Vienna (Austria), 29 September 2023 – A new report compiled by UNODC’s anti-trafficking experts indicates the existence of corruption in every step of the human trafficking process and in every form of the crime.
Whether at border controls, police stations, consulates, labour inspectorates, or recruitment agencies, the bribery of corrupt officials facilities the recruitment, transportation, control and exploitation of trafficking victims.
“Through the study of several investigations and court cases, we know that corruption is one of the core drivers of human trafficking,” says Tiphanie Crittin, a UNODC crime prevention officer.
“The crime simply could not be committed on a large scale without corrupt officials abusing their position of authority and accepting bribes of money, favours or material goods.”
UNODC‘s report highlights the presence of corruption in every form of human trafficking, from sexual exploitation to forced labour and organ removal.
“Corruption also obstructs the course of justice. The arrests of traffickers are prevented, court proceedings are impeded, victims of traffickers are intimidated and refrain from giving evidence in court, and we even found evidence of judges bribed to rule in favour of the traffickers,” adds Ms. Crittin.
Corruption in practice
According to the UNODC experts, corruption is common in the early stages of the trafficking process to facilitate the transportation of the victims to the destination where they face exploitation.
“For example, corrupt staff in a recruitment agency or immigration office issue false work permits. A consular worker accepts a bribe to deliver fraudulent visas or passports,” explains Tiphanie Crittin.
“Then border guards or airport security officials are bribed to allow the crossing of an international border without the usual controls.”
The UNODC report uses real cases to get a better understanding of how the issue is dealt with by the criminal justice system, and to illustrate corrupt practices throughout the trafficking process.
For example, in Bolivia, three politicians were charged with trafficking and other offences after they abused their position of power to secure visas and the entry into the country for over 100 Chinese nationals who became victims of forced labour.
A teacher from Lesotho was accused of trafficking five young women to South Africa for sexual exploitation on the promise of jobs as domestic workers.
She helped them to cross the border, although only one of the five had a passport. With the other four, she bribed border officials to turn a blind eye.
Corruption as a facilitator of exploitation
After the recruitment and transportation stages, corruption further manifests itself during the exploitation of trafficking victims.
In trafficking for sexual exploitation, in particular, multiple cases from around the world show police accepting bribes to not carry out inspections or to warn traffickers about upcoming inspections.
In a case of trafficking for sexual exploitation in Serbia, one of the accused was a police inspector for homicide and sexual offences.
He did not inform his hierarchy about trafficking allegations in a nightclub but instead benefitted from free sexual services himself.
Labour inspectors who visit factories, construction or agricultural sites may be bribed to ignore the exploitative conditions to which some workers are subjected.
An effective control method
“Traffickers often control their victims by telling them that they know and can influence powerful people in law enforcement and the judiciary,” says Tiphanie Crittin.
“Whether this is true or not, it works as a deterrent to stop the victims from escaping, going to the police or testifying against their abusers during prosecution.”
In a case of trafficking in persons for sexual exploitation in the Philippines, a judge was convicted for influencing the victims to withdraw their complaint against suspected traffickers.
More research and analysis needed
Evidence from criminal investigations and court proceedings for human trafficking cases from all over the world consistently points towards corruption being a systemic problem.
But the overall extent is difficult to determine “since documentation, research, and analysis of this subject matter remain scarce”, explains Ms. Crittin.
“Most countries don’t collect and analyse information related to corrupt practices and their link to human trafficking, potentially due to the secrecy of corrupt practices and the fear of victims and survivors to report on what they have witnessed,” she adds.
This year UNODC’s Human Trafficking and Migrant Smuggling Section will launch two major studies about the links between corruption and human trafficking.
One will focus on the situation in the Latin American and the Caribbean region, based on the analysis of 70 human trafficking court cases.
The second provides a global overview to identify the role of corruption at different stages of the human trafficking process and how anti-corruption interventions could help prevent or detect cases of the crime.
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