ABSTRACT
The collapse of the Soviet Union opened a corridor for uncontrolled transit migration between East Asia, the Middle East and Europe. Porous borders, poverty, mass unemployment, corruption and lack of resources to manage migration flows created new sources and markets for various kinds of traffickers. Social disruptions and economic difficulties shook people loose from their communities and encouraged them to look abroad for work. As a result, the post-Soviet Central Asian states have become transit, source and destination countries for human trafficking, both within the former Soviet Union and beyond.
