Forced migration increases trafficking risks throughout transit, reception and beyond
The Journal of Modern Slavery examines the connection between forced migration and exploitation, the UK strengthens its stance against child marriage, and foreign caregivers in Israel face exposure to extortion.
A new volume of essays published by the Journal of Modern Slavery explores the link between forced migration and contemporary forms of slavery, and challenges the perception that economic and aid-based pull factors motivate migrants to leave their homes and expose themselves to risk. Instead, the authors argue, a growing body of evidence suggests that people are compelled to seek refuge and asylum in other countries by push factors beyond their control, and without planned outcomes. Furthermore, while “forced migration” is defined by the EU as “migratory movement in which an element of coercion exists”, migratory push factors are broad and nuanced and, combined with hostile treatment from receiving countries, create a context in which abuses may occur at multiple stages of the migration process.
The series is published amid a flurry of policy announcements that, critics say, are designed to exploit the populist belief that the majority of migrants arriving in destination countries by irregular means are attracted by the possibility of financial gain. Yesterday, the UK Government announced that migrants who arrive in Britain via the Channel sea will be deported and banned from re-entry, a move condemned as political posturing, and immoral and unworkable. This follows an announcement by President Biden that some migrants will be barred from applying for asylum in the U.S. if they cross the southern border illegally or fail to first apply for safe harbor in another country – the administration’s most restrictive border control measure to date.
As a challenge to populist perceptions, the volume’s authors point to empirical research on the persistence of intervening push factors, such as situations of poverty, and findings that show that many migrants do not plan their outcomes. This migration context should inform the understanding of vulnerability and challenge the explanation that migrants are attracted above all by economic opportunity, which makes them ripe for exploitation by smugglers and traffickers. A related and unproven charge is that enabling migrants to transit to host states, for example by providing search and rescue missions or failing to close informal settlements, also puts them at risk of traffickers. But this logic fails to consider that smuggling and trafficking may take place across the migratory experience, not simply where people seek to board boats or lorries, they say. Nor is the threat of abuse limited to encampment, but also results from the politics of dispersal in both transit and host states. Recent scandals in the UK, in which both child and adult asylum-seekers and trafficking victims have gone missing while under government care, illustrate this point.
The authors present a disturbing global picture, with contributions from regional experts who provide historically rich case studies on Australia, Libya, Nepal, Romania, Ukraine and Venezuela, in which they expose some critical challenges for effective migration governance, and describe the limitations of international and domestic laws to protect forced migrants, including asylum-seekers, from conditions of extreme exploitation.
Despite the geographical differences, the ways in which forced migration is experienced and connects to situations of extreme vulnerability follow some well observed patterns, say the researchers, marked by four processes: trafficking and/or survival migration, where individuals may be forced to move by parties or circumstances beyond their control; asylum-seeking journeys across third countries, where individuals on the move may be exposed to threats to their personal security; the practice of detention, where being held by state and contracted non-state forces may put asylum-seekers at risk of organized exploitation; and the governance of reception in host countries, where individuals may be exposed to threats to their personal security due to overcrowding and ineffective and inhumane practices.
A critical indicator of vulnerability is change of status, which includes the loss of economic, social, occupational, marital, and citizen/immigration status. For instance, migrants working in Syria and Libya saw their status shift overnight from labour migrants to people in need of international protection due to war and instability.
Less studied, but of great concern, is the reception system in which forced migrants find themselves. For most, in-country centers and camps dominate their experience of host states and the accounts of those living within them have called attention to widespread abuse.
The edition concludes with an examination of the power of legacy. An article on the current war in Ukraine looks at continuities between Russian, Soviet and post-Soviet systems of exploitation, suggesting new modes of abuse which build on historical practices, where forced relocation and deportation, both as a form of punishment for dissidents and as a means to generate forced labour, now characterize Putin’s war, in which contemporary slavery abuses abound.
In his preface to the volume, Tomoya Obokata, UN Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery, provides several recommendations to enhance durable solutions both to end the situation of displacement, and the conditions which give rise to extreme economic exploitation. Among his suggestions are: that states should more effectively implement their human rights obligations, strengthen efforts to provide durable solutions for displaced persons, and decrease the vulnerability of displaced persons through access to civil and identity documentation; that businesses should provide employment opportunities without discrimination and treat displaced persons on an equal footing with other workers in relation to just and favorable conditions of work; and that CSOs and trade unions should undertake further research on the prevalence of contemporary forms of slavery among displaced populations, including data collection, and enhance communication and collaboration between organizations working with displaced persons.
Here’s a round-up of other noteworthy news and initiatives:
Many unaccompanied migrant children coming into the U.S. end up in dangerous and punishing jobs, a New York Times investigation has found. This shadow workforce, largely from Central America, extends across industries in every state, flouting child labour laws, and its size has greatly increased since 2021 while the systems meant to protect children have broken down. Yesterday, the Biden administration announced a crackdown on such exploitation and more support for migrant children.
Victims of modern slavery are being failed because the government program designed to help them is at “breaking point”, UK charities have warned, adding that many more victims are struggling to get help because the organizations that can refer them are swamped with requests. Currently, suspected modern slavery victims wait almost a year and a half on average for a Home Office decision.
A new study has identified significant civic shifts in Ukrainian society in response to Russian aggression, highlighting the role of Ukrainian giving and volunteering in the war effort, and demonstrating growing civic engagement and trust that should benefit reconstruction.
The development of a new app designed to reduce online viewing of child sexual abuse material has received £1.8m of funding from the EU. The app, named Salus, is intended to work in real-time, using artificial intelligence to identify potential child sexual abuse material and stop users from seeing it. It will also use other more conventional techniques to block content. The Internet Watch Foundation, an organization that works to find, flag and remove child abuse material, will help to train the AI technology developed by UK company SafeToNet.
Predatory, an eight-part podcast investigating the taboo subject of child sexual abuse, hears from survivors and campaigners calling for a national public child sex register and changes to laws to fairly compensate victims in Australia. The presenters also speak with child sex crime detectives and explore how the profiles of predators and pedophiles has changed – leaving children and their parents more vulnerable.
Last year, an investigation by Mongabay, The Gecko Project and BBC News found that villagers across Indonesia gave up their land to corporations in exchange for a share of the palm oil boom but have been left with empty promises. Now this commentary argues that increasing transparency, accountability and investigations of errant companies are critical steps that could be taken to solve the problem.
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