Short pieces:
High-Level Side Event on Combatting Trafficking in Persons for the Purposes of Sexual Exploitation by Armed and Terrorist Groups (OHCHR, July 2026) [text]
Inter-American Commission on Human Rights Holds Public Hearing on Exploitation & Trafficking of Mexican Unaccompanied Children Deported to Southern Mexico (Human Rights First, Aug. 2026) [text]
Reports:
City of Contrasts: Urban Safety, Migration and Climate Change and Their Impact on the Somali Community in Eastleigh, Nairobi (Global Initiative, July 2026) [access]
- Policy paper and recommendations available in English, Somali & Kiswahili. The report finds that "Eastleigh’s illegal markets are interconnected. Document fraud supports migrant smuggling and human trafficking. Corrupt officials protect or participate in these activities. Gangs facilitate forced evictions and extract money from transport and waste-collection services. Unregulated construction and hotels can provide spaces in which trafficked people are concealed and exploited. Climate change acts as a risk multiplier. Drought and the loss of rural livelihoods in Somalia and northern Kenya push people towards Nairobi. New arrivals often lack documents, safe accommodation, formal employment and social support, making them particularly vulnerable to bribery, forced labour, sexual exploitation and smuggling networks."
Russia: Recruitment of foreign nationals to fight in Ukraine amounts to human trafficking (Amnesty International, Sept. 2026) [access]
Trafficking in Persons Report 2026 (US Dept. of State, Oct. 2026) [access]
- Note: Once again, the publication of this report was delayed; under the US Trafficking Victims Protection Act, it must be submitted by the State Dept. to Congress by 30 June. In addition, according to this post on The Hill, the 2026 report has "eliminated all of its nearly 2,000 prioritized recommendations across 188 countries," as well as "cut nearly 40 percent of the content in the previous year’s report."
Typology of the Financial Aspects of Smuggling of Migrants (United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, Oct. 2026) [access]
- See also related InfoMigrants post.
Journal articles & book chapters:
"Brokering, Smuggling and Trafficking," Chapter in Handbook of the Anthropology of Mobilities (Berghahn Books, Nov. 2026) [open access]
"Criminalising Solidarity? Redefining the Boundaries of EU Facilitation Law Between Migrant Smuggling, Humanitarian Assistance and Fundamental Rights," Laws, vol. 15, no. 6 (Oct. 2026) [open access]
"'Dumped in a hotel by the sea': the risks and harms of human trafficking and exploitation associated with placing unaccompanied children seeking asylum in UK Home Office hotels," Journal of Social Welfare and Family Law, vol. 48, no. 2 (2026) [open access]
"Encountering Corruption in Mobility and Arrival," Chapter in Migration and Corruption: IMISCOE Short Reader (Springer, Sept. 2026) [open access]
"Migration crimes in the Horn of Africa: examining policies, legal frameworks, and strategies to tackle vulnerabilities and the humanitarian-security nexus," Journal of International Humanitarian Action, 11:21 (Aug. 2026) [open access]
Related post: