MMC Research Report
Medium risk/deception
Debt-driven reroute
This profile captures migrants whose irregular journey to Europe originates in financial distress and unmet expectations from earlier labour migration experiences elsewhere. Many first migrate legally to the Gulf, investing heavily in recruitment, documentation, and travel.
Once abroad, they often discover that promised salaries or conditions fall far short of expectations, leaving them unable to recover their costs. Debt then becomes a key driver of onward migration, turning economic frustration into renewed mobility.
While still abroad, particularly in cities such as Dubai, some of these migrants are approached by intermediaries offering “European jobs.” Disillusioned by low wages and restrictive contracts, they see these offers as their only chance to escape debt and achieve the prosperity they originally sought.
Smugglers exploit this vulnerability, marketing onward movement to Libya as a legitimate or inevitable next step toward Europe. Others return to Bangladesh after multiple unsuccessful migration attempts, determined to try again but this time to Europe directly.
In both cases, the decision to move irregularly arises less from aspiration than from economic compulsion—a final attempt to resolve debts and meet family expectations after years of unfulfilled regular migration.
Across this profile, the boundary between voluntary choice and coercion is blurred. Migration decisions occur under severe financial pressure, and brokers deliberately frame Libya as the “next stage” in an otherwise familiar migration cycle, transforming vulnerability itself into a profitable market.
Deceived migrant
This profile encompasses those who embark on their journey from Bangladesh under false pretenses. Several respondents reported being told they were traveling to Kuwait or Malaysia for legitimate employment, only to discover mid-journey, or even upon arrival, that their destination was Libya.
In some cases, migrants only realized this after landing in Egypt or during transit in Dubai, when facilitators confiscated their documents. In each case, deception began at the recruitment stage, by facilitators who exploited migrants’ trust and limited knowledge of geography and travel procedures.
These migrants rarely have the intention to reach Europe at the outset. Their journeys to Libya are the product of misinformation and manipulation, exposing them to both debt and coercion. By the time they realize the deception, they are often already in transit; without valid visas for the countries they are passing through, without their passports, and fully embedded within the smuggling network. At that point, there is little possibility of withdrawal or seeking assistance.
Continuing the journey becomes the only viable option, both because of practical constraints and the fear of financial ruin or social disgrace if they return home empty-handed.
While these journeys involve two of the constitutive elements of trafficking under the Palermo Protocol (the Act of transport and the Means of deception or abuse of vulnerability), they do not involve the third element, which is a purpose of exploitation.
In this profile, the intent behind the deception is primarily to extract migration fees or transport migrants into Libya for onward smuggling, rather than to exploit their labour or body once in Libya.
As such, although these migrants experience clear violations of their rights and significant coercion, their experiences do not constitute trafficking unless or until a purpose of exploitation emerges later along the route. This distinction is important, as many migrants who begin as deceived travelers only become trafficked once they fall into situations of forced labour, debt bondage, or other exploitative arrangements inside Libya, as described in the subsequent profile.
High risk/exploitation
Trafficked migrant
This profile reflects migrants who fall into debt bondage and labour exploitation once in Libya. Many enter without paying the full cost upfront, being told that they can settle the remainder after arrival or once they begin working.
Instead, when they arrive, they are forced to work under the control of brokers or employers to repay inflated travel debts. Wages are withheld, movement restricted, and identity documents confiscated.
Others are promised specific jobs and salaries in Libya but are placed in exploitative conditions upon arrival: lower-paid, irregular work, or no pay at all. Some are even sold to other brokers or employers, illustrating the commodification of labour within Libya’s broker-controlled economy.
These dynamics meet all three elements of the Palermo Protocol definition of trafficking: recruitment through deception, transport across borders under false promises, and exploitation through abuse of vulnerability and control of labour.
Physical violence may not always be visible, but control is maintained through indebtedness, dependency, and fear. The full spectrum of trafficking risks is explored further in section.
Returnee/escapee
This final profile represents those who leave Libya, either towards Italy or back to Bangladesh, after enduring violence, insecurity, or repeated exploitation. Many arrived in Libya for work but faced continuous extortion by security forces, including arbitrary detention and ransom demands by police or militias.
One respondent described being arrested multiple times by police and forced to pay for release until he was destitute. Unable to return home due to debt and shame, he decided to attempt the sea crossing to Italy as an escape route rather than a planned migration.
Others who manage to return to Bangladesh often do so through brokers after prolonged hardship, sometimes after contacting the same intermediaries who arranged their initial migration.
For these migrants, onward or return movement is not an act of opportunity but of survival: an attempt to flee a cycle of violence, exploitation, and debt from which formal protection mechanisms offer no relief.
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