Numerous trafficking victims returning to Madagascar reported harsh working conditions, physical violence, sexual harassment and assault, confinement to the home, confiscation of travel documents, and withholding of salaries.
[2] Children, mostly from rural areas, were subject to conditions of domestic servitude, commercial sexual exploitation, and forced labor in mining, fishing, and agriculture within the country.
Most child trafficking occurred with the involvement of family members, but friends, transport operators, tour guides, and hotel workers also facilitated the enslavement of children.
Since the March 2009 coup, combating human trafficking received little attention in Madagascar; the focus on the abuse of domestic workers in Lebanon did not result in any commensurate governmental response to the problem.
Lack of political will, institutional capacity, and relevant training remained significant impediments to improved anti-trafficking performance, particularly impacting the effectiveness of law enforcement activities; the government failed to investigate or prosecute traffickers in 2009.
Decree 2007-563 prohibits and prescribes minimal punishments of up to two years' imprisonment for various forms of child trafficking, including prostitution, domestic servitude, and forced labor.
[2] The Government of Madagascar nominally suspended the work of several employment agencies implicated in human trafficking during the year, but did not follow through on its commitment to conduct inspections of these businesses.
However, the Ministry of Health's local-level Child Rights Protection Networks - which grew through a partnership with UNICEF to include 761 communes in 2009 - brought together government institutions, law enforcement, and NGOs to partially fill this role.
Madagascar's honorary consul in Beirut made limited attempts to mediate with labor agencies and refer Malagasy victims to a Beirut-based NGO shelter.
The government's Antananarivo-based Manjary Soa Center withdrew an unknown number of children from the worst forms of child labor and provided them with education or vocational training.