Lebanon stays on Tier 2 as US report flags visa and screening gaps

Lebanon is still failing to meet the minimum standards for eliminating human trafficking, the US State Department said in a report released earlier this month, and it has kept the country at Tier 2 status. The department cited gaps in victim screening, data collection and legislation, as well as an employer-based visa system that leaves migrant workers vulnerable to exploitation.

Key facts

• Report released earlier in October 2026; Lebanon retains its Tier 2 status.
• Lebanon reported six investigations, 14 prosecutions and 13 convictions in 2025.
• Parliament has not approved a draft amendment to the 2011 anti-trafficking law first approved by the Cabinet in October 2023.
• An estimated 900,000 Syrian refugees in Lebanon face heightened trafficking risks.
• No law penalises employers who confiscate workers' passports.

What did the report find?

The Lebanese government reported six trafficking investigations, 14 prosecutions and 13 convictions in 2025, compared with 73 prosecutions and no convictions in 2024. Of the 14 people prosecuted last year, four were accused of sex trafficking, three of forced labour and seven of unspecified forms of trafficking, while a further 20 prosecutions from earlier reporting periods were still under way.

The department acknowledged that Beirut had taken steps to address the problem and that displacement caused by the Israel-Hezbollah war had complicated the situation. Even so, it said Lebanon's capacity to establish and implement anti-trafficking policies remained insufficient: the government has not approved a National Action Plan, supplied only fragmented data on cases and victim identification, and failed to screen potential victims adequately — leaving them exposed to penalties for unlawful acts committed as a direct result of being trafficked.

Why does the visa system matter?

The department highlighted the absence of a law prohibiting or penalising employers who confiscate workers' passports, a practice it recognises as an indicator of potential trafficking. Lebanon's employer-based visa system, the report said, further increases migrant workers' vulnerability to exploitation and hinders the authorities' ability to identify and protect victims.

Women and girls from southern Asia — and, increasingly, from East and West Africa — are still being exploited in domestic servitude in Lebanon. Many from Nigeria, the Philippines and Ethiopia face passport confiscation, withheld wages, excessive working hours, restrictions on movement and physical or sexual abuse. The economic crisis has also pushed some migrant workers and Lebanese nationals into prostitution because of a lack of economic opportunities, the report said.

What is still missing in Lebanese law?

Parliament has failed to approve a draft amendment to the country's anti-trafficking law, even though the Cabinet approved it in October 2023. The amendment would address the burden of proof, which under the 2011 law can fall on victims to prove they were exploited, and aims to reduce the risk of victims being treated as criminals or immigration offenders rather than people subjected to coercion.

The country also lacks a dedicated judicial body to review cases referred by the Internal Security Forces' Anti-Human Trafficking and Morality Protection Office, and reported no coordination with other countries on law enforcement operations. Beirut reported no investigations, prosecutions or convictions of government employees allegedly complicit in trafficking crimes.

Who is most at risk?

Forced child labour among Lebanon's Syrian population increased last year, particularly in agriculture, construction, street vending and forced begging, with limited government efforts to address it. The report identified non-state armed groups, including Hezbollah, as recruiting and using child soldiers, with Syrian refugee children particularly vulnerable. An estimated 900,000 Syrian refugees face heightened risks of sex and labour trafficking due to restrictions on legal employment and residency permits, and some are reportedly forced to work in exchange for food, shelter or passage to Lebanon, leaving them open to debt bondage.

The report also noted that the Anti-Human Trafficking and Morality Protection Office was reluctant to arrest parents accused of trafficking their children, often for forced begging, because of the lack of social and welfare services, with NGOs required to relocate children to foster families. Adult victims have largely relied on NGO shelters with limited legal support, and foreign embassies have housed victims when shelters became full.

What this means for travellers

The report describes risks concentrated among migrant workers entering Lebanon on employer-based visas and refugees already in the country, rather than short-term visitors. Anyone considering domestic or manual work in Lebanon should note that the report documents passport confiscation and withheld wages among workers, and that no law currently penalises employers who take workers' passports.

On the positive side, the department noted that Lebanon introduced comprehensive standard operating procedures for identifying trafficking victims, expanded cooperation with NGOs and international organisations to train officials, strengthened protections for domestic workers through new regulations and took enforcement action against fraudulent recruitment agencies.