Iraq documented 385 human trafficking victims in 2025, rights monitor says

BAGHDAD, Iraq — Iraq's Human Rights Observatory said 5,107 people were detained in 2025 in connection with human trafficking crimes, while the number of officially identified and documented victims stood at 385. The group said the wide gap between those detained and those recognized as victims points to problems in how authorities identify and distinguish victims. According to the observatory, sexual exploitation was the most common form of trafficking recorded during the year, with 127 networks dismantled, 1,385 suspects detained and 89 victims documented. In cases involving organized begging, 2,107 suspects were detained but only 25 victims were recorded. The observatory said 2,696 trafficking case files were processed in 2025, of which 1,888 were completed and 808 remain open. It added that 526 of the 815 arrest warrants issued were executed, and 711 convictions were handed down. The group warned that some victims are being treated as suspects rather than as exploited persons, a practice it said conflicts with the Palermo Protocol and Iraq's Anti-Human Trafficking Law. It called on authorities to establish national victim-identification mechanisms, expand protection and rehabilitation programs, and tighten oversight of employment and labor-recruitment companies.