Human trafficking in the Afghan context
Project completed
PROJECT TEAM
Thi Hoang
Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime
Contact: thi.hoang@globalinitiative.net
Thi Hoang is an analyst at the Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime and the managing editor of the Journal of Illicit Economies and Development (JIED). She is an expert on human trafficking with a specific focus on the role of technology in human trafficking and on the vulnerability of migrant workers, particularly from Asia to Europe. Thi coordinates the Responsible and Ethical Business Coalition against Trafficking (RESPECT) Initiative, the Modern Slavery Map, and is a research lead at the Tech Against Trafficking initiative. She coordinates and manages the International Association for the Study of Organized Crime (IASOC), the International Society for the Study of Drug Policy (ISSDP)’s membership, and the Drugs & Development Hub (DDH) initiative.
PROJECT SUMMARY
Decades of wars and internal conflicts have driven generations and millions of Afghan families into impoverishment, illiteracy, unemployment, and displacement, rendering them unable to provide for their household members, particularly children. Political instability and conflicts have increased human suffering and vulnerabilities, eroded community resilience, stripped people of legitimate and viable economic options, opportunities, and livelihoods, as well as amplifying (in several cases also creating new forms of) human trafficking activities and practices.
Drawing on existing academic and grey literatures, expert interviews and media reports, the research first provides a brief overview of human trafficking situations, forms, their widespread reach and practices in the Afghan context before and after the Taliban’s takeover in August 2021. Second, it discusses the potential implications and impact of various actors’ policies, intentions and perspectives both on the humanitarian crises in Afghanistan, and on human trafficking in particular. It argues for prioritising humanitarian assistance and recommends that stakeholders pursue a pragmatic approach to responses and negotiations that puts human lives at its centre, to prevent worsening the humanitarian crises, exacerbating vulnerability to human trafficking, and further loss of life.
PUBLICATIONS
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Human Trafficking in the Afghan Context: Caught between a Rock and a Hard Place? (SOC ACE Research Paper 10)
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Human Trafficking in the Afghan Context: Caught between a Rock and a Hard Place? (SOC ACE Briefing Note 16)
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Thi Hoang, ‘Human trafficking in Afghanistan – what hope for change?’, in Afghanistan: Long war, forgotten peace, ed. Michael Cox. London: LSE Press.