The Hidden Secrets of the Blatantly Obvious: … · The Hidden Secrets of the Blatantly Obvious:...

113/06/2017 MPC - www.migrationpolicycentre.eu

The Hidden Secrets of the Blatantly Obvious:

Researching Human Smuggling in the

Americas and the Middle East

By Luigi Achilli and Gabriella Sanchez

13/06/2017 MPC - www.migrationpolicycentre.eu 2


How can we unveil the allegedly underground and secret activities associated with the facilitation of smuggling?

Human smuggling also grounded on

notions of solidarity and

reciprocity

Social aspect as important as the apparently brutal

or violent

Methodological tools of qualitative

research are sufficient


The Eastern Med Route/Balkan Corridor

Time: April 2015-June 2016

Field research: multi-sited field research among Syrian refugees and smugglers in the Eastern Mediterranean corridor: Southern Italy, Albania, Lebanon and Jordan, Turkey and Greece, and FYROM and Serbia.

Research participant recruitment: snowball, gate-keepers. Location: Palestinian refugee camps

Data collection: focus groups, open-endedand semistructured interviews with migrants, smugglers, authorities,and otherkey actors of the smuggling market (taxydrivers, hotel owners, etc.); participantobservation and field-notes (Elgar).

The American Corridor

Time: since 2009

Field research: multi-sited field research in US and Mexico

Research participant recruitment: snowball, gate-keepers

Data collection: open-ended and semistructured interviews with migrants, smugglers, authorities,and other keyactors of the smuggling market (taxydrivers, hotel owners, etc.); participantobservation and locations frequented by respondents in the contexts of their day to day lives (e.g. restaurants, beauty salons, schools, food stands, park, etc.)


SMUGGLING NETWORKS IN THE EASTERN MEDITERRANEAN ROUTE (I)

• Turkey/Greece

• Fiberglass boats, rubber dinghies, fishing boats, big cargo ships

• 1000/1500 euros

• 1h minimum with a rubber dinghy

Area of operation


Single-service providers

Multi-service networks

SMUGGLING NETWORKS IN THE EASTERN MEDITERRANEAN ROUTE (II)


• Snake-heads/top men• Recruiters• Guides, drivers or skippers• Money collectors (Hawala

shop/Western Union)• Forgers (passports/formal

documents) • Suppliers (boat makers, boat

owners, car/bus owners); • Corrupt government officials

(immigration officials)• Enforcers• Receivers (NGOs?)

SMUGGLING NETWORKS IN THE EASTERN MEDITERRANEAN ROUTE (III)


A. COMMON FINDINGS: FLEXIBLE ORGANIZATIONS (I)

• A system of flexible and independent groups in partnership

with one another for short periods

• Highly differentiated yet flexible structure

• Roles not integrated into rigid hierarchies and bound by long-

term agreements

• Market with high competition and fast changing scenarios

heterogeneity and flexibility of smuggling networks


• “All you have to do is search Facebook by

typing: ‘ways to move to Europe or Germany’

or whatever destination you choose, and you

will find plenty of pages that can provide you

with a large number of smugglers’ contacts.

Personally, I took a smuggler contact number

from a friend who had already approached the

same smuggler and who had succeeded arriving

in Germany.”

• “Once you get to Istanbul or Izmir, it is easy to

find smugglers to help you reach Greece: they

are everywhere in the city”

B. COMMON FINDINGS: FLEXIBLE ORGANIZATIONS


smugglermigrant

C. COMMON FINDINGS: THE MIGRANT-FACILITATOR CONTINUUM


D. COMMON FINDINGS: HUMAN SMUGGLING AND TRAFFICKING

The establishment of a smuggling network would work to protect fellow nationals from the systematic exploitation of smugglers of different ethnic background.

When border controls intensify and channels of legal entry diminish, migrants’ likelihoods of being abused and exploited raise dramatically precisely within these ties of kinship and ethnicity.

Much of the exploitation (trafficking) taking place in Syria “involves family members, acquaintances and neighbours […] left with no viable alternatives for survival other than situations that can be characterised as exploitation.” (ICMPD 2015:6).

One of the main conclusions of our researches is that exploitation was consciously and willingly endorsed by its very “victims” as a mean to enhance their own mobility. Mahdi’s story


CONCLUSIONS: POLICY IMPLICATIONS

• Expensive: the large patrolled area hindered the extent of these operations and prompted spiraling financial costs

• Dangerous: the tightening of border control generally exposes migrants to greater dangers

• Counterproductive: more stringent border controls can exacerbate the very phenomenon that are intended to fight

An effective eradication of smuggling networks without an adequate understanding of the social and community dimension of smuggling may thus prove difficult because smuggling groups are deeply enmeshed within migratory flows. Nonetheless, EU efforts remain overwhelmingly focused on implementing a security-based policy.

The Hidden Secrets of the Blatantly Obvious: … · The Hidden Secrets of the Blatantly Obvious:...

Documents

Transcript of The Hidden Secrets of the Blatantly Obvious: … · The Hidden Secrets of the Blatantly Obvious:...