Instability in MENA is making migrants more vulnerable to new forms of trafficking

Trafficking in persons remains one of the most pervasive and devastating crimes of our time. In the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), the scale and complexity of the challenge continue to grow, driven by conflict, economic inequality, and complex migration flows.  The fight against trafficking often focuses on those trapped in degrading work environments, the hospitality industry, construction work, or abuse in domestic servitude. This year’s World Day Against Trafficking in Persons highlights an emerging trend: trafficking for forced criminality in online scam operations.   Thousands worldwide are being deceived by fake job ads, transported to illegal compounds, and coerced into cyber-enabled fraud in slave-like, dehumanising conditions. Citizens of MENA countries, and the millions of migrants working here, are not immune from this new trend.  Scam Centres are not isolated fraud schemes. They are part of wider trafficking and organized crime networks. Their roots […]