Palau Issues - 2023

GEOGRAPHICAL NAMES 

Disputes - international

Palau-Indonesia: maritime delineation negotiations continue with Philippines, Indonesia

Palau-Philippines: maritime delineation negotiations continue with Philippines, Indonesia

Trafficking in persons

tier rating: Tier 2 Watch List — Palau does not fully meet the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking but is making significant efforts to do so; Palau convicted a trafficker for the first time since 2018, convicted a government official for corruption in trafficking-related crimes, initiated two prosecutions, established an interagency working group, and conducted public awareness campaigns; it also finalized and implemented a national action plan and hired an investigator and victim advocate for its Anti-Human Trafficking Unit; however, the government did not demonstrate overall increasing efforts compared to the previous year to expand its anti-trafficking capacity; officials lacked standard operating procedures for victim identification and referral to services; a lenient sentence for a convicted trafficker weakened deterrence, undercut efforts to fight trafficking, and placed victims who cooperated with the investigation and prosecution at risk; therefore, Palau remained on Tier 2 Watch List for the second consecutive year (2022)

trafficking profile: human traffickers exploit domestic and foreign victims in Palau; foreigners in Palau number about one-third of the population of nearly 22,000, and those with little education or English language proficiency are particularly at risk of trafficking; Filipino, Bangladeshi, Nepali, Thai, Korean, and Chinese adult nationals pay thousands of dollars in recruitment fees to migrate to Palau for jobs in domestic service, agriculture, restaurants, or construction, but some become trafficking victims; some women from the Philippines and China, recruited to work as waitresses or clerks, are exploited in sex trafficking; some foreign workers on fishing boats experience conditions indicative of human trafficking; Cubans working in Palau may have been forced to work by the Cuban government; official complicity facilitates some trafficking; government officials--including labor, immigration, law enforcement, and elected officials—have been investigated for complicity in trafficking crimes (2022)

NOTE: The information regarding Palau 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 Palau 2023 information contained here. All suggestions for corrections of any errors about Palau 2023 should be addressed to the CIA or the source cited on each page.