Beyond the Rescue: Reflections from the Asia Region Anti-Trafficking Conference
By Ee Jean Law, 29 July 2026
Asia Community Foundation (ACF) recently had the opportunity to attend the annual Asia Region Anti-Trafficking (ARAT) Conference in Chiang Mai, Thailand. ARAT 2026 brought together practitioners, researchers, survivors and policymakers from across the region to share insights and experiences on tackling human trafficking and exploitation. The conference highlighted emerging challenges, survivor-centred approaches, and the importance of stronger cross-sector collaboration in responding to trafficking.
As a regional community foundation, ACF had an opportunity at ARAT 2026 to deepen our understanding of the complex trafficking landscape while learning from and connecting with inspiring partners who have longstanding commitments to the communities they serve. We also gained valuable insights from organisations working across the anti-trafficking ecosystem throughout the region.
Some key takeaways from the conference include:
For many survivors of trafficking, rescue is only the beginning.
Trafficking is not a random phenomenon; rather, it is a systemic cycle of exploitation that must be intentionally broken. Criminal actors employ increasingly sophisticated recruitment techniques to traffic individuals and trap them in exploitative and violent conditions that they are unable to leave.
At ARAT, we unpacked a common misconception that views the rescue and repatriation of trafficked individuals as the end point of anti-trafficking work. While rescue operations, such as raids on scam centres, are an important part of the response, rescue alone does not end trafficking. Many partners instead see rescue as the beginning of a much longer journey.
Partners working in the anti-trafficking space shared that rescue operations are often not followed by adequate protection or long-term reintegration support for survivors. After being physically rescued, survivors may be left in a foreign country or city with little support to access essential services such as shelter, food or healthcare. Even after returning home, many receive limited support to reintegrate into their communities, leaving them vulnerable to re-trafficking.
Weak victim identification processes also mean that many survivors are instead viewed as illegal migrants, overstayers or criminals by law enforcement in both their home and destination countries. This not only prevents survivors from accessing justice but also enables traffickers to evade accountability.
To truly break this cycle of exploitation, the anti-trafficking sector, together with its supporters, must recognise reintegration and post-rescue support as an essential part of trafficking prevention. It is not that rescue and repatriation are no longer needed; rather, instead of viewing rescue figures as the sole measure of success, we should also consider indicators such as re-trafficking rates, survivors’ long-term safety, and their ability to secure stable and dignified employment after trafficking.
There is no one-size-fits-all solution to trafficking.
Instead, we should ask how we can strengthen the protective factors that reduce an individual’s vulnerability to exploitation.
For an issue as complex and nuanced as trafficking, it can be tempting to search for a single solution that will eradicate it once and for all. However, ARAT was a timely reminder that we cannot begin to address trafficking without examining the structural factors that allow it to thrive.
Poverty, climate change, youth unemployment and family violence can all increase an individual’s vulnerability to trafficking and exploitation. The factors that drive a child into forced domestic labour in Nepal will look very different from those that lead a young person in Cambodia to accept what appears to be a promising job opportunity in Thailand, only to end up in a forced scamming compound.
Anti-trafficking efforts therefore need to be tailored to local contexts and address the underlying vulnerabilities that make trafficking both profitable for perpetrators and difficult to prevent.
Build intentionally with survivors, not just for them or through them.
Over the years, the anti-trafficking sector has rightly recognised that survivors bring invaluable lived experience to inform interventions and solutions. Yet survivors are often studied, surveyed and represented, while rarely being positioned as knowledge producers, researchers and leaders who help shape interventions and policy.
ARAT was a timely reminder that power does not shift through good intentions alone. While there is a genuine desire to include survivors in conversations, meaningful survivor leadership requires deliberate time, investment and commitment. Being survivor-led is not about hearing from survivors once; it is about ensuring that programmes, discussions and policies are co-designed and co-led with them, rather than treating survivors as participants alone.
It also means investing in survivors beyond project-based support, building their capacity to become long-term leaders and advocates within the sector.
How can funders and intermediaries better support anti-trafficking organisations?
ARAT offered only a three-day glimpse into the extraordinary work carried out every day by organisations across the region to protect communities and support survivors. It cannot fully capture the dedication, resilience and commitment that underpin this work.
For ACF, attending ARAT reinforced the importance of listening to those closest to the issues and learning from the organisations and survivors leading this work on the ground. It also highlighted the role that funders and intermediaries can play in supporting long-term, locally led efforts that extend beyond rescue to prevention, reintegration and survivor leadership.
Ultimately, addressing trafficking requires more than responding to exploitation after it occurs. It calls for sustained partnerships, patient investment and a commitment to strengthening the systems and communities that prevent exploitation in the first place.
Ee Jean would like to express her gratitude to all the organisers of ARAT who made the conference such an accessible, safe, and grounded space for learning exchange and action planning. She would also like to thank all the partners for their willingness to share their time, expertise, and knowledge with her and ACF.