government, called Pyu Saw Htee. When brokers failed to pay the ransom, they were reportedly beaten to death. The bodies were not released till after post-mortem and were not given an Islamic funeral. 23. Returnees to Myanmar are also subjected to further persecution. In December 2022, 154 Rohingya who left from Bangladesh including 40 women and 31 children were rescued after a week floating at sea by the Vietnamese Navy.21 They were handed over to the Myanmar Navy and a few days later they were transferred to Sittwe in Rakhine State. Since then, Rohingya community members have been unable to locate them. It is presumed that they have been detained and held on immigration charges. Recommendations Based on the information above, we would like to recommend that anti-trafficking prevention and protection initiatives are more inclusive of stateless people and should be targeted to their specific needs and vulnerabilities. For example, prevention activities should focus on ensuring access to basic rights and socio-economic rights for stateless people. Additionally, preventing trafficking in refugee and IDP situations, and protecting survivors of trafficking from refugee and IDP backgrounds, requires measures that are situated within a broader framework that factors in the need for protection not just from criminal syndicates, but also from perpetrating states and state actors. For example: I. Promote the right to work for stateless people and refugees; provide access to livelihoods and decent working conditions. II. Increase access for stateless refugees to durable solutions such as resettlement, integration, and safe and voluntary repatriation, including by providing specific pathways and routes to overcome the barriers encountered by stateless people. III. For Rohingyas, promote access to citizenship in Myanmar as an integral component of securing safe repatriations. IV. Provide access to safe and regular migration routes for stateless people, including by bypassing the role of the state of origin in proving identity V. Increase access to family reunion and reunification through safe and regular routes for stateless people, including by reducing the evidentiary requirements. VI. Promote access to civil registration, including birth registration, in countries of refuge with a view to providing pathways to regularise legal status and citizenship for those experiencing intergenerational statelessness. VII. For stateless children, provide access to formal education, accreditation, and development opportunities to enable them to access decent work in the future and lift themselves out of the cycles of poverty and exploitation. VIII. Incorporate refugee protections into search and rescue operations including providing access to UNHCR, ensuring the right to apply for asylum and nonrefoulement. 21 Reuters, Vietnam vessel saves 154 Rohingya from sinking boat, transfers to Myanmar navy, 2022, https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/vietnam-vessel-saves-154-rohingya-sinking-boat-transfers-myanmar-navy-202212-09/, [accessed 28 February 2023] 7