Slavery and Humanitarian Response, Supplemental

Guest Editor: Dr. Aidan McQuade

CLICK/TAP the links below to read/download the individual papers.

Older than Troy: slavery as a consequence of human catastrophe
Dr. Aidan McQuade

“I would like to express my particular and heartfelt thanks to the scholars who gave their time and expertise to review the papers submitted to this edition of the Journal of Modern Slavery. Their perspicacious observations and feedback were invaluable in strengthening the quality of this edition of the Journal and advancing learning on this crucial but frequently neglected aspect of humanitarian crises”. – Aidan McQuade

Exploring the Relationship Between Humanitarian Emergencies and Human Trafficking: A Narrative Review
Viktoria Curbelo, MPH

This article aims to explore the connection between humanitarian emergencies and human trafficking by conducting a narrative review of secondary sources. The search strategy for this narrative review included a number of relevant key terms. As humanitarian emergencies are likely to occur in the future, this paper investigates studies about conflict, disease outbreak, and natural disasters to provide further insight on the relationship between humanitarian emergencies and human trafficking.

Forced Labour and Access to Education of Rohingya Refugee Children in Bangladesh: Beyond a Humanitarian Crisis
Md Mahmudul Hoque

Rohingya refugee children in Bangladesh are forced into labour both inside and outside the camps for a wide range of reasons. This article examines this situation in relation to the access to education for those children living in the camps in Cox’s Bazar. Being informed by several perspectives concerning child labour and access to schooling in developing country contexts, this research work has adopted a qualitative approach to study various factors working behind this pressing issue. After collecting data by means of qualitative methods, including non-participant observations and semi-structured interviews, the researcher has analyzed the findings with these informed perspectives. Results show that lack of formal identity, limited access to the formal labour market, absence of social sanctions against child employment, lack of aspirations, household composition, and substandard living conditions are some of the key factors that drive children to engage in various forms of labour, especially outside the camps. They often work in small workshops as labourers and in the host community households as domestic workers. Undocumented children are also reported to become victims of bonded labour, sex trade, and trafficking in the region. The author argues that a lack of formal education has compounded this issue into a severe humanitarian crisis which calls for immediate support and actions from local and international agencies.

What is the Link between Natural Disasters and Human Trafficking and Slavery?
Dr. Kevin Bales

A popular supposition is that natural disasters generate immediate criminal activity by human traffickers. There is little evidence to support this idea. It is clear that natural disasters can dramatically increase vulnerability, which then increases the probability that a person may be lured or forced into slavery. This research looks closely at individual disasters, as well as global statistical data, to explore the link between natural disasters and human trafficking and slavery. There is a clear sequence of changes that occurs when slavery crime alters in the wake of a disaster, which has not previously been clearly described.

Providing Protection or Enabling Exploitation? Orphanages and Modern Slavery in Post-Disaster Contexts
Dr Kathryn E. van Doore and Rebecca Nhep

Orphanages are a common child protection response to humanitarian crises spurred on by media and NGO depictions of the disaster orphan. Yet, decades of research attests to the harm that orphanage care can cause. Driven by aid funding, orphanages are often sustained long after the recovery phase. In recent years, research has highlighted the links between orphanages, exploitation and modern slavery, particularly orphanage trafficking. This paper examines how the perpetuation of the disaster narrative sustains orphanage care post-disaster which heightens the risk, and exposure, of children to modern slavery, and makes suggestions for strengthening humanitarian crises responses to protect children.

Without data we are fighting blind: the need for human security data in defence sector responses to human trafficking
Peter Wieltschnig, Dr. Julia Muraszkiewicz, and Toby Fenton

The increasing recognition of human trafficking’s connection to conflict and instability have led to a concerted drive to bring it further into the remit of defence actors. This article provides a discussion on how defence actors can use open data from the humanitarian sector to develop a holistic understanding of human security that can bolster their efforts to counter human trafficking and move from reactive to preventative responses. The article also discusses the recently developed ‘Fusion Doctrine’ within the UK and its implications for the meaningful inclusion of humanitarian perspectives in defence planning and analysis.