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The purpose of this ICAT brief is to shed light on the concept of vulnerability and the different dimensions and factors that make a person vulnerable to trafficking in persons while providing recommendations to relevant stakeholders in addressing those factors and mitigating the related risks.

Author: Inter-Agency Coordination Group against TIP (ICAT)

External Author: 

Franck Düvell 

As displacement continues to rise globally, more and more people are ‘stuck’ in situations of protracted displacement, where they find themselves in a long-term situation of vulnerability, dependency and legal insecurity, lacking or actively denied opportunities to rebuild their lives. While the protracted nature of many conflicts is a critical contributing factor, there is considerable room for improvement in policies and practices to more effectively address protracted displacement—and an urgent need to strengthen responses. The complicated ‘maze’ of international, national and local laws, policies and practices often backfires, exacerbating precarity and preventing many displaced persons from finding sustainable solutions for themselves and from contributing to receiving communities. 

It is not only the widening gap between the scale of displacement and the solutions offered but also the diversity of individual profiles and experiences that underscores the urgent need to expand the range of solutions so that more displaced persons can find long-term prospects. A paradigm shift that places people at the heart of solutions, meaning that countries enable displaced persons to make use of their own capacities, would open new doors for people to become ‘self-reliant’. Such an approach is not only vital for addressing existing protracted situations—but it can also help prevent those more recently displaced from finding themselves in protracted situations in the future. This policy brief highlights entry points for European stakeholders seeking solutions for (protracted) displacement.
 

The Common European Asylum System prohibits the mobility of persons entitled to international protection within the European Union, making it more difficult for displaced persons to rebuild their lives even after arriving in Europe and receiving protection status. Recent developments soften this strict policy of immobility for some. In this context, intra-EU mobility based on refugees’ skills could become a game-changer. The tools are there. What is needed now is to connect these initiatives so that more displaced persons can use their skills for their benefit and that of receiving countries. This practice note discusses the different pieces of the puzzle for supporting displaced persons in making use of their skills for their benefit and that of receiving EU countries.

La ville de Sousse attire principalement trois catégories de migrants, à savoir, les migrants tunisiens en provenance des régions de l’intérieur, les migrants Tunisiens qui rentrent de l’étranger et, les migrants étrangers en provenance principalement d’Afrique subsaharienne, d’autres pays du Maghreb ou d’Europe. En 10 ans (1999-2004 et 2009-2014) la ville de Sousse a accueilli 73 351 migrants internes, ce qui représente 61,5% de l’ensemble des 119 952 migrants internes qui étaient entrés dans le gouvernorat de Sousse durant la même période.

Parler de personnes qui traversent des frontières physiques et idéologiques dans le détroit de Gibraltar revient à décrire le paysage complexe des mobilités typiques des régions transfrontalières. Nous reprenons dans le document « Termes fondamentaux sur la migration » (OIM, 2020) les différentes définitions légales qui construisent les personnes en déplacement dans la zone du détroit. Les personnes en déplacement sont soumises à un régime de migration ainsi qu’à un régime frontalier ayant des dimensions différentes (juridique, exécutive, technologique et idéologique)39 et qui créent une série de classifications qui déterminent l'accès aux droits fondamentaux sur les deux côtes.

Migration information campaigns have become a popular policy mechanism amongst donors and implementers to deter irregular migration. With the increasing number of information campaigns introduced in countries of origin, attention is also being focused towards the design of these campaigns, including considerations on engaging people that can act as “credible messengers” or “key influencers” to convey the content of the campaign. It is in this line that campaign funders and designers are exploring the potential of involving diaspora members as messengers in information campaigns. Backed by a dedicated research study on diaspora engagement in information campaigns under the PARIM project, this policy brief questions the assumptions behind engaging diaspora members as “credible messengers”. One major assumption is that since potential migrants rely on friends and family abroad for their migration process, following the same principle, they would be more receptive to information received through diaspora members in campaigns. However, this policy brief argues that diaspora members engaged in campaigns are imperfect proxies for potential migrants’ friends and family abroad. With this caveat, it presents certain considerations to take into account when designing a migration information campaign that involves diaspora members as messengers.

This study examines expert knowledge and survey data on youth aspirations in Algeria, Libya, Morocco, and Tunisia to see how the EU's Talent Partnerships might be used to increase youth employment and mobility within and from these countries.

External authors

Algeria: Yasmine Musette

Libya: Mustapha Kaaniche

Morocco: Hajar El Moukhi

Tunisia: Wajih Khallouli

Displacement is undoubtedly one of the greatest challenges facing the world today. At the end of 2020, more than 82 million people across the globe were categorised as forcibly displaced, whether remaining within their countries of origin or having crossed an international border. If this group were a country, it would rank 20th in the world in terms of population, right after Germany. An increasing number of refugees – 16 million in 2020, or 4 million more than in 2016 – find themselves in a long-term situation of vulnerability, dependency, and legal insecurity, lacking, or actively denied, opportunities to rebuild their lives. Such situations are termed ‘protracted displacement’. While not captured in these statistics, internally displaced persons (IDPs) may also find themselves in situations of protracted displacement. While the protracted nature of many conflicts is a critical contributing factor, there is considerable room for improvement in policies and practices to more effectively address protracted displacement.

This is where the EU-funded Transnational Figurations of Displacement (TRAFIG) research project has aimed to contribute. Undertaking more than 2,700 interviews with displaced persons, policymakers, and practitioners in 11 countries across the Middle East, East Africa, and Europe, the TRAFIG project investigated the reasons why people end up in protracted displacement situations and what coping strategies they use, thus identifying possible courses of action for policymakers.

This handbook shares 10 takeaways for strengthening policy responses to protracted displacement that have emerged from this endeavour, with empirical examples and policy recommendations, as well as a non-exhaustive list of promising practices for inspiration. These 10 points centre on the TRAFIG project goal of identifying solutions that are better tailored to the needs and capacities of displaced persons.