Sri Lanka has retained Tier 2 status in the United States Department of State’s 2026 Trafficking in Persons (TIP) Report for the fifth consecutive year, the Daily Mirror reported.
Tier 2 covers countries whose governments do not fully meet the minimum standards for eliminating trafficking but are judged to be making significant efforts to do so.
What the government points to
The National Anti-Human Trafficking Task Force (NAHTTF), chaired by the Secretary to the Ministry of Defence, coordinates work across government on prevention, victim protection, law enforcement, prosecution, migration management and victim assistance.
A key development during the reporting period was the launch of the National Strategic Action Plan to Monitor and Combat Human Trafficking 2026-2030, setting a framework for coordinated action over five years.
Sri Lanka has also expanded District Anti-Trafficking Forums, intended to improve early identification of victims, referrals and assistance at district level by drawing together local authorities, law enforcement and other institutions.
Other work cited includes awareness and capacity-building for frontline officers, cooperation with international and regional partners, and efforts to address newer forms of trafficking — among them technology-facilitated recruitment, online exploitation and forced criminality.
What still falls short
While the Tier 2 classification recognises those efforts, the report indicates further improvement is needed in prevention, victim protection, investigations, prosecutions and coordination between institutions.
Not reported
The Daily Mirror’s account does not give the report’s specific recommendations, prosecution or conviction figures for the reporting period, or the number of victims identified. It does not say whether Sri Lanka was placed on the Tier 2 Watch List at any point, nor does it quote the State Department directly — the detail is attributed to the NAHTTF’s response.
No second verified newsroom had filed on the 2026 report at the time of writing. Searches returned only earlier editions, including Sri Lanka’s 2022 upgrade to Tier 2 and the 2024 assessment; this article is written from the 2026 filing alone.
