Timor-Leste

Human trafficking is a growing problem in Timor-Leste, but despite an increase in the number of potential victims identified, there has not been a single conviction. Timorese and foreign nationals are trafficking people for sexual exploitation and forced labor and said Heather Komenda, counter-trafficking program manager for the International Organization for Migration (IOM). Since Timor-Leste gained independence in 2002, local Timorese women have been lured away from their homes and recruited with promises of work abroad. Traffickers employ a number of strategies. Bogus NGOs arrive in Timor offering overseas employment, and some traffickers even recruit people by impersonating nuns. (IRIN)