Migrant Smuggling in Asia - United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime

when the <strong>United</strong> K<strong>in</strong>gdom <strong>in</strong>troduced more restrictive
immigration policies under the 1962 Commonwealth
Immigration Act. Despite the long history
of migrant smuggl<strong>in</strong>g, there are only a handful of
empirical research studies on the issue, and <strong>in</strong> particular,
on migrant smuggl<strong>in</strong>g from Pakistan to the
<strong>United</strong> K<strong>in</strong>gdom.
Accord<strong>in</strong>g to the reviewed literature:
�� Pakistan is a major dest<strong>in</strong>ation for irregular
migrants from Afghanistan, Bangladesh and
Myanmar. �e number of irregular Afghan migrants
and refugees <strong>in</strong> Pakistan is estimated at
2.2 million, although national statistics do not
di�erentiate between irregular migrants and
refugees. �e number of irregular migrants from
Bangladesh <strong>in</strong> Pakistan is estimated at around
1 million and from Myanmar at 100,000. Irregular
migrants from Nigeria and Somalia also
<strong>in</strong> Pakistan are estimated at 2,000 persons each.
With the exception of Afghan irregular migration,
the reviewed literature did not further focus
on those �ows. Pakistan functions as one of
the countries from where smuggl<strong>in</strong>g of Afghan
citizens <strong>in</strong>itiates.
�� Irregular migration of Pakistani migrants is
largely facilitated by smugglers. In the absence
of comprehensive data, the research provided
<strong>in</strong>dicators (although such estimates should be
treated with caution): a total of 66,594 Pakistanis
were deported to Pakistan between 2005 and
2008; 60,000 Pakistanis were deported home <strong>in</strong>
2003 and 2004; up to 500,000 migrants where
smuggled out of Pakistan, largely to the Middle
East but also to the Islamic Republic of Iran,
Saudi Arabia and <strong>United</strong> Arab Emirates dur<strong>in</strong>g
the �rst half of 2000.
�� <strong>Smuggl<strong>in</strong>g</strong> of Afghans is very di�cult to dist<strong>in</strong>guish
from the smuggl<strong>in</strong>g of Pakistanis.
Routes and dest<strong>in</strong>ation countries for smuggled
Pakistanis are very similar to those for smuggled
Afghan migrants. Countries <strong>in</strong> the European
Union, <strong>in</strong> particular the <strong>United</strong> K<strong>in</strong>gdom, are
popular dest<strong>in</strong>ations. Pakistanis are smuggled
by land through the Islamic Republic of Iran,
Greece and Turkey. �ere are references to the
mid-2000s and routes to Europe via Central
<strong>Asia</strong> and to Russia via West and North Africa.
<strong>Migrant</strong>s are often smuggled by air, land and
sea. �e <strong>United</strong> Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia
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