RECOMMENDATIONS  FOR TIMOR-LESTE:
Enact comprehensive anti-trafficking legislation that is consistent with international law, includes protections for victims, and provides clear guidance on roles and responsibilities for implementation; train front-line officials to implement procedures for the proactive identification of victims among vulnerable populations—such as women and children in prostitution and domestic work and migrant workers on fishing vessels—and refer them to protective care; proactively initiate investigations and prosecutions of trafficking offenses, and convict and punish traffickers, including complicit officials; finalize a national plan of action, designate a lead agency to coordinate these efforts, and dedicate resources to the plan’s implementation; conduct training for prosecutors and judges, including on how to integrate victim protection throughout the duration of court proceedings; and increase anti-trafficking education and awareness campaigns for the public.

PROSECUTION
The government made modest progress in anti-trafficking law enforcement efforts by achieving one conviction, compared with zero in 2013.Timor-Leste’s penal code prohibits and punishes all forms of trafficking through Articles 163 and 164; Articles 162 and 166 prohibit slavery and the sale of persons. These articles prescribe sufficiently stringent penalties ranging from eight to 25 years’ imprisonment, which are commensurate with those prescribed for other serious crimes, such as rape. Extrajudicial mediation may have been used in place of prosecution, limiting victims’ access to justice and the deterrent effect of prosecutions and convictions. In late 2014, the Ministry of Justice held a public consultation on draft anti-trafficking legislation in development since 2009.
The government did not provide statistics regarding anti- trafficking law enforcement efforts. Media reports documented one investigation of suspected child sex trafficking initiated in February 2015, and authorities reported investigating an unknown

number of pimping cases for potential trafficking crimes. A local NGO reported that a former village chief was prosecuted and convicted for child sex trafficking and sentenced under trafficking and other statutes to more than 15 years’ imprisonment in early 2015. At the close of the reporting period, he had not yet begun to serve his sentence.This is an increase from no investigations, prosecutions, or convictions in the previous year. In a separate case, a police officer suspected of forced child labor offenses retained his position while he was under investigation. Judges and prosecutors largely lacked expertise in applying anti-trafficking laws effectively. Police reported using their own funds to pursue trafficking investigations due to inadequate resource allocation from the government. Foreign donors provided anti-trafficking training to Timorese law enforcement officials.

PROTECTION
The Government of Timor-Leste demonstrated negligible efforts to protect victims. The government did not provide protection to any trafficking victims in 2014.Authorities reported police referred 14 individuals to the Ministry of Social Solidarity (MSS) to receive services, but MSS officials determined none of them were trafficking victims.An NGO reported working with law enforcement and MSS officials to rescue a child subjected to forced labor in the home of a police officer and his wife and, in February 2015, authorities rescued a child sex trafficking victim from a hotel in Dili. Although a protocol existed for the identification of victims and referral to NGOs for shelter, the government did not implement it. Identified female victims could be eligible to receive limited services available to victims of domestic violence, though local experts report the quality of care is poor and trafficking victims’ access was limited. While government policy did not restrict victim services based on gender, NGOs noted a lack of adequate resources for providing services to male victims. The government did not allocate any funds specifically to assist victims of trafficking, but it continued to provide funding to an NGO that could provide shelter and social services to trafficking victims. Local experts reported some cases may not have been identified as trafficking, even when victims came into contact with authorities. During the year, the chief inspector of the national police developed a document with guidelines for screening potential victims, though this was not formally approved or disseminated during the reporting period.
Authorities did not screen for indicators of trafficking among vulnerable groups, such as individuals in prostitution; government officials acknowledged some victims may have been among those arrested and deported, particularly foreign women in prostitution apprehended for immigration violations. Local NGOs noted the overall lack of incentives to cooperate with law enforcement may have left some victims unidentified or unwilling to participate in the investigation and prosecution of traffickers. Government policy authorized a temporary (two-year) legal alternative to the removal of victims to countries where they may face retribution or hardship, though no victims were granted this status in 2014.

PREVENTION
The Government of Timor-Leste demonstrated some efforts to prevent trafficking. The government distributed literature in local communities about citizens’ rights, including information on trafficking, and it provided funding to an NGO to conduct an anti-trafficking awareness campaign for youth in seven regions.The government did not provide anti-trafficking training or guidance for its diplomatic personnel. The government’s inter-ministerial

trafficking working group did not meet during the reporting period, and the draft national plan of action remained pending formal approval.The government did not take measures to reduce the demand for forced labor or commercial sex acts.

TOGO:  Tier 2 
Togo is a source and transit country for men, women, and children subjected to forced labor and sex trafficking. The majority of Togolese victims are exploited within the country. Forced child labor occurs in the agricultural sector—particularly on coffee, cocoa, and cotton farms—as well as in stone and sand quarries. Children from rural areas are brought to the capital, Lome, and forced to work as domestic servants, roadside vendors, and porters, or exploited in prostitution.The western border of the Plateau region, which provides easy access to major roads leading to Accra, Ghana and Lome, was a primary source for trafficking victims during the reporting period. Near the Togo-Burkina Faso border, some religious teachers, known as marabouts, forced Togolese boys into begging. Children from Benin and Ghana are recruited and transported to Togo for forced labor.Togolese girls and, to a lesser extent, boys are transported to Benin, Gabon, Nigeria, Ghana, Cote d’Ivoire, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo and forced to work in agriculture.Traffickers exploit Togolese men for forced labor in agriculture and Togolese women as domestic servants in Nigeria.Togolese women are fraudulently recruited for employment in Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, the United States, and Europe, where they are subsequently subjected to domestic servitude or forced prostitution.
The Government ofTogo does not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking; however, it is making significant efforts to do so.The government reported increased numbers of investigations, prosecutions, and convictions of traffickers for child trafficking crimes in 2014 compared to the previous reporting period. It also increased by five the number of labor inspectors. The government identified 711 potential trafficking victims; however, it is unknown whether it provided services to these victims.The government did not demonstrate any tangible efforts to address trafficking of adults—failing to report any efforts to investigate such cases, identify or assist adult victims, or enact draft legislation to prohibit this form of the crime for the eighth year in a row.