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Solicitors

The database contains information on UNHCR's populations of concern from 1951 onwards. It can be used to investigate different aspects of displacement: host countries and countries of origin, status (refugees, asylum seekers, returned refugees, internally displaced persons (IDP), protected/assisted by UNHCR, returned IDPs, stateless persons, etc.), evolution over time, etc. The dataset covers more than 180 countries. Information like age and sex are also recorded. The data can be easily filtered by single or multiple variables. The selected data can be downloaded to comma-separated variable (CSV) format file and imported in other applications for further analysis. Moreover, mid-year statistics are also available for download. General notes: A number of statistics are not shown in the system but are displayed as asterisks (*). These figures are being kept confidential to protect the anonymity of persons of concern and are not included in the totals.

There is a global rise in forced migration resulting from military and ethnic conflicts and natural disasters. Being one of the stable countries in the post-Soviet region the Republic of Belarus attracts attention of forced migrants seeking asylum and/or protection. Thus, the problem of forced migration affects Belarus, as it acts as a recipient country for foreign nationals and stateless persons seeking refuge and/or asylum.

TRACKS- identification of TRafficked Asylum seeKers’ Special needs is a transnational project that offers to analyze the asylum-trafficking in human beings (THB) nexus through the prism of special needs of trafficked asylum seekers and to equip national asylum authorities and civil society organizations to tackle crosscutting issues (i.e. protection, housing, rehabilitation, psychosocial support as well as security). Indeed, international protection of these asylum seekers might be challenged by their very specific vulnerability. Asylum seekers identified as victims of THB need to benefit from specific social and judicial support and reception conditions, as well as from a procedure that should be adapted to their individual specific situation. These needs have to be addressed to allow them to benefit from an appropriated international protection by EU member States. Very few victims of THB applying for asylum are granted refugee status or subsidiary protection as they have enormous difficulties to express their individual story because they are most of the time under influence, are not always aware of their rights in relation to their specific situation and went through traumatic experiences. Moreover, the asylum application can be used by criminal networks exploiting victims to make sure they legally stay on the territory. The situation of this specific vulnerable group requires a very specific answer that will result from a complementary accompaniment from a range of actors (i.e. regarding social and legal support, health, security issues, etc.).

Since the 1990s, Georgia has been facing one of its most severe problems: the resettlement and socioeconomic integration of internally displaced persons from Abkhazia and Tskhinvali region who fled as a result of internal armed conflicts. Over the past few years, the number of IDPs has increased due to the inflow of foreign nationals seeking to obtain either a refugee or a humanitarian status. These numbers have further increased following the obligation assumed by the authorities of Georgia to repatriate the Meskhetian Turks exiled in an organized way from Georgia in 1944. Although the definition of internally displaced persons provided in the legislation of Georgia does not include ecological migrants displaced due to the natural calamities, this explanatory note will also touch upon the issues of resettlement of eco-migrants along with the complex task of resettlement of the Meskhetian Turks and IDPs from Abkhazia and Tskhinvali region as well as the unified state approach to address their problems.

Action against trafficking in human beings has become an important issue on the political agenda of the European Union and its Member States during the last decade. The design of effective measures (those that aim to foster prevention, protect victims and prosecute traffickers) has been commonly agreed to be built on appropriate legal and regulatory framework, research, data collection and information management. The lack of systematically collected and managed statistical data relevant to trafficking in human beings is one of the main obstacles to the successful and effective implementation of anti-trafficking policies and efforts. Objectives • To elaborate appropriate background information and on to assess the extent of different forms of trafficking in human beings in 17 EU Member States (Austria, Bulgaria, Belgium, the Czech Republic, Germany, Denmark, Spain, France, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Sweden, United Kingdom). Outcomes • Comprehensive overview of national data on THB in the 17 EU countries covered • Comprehensive overview of national legislation on THB and related areas in the 17 EU countries covered • Comparative Analysis of assessed extent of different types of THB in the 17 EU countries covered • 17 Country Reports on national legislation, national statistics, and assessments of national developments in regard to the extent of THB in 17 countries covered. • Minimum and maximum scenarios on the total (17 countries) extent of different types of THB following the legal and administrative distinctions between victims and perpetrators but also between cases and persons on.

