Thematic Focus: Human Trafficking & Smuggling

Short pieces:

125,000 Trafficking Victims Worldwide, 30,000 Children: IOM Chief Calls for Global Action (IOM, Feb. 2026) [text]

Europol launches new unit to fight migrant smugglers (InfoMigrants, March 2026) [text]

Suffering for Security: How the Refugee Crisis Leaves People Vulnerable to Human Trafficking (Refugee Research Online, Feb. 2026) [text]

Reports:

Strengthening the Capacities of West African States to Develop a Human Rights-Based Response to Smuggling of Migrants and to Effectively Respond to Human Rights Violations Related to Irregular Migration (UNODC & OHCHR, March 2025) [access]

Submission of evidence to inform the new EU Strategy on Combatting Trafficking in Human Beings (ENS, Jan. 2026) [text]

Journal articles:

"Forced labour, trafficking, and structural exploitation of women migrant workers: International legal perspectives," Freedom, Security & Justice: European Legal Studies, no. 1 (2026) [open access]

"Human Trafficking: Challenges and Innovative Approaches for Research, Policy and Practice," Journal of Criminal Law, vol. 90, no. 1 (Feb. 2026) [free full-text]

"Human trafficking risks in countries unaccustomed to migration: Romanian assistance providers’ experiences with conflict-affected migrants from Ukraine," European Journal of Criminology, vol. 23, no. 1 (Jan. 2026) [open access]

"Lebanon’s lifeboats: a data-driven exploration of irregular maritime migration to Europe between 2019–2022," Cogent Social Sciences, vol. 12, no. 1 (2026) [open access]

"The Migration–Trafficking Nexus: Child Refugees at Risk and the Slow Violence that Deepens Their Vulnerability," Journal of Criminal Law, vol. 90, no. 1 (Feb. 2026) [ResearchGate]

- Focuses on Sweden.

"Smuggling Conspiracies," Columbia Journal of Race and Law, vol. 15, no. 1 (2025) [open access]

- Focuses on the US.

"War, martial law, and mobilisation: Exploring the characteristics of human smuggling at Ukraine’s borders in 2022–2023," European Journal of Criminology, vol. 23, no. 1 (Jan. 2026) [open access]

"When Aid Comes with Strings: Donor Power and Everyday Anti-Trafficking Work in Moldova," International Migration, vol. 64, no. 2 (April 2026) [open access]

Related post:

- Thematic Focus: Human Trafficking & Smuggling (26 Jan. 2026)

Thematic Focus: Human Trafficking & Smuggling

Short pieces:

Abandoned in the desert: the reality of migrant smuggling (UNODC, Oct. 2025) [text]

Not the same crime: Understanding the difference between human trafficking and migrant smuggling (UNODC, Oct. 2025) [text]

Reports: 

Climate Chains: Mapping the Relationship between Climate, Trafficking in Persons and Building Resilience (International Organization for Migration, Oct. 2025) [text via ReliefWeb]

- Focuses on Ethiopia and the Philippines.

Human Smuggling and Trafficking Ecosystems: North Africa and the Sahel - 2025 Series (Global Initiative) [info]

- Currently, two country reports have been published: Libya (Oct. 2025) & Niger (Nov. 2025)

“They don’t think we are humans”: The Cycle of Human Trafficking for Ransom in Libya (Tilburg Univ. & Langaa Research & Publishing, 2025) [full-text]

- Note: This dissertation is published as vol. 6 of the "Connected and Mobile: Migration and Human Trafficking in Africa" book series.

*Trafficking in human beings - the international dimension (European Migration Network, July 2025) [access]

- Follow link for study and country reports. See also related EMN Inform.

Trafficking in Persons Report 2025 (US Dept. of State, Sept. 2025) [access]

- Note: Under the US Trafficking Victims Protection Act, this annual report must be submitted by the State Dept. to Congress by 30 June. However, according to The Guardian, the release of this year's TIP was delayed due to funding and staff cuts. Moreover, references to LGBTQ victims of human trafficking have been removed. See more info here.

Journal articles & book chapters:

Anti-Trafficking Review, no. 25 (2025) [open access]

- Special issue on "Climate Emergency and Work on a Heated Planet."

"Beyond borders and blockades: human trafficking risks among vulnerable Palestinian populations under occupation," BMC Public Health, 25:3544 (Oct. 2025) [open access]

"Human trafficking risks in countries unaccustomed to migration: Romanian assistance providers’ experiences with conflict-affected migrants from Ukraine," European Journal of Criminology, OnlineFirst, 6 Nov. 2025 [open access]

"Labor Trafficking among Migrant Populations: A Scoping Review and Qualitative Interview Study with Stakeholders," Frontiers in Human Dynamics, 2 Nov. 2025 [open access]

"Trafficked Persons as Convention Refugees: Opportunities and Obstacles in Asylum Claims based on a Risk of (Re-)Trafficking," Journal of Immigration, Asylum and Nationality Law, vol. 39, no. 1 (2025) [postprint]

- Focuses on the UK.

"Who are human traffickers? Evidence from Romanian prisons," Comparative Migration Studies, 13:81 (Oct. 2025) [open access]

"Who is the 'Vulnerable' Victim? Trafficked and Smuggled Persons as Victims of Crime Under EU Law," Chapter in Intertwining Criminal Justice and Immigration Control in the EU (Routledge, Sept. 2025) [postprint]

- Note: Access to the full-text is embargoed until 9 March 2027.

