The U.S. Department of State, in its 2026 report on human trafficking, has stated that the Taliban have not taken effective measures to combat the phenomenon, and that no practical steps have been taken toward meeting the minimum standards for combating human trafficking. According to the report, during the period under review, the recruitment and use of children in combat and support roles, as well as the sexual exploitation of boys within Taliban ranks, including through the practice of “bacha bazi,” continued. The department said the Taliban have not provided any reports of investigations or convictions related to human trafficking, and that there is no report of the identification or protection of victims. According to the U.S. Department of State, Taliban restrictions on the rights of women and minority groups, as well as obstacles placed in the way of non-governmental organizations, have made it harder for victims to access support services. The report states that women and girls who are victims of human trafficking are subjected to sexual exploitation. According to the report, the Taliban have detained children who beg on the streets without screening for indicators of human trafficking, held them in detention centers alongside adults, and exposed these children to forced labor, physical abuse, and sexual abuse.
The U.S. Department of State published its 2026 report on human trafficking in Afghanistan yesterday, saying that Afghanistan remains on Tier 3 of the department’s trafficking list and that the Taliban have taken no effective action to combat the phenomenon. According to the report, human trafficking, particularly internal trafficking, continues on a wide scale in Afghanistan. The department also reported the sexual exploitation of children, including boys, through the practice of “bacha bazi” within Taliban ranks, and said the group recruits children into its ranks by forging identity documents and altering their ages.
The report states that some women and girls from Afghanistan who are sold in Afghanistan, India, Iran, and Pakistan are subjected to sex trafficking and forced domestic servitude by their new husbands. According to the U.S. Department of State report, men and boys from Afghanistan are also forced into labor and debt bondage in the agriculture and construction sectors, mainly in Iran, Pakistan, Greece, Türkiye, and Persian Gulf countries.
The U.S. Department of State also said that some impoverished families, or families facing heavy debts, sell their children to traffickers, marry off underage girls in exchange for money, or force them into marriage to escape Afghanistan. According to the report, some families use physical violence to force their children to work, including begging on the streets.
Penal Code for Courts: No Clear Definition of Human Trafficking
In one section of its report, the U.S. Department of State referred to the Taliban’s penal code for courts, which was published in January 2026, and said that the Taliban have banned human trafficking in this code and set a penalty of one to three years in prison for the first, second, and third offenses of human trafficking. However, the report states that the code does not provide a clear definition of human trafficking and that the prescribed penalties are not sufficiently deterrent. In addition, according to legal experts, some provisions of the code are drafted in a way that implicitly recognizes concepts related to slavery.
According to the U.S. Department of State, legal experts have expressed concern about the lack of a clear definition of human trafficking in the new code, the conflation of human trafficking with migrant smuggling, the absence of explicit guarantees for the right to access defense counsel, and the reliance on confessions without the necessary mechanisms to prevent coercion and confessions extracted under pressure.
The U.S. Department of State added that the Taliban have not reported any prosecution of their members for alleged complicity in human trafficking crimes. According to the department, impunity is a serious problem among the Taliban, and there is no formal system of accountability within the group.
Meanwhile, monitors have reported that the Taliban have detained 20 suspects of human trafficking in Nimroz Province. However, the details of these cases are unclear, and it has been suggested that the detentions may be linked to other crimes.
Continuation of Bacha Bazi and Recruitment of Child Soldiers
The U.S. Department of State report states that despite the official ban on bacha bazi, the practice continues in Afghanistan. Monitors have reported that in some cases, Taliban members have also been involved in this practice.
According to the report, the Taliban recruit children and use them for combat and support duties. According to the U.S. Department of State, monitors had previously reported that local members of the group entered false ages in children’s identity documents, facilitating their recruitment into Taliban ranks.
The U.S. Department of State added that bacha bazi refers to a practice in which boys, mainly at a young age, are abused for sexual exploitation and entertainment. According to the report, the victims of this practice are usually between 10 and 18 years old, and some of them are abducted or sold by their impoverished families.
The report also states that children are recruited through coercion and deception, including in schools in Afghanistan and Pakistan. According to the report, a number of these children are enrolled in jihadi madrasas, which are said to provide military training alongside religious education.
According to the report, groups such as the Islamic State Khorasan Province (ISKP) also use children in military activities, including carrying weapons, spying, guarding bases, and planting explosives.
The U.S. Department of State added that the Taliban have a commission called the “Ranks Purification Commission” to identify and remove children from their forces. However, the group’s measures to prevent the unlawful recruitment of children have been insufficient. Nevertheless, after talks with the Taliban, an international organization facilitated the release of 58 children and supported their return and reintegration into society.
