| TRAFFICKING IN PERSONS | MIGRANT SMUGGLING |
|---|---|
|
Does not necessarily involve crossing a border |
Involves irregular border crossing and entry into another State |
|
Trafficking’s purpose is the 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 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 illegal 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, with regard both 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 prosecution in Chapter Trafficking in persons and associated forms of exploitation and abuse and Chapter Smuggling of migrants).
Table 1 summarizes the key difference between trafficking and smuggling.
based on Inter-Agency Coordination Group Against Trafficking in Persons (ICAT), 2016.
The two crimes are different, yet often very interlinked. For this reason, identifying whether a case is one of trafficking in persons or migrants smuggling can be very difficult:
- Both very often are operated by the same organized crime groups, using the same routes and transportation methods.
- Some people may pay to be smuggled but then end up as victims of trafficking during the process, with coercive means being used against them, making their initial consent irrelevant.
- Like trafficked persons, smuggled migrants are often victims of other crimes such as ill treatment, violence, sexual abuse and/or other forms of human rights violations.
- Once smuggled migrants arrive at their destination, they are illegally staying in a country, and most likely need to work illegally. As well, they may perhaps not know the language and laws of the country, and want to avoid resorting to law enforcement for fear of deportation. As such, their situation in the country where they have been smuggled renders migrants vulnerable to human trafficking.
A smuggled migrant from sub-Saharan Africa may be approached for recruitment in a hub in North Africa, where he or she 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 blurred even further.
UNODC, 2018.
Policies and procedures put in place 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.
- Global Migration Group (GMG), Exploitation and abuse of international migrants, particularly those in an irregular situation: A Human Rights Approach, 2013.
- IOM, IOM handbook on protection and assistance for migrants vulnerable to violence, exploitation, and abuse, 2019.
- ICAT, Issue Brief,2016.