*UPDATED

Related post:

- Thematic Focus: Human Trafficking & Smuggling (3 Oct. 2025)

Thematic Focus: Human Trafficking & Smuggling

Short pieces:

Tackling forced labour in Malaysia begins with re-examining its migration model (The Interpreter Blog, May 2025) [text]

Threat of enslavement hangs over reported plans to deport migrants from US to Libya (The Conversation, May 2025) [text]

Reports:  

At Risk Twice Over: Displacement and Human Trafficking in Southeast Asia (USCRI, April 2025) [text]

Criminalization of Smuggling of Migrants and Related Conduct: A Global Overview (UNODC, 2025) [text]

The Facilitation Proposal: assessing the EU’s response to the smuggling of migrants (Sieps, March 2025) [text]

Migrant domestic workers and trafficking in persons: prevention, rights protection and access to justice - Report of the Special Rapporteur on trafficking in persons, especially women and children, Siobhán Mullally, UN Doc. No. A/HRC/59/56 (UN Human Rights Council, April 2025) [access]

Smuggling dynamics en route to and within Türkiye: Insights from Afghans, Syrians & Pakistanis on their journeys (Mixed Migration Centre, June 2025) [text]

Victims of Human Trafficking in Asylum and Reception, Fact Sheet, no. 34 (EUAA, July 2025) [text]

Journal articles:

Environment and Planning C: Politics and Space, vol. 43, no. 3 (May 2025) [contents]

- Theme issue is "Contested Geographies of Trafficking Borders." Six of these articles are open access, including the introduction.

"Iranians' Unauthorized Mobility Projects to Europe: A Digital Ethnography of Smuggling and Solidarity," Partecipazione e Conflitto, vol. 18, no. 1 (2025) [open access]

"Petro-politics, Gender Violence and Human Trafficking in Nigeria’s Niger Delta Region," Migration Politics, 4:3 (2025) [open access]

"Re-framing European Union (EU)-United Kingdom (UK) Cooperation to Address Human Trafficking and Migrant Smuggling," Border Crossing, vol. 15, no. 3 (2025) [open access]

Related post:

- Thematic Focus: Human Trafficking & Smuggling (7 May 2025)

Thematic Focus: General - Pt. 2

Journal articles:

"…when the category ‘migration’ lost its innocence for migration scholars. And what now? A plea for dialogue," Comparative Migration Studies, 13:37 (June 2025) [open access]

Anniversary issue: 10 years of Comparative Migration Studies [access]

- Follow link for collection of 11 articles.

"Cover(ing) migration: the visual narrativisation of flight, asylum, and security practices," European Journal of English Studies, vol. 28, nos. 2-3 (2025) [open access]

- Focuses on Germany and the US.

"Crisisology no more? (Comparative) Migration Studies beyond the Crisis," Comparative Migration Studies, 13:38 (June 2025) [open access]

"A Good Life in Exile: Understanding and Measuring the Wellbeing of Refugees Living in Protracted Displacement," Journal of Immigrant & Refugee Studies, Latest Articles, 11 June 2025 [open access]

"Involuntary immobility and well-being: a scoping review of existing literature and future research directions," Globalization and Health, 21:35 (June 2025) [open access]

"Migration as International Relations," Global Networks, vol. 25, no. 3 (July 2025) [ResearchGate]

"The psychological impact of spending a prolonged time awaiting asylum," European Journal of Psychotraumatology, vol. 16, no. 1 (2025) [open access]

"Theorizing experiential time in refugee migration: speed and duration," Journal of Refugee Studies, Advance Articles, 11 June 2025 [open access]

Multimedia:

Empire of Refugees: North Caucasian Muslims and the Late Ottoman State, 20 May 2025 [access]

Ruling Emancipated Slaves and Indigenous Subjects: The Divergent Legacies of Forced Settlement and Colonial Occupation in the Global South, 4 June 2025 [access]

Related post:

- Thematic Focus: General - Pt. 1 (30 June 2025)

Thematic Focus: Human Trafficking & Smuggling

Short pieces:

Addressing Internal Displacement Resulting from Organised Criminal Activity: What Role for the International Anti-trafficking Framework? (Researching Internal Displacement, Feb. 2025) [text]

- Fourth contribution in a series on "Internal Displacement in the Context of Organised Criminal Violence."

How conflict in Libya facilitated transnational expansion of migrant smuggling and trafficking (Chatham House Explainer, Feb. 2025) [text]

Reports & journal articles:

Beyond restrictions: migration & smuggling across the Mediterranean, the Atlantic & the English Channel (Mixed Migration Centre, March 2025) [text]

"The Convenient Villain and the Stereotypical Victim: How Demand and Vulnerability Help Construct Anti-Policies in Trafficking and Smuggling," Journal on Migration and Human Security, OnlineFirst, 25 Feb. 2025 [open access]

- Focuses on Europe.

"Hidden in Plain Sight: Japan’s Dying Labor Force and the Human Trafficking Issues That Come With It," George Washington International Law Review, vol. 56, nos. 1/2 (2025) [full-text]

How migrant smuggling has fuelled conflict in Libya: A systems analysis of key transit hubs (Chatham House, Feb. 2025) [text]

The role of smuggling in shaping migrants’ journeys, finances and risks in the Central Sahel (Mixed Migration Centre, March 2025) [access]

- Focuses on Burkina Faso, Mali, Niger. Available in English and French. See also related snapshot.

Smuggling and migration in South America: Insights from migrants (Mixed Migration Centre, March 2025) [text]

Study on Trafficking in Persons and Smuggling of Migrants in the Context of the Displacement caused by the War in Ukraine (UN Office on Drugs and Crime, Feb. 2025) [access]

- Available in English and Ukrainian. See also related press release and Eurasia Review article.

