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A recent study indicates that stringent migration policies implemented by governments around the world have become a windfall for people smugglers, fuelling demand and letting them hike their prices.

Central Conclusions Informed by Thousands of Interviews

The findings, based on interviews with thousands of migrants and hundreds smugglers, have been published as officials get ready to meet to debate strategies to address smuggling rings.

“Governments say they want to ‘break the business model’ of smugglers, yet our data demonstrates the exact opposite is happening,” stated a lead researcher involved in the study.

The study leverages in excess of 80,000 interviews with people on the move worldwide. In excess of 50,000 respondents indicated they utilized smugglers, with many attributing their choice to the absence of feasible opportunities for regular migration.

Traffickers Indicate Increased Demand Due to Tighter Controls

Researchers also consulted 458 smugglers in African regions. “Many smugglers told us that tighter border measures is truly boosting demand,” said a primary investigator.

Illustrating this trend involved smugglers interviewed on the central Mediterranean route. Even as unauthorized entries dropped in one recent year, a large proportion of the smugglers said demand for their services had grown, in part because of tighter border measures. “Instead of breaking their business model, it is being enhanced.”

• Rising Costs: Among the smugglers interviewed, 57% stated they had hiked their fees.
• Primary Cause: The vast majority of them connected the increased costs to the greater danger they encountered due to stringent migration policies.
• Official Complicity: Close to 50% of smugglers admitted being in touch with officials such as border guards, suggesting frequent involvement.

Why People Migrate versus the Influence of Traffickers

Contrary to common claims that smugglers actively recruit people into irregular migration, a mere 6% of the respondents claimed smugglers had affected their decision-making.

Instead, the vast majority of them stated the decision had been a personal one or had been shaped by family or friends who were already abroad.

The report also looked at who was most likely to use smugglers, concluding that those escaping persecution and limitations on their rights and freedoms often did, as did those undertaking more dangerous routes.

“The evidence clearly shows that smugglers are not the primary driver of unauthorized movement,” argued a research director. “Instead, he pointed to the absence of official and safe alternatives to explain why people turn to smugglers.”

Lessons for Authorities

Campaigners have long warned that via curtailing legal migration pathways such as family reunion, policymakers are pushing people towards smugglers.

“When official channels are reduced, the importance of smugglers rises,” the findings suggest. “When policymakers ignore why people turn to smugglers, they ultimately empower the very networks they’re aiming to dismantle.”