In April this year we published the op-ed ‘What happens after victims of trafficking return to Nigeria?’ on openDemocracy. Our piece outlined some flaws in the design and implementation of the return and reintegration programme from Norway to Nigeria that is operated by the International Organization for Migration (IOM). It was based on an empirical evaluation commissioned by the Norwegian immigration authorities, and has been elaborated as a peer-reviewed article in the Anti-Trafficking Review.
The IOM’s Chief of Mission in Nigeria, Franz Celestin, responded to our op-ed by suggesting that our critique is based on “inaccuracies” and “misunderstandings”.
Firstly, the IOM takes issue with our observation that female victims of trafficking for the purpose of prostitution in Norway appear more likely to be considered “vulnerable” than other vulnerable Nigerian migrants and receive additional reintegration assistance. He mistakenly reads our claim as suggesting that the IOM “has a preference on the type of exploitation” and finds this “offensive”. Yet our claim was empirically based on data from interviews with immigration authorities, frontline personnel and Nigerian migrants. More broadly, it is well documented in research on the implementation of anti-trafficking policies that conceptions of vulnerability are heavily gendered and that there is a bias towards sexual exploitation. Victimhood and vulnerability are often associated with femininity. It is hardly surprising that this is observable in the allocation of labels and resources in the field of return migration.
