|
Refugees and human trafficking
Refugees are often vulnerable to human trafficking syndicates
|
Refugee Highway | 12 October 2010
 | | Refugees are vulnerable to human traffickers |
With an estimated over $3 billion per year revenue, human trafficking is the world's fastest growing criminal industry.
The vulnerability of refugees and migrants to human trafficking syndicates was highlighted during a conference co-hosted by the UNHCR and IOM in northern France this month. Unaccompanied minors are most vulnerable to exploitation.
The difference between human smugglers (illegally moving people across borders for a fee) and human traffickers (forcible enslavement of people) is not always apparent to refugees when seeking assistance to cross international borders in pursuit of refuge.The UNHCR reports that many people victimized by human traffickers "suffer exploitation, abduction, incarceration, rape, sexual enslavement, enforced prostitution, forced labour, removal of organs for transplant, physical and psychological torture and other serious abuses."According to a report by the UNHCR, "victims of trafficking may also become refugees because they are unable to return to their countries of origin for fear of being stigmatized for their forced participation in sex work, for instance, or may risk being re-trafficked..."
News source: UNHCRClick here to download a UNHCR brochure on Human Trafficking.
|
Refugee News is a free service from International Association for Refugees (IAFR).
|
