Collective Insights: Assessment and Analysis of Irregular Migration in the South and South-east Asian regions– Emerging Trends of Travel Document and Identity Fraud

The report, Collective Insights: Assessment and Analysis of Irregular Migration in the South and South-east Asian Regions – Emerging Trends on Travel Document and Identity Fraud, is the product of a joint initiative between the Document Examination Support Center (DESC) of the International Organization for Migration (IOM) Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific (ROAP), and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) Regional Office for Southeast Asia and the Pacific (ROSEAP). It utilizes quantitative data sources from IOM’s Verifier Travel Document and Bearer Cases (Verifier TD&B); IOM’s Asian Network for Document Examination (ANDEX) Fraudulent Documents Reporting System (AFDRS); IOM’s Verifier TD&B Newsletter Cases; and UNODC’s Voluntary Reporting System on Migrant Smuggling and Related Conduct (VRS-MSRC). The study identifies trends on document and identity fraud through data drawn from IOM’s Verifier Travel Document and Bearer (Verifier TD&B); IOM’s Asian Network for Document Examination (ANDEX) Fraudulent Documents Reporting System (AFDRS); and UNODC’s Voluntary Reporting System on Migrant Smuggling and Related Conduct (VRS-MSRC). It also analyzes the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the interception of travel documents and identity fraud cases in the following South and South-east Asian countries: Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Cambodia, Indonesia, Lao People’s Democratic Republic, Malaysia, Maldives, Myanmar, the Philippines, Sri Lanka, Thailand and Viet Nam. In addition to describing trends, the report provides key recommendations to address fraud cases through capacity-building, information exchange and data management. The joint initiative improves evidence-based research on current and new trends on the use of travel documents and identity fraud in irregular migration. The two United Nation agencies also reaffirm their commitment to strengthen cooperation to curb irregular migration in Asia-Pacific region through this collaboration.