East Asia & Pacific

Trafficking in East Asia & the Pacific

East Asia and the Pacific present a trafficking landscape defined by contrasts. The region includes some of the world’s most advanced economies alongside nations with extreme poverty and authoritarian governance. It contains both the largest state-sponsored trafficking program in the world (North Korea) and one of the most comprehensive modern slavery legislative frameworks (Australia). Trafficking in this region spans the full spectrum: from high-tech surveillance-enabled forced labor in Xinjiang to exploitation of agricultural workers on remote Pacific islands.

The UNODC identifies East Asia as both a major source and destination region for trafficking. Transnational trafficking corridors connect the region to every other continent, while internal trafficking, particularly within China, operates on an enormous scale. The region’s manufacturing dominance means that products tainted by forced labor in East Asia enter global supply chains at every level.

China: Uyghur Forced Labor in Xinjiang

China’s treatment of the Uyghur Muslim population in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region represents the largest state-sponsored forced labor program documented in the modern world. Since 2017, the Chinese government has detained an estimated one to two million Uyghurs and other Turkic Muslims in a network of internment facilities that the government describes as “vocational education and training centers” but that independent investigators have characterized as concentration camps.

Within these facilities, detainees are subjected to political indoctrination, forced renunciation of religious and cultural identity, physical and psychological abuse, and forced labor. Detainees who “graduate” from the camps are frequently transferred to factories, both within Xinjiang and across China, where they work under conditions of coercion. The Australian Strategic Policy Institute (ASPI) identified at least 83 global brands, including Apple, Nike, Samsung, BMW, and Amazon, whose supply chains include factories using Uyghur forced labor.

The Transfer Program

Beyond the internment camps, China operates a system of “labor transfer” programs that move Uyghur workers from Xinjiang to factories across China. Government documents obtained and analyzed by researchers describe a system in which workers are selected, transported under escort, subjected to Mandarin language training and ideological instruction, and monitored by security personnel during their employment. Workers have no meaningful ability to refuse participation or leave.

The cotton industry is at the center of the Uyghur forced labor crisis. Xinjiang produces approximately 85% of China’s cotton and 20% of the world’s cotton supply. Research by the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) and others has documented the use of coerced labor in cotton harvesting, processing, and textile manufacturing in Xinjiang, creating contamination risks throughout global apparel supply chains.

International Response

The United States passed the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFLPA) in December 2021, creating a rebuttable presumption that all goods produced in whole or in part in Xinjiang are made with forced labor and are therefore prohibited from importation. The EU, UK, and Canada have imposed sanctions on Chinese officials and entities linked to abuses in Xinjiang. China categorically denies all allegations, describing them as “lies and disinformation” and characterizing its programs as counter-terrorism and poverty alleviation measures.

China: Forced Organ Harvesting

Allegations that China engages in forced organ harvesting from prisoners of conscience, particularly Falun Gong practitioners and, more recently, Uyghur detainees, have been investigated by multiple independent bodies. The most comprehensive was the China Tribunal, an independent people’s tribunal chaired by Sir Geoffrey Nice QC (who served as lead prosecutor in the trial of Slobodan Milosevic), which issued its final judgment in March 2019.

The China Tribunal concluded, unanimously and beyond reasonable doubt, that forced organ harvesting from prisoners of conscience has been practiced in China for a substantial period of time, involving a very substantial number of victims. The Tribunal found that Falun Gong practitioners were the primary source of organs, and that the persecution of Falun Gong constituted a crime against humanity. The Tribunal also expressed concern about the potential harvesting of organs from Uyghur detainees.

China officially ended the use of executed prisoner organs in 2015, transitioning to a voluntary citizen donation system. However, researchers have noted that China’s transplant capacity has continued to grow, with major new transplant hospitals constructed and extremely short wait times advertised to medical tourists, raising questions about the true source of organs. Statistical analyses have identified anomalies in China’s official organ donation data that are consistent with an ongoing non-voluntary source.

China: Internal Trafficking

Beyond Xinjiang, China experiences significant internal trafficking. Rural-to-urban migration ; one of the largest internal population movements in human history, involving an estimated 300 million people ; creates vulnerabilities that traffickers exploit. Migrant workers in China’s factories, construction sites, and mines frequently face conditions of forced labor, including wage theft, excessive overtime, document confiscation, and restrictions on freedom of movement. The hukou (household registration) system, which ties access to social services to a person’s place of origin, means that migrant workers in Chinese cities lack access to healthcare, education for their children, and legal protections ; all factors that increase vulnerability to exploitation.

