Migrant Smuggling Data and Research

from three different geographical border areas into the country and established
different types of small-scale smugglers, not of all which were readily associated
with migrant smuggling (such as churches and travel agencies). Interestingly,
for many smuggled migrants, the Netherlands was a destination country of
“coincidence” rather than choice (van Liempt, 2007).
The 2016 opening and closure of the land border between Greece and the
former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia has provided new incentives to advance
discussions about intra-European migrant smuggling; its long-term impact,
however, remains to be seen. Very interesting studies, such as Altai Consulting and
IOM’s Migration Trends Across the Mediterranean: Connecting the Dots (2015),
speak of the Western and Central Mediterranean route analysing the smugglers’
operations that take place mostly in North Africa. The same is true for the most
recent study of Monzini, Abdel Aziz and Pastore on The Changing Dynamics of
Cross-border Human Smuggling and Trafficking in the Mediterranean published
by IAI as part of the New-Med Research Network in late 2015. It is only the
Médecins Sans Frontières report – Obstacle course to Europe: A policy-made
humanitarian crisis at the EU borders, published in December 2015 – that briefly
comments on the Balkan routes. Its focus is less on migrant smuggling but rather
on how State policies and particularly the gaps in the reception systems of Italy
and Greece and the closure of borders at intervals, in different places, create a
domino effect and sharply increase the vulnerability of the people on the move,
who face extremely harsh conditions without adequate assistance.
A second strand of literature, labelled here as sociological perspective,
focuses on the relational dynamics of migrant smuggling. The primary aim
here is not as much to map the routes and trends but rather decipher the
psychosynthesis of the humans involved within the smuggling process. In this
sense, it adopts a more subjective lens to analyse smuggling. While the primary
focus is on the interaction between the smuggler and the smuggled, the wider
social environment within which this relationship is embedded is commonly also
included in the analysis (such as family, friends, community and ethnic networks).
Migrant smuggling is thereby perceived as a complex interactive process and
less associated with its criminal dimension.
Qualitative analyses of the above are considered to offer particularly
valuable insights in understanding the modus operandi of migrant smuggling
that often escapes studies with a statistical focus. They also run a lesser risk of
building their analysis upon incorrect estimates and data. Their main limitation
lies in the rather narrow scope of the information they provide as their findings
are normally based on a small sample of respondents or interviewees (UNODC,
2011). Even studies that involve a wider range of participants are prone to this
Migrant Smuggling Data and Research:
A global review of the emerging evidence base
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