PREVENTION
The government maintained efforts to prevent trafficking. During the latter part of 2014 and early 2015, the government commenced initial planning of a new four-year (2016-2020) national anti-trafficking action plan by developing future anti-trafficking priorities, though it did not include a specific budgetary allotment for its implementation.The government shared limited information on trafficking statistics and anti-trafficking operations with the international community, but the lack of accurate reporting on labor trafficking stymied anti-trafficking progress in the country. In 2014, officials supported anti-trafficking awareness campaigns by partnering with national and local media outlets to conduct radio and television stories and publish news articles on trafficking. It hosted community dialogues on vulnerabilities to labor trafficking. The government fined or suspended the licenses of approximately 40 recruitment companies and suspended the licenses of five companies for collecting excess fees or withholding payments to workers.The minimum and maximum pre-departure fee and deposit system for Vietnamese migrant workers—ranging from 6.50-65.0 million dong ($300-$3,000)—could have decreased the debt burden experienced by some workers if enforced; however, this scheme could have also increased overseas workers’ vulnerability to debt bondage.The government made some efforts to reduce the demand for commercial sex acts or forced labor. Throughout the reporting period, the government led raids at brothel and unscrupulous massage parlors, and it administered fines and suspended the licenses of some companies that used forced labor. It provided anti-trafficking training or guidance for its diplomatic personnel.

YEMEN:  Tier 3 
Yemen is a country of origin and, to a lesser extent, transit and destination, for men, women, and children subjected to forced labor, and women and children subjected to sex trafficking. Yemen’s deteriorating security situation, weakened rule of law, and deepening poverty in 2014 increased trafficking activities. As a result of Houthi expansion and eventual seizure of government institutions in late 2014, the number of child soldiers utilized by armed groups greatly increased. Checkpoints operated by Houthi militias and government forces are often manned by armed boys who appear to be as young as 10 years old. SomeYemeni children, mostly boys, migrate to the cities of Aden and Sana’a or to Saudi Arabia and, to a lesser extent, Oman—where they are subjected to forced labor in domestic service, small shops, or as beggars. Some of these children are forced into prostitution by traffickers, security officials, and their employers upon arrival in Saudi Arabia, while others are forced to smuggle drugs into Saudi Arabia.

During the reporting period, an international organization reported that a total of 344,348 Yemeni migrant workers were deported from Saudi Arabia and returned to Yemen through the al-Tuwal and al-Buq border crossings.The majority of deportees returned to theTihamah region located on the west coast ofYemen, among the poorest regions of the country. Many of the deportees remain displaced, without access to food, shelter, or medical services, leaving these individuals highly vulnerable to exploitation, including human trafficking.Thousands of Syrian refugees, who have relocated to Yemen to escape the protracted fighting in their home country, similarly are at risk of being subjected to human trafficking. The Yemeni government and international NGOs estimate there are approximately 1.7 million child laborers under the age of 14 in Yemen, some of whom are subjected to forced labor. Yemeni children are subjected to sex trafficking within the country and in Saudi Arabia. Girls as young as 15 years old are exploited for commercial sex in hotels and clubs in the Governorates of Sana’a, Aden, and Taiz.The majority of child sex tourists in Yemen are from Saudi Arabia, with a smaller number possibly originating from other Gulf nations. Some Saudi men used legally contracted “temporary marriages” for the purpose of sexually exploiting Yemeni girls—some reportedly as young as 10 years old, and some of whom are later abandoned on the streets of Saudi Arabia. Civil society organizations report that, as a result of the dire economic situation in Yemen, particularly in the north, sex trafficking ofYemeni children increased over the past several years. In addition, some sources report the practice of chattel slavery continues in Yemen. While no official statistics exist detailing this practice, a 2014 study by a human rights organization documented 190 cases of slavery in three directorates of Hajjah governorate. Other sources also report there could be several hundred other men, women, and children sold or inherited as slaves in al-Hodeida and al-Mahwit governorates.
Yemen’s political and economic crises, cultural acceptance of child soldiering, weak law enforcement mechanisms and limited political will severely limited the country’s capacity to end the use of child soldiers. Despite a 1991 law requiring members of the armed forces to be at least 18 years of age and a May 2014 UN action plan to prevent recruitment of children into its armed forces, credible reports indicated children under 18 joined the official government armed forces and tribal militias throughout the country. Furthermore, following the Houthi takeover of the Yemeni government in September 2014, the number of child soldiers recruited by militias accelerated. During the reporting period, underage recruits with weapons were frequently seen manning checkpoints in and around Sana’a. Various militias and popular committees used boys between the ages of 13 and 17 years to guard checkpoints, and NGOs reported children were recruited by Houthi, southern tribal, and Salafi forces. Al-Qa’ida in the Arabian Peninsula recruited boys for combat operations against military and security forces. Some families supportive of Houthi rebels, including those residing in locations outside Houthi control, had previously sent their children to the Houthi stronghold of Sa’ada in northwesternYemen for arms training by the Houthis to serve in their militias.
Yemen is also a transit and destination country for women and children, primarily from the Horn of Africa, for sex trafficking and forced labor. In 2014, 91,000 migrants from the Horn of Africa landed on the shores of Yemen, and an estimated 20 percent of these arrivals are believed to be unaccompanied children. Ethiopian and Somali women and children travel voluntarily toYemen with the

hope of working in other Gulf countries, but some are subjected to sex trafficking or domestic servitude inYemen. Others migrate based on fraudulent offers of employment as domestic servants in Yemen, but upon arrival are subjected to sex trafficking or forced labor. Some female refugees are forced into prostitution in Aden and Lahj governorates.Yemeni and Saudi gangs transport African children to Saudi Arabia for the purpose of exploitation. Some refugees and migrants from the Horn of Africa who voluntarily transit Yemen en route to Saudi Arabia and other Gulf countries are abandoned in Yemen and abused by traffickers. There are a large number of Syrian refugees in Yemen, with an estimated 12,000 present at the end of 2014. Syrian refugee women and children begging in the streets in Yemen are highly vulnerable to forced labor and sex trafficking.
The Government of Yemen does not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking and is not making significant efforts to do so.The government did not provide law enforcement data on its anti-trafficking efforts, nor did it investigate or prosecute government officials complicit in trafficking crimes. The government did not institute formal procedures to identify trafficking victims, nor did it provide protection services to victims. However, the government continued its work with an international organization and NGOs to facilitate the repatriation of thousands of Ethiopian migrants, some of whom were trafficking victims.The government signed a UN action plan to end the use of child soldiers; however, it did not make efforts to effectively implement the plan due to limited capacity and an ongoing civil conflict. The government continued to face serious challenges, which severely impeded its efforts to combat trafficking, including weak government institutions, systemic corruption, economic problems, substantial internal security threats, limited control of much of the countryside, and poor law enforcement capabilities.