ABSTRACT

Human rights are violated during periods of crisis, when people are most vulnerable and their worlds have been turned upside down. Events such as civil war, political upheaval, genocidal behaviours, extreme economic disparity, and environmental disasters trigger migration, and it is during these periods of personal or externally created chaos, that those who are already vulnerable may choose to migrate, be displaced or be forcibly relocated. In 2002, President George W. Bush signed into effect National Security Directive 22, linking human trafficking to terrorism and public health concerns. Governments tend to approach trafficking from a law-enforcement perspective, and are concerned primarily with protecting borders, preventing unwanted migration and attacking organized crime and terrorism. The benefit of protecting the victims by providing immigration status is seen as only relevant to the prosecution of the traffickers, rather than as a concern for protecting the victims from further harm.