Historicizing Mobility:Coyoterismoin the Indigenous Ecuadorian Migration Industry

Abstract

Based on ethnographic research in the Ecuadorian Highlands, this article puts the mobility, migration, and smuggling practices of Ecuador’s indigenous people in historical and contemporary context. The people of Ecuador’s Southern Highlands have been on the move for generations, and migration is deeply embedded in the social and cultural landscape. In the rural communities of Cañar, indigenous coyotes are more than facilitators of migration: they are community members operating amid broader structural constraints, which have led to the emergence of specific trends in the facilitation of irregularized migration, yet they are expected to adhere to communal principles of reciprocity and trust. We place indigenous migrant narratives of mobility and identity at the center of our analysis of human smuggling, articulating a counternarrative to that of criminalization prevalent in transnational debates of irregularized migration, national security, and border control.

Choosing a Smuggler: Decision-making Amongst Migrants Smuggled to Europe

“…There is evidence of such guarantees offered along a variety of smuggling routes. Stone-Cadena and Álvarez Velasco (2018) have documented it in relation to smuggling from Ecuador to Mexico and the USA; Guevara González 2018) at the Southern Mexican border and Sanchez (2015) in Mexico more generally. Aksel et al (2015) have found evidence of such guarantees among Afghani and Pakistani migrants crossing the border between Pakistan and Iran.…”

Becoming a Smuggler: Migration and Violence at EU External Borders

“…Furthermore, empirical findings from Greece, Turkey (Achilli 2018) and Eritrea (Ayalew Mengiste 2018), indicate that migrants occasionally work for human smugglers as recruiters, guides, or intermediaries. Active engagement in smuggling businesses both as clients and service providers has been observed especially in migrants' home states where migrants and smugglers are often related through kinship and strong social and ethnic ties and local histories, in addition to economic relations (Kyle and Scarcelli 2009;Stone-Cadena and Velasco 2018). These ties contribute to the creation of symbiotic smuggling relations and give raise to a complex cooperation between migrants and smugglers built on trust (Brachet 2018;Van Liempt and Sersli 2012).…”

Family Bonds: Kinship Reciprocity, Female Teenage Trafficking and Domestic Labor Exploitation in Peru

“…8 In contrast, the academic literature on human trafficking has expressed disagreement on definitions of human trafficking, especially regarding the degree to which different characterizations are useful in not only accurately documenting the phenomenon but also in ensuring relief for victims. On this score, some analysts are concerned about categories and regulatory frameworks that perpetuate ambiguity for trafficked people, as well as the increasing criminalization of human smuggling (Lowenkron & Piscitelli, 2019;Sánchez, 2015;Stone-Cadena & Álvarez Velasco, 2018). There is widespread agreement that more regulation -based on fixed legal categories -may only drive both trafficking and smuggling activities further underground (Anderson & O'Connell Davidson, 2002;Bastia, 2005Bastia, , 2006Chapkis, 2003;Gallagher, 2002).…”