By Hanna Pfeifer

This book presents a thought-provoking challenge to the commonly held belief that Islamists uniformly reject the Western-dominated world order. In the wake of George W. Bush's declaration of a "global war on terror" in 2001, Islamists have often been associated with violence, opposition to liberal values, and the disruption of order. However, a closer examination reveals that only a fraction of the groups categorised as "Islamist" genuinely combat the global order. Through an in-depth analysis of the discourses of Tunisian Ennahda and Lebanese Hezbollah, this book demonstrates that Islamist stances toward the world order involve a delicate balance between resistance to certain aspects of the Western-dominated order and recognition of others.

Edinburgh Edinburgh University Press, 2024, 354p.

Edited by Teresa C. Silva and Marzena Kordaczuk-Wąs

How can we use evidence to improve deradicalisation and violence prevention outcomes? Based on work developed during the implementation of the cross-European INDEED project, this is an essential reference book for practitioners, researchers and policy makers. It sets out the three pillars of best evidence-based practice – scientific evidence, professional judgement and consideration of clients’ preferences, values and beliefs. Demonstrating both successful and unsuccessful approaches with case studies from the field, the book offers practical strategies for prevention teams designing and evaluating their programmes.

Bristol, UK: Policy Press, 2025. 357p.

Edited by Rose Mary Allen, Esther Captain, Matthias van Rossum, Urwin Vyent

It is the paradox at the heart of the Dutch Republic: how could a state emerge from resistance to political slavery and subjugation by a foreign power, only to become a colonial empire that promoted slavery all over the world? 'Slavery & the Dutch State' shows how the modern Dutch state and its predecessors were complicit in colonial slavery. It describes the roles of various actors, such as enslaved people, administrators and merchants in the Netherlands and the colonized societies. More than thirty authors discuss the afterlives of slavery, the systematic nature of slavery in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, the worldwide scope of slavery, and the various individuals, groups and organizations that had interests in slavery and colonialism starting in the sixteenth century. With chapters covering topics such as the Dutch Reformed Church’s role in slavery, how the history of slavery is taught in schools, and the involvement of the Dutch parliament and royal family in colonial slavery, 'Slavery & the Dutch State' is one of the main publications to appear between July 1, 2023 and July 1, 2024, the year when the Netherlands collectively commemorated the legacy of slavery.

Leiden: Leiden University Press, 2025. 492p.

By Amy Horton and Joe Penny

In 2011, police violence triggered an uprising in Tottenham that laid bare decades of neglect and state violence against the area’s racialised communities. In its aftermath, local leaders and corporate developers devised an aggressive redevelopment agenda that would have demolished the homes, workspaces and communities of thousands of council tenants, private renters and traders. Their plan was to transform Tottenham and surrounding areas from a diverse working-class place to a space for wealthy investors, residents and consumers.

London: UCL Press, 2024. 188p.

By  Anne Marie Munene, Christine Harris, Deborah Rest, Etracy Rukwava, Goldie Joseph, Hadnet Tesfom Habtemariam and Kaffy Kazep.

  Over the past decade, Women for Refugee Women’s (WRW) groundbreaking research on women in immigration detention has shown that the majority of asylum-seeking women detained are survivors of rape and other forms of gender-based violence, including domestic violence, forced marriage and sexual exploitation. Locking up women who have already survived serious violence and abuse retraumatises them, causing profound and long lasting damage to their mental health. Since WRW started campaigning on this issue there have been important changes to women’s detention, including a huge reduction in the numbers detained: from over 300 women at any one time in 2014, to around 100 women now. Yet despite this progress, for women who continue to be locked up, the harms of detention remain. New research we have carried out has found that despite the Home Office banning practices through which male detention centre staff see women in intimate situations, these practices nonetheless continue. In mid-2016 the Home Executive Summary Office banned male staff from carrying out ‘constant supervision’ of women deemed at risk of suicide – yet in our survey of 40 women, 71% of respondents subject to ‘constant supervision’ since the ban came in told us they us had been watched by male staff. This means they will have been watched by men in situations including while in bed, on the toilet, in the shower or getting dressed. Survey respondents who told us they had been subject to constant supervision by male staff included women detained as recently as 2024. Since coming to power in July 2024 the Labour Government has made welcome commitments to prioritise survivors of gender-based violence and make sure they receive the support they need. We urge the Government to ensure that asylum seeking survivors are included in these commitments by taking the practical and achievable step of ending women’s immigration detention, and setting up a new   

London: Women for Refugee Women, 2025. 23p.

