Legal migrants remain vulnerable to trafficking

Every year, hundreds of thousands of people enter wealthy countries on temporary work visas, hoping to earn a living and support their families. For many, those visas undoubtedly offer a chance to earn more money and build a more stable life. But for others, they become another source of vulnerability and abuse.

Consider the case of Larisa.

While browsing Facebook, she found an advertisement promising domestic work in Germany, a good salary and paid travel expenses. A mother of three from a remote village in Moldova, she left her children behind to chase that opportunity and lift her family out of poverty.

But when she arrived, the reality was very different. She was taken to a remote town, housed with other women and stripped of control over her documents. For a year, she says, she was forced to clean homes and care for elderly people for up to 20 hours a day without pay and under constant watch.

The International Organization for Migration later identified her case as an example of trafficking through a seemingly legitimate recruitment process. Her passport was confiscated, and she was not allowed to leave.

Larisa’s story is not unique. Across the world, migrants continue to be trapped in abusive working conditions not only by criminal networks but also by legal migration systems that leave workers dependent on a single employer.

Human trafficking is often associated with smuggling, border crossings or organised crime. But it can also affect legal migrants, often in less visible ways. It can involve debt bondage, confiscation of passports, restrictions on movement, withheld wages, threats of deportation and coercive working conditions.

Migrants are particularly vulnerable because they often arrive in a new country with limited resources, little knowledge of the local culture or language and no support network. Undocumented migrants are easy targets because they fear deportation and may avoid seeking help. But legal migrants can also find themselves trapped.

Many temporary work visa programmes tie workers to a single employer. If they leave that employer, they may lose not only their job but also their legal status. Contracts are often long, unclear or written in a language workers do not understand. Complaints can be met with threats, intimidation or warnings that speaking out will lead to deportation.