Foreword

The smuggling of migrants across international borders on routes traversing land, air and sea continues to undermine migration governance and impedes safe and orderly migration. In numerous parts of the world, migrant smugglers have become an integral part of the irregular migration journey, resulting in enormous profits for criminal smuggling networks while reducing the ability of States to manage their borders and migration programmes. Given that it is often covert in nature, migrant smuggling may only become visible when tragedies occur or emergency humanitarian responses are required. Events involving people drowning or perishing inside trucks regularly capture the media’s attention, but these tragedies are likely to be just the tip of the iceberg. Reliance on smugglers makes migrants particularly vulnerable to abuse and exploitation. Migrants who have experienced abuse by smugglers have little effective recourse to justice. In this ever more pressing situation, States are being severely tested in the fulfilment of their responsibilities to protect migrants’ human rights and manage their borders.

Related Subject(s): Drugs Crime and Terrorism