Worldwide, an estimated 12 million people have no nationality. In other words, they are stateless. Statelessness is a problem because possessing a nationality means that there is at least one country where one has the right to reside. Nationality confers a number of other important rights too: the right to identity documents, for example, or the right to return to your own country. Without papers proving who you are, it can be difficult to marry, enter into contracts or acquire diplomas. In addition, possessing a nationality makes a person a member of a particular political community. For all these reasons, the right to nationality is enshrined as a fundamental human right in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. To protect the stateless and to prevent statelessness, the international community concluded two major instruments: the 1954 Convention relating to the Status of Stateless Persons and the 1961 Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness. The Netherlands is a party to both. This means that it has obligations towards stateless persons living in the Netherlands and towards stateless children born on Dutch territory. In addition, it means that, with certain exceptions, the Netherlands may not deprive people of their Dutch nationality if they would then become stateless. The United Nations has mandated UNHCR to protect the rights of stateless people and to prevent and reduce statelessness. Within this framework, it published in November 2011 a report entitled Mapping Statelessness in the Netherlands. The report’s main conclusion was that the identification of stateless persons in the Netherlands is problematic and that, as a result, the rights of such persons living in this country are not guaranteed. The then Minister of the Interior and Kingdom Relations and the Minister for Immigration, Integration and Asylum Policy refuted this conclusion in October 2012. The UNHCR report and the ministers’ response prompted the ACVZ to draw up an advisory report on statelessness. The State Secretary of Security and Justice supported this decision with a letter requesting an advisory report on 14 November 2012. This advisory report relates solely to persons who are not considered as nationals by any state under the operation of its law. These people are also known as ‘de jure stateless persons’. Earlier this year the ACVZ published its advisory report Where there’s a will but no way on the policy concerning aliens who, through no fault of their own, are unable to leave the Netherlands. The Committee considers these people to be de facto stateless.

Volgens schattingen wonen op de wereld ongeveer 12 miljoen mensen die geen nationaliteit hebben. Deze mensen worden staatlozen genoemd. Staatloosheid is een probleem omdat een nationaliteit waarborgt dat er tenminste één land is waar je het recht hebt te verblijven. Bovendien brengt nationaliteit een aantal andere belangrijke rechten met zich mee, zoals het recht op identiteitsdocumenten en het recht terug te keren naar je eigen land. Zonder papieren waaruit blijkt wie je bent is het vaak moeilijk om te trouwen, contracten te sluiten en diploma’s te verkrijgen. Daarnaast zorgt het bezit van een nationaliteit ervoor dat een persoon lid is van een bepaalde politieke gemeenschap. Het recht op een nationaliteit is dan ook geformuleerd als één van de fundamentele mensenrechten in de Universele Verklaring van de Rechten van de Mens. De internationale gemeenschap heeft, om staatlozen te beschermen en om staatloosheid te voorkomen, twee belangrijke verdragen gesloten: het Verdrag betreffende de Status van Staatlozen uit 1954 en het Verdrag tot Beperking der Staatloosheid uit 1961. Nederland is partij bij beide verdragen. Dit betekent dat Nederland verplichtingen heeft ten aanzien van staatloze vreemdelingen die in Nederland verblijven, ten aanzien van kinderen die op het Nederlandse grondgebied staatloos ter wereld komen en ten aanzien van het ontnemen van de Nederlandse nationaliteit als dit staatloosheid tot gevolg heeft. De Verenigde Naties heeft de UNHCR het mandaat gegeven om de rechten van staatlozen te beschermen en staatloosheid te voorkomen en verminderen. In dit kader heeft de UNHCR in november 2011 het rapport Staatloosheid in Nederland uitgebracht. De belangrijkste conclusie was dat in Nederland de identificatie van staatlozen gebrekkig functioneert en dat als gevolg daarvan de rechten van in Nederland verblijvende staatlozen niet gegarandeerd zijn. De toenmalige minister van Binnenlandse Zaken en Koninkrijksrelaties en toenmalige minister voor Immigratie, Integratie en Asiel hebben dit oordeel in augustus 2012 weersproken. Het rapport van de UNHCR en de reactie van de ministers was voor de Adviescommissie voor Vreemdelingenzaken (ACVZ) aanleiding om een advies uit te brengen over staatloosheid. De toenmalige staatssecretaris van Veiligheid en Justitie heeft dit besluit vervolgens op 14 november 2012 in een brief met een adviesvraag ondersteund. Het ACVZ-advies Geen land te bekennen heeft uitsluitend betrekking op personen die door geen enkele staat onder de werking van diens wetgeving als staatsburgers worden beschouwd. Deze personen worden ook wel ‘de jure staatlozen’ genoemd. In Nederland kunnen de facto staatlozen een beroep doen op het buitenschuldbeleid. Hierover heeft de commissie in juli 2013 het advies Waar een wil is, maar geen weg uitgebracht.

