Blog of Linda Witong, SI Advocacy Advisor.
In this thought-provoking blog, Linda Witong, SI Advocacy Advisor, explores the often-overlooked nexus between human trafficking and kidnapping for ransom—commonly referred to as “Ransom Kidnapping”. Motivated by the troubling gaps in legal frameworks that fail to fully recognise and protect victims of this crime, Linda sheds light on the urgent need for the international community to revisit its definitions of trafficking and smuggling. By drawing on recent findings and key case studies, she highlights why the appropriate classification of Ransom Kidnapping matters, and how it can dramatically affect the rights and entitlements of survivors.
In 2017, Yehuda Goor prepared a paper for the Berkeley Journal of International Law in which she discussed the link between human trafficking and kidnapping for ransom. She observed that, over the past decade, tens of thousands of refugees and asylum seekers had entered Israel through the Sinai Peninsula. Along the way, many were kidnapped and traded as commodities within organised crime networks. According to Ms. Goor, these networks shared one primary objective: holding victims hostage in “camps” and torturing them until a friend or family member paid a ransom for their release. Ms. Goor added that this practice, known as “Ransom Kidnapping”, had taken hold in other parts of the world and was unfortunately becoming increasingly common.
In her article, Ms. Goor explored the connection between Ransom Kidnapping and the legal framework surrounding human trafficking. She observed that, despite the deep similarities, most legal systems and international actors did not consider Ransom Kidnapping a form of human trafficking but rather classified it as a type of human smuggling. This classification adversely affected the rights and entitlements of survivors. For example, only a small fraction of those who survived the Sinai torture camps were recognised as victims of human trafficking. These survivors were granted a visa, exemption from detention, free legal aid, and a room at a designated shelter. However, those not recognised as victims of human trafficking were detained and denied suitable treatment.
Ms. Goor observed that, almost 20 years after the signing of the United Nations’ Trafficking Protocol and the U.S. Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000 (TVPA), and given the rise of Ransom Kidnapping and other forms of exploitation, the legal framework surrounding human trafficking needed to be revisited. Ms. Goor then examined how these mechanisms responded to current realities on the ground.
The Importance of Classification
Ms. Goor concluded that, unlike trafficking—which is primarily considered a crime against the trafficked victim—smuggling is viewed as a crime against the state. This difference in classification is crucial from the victim’s or migrant’s perspective. In cases of Ransom Kidnapping, classifying the crime as smuggling is completely detached from the victims’ experiences. Female migrants, for example, have been held for ransom and raped while travelling along transportation routes. Even with the deficiencies in the protections provided under the current trafficking regimes, a victim would generally be better protected if identified as a trafficking victim rather than as a smuggled migrant. Therefore, classification is important.
Other authors agree. For example, Jørgen Carling, Ann Gallagher, and Christopher Horwood, in an article addressing the increasing diversity in irregular migration and the changing role of trafficking and smuggling definitions, directly mentioned situations similar to Ransom Kidnapping. They added:
“Those who facilitate irregular movement have rapidly expanded and diversified their operations, with some recognising the opportunity to maximise their profits by exploiting smuggled migrants either during their journey or at their destination. In such situations, the carefully crafted distinction between trafficking and smuggling dissolves”.
The authors continued by stressing that “despite the diligent efforts of lawyers and policy-makers, it has become increasingly apparent that the legal distinction between migrant smuggling and human trafficking does not always hold in the real world”.
Ms. Goor’s goal was to critique the international community’s narrow framing of human trafficking and its exclusion of Ransom Kidnapping. Using the Sinai torture camps as a case study, she examined the feasibility and desirability of introducing a new form of trafficking: Ransom Trafficking, distinct from traditional frameworks.
Ongoing Discussions on Ransom Kidnapping and Human Trafficking
In 2021, Siobhán Mullally, the Special Rapporteur on trafficking in persons, especially women and children, addressed this issue once again. Ms. Mullally began by noting reports from Libya indicating that militias were kidnapping migrants, including for the purpose of ransom. She highlighted the need for greater attention to the relationship between trafficking linked to terrorism and kidnapping for ransom, and the related human rights obligations, including States’ obligations of due diligence in prevention, protection, and ensuring effective access to remedies. Ms. Mullally observed that terrorist groups may treat captured individuals as “[m]erchandise to be sold and re-sold” or as “[a] means to secure ransom payment”. She also noted that threats of sexual violence by non-state armed groups, including terrorist organisations, could be used to extract ransom payments from the families of abducted women and girls. In this way, “[t]rafficking for the purpose of sexual slavery or sexual exploitation […] contributes to the funding and sustainment of criminal and terrorist groups”.
Ms. Mullally concluded that abductions perpetrated by groups such as Boko Haram also blur the distinction between human trafficking and kidnapping for ransom. She was not alone in confirming the links between abductions, ransom kidnapping, and trafficking risks, especially those targeting children. This issue was also the subject of a joint urgent appeal to Nigeria by several special procedures mandate holders.
In 2023, Ms. Mullally again addressed this issue, but this time regarding migrants. She observed that another nexus between international criminal law and trafficking in persons was in respect of crimes against migrants, as referenced in statements by the Office of the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court. According to Ms. Mullally, in one statement, the Prosecutor referenced such crimes in the context of the attention given by the International Criminal Court to “crimes against migrants”, noting that these might “constitute crimes against humanity and war crimes”, and could also include “abduction for ransom or extortion” in addition to other offences.