EXCERPT FROM EXECUTIVE SUMMARY:

“The region that to English-speaking peoples is known as ‘the Middle East’ has throughout history been a region where people move – for work, along trade routes, through displacement or exchange. People movement, though, does not only comprise migration. For centuries, people have also moved as a result of being trafficked. Human traffickers, in fact, commonly use people’s desire to move for work or to improve their lives, to deceive or coerce them into labour exploitation of many different kinds. This report aims to map current trends in people movement to, from and through the three Mashreq countries of Jordan, Lebanon and Syria, and to throw light on the phenomenon of human trafficking affecting these countries as sending (origin), transit and receiving (destination) countries.”