Global overview I GLOBAL STUDY ON SMUGGLING OF MIGRANTS 2018 EUROPE 1 EUROPE ITALY SPAIN Lesvos Balikesir Chios Izmir TURKEY Sicily Samos Lampedusa GREECE Tangier Ceuta Melilla MOROCCO Sabratha Land 0 1,000 2,000 km Sea The designations employed and the presentation of material on this map do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on Thethe partdesignations of the Secretariat employed of and the theUnited presentation Nations concerning of material the on legal this statusmap do of not any imply country, the territory, expression city of or any area opinion or of its whatsoever authorities, on the partor concerning of the Secretariat the delimitation of the United of its frontiersNations orconcerning boundaries. the Final legal boundary status of betweenany country, the Republicterritory, ofcity Sudan or area and or the of Republicits authorities, of South or concerningSudan has not the yet delimitation been determined. of its frontiers or boundaries. Profile of migrants: PATTERNS AND TRENDS OF Along the Central Mediterranean route, most smuggled MIGRANT SMUGGLING TO AND migrants are from the Horn of Africa and West Africa. ACROSS EUROPE Along the Eastern Mediterranean route, many people from South-West Asia, mainly the Syrian Arab Republic, Since 2014, Europe has seen a significant increase in the as well as Afghans and Iraqis. Most of those using the number of arrivals of irregular migrants and refugees com- Western Mediterranean route are West Africans, plus Syr- pared to the first few years of this decade. Flows along ians and Moroccans. Most of the smuggled migrants are some traditional migratory routes have increased and some men. new routes have emerged. Human cost: Although so far no accurate and comprehensive statistics on migrant smuggling to and within Europe have been Thousands of smuggled migrants have died during the produced, there is extensive evidence that many of the sea passage, mostly along the Central Mediterranean irregular migrants and refugees arriving in European coun- route. Deaths have also been reported along the other European routes. Exploitation of migrants and gross tries have been smuggled. Europol has reported that more human rights violations have been recorded in origin, than 90 per cent of irregular migrants use facilitation ser- transit and destination countries. vices – usually migrant smugglers - at some point during their journey to Europe.1 In early 2016, Europol launched Profile of smugglers: the European Migrant Smuggling Centre in response to Smugglers are often citizens of the countries of departure the unprecedented increase in the number of irregular or of the same citizenship as the smuggled migrants. Some migrants arriving in the European Union since 2014. high-level smuggling organizers are based in destination There are currently three major smuggling routes into countries. Europe. The Central Mediterranean route departs from Organization: North Africa, most commonly Libya, and arrives in Italy, Depending on the route, a mix of local smugglers facili- usually in Sicily. The Eastern Mediterranean route con- tating short legs of the journey and larger transnational nects the Turkish coast to various Greek islands, and the networks. Sea journeys generally require more organiza- Western Mediterranean route departs from Morocco and tion than overland travel. arrives in Spain, either by sea or overland. For most of the migrants and refugees who make use of these routes, being smuggled across the Mediterranean is only one part of a longer journey that may have started in South-West Asia, the Horn of Africa, West Africa or elsewhere. 143 2018 FIG. 69: Number of detected irregular border FIG. 70: Trend in the number of irregular mi- crossings along the Central and East- grants arrived at Spanish coasts, both ern Mediterranean routes, 2009-2016 in continental territory and the Canary Islands,1999-2016 6 8 3 , 5 45,000 8 8 SMUGGLING OF MIGRANTS 39,180 40,000 250,000 7 9 35,000 7 5 4 2 4 6 , , 6 6 2 1 , 4 8 200,000 8 30,000 0 9 1 1 7 , 1 3 5 1 25,000 150,000 19,176 18,517 20,000 18,057 16,670 GLOBAL STUDY ON 1 15,675 15,025 13,424 5 6 8 100,000 4 15,000 2 2 8 , 3 0 6 , 4 4 , 4 8 5 , 7 0 6 5 8,162 2 7 0 7,285 5 9 3 5 2 9 10,000 11,781 , , 5 , 9 3 0 5,312 9 7 9 7 , 4 4 7 50,000 4,859 3 3 5,443 3,804 4,552 3,632 8 4 0 3 3,237 , 4 , 2 5,000 1 4 0 , 1 1 4 0 0 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 0 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 1999 2001 2003 2005 2007 2009 2011 2013 2015 Central Mediterranean Eastern Mediterranean Source: Spanish Ministry of Interior. Source: Frontex. entries are reported through the European Union’s eastern borders every year, although it is difficult to