By Stephanie Leutert and Caitlyn Yates

In recent years, hundreds of thousands of migrants have sought asylum annually along the U.S.-Mexico border—either by arriving at ports of entry or by turning themselves in to Border Patrol agents. In response, U.S. authorities have enacted a range of policies, which have oscillated between channeling asylum seekers into specific legal pathways and either partially or fully blocking their access to the U.S. immigration system. During each shift, migrants have reacted in varying ways, such as by creating asylum waitlists or encampments along the border. In November 2018, the Robert Strauss Center for International Security and Law at the University of Texas at Austin began publishing quarterly reports on asylum processing at ports of entry. As of January 20, 2025, there is no longer any asylum processing at the border. On this day, President Donald Trump assumed office for a second term and immediately halted all asylum processing—including both at and between ports of entry. This shift left hundreds of thousands of asylum seekers in limbo across Mexico, without any path to make an asylum claim in the United States. Simultaneously, the Mexican federal government has also increased its immigration enforcement at its borders and across the country’s interior. Specifically, it has expanded the number of migration-focused checkpoints on highways heading north, deployed more soldiers to the U.S.-Mexico border, and bussed apprehended migrants to cities in southern Mexico. The Trump Administration’s elimination of foreign assistance has also hurt Mexican civil society organizations, with some migrant shelters struggling to provide food and other basic resources. This February 2025 asylum processing update focuses on current U.S. asylum policies at ports of entry and migrants’ experiences in Mexican border cities. It draws on phone and WhatsApp interviews with Mexican government officials and members of civil society organizations on both sides of the border from February 17, 2025 through February 24, 2025. It also relies on local news articles to fill in any gaps.

Austin, TX: The Robert Strauss Center for International Security and Law, 2025. 14p.

By  Focus on Labour Exploitation (FLEX)

Labour exploitation must be recognised as part of a continuum of experiences which range from decent work through to minor and major labour law violations, all the way to severe exploitation, including human trafficking. When workers are unable to access rights or to challenge poor employment conditions at those ‘earlier stages’ or ‘lower levels’ of exploitation, it paves the way for more severe exploitation including trafficking. 

The Modern Slavery Act 2015 focused on identifying trafficking which had already taken place. For those people who have been trafficked, this is too late. Ten years later, and with an Employment Rights Bill going through parliament, policy-makers should turn their attention to prevention, by addressing the conditions which have allowed trafficking for labour exploitation to thrive.

The Employment Rights Bill provides significant opportunity here. The Bill must be amended to ensure that all workers can access rights early, knowing that the authorities will focus on addressing their exploitation and delivering justice. 

London: FLEX, 2025. 5p.

