Vigorously investigate and prosecute trafficking crimes and convict traffickers. * Increase efforts to identify victims proactively, particularly individuals in commercial sex, child laborers and/or children who experienced homelessness, and Georgian and foreign victims in vulnerable labor sectors. * Increase resources to plan intelligence and evidence-led law enforcement operations with victim-centered approaches. * Encourage victims’ participation in investigations and prosecutions through victim-centered court procedures, including remote testimony or funding for travel and other expenses for victims to attend court hearings. * Implement procedures to improve the Permanent Group’s ability to identify victims consistently and accurately. * Improve law enforcement’s capacity to investigate complex cases, including advanced training on money laundering, organized crime, and digital evidence. * Further incorporate the Labor Inspectorate into anti-trafficking efforts and increase its capacity and training to identify victims. * Improve measures to order restitution for victims, including training prosecutors and judges on asset seizure and legal assistance. * Increase the capacity and knowledge of civil society to identify and refer trafficking victims. * Increase awareness-raising campaigns about the existence of trafficking, legal recourse, and available protection services for vulnerable groups. * Develop guidelines and procedures for victim-witness coordinators and other victim assistance providers to strengthen coordination. * Increase transparency of the inter-ministerial trafficking coordination council and regularly publish information on the government’s anti-trafficking efforts.

The government increased law enforcement efforts. Articles 143-1 and 143-2 of the criminal code criminalized sex trafficking and labor trafficking and prescribed penalties ranging from seven to 12 years’ imprisonment for crimes involving an adult victim, and eight to 12 years’ imprisonment for crimes involving a child victim. These penalties were sufficiently stringent and, with regard to sex trafficking, commensurate with those prescribed for other grave crimes, such as rape. Law enforcement investigated 18 new cases, compared with 19 new cases in 2022; three for sex trafficking, 13 for labor trafficking, and two for unspecified exploitation. Law enforcement also continued to investigate nine cases from previous reporting periods. The government prosecuted 15 suspected traffickers, compared with five in 2022; one for sex trafficking, 12 for labor trafficking and two for unspecified exploitation. The government continued to prosecute five suspected traffickers from previous reporting periods. Courts convicted 12 labor traffickers, compared with two labor traffickers in 2022. Judges sentenced three traffickers to four years’ imprisonment, two traffickers to five year’s imprisonment, one trafficker to seven year’s imprisonment, one trafficker to 12 years’ imprisonment, one to 13 years’ imprisonment, two traffickers to 14 years’ imprisonment, and one trafficker to 15 years’ imprisonment. The criminal code criminalized “abuse of services of a victim of human trafficking” but authorities have never investigated a suspect, particularly because of the difficulty in proving a suspect reasonably knew or suspected a person was a trafficking victim. The government did not report any investigations, prosecutions, or convictions of government employees complicit in human trafficking crimes.

The government maintained several specialized trafficking units, including the Anti-Trafficking and Illegal Migration Unit in the Central Criminal Police Department and its six mobile units. The General Prosecutor’s Office (GPO) maintained five specialized prosecutors and the Adjara Autonomous Republic established the Division for Combatting Organized Crime within the Adjara Police Department to investigate trafficking and maintained a task force both with specialized investigators and prosecutors. Mobile units and the task force proactively investigated trafficking and inspected hotels, bars, bathhouses, nightclubs, casinos, and other high-risk businesses; mobile units and the task force inspected 100 high-risk businesses (65 in 2022). From April to December 2023, mobile units and labor inspectors conducted inspections. Labor inspectors interviewed 380 individuals vulnerable to labor trafficking, and the Ministry of Internal Affairs (MOIA) and Task Force mobile teams interviewed 421 people (60 in 2022). Labor Inspection Service referred four cases to the Ministry of Internal Affairs and investigation was initiated in one of them. The Tbilisi City Court maintained a nine-judge panel that heard “crimes against human rights and freedom,” including trafficking, and the Tbilisi Court of Appeals also maintained eight specialized judges assigned to handle “crimes against human beings,” which included trafficking, but the remaining 27 courts did not have specialized judges.

Observers reported authorities continued to require training on corroborating victim testimonies and evidence collection in complex cases involving financial crimes, organized crime, and digital evidence. Police randomly conducted law enforcement actions some commercial sex establishments rather than conducting intelligence-led operations, and observers reported a lack of transparency after police actions, including information on what happened to the individuals involved in commercial sex. The MOIA operated an academy that provided various courses on trafficking to police, prosecutors and border police, and the government, with financial and technical support from international organizations (IO), trained investigators, prosecutors, and labor inspectors on various anti-trafficking issues. The government executed three mutual legal assistance requests from foreign authorities and extradited three suspected traffickers to foreign authorities.

