The Arab States are currently both the source and recipient of the largest numbers of refugees and internally displaced people globally. As the region experiences conflict and resulting displacement – and given its position at the junction of migratory paths for Afghans, Sudanese, and Somalis fleeing conflicts in their homelands – vulnerability to modern slavery in the Arab States has sharply increased. An estimated 5.7 million refugees originated in the region since mid-2016 and 12 million people were displaced internally in Middle Eastern countries.This displacement, accompanied by severe economic decline, widespread violence and psychological distress, collapse of essential public services in many districts, and weak labour laws has contributed towards the vulnerability of refugees, internally displaced persons, minority groups, and ordinary citizens to trafficking and exploitation.

The economic, geographic, and cultural diversity of Asia and the Pacific region is reflected in the varying prevalence and forms of modern slavery found across the region. In Asia and the Pacific, there are instances of debt bondage, including hereditary forms of bonded labour in South Asia, forced labour exists in migrant dominated sectors across the region, forced marriage persists, and state-imposed forced labour, while most commonly known to exist in North Korea, occurs in several countries within the region. The Asia and Pacific region is home to the two most populous countries in the world, India and China, as well as some of the least populous island nations, among them Tuvalu, Nauru and Palau.

While no government has a fully comprehensive response to modern slavery, all countries in the Europe and Central Asia region have either mantained or improved their response since the publication of the 2016 Global Slavery Index. Most notably, the Netherlands has retained its position as having the world's strongest response to modern slavery, taking the most steps of any nation to address the problem and, for the second consecutive time, being the only country anywhere to receive an "A" rating. The Netherlands national response is strong across indicators of victim support, criminal justice responses, and addressing risk, including society safety nets and protection for migrants, a feature missing in many countries of destination. Netherlands was closely followed by the United Kingdom, Belgium, Sweden, Croatia, Spain, Norway, and Portugal, all of which took significant action against modern slavery in the previous two years.

Law enforcement officials play a key role in society, serving and protecting the people and upholding the law. That role is valid at all times, including during armed conflicts and other situations of violence. By engaging in dialogue with police and security forces about the law and their operations, the ICRC supports their efforts to incorporate the rules and standards of international law into their procedures. For the past 20 years, the manual "To Serve and to Protect" has provided guidance for that dialogue. This updated version takes that successful endeavour a step further, using recent experience to explain the international rules and standards applicable to the law enforcement function and their practical implications for law enforcement work.

This Guidance Note is an internal IOM tool that is intended to help Regional Thematic Specialists as well as Chiefs of Mission, Heads of Office and project developers to apply the appropriate standards of the Organization in performance of their functions. This Guidance Note focuses on the criteria for the correct identification of victims of trafficking, exploitation, abuse etc.

La investigación que se recoge en este estudio ha tenido como propósito fundamental producir información actualizada sobre la prevalencia, características e impacto del delito de trata de personas con fines de explotación laboral, así como sobre la respuesta normativa e institucional. Este estudio sistematiza e integra los principales hallazgos y resultados de la investigación. Analiza el marco institucional y el estado de la trata de personas y provee conclusiones y recomendaciones.

The global community has long condemned the abhorrent practice of trafficking in persons (TIP), and many States have considerably strengthened their efforts to prevent and prosecute TIP and protect its victims. While great strides have been made, much more remains to be done. As with other crimes, addressing the demand side of trafficking, for example, has proven particularly challenging. Often, even identifying persons who have been trafficked is difficult – for example, when they are males who do not fit stereotypical notions of a TIP victim. And, despite the laudable and significant increase in anti - traffic king laws on the books in many states, there are still far too few successful prosecutions of traffickers. This paper outlines the key challenges faced by States and the anti - trafficking community in preventing and responding to TIP , including protecting victims, and makes recommendations for concrete actions and commitments that should be addressed in the Global Compact on Migration.

The project, "Enhancing counter trafficking in crisis in the Western Balkans" aims to enhance counter-trafficking efforts through strengthening the capacities and mechanisms for victim identification and to raise awareness of TIP risk factors among vulnerable migrant populations, specifically within the mixed migration flows transiting the region and during crisis. In light of the increased numbers of vulnerable irregular migrants stranded and transiting through countries in the region, every goverment's capacity to identify and refer VOTs and PVOTs requires further adaptation to the current situation. They need to take into account any new modus operandi of traffickers, victim profules, as well as new forms of trafficking that have begun to emerge. This Analytical Report intends to capture concrete TIP-related information, including TIP risk factors, trends and vulnerabilities within the mixed migration flows in the Western Balkan region.

This Guidance Note is an internal IOM tool that is intended to help Regional Thematic Specialists as well as Chiefs of Mission, Heads of Office and project developers to apply the appropriate standards of the Organization in performance of their functions. In case aforementioned IOM staff needs to deviate from this Guidance Note, DMM must be consulted. This Guidance Note focuses on Assist Voluntary Return and Reintegration (AVRR) for Trafficked Migrants.

This Guidance Note is an internal IOM tool that is intended to help Regional Thematic Specialists as well as Chiefs of Mission, Heads of Office and project developers to apply the appropriate standards of the Organization in performance of their functions. This Note focuses on the provision of guidelines on how best to carry out general and specific risks assessments, on when a risk assessment should start, on its length and on its updating and monitoring needs.