TIP work in humanitarian settings must be prioritized for a stronger response
Research finds anti-trafficking concerns need greater attention in humanitarian settings, IOM launches a funding appeal to protect people on the move, and Anti-Slavery International issues guidance for the clean energy industry on forced labour risks..
A robust and systematic anti-trafficking response has not yet been achieved in humanitarian contexts despite recent attempts by the UN and other international bodies to address the issue, according to a new data report from Justice and Care. While global awareness of trafficking risks has grown significantly, anti-trafficking work struggles to claim its place as a lifesaving endeavor in crisis situations, while fragmented initiatives and siloed approaches have hindered the development of a comprehensive, scalable response, it says.
Despite the UN’s acknowledgement in 2020 that, “Trafficking in persons remains one of the largest human rights violations exacerbated in times of crises where the humanitarian community does not have a predictable, at-scale way to respond”, and the establishment of an Anti-Trafficking Task Team to “gather good practices and to develop guidance on addressing trafficking in humanitarian responses in IDP [internally displaced persons] settings”, substantial gaps persist, the authors say. Specialist capacities, protection for IDPs, inter-agency leadership, frontline worker capabilities, and sustained funding represent critical areas in which systemic failures endure.
Last year, Justice and Care published an issue brief which found that current humanitarian responses to climate- and conflict- induced crises frequently fail to address, or even account for, the risks of exploitation among IDPs and refugees, despite evidence of heightened vulnerability to modern slavery. Now, drawing on a new and significant primary dataset, this latest report provides an in-depth analysis of issues such as heightened vulnerability across humanitarian settings; awareness and visibility; core challenges related to specialist anti-trafficking capacity; gaps in frontline and back-end capacity; funding dynamics, and other areas of concern.
In particular, research participants described how anti-trafficking work was not perceived as a “life-saving” intervention, rarely prioritized as a protection risk or outlined as a prevention need, and that action on human trafficking was largely dependent on the extent to which it could be addressed within existing areas of responsibility (for instance, child marriage within child protection or gender-based violence). Trafficking in persons was treated as a “very niche area” and one that gained very little investment or funding, in contrast to the more pressing “life-saving work” that donors support due to greater identified impact, they said.
Significant gaps in frontline trafficking knowledge was a further consistent finding, and the vast majority of participants with in-country experience spoke of the overwhelming absence of in-field anti-trafficking expertise. While participants spoke very highly of frontline humanitarian staff who were deployed due to their wealth of technical and specialist knowledge, evidence suggested that even highly qualified professionals had very rarely received any training related to broader issues of human rights or trafficking. The majority had little to no understanding of how to identify, prevent or respond to instances of trafficking in persons, the report says.
Researchers also looked at Russia’s full invasion of Ukraine as a case study, noting that, from the outset, there was an extraordinary level of attention directed towards the conflict and potential trafficking risks, with anti-trafficking CSOs providing training and guidance to humanitarian groups and government agencies, and donor funding for trafficking awareness campaigns. However, the crisis also exposed the lack of emergency vetting procedures for newly registered NGOs, protection gaps at border crossings, the lack of coordination in disseminating information, and a lack of back-end capacity to open investigations and protect and support victims. This reinforces the findings in Freedom Collaborative’s research paper, published last year, which noted an unprecedented focus on human trafficking in Europe following the invasion, while also flagging up the need for long-term programs to sustain the anti-trafficking response, and for unrestricted core mission funding to allow over-stretched NGOs to meet the greatly increased need for support services, guidance and training.
The report offers suggestions for ways in which vulnerability in humanitarian settings could be reduced, and highlights promising practices and developments. The authors also offer a comprehensive list of considerations and recommendations for addressing capacity, prevention and protection gaps, the lack of long-term investment in anti-trafficking work, lack of data collection and research, and the political, cultural and practical barriers that prevent local actors from engaging fully in regional and sector-level meetings and planning.
Here’s a round-up of other noteworthy news and initiatives:
The International Organization for Migration (IOM) has launched its first ever Global Annual Appeal for 2024, aiming to secure US$7.9 billion to address migration crises and fulfill developmental goals. The appeal, led by IOM Director General Amy Pope, targets saving lives, finding solutions to displacement, facilitating regular migration pathways, and improving IOM’s operational effectiveness, emphasizing the need for funding to combat irregular migration and trafficking while harnessing the potential of well-managed migration for global prosperity and development.
A new report, jointly prepared by the Helen Bamber Foundation, the Refugee Council, and Humans for Rights Network, exposes the mistreatment of unaccompanied child refugees due to inaccurate age assessments. Over an 18-month period to June 2023, at least 1,300 child refugees were erroneously deemed adults, leading to their placement in unsupervised adult accommodation and detention, with accounts of children as young as 14 sharing rooms with unrelated adults, experiencing harm, and facing immigration charges under the Nationality and Borders Act.
Anti-Slavery International, in collaboration with the Investor Alliance for Human Rights and the Helena Kennedy Centre for International Justice, has released reports to guide stakeholders in the clean energy transition, addressing forced labour in the Uyghur Region linked to the solar and electric vehicle (EV) industries. They have produced Investor Guidance for mitigating Uyghur forced labour risks, a policy brief for governments supporting investment in ethical green technologies, and a summary for general readers, with a webinar on Thursday to discuss the guidance.
The bipartisan leaders of the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party are urging the Biden administration to enhance enforcement of the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act, specifically by considering increased criminal prosecutions and closing a trade loophole used by e-commerce companies Shein and Temu.
Mexican farmworkers producing “fair trade” and “responsibly grown” goods face exploitation and abuse, according to a report challenging the effectiveness of certifications like Fair Trade USA and Equitable Food Initiative, and raising questions on whether farm labour conditions should be an issue of consumer choice or corporate regulation.
This blog post discusses the 2023 Evidence2Action (E2A) Conference, organized by USAID Asia CTIP and Winrock International, spotlighting survivor-centered approaches, and concluding with a commitment to a survivor-led, holistic, and interconnected approach in combating human trafficking.
Winrock International’s USAID Thailand CTIP activity is inviting proposals from eligible firms or individual consultants to conduct research on trafficking in persons (TIP) related to forced criminality, specifically focusing on the situation and response in Thailand.
The United Nations Voluntary Trust Fund on Contemporary Forms of Slavery has launched its 2025 call for applications, with a submission deadline of 1 March. One-year grants ranging from US$15,000 to US$35,000 are available for CSO projects that provide direct assistance to victims of modern slavery and their families.
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