Human trafficking, information campaigns, and strategies of migration control

Information campaigns have been launched since the 1990s in central and eastern Europe to prevent human trafficking and undocumented migration. They attempt to reduce emigration before migrants reach the border and therefore take place within the reinforcement of migration controls. They are designed to discourage potential migrants from leaving by promoting a negative image of migration to western Europe, thus relying on the questionable assumption that information plays a key role in migration decisions. By associating undocumented migration with human trafficking, these campaigns furthermore display moral and political ambiguities. This article discusses their ideological basis and the ethical issues they raise.