"Croatian females are also trafficked within the country, and women and girls from Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and other parts of Eastern Europe are trafficked to and through Croatia for the purpose of sexual exploitation," according to the Trafficking in Persons Report 2009 .
"Two other notable trends were seen in Croatia in 2008: an increase in the trafficking of men for the purpose of forced labor; and, for the first time, Croatia serving primarily as a destination, not largely as a transit country, for victims of trafficking for the purpose of sexual exploitation and forced labor."
"The seasonal migration of foreign women in prostitution to and from the Dalmatian coast during high tourist seasons continued to raise concerns about sex trafficking," the State Department said in the report it would forward to Congress.
The Croatian government "fully complies with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking", the report reads adding that last year the Croatian authorities "continued to increase punishment of convicted trafficking offenders".
Croatia has been praised for "generously funding" NGOs providing assistance and shelter to trafficking victims, and for initiating new trafficking prevention and awareness raising projects.
Croatia is recommended "to expand efforts to detect trafficking victims among vulnerable populations such as women in prostitution and men in the agricultural sector; enhance prosecution efforts to increase convictions and continue to toughen sentences imposed on convicted traffickers; ensure the responsible repatriation of foreign victims; vigorously investigate possible trafficking within high tourism sectors along the Croatian coastline; expand awareness efforts to educate clients about the demand for commercial sex acts and forced labor; and develop a unified database to increase coordination and information sharing among government bodies combating trafficking".