Overlooked Risks: A Case Study on the Role of Immigration Detention in Exacerbating Human Trafficking Vulnerabilities Among Forced Migrants in Greece

This Master’s thesis investigates the impact of immigration policies, in particular immigration detention, on forced migrants’ vulnerabilities to human trafficking and explores the potential of the non-punishment principle in enhancing their protection. Through a comprehensive literature review, the first part of this research explored existing scholarly works on the connections between forced migration, human trafficking and immigration policies, with a focus on immigration detention, and discussed the relevance of the non-punishment principle in international refugee and trafficking law in the context of this research. The second part of this thesis focused on the case study of Greece and examined on a practical level how immigration detention can affect forced migrant’s vulnerabilities to human trafficking and evaluated the potential of the non-punishment principle as a protective mechanism at the national level. The analysis revealed that several elements of immigration detention, including (1) poor detention conditions, (2) limited access to services, (3) the psychological impact of detention, and (4) the isolating and marginalizing consequences of detention, can exacerbate human trafficking vulnerabilities among forced migrants and that detention facilities can be sites where forced migrants are at risk of being trafficked. Furthermore, this thesis argues that the effective implementation of the non-punishment principle could enhance protection of forced migrants from trafficking in the context of immigration detention, if implemented with accompanying protective measures. By examining the role of immigration detention in human trafficking, this thesis addressed an important research gap and contributed to a better understanding of how immigration policies can affect forced migrants’ vulnerabilities to human trafficking.