Asylum Policies, Trafficking and Vulnerability
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1111/1468-2435.00116 |
| Date | 16 December 2002 |
| Author | Khalid Koser |
| Published date | 16 December 2002 |
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© 2000 IOM
International Migration, Special Issue 2000/1
ISSN 0020-7985
Asylum Policies, Trafficking
and Vulnerability
Khalid Koser*
ABSTRACT
This article is located at the intersection of three recent debates on asylum
in Europe: the efficacy of asylum policies; the trafficking of asylum seekers,
and their growing vulnerability. Most commentators agree that there are
relationships between these three debates, but the nature of those relation-
ships remain unclear. Yet the need properly to understand the nature of these
links has become especially pressing in the context of a raft of new policy
initiatives on both asylum and trafficking, and concerns for their consequences
for asylum seekers.
At least part of the reason for this lack of clear understanding is significant
gaps in empirical research. This article begins to fill some of these gaps, and
in so doing to unpick some of the relationships between asylum policies,
trafficking and vulnerability. It focuses on the experiences of asylum seekers
in Europe, thus presenting a “bottom up” perspective on trafficking and
asylum policies. The findings are derived from research among Iranian
asylum seekers in the Netherlands, conducted between 1994 and 1996.
The article discusses some of the reservations that surround this approach,
including methodological issues such as trust, and the difficulties of applying
more widely a narrow case study. Within the context of these reservations,
it draws three main conclusions. First, empirical evidence to support the
view that increasing proportions of asylum seekers are being forced to turn
to traffickers in order to negotiate restrictive asylum policies. Second, the
ways in which trafficking is exposing asylum seekers – including at least
some “genuine” refugees – to new forms of vulnerability. Third, that direct
links exist between asylum policies, trafficking and vulnerability, and that
the blame for growing vulnerability lies more with asylum policies than with
traffickers or with asylum seekers themselves. Finally, these empirical
conclusions are targeted on a series of policy implications.
* Migration Research Unit, Department of Geography, University College London, UK.
92 Koser
INTRODUCTION
As asylum has surged back towards the top of political agendas in Europe, three
debates stand out. One concerns asylum policies. While a raft of generally
restrictive policies during the early 1990s led to a fairly immediate and
significant reduction in asylum applications, their numbers have rebounded
sharply in recent years, leaving policy makers rather unclear about the impact
of their policies and how next to react. A second debate revolves around
trafficking. Relying largely on anecdotal and journalistic sources, there seems
to be a growing consensus that increasing proportions of asylum seekers in
Europe are being trafficked. This has evolved into a particularly sensitive
debate, as it runs the risk of further fuelling a tendency in the press and popular
perceptions to conflate asylum seekers with illegal migrants. And a third
debate, in which human rights activists in particular have taken the lead,
highlights the increasingly precarious and vulnerable situations in which
asylum seekers find themselves in Europe, both before and after arrival in their
destination country.
Few would disagree that links exist between these debates; many would
disagree over their exact nature. Some commentators suggest that restrictive
asylum policies have effectively forced asylum seekers with no other alter-
native to turn to traffickers for assistance. Others might argue that trafficking
has taken on the form of a transnational business which actively recruits clients,
including asylum seekers and other migrants. Some suggest that where asylum
seekers are concerned, traffickers can be viewed as “white knights”, providing
assistance to escape from persecution where no other assistance exists. For
others, asylum seekers, like other migrants, are exploited by traffickers and
may find themselves in debt bondage or working involuntarily in the sex
industry.
The need properly to understand the nature of these links has become especially
pressing recently, in the context of a raft of policy initiatives in the domains of
both asylum and trafficking. One particular concern is that the link between
trafficking and asylum has not been fully realized, with the result that anti-
trafficking polices may impact negatively upon – and even ultimately
undermine – Europe’s asylum regime. For example, there is a danger that
border enforcement regulations (a central plank of anti-trafficking strategies)
are in contradiction to safeguards to access to European territory – a central
plank of asylum (Morrison, 2000). From the opposite perspective, there is a real
concern that restrictive asylum policies are excluding “genuine” as well as
“bogus” refugees. The fear is that the social construction in policy agendas of
all asylum seekers as illegal migrants is becoming a social reality as asylum
seekers are forced to turn to traffickers in order to enter Europe and apply for
asylum. Without proper integration of asylum and trafficking policies, and
without a clear understanding of their implications for asylum seekers them-
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