By Susan Fratzke, Meghan Benton, Andrew Selee, Emma Dorst, Samuel Davidoff-Gore 

  The territorial asylum system at the heart of the global protection regime has proven itself to be a blunt tool with which to address the protection challenges of the 21st century. New crises, protracted displacement situations, and expanding norms about who merits protection have created a significant and growing population of individuals in need of international protection. In addition, growing mobility pressures due to demographic change, economic inequality, and climate change have found an outlet in asylum systems, providing an avenue of entry even for those who do not technically qualify for protection. Meanwhile, national governments have struggled to reconcile their international protection responsibilities with their domestic responsibilities to maintain security and order and to foster public trust. Asylum adjudication systems have become unwieldy and unable to keep pace with the demands placed on them, particularly when confronted with rapid changes or complex needs. These failures have had serious consequences. For individuals, the absence of large-scale alternatives to territorial asylum means that access to protection often depends on taking extreme risks or enduring hardships in order to reach the territory of a country where they can seek protection, journeys that may not be possible for the most vulnerable. For states, territorial asylum places governments in a largely reactive position, only responding to protection needs once their hand is forced by the arrival of people seeking protection on their territory. And at the global level, the lack of tools to facilitate the legal mobility of individuals in search of protection and of opportunities for displaced persons to move to a country other than their country of first asylum has concentrated protection responsibilities in a small number of countries, most of them low- or middle income. According to estimates by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) nearly 40 percent of the world’s refugees and individuals in refugee-like situations were hosted by just five countries as of mid-2023. To answer these challenges, there is an urgent need to shift the focus of protection responses away from an exclusive reliance on territorial asylum and toward a diversified set of policy tools. Territorial asylum will, and should, remain accessible as a safety valve, but states should seek to proactively facilitate access to protection as soon after and close to a displacement crisis as possible—and well before dangerous journeys become necessary. At the same time, policy approaches should recognize the agency of refugees and displaced persons—and the mobility pressures this can create—and provide legal avenues for individuals to move within and outside of their country of first asylum to join family and other connections through family reunification or sponsorship channels and to pursue education, work, or other opportunities. Aside from the benefits for displaced persons, such approaches would help transit and destination countries to reduce disorder at their borders and, by capitalizing on the resiliency and resourcefulness of displaced individuals in locating and securing solutions for themselves, to better allocate scarce resources to assist those who are most vulnerable. Policy approaches should also be responsive to the specificities of each crisis or situation. This may mean adopting expedited procedures or flexible forms of status in order to enable faster access to  status, prevent processing backlogs, or respond to legitimate needs that are not recognized in existing legal frameworks.    

Washington, DC: Migration Policy Institute, 2024.  33p.

By Suleman Lazarus, Mina Chiang, and Mark Button

This study examines how cybercriminals exploit deceptive recruitment tactics and digital platforms to entrap and exploit victims in human trafficking withinthe cybercrime context. It employs Migration and Transnationalism perspec-tives to elucidate the intersection of human trafficking and cybercrime opera-tions in Cambodia. Using thematic analysis of victim testimonies, we identify six main themes: (1) Deception and Recruitment, (2) Manipulation and Control,(3) Exploitation and Forced Labor, (4) Trading and Movement, (5) ScammingMethods, and (6) Escape and Rescue. While the following analysis explores thevictim’s first-hand experiences within these themes, it also reflects the accounts of other victims referenced in his story. Human traffickers enticed victims with fraudulent job offers and misleading promises, compelling them to pay significant recruitment fees. After recruitment, they manipulated vic-tims through tactics such as visa deception and bribery at immigration to ensure compliance and control. They subjected victims to harsh working conditions, enforcing extended hours, unrealistic targets, and physical punish-ments for underperformance. Strict security measures and trading between companies and compounds further complicated escape efforts. Criminal Strained victims to forge identities and exploit targets via social media, effec-tively turning them into online fraudsters. However, some managed to escape with assistance from NGOs, highlighting the vital role of organizational sup-port in rescue operations. We highlight the need for targeted interventions and support for victims of such complex cybercrime enterprises.tions

Human Rights Office of the High Commissioner OHCHR 2023).

By Amnesty International

This briefing presents Amnesty International’s findings and observations from a week-long research trip to Tijuana, Mexico, in February 2025, whose purpose was to document the human rights impacts of changes to US migration and asylum policies since President Trump took office on 20 January 2025.1 In particular, it focuses on the end of applying for asylum at the US-Mexico border and the situation of asylum seekers in Mexico. This briefing does not provide detailed information about mass immigration arrests and detentions in the United States, nor an analysis of the discriminatory impacts of these measures. The cumulative effects and harms of the Trump administration’s punitive and discriminatory immigration and asylum measures are the subject of Amnesty International’s ongoing monitoring and analysis of the situation in the United States. During the trip to Tijuana, Amnesty International interviewed people seeking safety, met with legal, humanitarian and social service providers, local and international organizations, and visited shelters and spaces where migrants and asylum seekers are staying. The organization spoke with two Mexican men who had recently been deported from the United States to Mexico, as well as with 35 people seeking safety (almost half of whom were women) from Belarus, Colombia, Cuba, Ecuador, Haiti, Honduras, Mexico, Russia and Venezuela. Amnesty International interviewed local and international organizations operating in Tijuana including Al Otro Lado (AOL), Asylum Access México and Haitian Bridge Alliance. The organization also visited and spoke with those running migrant shelters, including Borderline Crisis Center, Casa de los Migrantes, Casa de los Pobres, El Rubi, Jardin de las Mariposas and Villa Haitiana. The interviews with Spanish-language speakers were conducted in Spanish, while interviews with non-Spanish speakers were conducted in English with interpretation assistance from staff of local organizations and other people seeking safety. Amnesty International requested meetings with the San Diego offices of Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). ICE declined the meeting request and CBP did not respond. The organization’s request to visit the Otay Mesa Detention Center in San Diego was denied. Various individuals and organizations spoke to Amnesty International on the condition of anonymity. Their names have not been included in this report.  

