In its annual Trafficking in Persons report, the State Department said Turkey is a source, destination, and transit country for women, men, and children subjected to sex trafficking and forced labor, accusing the government of not fully complying with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking.

The report analyzed conditions in 184 nations, including the United States, and ranked them in terms of their effectiveness in fighting what many have termed modern-day slavery. The State Department estimates that as many as 27 million men, women and children are living in such bondage around the world, Today’s Zaman says.

According to the report, women and child sex trafficking victims found in Turkey originate predominately from the former Soviet Union and Eastern Europe but Turkish women are also subjected to forced prostitution within the country.

The report criticized Turkey for not fully complying with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking, but it said Turkey is making significant efforts to do so. “The government improved its recognition of forced labor and domestic trafficking during the reporting period,” the report reads.

Among the countries on the blacklist are Cuba, Iran, Myanmar, North Korea and Sudan along with Eritrea, Libya and Zimbabwe. Others are US allies in the Middle East like Kuwait and Saudi Arabia while Papua New Guinea was cited as a repeat offender. Only one country, the Dominican Republic, was removed from the list.

The 11 new countries on the blacklist are Algeria, the Central African Republic, Equatorial Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Lebanon, Libya, Madagascar, Micronesia, Turkmenistan, Venezuela and Yemen.