The years 2015-2016 saw an unprecedented increase in the numbers of people travelling by sea and overland along the migration routes to the European Union, with a total of almost one and a half million people irregularly entering EU countries. Trafficking and exploitation are a major cause for concern among migrants on the move to Europe but the number of victims who are actually formally identified remains extremely low, as shown by a recent study conducted by the International Centre for Migration Policy Development (ICMPD) along the Western Balkans route.
The aim of this webinar is to present the main research results of the study “Trafficking along migration routes to Europe: Bridging the Gap between Migration, Asylum and Anti-Trafficking”, with a special focus on unaccompanied and separated children travelling to Europe along the Western Balkans route. Besides the full study, a Briefing Paper (shorter version with key results) was recently published.
The study was carried out in the framework of the EU-funded project “Trafficking along Migration Routes (TRAM): Identification and Integration of Victims of Trafficking among Vulnerable Groups and Unaccompanied Children”, aiming at supporting and enabling the early identification, referral, protection and rehabilitation of trafficked people along migration routes. The research assessment was carried out in Austria, Bulgaria, Finland, The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Germany, Greece, Serbia and Sweden. The project is co-funded by the Austrian Federal Ministry for Europe, Integration and Foreign Affairs and is implemented by ICMPD in partnership with the Council of the Baltic Sea States Secretariat (CBSS); the Greek National Centre for Social Solidarity (EKKA); the Bulgarian National Commission to Combat Trafficking in Human Beings (NCCTHB); La Strada International (LSI); and Terre des hommes (Tdh).