London: Amnesty International, 2025. 24p.

By Fiona Robertson, Hui Yin Chuah, Abdullah Mohammadi, and Jennifer Vallentine

  Migration within and towards Southeast Asia is a dynamic, mixed and enduring phenomenon influenced by historical, socio-cultural, economic, and geopolitical factors. From the Mekong region to movements between Indonesia and Malaysia, these migration practices are rooted in the region’s history and continue to evolve today.11 Significant events such as the large-scale displacement during the 1950s–70s Vietnam War, persistent systemic persecution of Rohingya, and the recent conflicts in Myanmar have accentuated the complexity of mixed migration in the region. Uneven economic development across Southeast Asia has further fuelled migration, attracting workers from lower-income countries to larger economies that offer greater opportunities. Additionally, climate change and environmental disasters have increasingly influenced migration patterns in the region.22 Combined, these factors contribute to both regular and irregular migration patterns, with porous borders and limited access to regular pathways exacerbating the prevalence of irregular migration. Bangladesh, one of world’s largest migrant sending countries, accounting for 7.4 million migrants living abroad as of 20203 and host to 989,585 Rohingya refugees as of July 2024, faces economic pressures and protracted displacement that drive many individuals towards irregular migration. The route from Bangladesh to Malaysia, particularly via boat across the Bay of Bengal, is a prominent irregular migration pathway. Similarly, Indonesia is a major migrant-sending country, especially of migrant workers, with 4.6 million migrants globally as of 2020.5 The Indonesia-Malaysia migration corridor, which 55 per cent of Indonesian migrants travelled in 2017, is characterised by a high degree of irregularity, with nearly half lacking legal status.6 Malaysia and Thailand, known for their relative economic and political stability, comparatively welldeveloped economies and established diaspora communities, are key destination countries in Southeast Asia. However, they face distinct challenges related to irregular migration. Economic opportunities, especially in low-skilled sectors, attract migrants from neighbouring countries across porous borders, making both countries host to large populations of migrants in irregular situations. As of 2017, the World Bank estimated that Malaysia hosts approximately 1.23–1.46 million migrant workers who are in irregular situations, predominantly from Bangladesh and Indonesia.7 Malaysia also hosts 190,370 registered refugees and asylum seekers, 88 percent of whom are from Myanmar.8 Thailand, which hosts 4.9 million migrants, serves as a primary destination for migrant workers from neighbouring Southeast Asian countries and a transit and destination point for asylum seekers and refugees.9 As of 2018, Thailand hosted approximately 811,437 migrant workers in irregular situations from Cambodia, Lao People’s Democratic Republic (Lao PDR), Myanmar, and Viet Nam,10 in addition to 86,539 refugees, including about 5,500 urban refugees, as of November 2024.11 Both Malaysia and Thailand are central to understanding the dynamics of irregular migration and the effectiveness of policies aimed at promoting safe and regular migration pathways. However, while there are estimates of the number of migrants in irregular situations across Southeast Asia, the often-covert nature of irregular migration makes accurate and timely estimations of its scale challenging. Despite their significant presence and contributions to the labour force and host societies, migrants in irregular situations face precarious conditions, including the constant threat of arrests, detention, and deportation due to their irregular status, as well as lack of access to education, healthcare, formal livelihoods, and