Current_Trends_and_Related_Challenges_web

Current Trends and Challenges
Foreword
The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) is the guardian of the United Nations Convention
against Transnational Organized Crime, the Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in
Persons, Especially Women and Children and the Protocol against Smuggling of Migrants by Land, Sea
and Air. UNODC promotes these instruments and assists States to adopt and effectively implement
them.
The Migrant Smuggling in Asia report is the result of an intensive effort to develop regional capacity
for information generation and sharing and highlights the importance of addressing migrant smuggling
and related crime in the region. Covering 28 States and territories, the report is unique, providing a
comprehensive overview of the complexities of migrant smuggling.
Smuggling networks are often arranged on an adhoc basis in order to assist the movement of people
in search of better economic opportunities and/or protection. Migrants who pay smugglers often face
life-threatening risks to reach new destinations. They enter into arrangements using typically limited
savings and can incur extensive debt in the hope of creating a better future for themselves and their
families.
Routes from, to and through Asia are extensive, with some journeys being pre-organized and encompassing
an entire route, while other routes are decided and organized as transit countries are reached. Route
plans are flexible and subject to change based on circumstances, such as increased border control at
specific points and the ability of smugglers to successfully pass through, or bypass, checkpoints.
The production and use of fraudulent travel or identity documents is widespread and can at times dictate
the route selected. Document fraud is particularly common if migrants are smuggled by air and can
increase the cost of the journey. Fraudulent documents are obtained in various countries throughout
Asia generally produced by local individuals and groups along the smuggling route.
With the expansion of infrastructure across Asia, in part related to the Asian Highway Network, and the
opening of South-East Asian borders in 2015 with the ASEAN Community, the cross-border movement
of people in the region is expected to grow rapidly and to unprecedented levels. At the same time, the
evidence base on migrant smuggling and other connected transnational organized crime in the region,
such as trafficking in persons, remains limited. Even so, it is well established that smuggling increases
migrants’ vulnerability to becoming victims of trafficking, exploitation and debt bondage.
UNODC promotes a comprehensive response to migrant smuggling embedded in wider trafficking,
migration and development policies and one that is informed by in-depth research activities with
countries. Drawing on the United Nations protocols and commitments made by States to address
the smuggling of migrants, the connection with human trafficking needs to be further explored and
prioritized. A multifaceted approach backed by evidence-based research is required to increase the
protection of people and borders, improve international cooperation and build States’ capacity to target
the networks and operations of people smugglers and human traffickers.
Jeremy Douglas
I