Vulnerable Here or There? Examining the vulnerability of victims of human trafficking before and after return

Abstract

This article deals with how return programmes for rejected asylum seekers and irregular migrants construct and create vulnerabilities. Few studies have explored the role of assistance provided through such programmes for the sex worker returnees and victims of trafficking who return through them. Even fewer holistically examine a return programme through data elicited in both destination and origin locations, before and after return. That is what we aim to do in this article. We first look at the legal-bureaucratic construction of vulnerability in a host state, Norway, and the systemic logic of its efforts to return victims of trafficking. We then look at how returnees narrate their experiences of and perspectives on vulnerability upon return to their country of origin, Nigeria. This study, together with the broader research within this field, indicates that flaws in programme implementation can in fact exacerbate vulnerabilities rather than help returnees overcome them.

Gendered vulnerability and return migration

“…This is especially the case for social workers working for public and private organizations that do outreach among women involved in prostitution. These organizations are for most victims the path to different forms of assistance and support, which means that other victims of trafficking lack access not only to support while in Norway, but also to support upon return, as will be elaborated upon below (Paasche, Plambech, Skilbrei, 2016).…”

“…While the category of Nigerian asylum seekers includes both victims and nonvictims, overall only six percent of applicants were granted asylum in 2016 (UDI, 2017b) and success rates have been low since 2010 (Paasche, Plambech, Skilbrei, 2016: 61). Nigerians routinely rank at the top of statistics on deportations and expulsions from Norway, partly due to the combination of high rates of rejections and low uptake in assisted return that is typical for this group (Paasche, Plambech, Skilbrei, 2016).…”

“…Researchers have found that this particular group of returnees is vulnerable to marginalisation, exploitation and re-trafficking. The vulnerability of returned victims of trafficking has been associated with the stigma attached to sex work abroad, as well as empty-handed return to local communities in Nigeria, potential trauma inflicted during the migration process, and alienation upon return following an extended stay in Europe (Adepoju, 2005;Plambech, 2014;Paasche, Plambech, Skilbrei, 2016). There is, in other words, a strong case for providing additional support to and follow-up with this particular group.…”

“…The low programme uptake of victims of trafficking in the Vulnerable Groups programme has been identified by the Norwegian government as a problem (Ministry of Justice and Public Security, 2016: 15). Elsewhere in Europe too, programmes designed to assist victims of trafficking in returning to and integrating into their country of origin are scarcely used or seem to be functioning badly (Danish government, 2010; Paasche, Plambech, Skilbrei, 2016). At the time this article was written, the IOM had an agreement with Norwegian immigration authorities for a small annual quota of VG returns.…”

The political economy of unfree labor and the state: An Indonesian case study

“…Other scholars focus on the enforcement of human trafficking, slavery, forced labor and rights protection regimes to sustain the hegemony of certain approaches in resolving human trafficking cases or slavery (Yea, 2015; Palmer, 2018; Chuang, 2014; David, 2015). There is also interest in examining the complexities of victims’ lived experiences before and after state interventions, placing the outside-in approach to engage with victims’ vulnerabilities in anti-trafficking regimes (Weitzer, 2014; Kempadoo, 2015; Paasche et al., 2018). However, the role of state agencies/actors in contributing toward reproducing vulnerabilities in the anti-trafficking project has not been sufficiently analyzed.…”