sustainable housing. Additionally, those taking irregular pathways often encounter various protection risks along their journeys, including extortion, sexual and physical abuse, and trafficking in persons. Addressing the issue of irregular migration requires a multifaceted approach that recognises the diverse backgrounds and experiences of people on the move and addressing the motivations and drivers that compel individuals to undertake irregular journeys. A common narrative suggests that the lack of information about regular and safe migration pathways is a significant driver of irregular migration.12 This information gap, coupled with the lack of awareness of the risks associated with irregular journeys and limited accessible regular pathways, often compel many individuals to opt for irregular routes.13 In response, policy and programming initiatives have increasingly turned to information-dissemination and awareness-raising campaigns to mitigate irregular migration, as well as people smuggling and trafficking in persons. For example, between 2015 and 2019, European Union (EU) member states invested more than 23 million euros in 104 information and awarenessraising campaigns with the aim of reducing irregular migration towards Europe.14 In Bangladesh, the EU contributed 15.9 million euros to the five-year Prottasha project and a further 20 million euros in 2023 to Prottasha II15 which aims to promote sustainable reintegration and safe migration. The project includes awareness-raising about safe migration and the risks of migrating through irregular channels as a key component.16 In 2023, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and the EU launched a series of audio-visual products as part of the ASEAN Safe and Fair Migration Campaign, aimed at better protection of migrant workers in Southeast Asia.17 In fact, the focus on information dissemination is not new; it was highlighted as one of the key strategies in a 2012 United Nations (UN) background paper on good practices in preventing people smuggling.18 However, despite the increase in policies and programming surrounding information dissemination on migration, there remains a challenge in assessing their effectiveness in preventing and reducing the risks associated with irregular migration. Under the mandate of the Bali Process on People Smuggling, Trafficking in Persons and Related Transnational Crime (Bali Process), the 2023 Adelaide Strategy for Cooperation (the Strategy) recognises ‘Irregular Migration’ and ‘Public Information Campaigns’ as two key cooperation areas across the Bali Process structure. The Strategy welcomes initiatives that build the preparedness of Bali Process Member States to respond to irregular migration and calls for support to ‘members to develop and implement effective public information campaigns, raise public awareness and promote digital literacy, including among youth, to reduce irregular migration and promote safe and legal migration’.19 As key origin, transit, and destination points across the Bali Process region, the four selected Bali Process Member States—Bangladesh, Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand—provide valuable contextual insights for the purpose of this assessment. Against this background, this assessment aims to provide evidence-based insights and actionable policy recommendations on the information needs and perceptions surrounding irregular migration in key Bali Process Member States in South and Southeast Asia. It will identify the nuanced information needs of people on the move, assess their perceptions and motivations, and evaluate the role of information in migration decision-making, facilitating the design of information campaigns targeted at changing behaviours of persons at risk of irregular migration. Additionally, the assessment will examine interventions designed to bridge information gaps behind irregular migration.   