The trafficking of women and girls for forced marriage is a persistent problem, driven by China’s gender imbalance. Decades of the one-child policy combined with cultural preference for sons produced a surplus of an estimated 30–40 million men ; sometimes called “bare branches” ; who cannot find wives through conventional means. Women from Myanmar, Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, and North Korea are trafficked into China as “brides,” often sold to men in rural provinces. Internal trafficking of Chinese women from poorer provinces to wealthier regions for the same purpose is also documented. The 2022 case of a woman found chained in a shed in Xuzhou, Jiangsu province ; later identified as a trafficking victim from Yunnan ; sparked a nationwide outcry and renewed attention to the persistence of bride trafficking in rural China.

Child trafficking for illegal adoption has also been a significant concern. Before reforms tightened adoption regulations, criminal networks kidnapped children, particularly boys, from southern provinces and sold them to families in wealthier regions. The Chinese government launched the “Operation Reunion” DNA database in 2009 to match kidnapped children with their parents, and has reported thousands of successful reunifications, though the true scale of child trafficking remains unknown.

North Korea: State-Sponsored Trafficking

North Korea operates the only government in the world that the U.S. State Department has designated as engaging in state-sponsored trafficking; a distinction it has held continuously since the TIP Report began including the DPRK. The North Korean government profits from the forced labor of its own citizens both domestically and abroad, in what constitutes the most comprehensive state-sponsored trafficking program in existence.

Overseas Forced Labor

North Korea has historically dispatched tens of thousands of workers to countries across Asia, Africa, the Middle East, and Europe, where they labor in construction, logging, mining, textile manufacturing, and other industries. Workers are selected by the government, their wages are confiscated (with an estimated 70–90% remitted to the regime), and their movements are controlled by government minders. Workers are threatened with punishment of their families if they attempt to escape or defect.

At its peak, an estimated 100,000 North Korean workers were deployed abroad, generating an estimated $200–500 million annually for the regime. Russia and China have historically been the largest recipients of North Korean labor. Following UN Security Council Resolution 2397 (2017), which required member states to repatriate all North Korean workers by December 2019, the number of workers abroad officially decreased; though monitoring organizations report that thousands remain, particularly in Russia and China, through the use of fraudulent documentation and third-party contracting arrangements.

Domestic Forced Labor

Within North Korea, the government subjects citizens to forced labor in political prison camps (kwanliso), military conscription lasting up to ten years, and mobilization of civilians, including children, for state construction projects, agricultural campaigns, and other labor. Political prisoners are subjected to conditions described by the UN Commission of Inquiry as constituting “crimes against humanity, ” including murder, enslavement, torture, and sexual violence.

An estimated 80,000–120,000 people are held in North Korea’s political prison camps, which operate as forced labor facilities. Prisoners, who may be incarcerated for political offenses as minor as possessing foreign media or criticizing the regime, are forced to perform dangerous labor in mining, logging, and agriculture. Satellite imagery analyzed by the Committee for Human Rights in North Korea has documented the expansion of these camps and identified areas of intense labor activity. The camps operate on a principle of collective punishment: entire families, spanning three generations, may be imprisoned for the political offense of a single family member.

North Korean Women in China

An estimated 60–70% of North Korean defectors are women, and many fall victim to trafficking in China. Women who flee North Korea across the Chinese border are particularly vulnerable because their presence in China is illegal. China classifies them as economic migrants rather than refugees and forcibly repatriates those who are caught. Traffickers exploit this vulnerability, selling North Korean women as brides to Chinese men or forcing them into the sex industry. Women who are repatriated to North Korea face severe punishment, including imprisonment in political camps, forced labor, and reports of forced abortions if they became pregnant while in China.

Japan: Technical Intern Training Program

Japan’s Technical Intern Training Program (TITP), officially described as a skills-transfer program for workers from developing countries, has been extensively documented as a system that facilitates labor trafficking. Established in 1993, the program brings workers primarily from Vietnam, China, the Philippines, and Indonesia to work in Japanese industries including agriculture, food processing, construction, textiles, and manufacturing.

In practice, the TITP has functioned as a source of cheap labor for Japanese industries facing labor shortages. Workers arrive indebted to recruitment agencies in their home countries, are bound to a single employer for the duration of their contract (typically three to five years), and face deportation if they leave their assigned workplace. The U.S. TIP Report has repeatedly criticized the program, noting that workers experience conditions indicative of forced labor: excessive working hours, wage theft, physical abuse, substandard housing, and confiscation of identity documents.

The Entertainment Industry

Japan also experiences trafficking in its entertainment and sex industries. Foreign women, particularly from the Philippines, Eastern Europe, and Latin America, are trafficked to work in hostess bars, “snack bars, ” and other establishments where commercial sexual exploitation occurs. Japan’s historical “entertainer” visa category was identified by the U.S. TIP Report as facilitating trafficking; reforms reduced but did not eliminate the practice.

