Migrant smuggling is the facilitation of irregular entry into a foreign country in exchange for money.
It is a global and highly profitable business in which smugglers arrange transport, guidance, false documents or other illegal services for migrants – but not for humanitarian reasons.
Smugglers are motivated by material gain and often have little regard for the rights, safety and lives of migrants and refugees.
Journeys can be fraught with grave peril. Last year, the world witnessed an unprecedented number of migrant and refugee fatalities: more than 8,000 people died globally along migration routes, a 20 per cent increase from the year before.
Children, women, people with disabilities and in vulnerable situations are often at greater risk of violence and death.
Smuggled migrants are people trying to escape poverty, conflict, violence, oppression, natural disasters or lack of employment opportunities. They turn to smugglers for help in reaching a foreign country in the absence of other – i.e., regular – ways to migrate.
Demand for smuggling services is particularly high among refugees and asylum seekers who, for lack of other means, may use smugglers to reach a safe destination after fleeing their country.
During their journey, smuggled migrants may suffer various forms of violence and threats to their health and lives, from beatings and rape at the hands of smugglers and other criminals to disease and unsafe environments.
Not all smuggled migrants necessarily experience these abuses, but their irregular status and lack of documentation make them extremely vulnerable to various violations.
The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) has documented cases of migrants being illegally detained, brutally tortured, sexually abused and killed by transnational smuggling gangs who demanded exorbitant ransoms from their families for their release.
In some instances, people moving across countries were coerced into inhumane forced labour in remote mines or horrendous sexual exploitation by human traffickers, with little chance of escape.
Others were injured and killed while crossing wild and impenetrable jungles, teeming with wild animals and exposed to extreme weather conditions. A similar fate befell those adrift at sea in unseaworthy, overcrowded boats without safety equipment.
Yes. The UN Migrant Smuggling Protocol – the world’s primary legal instrument to combat this crime – places legal obligations on countries to assist and protect smuggled migrants, including measures to be taken by states to protect the fundamental rights of migrants.
These include, for example, the right to life; the right not to be subjected to torture, punishment or other inhuman treatment; the right to be protected from violence and threats to life and safety as a result of smuggling; and the right to consular assistance.
Smuggled migrants and their specific needs must be accurately identified at ports, airports, railway stations, border crossings and other entry or exit points. Migrants should be screened to assess their health and safety needs.
Specialists should determine whether they experienced violence and abuse or are victims of crimes, such as human trafficking. If this is the case, migrants should be referred to appropriate mechanisms and procedures, especially in relation to asylum and access to justice.
Improving data collection, analysis and research on migrant smuggling is also highly relevant to understanding the needs of smuggled migrants and developing effective, evidence-based public policies.
Many measures can be implemented to ensure smuggled migrants’ safety and well-being.
First, they must have access to emergency and basic medical care. Regardless of migration status, everyone has the right to life and should receive medical assistance without discrimination.
As children are particularly vulnerable, they need child-friendly services run by trained children's specialists. Once identified, they should be immediately removed from danger.
Women migrants also require special protection due to the specific risks they face. They should have access to specialized medical and psychosocial support, sexual and reproductive health services, trauma counselling, legal advice and other gender-responsive services through appropriate referral mechanisms.
In terms of justice, smuggled migrants should not be criminalized for being smuggled. They should feel safe to report abuses, seek justice and receive the necessary protection and support as witnesses of crimes.
In the context of smuggling at sea, states should emphasize search and rescue operations, ensure disembarkation in a safe place, uphold the non-criminalization principle and protect lives at sea.
Establishing regular migration pathways is another effective response, which reduces the reliance on smugglers, thereby minimizing the risks migrants face during their journeys and upon reaching their destinations.
