HU’s Response to the 2025 TIP Report

After a three-month delay, the U.S. Department of State released its 2025 Trafficking in Persons (TIP) Report at the end of September. For 25 years, the TIP Report’s annual assessment of global and country-level trends in forced labor and human trafficking has been required by U.S. law. It has been a critical tool for understanding the scope of this type of exploitation, providing concrete recommendations, and for holding governments accountable. We were pleased to see that the report was released, but its timely publication is essential for maintaining credibility and public trust in the assessment and ranking process. We hope future iterations of the report are released within the congressionally-mandated timeframe.

This year’s report highlights the continued presence of forced labor in global supply chains—an issue HU and our partners have prioritized for many years. We were pleased to see the special topic analysis on both combating forced labor in seafood supply chains; and the impact of forced labor import bans. Forced labor and human trafficking are present in every supply chain and it remains essential for governments to dedicate resources to address the root causes of forced labor and human trafficking as well as develop and implement policies that prevent exploitation and support survivors. Governments must also regulate industry to ensure workers’ rights are protected, companies cannot profit from the use of forced labor, require due diligence across entire supply chains; and provide remedy to exploited workers.

We agree with the TIP Report’s acknowledgement of the connections between illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing and forced labor. We note the efforts by workers, advocates and journalists who continue to call on governments to strengthen and enforce regulations to reflect these connections. Our work in seafood supply chains across the Asia Pacific region aims to address the conditions that perpetuate forced labor and human trafficking through safer migration, worker power, business models and government regulation. We agree with the State Department’s assessment that progress depends on concerted action across many sectors to address forced labor and human trafficking in this sector. But we know that all stakeholders must be held accountable to take the recommended actions outlined in the report.

Forced labor import bans are a critical tool to ensure that businesses do not profit from using forced labor in their supply chains. Over the years, U.S. import bans have influenced corporate behavior, informed the government of the prevalence of forced labor in supply chains, and served as vehicles to provide remedy to workers. While the TIP Report and experts have acknowledged that import bans are not the sole solution to the problem of forced labor in global supply chains, we have seen that import bans and the threat of such action can lead to corporate reforms and support worker organizing efforts. We agree that global collective action on developing and enforcing import bans will be key to ensure that countries with weaker prohibitions do not become safe harbors for goods made with forced labor.

In addition to the timeliness of its release, the integrity of the report also relies on the country rankings. Below, are our reactions to the rankings for countries relevant to our work.

Indonesia: The TIP Report highlights that the Indonesian government insufficiently addressed trafficking and forced labor, including in the fishing and seafood processing industries. Notably, labor inspections were ineffective in all sectors, and migrant workers remained unaware of their rights. Reports from fishing vessels, shrimp farms, and seafood processing factories revealed systemic labor abuses, including debt bondage, excessive overtime, unsanitary conditions, and child labor. However, the TIP Report does not address the linkage of these abuses to corporate pricing and purchasing practices, in addition to poor law enforcement and weak labor regulations. The right to freedom of association and worker-led organizing remains essential as workers in Indonesia continue to pursue stronger protections and remedy. Given the ongoing weakness of the Indonesian government’s efforts to prevent, protect or prosecute trafficking, we once again believe that Indonesia should have been downgraded to Tier 2 Watchlist. Along with our partners, we will continue to monitor the government of Indonesia’s commitments to adopting a forced labor import ban, strengthening its labor laws, and ensuring workers’ rights in the 2025 US-Indonesia Framework on Reciprocal Trade; and its commitment to pursue ratification of ILO’s Work in Fishing Convention (C188) by 2026.

Taiwan: The TIP report highlights the significant number of migrant workers in Taiwan, many of whom are hired through recruitment agencies and brokers. We have found that Taiwan’s recruitment agencies remain poorly regulated, exposing migrant workers to exploitative conditions. In addition, Taiwan continues to maintain a two-tiered recruitment system, with migrant fishers governed by the Fisheries Agency under the Ministry of Agriculture. This excludes workers on distant water vessels from labor protections under the Labor Standards Act that are afforded to workers fishing in Taiwan’s coastal waters, which fall under the purview of the Ministry of Labor. Further, despite ongoing concerns about labor abuse at sea, the government has also refused to mandate WiFi access on fishing vessels, leaving workers isolated and without a reliable means to seek help or report exploitation. Without urgent reforms, Taiwan’s fishing sector will continue to operate in ways that leave migrant workers vulnerable to abuse, exploitation, and forced labor. The report also notes that the Taiwanese government is in the process of approving a draft implementation guide to comply with the ILO’s Work in Fishing Convention (C188). This will be a critical step to ensure that the government’s approach is in line with international labor standards. However, given the years-long gaps in its efforts toward the elimination of trafficking, Taiwan should have been downgraded to Tier 2.

Thailand: The Thai government has taken many steps to strengthen its response to forced labor and human trafficking. However, key gaps remain. The government has yet to implement effective port and vessel inspections or establish adequate grievance mechanisms for workers, which is highlighted in the TIP Report. At the same time, Thailand continues to deny migrant workers the right to form and lead unions, limiting their ability to advocate for better conditions. Migration management and oversight of recruitment agencies, particularly in the fishing sector, also remain insufficient — leaving workers vulnerable to exploitation. Recent amendments to the Fisheries Act have weakened protections for workers by repealing the vessel monitoring system requirement for carrier vessels – which prevents regulatory agencies’ ability to track and verify vessel movements – and removing labor safeguards in seafood processing facilities. Without meaningful enforcement and reforms, these failures will not only erode Thailand’s progress on labor rights but also undermine global efforts to eliminate forced labor and human trafficking in one of the world’s most critical seafood supply chains.

United States: The United States once again ranks at Tier 1 for its efforts in 2024. However, in recent months the United States government has cut funding and staff across key government agencies providing the tools for prevention, protection, and prosecution of forced labor and human trafficking in the U.S. and abroad. This calls into question its ability to implement anti-trafficking work now and in the future, when funding and staffing levels were already insufficient to address the scale of this work. We are eager to see the United States reposition itself as a global leader to combat trafficking and forced labor through its investments in staff and programmatic capacity to implement anti-trafficking policies and partner with other governments to do the same.

We agree with the report’s assessment that local solutions led by survivor leaders are critical to government efforts to prevent and respond to exploitation. Humanity United remains committed to working with survivors and those with lived experience to identify sustainable solutions and hold institutions accountable in preventing and responding to human trafficking. While many positive steps have been taken to understand and address human trafficking and forced labor in the past 25 years, the TIP Report reminds us that this abhorrent form of exploitation remains prevalent, and governments and businesses have a responsibility to act in the coming years.