Bangkok:  Regional Support Office of the Bali Process ; Geneva: Mixed Migration Centre, 2025. 67p.

By Darlène Dubuisson, Patricia Campos-Medina, Shannon Gleeson, and Kati L. Griffith

This review examines the historical and contemporary factors driving immigrant worker precarity and the central role of race in achieving worker justice. We build from the framework of racial capitalism and historicize the legacies of African enslavement and Indigenous dispossession, which have cemented an exclusionary economic system in the United States and globally. We consider how racism and colonial legacies create migrant displacement and shape the experiences of immigrant workers. We also detail how racism permeates the immigration bureaucracy, driving migrant worker precarity. The traditional labor movement has played an important role in closing this gap, but increasingly so have worker centers and the immigrant rights movement as a whole. These partnerships have had to navigate coalitional tensions as they build new strategies for realizing immigrant worker rights.  

  Annu. Rev. Law Soc. Sci. 2023. 19:109–29 pages

By  Krystlelynn Caraballo and Volkan Topalli

Research suggests undocumented immigrants are vulnerable to
robbery, burglary, and car theft, but studies have focused exclusively on victims’ perspectives rather than those of street offenders. This study draws from in-depth, semi-structured inter views of 25 active street offenders from a major southeastern US city to understand offenders’ perspectives and motivations for
deciding whether to target immigrants. Our findings support that some street offenders explicitly select targets based on perceived individual and socio-structural risk factors and the assumption of undocumented status. These include objective and subjective assessments of immigrants’ reliance on cash-intensive employment, fear of deportation, and inability to access formal justice systems. Our interviews with offenders reveal they and their acquaintances rely on mainstream stereotypes of immigrants (documented and undocumented) and of Latinx populations to determine vulnerability, select targets, and to a lesser extent.

Justice Quarterly, 40(1); 2023, 31p.

By Dinu Ostavciuc, Gina Aurora Necula

The Art. in question is dedicated to the specificity of detecting the evidence of an offence and its prosecution, particularly referring to the organised illegal migration, both from the point of view of criminal science and from the point of view of the criminal lawsuit. The subject under investigation here is both practically and legislatively sensitive. The aim of the research is to establish and elucidate the legal interactions, as well as to develop a practical algorithm for law enforcement authorities to detect evidence of organised illegal migration. The study comes with recommendations for law enforcement and prosecution bodies applicable both to the stage of establishing reasonable suspicion of committing the crime of organised illegal migration and to the stage of criminal prosecution initiation. At the same time, we aim at pointing out those features of the initial actions of the law enforcement bodies to which attention should be drawn and the indicated actions should be carried out in order to decide whether or not the conditions of the specified crime are met. The research comes up with findings, recommendations and proposals of lex ferenda, in order to reach the top effectiveness of the organised illegal migration investigation, implicitly that the investigating and prosecuting authorities detect the evidence of organised illegal migration crime within a reasonable extend of time and expeditiously start the prosecution, with respect to the principle of formality of the criminal process.

Fiat Iustitia, Issue Year: 2/2023, 16p.

By Robert M. Adelman , Yulin Yang , Lesley Williams Reid , James D. Bachmeier & Mike Maciag

The debate about undocumented immigration and its potential relation to crime continues to boil in the United States. We study this relationship by using two sets of estimates for the 2014 undocumented foreign-born population in U.S. metropolitan areas acquired from the Pew Research Center and the Migration Population Institute, 2013-2015 FBI Uniform Crime Report data, and 2011-2015 American Community Survey data from the U.S. Census Bureau, to model the association between undocumented immigration and violent and property crime. Findings are consistent across all estimates of metropolitan undocumented populations. Net of relevant covariates, we find negative effects of undocumented immigration on the overall property crime rate, larceny, and burglary; effects in models using violent crime measures as the outcomes are statistically non-significant. Although the results are based on cross-sectional data, they mirror other research findings that immigration either reduces or has no impact on crime, on average, and contributes to a growing literature on the relationship between immigration and crime.

Journal of Crime and Justice, Volume 44, Issue 4 (2021)

By David G. Ritchie

David G. Ritchie’s Natural Rights: A Criticism of Some Political and Ethical Conceptions is a critical examination of the philosophical and political theories surrounding natural rights. Published in the late 19th century, Ritchie’s work challenges the assumptions held by classical liberals and natural law theorists, particularly those who argue for the inherent and immutable nature of rights. Instead, Ritchie approaches the concept of rights from a historical and evolutionary perspective, arguing that rights are not absolute but are instead shaped by social, political, and moral developments over time.

Ritchie’s work remains highly relevant and modern in its rejection of fixed, universal rights and in its emphasis on social evolution, institutions, and collective well-being. However, contemporary discourse has gone further by incorporating intersectionality, global human rights frameworks, and moral imperatives that sometimes challenge his purely historical and pragmatic approach. His work is valuable for its emphasis on the social and historical evolution of rights, but some critics argue that his relativism could justify oppression, that he underestimates moral absolutes, and that he places too much emphasis on legal institutions rather than individual freedoms. Nevertheless, this is a pioneering work that aligns with modern human rights discourse in its recognition of change over time,

