An Overview of Oman’s New Law on Combatting Human Trafficking

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Oman has recently enacted a new law against human trafficking (Royal Decree No. 78/2025), - Opens in new tabwhich among other amendments expands the definition of human trafficking and related crimes. The new law includes forcing a person into “slavery,” “domestic servitude,” and “begging” as actions which constitute exploitation. It also provides a more detailed definition of slavery as “placing any person in a situation where the power of ownership is exercised over them.”

The new law went into effect in September 2025, replacing an earlier law – Royal Decree No 126/2008. While expanding key definitions, the new enactment strengthens protections for victims, and imposes harsher penalties on perpetrators. Administratively, it places the National Committee to Combat Human Trafficking (NCCHT) under the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Furthermore, the law emphasises international cooperation “in the field of legal and judicial assistance related to human trafficking crimes”.

Before the enactment of the new law, in July 2025 the NCCHT launched - Opens in new tab ‘Aman’ – a three-month campaign to raise awareness about human trafficking and strengthen institutional cooperation, both locally and internationally.

Below is a comparison between definitions of human trafficking under the old and new laws:

Royal Decree No. 126/2008

Royal Decree No. 78/2025

Any person who intentionally and for the purpose of exploitation commits the following crimes:

Using, transporting, harbouring, or receiving a person by means of coercion, threat, deception, exploitation of position or influence, exploitation of a vulnerable situation, use of authority over that person, or by any other unlawful means, whether direct or indirect.

Using, transporting, harbouring, receiving, transferring, or detaining a person within Oman or across its borders through coercion, threats, deception, abduction, abuse of power or influence, exploitation of vulnerability, exerting control, or providing money or benefits to obtain the consent of someone who has authority over another person, or by any other unlawful means, whether direct or indirect.

Using, transporting, harbouring, or receiving a minor, even if the means stipulated in the preceding clause are not used.

Using, transporting, harbouring, receiving, or transferring a child or a person lacking legal capacity or with diminished capacity, even if none of the means listed in the preceding clause are used.

Selling a person, offering them for sale or purchase, promising to buy them, or placing them in exchange.

Using a person for the purposes of slavery, domestic servitude, forced labour, or compulsory labour.

The new law expands definitions of sexual exploitation, forced labour and slavery:

Definition

Royal Decree No. 126/2008

Royal Decree No. 78/2025

Sexual Exploitation

The law only referred to “any form of sexual exploitation” under the general definition of exploitation.

“Using one or more persons in activities or practices of a sexual nature by unlawful means, such as coercion, deception, or the exploitation of vulnerability or need, for the purpose of obtaining material or non-material gains.”

Forced Labour

Makes a reference to “forced labour” under the general definition of exploitation.

“forcing a person to perform work or services without agreed-upon compensation” and “work or services imposed on any person by force or under the threat of any punishment.”

Slavery

References “practices similar to slavery, enslavement” under the general definition of exploitation.

“Placing any person in a situation where the power of ownership is exercised over them.”

It is unclear how the law will impact migrant domestic workers who are unpaid or coerced into work, and generally exploited by the Kafala system. Numerous reports by MRRORRS.org have highlighted this overlap. A 2023 report pointed out that “Trafficking for both forced labour and sex is more than a frequent occurrence in the region overall, but particularly in the UAE and Oman where visit visas are fairly easy to obtain, and the borders between the two states are porous.” A 2023 survey - Opens in new tab of 469 Seara Leonian women in Oman by Do Bold found “all but one of the women interviewed were victims of forced labour and human trafficking.” According to the 2025 U.S. State Department Trafficking in Persons Report, - Opens in new tab labour trafficking remains the most prevalent form of trafficking in Oman, and the government has no record of securing a labour-trafficking conviction over the last seven consecutive years. The report also noted that Omani authorities neither recognised nor addressed contract or labour law violations as potential indicators of trafficking. Furthermore, authorities did not effectively screen individuals subjected to such abuses, while continuing to mediate employer demands for illegal “release fees,” further exposing workers to debt-based coercion.

Expanded safeguards for victims

Compared to its predecessor, the new law offers relatively more comprehensive protections for victims. Article 2 exempts victims from fees and treatment costs at government health institutions for harm resulting from trafficking. Furthermore, fines and penalties under immigration and labour laws are waived, subject to coordination with the Ministry of Finance.

Article 5 specifically instructs the NCCHT to provide suitable accommodation to victims in coordination with the Ministry of Social Development. Under Article 12, victims should not be held criminally or civilly liable for any human trafficking offenses “arising from, or connected to, their status as victims."

