An essential component of migration management is ensuring that migrants who need protection and assistance are effectively identified and referred for appropriate services. The protection and assistance needs of trafficked people can be complex and serious. Victims may need to be protected from traffickers who are part of organized crime groups and networks or who may be seeking retribution for what they believe to be outstanding debts. A victim may have specific care needs because he or she is a child, or because she is pregnant, or because of some other physical or mental health need. A combination of health and social concerns can arise, particularly when an individual has experienced multiple negative experiences. For instance, a person may be seeking asylum while facing an ongoing risk from traffickers, having already been a victim of violence and having committed a minor crime, while the person’s family is threatened at home.
At his initial asylum interview, 16-year-old Masoud tells the Austrian police that his family was being threatened by the Taliban and so fled Afghanistan. He is summoned twice for an in-depth interview but misses both appointments. He arrives punctually at the third interview and is asked why he missed the other meetings. He looks at the floor and says that he had to work. He talks about how he worries about his mother in Afghanistan and is working hard to support her and build a life for them both in Austria. He explains that he runs errands for his uncle every day, leaving him little time for school. When asked whether he is paid, he responds, “Not directly. My mom will get the money. My uncle will send it to her.” Masoud’s mother, however, claims that so far no money has arrived.
Masoud’s situation underlines the need for those who come into contact with potential victims of trafficking to understand that trafficked people may fall into other protection categories.
The text box reveals some indicators of potential trafficking. Masoud is vulnerable to being exploited as a minor who is in a foreign country and seeking asylum. The fact that he is working in such a way that prohibits him from attending an important meeting and interferes with his schooling, indicates a situation of concern. The fact that Masoud does not directly receive money, and that his mother also does not receive the money that he thinks she is receiving, is an indicator of exploitation. Because Masoud is a child (being under the age of 18), only an “act” for the purpose of exploitation would need to be proven; the “means” element of the trafficking crime does not need to be proven where the victim is a child. Whether this situation constitutes one of trafficking in persons would require further examination, meaning that the officials coming into contact with Masoud should refer him to stakeholders in the country who are able to carry out further screening for potential trafficking.
- Establish protection and assistance frameworks, systems and capacity-building to cater for the multiple and complex needs that a migrant may have. Ensure that these frameworks and systems are adequately resourced.
- Connect migration actors with other stakeholders involved in prevention, protection and prosecution so that they are able to effectively partner with each other for the best protection outcomes.
- Ensure that the protection provided includes meeting basic needs such as medical and psychosocial care, and temporary accommodation.
- Train stakeholders to recognize indicators of trafficking so that they can refer potential victims for further screening.
- Ensure that indicators are sufficiently detailed and informed by analysis of local trafficking trends.
Victim identification is necessary for States to effectively fulfil their duty to protect victims of trafficking. Unless victims are identified, they are likely to be subjected to further abuse and exploitation, and their rights – including to protection and assistance – will go unmet. When a person is identified as a victim of trafficking, they are immediately entitled to protection and assistance, basic needs, medical and psychosocial care, and temporary accommodation, among other rights. This is true for victims who are migrants, even when they are in irregular situations in the country. In some cases, depending on the protection framework in the country of destination, migrant victims may be entitled to temporary or permanent residence. It is important that migrants who are victims of trafficking are identified as such, because otherwise they may wrongly be detained or subject to irreversible decisions such as forced removal.
Challenges to identification of victims
While clearly important, identification is also challenging. Victims of trafficking are often not willing or able to make themselves known to authorities. In some cases, they may have an interest in not being identified, for instance if they are migrants in irregular situations who fear that if they come forward they will be detained and deported, rather than protected and assisted (see more on the lower rates at which men identify themselves as victims of trafficking in Topic gender-based violence in Gender and migration Chapter). As well as being in irregular situations, some migrants may have engaged in minor illegal activities (whether knowingly or unknowingly) and fear that they will be detained as criminals. Victims may not know that they are victims of trafficking specifically and may have even consented to arrangements that become exploitative. Even if a person seems to have agreed, in principle, to unjust arrangements, he or she may still be a victim of trafficking
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Traffickers may have cultivated romantic or other dependent relationships with victims.
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They may threaten victims or their families in origin countries and have the power to deliver on these threats.
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Traffickers may leverage the fear of shame and stigmatization by threatening to send victims’ families photos or videos of their exploitation and abuse unless they remain in their situation.
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Traffickers may perform religious rituals as a means of controlling victims.
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Traffickers may be powerful, with influence that reaches State authorities.
These challenges point to the skills and good judgement required by authorities to see behind the surface appearance of a migrant’s situation, to identify whether the migrant might have been trafficked.
Responses to identification and referral of victims
First responders (people who may encounter potential victims of trafficking in the course of their work) will often use indicators to screen potential victims.
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Sensitize to trafficking actors engaged across all levels of migration management. This will ensure actors understand how their own attitudes may pose a barrier to their ability to identify and respond appropriately to potential victims of trafficking.
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Establish effective procedures for identifying victims of trafficking. Effective identification procedures capture all victims of trafficking, regardless of age, sex, gender, sexual orientation, nationality, ethnic or social origin, or disability, and regardless of the type of exploitation they have been subjected to.
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Provide regular sensitivity and capacity-building training to first responders.
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Ensure that consular officers play a role in identifying victims of trafficking among their nationals abroad.
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Equip first responders with checklists and other identification tools to screen potential victims.
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Regularly review and update identification checklists and tools.
