This Research Brief analyses possible scenarios of how smuggling of migrants and cross-border trafficking in persons are likely to be affected by the COVID-19 crisis along mixed migration routes to two important destination regions: North America and Europe. One of the major consequences of the pandemic is the economic recession resulting from the lockdown measures governments have put in place to contain the diffusion of the virus. This paper draws on the dynamics observed during other global economic downturns, such as the 2008 Global Financial Crisis, to assess how the COVID-19-induced recession may affect smuggling of migrants and trafficking in persons in the medium to long term. The research also reviews available information on current patterns during the COVID-19 lockdown measures and mobility restrictions, and on drivers of migration, as a way to assess possible fluctuations of trends in smuggling of migrants and cross-border trafficking in persons in the near future.
The decreasing cost of Information and Communications Technologies (ICTs) and increasing mainstreaming of new technologies have resulted in wider application of digital tools to address global problems such as human trafficking and forced labour. Th...Read More
This report on modern slavery and financial institutions by the Royal United Services Institute for Defence and Security Studies and the Freedom Fund considers the role that the financial sector can play in reducing human trafficking and modern slave...Read More
This report provides an assessment of the UK-wide Modern Slavery Helpline’s operations in 2019 detailing the number, type and nature of calls, webforms and app submissions received between 1 January 2019 and 31 December 2019 and the number and dem...Read More
This briefing examines the impact of the Coronavirus pandemic on the risk of labour exploitation in low-paid and insecure employment in the UK. Drawing on interviews with workers and frontline services, it proposes emergency measures to ensure all w...Read More
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