Migrant Smuggling Data and Research

Japan. Further, the information shared can only be accessed by the participating
States. As such, the VRS-MSRC is limited in two aspects: (a) in addressing the
uneven geographic coverage of information sources on migrant smuggling; and
(b) official data still remains inaccessible to non-participating States, academics
and practitioners in the field of migrant smuggling. Nevertheless, carefully
collected and national and regional data is useful for developing effective national
and regional instruments to tackle migrant smuggling. The VRS-MSRC initiative
is relatively new; it remains to be seen whether it will be an effective tool for
collecting and sharing data on migrant smuggling. There are more doubts than
trust about the VRS-MSRC and data sharing in general in the region.
Lack of clarity with terminology and conceptualization
The region shares the global problem with confounding data and
information on migrant smuggling with the other irregular migration categories.
This is evident in Migrant Smuggling in Asia: An Annotated Bibliography. In Asia
as a whole, of the 154 documents reviewed, 65 of these provided information on
migrant smuggling, 117 on undocumented migration and 66 on human trafficking
(UNODC, 2012). The data on undocumented migrants or human trafficking are
often used as a measure for migrant smuggling in the region, even in relatively
advanced countries such as South Korea and Japan. Given that migrant smuggling
is a form of facilitated irregular migration, one may expect to find information
about migrant smuggling in existing sources that examine undocumented
migration. In fact, there is a larger pool of literature on undocumented migration
vis-à-vis migrant smuggling. However, in many instances, discussions are very
general. Sources reviewed often do not indicate to what extent undocumented
migration, including the illegal entry or illegal stay, is facilitated by a third party
for profit, or entirely self-directed (UNODC, 2012 and 2015). Additionally, some
sources use terms such as “illegal migrant” and “illegal worker” interchangeably,
although these are not entirely synonymous.
Likewise, authorities do not clearly distinguish between human trafficking
and migrant smuggling cases, in the latter case, either administratively or in official
statistics (UNODC, 2012). In its review of existing research on migrant smuggling
in Asia, UNODC (2012:33) also noted that studies, describing themselves as
focused on human trafficking, are indeed primarily on migrant smuggling or
undocumented migration. In this regard, confounding the operationalization
of different terminologies limits the ability to draw conclusive information on
migrant smuggling.
There is also confusion in the conceptualization of smuggled migrants and
smugglers. Traditional images of smuggled migrants as potential victims and
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10. North-East Asia