World view · rights
Trafficking in Persons
मानव बेचबिखन
Nepal · 2025
Tier 2 Watch List
Trajectory · 2005–2025
Trafficking in Persons
US State Department
Linear extrapolation of the last 5-year trend — illustrative only, not a forecast.
Solid — measured history
Dashed — if current trend continues
Green dotted — reform scenario (1.5× current pace)
Honest caveat: projections are linear extrapolation of the last 5 observed years. Real-world indices change non-linearly with policy shocks, elections, and external events. This tool answers "where would this go if nothing changes?" — it is not a forecast. For real change, see the "what would move this" panel below.
Why Nepal is here
Nepal was downgraded to Tier 2 Watch List in the 2025 TIP Report — a serious signal that government efforts have not increased compared to the prior year. Convictions rose (406 in FY ending July 2024 vs 176 the year before), but for the 10th consecutive year the government failed to amend the 2007 Human Trafficking and Transportation Control Act to criminalise all forms of labour and sex trafficking. Official complicity in trafficking crimes remained a "serious concern" per the report.
The short version
Some Nepalis — especially women and young people — are tricked into bad jobs abroad or sold into work they did not agree to. In 2025 the US put Nepal on a "watch list" because we did not do enough to fix this. Pakistan is on the same list.
Inside the score
The headline number breaks down into these sub-scores — these are the levers.
Prosecution
38/100
Investigations rising; convictions low — only ~150 traffickers convicted in 2023 vs thousands of cases
Protection
52/100
Shelters expanded but uneven; victim-witness protection at trial is weakest link
Prevention
58/100
Awareness campaigns wide-reaching; pre-departure verification at airports still patchy
Partnerships
63/100
Strong NGO ecosystem; bilateral MoUs with Gulf states need teeth
SAARC scoreboard
How Nepal compares to its neighbours on this index, latest year.
What would actually move this
Three concrete actions — each tied to where a comparable country actually moved on this metric.
- 1
Mandatory free counselling and document-verification at every airport gate before any first-time migration.
- 2
Single victim-compensation fund (currently scattered across ministries).
- 3
Prosecute the licensed recruitment agencies that repeatedly appear in survivor testimonies — not just the brokers.
Countries that moved — and how
Real reform episodes from countries roughly our size or context. Each shows that significant movement is possible within a decade.
Philippines 🇵🇭
Tier 2 → Tier 1 (2010 → 2016)
Anti-Trafficking Act enforced, Inter-Agency Council, victim-witness protection, prosecution-rate dashboard.
Taiwan 🇹🇼
Tier 2 → Tier 1 (2005 → 2010)
Migrant-worker contract reform, hotline in 5 languages, prosecutorial specialization.
Mongolia 🇲🇳
Tier 2 Watch → Tier 2 (2017 → 2021)
Trafficking-specific law, victim-compensation fund, criminalized labour-broker fee fraud.
Source · cited verbatim
US State Department — Trafficking in Persons, 2025
Open the publisher's releaseAll values on this page are taken directly from this source. Year and confidence level is shown on each card. If you find a discrepancy with the publisher's current dataset, please report it.