This week, the UK government announced a "task force" to tackle people smugglers carrying migrants from Africa across the Mediterranean.
People smugglers and traffickers often endanger the lives of those they carry, packing too many people on to small or poorly-serviced vessels. As such, they have become a focus in governments' efforts to combat the recent explosion in migrant deaths in the Mediterranean. But these gangs are just one link in a long and complex chain. People are driven to leave their home countries by war and other serious problems, and when they arrive at their destinations host governments are often at a loss as to what to do with them. Should those who carry these desperate people for part of their journey be our main focus in tackling this problem?
There’s a lot of rhetoric now about how we have to clamp down on people smugglers or traffickers, because this is presented as a way of protecting migrants from people who are abusing them and abusing their rights. But effectively what’s happening is the returning of people who want to claim asylum. You can’t do that once people have arrived in your territory.
One thing we have to remember is that most people on those boats would rather be on cheap flights, but they know they won’t be admitted once they get through to European airports. A mechanism which makes it easier for people to enter EU states and to claim asylum legally would make a huge difference to the loss of life in the Mediterranean. That is what we should be focusing on.
Tackling people smugglers is one strategy for responding to migration flows. But what is currently on the table only engages with the final stage of migration routes, the last hop from Libya to Europe. By this stage, migrants have endured countless barriers on their way, and many have not made it. This means that they will go to great lengths to jump the final hurdle. Interdicting vessels on the Libya coast will only push migrants into less seaworthy, but less visible boats, putting their lives at greater risk.
Ideally we would be targeting people smuggling further up the supply chain, but this is more difficult, as we lack an adequate evidence base of what these networks look like and who is involved. Even more difficult is engaging with the factors that push people into seeking the services of people smugglers. Addressing poverty, lack of opportunities and even government repression is not a strategy that will have results in the coming weeks or months, but will likely take years. But this doesn’t mean we should take the easy option of stopping boats, because migrants and people smugglers will find alternative routes. The first step is understanding the problem in more depth.
People smugglers and traffickers often endanger the lives of those they carry, packing too many people on to small or poorly-serviced vessels. As such, they have become a focus in governments' efforts to combat the recent explosion in migrant deaths in the Mediterranean. But these gangs are just one link in a long and complex chain. People are driven to leave their home countries by war and other serious problems, and when they arrive at their destinations host governments are often at a loss as to what to do with them. Should those who carry these desperate people for part of their journey be our main focus in tackling this problem?
Misleading rhetoric
Bridget Anderson—Professor of Migration and Citizenship, COMPAS, University of OxfordThere’s a lot of rhetoric now about how we have to clamp down on people smugglers or traffickers, because this is presented as a way of protecting migrants from people who are abusing them and abusing their rights. But effectively what’s happening is the returning of people who want to claim asylum. You can’t do that once people have arrived in your territory.
One thing we have to remember is that most people on those boats would rather be on cheap flights, but they know they won’t be admitted once they get through to European airports. A mechanism which makes it easier for people to enter EU states and to claim asylum legally would make a huge difference to the loss of life in the Mediterranean. That is what we should be focusing on.
Look further up
Sasha Jesperson—Research Analyst at the Royal United Services InstituteTackling people smugglers is one strategy for responding to migration flows. But what is currently on the table only engages with the final stage of migration routes, the last hop from Libya to Europe. By this stage, migrants have endured countless barriers on their way, and many have not made it. This means that they will go to great lengths to jump the final hurdle. Interdicting vessels on the Libya coast will only push migrants into less seaworthy, but less visible boats, putting their lives at greater risk.
Ideally we would be targeting people smuggling further up the supply chain, but this is more difficult, as we lack an adequate evidence base of what these networks look like and who is involved. Even more difficult is engaging with the factors that push people into seeking the services of people smugglers. Addressing poverty, lack of opportunities and even government repression is not a strategy that will have results in the coming weeks or months, but will likely take years. But this doesn’t mean we should take the easy option of stopping boats, because migrants and people smugglers will find alternative routes. The first step is understanding the problem in more depth.