Related post:

- Thematic Focus: Human Trafficking & Smuggling (6 Feb. 2025)

Thematic Focus: Human Trafficking & Smuggling

Short pieces:

Human Trafficking: In the Czech Republic and Around the World (People in Need, Jan. 2025) [text via ReliefWeb]

Irregular migration vs. migrant smuggling – what is the difference? (UNODC, Jan. 2025) [text]

"Some migrants turn to pricey smugglers or riskier routes after Trump clampdown," Reuters, 24 Jan. 2025 [text]

Trafficked migrant and refugee women in Latin America: State responses and challenges (Dejusticia Blog, Jan. 2025) [text]

What is Labor Trafficking? (USCRI, Jan. 2025) [text]

Reports from the Mixed Migration Centre: 

Gendered smuggler-migrant interactions in the Central Sahel (Jan. 2025) [text]

Migrants’ Perceptions of Smugglers in Port Sudan: Service providers and sometimes criminals (Jan. 2025) [text]

Smugglers’ role in migration journeys to Port Sudan: Eritrean, Ethiopian & South Sudanese migrant experiences (Jan. 2025) [text]

Smuggling dynamics on the Eastern Route through Yemen (Jan. 2025) [text]

Other reports, journal articles & book chapters:

Countering Trafficking in Persons and Migrant Smuggling in Mixed Migration Movements (UNODC, 2024) [text]

"Legitimacy and Rationalization in European Criminal Law: A Critical Analysis of the Criminalization of Migrant Smuggling," Univ. of Bologna Law Review, vol. 9, no. 2 (Jan. 2025) [open access]

"New pathways to trafficking victims’ protection? Intersection and synergies between the European Pact on Migration and Asylum and Directive (EU) 2024/1712 for third-country national victims," Freedom, Security & Justice: European Legal Studies, no. 3 (2024) [open access]

"Las Trayectorias Migratorias de Mujeres Venezolanas en Cúcuta, Colombia: Entre Vulnerabilidades, Explotaciones y Trata de Personas," Chapter in Direitos Humanos e Vulnerabilidade e a Proteção a Pessoas Refugiadas na América Latina (Editora Universitária Leopoldianum, Nov. 2024) [full-text]

- Scroll to p. 386.

Related posts:

- Thematic Focus: Human Trafficking & Smuggling - Pt. 2 (3 Jan. 2025) 

- Thematic Focus: Human Trafficking & Smuggling - Pt. 2 (3 Jan. 2025)

Thematic Focus: Human Trafficking & Smuggling - Pt. 1

Short pieces:

At G7 in Italy, UNHCR’s Grandi emphasized the need to protect victims while preventing exploitation by human traffickers (UNHCR, Oct. 2024) [text]

Double Edged Swords: The Role of Technology in Human Trafficking and Migrant Smuggling (NatCen International & Univ. of Westminster, Dec. 2024) [text]

The Exploitation of Refugees and Migrants Hidden Struggles Along Migration Routes (UNICEF, Dec. 2024) [text]

- Focuses on Europe.

New open access volumes:

Global Report on Trafficking in Persons in 2024 (UN Office on Drugs and Crime, Dec. 2024) [access]

- "This edition of the Global Report provides a snapshot of the trafficking patterns and flows at global, regional and national levels. It covers 156 countries and provides an overview of the response to the trafficking in persons by analysing trafficking cases detected between 2019 and 2023. A major focus of this edition of the Report is on trends of detections and convictions that show the changes compared to historical trends since UNODC started to collect data in 2003, and following the Covid-19 Pandemic." See also related InfoMigrants post.

Taking Vulnerabilities to Labour Exploitation Seriously: A Critical Analysis of Legal and Policy Approaches and Instruments in Europe (Springer, Oct. 2024) [open access]

- "This open access book intends to contribute to the debate on migrant labour exploitation by exploring the extent to which the EU and the European countries provide a standard for protecting migrant workers. It moves from a socio-legal and theoretical perspective and builds on critical studies on vulnerability, exploitation, trafficking and migrant labour regimes – along with relevant feminist theories, including theories on social reproduction – while also drawing on extensive fieldwork. By mobilising the concept of ‘situational vulnerabilities’, the book critically investigates the assemblage and interaction of factors creating and amplifying migrant workers’ vulnerabilities to exploitation in the key sectors of agriculture and domestic work. The aim is to highlight how situations of vulnerability to exploitation are generated and exacerbated by relevant legal and policy frameworks, underlining and questioning the tensions, continuities, and ambiguities between different regimes, such as the regimes regulating labour migration and those intended to combat severe exploitation."

Reports:

Addressing documentation and modern slavery risks in Kenya: Key recommendations and best practices (UNU & Freedom Fund, Oct. 2024) [access via ReliefWeb]

- Follow link for a policy brief as well as comics in English and Swahili "illustrating the challenges faced by people in Kenya as they navigate life without legal documents."

Child Trafficking and Armed Conflict (UN, Oct. 2024) [access]

Mixed migration in the Western Balkans: Shifting policies, smuggling dynamics and risks (Mixed Migration Centre, Nov. 2024) [text]

Special Hearing Report on Understanding the Risks of Trafficking of Children of Ukraine, including for the Purposes of Sexual and Labour Exploitation (Council of Europe, Oct. 2024) [text via Refworld]

Related post:

- Thematic Focus: Human Trafficking & Smuggling (2 Oct. 2024)

Thematic Focus: Work/Economic Aspects

Short pieces focusing on the United States:

Do immigrants and immigration help the economy? (The Brink, April 2024) [text]

"Dollars, cents and the migrant story you aren’t reading," Masslive.com, 5 April 2024 [text]

Immigrants Contribute Billions to Federal and State Taxes Each Year (Immigration Impact Blog, April 2024) [text]

"Immigration is Powering the U.S. Economy," Time Magazine, 5 April 2024 [text]

Welcome Corps at Work:  Connecting U.S. Employers with Skilled Refugee Employees (US State Dept., April 2024) [text]

Why Progress on Immigration Might Soften Labor Pains (Harvard Business School, April 2024) [text]

Reports & journal articles:

Boletín: Medios de vida e inclusión económica (UNHCR, April 2024) [text]

- Focuses on Guatemala.

