Migrant Smuggling Data and Research

The Turkish Criminal Code (Article 79) defines migrant smuggling in Turkey
as “unlawful entry of a foreigner in the country or facilitate stay in the country;
unlawful transfer of Turkish citizens or foreigners abroad”. The person who
facilitates illegal entry or exit is considered a migrant smuggler, even if it is a failed
attempt and will be prosecuted under criminal law and subject to imprisonment
from 3 to 8 years and punished with a punitive fine up to 10,000 days. If this
criminal activity puts migrants’ lives in danger and/or there is any exploitation,
physical or emotional abuse detected, and if the human smuggler is affiliated
with an organization, then the punishment to be given will be harsher.
Despite detailed definitions provided by two Palermo Protocols and Turkish
Criminal Code on trafficking in human beings and migrant smuggling, there
was an initial confusion about the terminology in Turkey. So, these two terms
continued to be used as synonymous by researchers, policymakers and even by
the law enforcement agencies for some time. Within the last decade, Turkish
security forces have become more informed about the concepts of irregular
migration, human smuggling and trafficking in human beings. Nevertheless, the
tendency to refer to migrant smugglers as kaçakçı (Turkish word for any smuggler
with no differentiation whether it is smuggling of goods, drugs or persons) and/
or organizatör (organizer) still continues.
Review of migrant smuggling research
The research on migrant smuggling in Turkey as part of irregular migration
started in the mid-1990s. Research directly on migrant smuggling, however, is
very limited with some exceptions (İçduygu and Toktaş, 2002; İçduygu, 2004;
Narlı, 2006; Şeker and Erdal, 2009; Baird, 2014; İçli et al., 2015). There are also
a number of commissioned IOM research projects. The first one was a pioneer
in the field of irregular migration and smuggling and trafficking issues and
introduced the term of “transit migration” in Turkey for the first time (İçduygu,
1995). The second IOM Report on Irregular Migration in Turkey included for the
first time a number of face-to-face interviews with apprehended migrants, as
well as human smugglers, and underscored the complexity of migrant smuggling
in Turkey and the Middle East targeting the European Union (İçduygu, 2003).
Another commissioned report by IOM was on the relationship between irregular
migration and women trafficking in Turkey, as well as its media coverage and
public perceptions (Erder and Kaşka, 2003). The third IOM Report on Irregular
Migration in Turkey focuses on the policy changes and developments between
the years of 2006 and 2011 (İçduygu and Aksel, 2012).
Within the last two decades, a series of master and PhD dissertations
were written in various disciplines, mainly in sociology, geography and social
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6. Turkey