Iraq arrests 5K+ in 2025 human trafficking cases
Shafaq News- Baghdad
Iraqi authorities detained 5,107 people in human trafficking investigations during 2025, but only 385 victims were formally identified, the Iraqi Observatory for Human Rights (IOHR) revealed on Sunday.
The figures, drawn from a forthcoming study based on official statistics from the Ministry of Interior and field testimonies from survivors, show that documented victims accounted for just 7.5% of those detained —roughly one victim for every 13 detainees.
The study links 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, internally displaced people, refugees, migrant workers, and people with disabilities remain the most vulnerable groups.
Sexual exploitation accounted for the largest share of recorded cases in 2025, with 127 networks dismantled, 1,385 suspects detained, 505 convictions, and only 89 victims identified. Organized begging recorded the widest disparity, with 16 networks dismantled, 2,107 detainees, and just 25 documented victims. Authorities also dismantled 63 migrant smuggling and labor exploitation networks, identifying 233 victims, while 18 organ trafficking networks and 19 child trafficking networks were uncovered, with 12 and 26 victims documented, respectively.
During the year, authorities processed 2,696 investigative files, completing 1,888 while leaving 808 pending. Of 815 arrest warrants issued, 526 were executed and 289 remained outstanding, while courts convicted 711 individuals (about 14% of those detained).
"The official indicators show that security institutions are making progress in pursuing a number of trafficking networks," IOHR head Mustafa Saadoon said. "Yet these same figures reveal an equally significant human rights challenge: the limited number of victims identified relative to the scale of criminal activity that the investigations themselves reveal."
He added that genuine compliance with Iraq's anti-trafficking law and international standards extends beyond arresting perpetrators to providing victims with protection, shelter, legal assistance, and medical and psychological care, while ensuring they are not held accountable for acts directly linked to their exploitation.
According to the Interior Ministry, Iraqi authorities dismantled 36 organized crime networks involved in human trafficking, labor smuggling, and organ trafficking during the first quarter of 2026, including seven child trafficking networks that led to 16 arrests.
Read more: 2.3K lives lost: Iraq's grim toll of human trafficking
