Migrant Smuggling Data and Research

Czech Republic, for instance, do not disclose their national statistics (European
Migration Network, 2014). Third, there are significant discrepancies in the
manner in which data are collected, as well as in the years that the data are
shared. The diversity of the methods and indicators used renders the verification
and comparability of the available data particularly difficult.
Countries with particularly detailed statistics are Germany and Austria.
These two countries share not only the annual apprehension figures of
suspected smugglers, but also those of smuggled migrants, nationalities, gender
and conviction rate. By way of illustration, between 2010 and 2014, Germany
arrested a total of 11,130 persons suspected of facilitation of entry. During the
same period, Austria apprehended a total of 1,713 suspected smugglers (Table
5.1).
Table 5.1: Apprehensions of suspected smugglers in Germany and Austria, 2010–2014
Year Germany Austria
2010 1,876 327
2011 1,653 288
2012 2,049 235
2013 2,558 352
2014 2,994 511
Total 11,130 1,713
Source: Federal Criminal Police of Austria, 2014; Federal Criminal Police of Germany, 2014.
The majority of the suspects in Germany were non-nationals of the
European Union and mainly came from Hungary, Italy, Romania, Serbia and
the Syrian Arab Republic; 11 per cent were women. The main nationalities of
suspects in Austria were Hungarian, Serbian, Syrian, Romanian and those from
Kosovo/UNSC 1244; 4 per cent were women (BKA, 2014; BMI, 2014).
The Greek statistics, on the other hand, only report figures and occasionally
the nationalities of the suspected smugglers. Between 2010 and 2014, a total of
4,738 persons were apprehended (Table 5.2).
Table 5.2: Apprehensions of suspected smugglers in Greece, 2010–2014
Year Number
2010 1,150
2011 848
2012 726
2013 843
2014 1,171
Total 4,738
Source: Hellenic Police, 2016.
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5. Europe