determine The Western Mediterranean route has consistently seen how many of those are facilitated by migrant smugglers. the lowest arrival numbers, ranging between some 4,000 In 2016, some 1,350 irregular border crossings were and 20,000 per year between 1999 and 2016, apart from detected along the Eastern Borders route.4 In autumn a sharp rise to nearly 40,000 arrivals in 2006.2 Arrivals on 2017, detections of migrants who had been smuggled the Central and Eastern Mediterranean routes fluctuated across the Black Sea increased, although the numbers were sharply between 2009 and 2013, although yearly arrival small compared to the other sea routes.5 numbers on either route never exceeded 65,000 during these years.3 Moreover, smugglers facilitate some of the movements of migrants and refugees along the Western Balkans route. In 2014, however, the number of arrivals increased sig- nificantly, driven by more than 170,000 arrivals on the The use of the Western Balkans route peaked in 2015, Central Mediterranean route. This was followed by an with detections of irregular border crossings of more than even more dramatic increase in 2015, when more than 1 764,000. By 2016, these detections had decreased to just 6 million people arrived, mostly along the Eastern Medi- over 130,000. Smugglers also facilitate ‘secondary move- b terranean route. The years 2016 and 2017 saw a stark ments’ within the European Union. It is difficult to gauge decrease compared to the year 2015, however the number how many of the ‘secondary movements’ involve smug- of arrivals remained above the number recorded in 2014 gling as irregular migrants use a variety of modi operandi 7 and before.a While nearly half of the arrivals in 2015 were and means of transport. from the Syrian Arab Republic, in 2016, this share had Migrants are also smuggled to a range of major airports decreased to 23 per cent, alongside a diversification of the in Europe, often using fraudulent documents. The origins of migrants smuggled into the European Union. number of detections of fraudulent documents on entry The three Mediterranean routes dominate, but migrant from third countries into the EU or Schengen area has smuggling also occurs elsewhere in Europe. Irregular been decreasing in recent years. From a peak of more than 11,000 in 2013,8 there has been a gradual decline to just a Several international organizations, including Frontex, the Inter- national Organization for Migration and the United Nations High b The phenomenon of migrants, including refugees and asylum seek- Commission for Refugees, as well as national authorities in some des- ers, who for various reasons move from the country in which they tination countries, monitor arrivals along the Mediterranean routes first arrived, to seek protection or permanent resettlement elsewhere. and regularly report data. The exact figures vary somewhat between (European Parliament, Secondary movements of asylum-seekers in the agencies, but these variations do not affect overall trends. EU asylum system, Briefing, October 2017). 144 Regional overviews - Europe II FIG. 71: Shares of citizenships among people who arrived in the European Union along the three Mediterranean routes, by country of citizenship, 2015 and 2016 Others, 13% Syrian Arab Others , 15% Republic, Syrian Arab Nigeria, 2% 48% Republic, 23% Pakistan, 2% Somalia, 2% Sudan, 3% Iraq, 9% Mali, 3% Senegal, 3% 2015 2016 Somalia, 2% Gambia, 4% Afghanistan, Eritrea, 4% Côte d'Ivoire, 4% 12% Guinea, 4% Iraq, 8% Eritrea, 6% Afghanistan, 20% Pakistan, 3% Nigeria, 10% Bangladesh, 2% Source: UNHCR. more than 8,000 in 2016. The most frequently detected those using the Central Mediterranean route to reach Italy type of fraudulent document is passports (34 per cent in depart from Libya.11 Smuggled migrants usually leave 2016), followed by visas.9 from Tripoli and its surroundings, including Zawiyah and Zuwara to the west of the capital and Misrata to the east. THE CENTRAL MEDITERRANEAN Some migrants also leave from Benghazi, which is some ROUTE 1,000 km east of Tripoli.12 The Central Mediterranean route – from North Africa to Libyan departure points to Europe change quickly Italy (and Malta) – is a common entry point to Europe depending on a number of factors, including the actions for irregular migrants and refugees travelling by sea. Apart of local communities, the local security situation and the from the year 2015, when arrivals in Greece on the East- presence of checkpoints. For example, in 2016, smuggling ern Mediterranean route surpassed those in Italy, most departures moved eastwards along the Libyan coast, with migrants who travel by sea use the Central Mediterranean departures from Zuwara decreasing significantly.