This report released by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) delves into the current evidence of trafficking, risk areas, and frameworks and responses to human trafficking in the Pacific Island countries. 

Covering Micronesia, Fiji, Palau, Marshall Islands, Solomon Islands and Tonga, the report finds that the Pacific Island countries are vulnerable to the exploitation and recruitment of trafficking victims.

uman trafficking victims in the region are typically exploited for both forced labour and sexual exploitation. Much of the sexual exploitation (often of women and girls) occurs in big cities or tourist hotspots. Victims of forced labour, meanwhile – many of whom are from South and South East Asia – are typically found in the fishing, hospitality, domestic, or agricultural industries. 

Nor are people from the Pacific Islands themselves immune to the dangers of human trafficking. The islands also serve as countries of recruitment or origin of trafficking victims towards other countries in Oceania and South East Asia, usually for forced labour in the agriculture sector.

In two countries, Fiji and Palau, the report examines the severity of trafficking in persons cases. The data suggest that roughly 0.6 per cent of the population in both states have experienced ‘severe’ instances of trafficking in persons for forced labour, while many more have experienced less violent forms of trafficking or exploitation.