Nepal Remains on Tier 2 Watch List in 2025 U.S. Trafficking in Persons Report

Nepal has been retained on the Tier 2 Watch List in the U.S. Department of State’s 2025 Trafficking in Persons (TIP) Report for the second consecutive year, signaling insufficient progress in combating human trafficking despite some notable efforts.

The report praises Nepal for increasing investigations, prosecutions, and convictions of trafficking crimes. According to the report, police conducted 392 investigations involving 818 suspects and secured 406 convictions in the fiscal year ending July 2024—a marked improvement from the previous year’s 176 convictions.

The government also trained law enforcement and collaborated with Indian counterparts on cross-border trafficking issues. However, persistent legislative and systemic shortcomings, including a failure to amend outdated laws and address official complicity, kept Nepal from advancing to Tier 2.

The report highlights Nepal’s failure to revise the 2007 Human Trafficking and Transportation (Control) Act (HTTCA) for the 10th consecutive year, calling it a critical barrier to aligning its legal framework with the 2000 UN TIP Protocol. The TIP Report states that the HTTCA’s narrow definition of trafficking—which limits it to the purchase or sale of persons or “prostitution” without requiring force, fraud, or coercion—inadequately addresses forced labor and other forms of exploitation.

Additionally, allegations of official complicity, including forged documents and ties between officials and employment agencies, remain unaddressed, with some accused officials still in office. The report further notes the government’s failure to finalize standard operating procedures (SOPs) for victim identification and referral for the sixth year, which hampered efforts to protect victims, particularly men, boys, and transnational labor trafficking survivors.

According to the data in the report, victim protection efforts saw a significant decline, with only 203 trafficking victims identified in 2024 compared to 766 the previous year. Inconsistent referrals to services, lack of dedicated shelters for male victims and children, and restrictions on victims’ movement in shelters underscored gaps in care.

The report says government-funded shelters often lack accommodations for people with disabilities, and bonded labor communities, such as the Haruwa-Charuwa, face ongoing exploitation due to inadequate reintegration programs and lack of access to identity documents. Oversight of recruitment agencies remains weak, with agencies frequently charging migrant workers excessive fees despite government caps, increasing their vulnerability to exploitation abroad.

Prevention efforts, the report states, were similarly inadequate. The National Committee for Controlling Human Trafficking (NCCHT) met regularly but struggled with coordination due to unfunded local committees and unclear responsibilities. A proposed 10-year National Action Plan remains unapproved for the third year, and while public awareness campaigns continued, they were not matched with robust regulatory enforcement.

Labor migration policies, including restrictive conditions for female migrant workers, were criticized for driving illegal migration and heightening trafficking risks. The TIP Report also notes the government’s failure to monitor children’s homes and the adult entertainment sector effectively, where trafficking victims, including children, are often exploited.

The report emphasizes that Nepal remains a source, transit, and destination country for human trafficking, with men, women, and children exploited in forced labor and sex trafficking within the country and abroad. Vulnerable groups face heightened risks. The report details that migrant workers face fraudulent recruitment, with some coerced into online scams or forced to fight in conflicts like the Russia-Ukraine war. The lack of citizenship documentation for an estimated 3.1 million people further exacerbates vulnerabilities.

The U.S. report urges Nepal to amend the HTTCA, increase prosecutions of complicit officials, establish uniform SOPs for victim identification, enhance migrant worker protections, provide identity documents to stateless groups, and strengthen oversight of children’s homes and the adult entertainment sector. Without sustained progress, Nepal risks remaining under scrutiny in future TIP reports.