| Trafficking in Persons | Migrant Smuggling |
|---|---|
| Does not necessarily involve crossing a border |
Involves irregular border crossing and entry into another State |
|
Trafficking involves the ongoing exploitation of the victims in some manner to generate illicit profits for the traffickers |
The relation between smuggled migrant and smugglers is a commercial transaction: smugglers facilitate the migrant’s irregular entry across borders to obtain a financial or other material benefit |
|
Victims of trafficking have either never consented, or, if they initially consented, that consent has been rendered meaningless by the coercive means of the traffickers |
Smuggled migrants generally consent to being smuggled. Smuggling does not need to include coercive means |
| Commodity is a person | Commodity is a service: facilitating irregular entry into another State |
| Traffickers commit a crime against individuals | Smugglers commit a crime against the State |
Trafficking in persons and smuggling of migrants are different crimes that require different responses in law, both with regard to the rights of a person who has been the object of one of these crimes and to the penalty for perpetrators. Learn more on the topic of prosecution in Chapter Smuggling of migrants and Chapter Trafficking in persons and associated forms of abuse.
The table below summarizes the key differences between trafficking and smuggling:
Table
Table 1. Differences between trafficking and smuggling
Source
Based on ICAT Issue Brief 01, 2016.
The two crimes are different yet very interlinked. For this reason, identifying whether a case is one of trafficking in persons or people smuggling can be very difficult for a number of reasons:
- They are both very often operated by the same criminal organizations that use the same routes and transportation methods for the two crimes.
- Some people may pay to be smuggled but end up as victims of trafficking during the process with coercive means being used against them, which makes their initial consent irrelevant.
- Like trafficked persons, smuggled migrants are often the victim of other crimes such as ill treatment, violence, or human rights violations.
- Finally, once smuggled migrants arrive at their destination, they are illegally staying in a country. Most likely, they need to work illegally as well without perhaps knowing the language and laws of the country or avoiding resorting to law enforcement because of fear of deportation. As such, their situation in the country to which they have been smuggled renders them vulnerable to human trafficking.
Example
Smuggling or trafficking?
A smuggled migrant from sub-Saharan Africa may be approached for recruitment in a hub in North Africa, where he is deceived with a false promise of decent work in a safe country but instead is placed in forced labour in a conflict-affected country. The fine line between smuggling and trafficking is exacerbated.
Source
UNODC, 2018b
Policies and procedures regarding migration should distinguish between the crimes of trafficking in persons and smuggling of migrants by using correct definitions and applying distinct responses, while recognizing the potential overlap in practice.
Policy Approaches
Differentiating trafficking from smuggling, and responses to them
- Enact legislation on both trafficking in persons and smuggling of migrants that differentiates between the two crimes, in line with both the Trafficking Protocol and the Smuggling Protocol supplementing the UNTOC.
- Ensure that policies to combat trafficking in persons and smuggling of migrants maintain the distinction between the crimes, as described in different international instruments.
- Ensure that counter-smuggling policies aim to address the risk that smuggled migrants can become victims of trafficking, and that smuggled migrants who fall victim to trafficking have the same access to services as trafficked victims who were not smuggled.
- Raise awareness of both trafficking in persons and smuggling of migrants among migration officers, law enforcement authorities, the judiciary, health care workers, labour inspectors and others, stressing the methods and procedures of the criminal networks that commit these crimes.
- Promote common understanding and cooperation among countries of origin, transit and destination on both trafficking in persons and smuggling of migrants. The best way to do this is through bilateral memorandums of understanding (MoUs) that distinguish between the two types of crime.
- Improve data collection on both trafficking in persons and smuggling of migrants to inform the development of efficient policies and concrete actions.
- Establish financial tracking systems, strengthen financial investigations and tackle the corruption of public officials, with the aim of dismantling criminal networks involved in both human trafficking and migrant smuggling.
- Improve national level coordination among different actors involved in tackling both human trafficking and smuggling of migrants.
- Engage the private sector to address the demand side for human trafficking and migrant smuggling services. This includes addressing risks of exploitation in supply chains, raising awareness of such risks and ensuring appropriate liability for persons or businesses involved in either or both crimes.
To Go Further
- Global Migration Group, Exploitation and abuse of international migrants, particularly those in an irregular situation: A human rights approach, 2013.
- IOM, Handbook on the Protection and Assistance for Migrants Vulnerable to Violence, Exploitation, and Abuse, 2019.
- The Inter-Agency Coordination Group against Trafficking in Persons (ICAT), What is the difference between trafficking in persons and smuggling of migrants? 2016.