State Responses and Migrant Experiences with Human Smuggling: A Reality Check

Liempt, Ilse van; Sersli, Stephanie

doi:10.1111/j.1467-8330.2012.01027.x

Cited by 40 publications

(42 citation statements)

References 28 publications

(38 reference statements)

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“…To make matters worse, sex and forced labor trafficking is often conflated with migrant smuggling (Paszkiewicz, 2015), though the former is a relatively small subset in the refugee context (International Labour Organization, 2012;Shelley, 2010). While human smuggling into western Europe and Germany is by no means a new phenomenon (Morrison & Crosland, 2000;Neske, 2006), little is known about when, how and why migrants find and decide to interact with smugglers (for exceptions, see Bauer, 2016;International Organization for Migration, 2015;Liempt & Sersli, 2013).…”

Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

Trafficking and Syrian Refugee Smuggling: Evidence from the Balkan Route

Mandić

2017

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As of March 2016, 4.8 million Syrian refugees were scattered in two dozen countries by the civil war. Refugee smuggling has been a major catalyst of human trafficking in the Middle East and Europe migrant crises. Data on the extent to which smuggling devolved into trafficking in this refugee wave is, however, scarce. This article investigates how Syrian refugees interact with smugglers, shedding light on how human smuggling and human trafficking interrelated on the Balkan Route. I rely on original evidence from in-depth interviews (n = 123) and surveys (n = 100) with Syrian refugees in Jordan, Turkey, Greece, Serbia, and Germany; as well as ethnographic observations in thirty-five refugee camps or other sites in these countries. I argue that most smugglers functioned as guides, informants, and allies in understudied ways-thus refugee perceptions diverge dramatically from government policy assumptions. I conclude with a recommendation for a targeted advice policy that would acknowledge the reality of migrant-smuggler relations, and more effectively curb trafficking instead of endangering refugees.

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Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

Trafficking and Syrian Refugee Smuggling: Evidence from the Balkan Route

Mandić

2017

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“…As some researchers have noted, empirical evidence of a connection between coyotaje and organised crime is weak (Spener, : 202; van Liempt and Sersli, ); however, the exaggeration of this phenomenon by media and official documents has created a distorted picture of coyotaje .…”

Section: The Relationship Between Coyotaje and Drug Traffickingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Coyotaje and Drugs: Two Different Businesses

Palacios

2014

Bull Latin American Res

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This article, based on a qualitative methodology that includes in-depth interviews with 85 migrant-smugglers who operate at the border between Mexico and the United States, addresses three research questions: do migrant-smugglers take part in organised crime? Are criminal groups involved in migrant smuggling? And are migrant-smugglers engaged in drug trafficking? It concludes that many smugglers have become part of organised crime groups but only after leaving the migrant-smuggling business; that criminal organisations do not help migrants to cross the border; and that migrant-smugglers do not carry drugs.Empirical evidence on the existence of ties between migrant smuggling and drug trafficking is scarce. However, official discourse and the media both emphasise that migrant smuggling is a business that has passed into the hands of organised crime and that migrants are exploited by traffickers who, in addition to charging them excessive fees, rob them, abandon them or require them to transport drugs. The connection between migrant smuggling and organised crime and the threat raised to national security have increased the legitimacy and urgency of the fight against illegal immigration, which has gone from consideration as a human rights issue to being understood as a matter of criminal justice and national security (Farrell and Fahy, 2009). Thus, the United Nations Protocol on migrant smuggling assumes that this is an increasingly sophisticated business operated by organised crime and requires governments to criminalise this activity (Gallagher, 2010: 94). The result has been the consolidation of border security policies in which undocumented migration, drug trafficking and terrorism are combatted with the same instruments.This article, based on in-depth interviews with 85 migrant-smugglers operating along the US-Mexico border, addresses three research questions: Do migrant-smugglers take part in organised crime? Are criminal groups involved in migrant smuggling? Are migrant-smugglers engaged in drug trafficking?First, the methodology is outlined and the sample is described; coyotaje is then defined. Next, the literature on the relationship between drug trafficking and migrant smuggling is reviewed and the extent to which migrant-smugglers are involved with organised crime is examined. The involvement of criminal groups in migrant smuggling is analysed, and, finally, migrant-smugglers' participation in drug trafficking is discussed.

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“…El 6 de junio de 1993 murieron por ahogamiento en el área de Rockaway Beach, Nueva York, diez de los más de 260 migrantes chinos que saltaron del carguero hondureño Golden Venture al ser detectados por los guardacostas (Zhang & Chin, 2007: p. 749). El 18 de junio de 2000 en Dover murieron por asfixia 58 de los 60 migrantes chinos que estaban escondidos en un contenedor de tomates (Van Liempt & Sersli, 2013). El 14 de mayo de 2003 murieron por hipertermia en Victoria, Texas, 19 de los 74 migrantes latinoamericanos que iban escondidos en la caja de un camión refrigerador (Ramos, 2006).…”

Section: Introductionunclassified

El coyotaje visto desde la mirada de mujeres migrantes centroamericanas

Palacios

2017

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ResumenEste artículo se fundamenta en una metodología cualitativa que incluyó la realización de entrevistas en profundidad a ochenta mujeres centroamericanas que contrataron polleros para llegar a Estados Unidos; el objetivo es examinar qué visión tienen del coyotaje. De los datos se desprende que los traficantes engañaron a una sexta parte de las entrevistadas y que a siete las agredieron con algún tipo de abuso sexual. Sin embargo, más de dos tercios opinaron positivamente de ellos; esto no significa que los polleros se ganen siempre su confianza; en general las mujeres solo se fían de los que les recomiendan familiares o amigos. AbstractThis article, based on a qualitative methodology that includes in depth interviews with eighty Central American women who used migrant smugglers to reach the United States, examines her point of view about migrant smuggling. This paper concludes that one-sixth of respondents were deceived by migrant smugglers, and seven women suffered some form of sexual abuse from them, however more than two-thirds of the interviewees expressed a positive opinion towards migrant smugglers. This does not mean that women always trust migrant smugglers, they generally only trust those who were recommended for relatives or friends.

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State Responses and Migrant Experiences with Human Smuggling: A Reality Check

Cited by 40 publications

References 28 publications

Trafficking and Syrian Refugee Smuggling: Evidence from the Balkan Route

Trafficking and Syrian Refugee Smuggling: Evidence from the Balkan Route

Coyotaje and Drugs: Two Different Businesses

El coyotaje visto desde la mirada de mujeres migrantes centroamericanas

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