Migrant Smuggling Data and Research

The dynamics of smuggling
As seen in Map 4.1, migrants typically make their journey in steps. This
leads to a variety of smugglers being used for the different stages of the journey,
and they can be found in a variety of locations (smuggling hubs are marked
in red on Map 4.1). While smuggling networks are sometimes hierarchical
structures organized across countries in a top-to-bottom fashion, they are also
often organized into loose horizontal networks (Bouteillet-Paquet, 2011). In
North Africa, both models can be found. Trafficking networks (as distinct from
smuggling networks) that move to or through North Africa tend to be more
transnational and hierarchical in character. The dramatic increase in the number
of migrants that moved through North Africa in 2014 also led to an increase in
more organized, hierarchical, transnational structures (Malakooti, 2015b).
Some general features of smuggling networks that were identified by
United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) (Bouteillet-Paquet, 2011)
have also proven to be present in North Africa (Malakooti, 2015b; 2013a), more
specifically the following:
(a)
There is usually someone at the top of the network that migrants rarely
see and who is native to the country within which the smuggling is
taking place;
(b) Migrants deal with intermediaries that come from the same country of
origin as them;
(c)
Smuggling organizations can offer different packages from basic services
to more complex ones for a price;
(d) Structures are highly flexible and can adapt quickly to changes in policy
or law enforcement;
(e) Before the sea journey across the Mediterranean, migrants are typically
held in “safe houses” where they must wait for a period of hours, days,
weeks or even months for optimal weather and other conditions;
(f)
(g)
Payment can be made through guarantors to decrease the vulnerability
of the migrant;
As migrants typically conduct the journey in stages and as they
sometimes carry with them the money needed for future stages, they
become vulnerable to theft from a number of individuals including
smugglers, bandits and corrupt border officials; and
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4. North Africa