With an estimated 1.3 million people, the Romanian diaspora constitutes one of the largest European immigrant communities in the UK, which also remains a top destination for Romanian migrants. However, the same conditions that facilitate migration can simultaneously increase the risk of exploitation, making human trafficking a frequent co- occurring phenomenon. As Romania continues to be a source country for victims of cross-border trafficking, cases are naturally concentrated in countries with large Romanian diaspora communities, including the UK.
The true scale of human trafficking is widely underestimated in both statistics and academic literature, due to limitations in identification, victim referral systems, and data collection. In Romania, this underestimation appears even more pronounced, given institutional capacity constraints and suboptimal coordination among key public sector agencies in practice. An additional challenge is that many situations of abuse fall within a “grey zone” that does not meet the strict legal definition of human trafficking. For policymakers—the primary audience of this report—this distinction is often of limited practical relevance. Policies that address underlying vulnerabilities can be effective both for formally identified victims of trafficking and for individuals exposed to milder, but still harmful, forms of exploitation such as underpaid labour or poor working conditions.
Given these constraints, the purpose of this report is to provide actionable recommendations for decision-makers in Romania and the UK, operating under conditions of uncertainty and incomplete or fragmented data. Specifically
- First, the report seeks to bridge existing knowledge gaps by contributing new evidence, particularly in under-researched areas, through extensive interviews with victims in Romania and the UK, as well as NGOs, key public institutions, researchers, journalists, and other stakeholders with direct experience of trafficked young males in the UK. This is complemented by analysis of broader datasets and existing research on human trafficking, destination countries, and forms of exploitation, including beyond the immediate target group, where relevant patterns or effective responses can inform policy.
- Second, the report provides policy recommendations that remain relevant even in the absence of precise data, focusing not only on trafficking itself but also on the broader set of vulnerabilities that increase exposure to exploitation, including those within the “grey zone”.
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