WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Obama administration on Tuesday added Syria to the list of countries that could face US sanctions for not doing enough to combat trafficking. Sixteen other nations were included among those not even making significant efforts to meet minimum standards, while Venezuela and Myanmar were among those removed from the group of worst offenders. In its annual Trafficking in Persons report, the State Department said that Syrian President Bashar Assad's regime fails to investigate and punish offenses or offer protective services to victims. It says thousands of women, from countries such as Indonesia, the Philippines and Somalia, have been trafficked into forced labour and prostitution in Syria after being falsely recruited by employment agencies as domestic servants. Prey Traffickers in Syria particularly prey on Syria's large Iraqi refugee population, said the report, which analysed conditions in more than 180 nations, including the United States, and ranked them in terms of their effectiveness in fighting what many term modern-day slavery. The State Department says up to 27 million men, women and children may live in such bondage around the world. "These victims of modern slavery are women and men, girls and boys, and their stories remind us of what kind of inhumane treatment we are still capable of as human beings," Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said. "Some are lured to another country with false promises of a good job or opportunities for their families. Others can be exploited right where they grew up, where they now live." Countries Seventeen countries in all were included in the worst-offending group of countries not reaching minimum international standards to fight the scourge, which claims mainly women and children as victims, and not making any significant effort to do so. That is down from 23 last year. More than 40 other nations were placed on a watch list that could lead to sanctions unless their records improve.