National Threat Assessment 2008. Organised Crime - Politie

injured or killed because too many risks are taken during the smuggling process.
Smuggling of illegal immigrants also increases costs in a number of economic
sectors. Transhipment companies, for example, have to employ stricter security
measures at their sites to prevent people from climbing into their lorries. Goods
transport also takes longer due to border checks. Companies in the tourist sector
are also subject to economic dangers. The government may hold transport
companies liable if they transport aliens without the necessary documents.
Comprehensive pre-boarding checks are therefore carried out in certain high-risk
countries. However, it should also be noted that smuggling of illegal immigrants
may reduce costs for sectors in which illegal aliens can be used as cheap workers
(e.g. in a sowing shop or a shrimp-peeling mill).
Examples of (financial) harm suffered by society as a whole include misuse
of certain regulations such as the Approved Destination Status Agreement,
student visas and the asylum procedure.
2.7.6 Crime-related factors and expectations
The market regarding the smuggling of illegal immigrants is influenced by
push and pull factors such as national (international) migration policies, ecology,
economic developments and areas of conflict throughout the world. However,
the exact relationship between these factors and smuggling of illegal immigrants
to or via the Netherlands is unclear. One conclusion that can be drawn is that
changes to the policy of the Dutch government may affect the scale of
smuggling operations. The European Union’s policy with regard to its external
borders and the accession of new member states is also important, as this
accession has extended the eastern external borders of the European Union to
the Baltic states, Poland, Slovakia, Hungary and Slovenia and these countries
have borders that are difficult to monitor. In addition, anyone who crosses the
external borders into the Schengen area is free to travel anywhere within that
area, which is why these countries are being trained by the EU in the
performance of their new task. The next few years will show whether human
smugglers start using the new external borders of the EU and change their
smuggling routes accordingly.
There are no indications of the development of new working methods for
smuggling of illegal immigrants in the near future. No major changes are
expected either within the logistics of human smuggling. The same roles,
such as organiser, local guide, driver and money launderer, will remain relevant.
False and falsified passports will remain an essential tool, as they make many
different ways of legal travel possible.
chapter 2 – Illegal markets
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