Washington DC

The United States’ 2026 Trafficking in Persons Report has acknowledged India’s increasing efforts to combat human trafficking, highlighting the repatriation of 6,720 Indian nationals exploited in online scam operations in Southeast Asia, alongside measures to strengthen enforcement, improve victim protection and use technology to identify trafficking risks.

The report released on Thursday (local time) retained India in Tier 2, while noting that the country had made "overall increasing efforts compared with the previous reporting period". It also stated that some of the initiatives undertaken by India "should be applauded".

Among the key measures highlighted was India’s repatriation, by December 2025, of 6,720 Indians exploited in forced criminality at online scam operations in Myanmar, Cambodia and Laos. The report noted that the Ministry of External Affairs facilitated the repatriation through the Indian Community Welfare Fund.

The report also acknowledged India’s efforts to strengthen anti-trafficking infrastructure, noting that the government funded eight additional Anti-Human Trafficking Units (AHTUs), taking the total number of operational units to 827 in 2025, an increase of eight from the previous year.

It further highlighted the launch of an artificial intelligence-based tool in January 2026 by the Ministry of Commerce and Industry to map trafficking and child marriage hotspots, identify children vulnerable to exploitation and track organised crime.

The report also noted steps to regulate recruitment practices in the maritime sector, stating that nearly 100 companies were prevented from recruiting seafarers after authorities identified unlicensed recruiters and cases of crew abandonment. It added that 3,505 unregistered agencies had grievances listed on the eMigrate portal.

On victim protection, the report highlighted the allocation of Rs 25.21 billion for protection services, One-Stop Centres, women’s helplines and 404 Shakti Sadan homes. It also referred to the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights' "Combating Child Trafficking 3.0 initiative", launched in July 2025 to address trafficking risks in more than 200 vulnerable districts.

The report further noted that the Supreme Court issued guidelines in April 2025 for the completion of child trafficking trials within six months.

Meanwhile, in a parallel push to strengthen India’s anti-trafficking response, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), in a letter dated August 28 to Chief Secretaries and Directors General of Police of states and Union Territories, called for stronger implementation of the three new criminal laws and greater use of technology to combat human trafficking.

Highlighting the issue as an "important priority" of the Central government, the MHA emphasised that the effectiveness of the legal and digital framework depended on state-level implementation.

"While the Union government has provided a comprehensive statutory and digital roadmap, the functional success of these reforms is dependent on the decisive leadership of states and UTs, and the efficiency and rigour with which these tools are used by them," the letter stated.

The advisory called for the use of relevant provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023, to target organised trafficking networks, their financiers and key operators, noting that "human trafficking is rarely an isolated crime" and "it is typically the work of organised syndicates".

It also urged states to strengthen Anti-Human Trafficking Units, appoint specialised public prosecutors, prioritise trafficking trials and use digital evidence, forensic tools and audio-video recording to improve investigations.

The MHA further called for inter-state coordination through the Crime Multi Agency Centre (Cri-MAC), Joint Investigation Teams and monitoring of online job portals and social media to identify fraudulent overseas recruitment schemes that trap Indians in exploitation at online scam operations.

"States must ensure that every Anti-Human Trafficking Unit is fully staffed, specialised, and actively engaged in the field and does not remain merely an empty formality," the advisory stated.

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The Ministry urged states and Union Territories to circulate the advisory among police stations and field officers and strengthen training and coordination, stressing that "the fight against human trafficking serves as a definitive benchmark of constitutional obligation and administrative efficacy".