Shafaq News-Baghdad
Iraqiauthorities detained 5,107 people in human trafficking investigations during2025, but only 385 victims were formally identified, the Iraqi Observatory forHuman Rights (IOHR) revealed on Sunday.
The figures,drawn from a forthcoming study based on official statistics from the Ministryof Interior and field testimonies from survivors, show that documented victimsaccounted for just 7.5% of those detained —roughly one victim for every 13detainees.
The studylinks the expansion of human trafficking to years of conflict, displacement,poverty, weak oversight, and corruption, describing it as an “organized enterprise”that exploits victims through deceptive recruitment, document confiscation,debt bondage, isolation, and threats of violence. Women, children, internallydisplaced people, refugees, migrant workers, and people with disabilitiesremain the most vulnerable groups.
Sexualexploitation accounted for the largest share of recorded cases in 2025, with127 networks dismantled, 1,385 suspects detained, 505 convictions, and only 89victims identified. Organized begging recorded the widest disparity, with 16networks dismantled, 2,107 detainees, and just 25 documented victims. Authorities also dismantled 63 migrant smuggling and labor exploitationnetworks, identifying 233 victims, while 18 organ trafficking networks and 19child trafficking networks were uncovered, with 12 and 26 victims documented,respectively.
During theyear, authorities processed 2,696 investigative files, completing 1,888 whileleaving 808 pending. Of 815 arrest warrants issued, 526 were executed and 289remained outstanding, while courts convicted 711 individuals (about 14% ofthose detained).
"Theofficial indicators show that security institutions are making progress inpursuing a number of trafficking networks," IOHR head Mustafa Saadoonsaid. "Yet these same figures reveal an equally significant human rightschallenge: the limited number of victims identified relative to the scale ofcriminal activity that the investigations themselves reveal."
He addedthat genuine compliance with Iraq's anti-trafficking law and internationalstandards extends beyond arresting perpetrators to providing victims withprotection, shelter, legal assistance, and medical and psychological care,while ensuring they are not held accountable for acts directly linked to theirexploitation.
According tothe Interior Ministry, Iraqi authorities dismantled 36 organized crime networksinvolved in human trafficking, labor smuggling, and organ trafficking duringthe first quarter of 2026, including seven child trafficking networks that ledto 16 arrests.
: 2.3K lives lost: Iraq's grim toll of humantrafficking
