“I was raped, imprisoned, abused, and enslaved on the migration route. It is a route that I would not recommend to anyone,” a Guinean woman told the Mixed Migration Centre in Tunisia. This is far from an isolated case – on the contrary, trafficking and exploitation of people on the move is a global and widespread phenomenon. Some migrants are deceived from the start, believing they are availing themselves of the services of a smuggler while in fact falling prey to traffickers. Others agree to pay their smugglers through labour to achieve their migration goals, only to find themselves exploited through debt bondage of uncertain duration. Many more are captured by criminals along the route, most notoriously in Libya where abuses have been well documented.
The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) describes human trafficking as “the recruitment, transportation, transfer, harbouring or receipt of people through force, fraud or deception, with the aim of exploiting them for profit.”
The latest Global Report on Trafficking in Persons warns the number of victims is on the rise, but data remains scarce. Victims of trafficking are inherently difficult to reach until they have succeeded in escaping their captors; survivors may also be unwilling to come forward, burdened by feelings of shame or fears of retribution against themselves or their family.
New MMC data sheds light on trafficking and exploitation
Newly released data from the Mixed Migration Centre’s flagship 4Mi survey offers some insight into the profiles and experiences of migrants who experience trafficking and exploitation. Since 2021, we have been asking migrants who feel comfortable responding whether they personally experienced any specific types of incidents during their journey, including trafficking and exploitation. Among all migrants surveyed worldwide (n=73,097), 5.7%, i.e. 4,131 people, report having personally experienced trafficking and exploitation.
The figures detailed in this article are likely underestimates – 4Mi sampling is purposive and does not specifically target survivors of trafficking and exploitation, so our data cannot be considered representative neither of global mixed migration dynamics nor of trafficking and exploitation trends. As noted above, many cases of trafficking and exploitation will go unreported in our survey, and those worst affected are unlikely to be included in the sample; others may be unaware that their experiences constitute trafficking or exploitation.
Nonetheless, MMC’s data can shed new light on trafficking and exploitation in the context of mixed migration, providing insight into the profiles of survivors, apparent factors of vulnerability, and current support needs.
Profiles of survivors
Among people surveyed by MMC, youth seem particularly susceptible to trafficking and exploitation, reported by 6.5% of those aged 18 to 25 (n=29,515) compared to 5.2% of those aged 26 to 40 (n=37,323) and 3.9% of those aged 41 and above (n=6,259). Within the sample, men (n=45,807) are also more affected than women (n=27,289), with trafficking and exploitation reported by 6.2% and 4.8% respectively. (Figure 1).
Reports of trafficking and exploitation were highest amongst people surveyed in North Africa (n=10,167) where 12% of respondents and 14% of those aged 18 to 25 (n=3,904) had been affected during their journey. Morocco (n=1,718) and Tunisia (n=5,861) were the countries of interview with the highest reports of trafficking and exploitation among respondents, at 15% (figure 2). Crucially, this does not mean that the instances of trafficking and exploitation necessarily took place in those countries, as respondents report back on their full journey and the survey does not allow to establish where exactly the incident took place. Respondents interviewed in Morocco or Tunisia could have experienced the incident in another country along their migration journey, such as Libya.
Indeed, Sudanese in Tunisia (n=654) were particularly affected, with 28.9% experiencing trafficking and exploitation – likely because most Sudanese cross through Libya en route to Tunisia. “I was forced to work from 6am to 7pm for 8 months, with no salary and one meal a day. I faced a lot of hardship in Libya,” recalled a Sudanese man in Tunisia. As a nationality, Sudanese respondents (n=1,419) report one of the highest rates of trafficking and exploitation, at 17.1%.[1]
With a much lower prevalence of trafficking and exploitation reported among respondents interviewed in West Africa (3%) and East and Southern Africa (3.9%), it is clear that those interviewed in North Africa are likely to have experienced trafficking and exploitation during their journey north through the Sahara, or in North Africa itself.
