By Constance Thum, Senior Contributing Writer
Trafficking in persons and smuggling of migrants are both important issues that should receive due attention. There were an estimated 109,216 human trafficking victims identified worldwide in 2020 alone, and 2.5 million migrants smuggled worldwide in 2016. However, this number is likely to be much higher than official figures given the secretive nature of both industries. While the two terms are often used interchangeably, there are crucial differences in their definitions, causes, legal status and treatment, and solutions undertaken.
Trafficking in persons is defined as the recruitment, transportation, transfer, and harbouring of persons through illegal means of coercion such as fraud and force for the purpose of exploitation. This may include prostitution, forced labour, slavery, servitude, and organ removal. In contrast, smuggling of migrants refers to the facilitation of an individual’s illegal entry or stay in a country for financial or other material benefit. Trafficking can occur both domestically and internationally, while smuggling of migrants occurs across borders. Another related distinction between trafficking in persons and smuggling of migrants is consent. There is no consent in trafficking since traffickers either forcefully abduct victims, deceive, or coerce individuals into making decisions they would otherwise not make. On the other hand, most migrants consent to smuggling for reasons such as lack of legal migration avenues, despite potentially being put in precarious situations by smugglers.
The differences in definition thus draw attention to deeper underlying causes of trafficking in persons and smuggling of migrants. Trafficking in persons may occur when there is insufficient socio-political protection given to vulnerable groups such as women, minorities, and less privileged individuals, which puts them in a precarious position for exploitation by predators and traffickers. For the smuggling of migrants, the issue is most prevalent in times of economic, political, and/or social unrest, uncertainty, and deprivation that “pushes” migrants to seek a life abroad. This may work in tandem with pull factors like greater economic opportunities and socio-political stability overseas, for smugglers to entice migrants with illegal pathways of entry. Nonetheless, there may be overlapping root causes or factors that contribute to both trafficking in persons and smuggling of migrants.
The definition and “motivations” of trafficked persons and smuggled migrants may in turn affect their legal status and respective treatment. Trafficked persons receive greater protection from the law with anti-trafficking laws or rehabilitation programmes. In contrast, smuggled migrants may face issues with legality and risk deportation. Smuggled migrants may even face discrimination, stigma, and a curtailment of rights if they are caught.
To address trafficking in persons and smuggling of migrants, different solutions may be undertaken. For both issues, preventative measures like raising awareness and more stringent checks could be undertaken. Interviews with smuggled migrants also revealed that smugglers may exploit asylum loopholes by smuggling caught migrants to a third country instead of their country of origin before returning to the host country as an asylum seeker. Therefore, smuggling of migrants should be managed through increasing accessibility to legal migration channels and improving living conditions in the home countries of migrants which is often the main motivation for moving overseas. In addition, corrective measures like rehabilitation services should be offered to both trafficked victims and smuggled migrants with traumatic experiences. Greater penalties could also be given to traffickers and smugglers to discourage such behaviour in the future.
Ultimately, trafficking in persons and smuggling of migrants are issues that we should care about because they occur out of vulnerability, desperation and a desire for a better life. These are emotions most of us can relate to, and thus we should treat victims of trafficking and smuggling with empathy and dignity.
References and further reading:
Total Number of Human Trafficking Victims Identified Worldwide from 2008 to 2020
At Least 2.5 million migrants smuggled worldwide in 2016, Says UNODC study
Introducing Trafficking in Persons and Smuggling of Migrants
Human trafficking and migrant smuggling
Illegal immigrants smuggled out of UK and back again