Durch die Asyl- und Flüchtlingsbefragung werden erstmals umfassende Erkenntnisse über die Asylbewerber und Flüchtlinge in Deutschland gewonnen. Diese Erkenntnisse sollen die Arbeitsmarktpolitik auf dem Gebiet der Integration von Asylbewerbern und Flüchtlingen unterstützen. Die Schaffung dieser Datenbasis ermöglicht es der BA, andere Entscheidungsträger in Deutschland und Europa auf dem Gebiet der Flüchtlings- und Migrationspolitik durch evidenzbasierte Politikberatung zu unterstützen. Weiterhin wird eine Datenbasis für die Forschung über die Arbeitsmarktintegration von Zuwanderern und im besonderen von Asylsuchenden und Flüchtlingen geschaffen. Projektmethode Befragung Projektziel Schaffung einer Datenbasis, die sowohl zur Politikberatung als auch zur Forschung zu Themen der gesellschaftlichen und Arbeitsmarktintegration von Asylbewerbern und Flüchtlingen verwendet werden kann.

'The overall aim of this 24-month project is to research, evaluate, and disseminate a broader understand-ing of how Trafficking in Human Beings (THB) is understood by the general public in countries of the en-larged EU and its neighbour states. The project will assess the influence of socio-economic, demograph-ic and attitudinal factors on public knowledge and understanding of THB by situating the analysis within socio-economic and political contexts of the countries of origin, transit and destination for THB. The find-ings will aid in the development of anti-trafficking policies and targeted public awareness campaigns. Theoretically, this research will contribute to ongoing scholarly debates on how citizens can influence public policies and how public knowledge is embedded in complex socio-political processes. This will be achieved by exploring public understanding of THB as a function of individual socio-economic and de-mographic attributes, attitudes towards a broad range of issues surrounding THB (immigration, gender inequality, prostitution, consumption), and discursive construction of national policies on immigration, gender equality and social justice. The project will address the existing deficit of comparative empirical data in the field by producing three rich cross-national data sets on public understanding of THB. Data will be collected using a combination of qualitative and quantitative methods, including omnibus-powered face-to-face surveys of nationally representative samples of adults in Ukraine, Hungary and the UK, fo-cus groups and qualitative semi-structured interviews. In addition to the academic significance of re-search outcomes, the project will also offer and promote a set of context-specific recommendations on how to develop targeted campaigns and policies to inform public awareness of trafficking and its links to the factors of supply and demand.'

The fight against trafficking in human beings (THB) is now part of the French political agenda. Yet the priority is given to the fight against sexual exploitation while labour exploitation is still regarded as a minor phenomenon. The particular issue of exploitation in domestic work has not been considered on its own even if France has been condemned twice by the European Court of Human Rights for failing to protect victims in two cases of exploitation in domestic work. Since then, the law has been amended, and we have to wait until we can assess the effectivity of this new legal framework. The issue of demand remains a blind spot in terms of how THB is understood. The public declarations of government’s commitment to the fight against THB provide a contrast with the low number of convictions actually brought down by the courts. The research highlights the difficulties faced by labor inspectorates and legal actors in establishing cases of THB in domestic work. This is linked with the characteristic of this work sector, but also with confusions in the understanding of what is THB, what are the victims and perpetrators profiles and the tensions between the fight against illegal immigration and the mission to protect victims of THB.

