Current_Trends_and_Related_Challenges_web

Current Trends and Challenges
also introduced a visa waiver programme for
Iranian nationals. Europol reported in 2009 that
more than half of all Iranian nationals arriving in
Canada by air using fraudulent travel or identity
documents had transited in Latin America and/
or the Caribbean. Many of the migrants had a
fraudulent Austrian, Canadian, Dutch or Israeli
passport. 189 In 2008, Europol reported that Bolivia,
Costa Rica, Guatemala and Mexico were used as a
transit point for the smuggling of Iraqi nationals
into Canada and the United States. At that time,
Iraqi migrants were also detected attempting
entry into the United States through Mexico. 190
2.5 Conditions and risks to which smuggled
migrants are exposed
The smuggling of South-West Asian migrants
often takes place under conditions that endanger
their health and life due to the territory to be
crossed, weather conditions encountered and the
smuggling methods used. For example, smuggling
from Afghanistan to Pakistan may expose migrants
to snow, ice and flooding and take them through
near-inaccessible areas with few opportunities
to obtain food. 191 Migrants have died crossing
the border between the Islamic Republic of Iran
and Turkey in harsh weather conditions during
winter. 192 On the land route to Europe, migrants
are often concealed in a vehicle without enough
food or water; they risk asphyxiation, freezing or
being crushed by goods inside a truck. In other
cases, smuggled migrants hide between the axles
or on the underside of a truck, which can lead to
serious injury or death. 193
The vessels used to travel from Turkey to Greece
are frequently overcrowded or unseaworthy,
placing migrants at risk of drowning. 194 Similarly,
the smuggling of South-West Asian migrants from
Indonesia to Australia usually takes place on a
wooden fishing vessel that is likely overcrowded,
unseaworthy and does not carry adequate fuel,
navigation equipment or life vests. 195
In transit countries, such as Greece and Turkey,
migrants are typically accommodated by their
smugglers in overcrowded ‘safe houses’ under
poor conditions. 196 There are reports that
smuggled migrants in France and Greece sleep
outdoors or may live in squalid conditions in
makeshift accommodation. 197 In winter, this places
migrants at risk of hypothermia and death. 198
The death of migrants being smuggled has not
been widely documented, and agencies only
recently began counting lives lost during journeys.
According to a 2014 report, deaths of migrants
are considerably difficult to capture and often
not recorded at all. But based on what has been
recorded since 2000, at least 40,000 migrants
worldwide are estimated to have died during their
smuggling journey. From January to September
2014 alone, more than 4,077 smuggling fatalities
were recorded (most at sea) — a total that is almost
70 per cent higher than all recorded deaths in
2013, most of which also occurred at sea. 199 From
January 2000 to September 2014, the Australian
Border Deaths Database recorded close to 1,500
migrant smuggling-related deaths at sea. 200 This
includes one incident, in 2001, when 353 migrants
died — with 146 of them thought to be children.
The Australian Border Deaths data indicate that
most recorded deaths by sea occurred between
2012 and 2013. 201 A 2014 report noted that
migrants coming from the Middle East and South
Asia, particularly Afghanistan, the Islamic Republic
of Iran, Iraq and Sri Lanka, made up the majority of
migrants arriving in Australia by boat. 202 Between
January 2000 and July 2014, 300 deaths of Afghan
nationals and 120 deaths of Iraq nationals were
recorded; 203 and 800 other migrants died during
that same time while trying to reach Australia,
although their nationalities are unknown. 204
While in transit and destination countries, the
irregular status of smuggled migrants makes them
vulnerable to abuse, exploitation and human
trafficking. This has been documented largely for
Afghan migrants living in the Islamic Republic of
Iran and Pakistan but also for Iraqi migrants living
in the Islamic Republic of Iran, Jordan or Syria. 205
In the destination country, smuggled migrants are
often forced to take up employment that involves
long hours, no contract and poor and unsafe
working conditions. 206
Smuggled migrants are also at risk of becoming
victims of crime. For example, there are reported
cases of smuggled Afghan migrants who were
offered cheap deals for smuggling into Turkey but
were deceived, abducted and held for ransom by
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