The JK business (joshi kosei, or high school girl business) phenomenon has also drawn international concern. Commercial establishments offering paid “dates,” “walking companions,” or photograph sessions with underage girls have been documented as fronts for the sexual exploitation of minors. While the Japanese government has taken steps to regulate some of these businesses, critics argue that Japan’s approach to child sexual exploitation remains inadequate, noting that the country did not criminalize the simple possession of child pornography until 2014.

Reform Efforts

In response to sustained criticism, Japan announced in 2023 that it would abolish the TITP and replace it with a new system designed to improve worker protections, including the ability to change employers. Implementation details and timelines remain under development, and anti-trafficking organizations have cautioned that meaningful change will require robust enforcement and independent monitoring.

South Korea & Taiwan

South Korea

South Korea experiences trafficking both as a destination for foreign workers and as a source of domestic exploitation. The Employment Permit System (EPS), which governs the employment of migrant workers in Korea, has been criticized for restrictions on worker mobility that create vulnerability to exploitation. Migrant workers in agriculture and fishing, sectors excluded from some labor protections, face conditions that can constitute forced labor, including excessive hours, wage withholding, and physical abuse.

South Korea is also a destination for sex trafficking, with foreign women from the Philippines, Russia, China, and Southeast Asia exploited in juicy bars, massage parlors, and hostess clubs, particularly in areas surrounding U.S. military bases. South Korean women are also trafficked domestically for sexual exploitation. The country’s large sex industry, estimated to generate approximately $12 billion annually, creates significant demand for trafficking, despite the government’s official anti-prostitution stance.

North Korean defectors in South Korea face particular vulnerabilities. Women who escape through China often carry the psychological trauma of trafficking and exploitation experienced during their journey. In South Korea, defectors face discrimination, language barriers, and economic marginalization that can make them vulnerable to further exploitation.

Taiwan

Taiwan’s fishing fleet has been identified as a significant site of forced labor, particularly on distant-water fishing vessels operating in the Pacific and Indian Oceans. Migrant crew members from Indonesia, the Philippines, and Vietnam report conditions similar to those documented in the Thai fishing industry: excessive hours, wage theft, physical violence, and inability to leave vessels at sea. Taiwan’s “dual track” labor regulatory system, in which fishermen on distant-water vessels fall under a less protective regulatory framework than those on coastal vessels, has been identified as a structural contributor to exploitation.

Domestic workers and caregivers in Taiwan, predominantly from Indonesia and the Philippines, are also vulnerable to trafficking. Approximately 230,000 migrant caregivers work in Taiwanese households, often with limited labor law protections and restricted ability to change employers. Taiwan has taken steps to improve protections, including establishing a Direct Hiring Service Center to reduce reliance on recruitment brokers and the excessive fees they charge migrant workers. However, the structural vulnerability created by employer-tied work permits persists.

Australia: Modern Slavery Act & Agricultural Exploitation

Australia experiences trafficking and modern slavery primarily in the form of labor exploitation in agriculture, horticulture, construction, hospitality, and domestic work. The country’s Pacific seasonal worker programs, working holiday visa system, and demand for low-cost labor in regional industries create pathways for exploitation.

Agricultural Exploitation

Australia’s agricultural sector, particularly fruit and vegetable picking, meat processing, and horticulture, has been documented as a site of serious labor exploitation. Workers on temporary visas, including those tied to specific employers through the Seasonal Worker Programme or working to meet regional work requirements for visa extensions, face conditions including below-minimum-wage payment, excessive deductions for housing and transportation, dangerous working conditions, and threats of visa cancellation. Labor hire companies operating as intermediaries between farms and workers have been identified as a key vector for exploitation.

Modern Slavery Act 2018

Australia enacted the Modern Slavery Act in 2018, becoming one of the first countries to impose mandatory supply chain reporting requirements on large businesses and government entities. Organizations with annual revenue exceeding AUD $100 million must publish annual Modern Slavery Statements describing the risks of modern slavery in their operations and supply chains, and the actions they are taking to address those risks.

As of 2023, over 16,400 statements have been filed under the Act. However, analysis by the Australian Human Rights Commission and academic researchers has found significant variation in the quality and depth of reporting, with many statements containing generic language and few concrete actions. Australia’s Independent Anti-Slavery Commissioner has called for strengthening the Act with financial penalties for non-compliance and an independent enforcement mechanism.

The “88 Days” Requirement

Australia’s working holiday visa program requires visa holders to complete 88 days of “specified work” (typically in agriculture or hospitality in regional areas) to qualify for a second-year visa extension. This requirement has been documented as creating conditions for exploitation, as workers are dependent on their employers both for wages and for the documentation needed to extend their stay. Reports of underpayment, sexual harassment, unsafe conditions, and exploitation by labor hire companies are widespread. The Fair Work Ombudsman has conducted multiple investigations into the exploitation of working holiday visa holders in the agriculture sector, recovering millions of dollars in unpaid wages.