Do Migrants Displace Native-Born Workers on the Labour Market? The Impact of Workers' Origin, IZA Discussion Paper, no. 16887 (Institute of Labor Economics, March 2024) [text]

- Focuses on Belgium.

"Economic and labour market impacts of migration in Austria: an agent-based modelling approach," Comparative Migration Studies, 12:18 (March 2024) [open access]

Enhancing Job Opportunities and Training, Honduras Best Practices Livelihood Programmes, no. 3 (UNHCR, March 2024) [text]

Estudio de Inclusión Económica: Refugiados y migrantes venezolanos en Perú desarrollado en las ciudades de Tumbes, Trujillo, Lima/Callao, Ica y Arequipa (USAID & World Council of Credit Unions, Nov 2023) [text]

"Improving Refugees’ Integration with Online Resource Allocation," Communications of the ACM, Online First, 22 March 2024 [open access]

- Focuses on the US.

Reviewing the contribution of the private sector to economic and labour market development in forced displacement contexts, RSC Working Paper, no. 141 (Refugee Studies Centre, March 2024) [text]

Stolen in Plain Sight: Losing Track of Forced Labor in the United States (US Committee for Refugees and Immigrants, April 2024) [text via ReliefWeb]

Multimedia:

New Study Upends Negative Assumptions about the Economic Impact of Refugees (Need to Know Podcast, March 2024) [access]

- Focuses on the US.

Related posts:

- Thematic Focus: Work/Economic Aspects - Pt. 1 (30 March 2024)

- Thematic Focus: Work/Economic Aspects - Pt. 2 (30 March 2024)

Thematic Focus: Human Trafficking & Smuggling

Reports & short pieces:

Climate Change, Mobility and Human Trafficking in Ethiopia: Getting the relationship right (Danish Institute for International Studies, May 2023) [text]

From Evidence to Action: Twenty years of IOM child trafficking data to inform policy and programming (IOM & Harvard University, July 2023) [text]

Global Slavery Index 2023 (Walk Free Foundation, June 2023) [text via ReliefWeb]

- See also related DW article.

Human smuggling and trafficking ecosystems in North Africa and the Sahel (Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime, 2023) [access]

- "The 2023 series follows the rebounding importance of smuggling from and through Libya, Tunisia, Morocco, Niger, Chad and Mali and the ways in which dynamics play out differently in the individual countries in focus, as the global economic picture worsens, governance strains become more pronounced, and peace and security challenges rise." Currently, the reports on Chad, Mali and Tunisia are available.

Refugee protection, internal displacement and statelessness: Report of the Special Rapporteur on trafficking in persons, especially women and children, Siobhán Mullally, UN Doc. No. A/HRC/53/28 (UN Human Rights Council, July 2023) [text via Refworld]

- See also related press release and discussion.

Rohingya in Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand: Refugee protection, human smuggling and trafficking (Mixed Migration Centre, June 2023) [text]

Surviving Statelessness and Trafficking: A Rohingya Case Study of Intersections and Policy Gaps (Institute of Statelessness and Inclusion et al., June 2023) [text]

Use of smugglers on the journey to Indonesia among Rohingya, Afghan and Somali refugees (Mixed Migration Centre, July 2023) [text]

What everyone gets wrong about the U Visa (Niskanen Center Commentary, June 2023) [text]

- Focuses on the US.

Journal articles & book chapters:

"Enabling and Supporting Irregular Migration," Chapter in Irregular Migration: IMISCOE Short Reader (Springer, May 2023) [open access]

"'Protection' on my own terms: human smuggling and unaccompanied Syrian minors," Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies, vol. 49, no. 13 (2023) [postprint]

- Note: Access to the full-text is embargoed until 22 Dec. 2023.

"Trafficked Adult Males as (Un)Gendered Protection Seekers: Between Presumption of Invulnerability and Exclusion from Membership of a Particular Social Group," International Journal of Refugee Law, vol. 34, nos. 3-4 (Oct.-Dec. 2022) [free full-text]

"El tráfico de migrantes internacionales en México: diferencias entre pollero, coyote y traficante de migrantes," Región y sociedad, vol. 35 (2023) [open access]

Related post:

- Thematic Focus: Human Trafficking & Smuggling (4 May 2023)

Thematic Focus: Human Trafficking & Smuggling - Pt. 2

Journal articles & book chapters:

"Book Review: The Criminalisation of People Smuggling in Indonesia and Australia: Asylum out of Reach by Missbach Antje," Journal of Current Southeast Asian Affairs, OnlineFirst, 20 March 2023 [open access]

"It Happened in the Desert, in Libya and in Italy: Physical and Sexual Violence Experienced by Female Nigerian Victims of Trafficking in Italy," International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, vol. 20, no. 5 (Feb. 2023) [open access]

Journal of Modern Slavery, vol. 8, no. 1 (2023) [full-text]

- Special issue on "Forced Migration and Modern Slavery: Unplanned Journeys of Exploitation and Survival." 

"Jurisdictional Games and Decision-Making: The Belgian Approach in Dealing with Migrant Smuggling," Law & Policy, Early View, 13 Feb. 2023 [open access]

"The Nexus Between Corruption, Migrant Smuggling, and Human Trafficking in Southeast Asia," Chapter in Migration in Southeast Asia: IMISCOE Regional Reader (Springer, March 2023) [open access]

"Non-state initiatives on enhancing counter-trafficking of Rohingya influx in Cox's Bazar of Bangladesh," Frontiers in Public Health, 16 March 2023 [open access]

"Refugee Trafficking in A Carceral Age: A Case Study of the Sinai Trafficking," Journal of Human Trafficking, vol. 9, no. 1 (2023) [open access]

- Focuses on Eritreans.