As can be seen in the figure below and our associated infographic, respondents in Asia report a relatively high prevalence too at 8.1%, while we found the lowest prevalence in Latin America at 1.7% – not because trafficking and exploitation is uncommon in the region, but because specific regional dynamics appear to result in fewer survivors being included in the 4Mi sample.
Apparent factors of vulnerability
Trafficking and exploitation are more frequently reported among respondents who used smugglers (figure 3). Among respondents who used the services of a smuggler for at least part of their journey (n=45,395), 7.6% reported experiencing trafficking and exploitation, compared to 2.5% of those who did not use a smuggler (n=26,990).[2] The link between smuggling and trafficking is particularly visible in North Africa, where 15% of respondents who availed themselves of the services of a smuggler (n=7,621) experienced trafficking and exploitation, compared to just 3% of those who did not use a smuggler (n=2,503). This does not necessarily mean that smugglers and traffickers are working hand-in-hand, or that smugglers and traffickers are one and the same: in the absence of alternative regular pathways for migration, the services of smugglers may be needed more to travel through the type of insecure settings where the risk of trafficking and exploitation is greater.
However, it is well-known that there are overlaps between smuggling and trafficking, and the distinction between these two phenomena can be blurry.
The incidence of trafficking and exploitation varies according to how the journey is financed and whether respondents have enough money to reach their destination. Globally, those who paid their smuggler through labour (n=1,444) were particularly affected, with 20% reporting trafficking and exploitation, suggesting widespread debt bondage. Irrespective of smuggler use, 8.8% of migrants who started their journey with insufficient funds (n=26,676) experienced trafficking and exploitation, versus 3.7% of those with sufficient funds (n=40,725). The incidence of trafficking and exploitation is also higher among those who initially borrowed money to finance their journey (n=14,110), at 9.2% .
Reports of trafficking and exploitation are highest for respondents driven to migrate at least in part by disasters, violence, or lack of rights and freedoms. “Some people take advantage of a crisis. I met a man who deceived me. He promised to take me to Khartoum and I trusted him,” shared an Ethiopian man from Tigray in Tunisia. As illustrated in the graph below, 8.3% of respondents who moved partly due violence, insecurity, and conflict (n=31,230) experienced trafficking and exploitation, compared to 5.4% of those who mentioned economic drivers of migration (n=50,732).[3] Among respondents of all legal statuses, asylum-seekers (n=11,476) report the highest incidence of trafficking and exploitation, at 8%.
graph 5
“I’m happy to be here, but my head is full of nightmares” – Gambian man in Italy
Qualitative reflections shared by respondents after the survey show that, while experiences of trafficking and exploitation vary from domestic servitude to forced labour and sexual exploitation, they have in common high levels of violence and abuse, as exemplified by the following quotes:
– Nigerian woman in Niger
– Nigerian woman in Tunisia
Although this is not reflected in the data, migrants in West Africa and the Sahel in particular are also at risk of trafficking and exploitation in the gold mining sector.
Unsurprisingly, within the sample, the need for psychological support is greater among survivors of trafficking and exploitation, 18% of whom report psychological support a current assistance need compared to 10% of other respondents.
“I am ashamed of myself because of what I suffered on the migratory route,” shared a Ghanaian woman in Tunisia. “I was kidnapped, exploited, raped repeatedly to the point of losing consciousness, and enslaved. An international investigation must be launched by the UN and other international organisations that campaign for human rights, so that these practices stop on the migratory route.”
[1] The rate is highest among respondents from the Ivory Coast, 9 out of 38 of whom reported trafficking and exploitation – but the sample size is very small. Cambodian respondents (n=278) report the second highest rate of trafficking and exploitation, at 21.6%. However, associated data collection in Asia focused specifically on respondents who used a smuggler, which may have increased the number of survivors of trafficking in the sample.
[2] 712 respondents refused to say whether they had used a smuggler.
[3] Respondents can select multiple drivers of migration.
