Equatorial Guinea Issues - 2023

GEOGRAPHICAL NAMES 

Disputes - international

Equatorial Guinea-Cameroon: in 2002, ICJ ruled on an equidistance settlement of Cameroon-Equatorial Guinea-Nigeria maritime boundary in the Gulf of Guinea, but a dispute between Equatorial Guinea and Cameroon over an island at the mouth of the Ntem River and imprecisely defined maritime coordinates in the ICJ decision delayed final delimitation

Equatorial Guinea-Gabon: UN urged Equatorial Guinea and Gabon to resolve the sovereignty dispute over Gabon-occupied Mbane and lesser islands and to create a maritime boundary in the hydrocarbon-rich Corisco Bay

Trafficking in persons

tier rating:

Tier 2 Watch List — Equatorial Guinea does not fully meet the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking but is making significant efforts to do so; the government increased anti-trafficking awareness campaigns, as well as finalized and began implementing an updated 2022-2024 national action plan and standard operating procedures on victim protection and care; officials improved internal coordination, trained local leaders and law enforcement officials in trafficking indicators, victim identification, and investigation; however, the government did not demonstrate overall increased anti-trafficking efforts compared with the previous year; officials have never convicted a trafficker under its 2004 anti-trafficking law, did not prosecute traffickers or identify victims during the reporting period, and the law did not criminalize all forms of trafficking; senior government officials allegedly were complicit in trafficking crimes; because the government devoted sufficient resources to a plan that, if implemented, would constitute significant efforts to meet minimum standards, Equatorial Guinea was granted a waiver per the TVPA from an otherwise required downgrade to Tier 3, and therefore remained on Tier 2 Watch List for the third consecutive year (2022)

trafficking profile: human traffickers exploit domestic and foreign victims in Equatorial Guinea and Equatoguineans abroad; the majority of trafficking victims are subjected to forced domestic service and commercial sex in cities, particularly in the hospitality and restaurant sector; local and foreign women, including Latin Americans, are exploited in commercial sex domestically, while some Equatoguinean women are sex trafficked in Spain; some children from rural areas have been forced into domestic servitude; children from nearby countries are forced to labor as domestic workers, market workers, vendors, and launderers; individuals recruited from African countries and temporary workers from Brazil, the Dominican Republic, and Venezuela are sometimes exploited in forced labor and sex trafficking; observers report LGBTQI+ youth are often left homeless and stigmatized by family and society, increasing their vulnerability to trafficking (2022)

NOTE: The information regarding Equatorial Guinea on this page is re-published from the 2023 World Fact Book of the United States Central Intelligence Agency and other sources. No claims are made regarding the accuracy of Equatorial Guinea 2023 information contained here. All suggestions for corrections of any errors about Equatorial Guinea 2023 should be addressed to the CIA or the source cited on each page.