Trafficked Persons as Refugees

Abstract

This research critically engages with the long-term protection of trafficked persons. In particular it assesses whether, and the conditions under which, trafficked persons can be considered as refugees under the Geneva Refugee Convention. The importance of international refugee law in this context is determined both by the number of trafficked persons seeking international protection and by its suitability to overcome the shortcomings of existing protection provisions in anti-trafficking instruments which remain discretionary, conditional and limited in scope.

Trafficked persons, as examples of modern victims of human rights abuse par excellence, are examples of who refugee law- with its humanitarian and human rights imperatives- should be protecting. This thesis demonstrates that while a liberal interpretation of the refugee definition has been attempted by lawyers and courts alike to cover trafficked persons, a significant number of trafficking-based claims could be made out even if a more restrictive interpretation is adopted. It builds on judicial decisions from a variety of jurisdictions to elaborate on the fundamental inter-sectionality of issues and instruments which should underpin any assessment of trafficking based asylum claims.

After a brief introduction to the content and structure of the thesis, Chapter 1 provides an overview of the definitions and legal context for the research, as well as outlines the methodological approach. Chapter 2 engages with the existing protection provisions under the anti-trafficking instruments, arguing that alone they are insufficient to adequately protect trafficked persons and that refugee law offers a viable alternative. Chapters 3 to 5 discuss the three main components of the refugee definition as applied to trafficked persons namely: well-founded fear (including [lack of] State Protection), persecution and the Convention ground nexus. Chapter 6 elaborates on the relevance of exclusion and cessation clauses to traffickers and trafficked persons who commit serious offences, whilst Chapter 7 examines some of the procedural issues in the context of determining throughout the thesis as briefly outlined above.

Date of Award	2014
Original language	English
Awarding Institution	King's College London
Supervisor	Maleiha Malik (Supervisor) & Satvinder Juss (Supervisor)