estimate total funding for victim assistance but previously reported it allocated 21,864,957 dinars ($219,000) for the center’s operations and salaries in 2014.The center’s lack of procedures for cooperation with NGOs had a negative impact on victim assistance. An NGO operated the only shelter exclusively for trafficking victims, which the government did not fund in 2014. NGOs assisting victims relied primarily on foreign sources of funding. Male victims did not have access to accommodation but could access other services. Specialized shelters for child trafficking victims did not exist; child victims were returned to their families, sent to foster care, or accommodated in one of two centers for orphans. Officials did not follow written victim identification procedures. Police, NGOs, and social service personnel referred suspected trafficking victims to the government’s center, though the center reported referral guidelines needed updating.
Experts reported victims’ rights were not adequately protected during lengthy court proceedings and victims had to appear frequently in front of their traffickers; traffickers often threatened or intimidated victims. Judges demonstrated limited understanding of the complexities of human trafficking cases. Serbian law entitles victims to file criminal and civil suits against their traffickers for compensation, but judges encouraged victims to seek compensation by filing civil suits, which were lengthy, expensive, and involved the victim facing the abuser numerous times. For the first time, one victim was compensated during the reporting period as a result of a civil suit. Foreign victims were eligible for temporary residence permits renewable up to one year, but no victims received permits in 2014, compared with two in 2013. Serbian law did not have a non-punishment or non-prosecution clause for trafficking victims. A sex trafficking victim forced to sign a murder confession by her trafficker began serving her 18-year prison sentence in 2014; the case was under appeal at the end of the reporting period.

PREVENTION
The government maintained some prevention efforts. The government did not adopt the 2014-2020 national strategy nor the 2014-2015 action plan despite completing both drafts during the previous reporting period.The national coordinator continued to lead anti-trafficking efforts, although the position was still not full-time with independent authority.The government still had not fully transitioned to a new anti-trafficking council structure including government and NGO representatives.The government operated a hotline to collect human trafficking-related tips, published anti- trafficking efforts on its website, and provided information on trafficking via social media.The government worked with NGOs and an international organization to establish anti-trafficking stakeholder networks in a total of 17 communities. Police enforced laws against purchasing commercial sex and fined clients identified during raids on commercial sex establishments.The government did not make efforts to reduce demand for forced labor. Serbian troops participated in anti-trafficking training prior to their deployment on international peacekeeping missions.The government provided anti-trafficking training for its diplomatic personnel.

SEYCHELLES: Tier 2 
Seychelles is a source country for children subjected to sex trafficking and a destination country for foreign men and women subjected to labor and sex trafficking, respectively. Seychellois girls and, according to some sources, boys are induced into prostitution—particularly on the main island of Mahe—by peers, family members, and pimps for exploitation in nightclubs, bars, guest houses, hotels, brothels, private homes, and on the street.Young drug addicts are also vulnerable to being forced into prostitution. Foreign tourists, sailors, and migrant workers contribute to the demand for commercial sex in Seychelles. Eastern European women have been subjected to forced prostitution in private homes. Migrant workers—including those from China, Kenya, Madagascar, and various countries in South Asia—make up 20 percent of the working population in Seychelles and are primarily employed in the fishing and construction sectors. Migrant workers are subjected to forced labor in the construction sector. NGOs report migrant workers face exploitative conditions in fish processing plants, and fishermen aboard foreign-flagged fishing vessels in Seychelles’ territorial waters and ports are subjected to abuses indicative of forced labor, including nonpayment of wages and physical abuse.
The Government of Seychelles does not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking; however, it is making significant efforts to do so. During the reporting period, the government adopted anti-trafficking legislation and began implementation of the 2014-2015 national action plan. The national anti-trafficking committee, in collaboration with international donors, began the development of a victim assistance tool and conducted an extensive national awareness campaign on trafficking. However, the government did not report any prosecutions or convictions of trafficking offenders and did not identify any trafficking victims.The government deports migrant workers working for state-owned or private companies for participating in strikes to protest poor employment conditions without conducting comprehensive investigations and screenings to identify if the individuals were victims of forced labor.

RECOMMENDATIONS FOR SEYCHELLES:
Use the newly adopted anti-trafficking legislation to investigate and prosecute trafficking offenses and convict and punish trafficking offenders; amend the penal code to harmonize the duplicative and contradictory sections addressing sexual offenses—particularly those related to the exploitation of children in prostitution—to ensure the prohibition of and sufficiently stringent punishment for the prostitution of all persons under 18 years of age and the forced prostitution of adults; provide specialized training to government officials—including members of the national committee on human trafficking, law enforcement officials, social workers, and labor inspectors—on how to identify victims of trafficking and refer them to appropriate services; implement the national action plan to combat human trafficking and dedicate appropriate resources

towards its implementation; provide adequate resources to labor inspectors to conduct regular and comprehensive inspections of migrant workers’ work sites and inform the migrant workers of their employment rights; institute a standardized contract governing the employment of domestic workers within private homes; and continue awareness campaigns on trafficking to increase the understanding of the crime among the local population and the large number of foreign tourists and migrant workers entering the country.