The government increased protection efforts. The government identified 17 victims, compared with two victims in 2022. Of these, three were sex trafficking victims, 13 were labor trafficking victims, and one was a victim of an unspecified form of exploitation; 12 were women, five were men, seven were girls, and one was a boy; five were persons with disabilities; and three were foreign nationals. First responders used SOPs for victim identification, including the proper treatment of victims, screening for indicators, and victim-centered interview practices. Mobile units and the task force maintained separate SOPs and guidelines and screened 427 individuals in commercial sex, begging, or employed in vulnerable sectors for trafficking indicators (456 in 2022). The Agency for State Care (ASC) operated eight mobile groups responsible for identifying potential victims among vulnerable children who were experiencing homelessness or used the streets as a source of livelihood; mobile groups assisted 242 children (301 in 2022). Observers reported victim identification efforts, particularly law enforcement actions on commercial sex establishments, were proven ineffective by the low number of identified victims. Observers reported most identification efforts were led by the government as civil society mostly did not work in anti-trafficking because of a lack of grants and programs.

A multidisciplinary NRM provided SOPs for official identification and referral of victims to services. Law enforcement officially recognized victims who participated in investigations, and the Permanent Group assessed and officially recognized victims who declined to participate in investigations; both recognitions granted victims access to the same protection and assistance services. The Permanent Group, composed of three local NGO and two IO representatives, was required by statute to convene and assess a potential victim within 48 hours. Law enforcement officially recognized 17 victims (two in 2022), and the Permanent Group met once but did not recognize any victims in 2023, 2022, and 2021. GRETA, OSCE, and other experts reported the threshold to obtain official victim status through the Permanent Group was high and shifted the burden of proof to victims; however, the government updated the Permanent Group’s procedures and questionnaires to improve the process in 2022.

ASC-run crisis centers in six cities and NGOs provided initial psychological care, medical assistance, legal support, and temporary shelter for potential victims awaiting official victim status. Additionally, the ASC operated two anti-trafficking shelters in Tbilisi and one in Batumi that provided victim assistance programs for official victims. ASC opened the sixth crisis center in Telavi and the second anti-trafficking shelter in Tbilisi. The government allocated 1,731,050 lari ($649,530) to the government-run anti-trafficking shelters, a significant increase compared with 1,004,201 lari ($376,810). ASC-run shelters provided medical aid, psycho-social support, legal assistance, childcare services, reintegration support, and a one-time financial payment of 1,000 lari ($375) to victims; 12 victims received support from ASC-run shelters, the other five victims refused to use state services. Child victims received the same specialized assistance, in addition to custodial care, education, and family reintegration programs; the government reported four children were placed in foster care and one child was placed in an ASC-run shelter. ASC-run shelters had the capacity to accommodate 38 victims in Tbilisi and five victims in Batumi. Victims can initially stay at the shelter for four months, which authorities may extend upon the victim’s request; the government-run shelters accommodated 11 victims (seven victims in 2022). ASC-run shelters were staffed by a nurse and psychologist and offered separate areas for men, women, and children. Shelter staff chaperoned victims when leaving the shelter, but victims could request to leave the shelter unchaperoned. In previous years, experts reported an inability to assess the quality of services at ASC-run shelters because of a lack of independent evaluations of the operations and conditions, but experts reported ASC-run shelters focused more on victims of domestic violence because of the low number of identified trafficking victims. The ASC also operated six shelters and seven crisis centers for vulnerable children who experienced homelessness or used the streets as a source of livelihood.

Authorities screened 1,482 Georgian nationals deported from other countries for trafficking indicators at the international airport and border crossings (1,274 Georgian nationals in 2022). The government provided equal services for Georgian citizen and foreign national victims and granted foreign victims renewable one-year residence permits with the ability to seek legal employment; no victims required residence permits in 2023 or 2022. The government provided repatriation assistance to Georgian victims returning to Georgia and foreign victims wishing to leave Georgia; three victims required repatriation assistance (none in 2022). The law required closed-door sessions for court proceedings and allowed victims pending trial to leave the country; however, experts reported, in practice, law enforcement required victims to remain in the country through the end of the trial, likely hindering victim cooperation, particularly from foreign victims wanting to repatriate because of slow court proceedings. The MOIA maintained 13 victim-witness coordinators and GPO employed 17 coordinators that supported victims from the onset of an investigation, including legal and logistical assistance and measures to prevent re-traumatization; victim-witness coordinators provided support to 13 victims participating in investigations and prosecutions (two victims and eight witnesses in 2022). However, an IO reported the lack of standardized interactions among MOIA and GPO victim-witness coordinators, the ASC, and other interlocutors likely created coordination issues. The ASC maintained a social service center for child victims of sexual violence, including trafficking, that provided child-friendly assistance during investigations and court proceedings. The law allowed recorded testimony or testimony by other technological means; none of witnesses testified remotely (none in 2022 as well). The law also allowed the possibility of placing a victim into the state’s witness protection program; no victims required the use of witness protection in 2023 or 2022. Victims could obtain restitution through criminal proceedings or compensation through civil suits; however, judges have never awarded restitution in criminal cases and only awarded compensation in civil suits to three victims to date. Observers highlighted the failure to freeze and seize criminal assets as an obstacle to pursuing restitution from traffickers.

