Human Smuggling

Despite its importance in global illegal migration, there is little, and mostly theoretical research on human smuggling. We suggest an analytical framework to understand the micro structure of the human smuggling market. Migrants interact with smuggling and financing intermediaries; these may or may not be integrated with each other, and with the migrants' employers. Policies of receiving countries (border controls, employer sanctions, deportation policies, sales of visa) affect the interactions in the smuggling market, and, hence, migration flows. We review the theoretical work, point to the scarce empirical evidence, and identify challenges for future theoretical, empirical work and policy advice.illegal migration, trafficking

Towards a better understanding of human smuggling

Contents: What is human smuggling?; How can we know about human smuggling?; Human smuggling as a migration phenomenon; Human smuggling as a business; The social organizing of human smuggling; Fighting against human smuggling

Sale of Visas: A Smuggler’s Final Song?

Is there a way of eliminating human smuggling? We set up a model to simultaneously determine the provision of human smuggling services and the demand from would-be migrants. A visa-selling policy may be successful at eliminating human smugglers by eroding their profits but it necessarily increases immigration. In contrast, re-enforced repression decreases migration but uses the help of cartelized smugglers. To overcome this trade-off we study how legalisation and repression can be combined to eliminate human smuggling while controlling migration flows. This policy mix also has the advantage that the funds raised by visa sales can be used to finance additional investments in border and internal controls (employer sanctions and deportations). Simulations of the policy implications highlight the complementarities between repression and legalisation and call into question the current policies.migration, migration policies, market structure, legalisation, human smuggling.

Illegal Immigration, Human Trafficking, and Organized Crime

illegal migration, human smuggling, human trafficking, organized crime, states, borders

Sale of Visas: a Smuggler's Final Song?

Is there a way of eliminating human smuggling? We set up a model to simultaneously determine the provision of human smuggling services and the demand from would-be migrants. A visa-selling policy may be successful in eliminating smugglers by eroding their profits, but it also increases immigration. In contrast, repression decreases migration but fuels cartelized smugglers. To overcome this trade-off we show that legalization through selling visas in combination with repression can be used to weaken human smuggling while controlling migration flows. Our results highlight the complementarities between repression and selling visas, and call into question current policies

The digital routes of human smuggling?:Evidence from the UK

There are justified concerns but little empirical evidence about the implications of the use of information and communication technologies (ICT) in the business of human smuggling. The knowledge base on the use of ICT in human smuggling has rarely gone beyond the rather generic observation that the Internet and mobile technologies are available to and are used by both smugglers and migrants, and there is a concrete knowledge gap regarding the extent and the mode in which the use of ICT is integrated in the process of smuggling. In this paper, which is part of a wider research effort concerned with the role of the Internet in human smuggling in the European Union, we interrogate the outlook and implications of the use of contemporary mobile technology and of social media in the organisation and conduct of human smuggling to the UK

International migrations and human smuggling: a legal analysis of its social and humanitarian consequences

The aim of this article is to present a socio-legal analysis and the most important consequences of human smuggling across the globe. The issue of human smuggling becomes and area of international cooperation and humanitarian assistance for more than forty years. The firtst part of this article analyses the current scale of human smuggling worldwide. The practice of people smuggling has seen a rise over the past few decades and today now accounts for a significant portion of irregular immigration in countries around the world. People smuggling generally takes place with the consent of the person or persons being smuggled, and common reasons for individuals seeking to be smuggled include employment and economic opportunity, personal and/or familial betterment, and escape from persecution, violence or conflict. The Convention of Palermo, adopted in 2000 is considered the most important international law instrument against human smuggling

Human smuggling networks operating between Middle East and the European Union: evidence from Iranian, Iraqi and Afghani migrants in the Netherlands

"Due to its challenging nature of traditional perspectives, human smuggling is always on the agenda of decision makers, politicians, media and academia. This article focuses on human smuggling between Middle East into the European Union, especially the Netherlands. Iran, Iraq and Afghanistan are the chosen countries from the region since there are increasing numbers of asylum seekers in Europe. The article briefly looks at different perspectives in the literature and then concentrates on the involvement of transnational organized crime in the process of human smuggling. Then it will try to analyze organized crime perspective by network analysis." (author's abstract