Smuggling of Migrants

Migrant smuggling is a growing transnational crime that compromises the life and safety of migrants while undermining States’ border integrity and migration governance systems.

A comprehensive response to the smuggling of migrants requires a coordinated and harmonized approach between countries along the migration continuum (from countries of origin, through transit countries, to countries of destination). This starts with a common understanding of what the crime of migrant smuggling is. The Protocol against the Smuggling of Migrants by Land, Sea and Air, supplementing the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime (UNTOC), gives States Parties a definition of smuggling of migrants and sets out a framework for cooperation.

While the end goal for smugglers is criminal profit, the source of this profit is the irregular movement of people across borders. This irregular movement undermines States’ efforts to effectively manage their borders and creates an illegal “shadow system” led by organized crime. Migrant smuggling takes advantage of weak criminal justice and migration governance systems, investing in corruption and reducing public trust in the State and the rule of law.

When left unaddressed, migrant smuggling can strengthen other transnational crimes. In fact, the same routes that are used to smuggle people are often used to traffic narcotics, weapons or even to traffic people for different types of exploitation. The profits of smuggling are processed through money laundering, and money is also invested into further illegal activities, including both more complex and larger-scale smuggling operations, and other serious crimes such as terrorism (UNODC, 2018a: 33). These realities point to the grave security risks that the smuggling of migrants pose for States and their populations among the migration continuum.

Beyond these wider security risks, the increasingly callous methods of smugglers put at risk the lives and safety of migrants who place their fates in the hands of organized criminals. People have suffocated or been crushed to death in the back of trucks during smuggling journeys. Many have starved to death or died of dehydration along desert routes. Others have been raped, kidnapped or tortured by unscrupulous smugglers, bandits and sometimes even corrupt border officials during smuggling journeys.

One of the most dangerous methods of migrant smuggling, which attracts significant media attention, is smuggling by sea. Treacherous conditions and unseaworthy vessels cost thousands of lives each year, with frequent reports of migrant deaths (IOM Missing Migrants Project, n.d.) testing the compassion of those who are in a position to implement policies and take action to help them. It is the role of State migration and border authorities to ensure that borders are not compromised in ways that pose threats to national security. At the same time, people who use the services of smugglers may be in need of protection and assistance. Responses to migrant smuggling should take into consideration both national security and international obligations to protect and assist people in danger. They should reflect the obligations and commitments of the States to ensure the fundamental human rights of the persons being smuggled.

Migrant smuggling can be measured in different ways, including by:

• Number of migrants using smugglers;
• The size and value of the criminal market;
• The level of criminal consolidation involved;
• The protection risks of smuggling.

Baseline requirements include data to map key routes, hubs and modus operandi covering the movement and destination of the migrants, the pricing and control of key routes. Such data needs to be gathered through surveys, institutional data and innovative data collection methodologies that may offer insight into the dimensions of migrant smuggling (Reitano and Kaysser, 2018: 67).

Crime statistics are a key data source for information on migrant smuggling. Crime statistics include reports to authorities, court data and prosecution data, all of which can be used to collect data on the smuggling of migrants. From those statistics, authorities can see the countries involved, the profiles of criminals, the methods and the routes, as well as patterns in all of these categories. This is one of the best sources of data to analyse the crime of migrant smuggling, but it is very limited in a key area: not all smuggling cases are reported to authorities.

• UNODC, Global Study on Smuggling of Migrants 2018, 2018b. Provides detailed data and information on key smuggling routes, profiles of smugglers and smuggled migrants, the modus operandi of smugglers and the risks that smuggled migrants face during their journey.
• Triandafyllidou and McAuliffe, Migrant Smuggling Data and Research: A Global Review of the Emerging Evidence Base (Volume 2), 2018. This publication presents a unique review of what is being collected and what can be done to further build the evidence base on migrant smuggling globally. It builds upon the 2016 report (volume 1) and provides useful insights on the crime, routes, criminal organizations and profiles of smugglers, all of which sheds light on smuggling as practiced in specific countries and regions.
• UNODC, Smuggling of Migrants Knowledge Portal. Provides databases on national and international case law and on legislation, as well as an annotated bibliography on the smuggling of migrants.
• IOM, Missing Migrants Project (MMP). Tracks migrant deaths and disappearances, including those linked to smugglers.
• Displacement Tracking Matrix (DTM). DTM is a system developed by IOM to track and monitor displacement and population mobility, as well as the evolving needs of displaced populations. In some cases, data collection systems capture movements of individuals who have been smuggled.
• Global Migration Data Portal. Managed and developed by the IOM Global Migration Data Analysis Centre (GMDAC), the portal includes information on data challenges, estimates and recent trends regarding the smuggling of migrants.

At the regional level, efforts have also been undertaken to collect data on specific migrant smuggling routes.

• The European Border and Coast Guard Agency (FRONTEX) collects data and intelligence regarding smuggling routes into the European Union, and on the practices of criminal networks involved. Quarterly risk analysis reports are published on crimes, including migrant smuggling.
• Mixed Migration Monitoring Mechanism Initiative (4Mi) was created by the Regional Mixed Migration Secretariat (RMMS) to address the need for better data on smuggling-dominated mixed migration flows.

For more information, read Data collection, analysis and research on the smuggling of migrants in this chapter.

Global initiatives and commitments relevant to migrant smuggling are embedded within a wider framework of migration governance goals. Ensuring safe, orderly and regular migration is a globally recognized goal. Achieving this goal requires good practices, adherence to international standards, the fulfilment of migrants’ rights, the formulation of policy on the basis of evidence and a whole-of-government approach, and engagement with partners. Such an approach emerges strongly in recent international commitments.

2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development

The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development sets out the United Nations. Target 10.7 recognizes that realizing the benefits and full potential of migration, while addressing risks such as migrant smuggling that seek to derive illicit profit from human mobility, requires well-managed and well-governed approaches to migration and human mobility.

Global forums such as the Global Forum on Migration and Development (GFMD) and the IOM International Dialogue on Migration (IDM) have addressed the smuggling of migrants and related issues. Examples of Regional Consultative Processes on migration (RCPs) and interregional processes that addresses migrant smuggling issues include: