The review found a great deal of work on the subject of conflict and its effects on women, children, and gender-based violence; the gender aspects of peacekeeping; and human trafficking in countries that once were in conflict. However, very few of these works deal directly with the issues of conflict, human trafficking, and their interrelationships; even fewer works contain in-depth descriptions and analyses of conditions present in conflict and post-conflict situations, which particularly contribute to the emergence of human trafficking in post-conflict and neighboring countries. The exception is the growing body of work on childsoldiers and women associated with the fighting forces (WAFF), recent works on human trafficking in women and girls for sexual exploitation in and around areas with peacekeeping missions, and the evolving links between post-conflict trafficking in persons and organized crime. From the literature review, most trafficking in post-conflict countries follows predictable patterns based on the country’s placement on the conflict spectrum. Immediately before and during conflict, human trafficking is primarily related to the recruitment and use of child soldiers and WAFF. At this stage, there is also human trafficking of refugees and displacedpersons, especially for sexual exploitation or labor. Immediately following conflict, most child soldiers and WAFF victims are released and try to reintegrate back into civilian society—usually through a disarmament, demobilization, and rehabilitation (DDR) program. With the influx of large numbers of peacekeepers, human trafficking shifts toward prostitution of women and girls. In the post-conflict period, the lack of law and order and the large numbers of vulnerable and destitute populations, especially female refugees, IDPs, separated children, and war widows, contribute toward the country becoming a source and a transit point for human trafficking for sexual exploitation or forced labor. In this post-conflict climate, women and girls suffer disproportionately from lack of access to resources and education, thereby heightening their vulnerability to various forms of exploitation and human trafficking. In search of opportunities to improve their social, economic, and political situations in more developed cities or countries, yet lacking comprehensive information or access to legitimate migration programs, many of these persons fall victim to human traffickers. This phenomenon occurs not only in the immediate post-conflict period, but often well after the conflict has subsided. In some areas, such as the former Soviet Union and the Balkans, literature links post-conflict trafficking with organized and transnational crime. A few of the reviewed works also examine the role wealthier countries play as sources of demand and destination of trafficked persons.

Human trafficking is an effective tool that serves several purposes for terrorist organizations. It facilitates the recruitment and retention of male foreign fighters and provides a reward mechanism for successful combatants.It also generates revenue and contributes to psychologically crushing “the enemy,” by “decimat[ing] communities”.Trafficking, as a tactic of warfare, “intimidates populations and reduces resistance just as enslavement and rape of women.”While it is well-understood that ISIS’s kidnapping and enslavement of Yazidi women and other female prisoners constitutes human trafficking, less attention has been paid to the prospect that some of ISIS’s female recruits from the West, who average 18 years of age 5, may also be considered victims of entrapment and trafficking because of the techniques used to lure these young women and how they are exploited upon arrival in ISIS-held territory.

The areas where armed conflicts take place and have been perpetrated by state or non-state actors involved in conflicts represent a suitable place for emergence of phenomenon of human trafficking. The exploitation of victims of trafficking in human beings in the context of armed conflicts can take various forms, so that for the purposes of our research, this category of victims will be classified into two groups: victims of armed activities and victims of non-armed activities. Hence, the first group includes victims that take direct participation in armed combat activities or other activities during combat operations such as minefield cleaning, transport and medical services, etc. The second group includes victims of sexual exploitation in the conflict area and their forms, forced labour in different sectors and trafficking in organs.

Both conflicts and natural disasters produce life-threatening situations for citizens and migrants. While violence is at the core of the threat in conflicts, natural hazards represent the threat in natural disasters. During conflict, citizens and non-citizens alike may be the targets of armed attacks and sexual and gender-based violence, and both groups risk forced recruitment into armed forces. In some cases, migrants may be the specific target of violence, as occurred in Libya in 2011. In natural disasters, both populations may be harmed if there is widespread destruction of habitat and livelihoods. Migrants may be more likely to live in neighbourhoods with poor housing and infrastructure, leaving them particularly vulnerable to the impacts of natural disasters. In both cases, individuals, families, and affected communities have limited capacity to overcome the threats without the help of national governments, civil society, and private sector actors and, where added capacity is needed, the international community. This issue brief examines the differential impacts of conflicts and natural disasters on migrants. It goes on to discuss existing legal and policy frameworks that guide actions on conflicts and natural disasters and explores practical constraints in responding to the needs of migrants in each type of situation. These include failures in governance at the national and local levels, particularly during conflict, which make protection of noncitizens by host countries difficult; weaknesses in early warning and emergency preparedness systems; difficulties in mounting large-scale evacuations when non-citizens are unable to remain in the affected countries; barriers to effective collaboration between the military and humanitarian actors, particularly in conflict situations; and challenges to reintegrate migrants who must return to their home countries because of conflicts or natural disasters.

