Migrant Smuggling Data and Research

demanding. Smuggled migrants often have to cross dangerous terrain and thick
jungle areas, sometimes at night. Migrants may not be physically or mentally
prepared for such journeys. Migrants smuggled by sea, on the other hand, face
deadly risks when their journeys are exacerbated by the monsoon seasons, as
well as smugglers using unseaworthy vessels and incompetent crew (UNODC,
2015). It is not uncommon to find smugglers abandoning migrants midway
through their journeys. Smuggled migrants also risk being held captive in
smuggler camps, until family or friends pay ransom for their remaining journey.
However, in North-East Asia, the patterns of migrant smuggling have shown a
mixed form of the Chinese snakehead model and the South Korean missionary
model. The gravity of violence might be less than in South-East Asia. However,
rapes, physical and verbal abuses, confinement and psychological stress occur
and have been witnessed by researchers (Song, 2013, 2014 and 2015b).
Smuggled migrants also face heightened vulnerability to exploitation and human
trafficking (UNODC, 2015).
Review of data on migrant smuggling
Existing data-collecting organizations
There is a huge gap in data collecting and sharing among the governments
in North-East Asia. It is not clear whether the governments monitor, collect
and update data on migrant smuggling separately from other undocumented
migration or human trafficking. There is no data released from the two biggest
smuggling sending countries, Mainland China and North Korea. South Korea and
Japan occasionally release figures of forged travel documents, illegal entry or
illegal work that are only a part of the entire picture of migrant smuggling. UNODC
is one of the few, if not the only organization, that attempts to consolidate all
sources on migrant smuggling in North-East Asia as in other regions. UNODC relies
on quantitative and qualitative sources from the following: (a) governments,
national agencies and international organizations; (b) publicly available official
sources; and (c) academic literature. With regards to (a), Japan and the two
special administrative regions of China – Hong Kong and Macau – submit data to
UNODC. Sources from academic literature are limited to qualitative interviews
with little systematic data collection due to the geopolitical sensitivity in the
region. Collaborative data sharing among China, North Korea, South Korea and
Japan is highly unlikely. Gaps in data collection in the region is the major problem
in this region. The following sections highlight two long-standing, overlapping
issues, which include the following: (a) lack of or accessibility of accurate data;
and (b) lack of clarity with terminology.
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10. North-East Asia