Risks associated with human trafficking are increasing as a result of climate change: UN

The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) stated in a report that another risk factor for increased human trafficking is the ongoing war in Ukraine.

According to the UNODC report, “climate change is increasing vulnerability to trafficking.”

“Community level studies in different parts of the world point to weather-induced disasters as root causes for trafficking in persons,” it said. “While a systematic global analysis of the impact of climate change on trafficking in persons is missing,” it added.

The report is based on the analysis of 800 court cases and data from 141 countries from 2017 to 2020.

According to the report, poor farming, fishing, and other communities primarily dependent on the extraction of natural resources felt the effects of climate change “disproportionally.”

Fabrizio Sarrica, the main author of the report, told a press conference that people became easy prey for traffickers when they were “deprived of their means of subsistence and forced to flee their community.”

Over 23.7 million people were internally displaced by climate-related disasters in 2021 alone, and many more fled their countries entirely.

According to the UN report, millions of people will be at “high risk of exploitation along migration routes” as entire regions of the world are at risk of becoming “increasingly uninhabitable.”

After devastating cyclones and typhoons displaced millions, the UN Drugs Agency noted an increase in human trafficking cases in Bangladesh and the Philippines.

Many were also being forced to migrate as a result of flooding and drought in Ghana and the Caribbean, which was also vulnerable to hurricanes and rising sea levels.

The United Nations said on Tuesday that criminal gangs are exploiting a growing number of people who have been displaced and that climate-related disasters are becoming a cause of human trafficking. Vienna, Austria | AFP | Tuesday 1/24/2023 – 05:00 UTC+5 | 455 words

The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) stated in a report that another risk factor for increased human trafficking is the ongoing war in Ukraine.

According to the UNODC report, “climate change is increasing vulnerability to trafficking.”

“Community level studies in different parts of the world point to weather-induced disasters as root causes for trafficking in persons,” it said. “While a systematic global analysis of the impact of climate change on trafficking in persons is missing,” it added.

The report is based on the analysis of 800 court cases and data from 141 countries from 2017 to 2020.

According to the report, poor farming, fishing, and other communities primarily dependent on the extraction of natural resources felt the effects of climate change “disproportionally.”

Fabrizio Sarrica, the main author of the report, told a press conference that people became easy prey for traffickers when they were “deprived of their means of subsistence and forced to flee their community.”

Over 23.7 million people were internally displaced by climate-related disasters in 2021 alone, and many more fled their countries entirely.

According to the UN report, millions of people will be at “high risk of exploitation along migration routes” as entire regions of the world are at risk of becoming “increasingly uninhabitable.”

After devastating cyclones and typhoons displaced millions, the UN Drugs Agency noted an increase in human trafficking cases in Bangladesh and the Philippines.

Many were also being forced to migrate as a result of flooding and drought in Ghana and the Caribbean, which was also vulnerable to hurricanes and rising sea levels.

Fewer victims found Despite the fact that most victims of conflict-related human trafficking come from Africa and the Middle East, millions of people are fleeing Ukraine at the same time, creating a potentially “dangerous” situation.

According to UNODC’s human trafficking and migrant smuggling section head Ilias Chatzis, “the challenge is how to deal with human trafficking arising from war and instability.”

Chatzis said that it’s just as important to help Ukraine’s neighbors and give the Ukrainian government more support.

The report also said that the Covid-19 pandemic made it harder to find cases, especially in low-income countries in Asia, Latin America, and Africa.

Some forms of human trafficking, particularly sexual exploitation, have been relocated to “less visible and less safe locations” as a result of the health restrictions that have forced public establishments like bars and clubs to close.

According to the UNODC, which has its headquarters in Vienna, the number of victims detected worldwide fell in 2020 for the first time since data collection began in 2003, with a decrease of 11% compared to 2019.