Migrant Smuggling

Faced with national borders that are increasingly impermeable to migration from the Global South, the transnational mobility of migrants and asylum seekers takes place through irregular channels, mostly under the control of more or less organized networks of smugglers and traffickers. This entry investigates the international and European legal framework dedicated to the repression of these phenomena, paying a particular attention to the problems of balancing the state interest in border protection, on the one hand, and the protection of the fundamental rights of the people involved, on the other hand. After an illustration of the content of the relevant legal sources, the specific thematic areas, in which the tension between mobility control and human rights is more tangible, will be explored, including the urgent issue of humanitarian smuggling. Finally, the most recent empirical research will be taken into account, proposing interesting counter-narratives about the reality of migrant smuggling and providing valuable indications to policy makers regarding needed reforms.