The government modestly increased prevention efforts. The Inter-Agency Council on Combating Trafficking in Persons (Anti-Trafficking Council), composed of representatives from various ministries, the international community, and civil society, coordinated anti-trafficking efforts; the Anti-Trafficking Council met four times. The Anti-Trafficking Council monitored the implementation of the 2023-2024 NAP and published information, reports, and statistics on anti-trafficking efforts on the Ministry of Justice’s website; however, observers continued to report the Anti-Trafficking Council did not provide public assessments of government efforts and lacked transparency. The government conducted research on the accessibility of legal services for vulnerable populations in rural areas, and as a result of the research, established mobile consultation centers to reach vulnerable communities. In cooperation with an international organization, the government procured a mobile consultation van to travel to regions and conduct consultations. The Anti-Trafficking Council established and convened a working group, which consisted of state agencies, civil society, and international organizations, responsible for organizing awareness campaigns. The government organized awareness campaigns targeting Georgians in rural areas, the public, migrants, and students. The GPO maintained a working group on forced labor, which convened in December 2023 to coordinate measures to prevent labor trafficking. The MOIA and ASC continued to operate separate anti-trafficking hotlines; the hotlines received one call related to trafficking (14 in 2023).

The Law on Labor Safety provided occupational safety and health standards, including unannounced inspections. Labor inspectors conducted 255 inspections from April to December 2023 (830 in 2022) and referred four cases to MOIA. The Labor Inspectorate Service (LPS) maintained a specialized unit for forced labor and labor exploitation with branch offices in Batumi and Kutaisi. In September 2023, the government amended the Law on Labor Migration, prohibiting recruitment fees, establishing a permit system for migrant workers, and requiring LPS to license and monitor recruitment agencies. The Ministry of Internally Displaced Persons, Labor, and Health and Social Affairs required intermediary companies in Georgia, assisting Georgian citizens in finding employment abroad, to submit annual reports and register activities. The government issued a fine of 1,000 lari ($375) to intermediary companies that did not register an activity, and a fine of 300 lari ($110) for failing to submit an annual report; 11 companies were fined (11 in 2022). The government did not make efforts to reduce the demand for commercial sex acts.

As reported over the past five years, human traffickers exploit domestic and foreign victims in Georgia, and traffickers exploit victims from Georgia abroad. Traffickers recruit victims with false promises of well-paying jobs in tea processing plants, hospitals, salons, restaurants, and hotels. Traffickers exploit women and girls from Georgia in sex trafficking inside the country and in Cyprus, Egypt, Türkiye, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Georgia is also a transit country for women from Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan exploited in Türkiye. Traffickers exploit women from Central Asia, particularly Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan, in sex trafficking in the tourist areas of the Adjara region and larger cities like Tbilisi and Batumi in saunas, brothels, bars, strip clubs, casinos, and hotels. Georgian men and women are exploited in forced labor in Georgia and in Cyprus, Egypt, Türkiye, and the UAE. Georgian, Romani, and Kurdish children are forced to beg, forced to sell flowers, or are sometimes coerced into criminality in Georgia. Traffickers adapted operations to the impacts of the pandemic and shifted recruitment and advertisement tactics to online means, such as communicating through chats and establishing websites and advertisements for escort services. Women from the People’s Republic of China working in the commercial sex industry and Southeast Asian women working in massage parlors are vulnerable to sex trafficking. Georgian, Romani, and Kurdish children, in addition to children of Armenian refugees and children of IDPs from South Ossetia and Abkhazia, who are experiencing homelessness or use the streets as a source of livelihood, are vulnerable to trafficking, particularly forced begging. Ukrainian refugees fleeing Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine and Russians fleeing conscription are also vulnerable to trafficking.

The Russia-occupied regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia remained outside Georgian government control and authorities in these regions were supported by Russian forces. Russia and Abkhaz representatives limited the ability of IOs to operate in Abkhazia, although IOs had greater ability to operate there than in South Ossetia. As a result, no information was available about the presence of trafficking or the Abkhaz and South Ossetian representatives’ efforts to combat trafficking. However, NGOs consider IDPs in Georgian-controlled territory from Russia-occupied territories particularly vulnerable to trafficking. Separately, some observers reported anecdotal evidence of migrants being subjected to forced labor, and workers from the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) in Abkhazia may have been forced to work by the DPRK government.