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Link migration intelligence with criminal justice intelligence to support identification of potential victims of trafficking. It is important to do so without affecting the rights of the migrants and/or victims of trafficking concerned.
Read more on the role of border officials in identifying victims in Chapter Regulating migration: Border management.
When potential victims of trafficking are identified, they must then be referred to agencies responsible for providing protection and assistance services:
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Establish protection mechanisms for the referral of potential victims of trafficking. A protection mechanism should include a wide range of different specialized services, addressing the specific needs of each individual.
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Identify and prepare a list of service providers who can support victims of trafficking in different areas: housing, legal procedures, health, psychological support.
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Separate referral procedures from migration management, to ensure that victims do not face barriers to accessing services.
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Put in place a national referral mechanism (NRM) that links individuals with the protection-related services and support they require (IOM, 2019a).
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Enter into memorandums of understanding (MOUs) and develop standard operating procedures (SOPs) in partnership with relevant State and non-State actors to clarify roles and responsibilities in protecting and assisting victims of trafficking.
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Bali Process, Bali Process Policy Guide on Identifying Victims of Trafficking, 2015.
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The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), From Reception to Recognition: Identifying and Protecting Human Trafficking in Mixed Migration Flows – A Focus on First Identification and Reception Facilities for refugees and Migrants in the OSCE Region, 2018.
Article 6 of the Trafficking Protocol requires States Parties to:
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Protect victims’ privacy and identity;
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Ensure victims receive information on court proceedings;
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Consider implementing measures for physical, psychological and social recovery;
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Endeavour to provide for the physical safety of victims;
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Ensure that victims can seek compensation for damages through civil and criminal justice remedies;
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Provide victims with access to justice, including to information and legal assistance, irrespective of their migration status.
Depending on the specific situation and the mechanisms available in a given State, remedies might include compensation orders issued against traffickers by criminal courts, State-funded compensation schemes, civil claims by victims, as well as remedies available through labour laws (ICAT, 2016d). In practice, ensuring that victims have access to a remedy has proven one of the most challenging aspects of victim assistance.
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The Inter-Agency Coordination Group Against Trafficking in Persons (ICAT), Providing effective remedies for victims of trafficking in persons, 2016.
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United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), Draft basic principles on the right to an effective remedy for victims of trafficking in persons, 2014.
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IOM, Remediation Guidelines for Victims of Exploitation in Extended Mineral Supply Chains, 2018.
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United Nations Women et al., Essential services package for women and girls subject to violence, 2015.
States have taken different approaches to fulfilling their duty to protect and assist victims of trafficking. These approaches include passing laws that set out specific protections for victims of trafficking; building shelters to cater for the specific needs of victims of trafficking; investing in funds to support victims; and training practitioners to ensure that victims of trafficking are treated as more than just criminal justice resources when they are serving as witnesses in proceedings against traffickers.
The assistance provided to each victim will depend on the social vulnerability and the individual needs of that victim, as well as of their families and community, and can include:
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Shelter and accommodation;
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Personal safety and security;
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Medical and healthcare services, including mental health and psychosocial support;
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Livelihoods, employment, and income generation;
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Family tracing, assessment, and reunification;
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Return and reintegration assistance, and access to justice (IOM, 2019a).
Read more on this issue in sub-topic Return and reintegration of migrants vulnerable to violence, exploitation and abuse in Chapter Return and reintegration.
There are several good practice principles that should underpin any action taken. Approaches taken should be rights based, with the interests of victims at the forefront of any decisions made.
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Avoid making victim protection conditional on a victim’s participation in the criminal justice system. Victim interests should take priority over migration management agendas where the two conflict.
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Regularize the status of victims to enable them to receive services they require. The provision of temporary or permanent visas is one way to achieve this.
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Avoid detaining, charging or prosecuting victims for immigration or other minor offences committed in the course of being trafficked.
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Provide victims with effective and appropriate legal remedies and other assistance through criminal, civil or other proceedings.
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Provide child victims with assistance and protection in accordance with their special rights and needs.
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Do not force victims to receive any protection and assistance services to which they do not consent.
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Inform victims of their rights to diplomatic and consular representatives from their State of nationality.
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Protect victims from further harm by traffickers. For instance, protect their privacy and confidentiality.
States Parties to the Trafficking Protocol are also required to take appropriate measures to effectively protect witnesses in criminal proceedings (as well as their relatives and others, as appropriate) from retaliation or intimidation (article 24, UNTOC)
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Conduct risk assessments before, during and after trials. The protection needs of victims of trafficking might change during the process, and so might the appropriate measures needed to protect them.
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Encourage the cooperation of law enforcement authorities across borders to ensure that victims and their families are protected from any kind of threats and retaliation of transnational trafficking networks.
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Make available specialized State and non-State service providers in criminal justice processes in which migrants appear as victims and/or witnesses. Such specialists might include case workers, interpreters, and child support workers or guardians where victims are unaccompanied children.
States are the primary duty bearers with respect to victim protection and assistance, but other actors may also have a role to play in supporting them to fulfil their obligations. Read more on national coordination in Partnerships: Cooperation against trafficking in persons
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The Trafficking Protocol recognizes the need for victims’ protection and assistance, though this is conditional upon States’ resources and capacities. At regional and national levels, legal instruments go further, providing for specific States’ obligations in the field of victims’ protection and assistance.
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Identification is necessary for States to effectively fulfil their duty to protect victims of trafficking.
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When potential victims of trafficking are identified, they should then be referred to agencies responsible for providing protection and assistance services.
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Victim identification, referral and protection should be rights based, with the interests of victims given priority in decision-making.