Human Trafficking Research in the Middle East

The premise of the research is to understand the processes of human trafficking in the Middle East. As stated in the Palermo Protocol, the processes include “recruitment, transportation, transfer, harbouring or receipt of persons.” For analytical purposes, the research will be segmented into three major areas of focus, which will be in line with the different process-action identified in the Protocol. The research will also use other frameworks, such as the supply and demand model, to understand the root causes of trafficking. Under the first rubric of “recruitment,” the first objective will be to map out the profiles of the actors involved both in countries of origin and destination. A second objective will consist in understanding how both formal and informal recruitment and immigration processes, as well as the institution of marriage, are manipulated by perpetrators of human trafficking, with the ultimate objective of exploitation. Under the second rubric of “transportation and transfer,” the objective will be to identify the major routes of transportation between and within countries employed by traffickers, and the means used to transfer victims from one location to another exploitation site. Regional differences will no doubt emerge, depending on whether the country is a source, transit or destination site, or a combination of all three classifications. Under the third rubric of “harbouring or receipt of persons,” the objective is to understand the conditions of the different types of sites of exploitation. Locations seem to largely depend on whether the victims came through a formal recruitment process or by underground, informal networks, or perhaps be a combination of both. The objective will also be to show how the exploitation takes place in these different sites, by means of force, coercion, threat, deception, fraud, and/or abuse of power or vulnerability. By analyzing the different and distinct stages of the process, it will be possible to map out the profiles of both victims and perpetrators. This mapping might also highlight particular vulnerabilities across gender, race, ethnicity, nationality, social class, and other factors.

Project symbol

RAB/11/03/SDC

Admin unit

RO-Arab States/DWT-Beirut

Start date

01/11/2011

End date

01/09/2012

Total allocation

21505

Total expenditure

Status

Closed

21505

Development Partners

Switzerland, Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation

Country/Countries

Arab States - regional

Outcomes

Labour Migration