Route-based approach: Reducing visible flows or reducing vulnerabilities?

Strategic guidelines to turn legal pathways into effective and sustainable mechanisms.

Executive summary

Route-based strategies fail when they focus only on visible arrivals. A credible approach must reduce exposure to abuse, improve protective continuity and disrupt illicit business models.

Strategic messages

  • Strengthen institutional integrity in transit zones.
  • Target financial incentives, not just visible movement.
  • Build protection across the whole corridor.
  • Align labour demand and legal mobility.

“An effective route policy does not simply move controls; it reduces vulnerabilities and weakens criminal economies.”

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