Military:  MALI

Military branches:

Malian Armed Forces: Army (Armee de Terre), Republic of Mali Air Force (Force Aerienne de la Republique du Mali, FARM), National Guard (Garde National du Mali) (2008)

Military service age and obligation:

18 years of age for selective compulsory and voluntary military service; conscript service obligation - 2 years (2012)

Manpower available for military service:

males age 16-49: 2,848,412

females age 16-49: 2,981,106 (2010 est.)

Manpower fit for military service:

males age 16-49: 1,825,779

females age 16-49: 1,968,563 (2010 est.)

Manpower reaching militarily significant age annually:

male: 158,031

female: 159,733 (2010 est.)

Military expenditures:

country comparison to the world: 113

Transnational Issues:  MALI

Disputes - international:

demarcation is underway with Burkina Faso

Refugees and internally displaced persons:

refugees (country of origin): 12,436 (Mauritania) (2012)

IDPs: 353,455 (Tuareg rebellion since 2012) (2013)

Trafficking in persons:

current situation: Mali is a source, transit, and destination country for men, women, and children subjected to forced labor and sex trafficking; women and girls are forced into domestic servitude, agricultural labor, and support roles in gold mines, as well as subjected to sex trafficking; Malian boys are found in conditions of forced labor in agricultural settings, gold mines, and the informal commercial sector, as well as forced begging both within Mali and neighboring countries; Malians and other Africans who travel through Mali to Mauritania, Algeria, or Libya in hopes of reaching Europe are particularly at risk of becoming victims of human trafficking; men and boys, primarily of Songhai ethnicity, are subjected to the longstanding practice of debt bondage in the salt mines of Taoudenni in northern Mali; some members of Mali's black Tamachek community are subjected to traditional slavery-related practices, and this involuntary servitude reportedly has extended to their children; reports indicate that non-governmental armed groups operating in northern Mali recruited children as combatants, cooks, porters, guards, spies, and sex slaves

tier rating: Tier 2 Watch List - Mali does not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking; however, it is making significant efforts to do so; although the government enacted a comprehensive anti-trafficking law in 2012, it did not demonstrate evidence of overall increasing efforts to address human trafficking over the previous year; the government has failed to prosecute or convict any trafficking offenders, has not provided any direct services to victims, and has not made any tangible prevention efforts; the government continues to cite a lack of personnel and resources as reasons for its inability to adequately identify and rescue child victims of forced labor in the mining industry (2013)

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