Botswana remains tier 2 for human trafficking
US report credits government efforts but notes continued exploitation of women, children, and migrants.
Botswana is still designated Tier 2 for human trafficking, according to the 2026 Trafficking in Persons Report from the United States Department of State. The country has increased its efforts compared to last year but has not met global minimum standards for eradicating the crime. The report identifies Botswana as a source, destination, and transit corridor for trafficking, with women, children, and migrants most vulnerable to sex trafficking and forced labor.
Traffickers are increasingly using social media to lure victims with false job offers abroad, funneling them into agriculture, domestic servitude, and sex work. In the Ghanzi district, cattle ranchers reportedly exploit children in labor trafficking. At Dukwi Refugee Camp, residents from countries including the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Somalia are at high risk due to movement restrictions and lack of livelihood, with child refugees allegedly drawn into sex trafficking by foreign truck drivers.
The report also flagged approximately 80 Cuban workers in Botswana, suggesting the Cuban government may have subjected them to forced labor through bilateral agreements that confiscate wages. Additionally, Russian officials and recruiters are accused of fraudulently recruiting young African women, including from Botswana, for vocational training, only to place them in hazardous military drone production facilities with exploitative conditions.
Why it mattersWomen, children, and migrants in Botswana face exploitation through sex trafficking and forced labor, including in agriculture and domestic servitude.