Smuggling of Migrants A Global Review and Annotated Bibliography of Recent Publications The opinions, figures and estimates set forth in this publication are those of the author and should not necessarily be considered as reflecting the views of the United Nations. The description and classification of countries and territories in this study and the arrangement of the material do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of the Secretariat of the United Nations concerning the legal status of any country, territory, city or area, or of its authorities, or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries, or regarding its economic system or degree of development. © United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, 2010 This document has not been formally edited. UNITED NATIONS Vienna, 2010 Acknowledgements The publication was drafted by Dr. Daphné Bouteillet-Paquet, and is published by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC). The author would like to thank Katherine Rogers for her invaluable help in researching academic sources. Special gratitude is extended to Sebastian Baumeister, Michael Jandl, Marika McAdam, Morgane Nicot and Fabrizio Sarrica for their valuable contribution to the present work. This publication is made possible through funding received from the European Union. Table of Contents List of Abbrevations and Acronyms AIC Australian Institute of Criminology CRS Congressional Research Service EU European Union FRONTEX European Agency for the Management of Operational Cooperation at the External Borders of the Member States of the European Union GAO United States Government Accountability Office ICMPD International Centre for Migration Policy Development IOM International Organization for Migration UN United Nations UNHCR United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees UNICRI United Nations Interregional Crime and Justice Research Institute UNODC United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime Trafficking in Persons UN Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Protocol Persons, especially Women and Children, supplementing the UN Convention Against Transnational Organized Crime (2000) Migrant Smuggling UN Protocol against the Smuggling of Migrants by Land, Sea Protocol and Air, supplementing the UN Convention Against Transnational Organized Crime (2000) 2 Smuggling of Migrants – A Global Review Table of Contents Table of Contents..................................................................................................... 1 1 Introduction ...................................................................................................... 3 2 Conceptual challenges .....................................................................................6 2.1 Migrant smuggling and the concepts of irregular migration and trafficking in persons..6 2.1.1 Irregular migration.....................................................................................................................6 2.1.2 Trafficking in persons.................................................................................................................6 2.2 Conceptualization of migrant smuggling.............................................................................9 2.2.1 Smuggling as an (illegal) migration business............................................................................9 2.2.2 Smuggling as a security threat (organized crime)....................................................................11 2.2.3 Smuggling as a ‘family business’ .............................................................................................. 13 2.3 Conclusions ......................................................................................................................... 15 3 Methodology applied for researching migrant smuggling ............................. 16 3.1 Statistical methodologies.................................................................................................... 16 3.2 Qualitative methodologies.................................................................................................. 18 3.2.1 Interviews with smuggled migrants......................................................................................... 18 3.2.2 Interviews with smugglers .......................................................................................................20 3.2.3 Other sources ............................................................................................................................ 21 3.3 Conclusions .........................................................................................................................22 4 The Scope of migrant smuggling .................................................................... 23 4.1 Quantitative assessment by regions...................................................................................23 4.1.1 Europe.......................................................................................................................................23 4.1.2 Africa .........................................................................................................................................30 4.1.3 Americas....................................................................................................................................33 4.1.4 Asia............................................................................................................................................36 4.2 Overview of migrant smuggling routes..............................................................................39 4.2.1 Migrant smuggling routes from the perspective of the destination countries.......................39 4.2.2 Migrant smuggling routes from the perspective of the source and transit countries............42 4.3 Conclusions .........................................................................................................................44 5 Profiles of smuggled migrants .......................................................................46 5.1 General profile of smuggled migrants ...............................................................................46 5.1.1 Social and educational background of smuggled migrants ....................................................46 5.1.2 The role of the smuggled migrant in the smuggling process ..................................................48 5.1.3 ‘Vulnerable’ migrants ...............................................................................................................50 5.2 Profiles of migrants: a regional perspective ......................................................................53 5.2.1 Europe.......................................................................................................................................53 5.2.2 Africa ......................................................................................................................................... 57 5.2.3 Americas.................................................................................................................................... 61 5.2.4 Asia............................................................................................................................................63 5.3 Conclusions .........................................................................................................................64 1 Table of Contents 6 The profile of the migrant smugglers.............................................................66 6.1 Methodology applied for researching smugglers’ profile .................................................66 6.2 Profile of smugglers: a regional perspective......................................................................68 6.2.1 Europe.......................................................................................................................................68 6.2.2 Africa .........................................................................................................................................69 6.2.3 Americas....................................................................................................................................70 6.2.4 Asia............................................................................................................................................ 73 6.3 Conclusions .........................................................................................................................73 7 Smuggler-migrant relationships...................................................................... 74 7.1 General overview.................................................................................................................74 7.2 Conclusions ......................................................................................................................... 77 8 Organizational structures of smuggling networks ......................................... 78 8.1 General analysis on organizational structures of smuggling networks ...........................78 8.1.1 Typology of structures ..............................................................................................................78 8.1.2 Typologies of actors involved .................................................................................................. 80 8.2 The organizational structure of smuggling networks: a regional perspective.................83 8.2.1 Europe.......................................................................................................................................83