A/HRC/32/41 to meet their basic needs. Iraqi and Syrian refugee children in Lebanon, for example, work in textile factories, in construction, in the food service industry, in agricultural labour or as street vendors in conditions amounting to forced labour. There appear to be organized systems within refugee camps for making these work arrangements.14 In May 2015, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) reported that there were at least 1,500 children, 75 per cent of whom were Syrian, begging or working as street vendors in and around Beirut, working excessive hours to earn income for their families.15 These child labour situations often mask other forms of exploitation, such as trafficking for forced labour and sexual exploitation, and have negative consequences on children’s health and education. 23. Persons fleeing conflict could also be vulnerable to trafficking for purposes of organ removal. There was evidence that migrants fleeing conflict in the Sudan were being targeted for organ harvesting in Egypt. In addition, medical practitioners from post-conflict Kosovo16 were found to be involved in the trafficking of victims from the Republic of Moldova, the Russian Federation and Turkey to Kosovo for the purpose of organ removal (see A/68/256, para. 29). Certainly, conflict and post-conflict situations provide fertile ground for increasing vulnerability to this form of trafficking and enables impunity for exploiters. 24. Moreover, increasingly restrictive and exclusionary immigration policies, including criminalization and detention of irregular migrants, insufficient channels for regular migration and family reunification and lack of regular access to the labour market for asylum seekers, refugees and migrants further contribute to an increase in the exploitation of migrants, including through trafficking. During the past decade in particular, restrictions on entry to preferred countries of asylum have become more onerous and appear directed towards thwarting the arrival of those who might claim asylum and refugee status. This forces migrants, including asylum seekers and refugees fleeing conflict, into the arms of those able to help them circumvent controls. For such migrants, the clandestine nature of their journey, the often unscrupulous and corrupt conduct of their facilitators and collaborators and the extent to which some States will go to prevent their departure, transit or arrival all operate to create or exacerbate opportunities for traffickers who prey on their precarious situation. For instance, Rohingya from Myanmar typically embark on maritime and overland journeys, often via Thailand, to irregularly reach Malaysia. Initially smuggled across borders, some are subsequently trafficked to fishing boats and palm oil plantations for labour exploitation, ending up in bonded labour to repay the debts incurred from the transport. Others are held captive and abused in Malaysia until ransom is paid by their relatives (see A/HRC/29/38/Add.1, para. 19). D. Trafficking during conflict 25. Individuals and communities caught up in conflict are vulnerable to a range of human rights violations. Pre-existing conditions and vulnerabilities, such as structural gender-based and other forms of discrimination affecting women, children and noncitizens, are exacerbated during conflict as opportunities for exploitation increase and protections break down. Conflicts are prolonged by actors who take advantage of situations of lawlessness to reap personal gain through lucrative activities such as trafficking. 17 In this 14 15 16 17 Secours catholique-Caritas France and Peyroux, “Trafficking in human beings”, pp. 25-29. Ibid., p. 27. All references to Kosovo in the present document should be understood to be in compliance with Security Council resolution 1244 (1999). Wolte, “Armed conflict and trafficking in women”, p. 12. 7

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