Migrant Smuggling Data and Research

critique, as the overall number remains small when compared to the presumed
scale of phenomenon. Further criticism concerns the rather narrow focus
adopted, as most studies explore the social dynamics from the perspective of
the smuggled migrant, while less attention is paid to the reality of the smuggler
(Baird, 2013a; UNODC, 2011).
One representative study of this kind was for instance conducted by
van Liempt in 2007. Drawing from 56 interviews conducted with smuggled
migrants, van Liempt analyses the importance of trust in the choice to rely on
the smuggling services, as well as the influence of one’s social network in the
decision-making process. While smuggled migrants may have limited choice in
certain respects, they still enjoy a certain degree of agency that is embedded
in a web of close social relations. Most of the interviewees in her case study
had found their smuggler through friends, family members and acquaintances.
At the same time, smugglers have developed their own strategies to cultivate
a favourable reputation and build upon this relationship of trust, for instance
by allowing payment in installments (van Liempt, 2007). In his analysis of
migrant smuggling in the Netherlands, Staring argues that migrant smugglers
“bear less responsibility than is commonly assumed”; the social networks in the
destination country and in particular the presence of family and friends ready
to help, offers the necessary support that render the use of smuggling business
less attractive (Staring, 2004). The importance of kinship to family and friends is
also underscored by Herman, who argues that the strength of the ties is more
important to the size of the network (Herman, 2006).
Of particular significance in advancing discussions about migrant
smuggling has been an interesting article that has just been published by Baird
and van Liempt (2016), titled “Scrutinising the double disadvantage: knowledge
production in the messy field of migrant smuggling”, which discusses some of
the conceptual and methodological problems in investigating migrant smuggling.
The authors point out that the criminological perspective has probably been
privileged in the past, but point to a number of different perspectives necessary
to capture the complex nature of smuggling, notably the business aspect, the role
of networks, the challenges for human rights and smuggling as part of a global
political economy. Indeed, their discussion of these issues shows that there is a
need for a combined approach to smuggling (even if there is agreement about a
common definition based on the Palermo Protocols) that takes into account its
different facets and brings together different types of data that can range from
interviews and non-participant observation and field notes to legal materials,
policy texts and statistical data of various types.
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5. Europe