Human Trafficking: Slavery of the 21st Century

Aerial view of the Za'atari Refugee Camp in Jordan. © Sharnoff's Global Views 2014

Trafficking Risks and Prevention of Exploitation in Times of Crisis: The Case of Middle East and North Africa

By Sarah Craggs

The sky was blue and the air was crisp. As we turned the corner, the morning sun glistened on the top of a sea of white steel roofs; the car wheels rolled over the gravel. A growing bustle of activity depicted yet another day beginning for tens of thousands of people living and working here.

And so we had arrived at Za’atari Syrian refugee camp in Jordan. According to the UN, over three million Syrians have fled to the immediate neighbouring countries of Jordan, Lebanon, Iraq and Turkey; and 6.5 million are internally displaced within Syria. Further, from January to October 2014, almost 35,000 Syrians arrived in Italy after undertaking exhausting journeys across the Mediterranean Sea, 10,000 of who were children. For others, however, the journey ended in tragedy, with lives lost at sea before safety could be reached.

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ILO's Cynthia Samuel-Olonjuwon presenting on Labour Migration Governance for Development and Integration in Africa.
© IOM/Craig Murphy 2014

The Khartoum Process: EU-AU Cooperate to Combat Human Trafficking in the Horn of Africa

By T. Craig Murphy

Tragic events resulting in the loss of thousands of lives of migrants in the Mediterranean Sea have led to the start of an important political process:  the EU-Horn of Africa Migration Route Initiative (HoAMRI), known as the “Khartoum Process.”  Political factors and migration dynamics in the Horn of Africa and the Middle East have resulted in a surge of migrants attempting to cross the Mediterranean Sea to enter the European Union, often through Italy, Malta, and Greece.

Approximately 40,000 migrants, including refugees and asylum seekers, arrived in Europe in 2013. During the first nine months of 2014, the Italian Ministry of Interior reported the arrival of 138,796 individuals.  According to IOM’s Missing Migrants Project, there were 711 migrant deaths in the Mediterranean for all of 2012; in 2013, there were 707 deaths; while for the first three quarters of 2014 alone, 3,072 migrant deaths in the Mediterranean have already been recorded. This is a 334% increase from the past year’s figures.

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 Paraguay: Going Beyond Rescue to Reintegration

By Eduardo Carrillo

Looking through the window of her office, as she remembers vividly, she sighs deeply. Dwelling upon the memory of all the people she has helped, she begins to narrate to me the story of Petrona, a horror story that fortunately ended happily.

Mrs. Masi has worked in many human trafficking cases, helping counterparts like the Public Ministry and the Ministry of Women in her country, Paraguay, to identify victims of trafficking and, afterwards, to start the recovery process with them.

It all begins in Añaretai, a poor settlement located in the city of Luque, where Petrona, her partner and three children lived in a small one-bedroom house. After some bad financial decisions, they got caught in heavy debts and with only one adult providing income to the house, the situation became unbearable.

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Zambia Toolkit to Identify Migrant Protection Needs

The proper identification of migrants with specific protection needs is critical for ensuring the protection of their basic human rights. Under an IOM-led programme component, Zambia’s ‘Protection Tools for Vulnerable Migrants’ was developed. These ‘Tools’ are intended to strengthen border officials and service providers’ awareness and understanding of international, regional and national legal instruments and set clear guidance for identifying, referring and providing assistance to migrants in need.

United Nations agencies in Zambia have come together to design a joint programme to protect people on the move: refugees, asylum seekers, victims of trafficking, stranded migrants, and unaccompanied/separated minors – the most vulnerable of the vulnerable. These suffer human rights violations ranging from physical violence, to sexual and labour exploitation.  Zambia is a source, destination and transit point for trafficking in persons.

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"Fashioned for Freedom” 2014 was the biggest ethical fashion show ever staged for Anti-Slavery Day, showcasing the work of 37 different designers. © Stuart Butcher , Fashion Shift Magazine 2014

 IOM UK: Supporting Freedom through Fashion

I have had the privilege to work for IOM UK since 2006 and I first encountered a victim of human trafficking as an AVR caseworker in 2007. But back then I didn’t understand what human trafficking was.

In 2009, I undertook a monitoring and evaluation trip to Vietnam to interview beneficiaries of one of IOM UK’s return programmes. During my conversations with the people IOM had assisted, I ascertained that many of them had been trafficked to the UK to cultivate cannabis, had then been arrested and sentenced to prison, and voluntarily returned to Vietnam via the return programme.

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People Chained in Public Places (A Social Experiment)

"Chain Reaction," IOM Colombia's daring "live" anti-trafficking campaign dramatizes the agony of human trafficking before crowds. This campaign, developed by IOM and the Colombian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, hinged on two questions. How would people react to a chained person in a public place? And how would the context influence their reaction? The context – involving society at large – is an essential part of breaking the chains of human trafficking.  Watch here.

 

The Path: A Documentary on Human Trafficking in Egypt

The various dehumanizing forms of human trafficking in Egypt - from forced marriage to organ trafficking. Watch here

 

Anti-Trafficking Campaign: The Story of Fatima

An animated video by IOM Tunisia warning about the lures of false promises on the internet. Watch here

 

Trafficked to Sea: IOM Cambodia's Repatriation Program

Boys and men trapped at sea for years inside fishing vessels where they are subjected to forced labour. Watch here

IOM Rescues and Reintegrates Trafficked "Fisher Children" in Ghana

Children as young as four years old forced to work in the fishing industry.

Learn more about our Counter-Trafficking work by following these accounts:. 

@MigrantAssist
@IOM_MENA
@IOM_Ghana
@IOM_Helsinki
@IOMasiapacific
@OIM_Colombia
@IOM_Uganda
@IOM_news