U.S. Department of State: Azerbaijan serves as transit country for victims of trafficking

PanARMENIAN.Net - The U.S. Department of State has released the 2007 Trafficking in Persons Report on over 150 countries.



The report rates Azerbaijan as a source and transit country for men, women and children trafficked for the purpose of commercial sexual exploitation and labor. It says in part, "Women from Azerbaijan are trafficked to Turkey and the United Arab Emirates for purpose of sexual exploitation. Men are trafficked to Russia for forced labor. Azerbaijani children are trafficked to Turkey for purposes of sexual exploitation and to Russia for purposes of forced labor," it says.



"Azerbaijan serves as a transit country for victims from Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan and Moldova trafficked to Turkey and the United Arab Emirates for sexual exploitation."



"The government should develop and implement formal nation-wide victim identification procedures and ensure that the nation-wide toll-free hotline becomes functional," the report says.



"Azerbaijan's anti-trafficking prevention efforts remained modest. The government periodically monitors its anti-trafficking efforts and makes the results public. In 2006, the Ministry of Culture supported school information programs run by domestic NGOs," the report says.