A/HRC/38/45 53. Generally, the treatment of victims of trafficking deported to their countries of origin is of concern. Victims are stigmatized, discriminated against, and some suffer from mental health issues, which hinder them from communicating and trusting other people. 52 The human rights impact of returns, especially mass returns, cannot be underestimated. For instance, the deportation from Libya of 3,480 young Nigerians, mostly girls and women, following the shocking video on slavery-trade markets, reveals that some victims of human trafficking encounter considerable obstacles when they return home — on their arrival at the airport, they are seen as undignified persons and isolated from the community due to the fact that they were involved in prostitution/sex work.53 54. European States are de facto delegating returns of migrants to FRONTEX, whose budget has recently almost more than doubled specifically with regards to the implementation of return procedures. FRONTEX implements this task, inter alia, by taking into consideration the principle of non-refoulement throughout its activities, not allowing returns of unaccompanied minors and providing training on fundamental rights to the teams in charge of monitoring forced returns. However, it is alarming that States or regional institutions lack clear guidelines in relation to the forced returns of potential victims of trafficking that they might have failed to identify, considering also the rapidity and inadequacy of identification during large mixed migration movements. It is even more alarming that States are delegating the implementation of such procedures to a regional institution such as FRONTEX, which cannot interfere in the decision-making over individual cases. As a consequence, the final decision stays with national authorities, which risks nullifying the efforts made by FRONTEX specialized teams to integrate a human rights component. 55. In other regions of the world, for example in South-East Asia, forced returns of irregular migrants to countries of origin show similar challenges. High numbers of suspected victims of trafficking are potentially present within forced return programmes, but are not identified owing to a lack of appropriate mechanisms for screening indicators of trafficking.54 E. Role of referral mechanisms in early identification and assistance to victims of trafficking Cooperation mechanisms for referral of victims of trafficking in persons 56. States use various means to fulfil their obligations to protect and promote the human rights of trafficked persons, including promulgating anti-trafficking legislations and policies such as national action plans, and establishing multidisciplinary coordinating institutions and frameworks such as national referral mechanisms and standard operating procedures to implement the Palermo Protocol and other anti-trafficking regional instruments. While these cooperation mechanisms are designed to provide an effective way to refer trafficked persons to comprehensive services in coordinated efforts between State institutions and civil society organizations, they are not exempt of shortcomings in their practical application. In the specific context of mixed migration movements, despite the prominent role played by international organizations in identification, a lack of specific international cooperation mechanisms hinders the referral of victims to local assistance 51 52 53 54 14 https://rm.coe.int/CoERMPublicCommonSearchServices/DisplayDCTMContent?documentId=09000 0168063093c. Submissions of Swedish Platform Civil Society against Human Trafficking and La Strada International. Austrian Centre for Country of Origin and Asylum Research and Documentation, Nigeria: COI Compilation on Human Trafficking (December 2017), p. 36. Available at www.refworld.org/pdfid/5a79c7114.pdf. Ibid. p. 32. ASEAN, Regional review on Laws, Policies and Practices within ASEAN relating to the Identification, Management and Treatment of Victims of Trafficking, especially Women and Children (2016), p. 134. Available at http://asean.org/storage/2016/09/ACWC-Regional-Review.pdf.