Labour migrants experience a wide range of vulnerabilities that put them at risk of human trafficking and other forms of exploitation. At the same time, they also have agency and capacities that can help protect them from exploitation.

Mapping these vulnerabilities and capacities across each stage of the labour migration cycle can help identify where governments, civil society, international organisations and the private sector might focus their efforts to prevent the exploitation of labour migrants and human trafficking, by addressing vulnerabilities and amplifying protective capacities.

This thematic brief sets out these vulnerabilities and the exploitation to which they can lead, as well as labour migrants’ capacities to protect themselves, drawing on research in Cambodia, Laos, Thailand and Vietnam.