Furthermore, the law revises the wording regarding a victim’s right to remain in Oman after the completion of investigations. The comparison below highlights the changes:

Royal Decree No. 126/2008

Royal Decree No. 78/2025

Article 5 (D) Allowing the victim or witness to remain in the Sultanate if the investigation or trial so requires, based on an order from the Public Prosecution or the court, as the case may be.

Article 9 (4) The victim or witness, if necessary, shall be permitted – upon order of the Public Prosecution or the court, as the case may be – to remain in the Sultanate of Oman after the completion of the investigation or trial procedures, with notification to the Royal Oman Police.

Although the law strengthens protections and introduces important safeguards for victims, its enforcement is constrained by the Kafala system. Since migrant workers, including trafficking victims, must have a sponsor to legally reside in Oman, any meaningful rehabilitation is restricted, and often the only choice offered to victims is repatriation, once their cases are resolved.

Another limitation is the absence of a dedicated compensation mechanism for victims. While the law allows for the confiscation of perpetrators’ assets and the imposition of fines that go to the public treasury coffers, it does not guarantee compensation for victims. The new law only waives court fees if they independently pursue a lawsuit against the perpetrator. Additionally, Oman has not ratified the ILO’s 2014 Protocol (P029) to the Forced Labour Convention - Opens in new tab, which calls for effective compensation and rehabilitation for trafficking victims.

Furthermore, in Oman, as in other Gulf countries, anti-trafficking policies and public discourse on the subject focus narrowly on sex work. While sex work is criminalised, the legal framework fails to provide protection for those engaged in it. This criminalisation, while overlooking risks faced by sex workers, exposes - Opens in new tab them to arrest and deportation, even in cases where they may be victims of trafficking or exploitation.

Trafficking of Domestic Workers in Oman Under the Spotlight

Deceptive recruitment, forced labour, and other forms of trafficking are prevalent in Oman’s domestic work sector. Previous MRRORS reports highlighted how migrant women from South Asia and African countries, promised domestic jobs in Oman, were instead forced into prostitution or made to work as domestic workers without pay. In some cases, the United Arab Emirates was used as a transit point to lure migrants into exploitative conditions.

Oman has recently implemented a domestic workers law to better regulate working conditions in the sector. An overview of the law can be read here.

Additional penalties

Additionally, the new law prohibits new acts and adds new penalties within the trafficking framework. The specific acts that are prohibited and penalised under the new law include:

The publication of names or images of victims or witnesses in a crime of human trafficking is prohibited and punished by imprisonment for a period of not less than one month and not more than one year, and by a fine of not less than OMR500 and not more than OMR1000, or by one of these two penalties.

Anyone who confiscates or destroys the passport of a victim of human trafficking with the intent to coerce them into committing a crime is now punished by imprisonment for a period of not less than 10 days and not more than one year, and/or by a fine of not less than OMR100 and not more than OMR 300.

If human trafficking is committed by a legal entity, any person in management who is aware of the crime shall be held personally liable under the prescribed penalties. The entity itself is accountable if the offense is committed in its name or for its benefit and may be fined between OMR 10,000 and 100,000. Additionally, the court may order the dissolution of the entity or suspend its activities, in whole or in part, for up to one year, with such rulings also applying to its branches.

While the new law expands the scope of criminalised acts and increases penalties, historically, the Omani government has almost exclusively prosecuted foreign nationals, while forced labour cases frequently involve Omani perpetrators. The 2025 U.S. TIP Report’s - Opens in new tab recommendation urges Oman to “significantly increase efforts to investigate, prosecute, and convict traffickers, including Omani nationals, recruitment agencies, and allegedly complicit officials, for labour trafficking crimes, particularly those involving migrant workers and domestic servitude.”

The new law addresses passport confiscation for the first time, but makes it a crime only when linked to human trafficking. In practice, confiscation of migrant workers’ passports, which is widespread in Oman, is treated as an administrative violation or a breach of labour or domestic worker regulations.

While the new Law on Combating Human Trafficking gives more clarity and better protections for victims, its enforcement remains uncertain. The Omani government continues to focus narrowly on sex trafficking, largely overlooking the widespread forced labour conditions faced by low-income migrant workers. Moreover, the Kafala system creates structural power imbalances, increasing workers’ vulnerability to forced labour and impeding meaningful rehabilitation.

Image source: NCCHT Oman - Opens in new tab

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An Overview of Oman’s New Law on Combatting Human Trafficking

Trafficking of Domestic Workers in Oman Under the Spotlight

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