Trends in Organized Crime, vol. 26, no. 1 (March 2023) [open access]

- Special issue on "Critical Perspectives on Human Smuggling and the Border." 

Related post:

- Thematic Focus: Human Trafficking & Smuggling - Pt. 1 (29 March 2023)

Regional Focus: United States

Opportunity:

Webinar: The Crisis in U.S. Immigration Adjudication, 26 April 2023 [info]

Blog posts & press:

"Biden administration quietly resumes deportations to Russia," The Guardian, 18 March 2023 [text]

Everything’s Bigger in Texas, Including Asylum Denial Rates (RLI Blog, March 2023) [text]

Immigrants with ‘Big Law’ Attorneys More Likely to Avoid Deportation (Science Blog, March 2023) [text]

NIMBYism at the Border (Harvard Law Review Blog, March 2023) [text]

Revamping Asylum at the U.S.-Mexico Border: A Workable Rescue? (MPI Commentary, March 2023) [text]

Three Years of Title 42 (Immigration Impact Blog, March 2023) [text]

"U.S. and Canada reach a deal to close a popular but unofficial border crossing," NPR, 24 March 2023 [text]

Where the ‘Migrant Protection Protocols’ Stand, Four Years after Going into Effect (Immigration Impact Blog, March 2023) [text]

WOLA and Temple Law School Present a New Series of Resources for Asylum Attorneys (WOLA, Feb. 2023) [text]

- "Joint Project Compiles Information on Country of Origin Conditions including Children and Gangs, State Complicity, Internal Relocation, Human Rights Defenders and Journalists, and Gender."

Reports & journal articles:

25 Years of Immigration Court Decisions (TRAC, March 2023) [text]

"Bringing 'Civil'ity into Immigration Law: Using the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure to Fix Immigration Adjudication," Vanderbilt Law Review (Forthcoming) [preprint]

Comments of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees on the Proposed Rule from the U.S. Department of Justice (Executive Office for Immigration Review) and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services): "Circumvention of Lawful Pathways" (UNHCR, March 2023) [text]

"Forced Back into the Lion's Mouth: Per Se Reporting Requirements in U.S. Asylum Law," Marquette Law Review (Forthcoming) [preprint]

"Frequently Requested Statistics on Immigrants and Immigration in the United States," Migration Information Source, 14 March 2023 [text]

"Guilty After Proven Innocent: Hidden Factfinding in Immigration Decisionmaking," California Law Review, vol. 112 (Forthcoming) [preprint]

Immigration Judge Decisions Overturning Asylum Officer Findings in Credible Fear Cases (TRAC, March 2023) [text]

"Immigration Law and Slavery: Rethinking the Migration or Importation Clause," Wisconsin Law Review, vol. 2023, no. 4 (Forthcoming) [preprint]

"Punitive Legal Immigration," Kentucky Law Journal (Forthcoming) [preprint]

Related posts:

- Regional Focus: United States - Pt. 1 (4 March 2023)

- Regional Focus: United States - Pt. 2 (4 March 2023)

FMR Jobs/New Issues of Disasters, Intl. Migr., JEMS, JHA, J. Intercult. Stud., J. Mod. Slavery, OxMo, REMI, Temas de Coyuntura, Torture J.

Job announcements:

Managing Editor, Forced Migration Review (Maternity Cover) [info]

- Apply by 8 March 2023.

Deputy Editor, Forced Migration Review [info]

- Apply by 13 March 2023.

New issues:

Disasters, vol. 47, no. 2 (April 2023) [contents]

- Mix of articles, with nine that are open access.

International Migration, vol. 61, no. 1 (Feb. 2023) [contents]

- Includes two special issues on "African International Migration to the West: Insights from Canada, Australia and Nigeria" and "Assimilation, integration or transnationalism? An overview of theories of migrant incorporation," respectively. The introductions for both are freely available. Six articles are open access. The commentary section focuses on Stephen Castles, who passed away in Aug. 2022. Three of the four contributions are also open access.

Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies, vol. 49, no. 3 (2023) [contents]

- Mix of articles, with two that are open access.

Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies, vol. 49, no. 5 (2023) [contents]

- Mix of articles, with two that are open access.

Journal of Humanitarian Affairs, vol. 4, no. 3 (March 2023) [open access]

- Special issue on "Refugees in the Digital Economy." 

Journal of Intercultural Studies, vol. 44, no. 1 (2023) [contents]

- Special issue on "Civil society and humanitarian actors across European borderlands." The editorial is freely available and three articles are open access.

Journal of Modern Slavery, vol. 8, no. 1 (2023) [full-text]

- Special issue on "Forced Migration and Modern Slavery: Unplanned Journeys of Exploitation and Survival." 

*Migration Policy Practice, vol. XII, no. 1 (Feb. 2023) [open access]

- Mix of articles. First issue under the direction of a new editorial team based in IOM's recently established Department of Policy and Research.

Oxford Monitor of Forced Migration, vol. 11, no. 1 (2023) [full-text]

- Mix of articles.

Revue Européenne des Migrations Internationales, vol. 39, no. 1 (2023) [delayed open access]

- Features a thematic dossier on "Death and Migration: Perspectives from the Post-Soviet Space," Articles become open access after a year.

Temas de Coyuntura, no. 86 (2022) [open access]

- Focuses on Venezuelan migrants.

