UNIS/CP/1186
19 February 2025
VIENNA/KYIV, 19 February (UN Information Service) – Visa-free entry, temporary protection and targeted anti-trafficking measures across Europe for refugees from Ukraine are effectively mitigating trafficking and smuggling risks, suggests a new study from the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), launched today in Kyiv.
Next week marks three years since the beginning of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine. This UNODC study examines the extent and risks of trafficking in persons and smuggling of migrants between February 2022 and December 2024, drawing on official data, statistics and information, available literature, a survey of over 1,600 refugees from Ukraine, and interviews with key informants and refugees.
"War – and the displacement, financial struggle and other hardships it brings – can significantly increase the risks of migrant smuggling and human trafficking," said Angela Me, Chief of Research and Analysis at UNODC. "The rapid and large-scale displacement caused by the war in Ukraine, which forced over 6.7 million people from their country, left many highly vulnerable to these crimes. However, this study highlights that strong anti-trafficking policies and decisive, unified government action can play a crucial role in reducing that risk."
Prior to 2022, Ukrainians were among the top nationalities of people detected as irregularly residing, refused entry by land and using fraudulent documents in the European Union (EU). Between 2019 and 2022, Ukrainian nationals also accounted for 11 per cent of all migrant smugglers detected at EU land borders.
According to the study, however, since February 2022 only five per cent of Ukrainians and six per cent of non-Ukrainians fleeing the country reported paying for services to cross borders irregularly.
Within Ukraine, since early 2022, national authorities have reported identifying fewer instances of trafficking in persons, which may also be due to reduced institutional capacity. From 2022 to 2023, of 277 domestic trafficking cases investigated, the proportion involving labour exploitation (49 per cent) and forced criminal activities (21 per cent) increased – while the proportion involving sexual exploitation (29 per cent) decreased. Ukrainian children, meanwhile, have been trafficked for forced labour, begging and illegal adoption, both within Ukraine and in host countries.
EU countries hosting Ukrainian refugees recorded some increases in Ukrainians identified as victims of trafficking during 2022, though such increases occurred in a context where the population of Ukrainians in the EU more than tripled. Across the EU, 402 Ukrainian victims were recorded in 2022, both women and men, mostly trafficked for forced labour, though at least 25 per cent of these victims had been trafficked prior to February 2022. For comparison, 65 Ukrainian victims were recorded in the EU in 2021.
The study points to the challenges in combating trafficking in Ukraine due to the war. It highlights that Ukrainian anti-trafficking stakeholders need to be supported to identify and protect victims of trafficking, notably children, and to respond to the incidence of forced labour, forced criminality and exploitation in armed conflict, as well as sexual exploitation.
Equally important are the timely prosecution and adjudication of trafficking in persons cases. It is clear that the risks of trafficking within Ukraine require continued monitoring and further support is needed for national systems. The humanitarian and protection response should be strengthened and expanded in Ukraine, particularly for groups especially at risk of trafficking, including children, internally displaced persons and residents at accommodation centres for vulnerable groups, such as drug-users and homeless people.
The full study is available here in English and Ukrainian.
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For further information please contact:
Sonya Yee
Chief, UNODC Advocacy Section
Mobile: (+43-699) 1459-4990
Email: unodc-press[at]un.org
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