Is that a Smuggler? : The Blurring Line between Facilitating Illegal Immigration and Providing Humanitarian Assistance at the European Borders

The paper critically analyses the European obligations to criminalise the facilitation of entry and transit of undocumented migrants within the Union, as well as the implementing national legislation. It observes that, due to the overreaching scope of these provisions, solidarity with migrants and asylum seekers has been increasingly criminalised, both at sea and land borders. Following the illustration of the main critical issues found in the "Facilitators package", possible reforms are presented, on the whole aimed at outlining the criminal law construct of smuggling to conduct not limited to aiding and abetting the unauthorised entry or transit of aliens, but rather pursuing an unfair profit, through the exploitation of the vulnerability inherent in the illegal status. Having observed the lack of political will to achieve such reforms, the paper explores possibile judicial remedies to challenge the legitimacy of existing legislation before national and supranational courts.