New protocol for the early detection of human trafficking situations at border crossings

Analysis of Joint Resolution 3/2025
Ministry of National Security and the National Directorate of Migration

Regulatory and Political Context
Joint Resolution 3/2025, issued by the Ministry of National Security and the National Directorate of Migration, approves a new Protocol for the Early Detection of Human Trafficking Situations at Border Crossings.
This replaces and updates the protocol approved in 2012, adapting it to legislative changes (mainly Law 26.842) and to new dynamics of trafficking, which has become more sophisticated and diversified in recent years.

Main Objectives

  1. Strengthen the institutional capacities of federal forces and migration officers to detect victims and traffickers at entry and exit points of the country.

  2. Standardize criteria and guidelines for action for all agencies involved.

  3. Update detection tools based on national and international experiences, including the contribution of the IOM’s EUROFRONT Program.

Key Elements of the New Protocol

  • Mandatory for Federal Police and Security Forces in their role as Auxiliary Migration Police, and for migration officers of the National Directorate of Migration (DNM).

  • One of its annexes has a restricted nature, presumably to protect sensitive detection and investigation methodologies.

  • Ongoing monitoring and updating under the responsibility of the National Directorate of Trafficking Crime Investigations and the National Directorate of Migration.

  • Inter-institutional coordination with committees and specialized directorates in border control, international cooperation, and victim assistance.

Strategic Importance

  • Recognizes that border crossings are critical points for detecting trafficking at different stages (recruitment, transport, exploitation).

  • Integrates the fight against trafficking into a State policy, linked to international commitments and a coordinated approach among multiple agencies.

  • The update responds to a shifting criminal landscape: more organized, transnational networks with increasingly complex methods.

The resolution represents a necessary step forward in modernizing state tools against human trafficking, recognizing that early detection at borders is a critical link in breaking the cycle of exploitation.

Its mandatory nature and ongoing monitoring are positive features, as they prevent the protocol from becoming a merely declarative document.

However, the challenge will be to ensure continuous training, real coordination among agencies, and effective use of the tools provided, so that well-intentioned regulations do not fade away in operational practice.