Human trafficking increases due to climate change: UN

Picture source - AFP

The UN reported on Tuesday that there is mounting evidence that gang-based crimes are increasing especially human trafficking as gangs are taking advantage of climate-related disasters.

The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) stated in a report that the ongoing conflict in Ukraine is yet another risk factor for an increase in human trafficking.

“Climate change is increasing vulnerability to trafficking,” the UNODC report said.

The report stated that a thorough worldwide review of the influence of climate change on human trafficking is lacking, and community-level research in various regions of the world point to weather-induced disasters as the fundamental causes of human trafficking.

The research is based on information gathered from 141 nations between 2017 and 2020 and an examination of 800 court cases.

According to the research, poor farming, fishing, and other communities that primarily depend on the extraction of resources for their livelihoods were disproportionately impacted by climate change.

According to the UN drug agency, the Philippines and Bangladesh had seen a rise in cases of human trafficking after devastating cyclones and typhoons forced millions of people from their homes.