Disputes - international:
claims Bassas da India, Europa Island, Glorioso Islands, and Juan de Nova Island (all administered by France); the vegetated drying cays of Banc du Geyser, which were claimed by Madagascar in 1976, also fall within the EEZ claims of the Comoros and France (Glorioso Islands, part of the French Southern and Antarctic Lands)
Trafficking in persons:
current situation: Madagascar is a source country for women and children subjected to forced labor and sex trafficking; sex and labor trafficking have increased, particularly due to a lack of economic development and a decline in the rule of law during the current political crisis, which began in March 2009; children, mostly from rural areas, are subjected to domestic servitude, commercial sexual exploitation, and forced labor in mining, fishing, and agriculture within the country
tier rating: Tier 3 - combating human trafficking has not been a priority of the de facto government, despite the growing size of the problem both internally and transnationally; the authorities' anti-trafficking efforts were negligible during the past year; they failed to prosecute or convict trafficking offenders, to identify and refer repatriated victims to necessary services, and to prevent the increased trafficking of Malagasy citizens; lack of awareness on the coverage and application of the anti-trafficking law, and the continued arrest and punishment of potential underage children in prostitution by local law enforcement, contributes to the dismal state of anti-trafficking law enforcement efforts in Madagascar (2011)
Illicit drugs:
illicit producer of cannabis (cultivated and wild varieties) used mostly for domestic consumption; transshipment point for heroin