Sri Lanka Issues - 2021

GEOGRAPHICAL NAMES 

Disputes - international

none

Refugees and internally displaced persons

IDPs: 27,000 (civil war; more than half displaced prior to 2008; many of the more than 480,000 IDPs registered as returnees have not reached durable solutions) (2020)

Trafficking in persons

current situation: Sri Lanka is primarily a source and, to a much lesser extent, a destination country for men, women, and children subjected to forced labor and sex trafficking; the majority of trafficking cases involve traffickers forcing Sri Lankan workers into labor overseas; men, women, and children are subjected to forced labor in the Middle East, Asia, Europe, and the United States in construction, garment manufacturing, and domestic service; authorities have identified labor trafficking victims among Sri Lankan female migrant workers who seek employment in Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar, Japan, and South Korea; traffickers force children, individuals with physical deformities, and those from socially vulnerable groups to beg or engage in criminal activity in Sri Lanka’s largest cities

tier rating: Tier 2 Watch List — Sri Lanka does not fully meet the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking but is making significant efforts to do so; efforts include convicting traffickers under its trafficking statute, identifying victims, and working on anti-trafficking training and raising awareness; however, some officials reportedly complicit in trafficking are inadequately investigated; fewer victims were identified in country and abroad; social and legal assistance for victims remained inadequate and inconsistent; the Sri Lankan Bureau of Foreign Employment did not refer potential trafficking cases to police for criminal investigation; police continued to arrest  trafficking victims for prostitution, vagrancy, and immigration offenses; child sex trafficking victims remained in government detention centers (2020)

NOTE: The information regarding Sri Lanka on this page is re-published from the 2021 World Fact Book of the United States Central Intelligence Agency and other sources. No claims are made regarding the accuracy of Sri Lanka 2021 information contained here. All suggestions for corrections of any errors about Sri Lanka 2021 should be addressed to the CIA or the source cited on each page.