The Government of Cote d’Ivoire does not fully meet the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking but is making significant efforts to do so. The government demonstrated overall increasing efforts compared with the previous reporting period; therefore Cote d’Ivoire remained on Tier 2. These efforts included identifying significantly more trafficking victims, adopting a new anti-trafficking NAP, and allocating dedicated funding for the interagency anti-trafficking committee’s (CNLTP’s) operations. The government investigated more trafficking cases and prosecuted and convicted more traffickers. However, the government did not meet the minimum standards in several key areas. Shelter and services, especially for adult victims, remained inadequate. Law enforcement lacked specialized training and adequate resources to effectively investigate trafficking cases and identify victims. Labor inspectors did not identify any child trafficking cases during inspections, including in the cocoa sector. The CNLTP lacked the authority and resources to effectively coordinate the government’s national anti-trafficking response.
As reported over the past five years, human traffickers exploit domestic and foreign victims in Cote d’Ivoire, and traffickers exploit victims from Cote d’Ivoire abroad. Due to a stronger emphasis on combating internal child trafficking, the prevalence of adult trafficking may be underreported. Traffickers exploit Ivoirian women and girls in sex trafficking, especially in Abidjan. Traffickers are increasingly using technology, such as the ecommerce website Qnet, to fraudulently recruit victims for jobs and subsequently exploit them in sex trafficking. Traffickers exploit Ivoirian boys and boys from other West African countries, especially Burkina Faso and Mali, in forced labor in agriculture, especially cocoa production, and mining. Observers reported the COVID-19 pandemic’s economic impacts, as well as insecurity in neighboring countries, have increased child labor and forced child labor, especially on cocoa farms; one NGO estimated more than 790,000 children, ages 5 to 17, work on Ivoirian cocoa plantations. Widespread poverty among cocoa-growing communities, extremely low cocoa prices and small profits for farmers, and lack of educational opportunities further increase the prevalence of child labor and forced labor in the cocoa sector. Traffickers exploit boys in forced labor on coffee and rubber plantations, animal herding, carpentry, construction, and forced begging in Cote d’Ivoire. Children with disabilities are particularly vulnerable to sex trafficking and labor trafficking. Corrupt Quranic teachers exploit Ivoirian and West African boys, including from Burkina Faso, Mali, Niger, and Senegal, in forced begging in northern and central Cote d’Ivoire. Drug traffickers use children – some of whom may be forced labor victims – in drug production, transport, and selling. Traffickers – commonly distant relatives – bring girls from rural Cote d’Ivoire and other West African countries to Abidjan ostensibly to go to school or receive professional training but subsequently exploit them in domestic servitude; these girls are also vulnerable to sexual exploitation. Individuals living in Cote d’Ivoire without identity documents are vulnerable to human trafficking; children without identity documents cannot enroll in school past the elementary level, increasing their vulnerability to trafficking.
Traffickers exploit Ivoirian and migrant workers, including Malian and Burkinabe nationals, in forced labor in the cocoa sector and artisanal mining, sometimes through debt bondage. Observers reported recruiters deceive workers about working conditions and charge worker-paid recruitment fees, including for transportation costs; some employers pay the fees and subsequently exploit the workers in debt bondage, reportedly charging them up to five times the original cost of transportation. Nigerian traffickers fraudulently recruit women and girls from Nigeria and other neighboring countries for employment in shops or restaurants and subsequently exploit them in sex trafficking in gold mining and cocoa-producing regions. An international organization noted cultural beliefs correlating sex with increased chances of finding gold increase the demand for sex trafficking in mining communities. Refugees and migrants from Burkina Faso and Mali, including children, lacking birth certificates and identity documents are vulnerable to trafficking. North Korean nationals working in Cote d’Ivoire may be operating under exploitative working conditions and display multiple indicators of forced labor.
Traffickers fraudulently recruit Ivoirian women, men, and girls for work in the Middle East and Europe and subsequently exploit them in forced labor in Europe, North Africa, and Gulf countries. Traffickers often operate in well-established networks consisting of both Ivoirians and foreigners to fraudulently recruit and exploit victims abroad. Ivoirian migrants in Libya and Tunisia are vulnerable to trafficking. Migrants commonly depart from Daloa and proceed via airplane to Tunisia or travel overland via Niger to Algeria, Libya, and Tunisia. In Tunisia, intermediaries confiscate migrants’ identity documents until they can pay for the next part of their journey, increasing vulnerability to trafficking. International organizations and Ivoirian law enforcement agencies reported Ivoirian migrant smuggling networks based in Tunisia increasingly became involved in trafficking as European governments blocked migration inflows; these networks also coerce Ivoirians to engage in unlawful acts, including drug smuggling. Organized criminal networks and smugglers fraudulently recruit Ivoirian boys to play professional soccer in North Africa or Europe; once they arrive, they are vulnerable to forced labor. An international organization reported an increase in Ivoirian migrant women and unaccompanied children arriving in Italy; an NGO reported traffickers sexually exploit many of the women in Libya prior to their arrival in Italy. Once in Italy, Ivoirian children and young adults are at an increased risk of sex trafficking.
from 2024 Trafficking in Persons Report – U.S. Department of State
2024 Trafficking in Persons Report – United States Department of State
