The 2024 Trafficking in Persons Report by the United States government states that Fijian children are at risk of forced labour in agriculture, retail, or other sectors.

The report highlights rising levels of poverty also contributed to increased risks of Fijian children being exploited in commercial sex and forced labour.

It says natural disasters and climate-induced displacement significantly increase Fijians’ vulnerability to trafficking because of loss of livelihood and shelter.

The report says the economic crisis related to the pandemic, as well as recent natural disasters, increased the number of children who were driven to use the streets as a source of livelihood or compelled to seek incomes to sustain their families; these children are at risk of being exploited in sex trafficking or forced labour.

Children as young as 12 were exploited in sex trafficking, sometimes by family members to purchase food and other essentials for their families.

The reports highlights media reports saying it indicates an increase in online child sexual exploitation, some of which may involve child sex trafficking.

It further says some Fijian men reportedly marry women from Nepal and Pakistan and exploit them in domestic servitude in Fiji.

Labour traffickers exploit workers from South and East Asian countries, including Bangladesh and India, in small, informal farms and factories, as well as in the construction and timber sectors.