User:Zmullenix/sandbox

According to the United Nations, human smuggling is defined as “the procurement, in order to obtain, directly or indirectly, a financial or other material benefit, of the illegal entry of a person into a State Party of which the person is not a national or a permanent resident.” With the increase of civil unrest in the Middle East in the 21st century and changing immigration policies in European countries, there have been never before seen numbers of refugees fleeing their home countries in search of a new life in Europe. With these shifting policies and an influx of people, migrants rely on human smugglers to assist them in illegal border crossings to Europe. With the help of human smugglers, refugees are always using different routes to gain entrance to the EU due to varying immigration policies. In between January and September 2015, the most common route for refugees to use to enter Europe was the Eastern Mediterranean. Additionally, 2015 saw a major increase in the number of migrants making the Eastern Mediterranean crossing; “There were nearly eight times more detections via the Eastern Mediterranean route in the first nine months of 2015 (401,000) than during the whole of 2014 (51,000).” European Migration Network, 23 Dec. 2015. The European Migration Network reports that the secondary movements of refugees upon arrival in Europe is heavily influenced by human smugglers. According to the UN, human smuggling is a criminal offense. However, the number of human traffickers in Turkey increased from 4,641 in 2017 to 6,278 in 2018, meaning there are increasing numbers of people getting away with this crime.

Secrecy of Human Smuggling Operations
Because the human smuggling of refugees in the Middle East is such an illegal yet lucrative business, there is very little definite information known about the underground framework of the smugglers. Most of what is known is due to testimonials from refugees or smugglers given to journalists. International Organization for Migration General William Lacy Swing described human smuggling as “a crime. These unscrupulous smugglers are sending thousands of people to their deaths.” Prices vary smuggler to smuggler, but a trip across the Mediterranean can cost between $1,000 and $1,500 per person or even up to between $6,450 and $8,600. That price usually covers one spot in an intentionally flimsy dinghy or old fishing boats, without a life jacket. Some smugglers even discourage the use of life jackets because they take up too much space. Numerous smugglers sell counterfeit life jackets that are actually not full of buoyant material. Many of the life preservers sold on the coast of Turkey have labels reading “this is not a lifesaving device”. After the refugees have paid for their trip, the smuggler gets them their boat and sends them across the Mediterranean, often headed on a dangerous journey to Greece. Between 2014 and October 2019, at least 14,000 refugees had died attempting to cross the Mediterranean.

Smuggler Communication
Modern technology has allowed for the human smuggling ring in the Middle East to thrive. The “Smugglers Market” Facebook group had 640 members before it was removed by Facebook. It contained contact information for smugglers, price options for forged documents like marriage licenses, university degrees, and passports. Facebook has been removing content like this because it is against Facebook’s community standards. Additionally, smugglers use WhatsApp as a way to instant message the refugees that they are smuggling. [Yeginsu] With the help of technology, a huge market has emerged for human smugglers.

Criticism and Proposed Solutions
Many world leaders have criticized Turkey for its lax policies against human smuggling. President of Greece Prokopis Pavlopoulos said “I have a strong fear that Turkish smugglers have the support of the authorities, in particular, border authorities who act like they have seen nothing.” Other critics of the human smuggling crisis in the Mediterannean claim the issue continues due to European countries’ nonuniform efforts to halt smugglers. Chairman of the Europa-Institut, Christof Zellenberg stated “By inviting [people] in but closing all of the tracks, we are basically building a business model for traffickers.” François Crépeau, United Nations Special Rapporteur suggests “What is needed is for states to reclaim the mobility market from the hands of the smugglers through offering safe, legal, and cheap mobility solutions to the many, and to build an open but controlled mobility regime over a generation.”

Category:People smuggling