Minors Travelling Alone: A Risk Group for Human Trafficking?
| Author | Tony Verachtert,Willy Bruggeman,Valesca Lippens,Eric Broekaert,Ilse Derluyn |
| Date | 01 August 2010 |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-2435.2009.00548.x |
| Published date | 01 August 2010 |
Minors Travelling Alone: A Risk
Group for Human Trafficking?
Ilse Derluyn*, Valesca Lippens**, Tony Verachtert***,
Willy Bruggeman**** and Eric Broekaert*
ABSTRACT
Minors travelling without their parent(s) or guardian are an increasing
phenomenon. Although their travel objectives might differ importantly,
varying from holiday purposes to migration objectives, an important sub-
group of them might be at risk to fall into exploitative circumstances, such
as human trafficking. Studying the group of minors travelling alone arriv-
ing at Brussels Airport (Belgium), this research investigates the popula-
tion’s characteristics, the procedures used, and the risks some of these
minors run of falling into exploitative situations. Firstly, registration
revealed that tens of thousands minors travelling alone arrive at Brussels
Airport each year, with an important part of them coming from African
countries. Secondly, participant observations showed that detection of pos-
sible cases of human trafficking is a very complex issue, resulting in the
alarming hypothesis that many cases of trafficking of minors travelling
alone might not be detected during their journey or at their arrival at the
airport.
INTRODUCTION
The recent imposition of numerous restrictive measures on asylum see-
kers in an effort to curb the inflow of new migrants into the European
Union has led to an important increase in the use of underground
means in migration trajectories, including networks of human traffickers
and smugglers (Black, 2003; Mavris, 2002; Van Impe, 2000). Smuggling
and trafficking often are considered as two different phenomena, with
* Department of Orthopedagogics, Ghent University, Belgium.
** Department of Criminology, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Belgium.
*** Chief Commissioner of the Federal Judicial Police of Brussels Airport, Belgium.
**** Foundation Benelux University, The Netherlands.
2009 The Authors
Journal Compilation 2009 IOM Published by Blackwell Publishing Ltd.,
International Migration Vol. 48 (4) 2010 9600 Garsington Road, Oxford OX4 2DQ, UK,
ISSN 0020-7985 and 350 Main Street, Malden, MA 02148, USA.
doi:10.1111/j.1468-2435.2009.00548.x
MIGRATION
Edited by Elzbieta Gozdziak, Georgetown University
human trafficking defined as the transportation of people from one
place to another for exploitative purposes through coercion, deception,
or some other form of illicit influence, and human smuggling associated
more with illegal border crossings under the assistance of third parties
(Ic¸ duygu and Toktas, 2002; Salt, 2000). However, not only traffickers
expose migrants to abuses and human rights violations, as it is not
inconceivable that also smugglers commit human rights violations, such
as rape, physical and mental abuse, food deprivations, abandonment
and death (Ic¸duygu and Toktas, 2002; Salt, 2000). Therefore, practices
of migrant smuggling always hold certain risks for the person appealing
to the smugglers: putting himself into a subordinate and dependent posi-
tion involves losing complete control over the situation. As a result,
smuggling may easily degenerate into trafficking (Van Impe, 2000).
Moreover, when considering minors in the context of these phenomena,
the distinction between smuggling and trafficking becomes even more
difficult, since their young age places them in a much more dependent
position towards their smuggler ⁄trafficker, and therefore may expose
them more to different kinds of abuse.
Of the trafficking victims, it is estimated that at least one-third are unac-
companied or separated children (Bump and Duncan, 2003), children
under 18 years of age who are outside their country of origin and sepa-
rated from both parents or their previous legal or customary primary
caregiver (SCEP, 2004). Because these children do not have the protec-
tion of a parent or caregiver, they are much more vulnerable to criminal
groups of smugglers and traffickers. They can easily fall prey to human
traffickers who provide false papers and access into a country, but often
with a high price: they may become indebted to the traffickers and then
be pulled into a circle of exploitation and debt (Costner, 2003). And
even when these unaccompanied minors are transferred to a reception
centre after their arrival, they frequently ‘‘disappear’’ from the centres,
facing the risk of coming into contact with traffickers who might sexu-
ally or economically exploit them (Costner, 2003; De Pauw, 2002; IOM,
2001; Sjo
¨gren and Lo
¨o
¨f, 2002; Verlinden, 2004).
According to a report by the US Department of State (Department of
State, 2007), Belgium is an important transit and destination country for
victims of human trafficking, including minors:
‘‘Belgium is a transit and destination country for men, women and girls
trafficked for the purposes of forced labor and commercial sexual
exploitation. Trafficking for sexual exploitation is more prevalent than
Trafficking of minors travelling alone? 165
2009 The Authors
Journal Compilation 2009 IOM
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