Photo: tass.ru
The U.S. State Department has removed Turkmenistan from the list of countries that promote any form of “human trafficking,” particularly forced labor. The updated report on this issue was published on the department’s website.
The document explains that the United States recognizes two main forms of human trafficking: trafficking for sexual exploitation and forced labor.
Analysts examine the situation in different countries and divide them into several categories. For example, one list includes countries whose governments meet anti-trafficking standards; another covers states where authorities are making efforts to combat such practices, and so on.
Separately, the State Department compiles a list of countries where policies or practices of forced labor are present — whether in agriculture or forestry, sexual slavery in camps, or the recruitment of child soldiers.
In last year’s report, Turkmenistan was included in this category. It has now been moved to the list of countries requiring special monitoring. Another Central Asian nation, Kyrgyzstan, has also been placed in this registry. Other post-Soviet republics in the region were classified as “Tier 2,” meaning they do not fully comply with anti-trafficking norms but are making efforts to address the problem.
The number of countries in the “worst” category, according to U.S. officials, remained unchanged at 13. The only modification was that Turkmenistan was replaced by Cambodia. Countries showing “stability” in this regard include Afghanistan, Belarus, China, North Korea, Iran, Russia, Eritrea, Sudan, South Sudan, Cuba, Myanmar, and Syria, which is listed with the note “Bashar al-Assad regime.”
The report cites examples such as Chinese security forces in Xinjiang persecuting Uyghurs, Kazakhs, Kyrgyz, and other national and religious minorities — forcing them into labor, placing them in special camps, and so forth.
The 2025 report also makes specific reference to Uzbekistan, noting that penalties were toughened for government officials involved in human trafficking. The report recalls that in 2022, a children’s home director and two officials in the country were sentenced to prison for sexually exploiting female residents of the institution. However, the perpetrators received lighter sentences than those prescribed by the Criminal Code, the State Department analysts added.