Pacific Islands

The Pacific Island nations face trafficking challenges shaped by their geographic isolation, small economies, and dependence on fishing and maritime industries. Forced labor on fishing vessels operating in Pacific waters, particularly those flagged to or operating from Taiwan, China, South Korea, and other distant-water fishing nations, is the most significant trafficking concern in the region.

Papua New Guinea, Fiji, and other Pacific Island countries experience internal trafficking, including the exploitation of children in domestic work, commercial sexual exploitation in areas surrounding logging and mining operations, and trafficking connected to the movement of workers between islands. The remoteness of many Pacific communities and the limited capacity of law enforcement create conditions in which trafficking can operate with near-impunity.

Several Pacific Island nations, including Palau, the Marshall Islands, and the Federated States of Micronesia, have been identified as destinations for trafficking of foreign workers, particularly in the construction, garment manufacturing, and fishing industries. Workers recruited through fraudulent promises find themselves in debt bondage, with wages withheld and passports confiscated.

Fishing & the Pacific

The Pacific Ocean is the world’s largest tuna fishery, and the distant-water fishing fleets that operate in Pacific waters have been extensively documented as sites of forced labor. Vessels flagged to Taiwan, China, South Korea, and other nations employ migrant crew members, primarily from Indonesia, the Philippines, and Vietnam, under conditions that frequently constitute trafficking. Workers report 18–22 hour shifts, physical abuse by officers, food deprivation, and non-payment of wages. The vast distances involved and the practice of at-sea transshipment (transferring catch between vessels) mean that workers may be at sea for months or years without touching port, effectively trapped.

The Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission (WCPFC) and the Pacific Islands Forum Fisheries Agency (FFA) have adopted labor standards for fishing vessels operating in the region, but enforcement remains a significant challenge given the vastness of the Pacific and the limited naval and coast guard resources of Pacific Island states.

Online Scam Compounds

A rapidly growing trafficking phenomenon in the broader Asia-Pacific region involves “scam compounds”; large-scale criminal operations, primarily in Cambodia, Myanmar, and Laos, where trafficked workers are forced to conduct online fraud. Victims are lured with promises of legitimate tech or customer service jobs, but upon arrival have their passports confiscated and are forced to carry out romance scams, cryptocurrency fraud, and other online crimes targeting victims worldwide. Those who fail to meet revenue targets face beatings, electric shocks, and starvation.

The UN estimates that over 100,000 people are held in scam compounds in Myanmar alone, with tens of thousands more in Cambodia and other countries. The victims are predominantly from China, Vietnam, Indonesia, India, and other Asian countries, though nationals from Africa, Latin America, and even Europe have also been identified. The UNODC estimates that scam operations in Southeast Asia generate tens of billions of dollars annually, making this one of the most profitable forms of organized crime in the world. Rescues have been complicated by the fact that compounds are often located in areas controlled by militias or in special economic zones where national law enforcement has limited jurisdiction.

The scam compound phenomenon represents a new and rapidly evolving form of trafficking that challenges traditional frameworks. Victims are not being exploited for their labor in the traditional sense but are being forced to commit crimes; making them simultaneously victims of trafficking and unwilling participants in fraud that harms people worldwide. This duality complicates law enforcement responses and victim identification. Some victims who escape or are rescued face prosecution for fraud in their home countries, despite being forced to commit these crimes under duress.

International response has been slow but growing. China, which has the largest number of nationals trapped in scam compounds, has conducted joint rescue operations with Myanmar and Cambodia. The Philippines, Indonesia, and Vietnam have also mounted rescue missions for their citizens. However, the operations continue to expand, driven by enormous profitability and the availability of vulnerable workers across the region.

Regional Anti-Trafficking Efforts

The East Asia and Pacific region has seen significant variation in anti-trafficking responses. Australia’s Modern Slavery Act, while imperfect, represents one of the most ambitious corporate transparency requirements in the world. Japan’s planned abolition of the TITP acknowledges systemic problems. South Korea has strengthened victim identification procedures. Taiwan has improved protections for fishing crew and domestic workers.

ASEAN (the Association of Southeast Asian Nations) adopted the ASEAN Convention Against Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children (ACTIP) in 2015, creating a regional legal framework for cooperation. However, implementation has been uneven, and the consensus-based ASEAN model limits the organization’s ability to pressure member states. The Bali Process on People Smuggling, Trafficking in Persons and Related Transnational Crime provides an additional multilateral framework, bringing together 49 countries and numerous international organizations.

China remains the region’s greatest challenge. As the source of the world’s largest state-sponsored forced labor program, a major destination for trafficked brides and workers, and a country that refuses to acknowledge the scale of its trafficking problem, China’s non-cooperation fundamentally limits regional anti-trafficking progress. The U.S. TIP Report has placed China on Tier 3 since 2017, and the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act represents an attempt to use trade policy as leverage. Whether these measures will produce meaningful change remains to be seen.

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