By Sasha Jesperson, Henrik Alffram, Lisa Denney and Pilar Domingo

 Labour migration and trafficking in persons: a political economy analysis Key messages Multiple scam centres have been identified in Southeast Asia, where recruits are often forced to groom victims online and encourage them to invest in fraudulent schemes, such as cryptocurrency. Targeting more highly skilled and educated individuals seeking work opportunities, recruitment is more organised than other forms of labour exploitation, with individuals trafficked into forced criminality. Scams challenge the existing counter-trafficking response in several ways: The profile of recruits as more highly educated and skilled workers. The existence of two sets of victims – the recruits and their targets. The presence of scam centres, often in poorer countries, reversing conventional labour migration flows. The location of scam centres in Special Economic Zones, which are beyond conventional national jurisdictions.

London: ODI, 2023. 29p.

By Humanity Research Consultancy

In early 2023, campaigners in Thailand, Malaysia, and Indonesia lodged a formal complaint with the ASEAN Intergovernmental Commission on Human Rights, the region’s main human rights institution, regarding potentially thousands of victims of trafficking in persons (TIP) for forced criminality in scam compounds, from every single ASEAN country.  A 2023 United Nations report also estimates that hundreds of thousands have fallen victim to this growing trend of human trafficking for forced criminality, trapped in scamming compounds across the Asia region and beyond.  According to media reports and previous investigations undertaken by Humanity Research Consultancy (HRC),  Thailand has been an important hub for this type of crime, acting as a transit, destination and source country due to its geographical proximity to scamming compound hotspots across the region. Nevertheless, the extent of Thailand and its citizens’ involvement in these crimes, namely Thai authorities’ responses to the issue, remain unclear to the public, as well as to counter-human trafficking organisations. This research aims to address this gap, forming a valuable contribution to the current body of knowledge in order to enhance understanding and develop effective strategies, by identifying best practices, to combat human trafficking for forced criminality in Thailand. This report provides an overview of trafficking for forced criminality involving Thailand, covering the trafficking routes, modus operandi and trends related to TIP for forced criminality. It also outlines the legal frameworks in Thailand to address forced criminality at the domestic, bilateral and regional levels. Additionally, the report encompasses a breakdown of demographics and characteristics of vulnerable groups targeted by traffickers, including disaggregated data of Thai and non-Thai victims of TIP for forced criminality in Thailand. Finally, the report outlines the challenges and obstacles faced in addressing trafficking for forced criminality, particularly with regard to the actions of Thai law enforcement and government bodies, as well as local nongovernmental organizations working to counter these crimes in the region    

Little Rick, AR: Winrock International, 2024.   38p.

By Felipe Gon ̧calves Elisa and J ́acome Emily Weisburst

We study the role of victim reporting in the production of public safety. We examine the Secure Communities program, a crime-reduction policy that involved police in
detecting unauthorized immigrants and increased deportation fears in immigrant communities. We find that the policy reduced the likelihood that Hispanic victims report crimes to police and increased offending against Hispanics. The number of reported crimes is unchanged, masking these opposing effects. We show that reduced reporting drives the offending increase and provide the first elasticity of offending to victim reporting in the literature, calculating that a 10% decline in reporting increases offending by 7.9%.

Unpublished paper 2025. 95p.

