The Rome Declaration, adopted at the Ministerial Conference in Rome in 2014, is the key strategic document of the Khartoum Process whereby its members agreed to assist participating states in tackling human trafficking and smuggling between the Horn of Africa and Europe.

This paper will highlight existing guidelines (especially the Migrants in Countries in Crisis Guidelines to protect migrants in countries experiencing conflict or natural disaster) that speak to the findings of our research – and connect them to wider policy developments in the migration sphere. In particular, we reference the global process of the United Nations to establish a global compact for safe, orderly and regular migration, which aims to “improve the governance on migration, to address the challenges associated with today’s migration, and to strengthen the contribution of migrants and migration to sustainable development”. Our findings provide insight on important challenges to which the global compact for migration can and should speak, as well as practices and recommendations on which stakeholders can act, within or outside of the compact process.

En los últimos años el territorio colombiano se ha visto afectado por múltiples fenómenos delincuenciales de carácter transnacional como el narcotráfico, el tráfico de armas, la trata de personas y el tráfico ilícito de migrantes, los cuales son detectados permanentemente por las autoridades colombianas en desarrollo de las actividades de control en escenarios fronterizos terrestres, puertos marítimos y fluviales y aeropuertos internacionales, entre otros lugares. El tratamiento integral a los delitos exige altos niveles de cooperación en ámbitos locales e internacionales, involucrando el intercambio de experiencias, información y mejores prácticas de los países que se ven afectados como territorios de origen, tránsito o destino, en desarrollo de estos fenómenos delictivos.

This discussion paper explores the rise of mixed, irregular migration with particular focus on the role of smuggling and trafficking in both facilitating that movement and influencing its impact. It explains the current migration context followed by a discussion and analysis of the smuggling–trafficking nexus. Emerging characteristics of irregular migration suggest that changing realities are challenging the limits of existing terminology and understanding around these activities. Current legal concepts and structures are struggling—and sometimes completely unable—to capture the complexity of what is happening. Migrants are facing increased risks in terms of greater vulnerability and less protection, not least through a shrinking of the asylum space. Understanding migrant smuggling and human trafficking as part of a wider phenomenon within classic economic dynamics of supply and demand is critical to developing migration policy that is not diverted by misuse of terminology and that maintains an appropriate focus on the rights of migrants and corresponding obligations of States. An understanding of how and why smuggling and trafficking occur also lays bare the costs to the modern liberal State of waging ‘war’ against an enemy that can only ever be defeated through the continuous deployment of massive force and denial of basic rights. The paper brings together the insights of three experts who have worked as practitioners and researchers on mixed migration, smuggling and trafficking within diverse geographical and disciplinary perspectives.

Existe una estrecha relación entre el tráfico ilícito de refugiados y migrantes y la trata de personas. Es necesario reconocer que una persona migrante o refugiada que ha estado en una situación de tráfico - bien sea para ingresar, permanecer o salir del país - se encuentra en riesgo de ser víctima del delito de trata de personas. Estos delitos implican la cosificación de las personas, el menoscabo de la dignidad humana y suele primar un aprovechamiento de situaciones de vulnerabilidad. Uno de los mayores obstáculos en la lucha contra el tráfico ilícito de refugiados y migrantes y la trata de personas es la falta de información. Hay un evidente subregistro en las cifras oficiales y esto impide que se calculen las magnitudes reales de ambos delitos.

Since its inception in 2002, the Bali Process on People Smuggling, Trafficking in Persons and Related Transnational Crime (Bali Process) has effectively raised regional awareness of the consequences of people smuggling, trafficking in persons and related transnational crime, and also developed and implemented strategies and practical cooperation in response. 48 member countries and international organizations, as well as a number of observer countries and international agencies, participate in this voluntary forum. The policy guides aim to provide an overview of international and regional standards for the identification and protection of victims of trafficking, drawing extensively on examples of good practices from Bali Process member countries. In line with the recommendations of the Fifth Ministerial Conference in April 2013, these policy guides are the second set of Bali Process Policy Guides falling within the thematic areas of the Bali Process and on issues of particular concern to Bali Process members. They are voluntary, non-binding and intended for use as reference tools by a range of domestic agencies in Bali Process Member States.

