Profiting from migrant smuggling whatever the cost
In May 2015, the world was rocked by the Bay of Bengal migrant smuggling crisis. Mass graves containing the bodies of migrants from Myanmar and Bangladesh were discovered in southern Thailand, and thousands more were left stranded at sea. A tragic reminder of the human costs of migrant smuggling, the events led to a new focus on combatting the crime in Asia. Leaders from across the region came together to get to grips with the problem, agreeing to improve cooperation between source, transit and destination countries. Authorities reacted; boats stopped.
Fast forward to the middle of 2018. Migrant smuggling has not been in the headlines in the region for a while. Yet, new research released this past week by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime finds that while smuggling in Asia has shifted and changed appearance, it remains as potent as ever.
Advances in technology and the ability to exploit immigration regimes are allowing criminal networks to stay one step ahead of law enforcement. Authorities in the region also still do not prioritise the crime and they struggle to protect migrants and the integrity of state borders.
A look at the changing face of migrant smuggling in Asia since 2015 finds market forces and barriers have a business impact. On the supply side, smugglers develop innovative approaches to give themselves comparative advantages over competitors. There is also evidence they use indirect routes to avoid controls and law enforcement — they seek out vulnerabilities at borders.
At the same time, because potential customers have heard stories of mistreatment and abandonment, some criminal networks have responded by offering guarantees to sustain demand. Some now allow payment from a migrant’s family once they can prove safe arrival at the destination — using, for example, a photo of a smuggled migrant in front of a famous landmark in the destination country as proof.
Like legitimate businesses, advances in technology have revolutionised the way migrant smuggling operates. The availability of GPS and online dynamic maps has simplified navigation and is likely part of the reason record-high numbers of unaccompanied minors are being smuggled on their own, and why certain overland routes may be used in Southeast Asia.
On the one hand, the internet and advances in mobile technology have helped migrants protect themselves en route while maintaining contact with friends and family. But at the same time, technology is used by migrant smugglers to offer false promises, entice migrants into unsafe passage, and at worst, trick migrants into forced labour and human trafficking.
Migrant smuggling is therefore no normal business. Smugglers, like human traffickers, often seek profit with shocking disregard for the wellbeing of their clients. These organised criminal networks prey on the vulnerable, which is a serious and real cause for concern in this region given the sheer number of displaced Rohingya in camps in Bangladesh.
Reports indicate that smugglers have already started moving in to take advantage. And what starts out as smuggling can easily descend into human trafficking and other abuses as smugglers deceive, extort and exploit migrants. Authorities need to be prepared for potentially large-scale movements out of the camps, and the human suffering that could accompany it.
The changing nature of migrant smuggling has strong implications for law enforcement and border management. Police and justice authorities need to be smarter to understand and counter organised crime, developing intelligence and information to be shared among source, transit and destination countries at different levels and locations. Authorities must also be able to draw on cyberinvestigation techniques and technologies if they are to bring migrant smugglers to justice more effectively.
But to truly understand how to defeat migrant smuggling, authorities need to get to the bottom of market forces and incentives. In Southeast Asia, the recent good work of Thailand and its neighbours to make legal migration cheaper is an important step forward in encouraging people to opt for legal channels rather than using smugglers. However, legal migration from Laos to Thailand is still up to six times more expensive than using a migrant smuggler. Which would you choose?
Jeremy Douglas is the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) Regional Representative for Southeast Asia and the Pacific, Benjamin Smith is the UNODC Regional Coordinator for Migrant Smuggling and Human Trafficking, and Abe Simons is a Regional Consultant with UNODC.