Torture Journal: Journal on Rehabilitation of Torture Victims and Prevention of Torture, vol. 32, nos. 1-2 (2022) [open access]

- A double issue "which celebrates the 30 years of the Torture Journal through commemorative contributions from authors who have had a long trajectory in the fight against torture or accompanied the evolution of the Journal."

*UPDATED

Tagged Periodicals.

Thematic Focus: Detention - Pt. 2 (United States)

Publications:

"Deploying International Law to Combat Forced Labor in Immigration Detention Centers," Georgetown Immigration Law Journal, vol. 37, no. 1 (Fall 2022) [full-text]

"Family Detention and Family Separation: History Struggle and Status," Belmont Law Review, vol. 9, no. 2 (2022) [full-text]

ICE Detention Standards: Immigration Detention Facilities’ Responsibilities and Detained Individuals’ Rights: A Guide for Practitioners (American Bar Association, Dec. 2022) [text via ImmigrationProf]

"Individuals’ experiences in U.S. immigration detention during the early period of the COVID-19 pandemic: major challenges and public health implications," Health & Justice, 11:8 (Feb. 2023) [open access]

- See also related study.

"Medical Mismanagement in Southern US Immigration and Customs Enforcement Detention Facilities: A Thematic Analysis of Secondary Medical Records," Journal of Immigrant and Minority Health, Latest Articles, 30 Jan. 2023 [free full-text]

"Understanding the Healthcare Needs of Immigrant Children Currently and Previously in Government Custody: A Narrative," Laws, vol. 12, no. 1 (Jan. 2023) [open access]

"When politics are contagious: Covid-19 and political resistance inside an immigration detention center," Political Geography, vol. 101 (March 2023) [open access]

Who is in ICE Detention Right Now? New Data Provides a Snapshot of Sprawling Detention System (Immigration Impact Blog, Feb. 2023) [text]

Multimedia:

Electronic Monitoring of Migrants: Alternative to Detention or Just Another Form of Punitive Custody?, 25 Jan. 2023 [access]

Related post:

- Thematic Focus: Detention - Pt. 1 (22 Feb. 2023)

Thematic Focus: Human Trafficking & Smuggling

Blog posts & press:

Addressing human trafficking among refugees and internally displaced persons in Uganda: a role for human rights treaty bodies? (Irish Centre for Human Rights Blog, July 2022) [text]

Hidden in Plain Sight: Trafficking in Forced Displacement Contexts (Irish Centre for Human Rights Blog, Aug. 2022) [text]

"How European courts are wrongfully prosecuting asylum seekers as smugglers," The New Humanitarian, 1 Sept. 2022 [text]

"How many Ukrainian refugees have been trafficked? We won’t know for years," Washington Post, 22 July 2022 [text]

Tackling the Climate Change-Migration-Human Trafficking Nexus in the East and Horn of Africa: Signs of Promise in the Kampala Declaration on Migration, Environment and Climate Change? (RLI Blog, Sept. 2022) [text]

World Day Against Trafficking in Persons, 30 July 2022 [info]

- The theme was "Use and abuse of technology." See also related UNHCR press release.

Reports:

At risk: exploitation and the UK asylum system (UNHCR & British Red Cross, Aug. 2022) [text via EIN]

Contact between smugglers and refugees and migrants in West and North Africa (Mixed Migration Centre, Aug. 2022) [text]

Global Estimates of Modern Slavery: Forced Labour and Forced Marriage (ILO, IOM & Walk Free Foundation, Sept. 2022) [text]

- See also related press release; executive summaries are also available in English, Chinese, French, Italian and Spanish.

Mapping of Protection Services for Vulnerable People on the Move, Including Victims of Trafficking, on Routes Toward the Central and Western Mediterranean Sea and the Atlantic (UNHCR, July 2022) [text]

North Korean Female Defectors in China: Human Trafficking and Exploitation (E-International Relations, Aug. 2022) [text]

Trafficking in Persons Report 2022 (US Dept. of State, July 2022) [access]

- The introductory essay focuses on "Survivor Engagement in the Anti-trafficking Field: History, Lessons Learned, and Looking Forward." 

Multimedia:

Challenging Smuggling Myths on the U.S. Mexico Border: A Podcast with Anthropologist Gabriella Sanchez (Border Chronicle, Sept. 2022) [access]

Related post:

- Thematic Focus: Human Trafficking & Smuggling (20 July 2022)

Thematic Focus: Human Trafficking & Smuggling

Opportunity:

CFP: Social Sciences [info]

- Contributions sought for special issue on "Exploring the Interface between Human Trafficking, 'Modern Slavery' and Asylum." Submission deadline is 28 February 2022.

New Open Access book:

The Routledge Handbook of Smuggling (Routledge, Dec. 2021) [open access]

- "[A] comprehensive survey of interdisciplinary research related to smuggling, reflecting on key themes, and charting current and future trends. Divided into six parts and spanning over 30 chapters, the volume covers themes such as mobility, borders, violent conflict, and state politics, as well as looks at the smuggling of specific goods... . Chapters engage with some of the most contentious academic and policy debates of the twenty-first century, including the historical creation of borders, re-bordering, the criminalisation of migration, and the politics of selective toleration of smuggling. As it maps a field that contains unique methodological, ethical, and risk-related challenges, the book takes stock not only of the state of our shared knowledge, but also reflects on how this has been produced, pointing to blind spots and providing an informed vision of the future of the field." See esp. Part IV, "Smuggling and mobility," with four chapters.

Reports:

Combating Forced and Child Labor of Refugees in Global Supply Chains: The Role of Responsible Sourcing (TENT & Verité, Oct. 2021) [text]

Corruption and the role of state officials in human smuggling (Mixed Migration Centre, Dec. 2021) [text]

- Focuses on West & North Africa.

COVID-19 and the Smuggling of Migrants (UNODC, 2021) [text]

- Also available in French and Spanish.