Lack of Effective Support for Victims of Human Trafficking
The report states that the Taliban do not have a formal and effective system for identifying victims of human trafficking and referring them to support services. According to the report, one non-governmental organization operates three shelters in Kabul for women affected by domestic violence, including possible victims of human trafficking. Another non-governmental organization has two shelters in Kabul for child victims of crime and homeless children, which may also provide support services to child victims of human trafficking.
The U.S. Department of State said that the Taliban’s Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs operates only a limited number of child welfare centers and orphanages, and that these centers do not provide specialized services for victims of human trafficking. The report also states that no similar system of shelters exists in Afghanistan to support adult victims of human trafficking.
The report states that in numerous cases, the Taliban have detained possible victims of human trafficking, including children who beg on the streets, without screening for indicators of human trafficking. According to the report, some of these children were held in detention centers alongside adults and were exposed to forced labor, physical abuse, and sexual abuse. According to the department, the process of identifying victims and referring them to support centers in Afghanistan is ad hoc and unsystematic, and the Taliban’s Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs also faced a severe shortage of resources, lacked standard methods for identifying victims, and was unable to provide follow-up support.
Taliban Restrictions and Increased Vulnerability of Women
The report states that Taliban restrictions on the rights of women and girls, including limiting their access to education and employment, have increased their vulnerability to human trafficking.
The U.S. Department of State said that the ban on women working in most sectors and the restrictions imposed on the activities of non-governmental organizations have reduced these organizations’ capacity to provide support services to victims. The detention of female staff for not being accompanied by a mahram has also been cited as one of the obstacles that have disrupted support activities.
According to the report, victims of sex trafficking in some cases refrain from reporting abuse because they fear Taliban punishment and social stigma. This concern is particularly relevant in cases where victims may be punished for acts that were forced upon them as a result of trafficking and exploitation.
The report states that the Taliban have confirmed that corporal punishments are carried out for acts they consider moral crimes, including sexual relations outside marriage. According to the report, this deters victims of sex trafficking from reporting exploitation, as they may be punished solely for acts that were committed directly as a result of being trafficked and exploited.
The report added that the Taliban have not taken effective measures to support victims of bacha bazi or to eliminate this practice. According to the report, the Taliban also resist discussion of sex trafficking and do not allow the provision of support services to victims, particularly women and girls.
Human Trafficking in Afghanistan and Migration Routes
In the section on the human trafficking situation, the U.S. Department of State said that internal trafficking in Afghanistan is more widespread than cross-border trafficking, and that men, women, and children are exploited in various sectors, including forced domestic servitude, carpet weaving, brick making, agriculture, mining, and construction.
The report emphasizes that child victims of trafficking are exploited in various areas, including debt-based forced labor, domestic servitude, carpet weaving, work in brick kilns, herding, agriculture, construction, mining, begging, low-skilled work, poppy cultivation, salt mining, petty crime, drug and weapons smuggling, truck driving, and work in the hospitality sector.
The report states that traffickers target people returning to Afghanistan from Iran and Pakistan, particularly women, girls, and families linked to the former government. According to the report, internally displaced persons and people facing economic hardship are also considered vulnerable groups at risk of human trafficking.
According to the report, traffickers are increasingly using social media to recruit victims with false promises. Some people from Afghanistan also pay intermediaries to find work abroad, but a number of them face forced labor or sex trafficking in destination countries.
The U.S. Department of State said that Iran, Pakistan, Türkiye, and European countries have been identified as the main migration destinations for people from Afghanistan. Meanwhile, men and boys from Afghanistan are subjected to forced labor and debt bondage in the agriculture and construction sectors in Iran, Pakistan, Greece, Türkiye, and Persian Gulf countries.
The report states that Afghan refugees in various countries do not report exploitation to the responsible authorities because they fear deportation and being sent back to Afghanistan.
According to the report, former soldiers of the Afghanistan army who are hiding from the Taliban or fleeing the group are at risk of being recruited to fight in the Russia-Ukraine war due to financial instability and security threats.
The report also states that the Taliban, despite announcing a ban on human trafficking and drafting a four-year strategy to combat the phenomenon, have not reported the effective implementation of these measures, and have made no meaningful effort to prevent the recruitment of child soldiers or reduce demand for commercial sex services.
In its 2025 report, the U.S. Department of State had also said that the Taliban had taken no effective action to combat human trafficking and that the group’s fighters had recruited children into their ranks for sexual abuse.
You can read the Persian version of this report here:
گزارش قاچاق انسان ۲۰۲۶؛ امریکا: طالبان به سوءاستفاده جنسی از کودکان ادامه دادهاند