Migrant Smuggling Data and Research: A global review of the emerging evidence base presents a unique review of what is being collected and what can be done to further build the evidence base on migrant smuggling globally. The report is the result of a collaboration between the International Organization for Migration and researchers from a range of backgrounds and academic disciplines, and supported by the Government of Turkey. The report shows that important research has been undertaken on the transnational crime aspects of migrant smuggling, including on routes, smuggling organization (such as criminal networking and facilitation), smuggler profiles and fees/payment. Likewise, there is an emerging academic literature on migrant smuggling, particularly the economic and social processes involved in smuggling, which has largely been based on small-scale qualitative research, mostly undertaken by early career researchers. Contributions from private research companies, as well as investigative journalists, have provided useful insights in some regions, helping to shed light on smuggling practices.

Since its inception in 2002, the Bali Process on People Smuggling, Trafficking in Persons and Related Transnational Crime (Bali Process) has effectively raised regional awareness of the consequences of people smuggling, trafficking in persons and related transnational crime, and also developed and implemented strategies and practical cooperation in response. More than 45 member countries and international organizations, as well as a number of observer countries and international agencies, participate in this voluntary forum. At the Fifth Bali Process Regional Ministerial Conference in April 2013, Ministers agreed that policy guides be developed to assist policy makers and practitioners to criminalize people smuggling and trafficking in persons. Ministers directed that the Regional Support Office (RSO), in consultation with interested members, develop guides for States to enable a range of domestic agencies to promote a consistent understanding of international legal obligations, and to assist in the development of effective domestic legislation. Further to this direction, the RSO established a drafting committee of experts from Bali Process Member States and international organizations to develop the policy guides.The policy guides are voluntary, non-binding and intended for use as reference tools by a range of domestic agencies in Bali Process Member States. In order to keep these policy guides short, practical and user-friendly, they focus on how to effectively criminalize migrant smuggling and trafficking in persons in domestic law. Issues of protection and assistance to smuggled and trafficked persons have been addressed within the thematic scope of the guides, but it is expected that these issues may be more comprehensively addressed by future policy guides. In line with the recommendations of the Fifth Ministerial Conference in April 2013, these policy guides are the first set of Bali Process Policy Guides falling within the thematic areas of the Bali Process and on issues of particular concern to Bali Process members.

Trafficking in human beings (THB) and smuggling of migrants (SoM), two distinct but often interrelated phenomena, occur on a global scale. Searching for a way out of economic inequalities, environmental crises, armed conflict, political instability and persecution, and in view of tightening border controls and restricted options for legal migration, migrants are driven to seek the services of smugglers. At the same time, a globalized economy fosters demand for diverse types of exploitation, which also makes migrants vulnerable to traffickers. Both THB and SoM are billion-dollar businesses that exact high human costs. This is illustrated by the many migrants dying while being smuggled along increasingly dangerous migration routes, and by the millions of trafficking victims trapped in exploitative situations worldwide. The African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) Group of States are increasingly stepping up to address THB and SoM. However, they face challenges in developing the necessary holistic, long-term interventions that combine law enforcement with a rights-based, victim-centred approach and with prevention efforts that are linked to development and offer realistic, practical alternatives to irregular migration. This ACP-EU Migration Action publication analyses these challenges and provides recommendations to tackle the difficulties that ACP countries face in relation to THB and SoM

Migrant smuggling is seen as antithetical to safe, orderly and regular migration. In fact, the fight against migrant smuggling stands out as a point of agreement in an otherwise fractured policy field. This apparent unity obscures disparate motivations for counter-smuggling measures. Traditionally, concerns about illegal work and residence have been prominent. More recently, the fight against migrant smuggling is also driven by states’ desire to minimize the obligations that follow from the 1951 refugee convention. These are just two out of eight motivations identified in the paper.The eight motivations for counter-smuggling efforts differ with respect to explicitness and legitimacy.Insufficient clarity of purpose makes it more challenging to develop a sound response.Counter-smuggling strategies can be divided between those that seek to suppress the supply of smuggling services and those that seek to suppress demand. The conventional law-enforcement approach concentrates on curbing supply. Sustainable solutions are only possible with a reduced demand for migrant smuggling services. But demand-oriented policy approaches go to the heart of migration management and raise political, legal, economic, and ethical dilemmas.