Kyrgyzstan is a source, location and transit country of human trafficking, stated a 2007 U.S. State Department report on human trafficking, reported Tazar news agency.

In the document it is noted that men and women from Kyrgyzstan, become victims of slave labor and exploitation, and many are sold to Kazakhstan for agricultural work and as house servants.  Some are also being sent to Russia to work on construction and to China as debt bondage. Kyrgyz women are being sexually trafficked to the United Arab Emirates, China, Kazakhstan, Korea, Turkey, Greece, Cyprus, Thailand, Germany and Syria, detailed the information source, citing the report.

The report also stated that the government of Kyrgyzstan is doing little to lower the incidence of human trafficking in the country, with law enforcement agencies putting only “faint efforts” into prevention, added Tazar. The State Department report covered the period from April 2006 to March 2007.

This information was originally published July 13, 2007 (www.tazar.kg).