Trafficking

In 2023 and 2024, IOM rolled out the "Edo Sure 4 You" awareness raising campaign in partnership with the Edo State Government with support from the Italian Government. The goal of the campaign was to raise awareness on safe migration among communities across Edo State. The campaign featured radio jingles, short videos, community discussions and graphic illustrations aimed at raising awareness on irregular migration and trafficking in persons (TiP) issues while highlighting opportunities available within Edo State.

IOM Nigeria, in collaboration with the Kano State Ministry of Youth and Sports, organized a two-day event featuring a parasoccer match on July 29th and a friendly football match on July 30th to commemorate the World Day Against Trafficking in Persons (WDTiP). The event took place in Kano State, a key location in Northern Nigeria where trafficking in persons is a significant issue. The activities were designed to promote inclusivity, boost confidence among people with disabilities, and raise awareness about human trafficking. The event also aimed to sensitize young footballers who are exposed to or at risk of falling victim to trafficking.

Photos of by IOM Georgia taken during different activities in previous years.

Documentation of IOM programmatic works in Nigeria in the time of COVID-19 pandemic. (Please find more information in the individual photos and videos)

When people go missing on migration journeys, their disappearance has reverberating effects on their families and communities left behind. In 2019-2020, IOM’s Global Migration Data Analysis Centre (GMDAC) and a team of independent researchers carried out a project in Ethiopia, Spain, the United Kingdom and Zimbabwe with the aim of learning how people with missing migrant relatives cope with the absence of their loved ones while actively seeking answers, and how they could be better supported in their efforts by governments and other actors. 

Every year, scores of Ethiopian men, women, and children leave home in search of a better life. They travel to Somalia and Djibouti along the so-called Eastern Migration Route, cross the Gulf of Aden, and journey through conflict-torn Yemen to the Gulf, principally the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, in search of work. Others head northwest to Sudan and onto conflict-torn Libya to try and cross the central Mediterranean, the deadliest sea-crossing in the world.

At 16, Mariam suffered a marriage arranged by her family following the death of her father. "When I left home, newly married, I was only a child who was afraid." Mariam left her country, Sierra Leone, to follow her husband who wanted to leave for Mauritania. After 16 years, she decided to go back in Sierra Leone with her two daughters.

IOM Mauritania has followed and assisted several women with their reintegration projects. They received psychosocial, sometimes medical assistance, and help to develop an income-generating activity. After some very difficult events in their lives, they are now independent and can provide for themselves and their families.With dignity, they have found a place in society.

“The war has prevented us from loving (ourselves)” – LGBTI conflict victim During the armed conflict, armed groups targeted specific populations because of personal characteristics like age, ethnicity, class, and gender. This was especially the case for the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex (LGBTI) community. Their rights unrecognized, LGBTI people were targeted by both legal and illegal armed actors. Sexual orientation and gender identity were impetuses for violence. LGBTI people have been denied the possibility to openly love their partners and express themselves because of the fear that they would be killed. Under the civil war’s violence, LGBTI people have been the targets of symbolic violence, torture, sexual violence, threats, physical aggression, and murder. Violence committed by paramilitary groups, guerrillas, the armed forces, the police, and others have forced LGBTI people to hide themselves and keep their identities invisible. Discourses by armed actors and society itself against the LGBTI community have justified the violence and perpetrated imaginaries of patriarchy and social control. In the face of this violence, members of the LGBTI community have come together to resist and to survive.

Safe migration information campaign targets irregular migrant sending communities in Sri Lanka to educate and provide more information related to regular migration. The campaign allows the vulnerable communities and the potential migrants to take a better informed decision related to their migration efforts.

Situated on the south-western part of the Indochina peninsula, Cambodia is very much a destination country for several foreigners. Each year, more than a million visitors from across the globe come to see its famous heritage sights including the Angkor Wat temple. Today, its tourism industry accommodating an influx of visitors has become one of Cambodia’s largest industries. With a plethora of national attractions, vibrant cities, beautiful landscapes, and a bustling tourism industry there are several reasons why many choose to come to Khmer nation. However, as the arrival of foreigners is on the rise there is another kind of fluctuation at work, human labour. Cross border migration in Cambodia specifically for work and employment purposes is a growing issue in the Asian nation as several Cambodians leave their homes for extended periods of time through largely illegal channels in hopes of finding work that can earn them higher wages than found back at home. With an estimate of more than a million Cambodians currently working in Thailand, this translates to nearly 12% of the Cambodian work force is employed in Thailand alone. There is a multitude of factors contributing behind this kind of migration ranging from a lack of employment in rural parts of the country, higher wages for comparable work in neighbouring countries, forced displacement due to ongoing environmental changes.

A collection of portraits of migrants from everywhere IOM works to help make migration humane.

Syrian refugees crossing the Serbian-Croatian border.

Migrants in transition camps at the Greek border with Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM).

Migrants and refugees in the Greek island of Lesbos.