Migrant Smuggling: Background and Selected Issues (Congressional Research Service, Dec. 2021) [text]

Smuggling, Risks, and Abuses (Mixed Migration Centre, Oct. 2021)

- Part 1: Dangerous locations and perpetrators

- Part 2: Characteristics of respondents and the perception of smugglers as perpetrators

- Part 3: Smuggler services and links to abuses

- Focus is on West & North Africa.

Journal articles & book chapters:

"Coyotes, migrants, terrorists and narcos: migrant smuggling narratives on the US-Mexico border and the data that counters them," Chapter in Immigrants, Asylum Seekers and Refugees in Times of Crises: A. An International Handbook on Migration and Refugee Studies, Management Policies and Governance (European Public Law Organization, Dec. 2021) [Academia]

"Human Smuggling from Wollo, Ethiopia to Saudi Arabia: Askoblay Criminals or Enablers of Dreams?," Public Anthropologist, vol. 3, no. 1 (2021) [postprint]

"Tipología de cuerpos traficados desde América del Sur y el Caribe hacia Chile," Antípoda: Revista de Antropología y Arqueología, vol. 44 (2021) [open access]

Multimedia:

The Identification and Documentation of Trafficking in Persons in Situations of Forced Displacement, 29 July 2021 [access]

Related post:

- Thematic Focus: Human Trafficking & Smuggling (20 Sept. 2021)

Thematic Focus: Detention

Blog posts & press:

"Australia signs deal with Nauru to keep asylum seeker detention centre open indefinitely," The Guardian, 24 Sept. 2021 [text]

"Greece moves asylum seekers to newly built camp derided as 'prison'," Yahoo News, 20 Sept. 2021 [text]

- See also related MSF story.

How many people in immigration detention have been vaccinated? Home Affairs won’t tell us (The Conversation, Aug. 2021) [text]

- Focuses on Australia.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Now Monitors about 118,000 Immigrants Through Its Alternatives to Detention Program (TRAC News, Sept. 2021) [text]

"Libya’s migrant roundup reaches 4,000 amid major crackdown," AP News, 2 Oct. 2021 [text]

Re-Bordering Policies and De-Bordering Practices in Pandemic Times: Offshore Isolation As De Facto Detention (Border Criminologies Blog, Sept. 2021) [text]

Reports & journal articles:

"Defining Forced Labor: The Legal Battle to Protect Detained Immigrants from Private Exploitation," Univ. of Chicago Law Review, vol. 88, no. 5 (2021) [full-text]

"The Effects of Inhumane Treatment in North Korean Detention Facilities on the Posttraumatic-Stress Disorder Symptoms of North Korean Refugees," Psychiatry Investigation, vol. 18, no. 7 (2021) [open access]

Ending immigration detention of children and providing adequate care and reception for them: Note by the Secretary-General, UN Doc. No. A/75/183 (UN General Assembly, July 2020; presented Oct. 2020) [text]

From Jailers to Case Managers: Redesigning the U.S. Immigration Detention System to Be Effective and Fair (Migration Policy Institute, Aug. 2021) [text]

"Mapping factors associated with deaths in immigration detention in the United States, 2011-2018: A thematic analysis," The Lancet Regional Health - Americas, In Press, 21 Aug. 2021 [open access]

Multimedia:

Behrouz Boochani on identity, persecution, and detention (Unfiltered Podcast Series) [access]

From Immigrant Detention to a More Effective U.S. Immigration Custody System, 2 Sept. 2021 [access]

Related post:

- Thematic Focus: Detention (15 Aug. 2021)

Thematic Focus: Human Trafficking & Smuggling

Blog posts:

World Day against Trafficking: Challenging misconceptions about it in migration pathways (World Economic Forum Blog, July 2021) [text]

Reports:

Climate-induced migration and modern slavery: a toolkit for policymakers (IIED & Anti-Slavery International, Sept. 2021) [text]

The effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on trafficking in persons and the responses to the challenges (UNODC, July 2021) [text via ReliefWeb]

The Many Roles of Migrant Smugglers and Movement Facilitators in West and North Africa (Mixed Migration Centre & UNODC, July 2021) [text]

Migration de retour: trafic et traite des migrants ivoiriens le long de la route Mediterranéenne centrale et occidentale (IOM, Aug. 2021) [text]

Nigerian Refugees’ and Migrants’ Use of Smugglers  (Mixed Migration Centre & UNODC, Aug. 2021) [text]

Journal articles:

Anti-Trafficking Review, no. 17 (2021) [open access]

- Special issue on "Anti-Trafficking Education": "The past decade has seen a dramatic increase in the sites for anti-trafficking education and the range of educators who shape how the public and institutions understand and respond to human trafficking. Thus, there is a need to analyse the formalised and informalised practices that facilitate teaching and learning about trafficking. "

"De la migración forzada al tráfico de migrantes: la migración clandestina en tránsito de Cuba hacia Chile," Migraciones Internacionales, vol. 12 (2021) [open access]

European Journal on Criminal Policy and Research, vol. 27, no. 1 (2021) [contents]

- Special issue on "Criminalization, Migration, and Human Rights." Four articles are open access.

Forum on Crime and Society, nos. 1&2 (2019) [full-text]

- Special issue on "Smuggling of migrants." Note: While the publication year is listed as 2019, the issue was actually published in 2021.

Journal of Modern Slavery, vol. 6, no. 3 (2021) [full-text]

- Themed issue on "Slavery and Humanitarian Response."

