with Turkmenistan on dividing the seabed and contested oilfields in
the middle of the Caspian; Azerbaijan and Georgia continue to
discuss the alignment of their boundary at certain crossing areas

Refugees and internally displaced persons:

refugees (country of origin): 2,400 (Russia)
IDPs: 580,000-690,000 (conflict with Armenia over Nagorno-Karabakh)
(2007)

Trafficking in persons:

current situation: Azerbaijan is primarily a source and transit
country for men, women, and children trafficked for the purposes of
commercial sexual exploitation and forced labor; women and some
children from Azerbaijan are trafficked to Turkey and the UAE for
the purpose of sexual exploitation; men and boys are trafficked to
Russia for the purpose of forced labor; Azerbaijan serves as a
transit country for victims from Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan,
and Moldova trafficked to Turkey and the UAE for sexual exploitation
tier rating: Tier 2 Watch List - Azerbaijan is on the Tier 2 Watch
List for its failure to provide evidence of increasing efforts to
combat trafficking in persons, particularly efforts to investigate,
prosecute, and punish traffickers; to address complicity among law
enforcement personnel; and to adequately identify and protect
victims in Azerbaijan; the government has yet to develop a
much-needed mechanism to identify potential trafficking victims and
refer them to safety and care; poor treatment of trafficking victims
in courtrooms continues to be a problem (2008)

Illicit drugs:

limited illicit cultivation of cannabis and opium poppy, mostly for
CIS consumption; small government eradication program; transit point
for Southwest Asian opiates bound for Russia and to a lesser extent
the rest of Europe

This page was last updated on 18 December, 2008

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@Bahamas, The

Introduction
Bahamas, The

Background:

Lucayan Indians inhabited the islands when Christopher COLUMBUS
first set foot in the New World on San Salvador in 1492. British
settlement of the islands began in 1647; the islands became a colony
in 1783. Since attaining independence from the UK in 1973, The
Bahamas have prospered through tourism and international banking and
investment management. Because of its geography, the country is a
major transshipment point for illegal drugs, particularly shipments
to the US and Europe, and its territory is u