Asielzoekers die de EU op irreguliere wijze inreizen, blijven vaak niet in de lidstaat waar zij aankomen. Doormigratie van asielzoekers in de EU is niet helemaal te voorkomen, maar kan wel beter worden aangepakt. De Adviescommissie voor Vreemdelingenzaken adviseert daarom een bredere aanpak in EU-verband. Het aantal asielzoekers dat na aankomst in de EU doorreist naar een andere lidstaat is de laatste jaren sterk toegenomen, terwijl het aantal asielaanvragen in de EU sinds 2016 weer op het niveau van 2014 ligt. Tijdens de ‘vluchtelingencrisis’ in 2015 reisden de meeste asielzoekers door van Zuid- naar Noord- en van Oost- naar West-Europa. Sinds 2016 vindt er juist meer ‘secundaire migratie’ van asielzoekers plaats tussen de Noordwest-Europese lidstaten. Doormigratie van asielzoekers in de EU zet de asiel- en opvangstelsels van de lidstaten onder druk, tast de solidariteit tussen lidstaten aan, ondermijnt het maatschappelijk draagvlak voor migratie, houdt mensensmokkelnetwerken in stand en kan tot langdurige verblijfsonzekerheid en verdere uitzichtloosheid voor asielmigranten leiden. Lidstaten proberen het doorreizen van asielzoekers onder meer tegen te gaan door: 1) Het herinvoeren of intensiveren van grenscontroles; 2) Meer toezicht op vreemdelingen; 3) Het versoberen van de opvang; 4) het invoeren van verblijfsrechtelijke beperkingen; 5) Het toepassen van vreemdelingenbewaring (waar mogelijk). Nationale beleidsaanscherpingen kunnen asielzoekers afschrikken, maar dat leidt tot meer doormigratie naar andere lidstaten. Voor de EU als geheel is dat dus geen oplossing. De implementatie van de EU-Turkije verklaring en het sluiten van de Balkanroute hebben geleid tot een vermindering van het aantal asielzoekers dat direct na aankomst in de EU doorreist. Tegenwoordig reizen vooral asielzoekers door die ergens nog een asielaanvraag hebben openstaan of van wie de aanvraag is afgewezen. Het Dublin-systeem, dat is ingevoerd om te bepalen welke lidstaat verantwoordelijk is voor het behandelen van een asielaanvraag, werkt niet goed om het doorreizen van asielzoekers tegen te gaan. Met name de omgang met evident kansarme aanvragen van asielzoekers uit veilige landen van herkomst vormt een probleem. Ook lukt het niet goed om afgewezen asielzoekers terug te sturen naar hun land van herkomst. Doormigratie van asielzoekers in de EU kan effectiever worden tegengegaan door: 1) een overtuigende aanpak van de grondoorzaken van asielmigratie, zowel buiten als binnen de EU; 2) Positieve prikkels te introduceren voor zowel asielzoekers als lidstaten om zich aan de regels te houden. Zorg voor een verschillende behandeling van asielzoekers die al sociale, economische of culturele banden met lidstaten hebben, die afkomstig zijn uit veilige landen van herkomst en die evident kansarme aanvragen indienen en die niet onder de eerste twee groepen vallen; 3) Door onder meer in de relaties met landen van herkomst niet eenzijdig te focussen op het tegengaan van irreguliere migratie.

While both the topics of domestic work (DW) and trafficking human beings (THB) have received increased attention in scholarship, there is very limited research on the nexus of these two issues in Italy, i.e. on cases of THB in the DW sector. This paper investigates the forms of severe exploitation and THB in DW in Italy and examines the factors affecting the demand-side in this sector. Moreover, it analyses the gaps in current legal and political responses. The paper highlights that domestic workers frequently experience several forms of exploitation and maltreatment, which go from the violation of the fundamental protection provided by the contract to severe abuse and trafficking. The hidden nature of DW renders the identification of cases of THB extremely difficult. The paper reveals that while economic motivations are the main factor influencing the demand for cheap and exploitable workers in DW, other aspects, such as political, legal, social and cultural factors, also play a crucial role in affecting the demand-side. Moreover, this study points out that Italian legal and political responses to THB and severe exploitation have proven inadequate in preventing these phenomena and in protecting the rights of the victims. By highlighting the need to adopt a comprehensive approach to THB, the paper proposes a set of recommendations in regard to political and legal responses, also addressing the demand-side.

The Deterrence Index addresses the extent to which policies are a deterrence for asylum seekers. The Index seeks to quantify cumulatively the resulting mix of countries’ changing asylum rules. Five key deterrence measures have been considered from three areas: Three sets of instruments are included: (1) access control policy, which refers to the rules and procedures governing the admission of foreign nationals and its instruments include visa policy, regulations for carriers, safe third country provisions, etc. In this area, the deterrence measure refers to the introduction of so-called ‘safe third country’ provisions, which mean that persons seeking asylum in country A will be refused entry into that country, if on their way to country A, they have travelled through state B, a country which country A regards as a ‘safe country’ and in which the asylum seeker could have applied for asylum. (2) asylum determination procedures. Rules concerning determination procedures relate to entry into a country's refugee recognition system, appeal rights, and rules concerning protection that is subsidiary to the rather narrowly defined Geneva Convention criteria for full refugee status. In this area, the deterrence measure refers to rules concerning the granting of subsidiary protection status which allow asylum seekers to remain in a country of destination even though their application for full refugee status under the Geneva Convention is refused. (3) migrant integration policy. policy is concerned with rights and benefits given to asylum seekers inside a country of destination. Here measures are: freedom of movement vs. a compulsory dispersal policy; cash welfare payments vs. a system of vouchers; and third, the right to work under certain conditions vs. a general prohibition to take up employment as an asylum seeker. Policy-makers can introduce changes in the regulations in these three areas in an attempt to raise the deterrence effect of their policy, which in turn is expected to make their country less attractive to asylum seekers in relative terms. The dataset includes scores for 17 OECD countries for 1985 and 2000. To calculate the index, the researcher analysed two sets of annual yearbooks, the OECD’s ‘Trends in International Migration’ (SOPEMI) and the US Committee for Refugees’ ‘World Refugee Survey’ for the years 1985–2000. For each of the five measures, Thielemann creates a dummy variable (value 1 value whether a measure was in operation in a country). The aggregation is additive, with no weighting applied.