"Tipología de cuerpos traficados desde América del Sur y el Caribe hacia Chile," Antipoda: Revista de Antropología y Arqueología, no. 44 (July/Sept. 2021) [open access]

Related post:

- Thematic Focus: Human Trafficking & Smuggling (7 July 2021)

Thematic Focus: Human Trafficking & Smuggling

Blog posts & press:

‘Here we go again:’ Misleading European Union Communications on Human Smuggling (MPC Blog, June 2021) [text]

The New Plan for Immigration: Empty Measures Against Modern Slavery (RLI Blog, June 2021) [text]

- Focuses on the UK.

Whose Evidence Counts? Problems in the Identification of Victims of Trafficking (RLI Blog, June 2021) [text]

- Focuses on the UK.

Reports & journal articles:

Abused and Neglected: A Gender Perspective on Aggravated Migrant Smuggling and Response (UN Office of Drug on Drugs and Crime, June 2021) [text]

Countering human smuggling: No silver bullet for safer mobility - Evidence based recommendations towards a protection-sensitive approach to actions against human smuggling (Mixed Migration Centre, July 2021) [text]

- See also related press release.

Mixed migration and migrant smuggling in Libya: The role of non-Libyan smuggler intermediaries (Mixed Migration Centre, July 2021) [text]

"No rights, No Freedom: The Kafala system and the plight of African migrants in the Middle East," Journal of Arts and Social Sciences, vol. 18, no. 1 (April-June 2021) [open access]

- See also related CFR backgrounder.

"Physical health symptoms among Ethiopian returnees who were trafficked abroad," International Journal of Migration, Health and Social Care, vol. 17, no. 2 (2021) [preprint]

Procedimiento operativo estándar para la protección y atención de personas refugiadas y migrantes frente a la trata de personas en contextos de asistencia humanitaria en la región Tumbes (CARE, IOM & R4V, June 2021) [text via ReliefWeb]

- Focuses on Peru.

Public Anthropologist, vol. 3, no. 1 (March 2021) [contents]

- Includes special section on "Migration, Smuggling and the Illicit Global Economy." The introduction is freely available.

Smuggling and mixed migration: Insights and key messages drawn from a decade of MMC research and 4Mi data collection (Mixed Migration Centre, July 2021) [text]

Trafficking in Persons Report 2021 (US Department of State, July 2021) [access]

- Includes a lengthy essay on "Human Trafficking in the Context of a Global Pandemic," as well as a number of shorter analyses of special interest topics.

Related post:

- Thematic Focus: Human Trafficking & Smuggling (4 June 2021)

Thematic Focus: Human Trafficking & Smuggling

Blog posts & press:

The EU Pact on Migration and Asylum: A Missed Opportunity to Strengthen Protection against Human Trafficking? (Crossroads Europe, March 2021) [text]

The overcriminalisation of facilitation of illegal entry: the dangers of the symbolic application of criminal law to deter irregular migration (RLI Blog, May 2021) [text]

- Focuses on the UK.

The Right to Remain for Victims of Modern Slavery (RLI Blog, May 2021) [text]

- Focuses on the UK.

"Traffickers seen thriving in Europe as COVID-19 hits victim support," Reuters, 9 April 2021 [text]

"UNODC and Malawi launch new measures to combat human trafficking among refugees," UNODC News, 31 March 2021 [text]

Reports & journal articles:

Anti-Trafficking Review, vol. 16 (2021) [open access]

- Special issue on "Trafficking in Minors," with seven articles.

Applying gender-sensitive approaches in combating trafficking in human beings (Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe, May 2021) [text via ReliefWeb]

Conflict, Coping and Covid: Changing human smuggling and trafficking dynamics in North Africa and the Sahel in 2019 and 2020 (Global Initiative, April 2021) [access]

- Follow link for report and video recording of related webinar.

"Human vs. Feminist Security Approaches to Human Trafficking in the Mediterranean," E-International Relations, 5 May 2021 [full-text]

Human Trafficking: Definitions, Data, and Determinants, Policy Research Working Paper, no. 9623 (World Bank, April 2021) [text]

Smuggling dynamics for Afghans on the move toward Europe, 4Mi snapshot (Mixed Migration Centre, May 2021) [text]

Related post:

- Thematic Focus: Human Trafficking & Smuggling (15 March 2021) 

Thematic Focus: Detention

Blog posts & press:

America Leads and Others Follow… by Building Detention Camps (ImmigrationProf Blog, March 2020) [text]

En Libye, les Oubliés (MSF Crash Blog, March 2020) [text]
- See also English version.

Hidden Infrastructures of the European Border Regime: The Poros Detention Facility in Evros, Greece (Respond Migration Blog, March 2020) [text]

Libye: Que se Passe-t-il dans le "Centre d’Investigations" de Tripoli (InfoMigrants, Feb. 2020) [text]

'People are crying and begging': The Human Cost of Forced Relocations in Immigration Detention (The Conversation, March 2020) [text]

"Stateless is a TV Show – but It's also the Harsh Reality Behind the Wire in Australian Detention," The Guardian, 3 March 2020 [text]

Reports & journal articles:

"Asylum Seeking Children and Adolescents in Australian Immigration Detention on Nauru: A Longitudinal Cohort Study," BMJ Paediatrics Open, 4:e000615 (March 2020) [open access]

"Effective Civil Society Engagement with Governments on Issues around Detention," Forced Migration Review, no. 63 (Feb. 2020) [open access]

"Ending Forced Labor in ICE Detention Centers: A New Approach," Georgetown Immigration Law Journal, vol. 34, no. 3 (Forthcoming, 2020) [SSRN]

Immigration Detention in the Netherlands: Prioritising Returns in Europe and the Caribbean (Global Detention Project, Feb. 2020) [text]

Immigration Detention in the Republic of Korea: Penalising People in Need of Protection (Global Detention Project, Feb. 2020) [text]

Related post:
- Thematic Focus: Detention (24 Feb. 2020)