This training material was developed in the framework of the project Fight against Trafficking in Human Beings - Phase 1 (THB/IFS/1), which was funded by the European Union under its Instrument for Stability with the aim to fight organised crime and trafficking in human beings (THB) in Azebaijan, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Moldova and Turkey. The project was implemented in the period January 2013 to September 2014 by ICMPD (International Centre for Migration Policy Develpment) in partnership with FIIAPP (Fundación Internacional y para Iberoamérica de Administración y Políticas Públicas) and EF (Expertise France) and focused on the enhancement of national, regional and trans-regional law enforcement cooperation.

The Mara Salvatrucha, better known by their acronym MS-13, is one of the largest and most violent transnational criminal organizations in the world. Their motto is “Kill, Rape, Control.”Since the 1980s, MS-13 members have typically engaged in a wide range of violent and criminal activity including, “drug distribution, murder, rape, prostitution, robbery, home invasions, immigration offenses, kidnapping, carjacking/auto thefts, and vandalism.” More recently there has been a rise in MS-13 engaging in various forms of human trafficking. This paper seeks to explore the connection between the MS-13 and human trafficking.

This report is one of several studies conducted by UNODC on organized crime threats around the world. These studies describe what is known about the mechanics of contraband trafficking – the what, who, how, and how much of illicit flows – and discuss their potential impact on governance and development. Their primary role is diagnostic, but they also explore the implications of these findings for policy.These studies are based on a number of data sources. UNODC maintains global databases on crime and drug issues, based mainly on the official statistics provided by Member States. This allows cross-national comparison and trend analysis. For example, UNODC has extensive time series data on drug production, seizures, and consumption, and by analyzing these data, a comprehensive picture can be drawn. This information is supplemented with data from other international organizations and Member States, as well as open source material. For the present study, analysts in the field were able to interview public officials on a range of topics, and much of the qualitative insight in this report comes from these interviews. The present study addresses Central America and the Caribbean, as the region is defined by the United Nations.

This paper shows how human trafficking for criminal exploitation can occur in environments of armed conflict in which adults and even children are recruited to fight. It proposes that these people’s status as victims should be taken into account when determining the degree of their criminal responsibility within the framework of a transitional justice process such as the one applied in Colombia under the 2005 Justice and Peace Act (Ley de Justicia y Paz). In order to prove that some victims of human trafficking exploited in the Colombian armed conflict have not been duly identified as such, it presents the main results of a qualitative study carried out with 20 women inmates in Colombian prisons who were members of guerrilla groups and were demobilised under the terms of the Justice and Peace Act. The study shows how the life stories narrated by 16 of these women make it possible to identify them as victims of trafficking for criminal exploitation even though they have not been classified as such. In 80% of the analysed cases, the women suffered episodes of victimisation that led them to join and remain in the armed group, often against their will. These episodes involved the use of means to recruit them and to force them to stay active in the group that show they underwent a genuine process of human trafficking.

The present report of the Special Rapporteur on trafficking in persons, especially women and children, Maria Grazia Giammarinaro, was prepared pursuant to Human Rights Council resolution 35/5. In the report, the Special Rapporteur takes stock of her previous research and reports, and analyses protection gaps in the legal and policy framework to prevent and combat trafficking. Profound changes are needed in the current approach to antitrafficking action, which predominantly tends to prioritize investigation and prosecution of traffickers over victims’ support, empowerment and long-term social inclusion. Moreover, restrictive migration policies contribute to exacerbate vulnerabilities to trafficking and severe exploitation, and hamper the protection of trafficked persons’ rights. The Special Rapporteur urges States to adopt a genuinely human rights-based approach, and offers updated recommendations, based on the Recommended Principles and Guidelines on Human Rights and Human Trafficking.

This snapshot explores the links between extortion, internal displacement and forced migration in the North of Central America (NCA) and the migration route in Mexico. Although the definition varies across different national legislations, we understand extortion as being the use of intimidation, violence or threats to force someone to do something or to obtain someone’s property.This type of aggression is one of the main drivers of displacement in the region, but it is also one of the main crimes that people are subjected to during displacement, as well as after deportation back to their countries of origin. As such, extortion transcends international borders as one of the main human rights violations committed against displaced people and migrants. In order to outline the issue of extortion and its relationship with internal displacement and forced migration in this region, this snapshot explores the phenomenon of extortion, its protagonists and consequences. The first section compiles an update on the recent data related to the ongoing protection crisis in the region. Secondly the snapshot provides analysis on the regional similarities and trends related to extortion, and then provides a more detailed examination of the situation in Honduras, El Salvador, Guatemala and Mexico, through national chapters. Finally, a brief annex explores the protection risks related to the Covid-19 pandemic.

In December 2015, the United Nations Security Council held its frst-ever thematic debate on Trafficking in Persons in Situations of Confict. The Security Council adopted a Presidential Statement that signalled a willingness to explore concrete steps to strengthen the international response to human trafcking, and requested a report from the Secretary-General, within a year, on steps taken within the UN system. There are real practical and political limits to Security Council action on this issue. But there is also now a unique opening for action.To explore these possibilities and limits, on 30 June and 1 July 2016, United Nations University and the Permanent Missions of the United Kingdom and of Liechtenstein to the United Nations organized a two-day workshop, with the support of Thomson Reuters and Grace Farms Foundation.This workshop brought together 100 expert participants from Permanent Missions to the United Nations, UN entities, national law enforcement agencies, Financial Intelligence Units, the technology sector, the financial sector, media and civil society. The Workshop Agenda is annexed to this report.This report distils insights from the Workshop regarding the connections between human traficking and conflict; considers what forms of leverage are available to the Security Council to address this phenomenon; and summarizes the Ideas for Action emerging from the Workshop.