To contribute to a real comprehension of the impact of organized crime in trafficking in women. To prepare a transnational project directed at eradicating the trafficking in human beings (THB) for the purpose of sexual exploitation in Sicily, in a European dimension

Even though Greece counts as one of Europe’s four main trafficking hubs and even though migrant domestic workers have been arriving in the country since the late 70s, these two storylines somehow fail to meet. According to the official figures, trafficking of human beings (THB) for domestic work is practically non-existent in Greece; and labour trafficking in general, is just a recent phenomenon. Addressing demand for cheap and exploitable workers becomes then a theoretical question. Migrant domestic workers themselves, however, have a very different story to tell about how they entered and stayed in the country, under what terms they found their work, what the expectations are and why they cannot leave. In most cases, these are stories of false promises, long working hours, small salaries and fear of coming forward. Lifting these cases out of their invisibility and understanding what are the factors shaping the demand in the context of THB in the domestic work sector is an important necessary step to open the debate on trafficking in domestic work in Greece.

In general the Netherlands is performing relatively well in terms of combatting trafficking in human beings (THB). Yet, the Dutch government still needs to make considerable effort to address the demand-side of THB and to take action in relation to forms of exploitation outside the sex industry.While generally attention for labour exploitation is on the increase, sector-specific attention is still required. The domestic work sector has been considered a risk sector for exploitation since 2008, yet attention for this sector remains scarce. Because the work takes place in the private household, domestic workers are in a vulnerable and isolated position and are therefore in need of specific attention to avoid exploitation. At the same time, the fact that the work takes place in the private realm and that the group of domestic workers is diverse poses serious challenges for the Dutch Government to tackle this particular form of labour exploitation. This report seeks to provide general insight into THB in DW in the Netherlands with special attention for demand side aspects, in order propose recommendations to the Dutch Government how it could step up its efforts to tackle THB in DW.

Belgian anti-THB policy is often pointed as exemplary given its broad definition of the crime of trafficking for labour exploitation, as being the work or service carried out in conditions contrary to human dignity, in which the coercion element is not compulsory. However, hardly any policy initiatives in Belgium tackle specifically demand-side aspects in labour exploitation and THB in the domestic work sector. Recent policy changes in the domain of domestic work at diplomatic households and the formalisation of live-out domestic work with a service voucher policy have positive effects on the sector. Undocumented domestic workers in the shadow market and possibly regular migrants under temporary work permits are, though, still largely unprotected. The main obstacles to prevent exploitative situations within the sector are the migration and employment policies applying to domestic work. Indeed, this paper argues that when migrant workers are without the possibility to regularise their migration status maintain them in a vulnerable situation: migration status is a key issue for giving people the real possibility to access and defend their rights. Only the full respect of (all) workers’ rights will reduce their vulnerability to labour exploitation and trafficking.

Er zijn al geruime tijd grote personeelstekorten in de zorgsector. In 2021 is er een tekort van tussen de 56.300 en 73.800 werknemers, dat naar verwachting zal oplopen tot tussen de 100.000 en 130.000 werknemers in 2030. Tegelijkertijd zijn er asielmigranten die maar niet aan het werk komen. Zelfs tijdens de coronacrisis, waarin er extra handen in de zorg nodig zijn, krijgen asielmigranten nauwelijks de kans om aan het werk te gaan als zorgverlener. Terwijl er onder hen wel degelijk mensen zijn die een zorgachtergrond hebben. Daar komt bij dat de Nederlandse zorgsector te maken heeft met een dynamische en superdiverse samenleving en er dus ook nieuw soort werk nodig is. Denk bijvoorbeeld aan tolken of zorgconsulenten die mensen de weg kunnen wijzen in het Nederlandse zorglandschap en aan de zorg voor ouder wordende migranten. Waarom is het dan zo moeilijk voor asielmigranten on een baan te krijgen in een sector die staat te springen om nieuwe arbeidskrachten? De ACVZ heeft in deze verkenning onderzocht wat de barrières zijn voor asielmigranten om in de zorg aan de slag te gaan, hoe deze kunnen worden weggenomen en waar de kansen liggen om meer asielmigranten aan te trekken voor een baan in de zorg. Die adviesraad identificeert in deze verkenning drie obstakels.