US State Department critical of Malta's handling of human trafficking

The Maltese government is failing to meet minimum standards for the elimination of people trafficking, although it is making 'significant efforts' to do so, a US State Department report has said. Malta is a source and destination country for women and children subjected to sex trafficking. Seven new trafficking cases were investigated during 2012, an increase from three cases in 2011 and none in 2008-2010. Female sex trafficking victims originate from China, Romania, Russia, and Ukraine, but women and children from Malta have also been found subjected to sex trafficking within the country. There are also concerns that the 5,000 irregular migrants from African countries as well as female Filipina domestic workers and female Chinese nationals working in massage parlors may be vulnerable to human trafficking in the country’s informal labor market. In 2012, the government identified four victims: two male labour trafficking victims from China, one female labour and sex trafficking victim from China, and one female sex trafficking victim who was internally trafficked. This was the first instance of the Government identifying a Maltese national as a trafficking victim in at least 10...