US Puts Afghanistan On Watch List Over Failure To Halt Human Trafficking - State Dept.

The government of Afghanistan has been downgraded on a watch list of nations that have failed to make progress halting human trafficking in the past year, especially boys recruited by Afghan security forces and police as prostitutes for middle aged men, the US Department of State said in its annual Trafficking in Persons Report

WASHINGTON (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 20th June, 2019) The government of Afghanistan has been downgraded on a watch list of nations that have failed to make progress halting human trafficking in the past year, especially boys recruited by Afghan security forces and police as prostitutes for middle aged men, the US Department of State said in its annual Trafficking in Persons Report.

"Afghan security forces continued to unlawfully recruit and use child soldiers and exploit boys in bacha bazi with impunity," the report said. "Members of the Afghan National Army (ANA) and Afghan Local Police (ALP) reportedly recruited boys specifically for bacha bazi by enticing them and by promising food and money."

Bacha bazi, or "boy play," is a practice in which young boys are dressed as girls to perform for groups of middle-age, with the children often becoming victims of sex acts by men in audience.

The report also charged Afghanistan's National Police with recruiting children for both combat and non-combat roles, with children as young as 13 killed or captured by Taliban insurgents.

In cases involving sex trafficking of girls, the report cited cases of prosecutors and judges soliciting sexual favors from them while investigating their cases.

Children were also forced to work as laborers in occupations such as carpet weaving and brick making, according to the report.

The report downgraded Afghanistan to "Tier 2" in a human trafficking watch list, defined as governments that do not meet minimum standards of the US Trafficking Victims Protection Act, but are making significant efforts to bring themselves into compliance.

Compliance efforts included the establishment of five-child protection units, which the Afghan government said had rescued 30 bacha bazi potential victims, according to the report.