Though it is not known to what extent, nor are cases being widely investigated or reported, child trafficking is increasing in Iraq. Trafficking is inevitable whenever any ONE of at least three conditions exists in a society. Iraq has all three.

1. Extreme political chaos
2. Extreme poverty
3. War

The United States State Department, in its 2008 Trafficking in Persons report, states that, “Iraqi children are trafficked within the country and abroad for commercial sexual exploitation; criminal gangs may have targeted young boys, and staff of private orphanages may have trafficked young girls for forced prostitution. Iraqi women are trafficked within Iraq, as well as to Syria, Jordan, Kuwait, Qatar, United Arab Emirates, Turkey, and Iran for the purpose of commercial sexual exploitation..”

Specific and reliable information on the current condition in Iraq is difficult if not impossible to come by. Frustrated by the lack of information, CATCH Director Raymond Bechard traveled to Iraq in March and April of 2008 to assess the situation first hand. His onsite investigations exposed evidence of a worsening situation where the threat against children is real and growing.

Findings:

• Earlier versions of the Basic Police Course for Iraqi officers included a section on trafficking. However, this course was substituted with additional security training in order to address the ongoing insurgency and violence from terrorists. Currently, there is no anti-trafficking training or enforcement.
• In Iraq, there are few organized Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) or international organizations working specifically against trafficking or raising awareness there.
• Thousands of young Iraqi women and girls are working in prostitution in Syria and Yemen under conditions that constitute severe forms of trafficking in persons.
• U.S. Military personnel, local officials and aid workers contacted have expressed concern over the alarming rate at which children are disappearing throughout Iraq on a regular basis. One source commented that, “We don't have access to government statistics, but we often receive information that young people are being trafficked to other areas in the Gulf and to Europe.”
• The ongoing violence in Iraq leaves more children as war orphans every week. In Baghdad alone, at least 5,000 orphaned children scavenge the streets to secure food and a safe place to sleep. Currently, there is no official organization that takes care of orphans in Iraq. This leaves them vulnerable to many forms of exploitation and abuse.
  

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