The following pages analyse the roles and best practices, which different stakeholders can adopt in disaster and crisis management, with regard to supporting migrants coping with crises. The paper starts with the discussion of the key concepts of vulnerability and resilience in order to set a frame for stakeholder involvement. Resorting to stakeholder theory, it defines migrants as “dormant stakeholders” in crisis and disaster management, which need to be involved into crisis management in order to make use of their capabilities. Analysing the main challenges of the involvement of migrants, it defines main areas of stakeholder involvement in the different phases of a crisis. Based on examples from the dialogue meetings within the MICIC framework, it further outlines key areas of action and develops suggestions for improving stakeholder inclusion into crisis and disaster management and mitigation.

This report presents the comparative findings of research spanning two years on migrants caught in situations of crisis in a destination country. The research focused on the longer-term socio-economic impacts of these crises on migrants, on their families and on the countries affected by the crisis. It was conducted by the International Centre for Migration Policy Development (ICMPD), the University of Oxford’s International Migration Institute (IMI) and local research partners in the fieldwork countries, in the context of the larger European Union (EU)-funded project “Migrants in Countries in Crisis: Supporting an Evidence-based Approach for Effective and Cooperative State Action” (MICIC).That EU-funded project aims to improve the capacity of states and other stakeholders to assist and provide protection to migrants who find themselves in countries affected by crisis – through in-depth research, consultations with government and other relevant stakeholders and capacity building. With this three-pronged approach, the project contributes to the global MICIC Initiative, a government-led process co-chaired by the governments of the Philippines and the United States. Based on the inputs of states, civil society, international organisations and private sector stakeholders on both the project and the initiative, the MICIC Initiative released its “Guidelines to Protect Migrants in Countries Experiencing Conflict or Natural Disaster”, to help states and other stakeholders respond to the needs of migrants caught in crisis situations. The empirical research described in this report confirms many of the issues raised and policy priorities recommended in these guidelines.

Tracking the risks and exposure to conflicts and natural disasters in regions, countries and localities, and assessing how such crises can affect migrants and their assets, is a vital step towards protecting migrants. Understanding regional, national and local risks, and overlaying this information with data on the location and characteristics of migrants can inform targeted preparation and response efforts. All conflicts and natural disasters are not entirely unpredictable. Conflicts may be preceded by various signs, including protests, xenophobic violence and civil unrest. While many natural disasters occur with great immediacy, different countries and regions are more prone to specific types of hazards than others; those related to weather events for example, often occur with some forewarning, and some are cyclical and recurrent. A number of early warning systems exist to monitor hazards and alert communities. Often, local actors may possess the most timely and accurate information on impending crises and are valuable sources of knowledge.

When conflicts or natural disasters erupt, they can disproportionately affect migrants living, working, studying, traveling, or transiting in the country experiencing the crisis. The earthquake and tsunami in Tohoku, Japan (2011), the floods in Thailand (2011), hurricane Sandy in the United States (2012), and the outbreak of conflicts in the Central African Republic and in Yemen in recent years are but a few examples of crises in which migrants were among those seriously affected. While they are resilient and resourceful, a variety of factors create particular vulnerability for migrants in the face of such crises. Language barriers, restrictions on mobility, irregular immigration status, confiscated or lost identity or travel documents, limited social networks, isolation, and attacks and discrimination are some of the factors that hinder the ability of migrants to access protection, move out of harm’s way, or otherwise ensure their own safety and wellbeing. The Migrants in Countries in Crisis (MICIC) Initiative was conceived to address these challenges.

Prepared by members of the Inter-Agency Standing Committee (IASC), this Handbook aims to provide actors in the field with guidance on gender analysis, planning and actions to ensure that the needs, contributions and capacities of women, girls, boys and men are considered in all aspects of humanitarian response. It also offers checklists to assist in monitoring gender equality programming. The guidelines focus on major cross-cutting issues and areas of work in the early response phase of emergencies. The Handbook is also a useful tool to make sure gender issues are included in needs assessments, contingency planning and evaluations. It can be used as a tool to mainstreaming gender as a cross-cutting issue in the sectors/clusters. If used correctly, this Handbook will help promote the ultimate goal of protecting and promoting the human rights of women, girls, boys and men in humanitarian action and advancing the goal of gender equality