By Aase Villadsen, Nicolás Libuy, Emla Fitzsimons 

This project examined whether adverse childhood experiences (ACEs), positive childhood experiences (PCEs) and the levels of violent crime in children’s neighbourhoods are associated with children’s involvement in violence. Previous research suggests that ACEs are associated with involvement in violence, while PCEs are associated with decreased risk of involvement in crime and violence. There is some evidence that the relationship between ACEs, PCEs and involvement in violence is affected by the amount of violent crime in the local area. This study explored whether these factors are associated with three violence outcomes, measured at ages 14 and 17: assault perpetration, the carrying or using of a weapon and gang involvement. It primarily used data on around 14,000 children from the Millennium Cohort Study (MCS), a study that is tracking a cohort of children born around the millennium. It also used police-recorded crime data to understand the amount of violent crime in the local area. The ACEs examined by this study were: having a single parent; experiencing parental breakup; domestic violence; verbal abuse; physical abuse; parental alcohol abuse; parental drug use; parental mental health issues; poor parental relationships; poor parent-child relationship; and, having a parent with a long-term disability/illness. The list of PCEs included: having low-risk peers; positive peer experiences; good school connectedness; positive teacher-child relationships; participation in activities and hobbies; living in a safe neighbourhood; and feeling safe in the playground. Key findings : A higher number of adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) is associated with an increased risk of children engaging in violence. Having two or more ACEs compared to none increased the risk of assault perpetration by 19%, weapon involvement by 57% and gang involvement by 61%. Having six or more ACEs increased the risk of assault perpetration by 45%, weapon involvement by 150% and gang involvement by 154%. The combination of ACEs associated with the highest risk included parental drug use, single parenthood, domestic violence, physical abuse and long-term parental disability or illness. A higher number of positive childhood experiences (PCEs) is associated with a decreased risk of children engaging in violence. Having three to four PCEs compared to zero to two PCEs reduced the risk of assault perpetration by 12%, weapon involvement by 33% and gang involvement by 28%. Having six to seven PCEs reduced the risk of assault perpetration by 35%, weapon involvement by 66% and gang involvement by 59%. The combination of PCEs associated with the lowest risk included low-risk peers, good school connectedness, positive teacher-child relationship and positive peer experiences. The link between ACEs and violence was reduced when children also had a high number of PCEs. Having high numbers of PCEs partially offset the risks associated with ACEs. Children who had both a high number of ACEs and PCEs, compared to those with a high number of ACEs and low PCEs, had a lower risk of involvement in violence. For example, among children with three or more ACEs, the risk of assault perpetration fell by 22%, weapons involvement by 49% and gang involvement by 39% for those who also had five or more PCEs. ACEs and PCEs better explain violence involvement than neighbourhood crime rates. Children growing up in high-violence neighbourhoods were more vulnerable to involvement in violence. For example, the likelihood of weapons involvement was 62% higher for children growing up in the 20% most violent areas. However, neighbourhood crime levels were no longer associated with violence perpetration once characteristics, including ACEs and PCEs, were taken into account. There is some evidence that differences in experiences of violence by ethnicity can be explained by family socioeconomic characteristics and exposure to ACEs and PCEs. Black children had higher rates of assault perpetration (53.3% and 47.6%, respectively) than White children (41.7%). This difference in assault rates disappeared after controlling for socioeconomic family characteristics and ACEs and PCEs, suggesting much of the difference can be explained by differences in exposure to these family factors. However, this analysis was limited by a small sample size of children from individual ethnic minority groups and is, therefore, not as secure as some of the other findings. Interpretation and implications This study provides valuable information about the relationship between ACEs, PCEs, neighbourhood safety and children’s involvement in violence. It is one of only a few studies to present evidence from an English or Welsh context. Insights from this study should be combined with findings from other research to identify and support the children who are most vulnerable to involvement in violence. These findings should be interpreted carefully. Although the study looked at whether factors are associated with violence, it cannot confirm whether these factors caused violence. For example, children who experienced physical abuse were more likely to commit violence, but we can’t rule out the possibility that this relationship is explained by another factor. Perhaps children who experienced abuse are also more likely to experience other hardships, which are the real drivers behind their involvement in violence. While this study used statistical techniques to try to rule out some other potential drivers, it was not able to capture all of these. The strengths of this study included its use of a large nationally representative sample, the use of statistical methods that deal with missing data and maintain a representative sample and the fact that it found similar results across several additional analyses and robustness checks. The results of the study should be considered alongside its limitations: • Sexual abuse and the involvement of household members in crime are commonly described as ACEs but were not available in the MCS data set and were not examined in this study. • The study relied on police-reported crime data to measure neighbourhood violent crime. However, much crime goes unreported to the police, especially in deprived areas. The findings on neighbourhood violence are less secure as a result. • The analyses examining more serious types of violence in smaller subgroups of children, such as children from smaller ethnic groups, have smaller samples and are less precise 

London: Youth Endowment Fund, 20225. 227p.